News

Cortex IT, leading Australian backup software developer announces record downloads of their new BackupAssist tape drive support solution for Windows Server 2008.

Melbourne, Australia – October 22, 2009 – It seems the BackupAssist tape drive solution for Windows Server 2008 really is the solution everyone’s been waiting for. Since the public release of the product on September 16th 2009, Cortex I.T. has clocked more than 3,000 downloads of BackupAssist v5 with the new BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on.

“The response is not surprising really, even though we haven’t done much advertising yet” says Linus Chang CEO of Cortex I.T. and Lead Developer of BackupAssist. “We’ve had a lot of customers asking for help with tape drive support for Windows Server 2008. The product really does fill a gap in the backup software market – the competitor’s products are just too expensive or too complicated for SMBs.”

When Microsoft decided to leave tape drive support out of their new release Windows operating systems, they created a need for a 3rd party software solution to replace it. The BackupAssist solution is so amazingly simple, that many say Microsoft should just have included it in the first place – its tape backup support that uses the ZIP64 open standard to automatically compress data for easy storage on tape.

“I think people are relieved to see a solution they can trust for a price they can afford” says Linus. “.ZIP may have been around for a long time – 23 years to be exact – but it has stood the test of time. Everyone knows it’s a tried and true method of performing backups. The BackupAssist solution finally makes .ZIP suitable for business use. It is very reassuring because you can rely on the stored information being accessible ten years from now…no matter what Microsoft does next.”

Think of the BackupAssist Zip Engine as ‘ZIP Turbocharged.’ It has multi-threading architecture, tuned for performance, outperforms the old WinZIP by a factor of three on entry-level servers and takes ZIP64 to the next level by automating the whole .ZIP process. That makes it one of the best tape backup solutions for Server 2008 on the market, suitable for even the most demanding business backups, at a fraction of the cost of the major competitor.

The BackupAssist solution gives you real-time data compression on the fly, 256-bit AES data encryption and puts it all together in a package with an extremely user-friendly interface and easy to follow wizards. You even get a fantastic Restore Console that makes it amazingly quick and easy to search backups and restore them to either an original or alternative destination – other ZIP software just isn’t as powerful.

“BackupAssist Resellers all over the world are specifying this product to protect their client’s tape drive investments” says Linus. “Our new Zip-To-Tape Add-on is yet another important feature set to our family of products that enables our Resellers to provide a full range of services to their clients. BackupAssist includes solutions for Drive Imaging, Exchange, SQL and Rsync. It’s not just for tape support on Server 2008, it’s a complete software package that covers all your backup needs. Whether you’re an IT service provider or an end-user, it’s simple, easy to use and very inexpensive.”

BackupAssist v5 US$249.
BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on US$129.
Total package: US$378.

BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-On Features

• Support for tape drives – backup to a standalone tape drive.
• Multi-threading architecture – outperforms WinZIP by a factor of three.
• Open .ZIP format –stores backups as .ZIP files for easy access on any Windows machine.
• Real-time data compression (on-the-fly), saving tape storage space.
• 256-bit AES data encryption to give your backups password protection.
• Easy, perfect restore including time stamps, NTFS attributes, ADS etc.
• User-friendly interface with easy to follow wizards. No training necessary.
• OS: Windows 2008 Family, Windows 2003 Family, Windows 7, Vista and XP.

Purchasing information:
Purchase online at www.backupassist.com
Discounts available for not-for-profit organizations. Reseller enquiries welcome.

Contact details:
Linus Chang, Cortex I.T. Labs Pty. Ltd.
+61-3-9899-4681
linus.chang@cortexit.com

When Microsoft released Windows Server 2008 without NTBackup tape support, many I.T. Administrators using tape drive backups were outraged. They were left with few choices: write-off their significant investments in tape drive hardware, or attempt to source third party tape backup software – an option that seemed likely to increase the complexity and expense of tape backups to a point where they were no longer a viable backup solution.

Melbourne, Australia – October 14, 2009 – The decision to exclude NTBackup support has left Microsoft with very few fans in the SMB I.T. market. But enter a software company that listens to its customers and creates products to meet the SMB market’s demand for simple, cost-effective backup solutions… and nothing else.

When it was first released in 2002, BackupAssist was immediately welcomed by SMBs looking for simple backup software that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Now the same innovative company has developed the BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on to fill the gap in tape drive support for Windows Server 2008 users… and it’s set to be just as well received as the original BackupAssist software.

The new BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on provides a simple solution to the missing tape drive support problem in Server 2008 and other newer Windows operating systems. It’s a solution that some say should have been included all along – tape backup software that uses the ZIP64 standard to automatically compress data for easy storage on tape.

“We were very surprised when Microsoft decided to drop NTBackup, because we’ve all been happily using it for years” says Linus Chang, Lead Developer and C.E.O. of BackupAssist’s parent company Cortex I.T. “But we were already working on our Zip Engine as a means to compress and encrypt backup data, so when our customers asked for help with tape drive support on Windows Server 2008, we were able to come up with a simple solution very quickly.”

