A single backup solution for UNIX, Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000, Linux, and NetWare

Syncsort Incorporated is a leading developer of high-performance systems and data management software. Over 95% of Fortune 100 companies are Syncsort customers. With our products in use in more than 12,000 installations in North America and in more than 50 countries, Syncsort is the world leader in helping companies organize, manage, and protect critical data. 

Backup Express is built upon Syncsort's solid foundation. During our 30-year history, Syncsort has established an excellent reputation based on the superior performance of our software and our exceptional, reliable support. We understand what it takes to develop and maintain mission-critical applications. Syncsort has consistently upheld the highest standards of excellence in the most advanced computing environments and has been named one of the top 100 Data Warehouse Vendors for three consecutive years.

Syncsort is one of the industries most respected vendors of high-performance software. As documented in industry surveys, customers rank Syncsort highest in technical support. Expert technical support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While competing backup products typically respond to calls within 3 - 5 business days, at Syncsort, if calls are not taken immediately, a response will occur usually within 15 - 30 minutes. 

Experienced engineers who have intimate knowledge of Backup Express and UNIX, Windows and NetWare staff the Backup Express service team. There is no concept of level-1 service at Syncsort. Syncsort recognizes that support is a critical component to any backup and restore solution. 
Back To Top



Backup Express solves today's network backup and restore problems, and adapts easily to tomorrow's changes. You are never locked into a single way of doing things. 

Backup Express is one of the few backup products that allows you to choose UNIX or Windows now - and later change your mind with no trouble. Why? Because the Backup Express graphical interface is exactly the same on either platform. To change platforms, a simple, quick conversion is all you need. Your backups and restores continue without interruption. 

Backup Express allows you to put your backup devices wherever you choose. You can attach them to UNIX, NT/2000, or NetWare servers, connect them to a NAS appliance, or integrate them within a SAN. 

Configure your backups and restores as you want them. With Backup Express you can quickly and easily: 

• Cluster tape drives at a single NT server. 
• Keep sensitive data off your network by directly connecting an autoloader to a UNIX server running a critical application.
• Achieve high performance for a large database server by sending its data to a jukebox, so you can back it up fast without bringing your network to a screeching halt.
• Implement SAN technology by sharing tape devices among multiple servers.

Attaching devices to multiple servers or to a SAN has these advantages: 

• Increases backup and restore speed. 
• Reduces network congestion.
• Eliminates I/O bottlenecks. 
• Improves security and reliability.
• Ensures scalability, so your backup system can grow as your enterprise does.

Well-designed, distributed architecture gives Backup Express the flexibility to exploit advanced data management technologies, including SAN, NAS, and NDMP. 

And, because you can administer Backup Express from any TCP/IP-enabled machine, you have "any-point control." Schedule backups, run restores, or check job status and configurations from across the room or across the world. 
Back To Top



Automated Tape Libraries (Jukeboxes) can contain hundreds of storage slots, dozens of read/write drives and multiple import/export slots. Backup Express simplifies common tape library operations: 

• Multi-Hosting tape libraries. SCSI-connect multiple UNIX and/or Windows NT/2000 machines to a single multi-drive library to reduce network traffic and maximize your hardware investment. 
• Easy Drag-and-Drop Interface. All library functions such as labeling tapes, reading barcodes, verifying tapes, etc. are all accomplished using drag-and-drop.
• Automatic labeling. Label large non-contiguous sets of tapes automatically, using any drive.
• Real-time color display. An up-to-the-minute color display shows the exact status and location of all the backup and restore media in your library.
• Easy drag-and-drop import/export. Place one or more tapes in the import/export ports of the tape library, and drag-and-drop them into empty storage slots. The library will activate automatically to import the tapes. Exporting is equally easy.
• Mass import/export. Import/export large sets of tapes automatically, not just one at a time.
• Backup Express is certified on virtually all automated libraries, independent of media type.
• Tape Library sharing. Share large tape libraries between open systems and mainframes. Backup Express supports ADIC's AMLs, StorageTek's ACSLS, and IBM's 3494 Magstars.
  

Back To Top



Backup Express is built for speed. Its architecture is based on advanced I/O techniques, distributed processing, and exceptional multi-tasking capabilities. 

The speed of Backup Express helps you get the job done within your backup window. This becomes more important as the data on your network grows and your backup window shrinks. 

Even more critical is the ability to do speedy restores with Backup Express. After a small loss, productive work can resume almost immediately. Even if an entire system is lost, business operations can resume quickly.

Backup Express is particularly fast because of its ability to simultaneously support multiple devices connected to multiple servers. This has significant advantages. You can: 

• Run many backups concurrently, accelerating processing dramatically.
• Back up or restore data locally, reducing network traffic.
• SCSI-connect many servers to relatively few devices, delivering optimal performance.
• Reduce network traffic by distributing storage devices anywhere in your enterprise: LAN, WAN, and/or SAN.
• Run drives simultaneously and at a maximum capacity.
• Share the load among servers, so no machine is I/O bound.

In addition, Backup Express supports NDMP, enabling high-speed local, three-way, or filer-to-server backups of Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. 

