We are very excited to announce that the ‘Rollup Update’ for System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 is now available for download.  There are new workloads to be protected, as well as new features in this update, including:

Windows Server 2008 support

• Run DPM2007 Server on a Windows Server 2008 platform
• Protect Windows Server 2008 – including Core systems
• Protect Windows Server 2008 System State
• While DPM2007 has actually been protecting “Longhorn” since Beta 3, this makes Windows Server 2008 a supported protected workload

Protect SQL Server 2008

Including the ability to restore SQL Server 2005 databases to a SQL Server 2008 server for test migrations and ensuring that after you have updated your environment to SQL Server 2008, you will still be able to recover older SQL 2005 databases, when needed.

While DPM has actually been protecting "Katmai" since customer technology preview 4 (July 2007), this makes SQL Server 2008 a supported protect-able workload

Protect clustered Virtual Server 2005 R2 hosts

DPM 2007 could already protect clustered-Exchange, clustered-SQL Server and clustered-File Services … but clustered virtualization hosts was not initially available in DPM 2007 RTM.  Now for those environments that understand that as they rely on virtualization, the virtualization host needs to be highly available – those platforms are protected by DPM, as well.

New media capabilities – added based on feedback from some of our early DPM enterprise customers

Tape media sharing – so that multiple protection groups with similar tape retention periods can now share tapes

Tape library sharing – multiple DPM servers can now share your enterprise tape library silo’s.  This one has been running in MSIT for a while.

For more details on what is included in the DPM 2007 “Rollup Update” or in the upcoming Service Pack 1, please check out:

TechNet webcast on “What is coming next for DPM 2007” from April 23, 2008

The DPM 2007 Rollup Update is now available via Microsoft Update, if your DPM server has opt’ed in for updates … or it is downloadable from:

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 - Rollup Update - x86

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 - Rollup Update - x64

Microsoft is committed to continuing to make DPM2007 an ideal solution for protecting and recovering your Windows infrastructure.  So, stay tuned as we get ready to launch the beta for DPM 2007 Service Pack 1, targeted for later this Summer – including the updates listed above, PLUS protection for Hyper-V, more capabilities around SQL Server databases, new features for protecting SharePoint farms and some other features that we are keeping a surprise for now.   For more news and updates on DPM 2007, be sure to also check out the DPM BLOG.

-- Jason Buffington / DPM Product Manager