Businesses relying on Apple’s Xsan file system can now achieve faster data recovery times with the help of a new data recovery tool from Kroll Ontrack.
Kroll recently announced the roll out of new data recovery capabilities for Apple’s Xsan 2 clustered file systems for Mac OS X that have encountered a volume corruption, according to Jeff Pederson, manager of Ontrack data recovery operations for Kroll Ontrack.
Prior to this release, Pederson said, data recovery for Xsan server users was limited to cases of hardware based failures. “Businesses that relied on the Xsan file system were often left with no other option that to reinitialize these servers when volume corruption has rendered their data inaccessible.”
At its simplest form Xsan is a port of the StorNext File System from Advanced Digital Information Corporation (ADIC) that sells for significantly less than the equivalent bits for Linux, Unix, and Windows systems. Xsan allows administrators to build SANs on the cheap but apart from its attractive price tag Xsan servers also appeal to many small and medium scale businesses because of its ease of management.
“Unfortunately many of these SMBs cannot afford the downtime and manpower that an extensive data recovery operation demands that may run for week,” said Pederson.
With Kroll Ontrack’s Xsan server specific data recovery capabilities, recoveries possible within a matter of a couple of days, he said. Pederson says the data recovery capability for Xsan will increasingly become vital for businesses as Mac computers become more popular in the enterprise space.
This is Kroll Ontrack’s third Apple-specific data recovery solution in three months. In April, the company also announced an enhanced suite of data recovery technologies for both Mac OSX Mail and Microsoft Entourage email. E-mail is the most valued business document, according to a recent survey from Kroll Ontrack Inc.
As Mac use becomes prevalent so will the use of MacMail and Entourage as e-mail clients. Apart from being a communication medium, e-mail clients are being used by businesses as archive mechanisms and personal information managers, said Pederson.
“E-mail has become one of the most, if not the most, utilized communication tools available today. Its loss can be catastrophic, as mailboxes are often the archive for business and financial records, agreements, contacts, calendars, and personal exchanges,” Pederson.