A Better Solution, Inc. Introduces "ClearReplica 9.0"

Atlanta, GA, July 29, 2010 --(PR.com)-- ClearReplica 9.0 complements IBM/Rational ClearCase (V3.2 and higher). ClearReplica provides geographically disjoint development as a less expensive alternative to ClearCase Multisite. ClearReplica provides many of the replication features of ClearCase Multisite as well as additional features. With ClearReplica you can replicate whole VOBs, "portions" of VOBs, a single or select files, replicate a single or select branches, replicate multiple VOBs in to single VOBs, replicate multiple VOBs into single VOBs, single VOBs to multiple VOBs and replicate VOBs to other VOBs within the same ClearCase region. These options allow more flexibility to create on-line backup VOBs and staging or distribution VOBs.

“A Better Solution has again raised the bar by providing additional features over Multisite and done so with less end-user cost. The new Peer-to-Peer encryption feature was an often requested feature by government and military clients. Per-branching replication is a sure win for the customer and addresses many security concerns. The enhanced 'Deployment' features add something that has long been missing in ClearCase” -- ClearVision

ClearReplica’s flexibility transcends as an alternative to Multisite in a number of ways, some are outlined here:

* ClearReplica is much more cost effective - Multisite is licensed per user of a replicated VOB so the cost increases when user and VOB usage grows, replicating a single VOB with Multisite that has 100 users in "Atlanta" and 30 users in "India" requires 130 licenses of Multisite, to start. ClearReplica is licensed per "location" so two licenses of ClearReplica and ClearTrigger are needed (one of each at each site). Doubling the number of users of Multisite replicated VOBs doubles the cost of "replication," while doubling the number of users of ClearReplica replicated VOBs adds no additional cost.

* Extended Transport Mechanisms Added - Several sftp transport Mechanisms were added to the automatic packet transport capability so now ClearReplica can use sftp as well as ftp for the automatic transport platform. ClearReplica can still use any transport platform for manual or automatic packet transport. So as always, clients can use any of their open firewall ports to transport data, no need to open more ports.

* Faster and Smaller Packet building - Modified package creation so that packages are both smaller and faster to build and ship. ABS removed the 2Gig packet size limit for built packets (even on a 32 bit OS).

* Automatic Error Notification- Users can have email automatically sent to one or more administrators when there are “Replication” errors or warnings. ClearReplica builds the email file while allowing users to send it to anyone through any email method.

* Parallel and distributed shippers and receivers - Users can run multiple ClearReplica Shippers and Receivers in parallel, even across distributed machines from heterogeneous architectures. This enhancement leads to faster performance for packet creation and processing.

* ClearReplica allows more control over what data is replicated - ClearReplica allows organizations to replicate the whole VOB, a portion of the VOB or even a single or select files. ClearReplica even allows for replication of a single or select branches if desired. ClearReplica enable organizations to minimize corporate bandwidth usage (and bandwidth costs) by “replicating” only the data required by the client instead of all the data in the VOB.

* Enhanced "Deployment" capabilities – Clients can use ClearReplica to “deploy” from ClearCase VOBs to regular flat file systems on local machines or remote machines around the world. ClearReplica “deployment” only requires the license at the “shipper” site. Now updates to a ClearCase VOB can be pushed as regular directories on countless machines making deployment of documents, web pages, patches, registry updates or even ClearCase triggers a snap. ClearReplica produces logs of what is sent and received so that users know what has been deployed.

* Enhanced “Replication Triggers” allow further automation and notification to your “replication” or “deployment” process – Organizations can use ClearReplica “Replication Triggers” to automatically run scripts before or after either sending or receiving “Replication” packets. Now clients can use any in-house script to perform custom logging, send email notification, install/execute deployed files, lock VOBs or even redirect packets by just adding a ClearReplica replication trigger. ClearReplica has pre_ships, post_ship, pre_receive and post_receive triggers help one manage their distributed environment. No more checking log files for certain events, users can have ClearReplica send them email when events happen or have ClearReplica automatically perform the post deployment scripts. The machines deployed to do not even need to have ClearCase installed.

* Enhanced “Replication” and “Deployment” capabilities to disconnected machines or those without a static IP address - ClearReplica facilitates the transfer of ClearReplica data between two ClearReplica servers that do not have direct access to each other, but share access to one or more machines between them that can be used as a ClearReplica 'proxy' machines. The machines used in the transfer that are not actually the source or destination ClearReplica Server constitute the 'proxy chain' of machines. ClearReplica can also facilitate the transfer of data between machines that do not have a static IP address (i.e salesman laptops) so that either “replication” or “deployment” data can be sent to those machines anytime they are connected to the web.

* Nearly free "disaster recovery," "backup sites" or "distribution hubs" - ClearReplica "replication" to read-only VOB sites only require the license at the "shipper" site. Clients can backup hundreds of VOBs to several locations or across the hall with only One ClearReplica license.

* Confirmation of packet delivery (automatic packet recovery) – ClearReplica automatically recovers dropped or lost packets.

* ClearReplica has relaxed mastership - Users of ClearReplica VOBs can actually work on the "same" branch in different replicas and each location see the other's changes immediately. Now any of the "replica" sites can make an element because there is no mastership to get in the way of either site changing the /main branch to make the new element.

* Automatic data encryption - All data packets sent via ClearReplica are encrypted and compressed.

* Additional "peer-to-peer" data encryption (added in 9.0) - All data is by default encrypted using an internal ClearReplica Data Encryption key so that only ClearReplica can decrypt ClearReplica data packets (perfect for closed or otherwise private networks). Additional encryption can be enabled that requires the sender and receiver to agree on a generated encryption key known only to the Sender and Receiver, thus allowing for the secure transportation of packets across open, public or 3rd party networks or even though the use of 3rd party courier services. Even those with ClearReplica cannot decrypt the packet without the Peer-to-Peer encryption key.

* Relaxed Replica Management –Clients can stop "sending" or "receiving" VOB packets at any time without having to "remove replica," a site can "opt-out" of replication at any time without having to coordinate with other replicas or worry about breaking other replicas because they had mastership of shared data. Clients can "opt-in" at any later time and quickly get back in sync or just choose to continue from the current point.

Read about all of the new features here:
http://www.abs-consulting.com/products_clearreplica.shtml

Installing ClearReplica 9.0 is easy and straightforward. Version 9.0 began shipping on July 18th, 2010.

ClearReplica is licensed so you need in most cases only 1 or 2 licenses of the product even if one has hundreds of licenses of Rational ClearCase and hundreds of ClearCase VOBs. Organizations can “replicate” or "deploy" all VOBs in their organization for around the cost of a single license of ClearCase. For more information on ClearReplica visit http://www.abs-consulting.com/products_clearreplica.shtml or view an movie on ClearReplica here: http://www.abs-consulting.com/__training_modules/module_descriptions/clearreplica_overview.shtml.

About A Better Solution, Inc.

Founded by Charles Clarke, III in 1996, he saw the need for a CM consulting company from his early experiences with Atria (the original makers of ClearCase). To this end ABS has assembled some of the best software minds in the country to bring the experiences of many minds in many development shops together to aid in implementation of Rational ClearCase. ABS also provides web-enabled Rational Tools training for users or administrators of Rational Products. Please visit http://www.abs-consulting.com for more details.

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