Oracle has announced the general availability of Oracle Secure Backup, a new low cost tape management system that enables unprecedented security and performance levels for Oracle Database backups.

Oracle Secure Backup provides partners and customers with unequalled network tape backup for Oracle Databases and file systems across Linux, UNIX and Windows platforms, offering support for over 200 different tape devices from leading vendors. The product encrypts data to tape to help safeguard against the misuse of sensitive data should backup tapes be lost or stolen.

Andy Mendelsohn, senior vice president, Database Server Technologies, Oracle said: "With Oracle Secure Backup, we're delivering a low-cost, high-performance alternative to the complex backup products on the market. The Oracle Database already includes comprehensive disk backup and disaster recovery technology. With the introduction of Oracle Secure Backup, Oracle now offers a complete data protection solution."

Oracle Secure Backup is the world's first backup product to embed backup logic directly inside a relational database engine. This tight integration allows Oracle Secure Backup to achieve such outstanding levels of security, performance, and ease of use.

Unlike many other backup products, Oracle Secure Backup encrypts data before it leaves the database. Data in transit and on tape is kept secure because the keys required for decrypting the data are known only to the source database. This helps ensure that lost or stolen backup tapes cannot be read or tampered with by a third party. Additionally, the product features certificate-based authentication of all host systems participating in a backup or restore to help prevent outside parties from impersonating an authorised host.

Oracle Secure Backup helps achieve extremely fast database backups by directly reading the block layout structures of an Oracle Database and using this information to optimise access to database storage.

Oracle partners and customers can now create a virtually seamless and simple to use backup solution by integrating Oracle Secure Backup with Oracle Database and Oracle Enterprise Manager. Database backups can be managed directly from Oracle's powerful database management console. Best practices for daily and weekly full and incremental backups are built directly into the web-based management interface. A single vendor solution can eliminate many potential sources of error, and provide a single source of support to speed the resolution of any issues.

Reducing the cost and complexity of data protection

Oracle Secure Backup also features an innovative low-cost licensing model. Other backup products require every backup 'client' to be separately licensed. This includes every host, file system, database, application, storage array, NAS device, media server, and administrative server. In contrast to this ultra-complex licensing model, the price of Oracle Secure Backup is based solely on the number of physical tape drives, with the price per tape drive being comparable to competitor products.

Oracle Secure Backup includes an unlimited number of clients for free. Because of this, the licence cost of Oracle Secure Backup is often two to 10 times lower than other products. Oracle's pricing model also removes the need to over-licence client modules to allow for future growth, helping to further reduce total costs.

Support for Oracle Secure Backup is growing amongst ISVs and tape vendors

• Quantum, a global leader in tape- and disk-based backup, recovery and archive systems and a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, has worked closely with Oracle to successfully qualify its industry-leading portfolio of tape drive technologies and tape automation systems with Oracle Secure Backup. Shane Jackson, director of enterprise product marketing and strategic alliances for Quantu explained: "Data security is no longer an option. It is mandated by government legislation and is a core principle of data protection best practices. Customers can rest assured that databases protected with Oracle Secure Backup and that reside on Quantum backup systems and tapes receive the highest levels of security."
• COPAN Systems, also a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, is the leading provider of MAID (Massive Array of Idle Disks), a breakthrough disk-based solution for long-term data storage. Chris Santilli, chief architect of COPAN Systems said: "COPAN's Revolution 220T Virtual Tape Library and Oracle Secure Backup products integrate seamlessly, providing an out-of-box experience for customers to protect their critical data,"
• Oracle PartnerNetwork member, PDX, is the first pharmacy software company to develop a system that fully integrates prescription filling and third party billing features. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company is integrating Oracle Secure Backup along with the embedded Oracle Database it delivers with its solution. Jeff Farris, PDX CIO said: "PDX is deploying Oracle Secure Backup with our next-generation enterprise pharmaceutical software to provide our 11,000-plus customers with a complete data protection solution. By using Oracle Secure Backup and Oracle Recovery Manager as part of our turnkey solution, PDX leverages solid, integrated technology to backup and recover Oracle Databases with maximum reliability, cost efficiency, and ease of use - which is key for our customers."