We have been getting a lot of requests for a Version 5.3 of RAP recently, this is probably a 4th quarter rush because people want to get a solution before the end of the year? We had intended to hold off on support for V5R3 until later next year and put out a Version 2.1 release. However because of the number of requests to support the OS version we will be moving the release forward to the beginning of December (oh! thats next week!). We had thought about shipping it as a PTF, but unfortunately the programs etc are all compiled for V5R4 so we have to recompile them all. So if you need V5R3 support we will have it available next week.
The CBU boxes are an ideal fit for the RAP product, these boxes are sold on the basis that they are not used except in times of a loss of the source system, those people who have contacted us about them have been saying they tend to be sitting there having tapes loaded regularly but not much else. If you have a solution like RAP loaded you could have time based updating carried out which should allow you to use the target database for reporting activity. Also the data will be up to date should you need to switch to the target system. If you just want to have data replication and application RAP is a cost effective way to provide that solution ($5,000 will provide the ability to automatically apply that data). This is not a HA solution and is not trying to replace them, we feel there are enough people out there who need a cost effective method of protecting their data. RAP and CBU boxes provide that..
Chris…