EMC Corporation, the world leader in information storage and management, today announced the immediate availability of an EMC Dantz Retrospect 7 update for Windows software that drives increased levels of sophistication into EMC's data protection offerings for small and medium businesses, distributed enterprises, as well as home and home offices. New enhancements include AES 256-bit encryption, support for Microsoft Windows x64 operating systems, and the ability to perform scheduled grooming of Disk Backup Sets. The update, which is available to current Retrospect 7 customers, also extends push button backup for users of third-party external hard drives who want to use more powerful Retrospect editions.

By delivering the highest level of data encryption available, EMC Dantz Retrospect meets the growing concerns of SMB customers who recognize the importance of data security. Retrospect has received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 197 certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for its 128-bit AES and 256-bit AES encryption.

Security is a fundamental requirement across the board for IT environments. One aspect of security is confidentiality, which is provided by encryption technology. "Recent news coverage has shown how confidential customer information can be seriously compromised when unencrypted backup media is lost or stolen," said Victoria Grey, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for EMC Dantz. "With EMC Dantz Retrospect, companies can feel confident their data is protected against unauthorized access. Customers will implement encryption as one element of their overall security strategy."

Retrospect has also been enhanced to support new higher performing operating systems: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition; and, as a client, SUSE Linux 9.3.

Retrospect's disk grooming function has also been improved to enable scheduled grooming. Disk grooming helps customers increase disk utilization and save money by deleting unneeded older backup data automatically from a hard drive to make room for newer backups. This ensures disk capacity is always available without manual intervention. Rather than having disk grooming begin during a backup, Retrospect can now groom older data on a fixed schedule during off hours, allowing backups to run without delay.

Millions of Retrospect customers protect a single desktop or notebook computer by using built-in backup buttons that come with many popular third-party external hard drives to activate an OEM version of Retrospect called Retrospect Express. Button support has been extended to Retrospect Multi Server, Single Server, Small Business Server, Disk-to-Disk, and Professional editions. Customers can now protect additional networked computers with these Retrospect editions, while continuing to use the convenient backup button on their external hard drive to perform backups on demand or on a schedule.