Arkeia Software

Arkeia Software
Private
Industry Computer software
Founded 1996
Headquarters Carlsbad, California, USA
Key people
 Bill Evans, CEO
Products Arkeia Network Backup, Arkeia Backup Appliance
Revenue Private
Number of employees
 50
Website http://www.arkeia.com

Arkeia Software is an American computer software company. It produces network backup software for 200 platforms including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, AIX, BSD and HP-UX, and also a backup appliance, integrating its software with disk storage and network connectivity. In January 2013, Western Digital Corporation announced it had acquired Arkeia Software.[1]

History

Originally named Knox Software, the company was founded in 1996 by three French engineers, Michel Colzi, Nordine Kherif, and Arnaud Spicht together with CEO Phil Roussel.[2] First incorporated in San Jose, California, the company was reincorporated in France after a $4M Series-A investment in 2004 from SPEF Ventures (Banque Populaire) and Crédit Agricole Private Equity.;[3] this was followed by a $3M Series-B investment by the same investors in 2007.[4]

Products

Backup software

The firm's backup software has been released in several successive products. Its earlier product, Smart Backup (available 2005—2007) was reviewed in Linux User and Developer [5]

Its current backup product, Arkeia Network Backup software, was reviewed in various releases in Linux Magazine,[6] and Linux Format  :[7]

In 2009 the company released the product as a system image for VMware virtual machines.[8] In 2009 the company acquired intellectual property and engineering resources from Kadena Systems in a deal that added source-based data deduplication to the software. The technology uses a sliding window approach to identify duplicate data which checks the data stream one byte at a time until it finds blocks that match what the application has seen before.[9] The current version, 9.0, automatically adjusts block sizes based on file type in order to maximize dedupe ratios.[10]

Licenses for the company's products have generally been "for fee" licenses, but beginning in 1998, it has made available a limited-capability free version. The first version, Arkeia Light, was available from 1998 to 2003.[11] The current free version, called Arkeia Network Backup Free Use Edition, is available for download on the company’s website.

In addition, a Ubuntu 8.04 LTS repository was released as a no-cost, small-network package in 2009. .[12]

Appliances

The firm's backup appliance, originally called EdgeFort and now Arkeia Backup Appliance, was released in 2007, and has also had several versions. It allows backup administrators to remotely manage backup operations at remote sites without sending data back to headquarters over the WAN.[13] It was reviewed by Storage Magazine in 2008., in its 2008 review of the EdgeFort 100 appliance, concluded that:[14]

References

  1. ↑ Mikael Ricknas, IDG News Service, “Western Digital Acquires Arkeia to Boost SMB Storage Offering”, PCWorld, January 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Jeremy Geelan, “SYS-CON Radio Interviews Phil Roussel, Arkeia,” Sys-Con, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo 2004 San Francisco, August 4, 2004.
  3. ↑ “Arkeia Finds $4.0M,” SoCalTech.com, August 4, 2004.
  4. ↑ Dan Primack, VC Deals, Venture Capital Journal, July 17, 2007.
  5. ↑ Martin Howse, “Arkeia Smart Backup," Linux User and Developer Magazine, January 4, 2006. “Smart Backup consolidates a more confusing former product range, with a basic product, priced according to the amount of backed up data, and relying on a plugin architecture for more complex integration scenarios.”
  6. ↑ Jason Tower, "Sun’s Bright Spots and More," Linux Magazine, June 2005. “Overall, Arkeia is a solid performer that treats Linux like the champion it is, rather than a second-rate operating system supported only as an afterthought.”
  7. ↑ Arkeia Network Backup 6.0, Linux Format Magazine, January 1, 2007. "Most notably, support for ... (SAN) backups has been added – a major selling point given how inexpensive SAN devices have become.”
  8. ↑ “Backup and disaster recovery for virtual environments with Arkeia Network Backup 8,” Help Net Security, January 27, 2009.
  9. ↑ Beth Pariseau, “Arkeia takes aim at EMC Avamar with Kadena Systems data deduplication IP buy,” TechTarget.com, November 3, 2009.
  10. ↑ Dave Simpson, “What is progressive deduplication?”, InfoStor, October 19, 2010.
  11. ↑ “Arkeia Light v5 Now Available as Backup Solution for Open Source Environments,” LinuxPR, December 17, 2002.
  12. ↑ David Hamilton, “Arkeia Releases Free Network Backup Software for Ubuntu,” Web Host Industry Review, November 12, 2009.
  13. ↑ “Arkeia GAs EdgeFort”, ComputerWeekly, July 17, 2007.
  14. ↑ Product Review: EdgeFort 100, Storage Magazine, June 2008. “The EdgeFort delivers a smart D2D2T solution that is easy to deploy, and offers an impressive selection of backup and restoration features.”