Automate

- Automate 8 (Professional and Premium Editions)
- Automate 8 BPA Server (Standard and Enterprise Editions)

The difference between these 2 products is shown in this comparison table

Automate 8 is a desktop product for development of automation tasks. The Professional version allows one PC client to run automation tasks on that PC only. The Automate 8 Premium Edition allows the generation of deployable automation tasks – this means that many other PCs can run the same task at the same time, however run-time licences are required for each client that will run the automation task. The comparison table also shows that there are many more activities that can be performed by using the Premium edition versus the Professional edition.

For access to all aspects of the AutoMate products use the megamenu above or the following … LINK

We are able to sell clients the Automate software, and also provide a service integrating

Asigra

Asigra have produced backup software since 1986. Other established players in the global market went down the route of Agent based backup (software is installed on the desktop / server), whereas Asigra have always adopted an Agentless approach (backup software resides on a separate server with access to all the data to be backed up).

As enterprise systems have evolved, networks have become more interlinked, and companies require connectivity, and the concept of cloud computing has evolved – where “cloud” could represent purely internal company networks, external hosted services, or a combination of the 2 known as hybrid clouds.

Asigra fits the cloud model very well, where the data can be located anywhere – it still needs to be backed up, with Asigra technology being able to reach out and gather this data and backup to 1 or more vaults. This is a much better than the agent based approach used by other vendors where every platform holding data would require backup agent software to be installed on all data sources.

Asigra software consists of the following main components -

• DS-Client – usually installed on a standalone server to gather data from nearby data sources. Ability to have local data storage for high speed LAN restore without having to pull down data from the remote DS-System.
• DS-Mobile Client – new in Version 10 Asigra, installed on laptops to allow backup over the internet to a remote DS-System vault.
• DS-System – receives data from DS-Clients and saves data to the vault, which may be a disk array or SAN.
• DS-System N+1 – used by the service provider to enable multiple vaults in dispersed datacenters.

Cost

Unlike the agent based approach where each server that needs to be backed up has a licence cost per agent, Asigra costs are based on the total quantity of data stored in the vault. The Client software components are FREE . This means that the customer can have highly complex networks with hundreds of servers, but when the data backup requirements are collated and say 5TB of data is to be stored, then the customer is charged a rate per month for the total amount of COMPRESSED data stored in the vault.

Security

Asigra backup software is the only NIST certified FIPS140-2 software. All data when leaving the DS-Client is encrypted using AES256. This means all data in the remote DS-System vault is encrypted. Being FIPS140-2 “certified” means that compliance with the following regulations is possible – Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and Gram-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Basel II, Safe Harbour, Patriot Act, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and others including UK HMG data.

The encryption in effect acts as a barrier. Therefore customers may separate their data within their organisation, but this can be brought together in a shared vault.

Note that a full risk assessment is required when dealing with Security and Lakestyle is able to help customers with design of secure architectures and risk assessments.

Service Details

Further information on the Asigra products can be found from the menu above or … HERE

The design of the backup infrastructure will require analysis and deployment planning by Lakestyle, and will be linked in to the service we provide, where customer data can be retained on-site, or backed up to our secure datacenters in Manchester and London, with a pro-active 24x7x365 telephone support line, and personnel who check daily that all backups have been successful, and work with the customer then there is a problem.

Deploying a backup solution from a new vendor will require confidence in the solution from the customer – this can be gained by trying a pilot deployment of the Asigra software alongside the existing backup processes.

Whatever your backup plans we are here to help.