January 2021 Newsletter

Linux NVMe Storage Support - More


Good day!

  • BackupEDGE03.04.00 Released with Linux NVMe Storage Support
  • BackupEDGE03.03.01 Build 2 with Desktop Linux Support
  • Support and Maintenance Subscriptions - End of Life Information!
  • Operating System Updates and Upgrades - IMPORTANT!

BackupEDGE 03.04.00

Microlite Corporation continues to evolve BackupEDGE to ensure that it supports your needs into the future. The latest release has three new features for Linux to support you as you deploy systems on modern platforms.

  • NVMe (NVM Express) storage device support
  • /dev/vdX paravirtualized disk support
  • Grub2 installation support on servers without a /boot partition.

NVMe represents the newest and fastest storage available for physical servers.

Microlite has a web page dedicated to support for NVMe at our BackupEDGE Linux NVMe Support Page.

Paravirtualized drivers are generally faster and have lower overhead in virtual environments such as KVM.

All licenses under a valid Support and Maintenance Subscription as of January 11, 2021 may update to this release at no charge. Please contact our sales department to renew older Subscriptions. New installations should deploy this release only.

Download a free BackupEDGE 60-day demo and try it with your supported distribution today.


BackupEDGE 03.03.01 Build 2

BackupEDGE 03.03.01 build 2, released on August 13, 2020, had a lot of minor tweaks that enabled it to support a large number of the latest Linux server distributions, plus adding desktop distribution support. New additions included:

New Supported Server Distributions New Supported Desktop Distributions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3
CentOS 8.3-2011
Oracle Linux Server 8.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9
CentOS 7.9-2009
Oracle Linux Server 7.9
Ubuntu 20.10 "Groovy Gorilla" Server
Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS "Focal Fossa" Server
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" Server
Ubuntu 20.10 "Groovy Gorilla" Desktop
Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS "Focal Fossa" Desktop
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" Desktop
Linux Mint 20

Remember that BackupEDGE 03.03.01 build 2 is the minimum (oldest) release for these platforms. Newer releases such as BackupEDGE03.04.00 and later releases will continue to support the releases, plus all releases shown on our Linux Support Tables and UNIX Support Tables web pages, while adding new features, additional platforms and distribution support.


Support and Maintenance Subscription End-of-Life

This is a reminder of some important information sent in our last newsletter.

New BackupEDGE licenses receive a Support and Maintenance Subscription which varies from 1 to 5 years depending on the SKU purchased. The Subscription may be extended before expiration, or renewed up to 5 years after expiration. After a Subscription expires, 5 years of non-priority, best-effort email support is available by emailing support@microlite.com.

All BackupEDGE 03.0x licenses licenses whose Support and Maintenance Subscription expiration date reaches 5 years (making the license a minimum of 6 years old without renewed support) automatically move from "LICENSES NOT UNDER SUBSCRIPTION" status to "LICENSES NO LONGER SUPPORTED" status.

To check your expiration status, you may view any backup report, or under EDGEMENU you may select File -> About edgemenu.

While these licenses will continue function properly...

  • Non-priority email support will no longer be provided.
  • Support renewals will no longer be available for updates and upgrades. New retail licenses will need to be purchased.

Emergency Telephone Support will still be available at fees published on our web site support pages. Please see our Support End Of Life Information page for additional information!

When you update a Support and Maintenance Subscription, you'll always receive a new Activation Code. Always remember to:

  • Enter the new Activation Code that you receive into EDGEMENU.
  • Update your BackupEDGE to the latest supported release. This can be done manually, or if the server is connected to the internet, by running EDGEMENU -> File -> Check for Updates.
  • Make and test new RecoverEDGE media or images after the update.

This will keep BackupEDGE functioning optimally!


Operating System Updates and Upgrades

Whenever new updates or upgrades are released by an operating system vendor, it is important to check our Linux Support Tables and UNIX Support Tables to ensure that we support the release you are updating / upgrading to, and you know the minimum BackupEDGE release required for proper operation with that update/upgrade. BackupEDGE and RecoverEDGE are not like word processing software. They require intimate knowledge of the kernel to do their jobs properly.

Please note that the tables show the minimum required releases. Newer releases are always checked for backward compatibility, and contain the latest patches, fixes and feature and performance enhancements. If you need support for a newer operating system and don't see it in these tables, please send us an email to sales@microlite.com.

Easy update availability is another good reason to keep your BackupEDGE license under a current Support and Maintenance Subscription. Keep safe, everyone.

Tom
D. Thomas Podnar
President
Microlite Corporation
724-375-6711
tom@microlite.com


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