Alacritus and Network Appliance Deliver Advanced Virtual Tape Library; Solution Shortens Backup Windows, Accelerates Data Recovery, and Simplifies Backup Management

Business Wire, Dec 7, 2004

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Alacritus Software today announced that it has teamed with Network Appliance (Nasdaq:NTAP) to provide an advanced virtual tape library solution. The solution is based on Alacritus' Securitus(R) software and NetApp(R) NearStore(R) or FAS storage systems. The combined solution can be used as a high-performance and highly reliable virtual library system for backing up both NetApp storage as well as UNIX(R) and Windows(R) servers. The solution is certified with backup software from Bakbone, CA, CommVault, Dantz, EMC/Legato, HP, IBM and VERITAS.

A virtual tape library device enables a disk storage system to look exactly like one or more tape libraries to the backup application. It is the easiest way to incorporate disks into a backup environment. This enables customers to rapidly deploy disks for their backup and restore needs and begin enjoying the benefits of disks -- faster recovery times and simplified management -- immediately. At the same time, the solution integrates with real physical tape libraries for the seamless creation of removable media sets.

"NetApp NearStore is the industry's premier nearline disk system and partnering with NetApp to offer virtual tape library capabilities for NearStore as well as other NetApp systems is a real boon for today's data-intensive enterprise customers," said Don Trimmer, co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer at Alacritus. "Securitus on NetApp is a winning proposition for us and our customers who demand a simple, cost-effective solution to meet their pressing backup and recovery needs. Downtime is expensive. With NetApp and Alacritus working together, downtime and the costs of safeguarding against it are both dramatically reduced."

Alacritus' Securitus software provides the industry's most fully functional virtual tape library solution. The product, now in its third generation, has been shipping to end-users for three years. With a single NearStore system, the solution scales from 8TB to 96TB. Multiple NearStore systems can be utilized with a single Securitus appliance to provide almost unlimited levels of scalability.

"Virtual tape libraries are an important solution for customers struggling to keep up with the huge demands for reliable and economical backup and restore," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of marketing at Network Appliance. "By partnering with Alacritus, we can offer customers a robust virtual tape library alternative that is backed by mature Securitus software and the rock solid NearStore platform, both of which have been warmly embraced by enterprise customers with huge expectations for data reliability and availability. And because NetApp RAID-DP(TM) is built into each NearStore and FAS system, customers can rest assured that their data is protected by the world's most advanced technologies."

About Network Appliance

Network Appliance is a world leader in unified storage solutions for today's data-intensive enterprise. Since its inception in 1992, Network Appliance has delivered technology, product, and partner firsts that continue to drive "The evolution of storage.(TM)" Information about Network Appliance(TM) solutions and services is available at www.netapp.com.

About Alacritus Software

Alacritus is the industry leader in innovative, disk-based data protection software solutions with Chronospan(R) Continuous Data Protection (CDP) addressing the burgeoning Time Addressable Storage (TAS) marketplace, and the Securitus(R) Virtual Tape Library (VTL). Chronospan transforms the data protection paradigm by replacing the traditional method of logical data protection with a totally new methodology (that no longer necessitates a backup window), while Securitus delivers all the benefits of disk, while preserving the customer's current library infrastructure. For more information, contact Alacritus at (925) 469-0725 or visit the Alacritus Software website at www.alacritus.com.

NetApp and NearStore are registered trademarks and Network Appliance, RAID-DP, and The evolution of storage are trademarks of Network Appliance, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open Group. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.