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IBM Storage Protect

IBM Storage Protect
Formerly IBM Spectrum Protect / Tivoli Storage Manager

Overview

What is IBM Storage Protect?

IBM Storage Protect (formerly IBM Spectrum Protect, or Tivoli Storage Manager) provides data resilience for physical file servers, virtual environments, and applications. Organizations can scale up to manage billions of objects per backup server.

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Recent Reviews

TSM for Windows Review

8 out of 10
March 30, 2018
Incentivized
Tivoli Storage Manager is being used across the whole organization to provide backup at the file level backup. This protects the business …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Pricing

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What is IBM Storage Protect?

IBM Storage Protect (formerly IBM Spectrum Protect, or Tivoli Storage Manager) provides data resilience for physical file servers, virtual environments, and applications. Organizations can scale up to manage billions of objects per backup server.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.ibm.com/products/storage…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is IBM Storage Protect?

IBM Storage Protectâ„¢ can simplify data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It is also presented as a solution to simplify backup administration, improve efficiency, deliver scalable capacity and enable other advanced capabilities.

Key features of IBM Storage Protect
  • Data replication
  • Built-in cloud integration
  • Comprehensive data protection
  • Integration with IBM Storage Protect Plus
  • Data lifecycle automation
  • Secure to the core
  • Simplified solution bundles
  • A worldwide network of business partners

IBM Storage Protect Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

IBM Storage Protect (formerly IBM Spectrum Protect, or Tivoli Storage Manager) provides data resilience for physical file servers, virtual environments, and applications. Organizations can scale up to manage billions of objects per backup server.

Veritas NetBackup, Veeam Data Platform, and Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI are common alternatives for IBM Storage Protect.

Reviewers rate Instant recovery highest, with a score of 3.

The most common users of IBM Storage Protect are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(41)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-10 of 10)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
December 06, 2022