Windows 2000 extended support includes System State backup and restore; Event Viewer, Terminal Services, RSM, and WMI support; NTFS file security and open file restores; Single Instance Storage (SIS) and Remote Storage support; and cluster handling.

Several features of Backup Express insure that your data is secure during backup and restore operations: 

• Direct Connection. Backup Express lets you connect backup devices to servers containing highly sensitive data. Because the data travels directly to the device, instead of over the network, it is protected from unauthorized tampering.
• Encryption. Backup commands and messages are always encrypted to secure the backup itself. Data can also be encrypted, if necessary.
• Verification. Backup Express is designed with multiple levels of verification to insure that data is processed accurately.
• Tape Safeguards. Tapes are protected from overwriting by automated safeguards that track expiration dates and purge expired tape records from the Backup Express catalog.
• Compliance. Backup Express maintains the security standards that are already in place at a site. It is compliant with Novell SMS. In addition, Backup Express backs up NT registries, including active registries, Windows 2000 System State, NetWare NDS trees, UNIX special files and ACLs.

Interfaces integrate Backup Express with your enterprise system: 

• The Operator Console interface displays real-time, text-based Backup Express operational information.
• The SNMP interface integrates Backup Express with network management software such as HP OpenView.
• The Command Line interface allows backup and restore jobs to be defined and run from UNIX shell scripts.

Modern network environments are complex, but Backup Express makes administration easy. Control is centralized, and all functions can be administered through a Windows-like graphical user interface, available on any machine with a TCP/IP connection to the network and the appropriate Backup Express authorization.

With Backup Express, everything is designed with streamlined administration in mind: 

Easy GUI-driven implementation. All administrative functions are implemented through an easy-to-use GUI. Point-and-click, drag-and-drop features simplify configuration, backup definition, scheduling, and other functions.

Any-point centralized control. Administrators can manage and monitor all backup and restore operations from any node with a TCP/IP connection to the network. On-screen and printed reports provide detailed information on the status and processing of all Backup Express operations

Full-featured Scheduler. An easy-to-use scheduling facility initiates full, incremental, or differential backups. With robotic devices, backups can be unattended from start to finish.

Flexible control of all media. A powerful integrated media manager organizes media into pools, automatically labels storage volumes, tracks expiration dates, and provides complete information on the location, status, and contents of all storage volumes.

Simple user restore. Authorized general users can restore their own data through the clearly designed GUI. They can browse backed-up files, select data, and click to restore.

Shared administration. Selected departments can schedule backups and restores and control their own media, while the system administrator retains ultimate control.

Backup Express provides the following disaster recovery features: 

• Twinning. This option gives you the ability to make two tape copies instead of one during any backup procedure, saving you the time otherwise needed for an additional disaster recovery backup. 
• Tape Duplication. This feature enables duplication of tapes after backups are executed. One tape can then be kept onsite and the other sent offsite.
• Catalog Backup. Backups of the Backup Express catalog can be scheduled nightly to minimize downtime. Execute a simple restore of the latest catalog and you're ready to recover the entire enterprise. No need to rebuild the database by scanning in hundreds of tapes; Backup Express provides a simple, fast procedure to put your business back on track. Data restoration can begin within 15 minutes of having a UNIX or Windows NT/2000 server available.
• Extensive Media Reports. Our powerful, custom reporting facility allows you to track the status and location of all onsite and offsite tapes. Backup Express provides detailed reports, allowing an administrator to easily develop a rotation scheme to send tapes offsite and return expired ones onsite.
• Tape Scan. This feature enables you to recover data from tape without the Backup Express catalog, providing ultimate protection - guaranteeing that data can always be restored.

• Oracle 7, 8 and 9
• Microsoft Exchange 5.x and Exchange 2000
• SQL Server 6.x, 7.x and 2000
• SAP R/3
• Sybase and Informix
• Lotus Notes

• Backup and restore Microsoft Exchange at the database and/or folder/message levels.
• Back up offline databases using file and partition splitting to write to any number of drives in parallel. File splitting can reduce backup time for massive tables by at least 50%. And restores are equally fast.
• Back up databases at the logical (File System) or physical (Raw Partition) level depending on your business requirements.
• Automate cold database backup using the Pre- and Post-Script facilities within Backup Express. A typical strategy would be: 
1. Use a Pre-Script to shut the database down
2. Based on a successful return code, execute the backup
3. Return the database online via a Post-Script 

All other open files and applications on Windows and NetWare platforms can be backed up online via the Backup Express Open File Manager. 
Back To Top



Backup Express provides full support for SAN (Storage Area Network) technology, Windows 2000, and NDMP protocol NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. NDMP support allows high-speed local, filer-to-filer, and filer-to-server backup of NDMP-compliant filers and appliances. Direct Access Restore (DAR) through NDMP eliminates the need for multiple tape loading and streaming.

• Backup and Recovery for NDMP

SAN Resource Sharing (SRS) allows Backup Express to attach machines (UNIX, Windows NT/2000, Linux and NetWare servers, and NDMP-compliant filers) to tape devices in a SAN environment and dynamically share tape drives. Backup Express has been certified as supporting Network Appliance's FC Fabric Tape SAN Backup solution.

• Backup Express SAN Resource Sharing Option