InTechnology has released its first product following the merger between storage distributor Storm and manufacturer Vdata.

The vendor's Vbak offering is a remote service that automatically backs up computer and server information at customer-defined intervals. Vbak is aimed at customers with more than 50 networked PCs, or users with more than 50Tb of data within a Windows or NetWare environment.

For a customer to receive the Vbak service, InTechnology will install a dedicated appliance - the Virtual Storage Gateway (VSG) - on the customer's network and connect this to an InTechnology data storage centre.

During the back-up process, the required data will be transferred to the VSG where it will be compressed and encrypted. Customers will retain the encryption keys to prevent unauthorised viewing.

InTechnology claims that the product can save bandwidth by detecting and transporting only data that has been modified between back-ups.

Steve Pierce, chief operating officer at InTechnology, said: "On average, only five per cent of data is changed on a system daily, so we can save time by ignoring the other 95 per cent on each computer. With compression technology, we can now reduce this to about one per cent."

In the event of major data loss or an on-site crash, InTechnology will physically deliver back-up data to the customer's site.

The company will distribute Vbak entirely through resellers, and Pierce said the vendor would be looking to expand its number of resellers following the product launch.

"The storage and storage area network markets are currently very strong and the response to the product has been good," he said. "We have signed up 10 partners so far, but an additional 10 to 15 would give us optimum coverage."