Diskeeper 2010 RTM'ed (Release To Manufacturing) earlier this week, so we celebrated with cake; a Diskeper cake in the image of the new DVD case that is. 

Have you added or thought about adding a SAN solution to your customer’s existing systems? Read the following from a recent white paper:

“SAN defragmenting offers an alternative to costly hardware costs incurred by adding drives. Why? While SANs offer extremely efficient and high-performing data storage, it is not their job to address file system-level fragmentation. No matter how efficient data retrieval can be, and how much physical disk limitations can be mitigated, the added overhead on the operating system retrieving the file is beyond the scope of SAN technology, and is impacted by file fragmentation.

How are companies addressing this? Some simply ignore the issue, believing that because of the inherently high performance of SANs, defragmenting offers little or no benefit.

Others assume that SAN or virtualization vendors address the issue with features within their offerings. However, while some SAN vendors offer tools that work within their proprietary SAN file systems, none of these tools address local disk file fragmentation.

These wrong assumptions cause many to simply ignore the problem – a tactic that is not an option in today’s business environment. Companies need to defragment their SAN to achieve a noticeable improvement in system performance.”

And read the following SAN testimonial:

“Do I consider Diskeeper a vital tool on our network? Without a doubt.

I have been in situations in years past where large SAN arrays failed due to file system corruption. Once at that point, recovering info from the actual units is pointless and all you can do is pray that the Backup Administrators did their job. Since those times I have made it a point to ensure that the file system fragmentation is kept to a minimum, with the added bonus of being able to detect initial corruption earlier.

After running Diskeeper on various servers in multiple configurations, I never had to worry about file system performance degradation. That in itself makes the product worthwhile. It is also why I make sure that we renew our licenses each year.

Sometimes the hallmark of a software is how often you use it. With Diskeeper, its hallmark is that it does a fantastic job after setting it once and letting Diskeeper do what it does best, without further user interaction.”

Shem Boduch
Sr. System & Network Administrator
University of Chicago

Need  a copy of the white paper? Additional testimonials? Let me know. I’ll get them to you.

-Anthony

If you are a Diskeeper Maintenance customer, keep an eye open for an email from Diskeeper Corporation with some exciting news. Emails are going out this week through next.

Our developers are currently working on updating Undelete 2009 to support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008r2. We expect the update to be available in early-to-mid December 2009. If no major changes are required, it should release in the early part of that month. If we discover a need to make more significant changes to Undelete, we'll run a field test, and release sometime later that month.

I run Server 2008r2 as my main production system and have been running early versions of Undelete for several months - without experiencing any major issues. So, I'm optimistic we'll get this update out soon. 

Are you a VAR, System Integrator with a VL customer that’s on the fence about upgrading their site’s 2008 Diskeeper copies to 2009?

I recommend giving our Sales Managers a call.

They’re experts at working with you and your customers to find solutions that benefit all.

Would a conference call with one of our technical staff help? How about a copy of the latest trialware? Or DPAN (Disk Performance Analyzer for Networks)? A testimonial or two from our customers?

Let us know. We’ll take care of it.

-Anthony

Have you received your Windows 7 Launch Party Pack yet? Have you sent out the invites? Prepped the guacamole?

There’s not much time left as Thursday, November 22 is the big day. Will you be upgrading your client’s machines (from XP or Vista) to the latest operating system or are you going to perform a “clean” install? I’ve spoken with a number of VAR’s and they’ve indicated a clean install is their preferred method. What’s yours?

Many VAR’s have indicated a slow and steady rollout with some of their customers opting to finally pull the trigger and purchase new pre-installed systems.

And the question I’m asked, “what about Diskeeper… will it work with Windows 7?” is an easy one to answer.

Yes.

Diskeeper 2009 and HyperFast fully support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008r2, and have since we released them back in December 2008. V-locity (our Hyper-V solution), also fully supports the new Windows platforms.

So pace yourselves with the chips and champagne. And remember to install Diskeeper.

