Stac, Legato back up Windows

Backing up data residing on server computers may not be the flashiest business in high technology, but someone's got to do it.

Two major players in the data storage management market, Stac (STAC) and Legato Systems (LGTO) introduced new products and strategies today targeted at the burgeoning Microsoft Windows NT Server market.

With the Internet explosion taxing server systems like never before, the role of backup software on a growing network cannot be underestimated, caution analysts.

Stac has won converts from rivals such as Computer Associates subsidiary Cheyenne Software and Seagate Software in the Novell NetWare server backup space. Now the company has added Replica 3 Single Server for Windows NT version to its lineup.

The software, available now in three different versions, allows an active server to be backed up while that server is functioning. The software also includes a disaster-recovery feature in case there is a system fault. It also allows for replication of entire server file systems, which consist of everything that is stored to disk.

Legato Systems has taken a fast-growing Unix-based server backup business and expanded into the Windows NT and NetWare markets. The company recently announced a new architecture for its products, the Global Enterprise Management of Storage (GEMS), which allows third parties to integrate into the framework. The architecture lets modules tied to specific applications, such as a database, back up data from those applications across a network.

The company is in the midst of rolling out 22 new or adapted products in a push that will extend through the end of the year. Next month, GEMS 1.0 will be released as well as version 4.4 of NetWorker, the company's flagship backup product, for Windows NT. New revs of the NetWorker line, as well as modules for backups of specific applications, will follow soon after.