ARCserve Backup

CA's ARCserve is fast, reliable, easy to use and highly platform-neutral. It's become our "go-to tool" in the lab when we need to quickly recover from server problems, glitches, application problems and – we admit it – the occasional thumb-fingered user error.

CA's 2009 release of ARCserve Version 12.5 has a data deduplication feature that saves us tons of time and effort. Using ARCserve's data deduplication, our onsite server-based grandfather/father/son backup scheme requires fewer servers and yet moves data quite rapidly to where we needed it – a godsend when we're faced with deadlines.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

ARCserve Backup

CA's ARCserve is fast, reliable, easy to use and highly platform-neutral. It's become our "go-to tool" in the lab when we need to quickly recover from server problems, glitches, application problems and – we admit it – the occasional thumb-fingered user error.

CA's 2009 release of ARCserve Version 12.5 has a data deduplication feature that saves us tons of time and effort. Using ARCserve's data deduplication, our onsite server-based grandfather/father/son backup scheme requires fewer servers and yet moves data quite rapidly to where we needed it – a godsend when we're faced with deadlines.

ARCserve gives us control over our data at a rather fine level of granularity. It scales well, is simple to install and configure, is feature-rich and works well on all the platforms in the lab. We especially appreciate how well ARCserve works in the VMware, Microsoft and Citrix virtualized computing environments. ARCserve has proved to be one of the most robust and reliable products in the lab.

McAfee's E-mail and Web Security appliance

McAfee's E-mail and Web Security appliance is both quick (exhibiting an impressively low latency of 28 ms) and accurate (achieving an amazing antimalware success rate of 99%). This one appliance does two jobs exceedingly well – it blocks malware from entering a network, and it thwarts spam.

McAfee examines the Internet for malware by proactively using "spider" software to traverse the Web. These spiders tirelessly look at Web pages' active (such as executable) content for bad behavior. McAfee additionally relies on TrustedSource's Web reputation technology to identify threats. These efforts result in accurate and timely antimalware signature updates that McAfee delivers with alacrity to the E-mail and Web Security appliance.

Running on a Dell PowerEdge 1950, the E-mail and Web Security software is reliable and robust. It sports an easy-to-use, intuitive browser-based interface that's especially responsive. Reports are quick and informative, and the E-mail and Web Security dashboard is completely customizable.

Installation is the simplest and easiest we've ever seen in a network appliance. A USB memory stick containing a configuration program accompanies the device. Insert the memory stick in a Windows machine, run the program, save your configuration, move the memory stick to the appliance before boot time and – voila! – the E-mail and Web Security device uses the IP address and other configuration data you've specified.

Return to main page.

Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.