In brief: Symantic beefs up Ghost

Plus: IBM rolls out content managerment for smaller organizations.

A new version of the Ghost computer cloning and restoration product from Symantec adds features that deploy software patches and reduce the network bandwidth used by the program. Announced last week, Ghost 8.0 Corporate Edition finds the software evolving from a back-up and recovery product into a configuration and patch-management platform.

One new feature is remote management that lets administrators clone Microsoft, Windows NT, 2000 or XP machines and send out software hot fixes or operating system configuration changes to multiple workstations at once, Symantec says.

To simplify file deployment, a new file-transfer multicasting feature allows the same file to be pushed out and run on multiple workstations at the same time. Bandwidth-throttling features let companies use the multicast feature without taking up too much of the network’s available resources, the company says.

Symantec also included features to limit the effect of system cloning and restoration on corporate networks. Unlike earlier versions of Ghost, Version 8.0 has the ability to create staging areas on local machines. Those enable administrators to store local copies of user profiles, software fixes or even entire “images” of the computer-operating environment, Symantec says.

IBM has added a version of its content management software to its Express line of products, offering smaller organizations and departments a tool for managing digital content such as documents and image files. DB2 Content Manager Express is available worldwide for $9,375 per server and $1,063 per concurrent user.

The stand-alone software handles content storage and offers version and permissions controls, search, organization and workflow management features.

DB2 Content Manager Express is currently only available for Windows servers, but versions supporting Linux and other operating systems are in the works.