Barracuda Backup vs. Layer2 Cloud Connector

There are few scenarios that it's not well suited for as long as it's either VMware or Agent Based installations. I have not had success with directly backing up a non-Windows file share. I would definitely test the product first if you are not planning to directly backup through an agent.

Incentivized

We had a scenario where our clients have thousands of external party vendors/committees who regularly sync SharePoint data. Managing thousands of external parties can never be possible without using a Layer2 cloud connector. We managed the local network sharing and SharePoint integration by using the Layer2 connector. Layer2 is convenient with a large amount of data as the per-user license is high.

• Quickness to deploy. You will not need an expert to get this up and running.
• Extremely intuitive interface: Brand new techs can pick this up without much training.
• Global Accessibility: The cloud interface allows administrators to access their backups from everywhere for quick restores after hours.

Incentivized

• Layer2 provides best connectivity with SharePoint
• It syncs local network shared files to the SharePoint
• Provides details file history

• In some of the older version of the software, drilling down to restore a single files was quite the process. It's still a little slow to this day, but improvements have been made.
• It would be nice to have the ability to spin up a virtual machine directly on the backup appliance in the event of a failed server. At current time you need a Hyper-v or VMWare environment to restore a failed machine to.
• Once you put the device in cloud control mode, some of your options are limited when you log directly into the local appliance. I personally would like to see all the options remain the same so I can administer the device the same remotely and I would sitting in front of it.

Incentivized

• Per User cost is expensive
• A lot of pre-requisites
• UI needs to be more user-friendly

Love the units

Incentivized

The front-end webpages are basic without to much clutter which makes finding what you are trying to do fairly easy.

Incentivized

They are always quick to get you routed to a tech support person and always get follow up after contacting them. Last experience was amazing, she adjusted my boxes and they perform even better. I cannot say enough about the support. We had some trouble with one of the windows servers leaving the volume shadow copy out there and would fail. They worked with us to adjust and get working. After that it has been months since I have had to do anything with the server to keep the backups running.

Incentivized

Work on a backup agent for Mac OS X or any Apple OS.

Incentivized

I'm much happier with how Barracuda lays out their console and user interface. Acronis is a great product and you do get what you expect. But to have a the learning curve personally cut by at least 50% is a great thing to have when it comes to training new members to the IT team and getting them up to speed of our procedures.

Incentivized

We had also used Microsoft One Drive as a syncing tool but it requires Office365 for managing and syncing data across thousands of vendors which was not practically possible to manage users on Office 365. Layer2 resolved this issue by having 3 user licenses and they are enough to periodically sync all external parties' data with our SharePoint online.

• We've had a couple situations where we've had to pull data back down from the BBS cloud and while it can take a while sometimes, we haven't had an issue where we haven't been able to restore something that we needed. Overall it has been very reliable.
• We've had to implement two other backup systems in addition to Barracuda Backup and dedicate our BBSs to just mission-critical data because we're size-locked in our appliances. Upgrading to larger models is not financially viable at the moment and we can't expand their internal storage or point them to an iSCSI share or likewise. We brought in other systems to handle non-critical and virtual data because of those storage limitations.

Incentivized

• Layer2 resolves the time management issue
• Resolved data syncing issues across different external vendors
• LOE optimisation with using Layer2 connector.