Baker also will have a user interface that's fully integrated with Windows Explorer and installation wizards to help users select which files to back up. Legato Systems Inc. this year plans two new versions of its NetWorker Remote software designed to run over a LAN, remote-access connection or virtual private network running on the Internet. The upcoming versions will include features for archiving data on the server. Backup data will be kept on server-side disk drives, but IT managers will be able to set up rules for offloading some of that data to tape storage to free up space on the disks. Tivoli Systems Inc. is upgrading its Tivoli ADSM software with a Web interface so that IT managers can centrally configure backup routines on mobile systems and desktops, as well as servers.
Users connect to the server via the Internet and dial-up services.
But vendors face an uphill battle in most IT shops, which have not made backing up mobile and desktop data their top priority. When it comes to client systems, most IT shops have policies that mobile users should back up important files to a server, and users of fixed desktops should store all data on the server. Sometimes, IT will distribute Zip drives or tape drives to mobile users for backup, but IT managers, vendors and analysts agree that often those drives don't get used or even unpacked from their boxes. Putting backup responsibility in users' hands is not good enough, said Tom Gee, manager of the systems administration group at Synopsys Inc., which makes software for designing integrated circuits. That just helps IS minimize work, and that's not what we're trying to do.