Microlite BackupEDGE End-User Newsletter - In This Edition
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June 2013
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Welcome Back to the Newsletter
It has been a very long time since the last BackupEDGENewsletter. We apologize for the delay. There is a lot of exciting new information to cover, so this newsletter will be longer than usual.
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BackupEDGE 03.00.05 Build 6
Our newest release build of 03.00.05 has the following changes...
All Platforms
We've improved support for performing FTP and FTPS backups through firewalls. This is a recommended update for anyone doing remote / cloud FTP or FTPS backups.
Linux
We've added support for the following platforms:
- Oracle Linux Server 6.4
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4
- CentOS 6.4
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2
- Open SUSE 12.2.
Please see the current Linux Support Page on our web site for the current list of platforms supported by BackupEDGE. We also added the following additional features.
- MD RAID support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x and CentOS 6.x
- Full Resource Manager support in RecoverEDGE. You can now launch a shell prompt from the boot media and define / change storage Resources by typing: /tmp/resource.
We recommend anyone with a valid Support and Maintenance Subscription upgrade to this release and re-make your RecoverEDGE media / images. Those without a Support and Maintenance Subscription valid for this release should strongly consider renewing or extending it.
SCO OpenServer 6.0.0 / 6.0.0V and SCO UnixWare 7.1.4, 7.1.4+
- We've increased bare metal disaster recovery speeds in RecoverEDGE.
- Full Resource Manager support in RecoverEDGE. You can now launch a shell prompt from the boot media and define / change storage Resources by typing: /tmp/resource.
XINUOS is the new name for the company that now develops, markets and distributes the OpenServer and UnixWare product lines, and we are proud to have backup and bare metal disaster recovery support available at launch for their newest product, SCO UnixWare 7.1.4+, in both physical and virtual environments.
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BackupEDGE 03.00.0x - Improvements Since the Last Newsletter
In addition to bug fixes, here are a few of the major additions to our prior releases...
03.00.04
- SCO OpenServer 6.0.0V Support
- Linux 3.x Kernel Support
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 (various builds)
- CentOS 6.3 (various builds)
03.00.03
- SharpDrive(TM) removable disk/flash/cartridge support
- LTO5 Support
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0-6.2 (various builds)
- CentOS 6.0-6.2 (various builds)
- Amazon S3 Disaster Recovery Improvements
- Support for new Linux compressed kernel types
The full BackupEDGE ChangeLog is always available HERE. Remember, you cannot update to a newer release of BackupEDGE unless your license is under a current Support and Maintenance Subscription. These subscriptions come with every first-time license activation. They have typically been valid for one year but you'll see an improvement for that in the next section of the newsletter.
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Lower Amazon S3 Cloud Storage Pricing
Late last year Amazon lowered prices, and we followed by lowering monthly fees for backing up to the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3). It is now an even better value for your clients, especially as bandwidth availability rises and prices trend downward.
Amazon S3 is excellent as a stand-alone storage medium. Many clients are also using it as their off-site storage by performing daily backups to a near-line device and weekly backups to Amazon S3. More information can be found HERE.
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Extended Support and Maintenance Subscriptions
Traditionally we've included a one year Support and Maintenance Subscription with each new BackupEDGE activation. In addition to technical support, this Subscription allows "updates and upgrades for all releases shipped up to 1 year from activation date". Based on these release dates, clients with an 03.00.03 or earlier product with an expired Support and Maintenance Subscription would not be able to update to 03.00.05. The Support and Maintenance Subscription would have to be renewed. Please see the Update / Upgrade Eligibility page on our web site for additional information.
At the request of many of our clients, we're now allowing BackupEDGE to be licensed with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year Support and Maintenance Subscriptions. The new multi-year retail price list is now on-line. These new multi-year Support and Maintenance Subscriptions provide a significant price benefit as opposed to purchasing them year-by-year, and are especially useful when clients want to fix costs or lease complete solutions. Call Microlite or your reseller today to order BackupEDGE licenses with more than 1 year Support and Maintenance Subscriptions.
Subscription Renewals and Extensions can also be created for more than one year. Please call or check with your reseller if you need one.
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New Support Policies
In the past we've refused to license BackupEDGE on products that weren't specifically on our tested and approved list. Starting with 03.00.05, we've made significant changes to our support policies to expand your market and enable you to license BackupEDGE on many additional platforms, including those we don't officially support. There are a few exceptions.
Please see the recently updated Linux Support Page and UNIX Support Page on our web site for more details and to check for the operating system platform(s) you use. Let us know if you have additional questions.
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FTP / FTPS Notes
There are many reasons that FTP/FTPS backups won't pass through a firewall that aren't really BackupEDGE issues. Two problems we see most frequently are:
- The firewall deliberately disables some FTP features we use, especially REST (restartable FTP). See this BackupEDGE Technical Article.
- The firewall believes it sees a virus signature in the FTP data stream and simply drops the connection. In this case you may need to adjust your anti-virus rules for the source and destination IP address.
Always remember to check your firewall logs after a failed FTP/FTPS backup to see if the firewall itself is the source of the problem.
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Major Updates to our Authorized Reseller Web Page
We have recently updated the Authorized Reseller information on our web site to make sure that all information is accurate and up-to-date. There are now 161 partners world-wide on our Authorized Reseller page, representing 33 US states, 5 Canadian provinces, and 11 other countries (not counting our OEM and vertical partners who do not wish to be listed).
If you have lost contact with your prior reseller and wish to work with one of our other partners, please check the list at the link below or contact our sales department.
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Our Cloud Virtualization Partner - Stop Worrying About Physical Hardware
Cloud Virtualization is a fancy term. It simply means that the entire "disk image" of the operating system, applications and data on your local physical server is transferred to high performance, redundant servers in a secure data center and re-started. The "virtual" server is then accessed over a secure, private internet connection, or VPN, just as if it were running locally. It can be fully managed, i.e. you can power it on, power it off, access the system console, and even attach floppy and CD drives and images, using only a web browser.
It gets harder and more expensive to find reliable new servers that work with many older operating systems, and the dangers of the old servers failing continue to grow.
In addition, sometimes new servers are needed quickly but capital expenditure budgets are limited.
Microlite has partnered with a great company dedicated to helping you virtualize new or legacy operating systems and applications on highly secure and reliable servers in top-of-the-line data centers. After virtualization, hardware failure and device driver worries are over forever.
I've been so excited at the prospect that I've become involved with the company and I am managing channel sales. SCO Cloud (no relation to SCO) recognizes that many end users continue to use their value-added resellers to manage their servers. If you are interested in cloud virtualization through your reseller, SCO Cloud will be happy to work with them. If you are an "orphaned" end-user, SCO Cloud can work with you directly or help you find a SCO Cloud partner to assist you.
There are many other benefits to cloud virtualization. Grab the SCO Cloud Welcome Document and SCO Cloud End User Price List today to see if this is what you've been waiting for, then contact your reseller or sales@scocloud.com for additional information.
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Kindest regards,
Tom
D. Thomas Podnar
President
Microlite Corporation
tom@microlite.com
888-257-3343 - Toll-Free
724-375-6711 - Main
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