Netgear ‘Readies’ Symantec Backup Exec NAS Storage Links

Networking, storage and security company, Netgear announced its ReadyNAS line of storage appliances for small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) now supports the Remote Agent for Linux and Unix Servers (RALUS) for Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers.

The Symantec-produced Backup Exec agent communicates directly with Symantec Backup Exec software and is installed directly on the ReadyNAS appliance. Netgear claims it is the first vendor delivering sub-$5,000 (£3,040) storage systems to partner with Symantec on such functionality.

The Remote Agent extends the agent technology of Backup Exec software beyond Windows and NetWare to help meet the needs of emerging business applications on Linux operating systems. By improving communication between Linux-based ReadyNAS systems and Backup Exec servers, the company said the agent can dramatically increase efficiency and result in reduced backup and restore times in Symantec Backup Exec environments.

“Our work with Symantec is indicative of our commitment to providing SMBs with a full range of options in order to store, share and protect their data,” said Paul Tien, vice president and general manager of Netgear’s networked storage business unit. “This kind of cross-vendor support is proof of our commitment to this market. ReadyNAS owners and channel partners are building ever more powerful solutions at a more affordable price point with industry leaders like Symantec.”

RALUS for Backup Exec provides network-wide data protection and recovery for 32 and 64-bit remote Linux and UNIX servers, including support for Intel Xeon EMT64, Intel Pentium EMT64, AMD Athlon, and AMD Opteron processors. The agent installs directly on the ReadyNAS appliance as a RAIDiator Add-On. The agent is priced at $395 (£240) and licensed from Symantec. The add-on is supported by Backup Exec versions 10.5 as well as newer versions, and is available for download via Netgear’s or Symantec’s websites.

“Disk-to-disk backup performance with the RALUS Add-On for ReadyNAS runs at 3GB/minute,” said Ian Moran, an MCSE with UK reseller Konnexion. “Most importantly, I am now managing backups from various systems using a single tool without error messages or concerns. Thanks to Netgear and Symantec, my SMB customers now have a cutting-edge backup and recovery solution to cut costs and reduce management pain even further.”

Netgear’s ReadyNAS appliances come with 24-hour technical support and a five-year warranty. In addition, a free 30-day trial of the ReadyNAS Vault Internet backup service is also available on all ReadyNAS systems. US pricing for the ReadyNAS Vault service starts at $5.95 (£3.62) per month for consumers and $19.95 (£12.13) per month for businesses.