Staff Writers

Intel is attacking the burgeoning storage market with the release of a new platform designed to make it easy for SMBs to put together storage area networks.

The platform comes standard with a suite of software tools to manage geographically diverse storage resources and accommodate rapidly expanding storage growth, said the company. From a central console, a user can configure and manage the SAN, configure and provision volumes quickly without system downtime, make incremental copies of data volumes, and authenticate users for improved data security.

The combined hardware/software solution delivers a full-featured SAN running on an IP network rather than fibre channel. Built around a single Xeon processor, the Storage System SSR212MA supports up to 12 Serial ATA hard drives and iSCSI connectivity. Optional features can be employed to extend the capacity and performance.

 “Analysts show that data is doubling every 18 months and businesses are struggling to keep up,” said Hans Geyer, vice president and general manager, Storage Group at Intel. “Yet today’s storage solutions are often too expensive or complex for an average business to use. They need a simple, affordable solution based on a flexible set of standards-based building blocks that has the power to scale with the growing mountains of data.”

Scheduled to be available in late September, Symantec’s Norton Ghost version 10 targets consumer backup with a number of features that make it easier for the less IT literate.

One such feature is storage detection, which automatically detects when new storage devices are added to the computer and determines which drives should be backed up and identifies optimal storage destination locations.

Recovery is made a little more intuitive by basing them on points in time rather than disk images. Recovery points can be event-triggered, but users can create personalized recovery points based also. Symantec has implemented performance throttling to adjust system resource usage to more effectively utilize resources when creating recovery points.

A simplified interface reduces complexity requiring less interaction and navigation to perform tasks and clear words and phrases make it easier to understand. Similarly, the Symantec Recovery Disk is improved and updated to support a wider array of devices.

For the security conscious backed up data may now be encrypted (128-, 192- and 256-bit AES) to ensure it is not accessible to unauthorised users.

Finally, there’s a centralised management console that shows backup and recovery status for all drives on a system and the levels of data protection assigned to each as well as recommendations based on backup activity.

Norton Ghost 10.0 should go on sale later this month with US retail pricing listed at US$69.99 for the full version and US$49.99 upgrades, including competitive upgrades.

The Special Broadcasting Service SBS has signed a deal with Acer reseller Leading Solutions to fulfil its pc requirements for the next three years.

The deal will see more than 800 Acer desktops, notebooks and LCD monitors installed at the SBS and will incorporate design, project management, installation, testing, support and after-sales services.

Alex Surplice, Director, Operations and Resources for SBS Technology and Distribution (T & D) said, “As a media organisation, SBS demands flexible configurations, ease of use and above all reliability. With immovable deadlines every day, our computer equipment has to work and work well. Acer has committed to deliver us the flexibility, security and reliability demanded, together with quality local support.

The deal wasn’t all prefaced on promises and sales materials though, Greg Koen, Manager, Information Systems Group within T & D at SBS, had prior experience that convinced him of the quality Acer could deliver says the company.

“Acer’s products are not only well built, but often ahead of their time. We were an Acer customer in the past, and until recently, I still had an old 486 unit operating as an intranet server,” said Koen. “I inherited it and modified the unit with Slackware Linux and plenty of extra RAM and it performed dutifully for over ten years!”

Even more amazingly, Koen inherited the unit after it was substantially damaged. “Acer builds durable computers, proven by the fact that the Acer unit only received minor damage after a new year’s accident, when a ‘well refreshed’ individual crashed through a skylight at SBS directly onto the computer. The unit is still functional today,” he said.

*Sorry, we couldn’t resist the headline.

The soon-to-list BigAir Group IPO may attract even more interest having announced following half year revenue results that reflected increased revenues from acquisitions.

The December 31 half resulted in a revenue increase of 1321 per cent taking the wireless operator/reseller to $2.9 million in the Half Year ended December 31 2005. Gross Profit increased by 799 per cent from $93,398 to $839,701 over the prior half, but the start-up reported an overall EBITDA loss of $363,344.

However, this includes $218,318 in customer acquisition costs which would typically be capitalised and amortised over the expected duration of the customer’s contract. The company has adopted a more conservative accounting approach which expenses these costs each month.
The EBITDA loss reduced by 59 per cent over the prior corresponding period for the combined BigAir and Veritel businesses. If the customer acquisition costs are excluded the improvement is 84 per cent claims the company.
During the half BigAir acquired Veritel Wireless and also acquired Ozemail’s iBurst customer base while on its own network it doubled the footprint adding Western Sydney as part of an ongoing network expansion program.

Jason Ashton, CEO of BigAir said the customer acquisitions program was hampered due to the company’s decision to delay its IPO which had been scheduled for last December. Money from the float was earmarked for sales and marketing and although the delay has meant slower growth than hoped, Ahston said the listing was ready to go as soon as the ASX gives it the go ahead.

“As we roll out our high-speed wireless infrastructure into the other capital cities, we will be offering Internet Service Provider’s and Carriers a cost-effective alternative network for providing last mile access to their customers.

“This last mile network is suitable for both high-speed data and Voice over IP (VOIP) and is fast becoming an attractive alternative to copper given the significant uncertainty surrounding ULL pricing.”

Acer’s latest widescreen laptop offering has built-in analogue and terrestrial tuners.

The Acer Aspire 9500 is set-up for live digital and analogue television recording and viewing anytime, anywhere on its 25 per cent brighter screen.

Acer, currently the leading notebook vendor in Australia says the CrystalBrite and ClearVision technology use to power the notebook’s graphics not only delivers the brighter LCD, but detects the video frame by frame and adapts the colour saturation, brightness and contrast ratio dynamically to deliver sharper and more vivid images. The LCD is a 17″ WXGA wideScreen with dual-lamps.

Lindsay Tobin, Acer Product Business Manager – Mobile said, “We recognise that customers are seeking a notebook with the multimedia capabilities to deliver high quality presentations for the office, while serving their entertainment needs in the home as well.

“The Aspire 9500 is the first true notebook with the functionality of an advanced TV set, offering the best viewing experience, coupled with performance, portability, power and sleek looks that all come at a great price.

Powered up by an ATI Mobility Radeon X700 display adapter with 256MB of VRAM on PCIe and an Intel Centrino Pentium M 760 the 9500 has Acer’s SignalUp high-performance wireless technology which test reveal boosts signalstregth by25 per cent.

The 3.8kg notebook carries an RRP of $3499.

www.acer.com