26.9.09

2 birthday in one day


26th september 1999 KAHKESHAN ins.of technology was born in Tehran!!! This is not just a place for me this is my fututre, my hope, friend and my home...
ater a decade, KAHKESHAN is the most famous and the best IT company in IRAN.




26th september 1945 Esteghlal FC was born in Tehran, not just a fan of it am a lover and will be forver.




Happy birthday to both of you. Wish u the best and hope u ll be stay in the best place of the world always....

CCNA exploration


The Cisco CCNA Exploration curriculum provides an integrated and comprehensive coverage of networking topics, from fundamentals to advanced applications and services, while providing opportunities for hands-on practical experience and soft-skills development. The curriculum teaches networking based on technology, covering networking concepts using a top-down, theoretical, and integrated approach – from network applications to the network protocols and services provided to those applications by the lower layers of the network.

CCNA Exploration is designed for students with advanced problem solving and analytical skills. The curriculum offers a comprehensive and theoretical learning experience for analytical students, and uses language that aligns well with engineering concepts. Interactive activities are embedded in the curriculum, along with detailed, theoretical content. Advanced labs build critical thinking and problem solving skills and encourage exploration and research.

CCNA Exploration can be delivered as an independent curriculum or integrated into a broader course of study, such as degree programs in IT, engineering, math, or science. While primarily designed for postsecondary institutions, CCNA Exploration is appropriate for students at many education levels if they have the required skills, and if the instructional approach complements their learning style and educational goals.

CCNA Exploration helps prepare students for entry-level career opportunities, continuing education, and globally-recognized Cisco CCNA certification.

24.9.09

Best way to Pass 70-620

Most of the students pass with 950 or more, Be careful of simulation tests!!!

http://www.examcollection.com/microsoft/Microsoft.Pass4Sure.70-620.v2009-05-19.by.LoneWolf.225q.vce.file.html

Hopefuly that would be informative for u!!

15.9.09

IEEE stamps "approved" on 802.11n Wi-Fi standard


The IEEE has finally approved the 802.11n high-throughput wireless LAN standard.

There’s been no public announcement yet by IEEE. But Bruce Kraemer, the long-time chairman of the 802.11n Task Group (part of the 802.11 Working Group, which oversees the WLAN standards), has sent out a notification to a listserv for task group members, which includes a wide range of Wi-Fi chip makers, software developers, and equipment vendors.

The brief e-mail was sent just after 11 a.m. EST today. Kraemer announced that the Standards Board had approved both 11n and a companion standard: 11w, for protecting data in 802.11 management frames.

“Although this e-mail vehicle falls far short of expressing the sentiment, thanks to the hundreds of 802.11members that contributed to these efforts, as well as the 802 EC and the IEEE Staff,” Kraemer wrote.

The Task Group was formally launched on Sept. 11, 2003 . A “Study Group” had been formed a year earlier, to weigh the feasibility of creating a standard that would be the basis for wireless LANS with a minimum of 100Mbps throughput. Today’s Wi-Fi-certified WLAN products, based on draft 2.0 of the standard, typically deliver from 150Mbps to somewhat over 200Mbs, based on two spatial streams.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has said it will update its Wi-Fi certification program on Sept. 30 to begin testing WLAN products that meet the full standard. Only a few additions have been made to the standard in the past 2 years, and these all involve optional features. According to the Alliance, users can expect future Wi-Fi products to be fully compatible with today’s products.

12.9.09

Intel Core i5 And Core i7: Intel’s Mainstream Magnum Opus

Intel’s emphasis right now is on Clarkdale, the Nehalem-based mainstream lineup centering on a 32nm process shrink. Clarkdale will be the foundation on which upcoming Core i5 and Core i3 CPUs are based. It’s a big deal for Intel. So big, in fact, that I was told jokingly two weeks before the Lynnfield launch that the whole company had been focusing on Clarkdale, not the Core i5 and Core i7 we’re seeing today.

Of course, that’s only really funny for the folks who’ve already seen how the Lynnfield-based processors actually perform and know they’re not as anemic as an enthusiast might expect, given the fact that Intel is aggressively pursuing integration, aiming for a SoC-type design in the not-so-distant future.

But Clarkdale is six months away, at least. Today is all about Lynnfield—the Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs for Intel’s LGA 1156 interface.

