System Backup Administrator (SBAdmin) is the flagship offering from Storix; a recovery and backup platform primarily targeted for Linux and AIX equipment. The SBAdmin platform differing primarily in scale and offered in multiple flavors; including the feature Desktop limited edition, for non single system, non-commercial users; the Workstation edition, to perform with multiple systems or single systems that do not share network resources; and lastly the Network Administrator version, which allows between network machines, in particular the centralized management of backup jobs. Each machine on the network can be a client (to be backed up from) or a server (to be backed up to) or both in the Network Administrator version, with the central console monitoring their status and managing the backup jobs between them.
SBAdmin platform's key function is its ability to perform full system recovery of data to machines with differing hardware from the original source; facilitating such operations as the replication or cloning of machines without the need to reinstall the O/S and applications individually on new equipment. As referred by Storix. Inc., as the Adaptable System Recovery (ASR), the technology provides for restores that acclimatize the backed up data to the hardware detected during installation. If differences are detected between the backup and the newly detected hardware, the software will make recommendations to the user on how to complete the restoration, such as making the user aware of the selection of new disks or of the automated shrinking of file systems. In addition to migrating a backup to new hardware, the backup can be modified when restored to the same machine as well; facilitating the transferring of storage allocations on the device, such as: migrating to Logical Volumes or Software RAID from disk partitions; transferring partitions to different disks; splitting a single FS into multiple systems, etc.).
Linux and AIX machines is the primary target for the SBAdmin, however, the product's maker, Storix, Inc., notes that Windows or Mac OS X based backups are also a possible option to be considered within the Network Administrator version; a process which is made possible due to the product's ability to backup exposed data via the SMB protocol. This exposed data is then backed up by first moving the SMB data temporarily on to a Linux SMB host and then backing it up from there. The data can then be restored to Linux or AIX file systems, if desired, as an additional feature if the user so chooses. As described above, full system recoveries are not available for backups that are SMB-based.
Additional optional features include backup encryption. The data is encrypted at the client prior to being transmitted over the network, with options by the original machine, or a machine with the proper encryption keys installed, to limit the backup to being read only. The ability to execute live backups of point-in-time data, via Split-Mirror-Backups on AIX systems and Snapshot Logical Volumes on Linux; and an elective Oracle Database Backup feature incorporating Oracle database backups with the SBAdmin interface.
SBAdmin's latest release is the aforementioned Oracle RMAN integration, as well as a remote install manager permitting remotely managed system recovery; a Web-based interface; support for numerous compression levels; retention policies and new notification; and according to Storix, Inc., offers a performance amplification of up to 2x write and 4x read.
With pricing ranging from $99 for the desktop version to $895 for the Network Administrator version, SDAdmin is available now. There is an additional cost of $395 for additional backup client/server licenses.
Visit the Storix, Inc. web site for more information.