Looking Forward to Web Development with AJAX
Developing secure Web applications is a monstrous job for many large enterprises, and SPI Dynamics (http://www.spidynamics.com) wants to make that job manageable for security administrators and developers alike. To do so, the company has closely followed the growth of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) software development technology. This emerging technology, embraced by such vanguard companies as Microsoft and Google, offers a method for building interactive Web applications that process user requests immediately. "AJAX represents the future of Web applications technology. SPI Dynamics believes that by the end of 2006, 30 percent of all Web applications will be AJAX-based," says Erik Peterson, vice president of product management for SPI Dynamics. The new technology might also spark a new rash of security vulnerabilities, and SPI Dynamics wants to prepare its customers to handle them. The company recently released the latest weapons in their security arsenal: Assessment Management Platform (AMP) 2.0 and WebInspect 5.8.AMP is a comprehensive solution for managing, tracking, and measuring Web application security risk throughout a distributed environment. The management console closely integrates with WebInspect, the first Web application security-assessment product to offer support for automated security assessments of Web applications that use AJAX.
—Dawn Cyr
TimeSpring Brings CDP to SQL Server 2005 Users
TimeSpring Software (http://www.timespring.com) wants to make sure its continuous data protection (CDP) products accommodate SQL Server 2005 users and their databases. To that end, the company released a SQL Server 2005-specific version of its TimeData CDP software, TimeData for Microsoft SQL Server 2005. As Agnes Lamont, TimeSpring's vice president of marketing, explains, DBAs can use this version of TimeData to help migrate their SQL Server 2000 databases. TimeData provides "an easy-to-use data-migration capability ... that helps users migrate real-time, production data from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 without affecting users with downtime," she said. Should problems occur in the migration, TimeData lets a DBA easily roll back all data created in the SQL Server 2005 environment to SQL Server 2000. DBAs should also be pleased with TimeData's easy configuration and management, Agnes says: "You can install \[TimeData\] and be up and running within half an hour."
—Anne Grubb
Remote SQL Server Backup and Recovery Software
Asigra (http://www.asigra.com) announced that its Televaluting 6.0 remote office backup and recovery software now supports SQL Server 2000, Oracle 10g, and VMWare XML.
According to Asigra Executive Vice President Eran Farajun, Televaulting 6 is the only backup and recovery software for remote office protection that doesn't require agent or client installation on target machines. An online interface lets you automate mass deployments of Televaulting 6 across remote offices and manage geographically dispersed sites from one centralized location. The software automatically backs up and protects any machine on the LAN—including desktops, laptops, and file and print servers. According to Farjun, "Televaulting 6 is unobtrusive because you can run it in silent mode so users can operate without interruption while backup sessions are in process." Televaulting 6 is available as a standalone software package or through service providers as an online backup utility. Pricing starts at $11,250.
—Trisha Pendley
MiraLink IP Appliances Protect Remote Data
Your company needs remote data protection, but backing up and restoring data over WAN links can be slow or costly, depending on your company's IT budget. MiraLink (http://www.miralink.com) offers an answer to this dilemma: data-mirroring appliances that transmit data in real time over low-bandwidth lines.
"Customers had complained about geographic storage limitations" as well as mirroring solutions being too "time-consuming," says Sherri Bakos, MiraLink's vice president of marketing. The appliances address these problems by copying data from a server or SAN to a mirrored pair of local and remote MiraLink appliances "over distance and in the background, on a 56Kbps \[or slower\] line, says MiraLink Founder and CEO Ron McCabe. MiraLink targets the appliances at small-to-midsized business (SMB) customers who need to protect from 200GB to around 10TB of data at remote locations. Pricing for the devices starts at $10,000 per pair.
—Anne Grubb