The Venerable Core 2 Rides Off…Sort Of

With the divulging of its Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 branding, Intel quietly rang the death knell of its Core 2 family, which has been with us for more than three years now, gently massaging away memories of a day when the company ravenously chased after faster clocks.

That transition won’t happen immediately, though—or even quickly for that matter. Well into the fourth quarter of next year, Intel’s Core 2 architecture will remain a value play. Even today it’s going to persist as a viable option for entry-level buyers.

Core 2 Quads span from $163 to $316 in the company’s August 9th price list. Core 2 Duos range from $113 to $266. Does the trio of CPUs being launched today wreck a number of those price points? Absolutely. Do the three Lynnfield processors we’re seeing now, from $199 to $555 smother Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo to the point that everyone will spend at least $200 on their next CPU? Obviously not.

Wait, Define Mainstream

To make a long story a little shorter, Bloomfield sits at the top of Intel’s stack as Core i7 for LGA 1366. Lynnfield now occupies a space between the high-end and the mid-range segments. Yorkfield (Core 2 Quad) becomes this transitional family that tides Intel over until Clarkdale launches in Q1’ 2010. And Wolfdale continues on in the dual-core Pentium family through the course of 2010.

If you would have considered a Core 2 Quad or Phenom II X4 previously, the lone Core i5 will be of interest to you. If you were previously pondering a Core i7 for LGA 1366, the Core i7-860 and -870 are now vying for your attention with price points disturbingly similar to the i7-920 and -950, respectively. How’re you supposed to choose between CPUs when architecture, functionality, and pricing are all so similar?

10.9.09

Apple announces iPhone 3.1


Apple on Wednesday released the iPhone 3.1 software update, as predicted. Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the update on stage at the Yerba Buena Center during the "Rock and Roll" event. The software includes a handful of new features and bug fixes.

With over 75,000 apps in the App Store, it can be difficult to find new applications. Apple's extended its Genius media-recommendation algorithm to iPhone applications. It looks at the apps you already own and makes recommendations based on that information.

In addition iPhone 3.1 beefs up the iPhone's ringtone capability, allowing you to download over 30,000 ringtones from major labels via a Ringtones section in the iPhone's iTunes application. Ringtones will cost $1.29 apiece, and automatically show up in the iPhone's Settings once they've been downloaded.

iPhone 3.1 is free for all iPhone and iPod touch owners will be available on Wednesday via iTunes.

Source: Macworld

8.9.09

iPhone passcode bugs revealed

About the author: Jay Sartori, CISSP, Security+, CCSP, MCSE, is an IT security analyst with over 12 years of IT experience. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and a master’s in network security management.

As an IT security professional, I was tasked with evaluating the iPhone’s security features for the enterprise . Over the past few weeks, I have been testing different aspects of the new iPhone 3GS, particularly the interaction with Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) and device password policies. During my testing, I discovered some strange behaviors with how the iPhone handles device password policies, as well as passwords altogether.

iPhone security considerations

It has already been proven that the passcode on an iPhone can be removed. The purpose of this article is to point out the false sense of security delivered through Apple’s marketing of iPhone features for the enterprise. My testing has revealed that the enterprise security features do not behave correctly and I will point out three flaws with how passwords are handled with the iPhone and EAS.

The setup for my testing consisted of a 16GB iPhone 3GS running firmware 3.0.1. The iPhone was configured to use Exchange ActiveSync mail going through a proxy server. The proxy server was an F5 Firepass which provides similar functionality as an ISA server to proxy connections to EAS. The Exchange server was running Exchange 2003 SP2 with EAS enabled and configured with device password policies. I set up the device password policy on the Exchange server to enforce a password with a minimum of four characters and a 20 minute inactivity timeout. This means that any mobile device connected to Exchange that is idle for 20 minutes will automatically lock and require a password to access the device.

Bug 1 – iPhone does not handle EAS Policies as expected

With Exchange ActiveSync, administrators can configure device password policies. According to Microsoft, the “Inactivity Time” option determines how long the device needs to be inactive before the user is prompted for the password. I first tested my EAS settings against a Windows Mobile Device. The results were as expected, with the device requiring me to set a password and after 20 minutes of inactivity, requiring me to enter my password.

