Rover, IBM extend CDP to laptops

Road warriors in search of much-needed file backup and recovery relief may need look no further than their wallets thanks to a CDP (continous data protection)-enabled flash drive unveiled today by Rover Technology Fusions.

The Sparc USB drive marries flash-based storage portability with IBM Tivoli CDP for Files software to provide mobile workers with a credit-card-size solution to data loss prevention. The 2GB card, which automates the backup of targeted files, eliminates the often infrequent laptop backup windows plaguing today’s increasingly mobile enterprise, according to the companies.

“Historically, the off-machine target for laptop backup would be a file server,” said Chris Stakutis, CTO and inventor of IBM Tivoli CDP for Files. “With what Rover’s done with our software, it’s now just a matter of plugging in a flash drive whenever you want, and your laptop is fully backed up.”

The SPARC drive automatically installs IBM Tivoli’s CDP software on the laptop upon initial insertion. The software configures itself automatically, creating a secondary data store on the laptop’s internal hard drive, to which it backs up files as they are saved or copied, porting a second backup simultaneously to the SPARC drive. In the event that changes are made to files while the drive is not connected, the secondary data store automatically updates SPARC when it is reattached.

“If the card’s not there, it’s no big deal,” Stakutis says. “The next time the software sees the card, it will catch up. So you never fail a backup; you never miss a backup. And if you’re in a hurry and yank the card out midway, it doesn’t matter. Next time everything’s up and running, it just starts where it left off.”

The Rover iteration of IBM Tivoli CDP for Files automatically backs up files within the My Documents tree as well as all Office documents, popular financial document formats, and e-mail messages for common e-mail platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook.

The software creates versioned copies of these target documents, tracks the versions via database-like functionality internal to the software, and employs a revolving pool algorithm to manage the backup store, pairing out closely saved versions or vetting older iterations of files when the drive approaches capacity.

Because the technology is replication-based, files are stored as files on the drive, allowing for full, point-in-time recovery, Stakutis said.

Future iterations of SPARC will include Rover Sync software for restoring contact lists from Windows mobile devices.

Pricing for the 2GB SPARC drive is $99.95. Minimal annual maintenance fees for software licensing, upgrades, and support are required after the first year.

Larger-capacity SPARC drives will be available in the future.