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We first took notice of Cheyenne Software, Inc.'s ARCserve in our Buyer's Guide on LAN backup systems (NW, Feb. 14, page 45). At that time, we placed it on our Short List of products, indicating that it deserved a closer look. Well, we decided to take our own advice.
In this review, we put ARCserve Version 5.01 to the test and found it a flexible, feature-rich local-area network backup solution well suited to large NetWare sites with heterogeneous clients as well as small, single-server installations. ARCserve is a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) that runs on NetWare 3.X or 4.X servers and uses backup agents in the form of add-on modules to support heterogeneous client workstations.
In light of the recent negative attention ARCserve has received (NW, March 9, page 1), we were prepared for the worst. What we discovered, however, was a product that worked well.
Although we ran into a few minor problems during the installation and were baffled by the documentation a few times, none of these problems proved too difficult to work around. We even went through typical technical support channels to get some of our questions answered. We had to wait on the telephone line for a while, but Cheyenne's technical support group was able to provide answers to our questions.
ARCserve offers a base level of support for DOS, Windows and OS/2 clients. For the net managers who need to accommodate additional file systems and file types, Cheyenne provides several add-on modules. With these modules, users can, for instance, back up Macintosh and several flavors of Unix files on the same tapes they use for their NetWare file backups.
Currently, there is no support for Windows NT.
There are also add-on modules for both Oracle Corp.'s and Novell, Inc.'s SQL, which use data files that are always open. The ARCserve add-on modules use a NetWare command to stop writing data to the main data file. Instead, all changes are written to a temporary file while the main data file is backed up.
Once the main data file is backed up, all changes from the temporary file are applied to the main data file. Sites that run either of these two database engines on their NetWare 3. 11 server should apply...