The iPhone behaved differently. First, you need to understand two settings on the iPhone which pertain to passwords: “Auto-Lock” and “Passcode Lock.” “Auto-Lock” sets the amount of time in minutes before the screen locks. The purpose of this is to save battery life by dimming the screen and to prevent accidental pocket dialing. “Passcode Lock” determines the amount of time in minutes after the Auto-Lock sets in, before a password needs to be entered. This can be configured at 1 min., 5 min., 15 min., 1 hour, 4 hours or never.

Upon successfully connecting to EAS, I was required to set a password as expected. After I set up my password, I reviewed the settings on the iPhone and saw that Auto-Lock was set to 5 minutes and Passcode Lock was set to 15 minutes. This appeared to be correct as the total adds up to 20 minutes before requiring a password to be entered. Surprisingly, however, I was able to change the “Passcode Lock” on the iPhone up to a maximum time of 1 hour. I did notice that I could not set the Passcode Lock to 4 hours or never as those options were apparently removed after connecting to EAS. This allowed me to change the Passcode Lock up to a maximum of 1 hour for a total of 65 minutes (5 for the Auto-Lock and 1hr for the Passcode Lock) before requiring a password.

This means in a corporate environment, users are able to override inactivity timeout settings defined by administrators, as the iPhone does not respect the EAS policy. This gives a false sense of security to administrators and they need to be aware of this behavior. If Apple is going to advertise integration with EAS security policies, then they need to ensure the iPhone respects the settings and behaves accordingly.

Bug 2 – Passcode Prompt Reveals Too Much Information

I’m really not sure how this next bug made it by the quality assurance team, specifically security testing. For this example, let’s assume you set your password to “abc123” and your device gets locked. You are prompted to enter your password with the iPhone keyboard and, as you type, asterisks are displayed across the screen .

This is typical and expected behavior. Note that the input box does not give any indication as to the length of the password or the complexity of the password as you can enter numbers, letters and special characters.


But if you change your password to “1234” or any four-digit numeric password for that matter, from then on you lose the ability to enter any letters or special codes . This reveals two pieces of information about your password: 1) that it consists of only numbers, and 2) the password is only four digits long. From a brute-force perspective that is only 10,000 possible combinations, which would be trivial for any type of offline attack. Knowing this behavior of the iPhone, you may want to consider requiring passwords to require at a minimum both numbers and letters in your EAS policy.

Bug 3 – Changing your iPhone Passcode

This next bug has some similarities to Bug 2. Let’s assume that you realize that your four-digit numeric password is weak and reveals too much information. You decide to change your password from numbers to something alphanumeric. What I discovered is you cannot do this. Once your password is changed to four digits, when you go to change the password, you are only given the option to change it to another four-digit numeric password. On the other hand, if your password is already alphanumeric, you can change it to any length and any combination of numbers, letters and special characters. This is clearly a bug with the iPhone OS.

The workaround to this was to remove the Exchange account from the iPhone and add it back. Upon adding the Exchange account back, I was prompted to enter a new password which allowed me to enter a complex password.

Summary

The iPhone is a great device and is arguably the best mobile device from a usability perspective. Unfortunately, the security features are not quite ready for the enterprise and contain various bugs. In order to safeguard against such bugs, data encryption has to be considered for any type of data protection, but that is another article. Enterprises considering the iPhone for corporate use need to be aware of how the iPhone security features behave and the different ways that data can be breached in the event that the device is lost or stolen.

Source: iPhone Jailbraker

7.9.09

Cisco enhances routers, switches for collaboration

Cisco this week is extending its branch routers and LAN switches in an effort to improve the collaboration capabilities of enterprise customers.

Cisco is enhancing its Integrated Services Routers (ISR) and Catalyst 4500 and 6500 switches with new models, line cards and software to address mobility, sustainability and unified communications (UC) requirements.

Cisco this week is extending its branch routers and LAN switches in an effort to improve the collaboration capabilities of enterprise customers.

Cisco is enhancing its Integrated Services Routers (ISR) and Catalyst 4500 and 6500 switches with new models, line cards and software to address mobility, sustainability and unified communications (UC) requirements.

Cisco is now supporting High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) on the ISR's 3G Wireless Wide Area Network module. HSPA boosts bandwidth and performance for the module in backup or disaster-recovery applications.

