Libertas: Breaking Free from Backup Software Lock-in
After 30+ years in the backup industry, I’ve seen countless organisations struggling with a frustrating scenario: they need to keep their backup software running just to read their old backups. It’s like needing to keep an old word processor around just to read documents you created years ago. This has always struck me as fundamentally wrong – your data is your data, after all.
That’s why I’m incredibly excited about S2|DATA’s release of Libertas, the industry’s first free independent backup reader. (Libertas means “freedom” in Latin.) As someone who has spent decades helping organisations solve backup challenges, I see this as a watershed moment.
Think about it: How many companies are paying maintenance fees for NetBackupTM just to maintain access to old backups? It’s a tax on your own data, and it’s time for that to end.
Starting with NetBackupTM disk images (with a roadmap of expansion to other products later), Libertas demonstrates something I’ve known for a while: backup formats aren’t magic. They’re just structured ways of storing data, and with the right technology you can read them without the original software. This is true of even the most proprietary formats (e.g. TSM). S2|DATA has been reading most backup formats for years with TRACS, and now they’re taking the lessons learned there and offering something for free.
The implications are huge:
- Companies can finally retire legacy backup infrastructure
- Data becomes truly portable
- Vendor lock-in loses its grip
- Access to historical data becomes democratised
I’ve seen organisations spending hundreds of thousands annually just to maintain access to old backups. Libertas and S2|DATA can change that equation dramatically. While the first release focuses on NetBackupTM disk images, this is just the beginning. If Libertas does what I think it will do, you’ll see other formats in the future. (S2|DATA already knows how to read most common backup formats; it’s just a matter of deciding what to give away.)
This isn’t just about saving money (though that’s certainly nice). It’s about fundamentally changing the relationship between organisations and their data. Your historical data shouldn’t be held hostage by the software used to back it up.
As someone who’s fought against vendor lock-in throughout my career, I see Libertas as more than just a tool – it’s a statement that your data belongs to you, not your backup vendor.
The backup industry needs this kind of disruption. We’ve accepted the status quo of software lock-in for too long. It’s time to break free.
Want to be part of this revolution? Head over to https://s2data.com/libertas-download to download Libertas. Let’s make backup software lock-in a thing of the past.
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