Syncsort Incorporated announced today that its newest release of Backup Express, the enterprise data protection product, is certified to support the NetApp NearStore Virtual Tape Library (VTL). This reaffirms Syncsort's commitment to be among the first partners supporting the latest technology from Network Appliance, Inc., and other vendor partners. Backup Express has been working with NetApp as an integral supporter of disk-to-disk backup development for over two years, including the release of Backup Express 2.2 with NetApp SnapVault® management capabilities in 2004.

Backup Express has been a long-standing technology partner of NetApp, working closely on technologies such as NDMP, SnapVault, and disk-to-disk backup for open systems with Open Systems SnapVault (OSSV)—and now backup to NearStore VTL. Backup Express 2.35 certified support of NearStore VTL means that it offers customers the benefits of disk-based data protection combined with the ease-of-use of Backup Express administration and management for schedules, monitoring and tracking. Mutual customers will realize the benefits of disk-based data protection such as improved scalability, greater reliability in case of hardware failure, faster backups and restores, and business continuity with offsite servers in case of a disaster. Backup Express data protection and recovery for NearStore VTL utilize high-performance image technology and application integration for mission critical applications such as SQL Server, Exchange and Oracle.

Future releases of Backup Express are slated to include features that will further enhance the ease-of-management for NearStore VTL users with more in-depth integration of the products for maintenance activities, tracking and archive management.

“This certification illustrates our ongoing commitment to ensuring that Backup Express works seamlessly with NetApp products to provide world-class enterprise storage and data protection systems and offer options that best fit mutual customer environments including SnapVault, OSSV and NearStore VTL,” said Dan Regan, Syncsort’s Senior Vice President.

“The combination of NearStore VTL and Backup Express extends the simplicity and operational efficiencies of NetApp disk-to-disk solutions to virtually any open systems storage environment," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Products and Partners at Network Appliance, Inc. “Syncsort certification enables our customers to immediately deploy NearStore VTL into their existing backup infrastructure.”

About Backup Express

Backup Express is an enterprise data protection solution with innovative technology, offering non-disruptive continuous data protection for UNIX, Windows, Linux, Mac and NetWare/Open Enterprise Server environments. Backup Express is the only solution that integrates heterogeneous snapshot, image and rapid recovery options, supports any combination of UNIX, Windows, NetWare/Open Enterprise Server, Linux and NDMP/NAS in a SAN, dynamically shares all backup destinations, supports all NDMP incrementals, and controls an entire enterprise environment with centralized management and reporting.

About Syncsort

Syncsort Incorporated is a leading developer of high-performance data management and data warehousing software. For more than 35 years, Syncsort has built a reputation for superior product performance and reliable technical support. Over 90 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are Syncsort customers, and Syncsort's products are used in more than 50 countries to protect business continuance, speed data processing, and improve performance of data-intensive applications. For more information, visit the Syncsort Web site at http://www.syncsort.com/.