Cisco also says applications from Singlewire Software now run on the ISR's Application Extension Platform (AXP) services module. Singlewire's InformaCast package simultaneously sends an audio stream or text message to multiple IP phones, IP speakers, desktop notification systems and overhead paging systems.

The ISRs also now support the following UC features for collaboration and mobility:

* Cisco Unified SIP Proxy to reduce UC deployment costs.

* Voice signatures on the IP Security Network Module to make voice more secure.

* Mobility and video features on Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express.

* Timecard management capabilities on Cisco Unity Express to improve the productivity of branch employees.

The ISR's EtherSwitch Etnernet switching modules also now support Cisco EnergyWise power efficiency technology to help improve energy utilization in the LAN.

For the Catalyst LAN switches, Cisco unveiled a supervisor module for the Catalyst 4500 series. The 6L-E is intended to bring media collaboration and increased energy efficiency to the wiring closet switches through support for Power over Ethernet (PoE) Plus at 30 watts.

PoE Plus is an extension to the PoE standard for video and wireless access point support.

Cisco also rolled out a 48-port 10/100/1000Mbps line card that enables 30-watt PoE support for devices such as videophones, dual-band wireless access points, building service devices and video surveillance cameras. Cisco says it also extended its Smart Call Home support notification feature and EnergyWise capabilties to the Catalyst 4500.

The Catalyst 4500, and all of Cisco's wiring closet switches, also now have a limited lifetime warranty, Cisco says.

For the Catalyst 6500, Cisco enhanced its use in campus backbones by integrating the virtual switching system (VSS) and service module capabilities of the switch. This lets customers deploy firewall, network analysis module (NAM), and wireless service modules in their VSS campus core, for increased backbone scale and reliability, Cisco says.

New NAM capabilities provide visibility into voice applications, traffic analysis and segmented MPLS networks, Cisco says.

Meanhwhile, Cisco says there's plenty of life left in the Catalyst 6500 even though the company rolled out the next-generation Nexus switch for data center unified fabric applications. The Nexus is optimized for those environments while the Catalyst 6500 will not likely attain FibreChannel over Ethernet (FCoE) unified I/O or lossless Data Center Ethernet capabilities, said Kumar Srikantan, vice president of product management for Cisco's campus switching systems technology group.

But that doesn't mean the 600,000 Catalyst 6500 chassis deployed are due for retirement, Srikantan says. For instance, the current Supervisor 720 with VSS only drives 40Gbps per slot on the system even though the Catalyst 6500 is capable of 80Gbps per slot, he says.

Therefore, one might expect another supervisor engine to emerge soon to drive the Catalyst 6500 to 80Gbps per slot or higher. And given that most supervisor engines have a 10 to 12 year life cycle, according to Srikantan, and the Sup 720 came out in 2003, a new supervisor could extend the life of the Catalyst 6500 by another 10 to 12 years.

"It's the B-52 of switching," Srikantan says of the Catalyst 6500, referring to the venerable U.S. military aircraft.

The Catalyst 6500 should attain EnergyWise power efficiency capabilities in the first half of 2010, Srikantan says.

Pricing for the 890 ISR starts at $1,295. The 1861W ISR starts at $4,295.

The Supervisor 6L-E for the Catalyst 4500 costs $11,995. The 48 port 10/100/1000 PoE Plus linecard costs $7,495. A 6000 watt power supply for the switch costs $4,995. Bundled pricing for the 4506-E and 4503-E is $18,000 and $11,000, respectively.

All products are available now except the 6000 watt power supply, which will ship in mid-June.

Source: Some cisco's partner

4.9.09

Cisco IOS Guide

Part One:

Cisco IOS Software Family

Cisco IOS Software continues to evolve over time to meet the rapidly changing requirements of the most demanding Enterprise and Service Provider networks. As a family of releases, the feature richness and broad hardware support delivered in Cisco IOS Software is unmatched in the industry.

Table 1 summarizes the latest releases that make up the Cisco IOS Software Family:

Table 1—Cisco IOS Software Family Types and Releases

Type

Release

Description

IOS T

Maintenance Release 12.3

Maintenance Release 12.4

A comprehensive portfolio of Cisco IOS Software technologies and broad hardware adoption for Enterprise, Access, and Commercial networks. Incorporates new software features and hardware introduced in the earlier T release, and additional software fixes. Maintenance releases inherit new Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware from T releases. This is typically new functionality. Hardware is not introduced in maintenance releases.