Anthony

Have you recently added extra storage capacity to your clients systems? A 1-terabyte drive is quickly becoming the defacto standard in new or replacement installs. While your clients may think that they’ll never be able to use all that space, within a short period of time, you’re getting a call to “fix” their “slow to a crawl” system and you find that they’ve filled the drive with important “stuff”, leaving 1% free space for you to work with.

LIMITED SPACE IMPEDES PERFORMANCE RECOVERY

Volumes with limited free space are the ones most in need of defragmentation. Most defrag solutions simply cannot operate efficiently in these conditions. Diskeeper can effectively defrag your clients drives with as little as 1% available space.

Pretty remarkable.

-Anthony

Almost here

Computerworld just printed an article about our current and future HyperBoot releases. It includes a simple video we created. The video shows two identical brand new laptops with no changes, other than adding HyperBoot to one of them. They've been set, in a loop, to continually reboot - right after completing a startup. The video begins in "real time" and then fast forwards to show the continuing improvements.

Read the article and check out the video here.

PS: we have heard significant interest from corporations and home users alike for this product, and are increasing our efforts to make it available publicly.

You know you’re in Las Vegas by the flashing lights and non-stop bells and whistles of the slot machines along with the massive scale of buffet offerings.

You know you’re at the Riviera when, as you exit the elevator, you’re given a choice; go right and you’re getting married at the chapel. Go left, you’re getting tattooed.

Left it was -

Jim Locke and the SMBTN boys and girl were on hand and included our promotional materials on their exhibit table. We were also part of their raffle, offering a copy of Diskeeper 2010 (when it becomes available) to a lucky winner.

While Managed Services remained a focus of many of the sessions, VoIP and Social Media solutions were definitely the “next thing” buzz of the show.

And Diskeeper 2010 was teased into every conversation. “When can I get my hands on a copy?” you may ask.

The clock is ticking.

-Anthony

www.smbnation.com

www.la-itgirl.com

www.smbtn.org

Optimizing the disks of virtual platforms is an absolute must for performance. Typically even more so than on physical platforms.

Topix Technologies, an IT Analyst group out of Paris, France recent completed a study about the effects of fragmentation on the modern virtual infrastructure. They used V-locity to restore performance to the high service levels IT departments and providers are required to deliver. Check out the performance results in the chart below or read the full report here.

We're looking for some current Diskeeper customers that are interested in getting a first look at a new technology breakthrough - in Diskeeper 2010. The beta test will start next week, and we have about 50 openings left that we need to fill.

If you are a current customer and are interested and able to install, evaluate and then comment (fill out a 5 minute online survey) on this software, all within a one week period, simply fill-out a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) located here.

Fax the signed NDA to:
Fax: 818-252-5514

Please add the following to the Fax cover page:
Attn: Field Test Administrator/Sneak Peek Preview

Alternatively you can email the signed NDA (scan in the pages with your signature) to our Field Test administrator. Please add "Sneak Peek Field Test" in the subject line.

TechData brought its traveling Software Solutions roadshow to St. Louis (September17^th-18^th).

Part TechData infomercial, part relationship builder for vendors and VARs, the event is quick-paced and chock full of sessions.

Vendors APC, Sony, Toshiba sponsored the opening luncheon, and after the opening welcome from Murray Wright, TechData’s Senior Vice President of Sales we were treated to “Comedian of the Year” Buzz Sutherland. I knew he was going to be funny because his first name is “Buzz”.

Microsoft, Novell and Symantec (Gold member sponsors) were on hand to speak about new opportunities and get the crowd motivated.

TechData makes sure that during the breaks we are properly fed with sugary snacks and caffeine. Apple slices on a stick dipped in chocolate (a local treat), potato chips of various flavors and power bars (for the healthconscience) kept the attendees happy and ready for the next session.

For the Roundtable session I met with groups of 5-10 attendees for approximately 10 minutes as they rotated from table to table. Call it “tech speed dating”. It’s a good opportunity to meet new people and tease them with just enough information to get them to continue the conversation later. And the attendees received gift cards just for showing up!

