SteelEye Insider

CDP added to SteelEye Data Replication for Windows

This week, we announced the release of SteelEye Data Replication for Windows v6, a component of the LifeKeeper Protection Suite for Windows. 

The new product is the first to combine continuous data protection (CDP) features such as any-point-in-time rewind with comprehensive data replication capabilities including support for multiple data replication targets and the ability to combine data mirrors across any combination of LANs or WANs.  The combination of CDP with off-site replication assures that business critical data can be restored in case of data corruption, viruses or user errors as well as in the face of large-scale physical disasters.  SteelEye Data Replication v6 also boasts the fastest replication speeds across WANs in the industry.

Download the product datasheet to learn more.  You can also request a free evaluation version here.

In a special 45 minute webinar on Wednesday, August 1st, we’ll look in more detail at  these advanced features and present a live demonstration of SteelEye Data Replication in action.  Register here for the webinar.

I hope to speak with you on August 1st. 

Announcing LifeKeeper for Windows v6 Update 1

Today we released SteelEye LifeKeeper for Windows v6 Update 1. This update contains several significant features including:

• LifeKeeper for Windows v6 Update 1
  • Support for SteelEye Data Replication "Any Point in Time" Rewind
  • New Data Recovery Wizard
  • Enhancement to the bundled IIS Recovery Kit

• LifeKeeper DB2 Recovery Kit v6 Update 1
  • General maintenance

• LifeKeeper Microsoft Exchange Server Recovery Kit v6 Update 1
  • Additional validation checking during create and extend operations
  • Automatically create volume resources during create

• LifeKeeper Microsoft SQL Server Recovery Kit v6 Update 1
  • Additional validation checking during create and extend operations
  • Automatically create volume resources during create

• LifeKeeper VMware VirtualCenter Recovery Kit v6 Update 1
  • General maintenance

• SteelEye Data Replication for Windows v6 Update 1
  • "Any Point in Time" Rewind

Please refer to the LifeKeeper for Windows v6 Update 1 Release Notes and SteelEye Data Replication for Windows v6 Update 1 for additional information.

SteelEye an acquisition target?

This recent article from The 451 Group includes SteelEye among Virtualization Management vendors (yeah!) who might be seen as an acquisition target (?) by the bigger players in the space. 

That was followed up by this blog posting along the same lines.

Sorry, we cannot comment on M&A rumors.  :)

James talks with Redmond Channel Partner

A great interview with James discussing Microsoft’s assertions around GPLv3.  An excerpt is below:

James Bottomley is really on top of things (sorry -- we had to say it) when it comes to Linux. The CTO of SteelEye Technology is also on the board of the Linux Foundation. In that capacity, he helps smooth the transition of disparate Linux organizations into the still fairly new Foundation.

As such, Bottomley's obviously got some insight into Microsoft's continued patent deals with Linux distributors.

Those patent deals took another turn this week as Redmond claimed that its deal with Linspire didn't cover software developed under the latest version of the license that governs Linux use, the now infamous GPLv3.

Bottomley is an open source believer, but while he's, let's just say, "critical" of Redmond's business practices, it's important to point out that he's not necessarily anti-Microsoft. (SteelEye, in fact, is a Gold Certified Partner.) And his perspective on Microsoft's fleecing of Linux distributors is not only that it isn't really fleecing at all -- but that it might just end up being a huge waste of time and money.

LifeKeeper for Exchange Product Review

DM Review magazine has published a very positive product review and profile of the LifeKeeper for Exchange selection and deployment at U of Tampa.   What makes this particular customer story special for us is that LifeKeeper was selected after a very rigorous evaluation process against all of our main competitors.  LifeKeeper stood up to everything thrown at it while the other solutions corrupted mailstores and/or had to be reinstalled in order to continue working. 

An excerpt from the review reads:

What sold our team on Steeleye's LifeKeeper software was the ability to control failover every time. We were very concerned about day-to-day IT issues such as short-term power failures, DNS failures, network card failures, normal shutdowns for system maintenance, etc. During testing, the other products continuously tried to failover during these forced outages, often resulting in a corrupt email system. LifeKeeper only attempted to failover when we wanted it to.

Another reads:

SteelEye was the only product of the three we evaluated that did not corrupt our email system when we forced a typical "problem" situation, such as simulating a network outage or a power outage. SteelEye was also the only application that we didn't have to continuously reinstall whenever we tried to failover. Other products tended to failover even when we did not intend to do so. Another important factor in the decision process was the strength of the software vendor's support team. Any prospective solution without support staff in the U.S. was eliminated from consideration.

Go team!

LifeKeeper for Linux v6 Update 1 Maintenance Update #3

Today we released SteelEye LifeKeeper for Linux v6 Update 1 Maintenance Update #3.  This maintenance update of v6 Update 1 includes two kits: 

·         DMMP Kit – Support for Network Appliances storage

·         PowerPath Kit – general maintenance

Please refer to the LifeKeeper for Linux v6 Update 1 Release Notes for additional information.

SteelEye CTO Comments on GPLv3

Never one to shy away from an opportunity to express his opinion, our CTO, James Bottomley, has been in great demand over the past several days to comment on the new GPL version and on Microsoft's comments.  You can read some of his interviews at:  InfoWorld  and LinuxInsider.

Update: A great interview has just been posted at IT Business Edge.

SteelEye named among "10 Software Vendors to Watch" by CRN

SteelEye has been named by CRN Magazine as one of "10 Software Vendors to Watch"!  Go to www.steeleye.com and click on the right hand display to see the full slide show.

It feels grea to have the team's achievements recognized by industry peers and journalists.  We're a hard working company with some really fantastic technology and incredibly smart people.  We truly believe that our products can make the lives of lots of people much better and can make any company more productive.

Thanks for the recognition.

James speaks at Ottawa Linux Symposium

Our CTO, James Bottomley, delivered the keynote at Ottowa Linux Symposium last week on the topic "Evolution and Diversity: The Meaning of Openness and Freedom in Linux". 

Dave Jones has posted a few comments on his blog.

David Graham has posted a detailed account of the final day of OLS on linux.com.