Release 12.4T

Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware advances for Security, Voice, and Wireless for Enterprise, Access, and Commercial networks.

IOS S

Release 12.2SB

Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for Broadband and Leased-Line Aggregation, and MPLS Provider Edge (PE) on a comprehensive portfolio of mid-range routers for Service Provider edge networks.


Release 12.2SX

Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for high-end Ethernet LAN switching for Enterprise access, distribution, Core and data center networks.


Release 12.2SE

Release 12.2SG

Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for mid-range and low-end Ethernet LAN switching for Enterprise access and distribution networks, and mid-range and low-end Metro Ethernet for Service Provider edge networks.


Release 12.2SR

Cisco IOS Software functionality and hardware for high-end Metro Ethernet and MPLS PE for Service Provider edge networks.

IOS XR

Release 3.2

Cisco IOS XR Software functionality and hardware for the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System and Cisco XR 12000 Series Routers for Service Provider Core networks. Designed to address the terabit scaling, secure virtualization, high availability, and distributed processing requirements of large IP next-generation networks.

Cisco IOS Software Family Hardware

Table 2 correlates Cisco hardware to the recommended Cisco IOS Software Family release.

Table 2—Cisco IOS Software Family Hardware

Hardware

Recommended IOS T, IOS S, IOS XR

Access and Dial Routers

Cisco 800, 1700, 2600, 2800 Series Routers

12.4

12.4T

Cisco 3700 and 3800 Series Routers

12.4

12.4T

Cisco AS5x50

12.4

12.4T

Switches

Cisco Catalyst 2970, 3560 and 3750 Series

12.2SE

Cisco Catalyst 4500 and 4900 Series Switch

12.2SG

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch

12.2SX

Mid-Range Hardware

Cisco 7200 Series and Cisco 7301 Routers

12.4

12.4T

12.2SB

Cisco 7304 Router

12.2SB

Cisco 7500 Series Router

12.4

12.0S

Cisco 10000 Series Router

12.2SB

High-End Hardware

Cisco 7600 Series Internet Router

12.2SR

Cisco 8550 MGX RPM-PR/XF Router

12.4T

Cisco 12000 Series Router

IOS-XR, 12.0S

Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System

IOS-XR

How to set short command in IOS to save time

Using Aliases for CLI Commands

Category: Command line

To save time and the repetition of entering the same command multiple times, you can use a command alias. An alias can be configured to do anything that can be done at the command line, but an alias cannot move between modes, type in passwords, or perform any interactive functions.

Command Alias
Original Command

h

help

lo

logout

p

ping

s

show

u or un

undebug

w

where


To create a command alias, issue the alias command in global configuration mode. The syntax of the command is alias mode command-alias original-command. Following are some examples:

Router(config)# alias exec prt partition—privileged EXEC mode

Router(config)# alias configure sb source-bridge—global configuration mode

Router(config)# alias interface rl rate-limit—interface configuration mode

To view both default and user-created aliases, issue the show alias command.


For example :

In configure mode enter:
Router(config)#alias exec sib Show ip Int Brief

hit enter and exit config mode. Now type sib and you should get the output from the show ip interface brief command. Note that the odd capitalization isn’t needed, it’s just a thing I do to help me remember what the alias is doing.

You can pipe it just like you could normally, so sib | i down will show only lines with “down” in the text. If you type sib, add a SPACE and then hit TAB the alias will be expanded to Show ip Int Brief.

You could alias create aliases like:

Router(config)#alias exec sibd Show ip Int Brief | include down *down

That will show you only interfaces that have “down”, some spaces, and “down” again. If you’ve got a router/switch with a hundred or more interfaces this is a quick way to look for the one with the problem.

Alias exec isn’t the only option, it’s also possible to create aliases that only work in config mode or config-interface mode.

3.9.09

The Best New Features in Windows 7

Windows 7, in all of its various flavors, won't be available in stores until October 22. But, Microsoft announced the availability of a 90-day free trial of Windows 7 Enterprise. That gives you an almost 2 month jumpstart to either start taking advantage of new features of Windows 7, or to test out Windows 7 to decide if you want to make the switch when it becomes available.

Here are a few of the top new features that I think make it worth your time to take advantage of the Windows 7 90-day trial.