At the Technology Showcase (also called the exhibit hall) I had the chance to speak in depth with number of new VAR’s overlunch. I’m still surprised when a VAR comes up to the booth and asks, “What does Diskeeper do?” Meeting with existing customers is great, creating new VAR relationships is one of the reasons we continue to participate and attend. You never know who you are going to meet and what you’re going to learn. 

On Tuesday September 15, the SMBTN Group held its monthly Los Angeles chapter meeting at Diskeeper’s on-site café, MegaBytes. The SMBTN Group is a 600 plus SMB VAR peer group with chapters across the US. The monthly meetings bring together local VAR’s to share best practices and introduce them to new technologies via vendor presentations. Megabytes is the home for the monthly get-togethers.

As VAR’s shift their business focus from the traditional break-fix to an MSP model, they must also shift their sales focus from one of a technical nature to more of a consultant/trusted advisor role. How to promote and sell this new service model does not come naturally to otherwise smart “tech guys”.

This month’s meeting introduced the guys to Charmaine McClaire, founder and president of the McClarie Group. Charmaine led a spirited discussion/presentation about the importance of branding, communicating and consistently presenting your vision to your existing and potential customers. 

While Charmaine typically presents to Fortune 500 companies in front of large groups, because of her existing relationship with SMBTN, the attendees got an intimate opportunity to engage and participate with one another.

Charmaine urged the guys to stop auditioning for the part. It’s a major shift in the way in which VAR’s approach their clients. They don’t have to list the “things” they are going to do. By consistently presenting themselves as an integral part of their customers’ success and growth they are able to shift the perception from one of an on-call repairman to one of a paid consultant. 

This point alone resonated with a number of the guys.

SMBTN will be participating at the upcoming SMB Nation event, hosting pre-day sessions on Thursday, Octonber 1.

Contact Information:

• • SMBTN (www.smbtn.org)
• • McClarie Group (www.mcclariegroup.com)
• • SMB Nation (www.smbnation.com)

Jimmy J. Powell,

Network Administrator,

City of Rockwall 

From one of our customers: 

Diskeeper works 100% of the time.  After I’ve installed it I simply forget about it.   I have it running on two NAS servers and on our Microsoft Small Business Server 2003. Diskeeper has prolonged the life of our Small Business Server by 18 months.  Our hard drives are nearly full, yet Diskeeper has kept them working optimally with low disk space.  We will introduce Virtualization (replacing our SBS2003 box) into our production environment during the fourth quarter using Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  I have already tested your V-locity product on a non-production Hyper-V server and will incorporate it into our rollout in October. Keep up the good work! 

Al Stenner,

Director Information Services,

KRM Restaurant Group

Diskeeper 2009 and HyperFast fully support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008r2, and have since we released them back in December 2008. V-locity also fully supports the new Windows platforms.

That said, the next major release of Diskeeper (coming soon) will also take advantage of new functionality in Windows 7. Windows 7 allows for additional online metadata defrag, including $Extend  (think USN Journal here) and also $Secure.

This past year, we've also been engaged with Microsoft's Front Runner compatibility program. Microsoft  is going to great lengths to ensure the upgrade process (e.g. install Windows 7 upgrade over Vista) is seamless for their customers. Something I did not see with the Vista release, is the degree of involvement they have required from software vendors such as us, to ensure reliability and stability for users who take the upgrade path.

On to Undelete...

Undelete 2009 will support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008R2 around the time that those new OS'es release to public (i.e. Oct 22nd). We'll post/email instructions for Undelete 2009 customers regarding how to get the new update when the software is available. All in all, supporting Windows 7 has not required significant code changes, but there's a great deal of quality control testing we always require before we can certify our software for release. 

As part of that testing process, a few weeks ago several of our senior developers were at Microsoft's bi-annual IFS PlugFest. PlugFest is a meeting of file system filter driver developers that we've been regularly attending for years. At this interoperability forum, we can test our solutions alongside those from other manufacturers. The perfect timing of this event allowed us to test the updated Undelete on the new Windows platforms with file system filter drivers from other vendors. We also had the opportunity to test some new, very advanced (but as yet unreleased) new technologies!