SAN FRANCISCO, LinuxWorld -- VERITAS Software Corporation (NASDAQ:VRTS) , the leading storage software provider, today announced that ATA Airlines, the nation's 10th largest passenger carrier, has significantly streamlined its IT operations and lowered its data protection costs using VERITAS NetBackup(TM) software. ATA, which established approximately 30 percent of its enterprise on the Linux operating system, selected VERITAS because of its full-featured capabilities on Linux, scalable architecture enabling high-performance backups, and ability to support and centrally manage the airline's heterogeneous environment. VERITAS NetBackup software and other VERITAS solutions help ATA meet the Federal Aviation Administration's regulations to protect and retrieve business data, which includes operational, logistical and messaging applications on Linux.

In addition to VERITAS NetBackup, ATA relies on VERITAS Cluster Server(TM), which has increased the availability of its business data by 93 percent on its database and Web servers, and VERITAS Foundation Suite(TM) software, which reduced the planned server downtime associated with data protection backups from two hours to five minutes, a 96 percent improvement. The company used VERITAS Cluster Server to increase the accessibility of its mission critical applications, helping to reduce planned and unplanned downtime. ATA selected VERITAS Foundation Suite because it needed to reduce the size of its backup window, which can impact the level of data protection, and overall performance of its network and applications.

"VERITAS solutions significantly reduced the number of hours required to manage our environment and helped us prove that Linux is a solid and cost-effective operating system worthy of the enterprise," said Rainer Kraft, manager of systems administration, ATA Airlines. "Overall, VERITAS has helped decrease our costs, while increasing the reliability of our complex IT infrastructure."

ATA turned to VERITAS to meet the data protection requirements of its environment and 24/7 business objectives. Previously, ATA spent between five and 15 hours a week managing its data protection. Today with VERITAS, ATA spends roughly one half hour to one hour a week reviewing logs and other checkpoints for quality assurance. VERITAS NetBackup centralizes the management of ATA's 6 terabytes (TB) of data generated weekly on Windows, Linux, Solaris, Netware and HP-UX, eliminating the need to manage its complex data environment with multiple, disparate tools.

"ATA Airlines is an excellent example how VERITAS product synergies can result in dramatic improvements in management and reduction of tedious, time-consuming tasks," said Mark Bregman, executive vice president of product operations, VERITAS Software. "VERITAS support of heterogeneous hardware and software helps to ensure customers have freedom to choose the most cost effective and strategic solutions, such as Linux, specific for their business objectives."