Action Center. Microsoft introduced the Windows Security Center feature in Windows XP. Windows 7 renames it as the Action Center and expands the scope of information provided. The Windows 7 Action Center notifies you about security-related issues, but also provides a one-stop-shopping view of system status and maintenance concerns.

Blu-Ray support. In case you haven't gotten the memo, the hi-def DVD war is over and Blu-Ray won. Blu-Ray drives aren't ubiquitous just yet, but more and more PC and laptop manufacturer are including Blu-Ray players and recorders in systems. Windows 7 provides native support for reading and writing to Blu-ray discs.

Device stage. Adding new hardware is often a frustrating and confusing exercise with Windows. Windows 7 includes a feature called Device Stage to simplify the process. Device Stage provides a single console for managing devices such as printers, webcams, and mobile phones. Device Stage can be customized by the device vendor, so the information and functionality available for a given device will vary from one vendor to another.

BitLocker-to-Go. Microsoft introduced BitLocker Disk Encryption in Windows Vista .The initial version could only encrypt the drive volume that housed the Windows operating system, but with Service Pack 1 Microsoft extended BitLocker so that other drives and volumes on the system could be protected as well. With Windows 7 BitLocker goes one step farther by adding BitLocker-to-Go for encrypting data on USB thumb drives and other removable media.

Aero Peek. At first I thought this was just silly eye candy. After using Windows 7 for awhile I have discovered just how useful Aero Peek can be. Rather than fishing through all of the tabs on the Taskbar trying to find the program or instance you need, you can view thumbnails of open instances by simply hovering over the item on the Taskbar. Moving the mouse to hover over a thumbnail image brings that instance up to full screen view for closer inspection. It may be a little thing, but it's a little thing that helps me work more efficiently.

Aero Snap. The same thing goes for Aero Snap. My initial response was 'cool gee-whiz factor, but who cares?' Now I find it invaluable for working with programs. I can quickly maximize and minimize windows just by dragging them. The part that really helps me is the ability to automatically resize a window to occupy only the left or right half of the screen by dragging it to one side or the other. I frequently work with two windows side by side and used to have to manually resize the windows to accomplish the same thing.

Jump Lists. Windows users are probably familiar with the concept of Recent Items. The Recent Items link is in the Start Menu and provides quick access to the last 10 or so files that had been accessed. I relied on Recent Items so I could easily re-open documents I was actively working on without having to navigate to them the long way. Recent Items only displayed certain programs or file types though and files would quickly cycle off of the Recent Items list. Jump Lists takes the Recent Items concept and applies it on a program by program basis. Now I have an easily accessible list of recently opened files for Word, Excel, Quicken, Windows Media Player, etc. Definite timesaver.

DirectAccess. I haven't had a chance to play with this one personally, but I think it is a huge feature and arguably the most compelling reason for businesses to look at Windows 7. DirectAccess provides a bi-directional connection between the internal network and roaming Windows 7 clients as long as they have a live Internet connection. That means the user can access system resources, and IT admins can manage remote systems as if the Windows 7 system was on the internal network and without the need for a VPN connection. DirectAccess requires Windows Server 2008 R2 as well, but organizations that might be interested should take advantage of the 90-day trial to see what DirectAccess can do for them.

Tony Bradley is an information security and unified communications expert with more than a decade of enterprise IT experience. He tweets as @PCSecurityNews and provides tips, advice and reviews on information security and unified communications technologies on his site at tonybradley.com.

2.9.09

Veritas Symantec Netbackup


New Features

As the established market leader in data protection, Veritas NetBackup provides unparalleled data protection for enterprise environments.
Next Generation Data Protection
Minimize the cost and complexity of data protection and ensure greater business continuity by implementing a solution that unifies desktop, remote office, and data center data protection across the entire enterprise. NetBackup centralizes the management and operations of backup and recovery and provides organizations with the tools and information they need to manage data in complex, heterogeneous environments.
Unlock the Power of Disk-Based Backup
Manage more data with fewer people with advanced protection for VMWare environments, email applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and large databases

* Leverage disk to make backup faster, more reliable, and more secure
– Any type: DAS, NAS, SAN, VTL, snapshots/replicas, OpenStorage
– Any location: core data center, remote office, vault site
* Integrated data deduplication with any storage
* Eliminate the backup window with continuous protection

Advanced Recovery for Critical Applications
Recovery of critical applications and databases requires more steps and precision. Fast recovery may require not just the data, but also new servers and applications. NetBackup enables recovery of data, servers, and applications through one console. Its agents use vendor-approved APIs to ensure a consistent backup and recovery process and customers can choose different types of backup methods such as host, array-based, or off-host snapshots and different levels of granularity for data recovery.

