Backing up your network isn’t much good if you don’t have a mechanism for determining if your backups completed successfully. Further, even though a bunch of tools are available that monitor and report on backup operations, those tools aren’t much good if the media you are using is corrupt.

Several backup reporting tools are available to help IT administrators monitor their backup operations. Among them are Bocada, Aptare, WysDM and EMC (through an OEM agreement with WysDM). This type of backup software is now available from Symantec, with a tool called Veritas Backup Reporter.

Two vendors though – Crossroads and Hi-Stor manufacture appliances and software that monitor and verify the readability of data written to tape. Crossroads, which many of you will remember as a maker of Fibre Channel bridges and routers, makes a 1U SurePath Read/Verify Appliance (RVA) that connects to the storage-area network via a Fibre Channel connection, where it monitors, detects and reports on drive utilization and imbalances. It works, according to Crossroad’s claims with any vendor’s tape drive, library or backup application.

The RVA reports on library slot capacity and configuration, cartridge types and barcode, data compression ratios and drive serial numbers and element address.

Hi-Stor’s StorSentry, on the other hand, is software-only, and monitors and reports on the media and tape drives in the network. StorSentry collects data on the drives in the libraries, analyzes it and prints predictive reports on the equipment’s health. It also suggests corrective actions. Like Crossroads, Hi-Stor claims to support all media types, libraries, tape drives and backup software.

Hi-Stor last week signed a business development deal with media manufacturer Imation to increase StorSentry’s global sales and marketing.

Storage news this week:

* Two vendors Index Engines and Kazeon launched appliances for the e-discovery market, which IDC projected will reach $1.982 billion in 2010. Clearwell Systems this week will announce a compliance-based appliance.

* Seagate and Motorola launched gigabyte-sized storage for portable devices last week.

* IBM bought Softek Storage Solutions to bolster its data migration business.

* Symantec launched a new software suite that archives e-mail and instant messages.

Deni Connor is principal analyst for Storage Strategies NOW and host of both the Masters of Storage and Masters of Servers Solution Centers.