Mike's Ark: The Data Deluge

Two years ago, I received a message from a client that read, "Mike, dammit man, we need to build some kind of Data Ark!  I was measuring out our data increases, and by 2013, we'll be growing 80% a year!!"

Goofy yes...but that's  how that client is.  He had a serious point, the "Data Deluge" that I'm talking about and that Robert Scheier over at Computerworld is talking about (he reminded me of that email) is starting.  With businesses growing at a rate of 50-80% a year, and having to save that data for nearly forever, storage space is at a premium.

Even with data deduplication, some organizations that store video, graphics or music, still have massive amounts of data to store...don't even get me started on email.  (My PST file is currently 5 gb and growing...AND I use a data vault program too! lol)  Now is the time for you and your company to take a look at how your data is being backed up and stored.  Sometimes the old way with Tape will work, but the restoration time will cause your beard/leg hairs to grow out to gigantic proportions.  Cloud backup really has earned a place too...backup your data onsite, and pay someone else to maintain and store the rest of your data too, right?

I've had a lot of good experiences with Barracuda and their device/cloud backup plan.  These start as low as 200gb, go up to 40TB, and also the ability to purchase an unlimited amount of storage online. (Or by amounts of 200gb.)  You can see those products here, and a datasheet here.  Now there are others like Mozy, Druva and Symantec's device backup...but personally I think what Barracuda has is what growing businesses need.

Let me know what you think...I"m always open to hearing your thoughts on these kinds of issues.  What have you done?  What do you want to do?  Can I use my industry contacts to help you?  (Um yes, yes I can.)

Let's chat. :)

 

Symantec Renewals - saving 20%

For those of you who are using Symantec's Endpoint Protection, or the Symantec Protection Suite...it's a good time to renew.  Symantec is offering 20% off with 3 year licenses.  It's a good time to take advantage of their renewal structure, and/or co-term any of their licenses that you have already...because it'll be a lot easier to renew in 3 years if you do. :)

They're also offering to trade you up to Symantec Protection Suite and save 30% off MSRP for doing that.  That means upgrading from Endpoint Protection, Antivirus, mail security for exchange/domino, messaging gateway, or web gateway.

You all know me well enough that I don't pitch things that make me money...they save you money.  If you're interested, give your PC Mall rep a call today! :)

Symantec's Backup Exec 3.0 Appliance

Good morning on this great Thursday!  As I'm writing this before I leave, currently I should be finishing up my visit to  Yellowstone, and driving down highway 287 on  the Eastern Side of the Wind River Mountains.

This simple entry is to talk about Symantec's entry into the backup appliance game, the BE 3600.  This current unit features more Ethernet interfaces, two new tabs in their Manage menu in the UI: Reboot/Shutdown, so you can do that from the interface, and the console is also available in multiple languages.

Really the key here is the BE software integrated with the device already.  If you enjoy Symantec's software, this device will make you happy.  Not to mention it's cost effective compared to other solutions, so it'll appeal to that as well.  What's key to me is that this little guy is a DR device more than anything else, and that solution compacted down is the true reason to purchase it.  With many companies still struggling with Disaster Recovery solutions, Symantec has presented one that's cheap, readily available and easy to use.  That's always a win in my book. :)

Symantec in the Cloud...with Diamonds

Howdy folks...Happy Thursday afternoon!

I was quite happy to get an email from my Symantec business development manager today...because it contains an invitation for you, our clients, to learn about something new.

Starting on May 15, Symantec is holding weekly webinars on their Symantec.cloud setup through .  Here's their schedule:

Every Tuesday - Demo on Email Security.cloud, Web Security.cloud, and Endpoint Protection.cloud (SEP.cloud)
Every Thursday - Demo on Enterprise Vault.cloud (EV.cloud) and Backup Exec.cloud (BE.cloud)

You can register now here: https://symantecevents.verite.com/clouddemos  Or read some information about it here.

I've seen this product and I think it's worth your time to take a serious look at it.  Join in!  If you have any questions, please let me know!

Apple Flambé Anyone?

Caught this news article this morning from over at Daily Tech.  (Awesome graphic btw.)  Now, while Kaspersky isn' t the number 1 AV software out there, their opinion should surely matter.  With Apple products now being targeted with viruses and other kinds of malware (malapp?  hmm...I think i should trademark that.) more frequently, Apple is now getting a taste of what Microsoft has been going through for over 10 years.

Think about it, Apple's security notions are technically 10 years behind where Microsoft is.  Now they have a good chance here to catch up and fight a better fight...but it's a STEEP hill to climb.  With FlashFake already driving them and their users nuts, I can see a lot more of these on the horizon...long before they get their security standards up.  With 4 million new & unsuspecting Apple users out there, there's going to be a lot of falls before they can get to the summit of the first hill on this trek.

I'd like to be one of the first to welcome Apple to the real world, where real people are real jerks, and will try to really hurt your users.  While that may sound a little mean, I would like to also state that Apple and its users for years bragged about no viruses and malware...and pride always cometh before a fall.

Apple users...get a copy of Kaspersky's software or  Symantec's software for your computer asap...better safe than sorry.

Anonymous vs. Symantec: Round 2

This one just came across my email from this morning.  If you're a Symantec customer, please be advised. :P

 

Extortion failed - Anonymous posts Symantec source code

Tom Espiner, ZDNet UK | February 8, 2012 11:15 AM PST

Anonymous activists have released source code for PCAnywhere onto the Pirate Bay file-sharing website on Tuesday and the BitTorrent link was included in a post to the AnonymousIRC Twitter account, which has been used to publicize the activist group's claims in the past.

"Symantec can confirm that the source code is legitimate," the company said. "Be advised, we also anticipate Anonymous to post the rest of the code they have claimed have in their possession. So far, they have posted code for the 2006 version of Norton Internet Security and PCAnywhere. We also anticipate that at some point, they will post the code for Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition and Norton Systemworks."

In negotiations between a purported Symantec employee called 'Sam Thomas' and a hacker called 'YamaTough', who claimed to be a member of the Lords of Dhamaraja activist group, which is associated with Anonymous, YamaTough appeared to be blackmailing Symantec for cash to destroy stolen source code, and the Symantec appeared to offer Yamatough $50,000 to do it.

Symantec Backup becomes even easier to manage...

First of All...Happy Holidays! :)

I know I've mentioned this product briefly before, but the Symantec Backup Exec 3600 appliance is a new product from the acclaimed security company.  Not only are they providing their great BE software for your backup needs, but this appliance also has the capability to store it FOR you.  Also, no longer would you have to allocate space on your servers or in your storage to push your backups to.  This device will help manage and control it for you.

It's integrated deduplication, granular recovery and Virtual Machine protection (for VMWare and Hyper-V) does reduce your storage and use costs that come up over time with your backups.  Really, we all know that your backup procedures are always taxing on your time, and create a drag on your day that you could better utilize.

Why not take some time next week on December 14, and attend our Symantec 3600 webinar?  It's a free training on this product and it'll help you to better understand what the unit can do for you.

Before you ask...no, it does not make your teeth and laundry whiter, while doing your taxes and walking the dog...but all of those things could get done in the time you're fiddling with your Backup Solution, if you utilized the Symantec 3600.

(While some of you might think I'm shilling for this...I'm actually not.  I've been impressed with what I've seen, and if it can help make your lives easier, then I'm all for it.  Tell me I'm wrong and why. :) )

Symantec Smackdown

Tonight on Symantec Smackdown...in the red corner, weighing in at 150 lbs of dusty old server equipment...YOUR BACKUP SYSTEM!  And...in the Gold corner...weighing in at a sleek 29 lbs....the Symantec BE6300!

All kidding aside, I had a chance to learn a bit more about this new appliance from Symantec the other day.  What?  You didn't know that Symantec actually has a hardware solution for backup?  The BE 6300 is designed to take all that is good about your Symantec Backup System (easy to use software, quick backup process, etc) and sell it to you all in a box with the hardware to store it and manage it.  We all want something simple, and this is most assuredly that.

We all know the issues with backup really relate to the hardware that's available.  You have to add drives for more storage, you have to make sure your system is up to date and able to run it, and of course you have to buy agents to replicate & deduplicate.  Not so here.  Take a look at this list of what comes on the box, and what's optional...and all of those licenses are unlimited in scope.  AND...the box has a total of 5.5TB of storage for your backups.  That'll keep you not worrying for awhile right?

Want more information?  Let's get on the phone with my Symantec BDM expert, Walaa Al-Saadi, today! :)