April 21, 2006, 3:21 PM — XOsoft Inc. Monday will release the next version of its WANSync data synchronization and replication software with added support for Linux, 64-bit environments and the BlackBerry mobile device.
XOsoft's WANSync software comes in two flavors: WANSync High Availability software, which provides automated failover and failback for Exchange, SQL, Oracle and file servers; and WANSync Disaster Recovery software, which replicates files and databases for Exchange, SQL and Oracle.
Version 4.0 of WANSync runs on RedHat Inc.'s Linux distribution and adds CDP (continuous data protection) support for Unix. The software already runs on IBM Corp.'s AIX and Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Solaris, as well as Windows. In the future XOsoft plans to support Novell Inc.'s SuSe Linux distribution and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP-UX operating system.
The company has also extended support in its WANSyncHA software for 64-bit architectures and Microsoft's IIS (Internet Information Services) Web server.
Brian Humphreys, IT director for outsourcing provider Affiliated Computer Services Inc., in Dallas, has been using WANSync for about a year to transfer large quantities of data. "The tool is very useful for us as we are able to keep data at near real-time availability between U.S. and international locations," he said.
The company, which has been beta-testing version 4.0, was encouraged by the expanded platform support and management features.
The improved user interface and management features in version 4.0 appeal to Humphreys. The user interface provides a better view into which servers are exchanging data; the scheduling agent works well, and the remote install is a "big help," he said. He's also pleased with the 64-bit support: "We have a lot of database servers running on the 64-bit platform, and we hadn't had a good way to keep that data in sync," Humphreys said.
The WANSync software has helped the company save time by automating manual tasks, he said.
"Before, for us to keep disaster recovery data in sync between non-U.S. offshore locations and the U.S. required at least two to three days of manual intervention. At that point our data at best was a week behind, instead of 24 hours or 1 hour behind. It was quite a lengthy process. ... We just need an engineer to monitor the process once in a while and check on it, instead of spending two to three days every week to make sure data was current," Humphreys said.
XOsoft earlier this year signed a deal with enterprise management software vendor BMC Software Inc. to integrate WANSync with BMC's SQL-BackTrack backup and recovery software.
"The integration is moving along well," said Gil Rapaport, XOsoft spokesman, in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The combined software bundle is now in beta, and is expected to be generally available in June, Rapaport said.
