Seagate Needs Better Backups? Buys Mirra

from the storage-expands dept

I've been a big fan of the Mirra personal backup server since I got one a year and a half ago. Having learned lessons the hard way concerning not having backups, Mirra's simple setup and real-time file backup was absolutely worthwhile. I've even been able to convince at least five others to get Mirras as well. They're a bit pricey, but when compared to trying to salvage lost data, it can be absolutely worthwhile. The more technically minded like to point out that you could build your own such solution, but that takes time and effort, and you'd have to find the right software to make it work. The Mirra just works. The one big limitation is that it really isn't "remote" backup. It only does real-time backup if you're on the local network. A couple weeks ago, however, IBM's Tivoli unit announced plans to offer easy, remote, real-time backup, which may have woken up Mirra to the competitive threat. Either that, or it woke up Seagate. Possibly both of them, as Seagate is now buying Mirra. It will be interesting to see if the association with Seagate will allow them to offer cheaper version, and if they'll eventually be able to do better remote backups as well.