Into the Email Backup Maze

Posted by Mary Jander on April 14, 2006

Tags: Backup & Recovery,  Storage Management

Channel: Backup & Recovery, Storage & Mgmt

Users have more choices than ever when it comes to backup software for Microsoft Exchange, but they're also confronting a series of claims that may be full of sophistry.

Among the companies peddling Exchange backup are Asempra, Atempo, Kashya, Mimosa, Revivio, and Timespring. At the same time, established players like EMC and Symantec offer backup solutions. Companies like Asigra and online service providers like Iron Mountain offer wares for large enterprises and service providers.

While there are differences in the size and scope of these products, many suppliers are making claims that sound alike. Most, for instance, offer some form of continuous data protection (CDP) for recovering email server setups after an outage. Most provide journaling, or the tracking of email records, that's additional to what Microsoft provides with its server software.

The uniformity of these claims is making it tough for suppliers to distinguish themselves, and most point to their product architectures for an added pitch. These arguments focus on whether a product works on the Exchange server or uses software agents to conduct backup and restoral.

First, let's take a look at the claims: