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Backup Exec 2010 R3 Released Today

Aidan_Finley
Level 4
Employee

Backup Exec 2010 R3 Released Today, May 3rd, 2011 – with improvements in virtualization backup, archiving, and security

Backup Exec 2010 R3 continues with our “R” series of releases – new features, new capabilities, and continued improvement to our award-winning backup and recovery application. 

What’s New in Backup Exec 2010 R3

There’s quite a bit of goodness in this release.  Since Symantec as a company has focused heavily in the virtualization space, it stands to reason that many of the improvements in Backup Exec 2010 R3 revolve around virtualization.  But that’s not all we improved in this release!

If you backup and restore VMware with Backup Exec and the Deduplication Option, this update is for you.  We’ve made significant improvement to the Deduplication engine regarding VMware backups – you should see significant improvement in the Deduplication rates with Backup Exec 2010 R3 compared to previous versions of Backup Exec.  In our environments we’ve seen 30%, 50%, or higher data reduction rates with the Backup Exec 2010 R3 compared to previous versions.  If you use Backup Exec and you want better Deduplication ratios with VMware backups, then this is the update for you.

(And don’t worry, Hyper-V users – we haven’t forgotten about you – we’ll have good news for you in the next major release of Backup Exec.  So be patient, and we’ll get Hyper-V Deduplication into Backup Exec as soon as we can.) 

We’ve added a new plug-in – the Backup Exec Management Plugin for VMware – to the mix, too.  This utility allows you to monitor backups made with the Agent for VMware from within a vSphere Client or vCenter installation.  Administrators can get all sorts of insight into Backup Exec jobs, including a status view of all VM’s, last backup run, next scheduled backup, what type of backup occurred, and allows administrators to drill down into Backup Exec backup job logs.  This is a completely free update that is very useful for VMware administrators who use Backup Exec.

Backup Exec Management Plugin for VMware – Monitor Backup Exec from within vCenter

Plus, we’ve improved a number of other areas involving deduplication in virtual environments since Backup Exec 2010 R2 was released.  If you protect VMware, use Deduplication, or use Application GRT for SQL, Exchange or Active Directory, this update also a great fit  for you.

Archiving has seen some love, too - especially the Exchange Mailbox Archiving Option.  We now support Archiving from Exchange 2010 SP1!  So those administrators who have been looking to move or have moved to latest and greatest messaging platform from Microsoft, we support backup, recovery, and storage management through Archiving with Backup Exec 2010 R3. In addition to new platform support, we've also introduced Virtual Vault for the Exchange Mailbox Archiving Option.  This Outlook Plug-In allows end users to see Archived emails directly from within Outlook - meaning that users never need to leave the familiar Outlook interface to search, view, and reply to Archived emails.

The Agent for Enterprise Vault has seen some improved platform support.  We now support backup, recovery, and migration from Enterprise Vault 10 installations.  Enterprise Vault is the flagship Archiving product from Symantec, and we are committed to supporting the latest and greatest releases of the Enterprise Vault application.

We’ve also done some work with our underlying security infrastructure.  Backup Exec 2010 R3 now provides TLS/SSL support from the agent to the server, providing an extra layer of security for customers that transmit backup data across the WAN or to a private cloud.  Essentially, the Backup Exec Media Server becomes its own Certificate Authority (CA) with the power to sign certificates, establishing identity and trust.  This now encrypts the control and data connections between the media server and remote agents.  This added security features will help ensure that backed up data sent over any network or Internet connection is secure.  

New Network Security Layer

And last but not least, Backup Exec 2010 R3 brings support for the latest versions of Microsoft Small Business Server 2011.  Both SBS 2011 Essentials and SBS 2011 Standard, along with the SBS 2011 Premium Add-On, are supported with Backup Exec 2010 R3. 

To sum up, we’ve done a lot of work to make Backup Exec more effective in VMware environments, more secure, and even better suited to backup and protect your environments.  We’ve produced a short “What’s New in Backup Exec 2010 R3” webcast that you  can find that on www.BackupExec.com– with an introduction to Backup Exec 2010 R3.  If you already own Backup Exec 2010 or Backup Exec 2010 R2, this is a no-cost upgrade for you.  If you are interested in evaluating Backup Exec 2010 R3, you can download trialware from www.BackupExec.com

Thanks,

Aidan Finley

Backup Exec Product Management