* Granular recovery for VMware, SharePoint Portal Server and Exchange
* Rapid recovery with heterogeneous snapshot management
* Core system recovery in 15 minutes on any platform

Simplify Management
NetBackup simplifies data protection by allowing customers to control the lifecycle of backup data across different storage tiers that include both disk and tape. Customers can gain control over the backup methods, target media, and recovery process which allows them to prioritize the allocation of resources based on the importance of data. Finally, NetBackup can simplify backup infrastructure management by automating dery of application and client updates with Update technology.

* Streamline protection and retention with storage lifecycle policies
* Granular operational management across the environment
* Automate updates with NetBackup Update

Improved Pricing & Licensing
Symantec simplified the pricing and licensing of NetBackup to provide customers with more value and flexibility. Symantec now offers customers the ability to manage NetBackup software in their environment based upon capacity, or on a per-server basis. The capacity approach simplifies access to the full set of data protection methods in NetBackup and allows customers to more easily align protection and recovery methods with internal policies or service-level agreements.

* Choose traditional component based or the new capacity based licensing method
* Simplified pricing structure combines dozens of previously separate client, option, and agent licenses into three easy-to-order options
* Entitles existing NetBackup customers to bare-metal re or client-based encryption features (previously licensable options) at no additional fee
* Switch database and application agents for one another at any time (e.g., switch a SQL database agent for an Oracle database agent)

Platform and Application Proliferation
Symantec allows customers to run NetBackup master and media servers on a wide array of operating systems and can protect a wide array of servers (clients). With each release Symantec adds support for new chip and operating system combinations. Please see the compatability lists for NetBackup on the Symantec support site. Highlights of new support include:

* Support for Exchange 2007
* Master / Media Server support for Sun Solaris 10 on Opteron (x64)

Source:Symantec.com

1.9.09

VMware unwraps virtualization management tools


VMware has revealed several new virtualization management products to be announced at VMworld Monday, but is so far shying away from any big-ticket announcements.

VMworld product blitz: Hot technology for the virtual world

While VMworld is often the forum for VMware to make major statements about its strategic direction, the announcements revealed under embargo last week mainly rehash previous announcements while adding a few extra details. One announcement centers on the VMware vCenter management product line and features seven products, all of which had been previously announced and five of which were already generally available.

The two newer products, set for release later this year and early next year, include CapacityIQ, which gives IT a historical view of capacity needs across virtualized resources to forecast capacity shortfalls and reclaim excess resources. CapacityIQ will be available in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The other unreleased product is ConfigControl, which automatically tracks the configuration of virtual machines and the relationship of VMs to underlying physical infrastructure, allowing IT to ensure compliance with business policies.

ConfigControl will be available in the first half of next year.

Separately, VMware is announcing a free Web-based tool to help small and midsize businesses automate the installation and configuration of ESXi, the free version of VMware’s hypervisor. The Web-based service is called VMware Go and is in beta starting Monday with general availability scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2009.

VMworld in San Francisco will be hosted by VMware from Monday to Thursday, so VMware could still make a statement to rival the April announcement of its "cloud operating system" or the acquisition three weeks ago of Java vendor SpringSource.

A VMware spokeswoman said more news will be on the way Monday, but declined to say what it might be.

VMware is centering its virtualization strategy on providing the infrastructure for cloud-based services with vSphere, the latest version of its hypervisor and virtualization management platform. VSphere has been downloaded more than 350,000 times in the first 12 weeks since it became available, according to VMware. Overall, VMware says it has more than 150,000 customers.

VMworld could be the forum where VMware reveals more details about its plans for SpringSource, which will fit squarely into the company's cloud strategy. VMware has said it will combine its virtualization technology with SpringSource's Java tools to create cloud-based platforms for the building and hosting of Web applications.

Pund-IT analyst Charles King said he expects more details about SpringSource this week, and predicts that "some fairly major developers will climb on the SpringSource bandwagon."