Symantec’s Next Generation Protection

Offering what it calls complete protection for small business laptops, desktops and servers, Symantec today announced new versions of three products designed to keep Windows systems and data available and secure.

Citing the challenges small businesses face when it comes to maintaining system availability and protecting critical data, Symantec says these enhanced products are optimized for small- and mid-sized businesses and designed to be cost-effective, to decrease complexity and to scale up as a company grows.

The three products include Backup Exec 11d for Windows Servers, Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 and Symantec AntiVirus 10.2.

Backup Exec 11d for Windows Servers
The latest generation now supports Microsoft Exchange servers, which, according to company spokeswoman, Julie Parrish, eliminates the need to back up Exchange on a daily basis. “Backup Exec’s continuous data protection now applies to Exchange servers, a feature that will save small businesses a lot of time and provide peace of mind.”

Continuous protection means that data is backed up as it’s created or changed, which means data can be restored within a second of it being lost. Extending that capability to Exchange servers can free small businesses of time-consuming mailbox backups while maintaining continuity. Symantec also notes that the Backup Exec 11d’s automated backup and recovery saves SMBs money, time and resources.

Another feature is called Granular Recovery Technology (granular is a techie way of referring to something on a detailed level). This feature is designed to let companies instantly recover individual e-mails, folders and mailboxes. Any small business owner who has dealt with Exchange knows that to do this typically requires backing up individual mailboxes, which can be a complicated and lengthy process.

According to the company, GRT works with either the continuous or the traditional method of Exchange data protection. Backup Exec 11d is also designed to quickly recover components from other Microsoft apps such as SharePoint Portal Server, Active Directory and SQL 2005.

Other features include 128- and 256-bit data encryption during backup and full-protection support for media servers with x64-bit processors.

Backup Exec 11d for Windows Servers will be available Nov. 6 and will sell for $795.

Also available: Backup Exec 11d for Windows Small Business Server Standard and Backup Exec 11d for Windows Small Business Server Premium for $595 and $795, respectively.

Ghost Solution Suite 2.0
This popular image deployment software is designed to simplify Windows deployment, migration and software distribution. If your company plans to add new PCs or notebooks, Ghost makes the process easier by creating one image file of a desktop’s settings, configurations and software. Installing that single file on each system is much more efficient than manually configuring each computer one at a time.

Version 2.0 adds support for both the Vista operating system and computers with x64-bit processors. According to Symantec, small businesses can save 90 percent of the time and money it typically takes to migrate Windows systems manually.

Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 will be available in December 2006, and it will sell for $39.20 per license (based on five-24 user licenses).

Symantec AntiVirus 10.2
This latest version of Symantec’s Anti-virus software, designed to automatically detect and remove viruses, worms and Trojan horses, plus block, detect and remove spyware, now supports the Vista operating system on desktops, laptops and network servers (both 32- and 64-bit editions).

Symantec Anti Virus 10.2 will be available in December 2006 and will sell for $37.90 per seat.





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Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing addresses the technology needs of small businesses, which are defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees and/or less than $7 million in annual sales.

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