Dell Avamar vs. Veeam Data Platform

This software is well suited for companies that want to be very in control of their backups but need a simple tool. It could be convenient for them to just buy their own node, locate it in a different location, and set up the jobs for their machines to backup to the cloud with the specific plugins. However, it would not be convenient for companies looking to have a tool that needs to be secure and compliant, and that need to have different other options for business continuity.

Incentivized

We have a small deployment with a handful of physical hosts and two dozen or so virtual servers. It's been a perfect fit for us to manage all those backups and to restore entire systems from or even pull specific files/folders from a backup as needed if just a few things need changed/rolled back.

Incentivized

• Avamar performs data deduplication on the remote host. This greatly reduces the amount of traffic that each backup requires. This even applies to the virtual environment through change block tracking. Backup times are reduced from hours to minutes.
• The management interface makes it easy to configure and maintain data retention periods. Many times certain data must be kept for an extended period of time. There is a specific menu for managing retention periods.
• The system is able to recover itself from a hard failure with virtually no loss of backups. There is a checkpoint taken each day that provides a recovery point in the event of a catastrophic failure. Since this is a node based system, the loss of more than one node could require a recovery be performed.
• While another grid must be purchased, the replication utility allows all backups to be replicated to another grid at a remote location. This ensures the resilience of the backups in the event there is the loss of the primary data center.
• Also works on HCI devices performing image-level backups as in our primary data center environment
• There is also now an All-in-One appliance for smaller locations

Incentivized

• File-level restore is quick, reliable, and much simpler than other platforms I've used
• Replication is extremely simple to configure and test
• Agent setup for user endpoints and subsequent backup storage is incredibly simple
• Cloud repository configuration is extremely straightforward and well-documented

Incentivized

• The client interface has constant JAVA issues and can be slow and chunky. We have often had issues with current versions of JAVA breaking it so it will not even run.
• The backup clients are split out for function. Although this makes them light, it also makes it cumbersome to upgrade clients. The naming scheme can also be confusing for the clients.

Incentivized

• Support could stand to improve by a bit. The level of support has seemingly lessened over the years I've been using it.
• It needs to be able to report backup repository statistics better when XFS and ReFS are in use.
• It could be a little better about cleaning up after itself (old logs, etc.).

Incentivized

I have been using the product for over five years. This has performed so well that with the current system reaching its End-of-Life with EMC next year, I have proposed replacing it with the latest version of the product. Now that it integrates with Data Domain, the cost has been greatly reduced. Instead of the need to purchase many nodes, one Data Domain can replace them creating a significant cost savings.

Incentivized

I have used many other data backup products that are on the market. I trust the configuration options within Veeam to do as they are labeled, without any specific back end software changes that may cause backups to fail if you don't use a systems integrator.

I trust the product for my own home environment as well due to relationship I have with the product at work.

Incentivized

The system overall is easy to monitor and see your backup/restore status. The user interface could use updating as it relies on Java and any updates to Java cause the interface to stop working need to be reinstalled

Incentivized

Veeam is fairly simple in terms of how it is set up; its not an overly-complicated dashboard that can be intimidating to less technically-inclined users. Veeam also offers good instructional videos to help users work through how to do specific functions. I appreciate that they have specific video tutorials rather than having users scroll through a cumbersome manual.

Incentivized

The Veeam Backup & Replication solution is up and running every time you need it as it was planned. In more than 3 years that we have been using the product every night, it might have failed or presented an error once or twice, so the availability percentage is almost at 100%.

Incentivized

Veeam does a good job with backing up our servers in a timely manner. We are still at the beginning of our Veeam use and are pleased with the speed at which we can access the system as well as the backups and restore points. Veeam is definitely superior to our previous backup system in terms of speed and accessibility

Incentivized

Support is very convincing, always eager to solve issues from the root rather than workaround, don't hesitate to take webex, describe the issues to the core and recommend configuration to avoid further issues. We can ask few questions other than the main issue. They don't hesitate to answer.

Incentivized

The support team has never asked me to jump through silly hoops or waste time on pointless exercises. They seem to truly have a handle on what may be wrong. In fact, when we were having trouble getting our license renewal setup (because of yet another license migration at Veeam) a support incident got us connected to the right people to get our renewal done in time.

Incentivized

(I assume this question should say "Veeam" and not "Crownpeak Universal Consent Platform") Planning is key. Planning your backup schedule, size, data restore points, replication if you're doing that, &c. Testing is also important; make sure you back something up and then do a test restore. Set up alerts so you know if things aren't working (or even if they are, always good to know that too).

Incentivized

Avamar has simplied the back up approach in their VE edition and is much easier to use than Data Protector. Backing up multiple VMs takes minutes instead of hours now. Creating policies, retentions, and schedules, is vastly improved and much easier.

Incentivized

We used Zerto and CA Arcserve to address these needs without migrating to Veeam Backup & Replication. Zerto is a very successful instant backup and we are still using it now. It does what Veeam application cannot do in instant replication. CA Arcserve, on the other hand, is clearly lagging behind the Veeam Backup & Replication product and does not meet today's requirements.

Incentivized

In terms of scalability for our company, Veeam was able to cover our backup needs with ease. They have options for even more individualized backup if we were to need them; i.e. if a specific workstation needs its own independent backup. We have not used these resources yet, but I am confident they will be beneficial to our company in the near future.

Incentivized

• Absolute Zero ROI
• This appliance does not work in its current state and to update we need to wait 2-3 months
• Can't wait to get rid of it and replace it with something else. (not even sure if we will be able to get it running before that)
• [I think] this is one of the worst mistakes we made

Incentivized

• Confidence before starting riskier maintenance windows is a large component of what veeam is able to offer for us
• Some of the segmentation between different backup servers across our data enters causes unnecessary delays or backups that are duplicated unnecessarily
• Lack of certain storage vendors being natively supported requires hacky workarounds not fit for a production environment

Incentivized