Everyone knows that zipping files and folders is a simple and effective backup method – ZIP is a trusted and proven technology. But think of BackupAssist’s ZIP Engine as ‘ZIP Turbocharged’. It has multi-threading architecture, tuned for performance. It outperforms WinZIP by a factor of three on entry-level servers and takes ZIP64 to the next level by automating the process. That makes it one of the best tape backup solutions on the market, suitable for even the most demanding business backups.

What’s more, data is restorable nearly anywhere thanks to the ZIP open standard – you don’t even need to use BackupAssist software to restore your data – but it’s highly recommended. (BackupAssist V5 includes a new Restore Console which makes it amazingly easy to search your backups and restore data to the original destination – other ZIP software simply won’t do that.)

The BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on gives you real-time data compression on-the-fly, allowing you to store more data on each tape. It also gives you simple 256-bit AES encryption, so you can give your backups password protection. And it’s all put together with an extremely user-friendly interface and easy to follow wizards. “We’ve made the whole process really easy, so you don’t need to get a university degree to operate it.” Linus says.

“Our new Zip-to-Tape Add-on adds yet another important feature set to our family of products, which also includes solutions for imaging, Exchange, SQL and Rsync.” Linus explains. “Together, BackupAssist V5 with the BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on gives you a Server 2008 tape backup solution and a complete software package that covers all your backup needs.”

BackupAssist V5 US$249.
BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-on US$149.
Total package: US$378.

BackupAssist Zip-To-Tape Add-On Features

• Support for tape drives – backup to a standalone tape drive.
• Multi-threading architecture – outperforms WinZIP by a factor of three.
• Open .ZIP format – backups are stored as .ZIP files for easy access on any Windows-based machine.
• Real-time data compression (on-the-fly), saving tape storage space.
• 256-bit AES data encryption to give your backups password protection.
• Easy, perfect restore including time stamps, NTFS attributes, ADS etc.
• User-friendly interface with easy to follow wizards. No training necessary.

Purchasing information:
Purchase online at www.backupassist.com
BackupAssist – US$249
BackupAssist Zip-to-Tape add-on – US$129
(Total package: US$378.)
Discounts available for not-for-profit organizations. Reseller enquiries welcome.

Contact details:
Linus Chang, Cortex I.T. Labs Pty. Ltd.
+61-3-9899-4681
linus.chang@cortexit.com

Leading developer of BackupAssist products, Cortex I.T, has hit the market with a breakthrough solution that completely simplifies Hyper-V backup tasks, launching their public beta test today.

Melbourne, Australia – October 5, 2009. – In an exciting development, an Australian company is leading the world’s backup software market with today’s launch of a public beta test of a revolutionary new Hyper-V backup solution… the BackupAssist Hyper-V Granular Restore Console.

“Hyper-V backup is full of confusion and frustration for even the most experienced IT professionals, because there are so many possible data recovery scenarios. Until now there’s been no straightforward, affordable method of creating backup tasks to cover them all” says Linus Chang, CEO of Cortex I.T and Lead Developer of BackupAssist.

“Our new BackupAssist Hyper-V solution is designed to be a simple, cost-effective answer to a very complicated problem. It eliminates time-consuming manual procedures and overcomes the reliability issues inherent in Hyper-V backups” says Linus.

The beta test launched today gives the market an opportunity to get a sneak peek at the functionality of BackupAssist’s new ‘granular technology’. It simplifies Hyper-V backup tremendously because it requires just one image backup of the Host, which you can use to retrieve files and documents from any number of Guest machines on the Host. “It will save hours of very tedious work for IT Administrators everywhere” says Linus. “We’ve made it so the whole procedure can be completed in a matter of minutes.”

‘Granular technology’ allows you dig into a VHD file and retrieve files from within. Without granular technology, the files and folders within each Guest VM are locked in their respective VHD files, making them inaccessible. To retrieve them, you would need to do a second backup of each individual Guest VM, which could be very time consuming and use a lot of disk space.

“Now you can backup the entire server in one pass” Linus says enthusiastically. “And that’s because the BackupAssist Granular Restore Console makes it fast and easy to dig down into a VHD file to get the data you want. It’s never before been possible to do it this quickly or affordably.

“You can backup unlimited Guest machines, with no extra licensing costs involved. And because you only need one backup, you’ll use less data storage space and reduce hardware costs, too” says Linus. “But for me, the best thing about it is ease of use. You don’t need a degree in computer science to make it work.

”Our new Hyper-V Granular Restore Console will be marketed as the BackupAssist VM Granular Restore Add-on and will be made available together with a BackupAssist base license for less than US$500. Anyone who’d like to sign up now as a Beta Tester can apply at www.backupassist.com” he adds.

Purchasing information:
Purchase online at www.backupassist.com
BackupAssist – US$249
BackupAssist VM Granular Restore Add-on (now in beta) – US$249.
(Visit www.backupasist.com for pricing in other currencies.)
Reseller enquiries welcome.

Contact details:
Linus Chang, Cortex I.T. Labs Pty. Ltd.
+61-3-9899-4681
linus.chang@cortexit.com