Features - Storage Innovations:

PRINCETON SOFTECH EXPANDS COMPLIANCE OPTIONS FOR DATA

Princeton Softech, a market leader in database archiving according to Gartner, announced the general availability of Release 5.3a of Princeton Softech's Archive for Servers with expanded support for Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) strategies. This newest release of Archive for Servers delivers integration with industry leading VERITAS Data Lifecycle Manager 5.0 (DLM) software and Network Appliance storage systems to enhance the management of structured date found in databases, where the majority of the world's data is stored.

"As enterprises begin to implement ILM solutions to reduce data management and storage costs and satisfy compliance requirements, it is critical that these solutions integrate seamlessly with existing storage infrastructures," said Jim Lee, vice president of product marketing at Princeton Softech. "Our latest release of Archive for Servers enables customers to manage and store archived data with two of the industry's leading storage software and hardware management solutions: VERITAS Data Lifecycle Manager and Network Appliance's unified storage systems and NearStore systems."

VERITAS Data Lifecycle Manager 5.0 software automates the placement, retention and management of data in virtual archives that span diverse media types. Princeton Softech's Archive for Servers leverages the user-defined policies specified within VERITAS DLM to manage Archive Files across defined storage tiers. This capability allows organizations to select less expensive, secondary storage media to store Archive Files and reuse expensive primary disks for current application data.

Data management and compliance with data retention regulations, like the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOA), are high-cost necessities for enterprises. "Based on detailed survey results with more than 70 companies, AMR Research estimates that next year's SOA spending will be $5.5 billion, with more than half -- nearly $3 billion -- in hard expenditures that could affect companies' bottom-line performance." Source: John Hagerty, Heather Keltz, AMR Research Outlook, Dec. 8.

The integration of Archive for Servers with Network Appliance SnapLock software allows users to write Archive files directly to SnapLock-managed WORM ("Write Once, Read Many") volumes on Network Appliance primary storage systems (FAS Series) and nearline storage systems (NearStore) systems, with SnapLock enforcing all defined data retention policies for archived data. These features enable regulatory compliance and prevent archived data from being modified or deleted prematurely.

Companies have implemented Archive for Servers to manage accelerating database growth by archiving and removing 50 percent or more of rarely accessed data from production databases and storing that data cost-effectively. As an essential component of ILM, Archive for Servers provides the capabilities for managing and storing structured data, based on its business value and access requirements over time. Companies that implement database archiving and ILM best practices can leverage the most cost-effective performance/storage platforms to regain application and performance benefits, while optimizing storage utilization and reducing costs.

"Database archiving is an integral component of Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) for managing and storing structured data, especially as businesses continue to focus on optimizing storage resource utilization and reducing costs associated with data retention and compliance," said Edward M. Broderick, principal analyst at the Robert Frances Group. "The integration of database archiving with VERITAS Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) and Network Appliance SnapLock solutions enables companies to implement an overall enterprise-wide ILM strategy and satisfy the need for cost-effective storage hardware and software solutions that also address compliance requirements."