IDERA SQL Safe Backup vs. Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)

SQL Safe is appropriate and well-suited for any backup scenario. Having used SQL Safe, I probably wouldn't want to manage a set of servers in the future without it. If you only have a couple of SQL servers, it might not be worth the spend as there are well-maintained free options that are very functional (though they do require more technical knowledge). But I can't think of a scenario where SQL Safe wouldn't be appropriate.

Incentivized

Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager is well suited for Windows domain environments where you need to make backups of Hyper-V virtual machines or bare metal servers. It is possible to backup SQL databases, works pretty well, but sometimes needs consistency checks on backups to properly continue to backup databases. Easy to restore anything to production or to another location.

Incentivized

• History visibility
• Very intuitive
• Easy to set up

Incentivized

• Hyper-V backup /restore
• Bare-Metal backup/restore
• Good management console

Incentivized

• When you're adding a new SQL server, sometimes the install from the management server to the SQL server will fail. I'm guessing this happens because of some version difference in Windows components or similar. Not a huge deal because you can just copy the agent to the SQL server and install it there, but considering how easy everything else is, I would expect this to be a little more fluid.
• I ran into a situation where part of our business decided to move their servers to a third-party data center. When they took away a SQL server that I was managing with SQL Safe, anything having to do with that policy took forever. Click. Wait 10 minutes. Window reacts. I'm guessing this is because the Management Console is trying super hard to contact the server in question, but I wish it handled losing a server better than it does.

Incentivized

• Integration with some devices
• Web client
• Slow interface

Incentivized

IDERA SQL Safe Backup winning thanks to the pricing, nothing more.

Incentivized

Incentivized

• SQL Safe allows me to spend less time managing my DR plan and still maintain confidence that my backups and restores are solid. Saving my time means saving money.
• SQL Safe does an amazing job at backup compression over and above SQL's native compression. SQL backups are probably our single largest consumer of network drive space. Any product that helps reduce my network footprint, saves money.

Incentivized

• It has saved us on licensing costs and through centralized management.

Incentivized