Wide-area file services (WAFS) hot in remote storage

Companies with data stored in remote back up facilities are taking notice of a recent spurt of activity around a storage technology called wide-area file services (WAFS). WAFS makes it possible to leverage IP to access a remote data center as though it were local, meaning that companies with lots of branch offices can centrally manage backups. Network World's Johna Till Johnson lays out the virtues of WAFS before listing the vendors that have been broadening their storage offerings to include WAFS, including Cisco's acquisition of Actona Technologies last month.