Data synchronization and replication software vendor XOsoft has leapfrogged some of its closest competitors by announcing support for its first Unix variant.

The Burlington, Mass.-based company, which originally introduced its WANSync Server in 2002 for Windows and added support for Solaris in 2003, now offers support for IBM AIX. The application availability software platform allows users to replicate file servers from one system to another across platforms, according to XOsoft CEO Leonid Shtilman.

At the same time, it helps systems administrators protect the integrity and availability of corporate information repositories across multiple servers without downtime, he said. If a server fails, a WANSync Server replica takes it place, providing a faster path to recovery, Shtilman explained.

AIX is an excellent market for XOsoft to enter, said Steve Duplessie, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, of Milford, Mass. “The IBM market is a great one for replication and availability, because those customers really care about that stuff,” he said. “And AIX shops are very high-end Unix players and tend to be Big Blue shops, so by default, they are the big users.”

The move will be particularly important to users of IBM’s SAN file system, Shtilman said. “To migrate users to new SAN file systems, they need a tool that will support AIX and will allow them to transfer data to new storage without interruption of service,” he explained.

XOsoft’s foray into the Unix world is relatively new for the company and for the industry as a whole. Software from EMC Corp./Legato Systems Inc., NSI Software Inc. or Topio Inc. does not currently support any flavor of Unix, Shtilman said, although Veritas Software Corp. supports Solaris.

Click here to read about XOsoft’s WANSync HA.

XOsoft has had the ability to support Linux for some time but has declined to distribute it in any generic fashion, Shtilman said, because of each variant’s unique qualities.

“Our software is too tightly related to the operating system, so if somebody is making changes in the Linux kernel, it may affect our software,” he explained. “So we’re taking one Linux variant at a time.”

Next up for XOsoft will be support for HP/UX, although Shtilman said executives have not yet finalized plans.

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