Tivoli Storage Manager

Score 2 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Saving information about each file, logical volume, or database that it backs up, archives, or migrates
  • backs up
  • archives
  • recovery
  • performance degradation in server database backups after upgrades
provides automated storage management services to workstations, personal computers, and file servers from various vendors, with various operating systems.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We are using Tivoli (TSM) backup software as backup and recovery solution in our environment. We use this product to take all types of backups at OS and database level, like filesystem level backup, OS backup (AIX mksysb), etc. We use this software for daily purpose of backup and recovery for virtual and physical environment.
  • Tivoli (TSM) takes backup by using progressive incremental backup, which means that once it takes the full backup, it only takes the backup of changed data. By using this technique, it provides lots of benefits, like using less network bandwidth and taking less storage space.
  • Tivoli basically provides an archive and retrieval service for data at a cheaper cost that needs to be stored for long period due to compliance.
  • Tivoli (TSM) backup software provides the feature of migration and recall service for space management on client systems or servers.
  • Tivoli is not manageable from the GUI console and I believe it needs a dedicated resource to manage the software.
  • Tivoli (TSM) configuration is complex, granular, and scalable with customizable configuration features, but it requires a good administrator that has a strong knowledge of the product.
  • It needs additional agents or plugins for administration; for example, I have to use an MMC plug-in on the servers.
Tivoli (TSM) software is best for the policy-based management of file-level backups with automatic data migration between storage tiers. It's the best way to save on the cost of storage and other resources. I really like the deduplication functionality of source and destination data, which helps to save the network bandwidth and storage resources. The administration of Tivoli is still complex, which means you need good skills to manage this product. Although, a new version is coming with a better GUI, but it will still require good command-line skills to make Tivoli do everything.
Alexandre Carvalho | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
To back up customers' environments, especially large enterprise ones (up to 130 TB per day of backups)
  • Backup and restore for enterprise customers
  • Incremental forever technology reduces storage needs (besides deduplication)
  • Can also protect virtual machines
  • Provides online backup for databases, mail servers, etc.
  • Deployment and configuration is not easy for an unexperienced IBM Spectrum Protect administrator
  • Operations center uses a lot of data and needs a lot of storage for larger environments
  • Have not seen a redbook about it in the past 10 years
It is less appropriate for small clients/workloads, with not much data to back up, and not many servers. More suited for enterprise customers with hundreds of servers and several terabytes of data to back up daily.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are using IBM Spectrum Protect 8.1.12 in our environment to back up multiple servers with variety of OS and DB applications. It addressed our problem in managing multiple clients with huge data. The scope of DB backups can be utilized in a wide variety of DB backups.
  • Large number of clients backed up
  • More data managements
  • Mass data fragmentation
  • GUI should be more user friendly
  • Support for PMRs
  • Reporting
It will be well suited in large-scale enterprises and health care where data governance is very important, per country laws.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In the company, we have a variety of Operating Systems, including AIX, Linux, and Windows. Spectrum Protect is able to back up all of them in a single environment, and not only the OS (the basic agent is for backing-up files) but it can also backup Databases, Emails, ERPs, and NAS devices. It is an all-in-one solution for your backup needs.
  • Single pane of glass for backups
  • Runs in most of the Operating Sistems
  • Can backup to disk and tape
  • Complexity is a problem since it runs in many different environments, and each has their own particular setup process
  • There is room for improvement in the "Operations Center" console
  • Some of the tasks must be done in CLI
If a company is looking to consolidate [its] backup solutions, Spectrum Protect is the best choice in the market. If you also need to have an air-gapped solution, Spectrum Protect has the option of sending the backup to tape (and it can also replicate the information to another site if needed).
Scott Reese | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it for file-level backups for all Windows and Linux server (275+), and Exchange mailbox-level backups. We have a 3-year recovery SLA for deleted files, and Tivoli makes retention policy configuration pretty easy.
  • File-level backups on all servers.
  • Granular retention policy. Some files we keep 3 years, others 30 days.
  • Exchange agent is a bolt-on that is not manageable from the console. You have to use an MMC plug-in on the Exchange server.
  • No SharePoint agent (anymore... there used to be one).
Tivoli does well running file-level backups, but Exchange is clunky and restores are really hard. With no SharePoint agent, if you use SharePoint you will need another product like AvePoint DocAve. The web-based GUI console is MUCH improved over earlier versions, but you will still need to be a command-line guru to make Tivoli do everything, and local (node) config files still rule. This product was originally ported from Unix and retains may of its 'nix roots.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
IT department uses TSM for daily backups and restores. It also handles DR replication from a Fastback appliance located elsewhere.
  • The concept of "forever incremental" is very appealing to my understanding of how backups should happen.
  • The backups are tuned for fast restores and they sure are fast.
  • The media management is very good.
  • It may have a significant learning curve for people unfamiliar CLI.
  • The database can become corrupt and will require repairs. I have not had a case when I lost any data or inventory though.
Large scale installations with traditional client agent backups. This does not suit pure virtual environments. Having said that, TSM does have another product specifically for the virtual environment. We have not used it.
Another positive point is that the clients can be configured to have separate individual storage which is important when considering GDPR compliance.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
The product is being used to back up the information used by the company's information systems that support different business processes. Currently, it addresses the retention of data that are vital for the administration of the company.
  • Organized management of backup copies.
  • Stability in the operation of the tool.
  • Diversity in backup policy configuration.
  • The tool administration platform must be improved.
  • You should look for simplicity for the configuration complexity of suite products.
  • The online viewing tool should be more stable.
Suitable scenarios:
  • Backup copies of database systems with high capacity.
  • Replication between Spectrum Protect systems works very well.
  • Scenarios where a lot of information is handled.
Scenarios that should be improved:
  • The backup of virtual environments must be improved.
  • Dependencies must be reviewed with products for which Snapshots are configured.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) primarily to store our database backups and logs. I believe it is used in other capacities for OS and file system backups, but I am not a user in that area and my review will focus on database and log backup storage. We use other solutions for mass storage as well - but due to the tight integration with DB2 and TSM, we will probably always use Tivoli in some aspect.
  • Tight integration with DB2. As an IBM product, it works seamlessly with DB2. You can query what is stored in TSM via DB2 itself. You can also use DB scripts to maintain the items being stored there.
  • Like most of its competitors, Tivoli handles deduplication well.
  • Provides a GUI for browsing and maintaining items stored there. I rarely use this feature, due to the next item I will post:
  • Command-line interface directly from my DB2 database servers.
  • Both client and server-side deduplication, compression and encryption are available.
  • If the requirements are zLinux and DB2 support then it's the most solid solution.
  • Can be complex to implement, but once up and running, it is rock-solid and immensely scalable.
  • Scalability is huge. Can be added onto easily.
  • For Oracle and SQL Server, there are other solutions that provide more "bells and whistles" such as storage-side restores, alerting, etc.
  • We sometimes struggle with passwords expiring, etc. It is not a complete "hands-off" solution, as it requires SOME maintenance (not much, really).
  • VMware backup capabilities lag behind competitors.
  • Very Client Driven (which is a mixed bag). I like this feature. New, younger users may not.
For either DB2 or zLinux, Tivoli is hands-down the best solution. For Oracle and other operating systems, there are more advanced solutions available. Some of these features are considered "game-changing" by our Sys Admins. Of the three solutions I've dealt with, Tivoli ranks right in the middle with cost, features, and complexity. A nice solution (and the best for the options I listed above), but not cutting-edge.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Tivoli Storage Manager is being used across the whole organization to provide backup at the file level backup. This protects the business by including all the users My Document level files, which are mapped to a central file sharing server. In the unlikely event a user deletes a folder or file(s), we can rely on TSM to quickly and effectively restore the deleted file(s) or folders. Very reliable system. Tivoli support is also good and has assisted when needed.
  • Good Support
  • GUI interface is straightforward and easy to navigate.
  • CLI is also an option to check on health or status of Tape Library.
  • I do not see anything at the moment that requires change or adjusting. TSM works great for what we need it to do.
  • Note worth mentioning: We never had the opportunity to explore the VM backup functionality, as we are currently using VMware snapshots. This data protection solution came highly recommended to any business environment running VWware / virtualization.
Well suited for file level backup, data recovery needs 30, 60, or 90 days, or perhaps the last 3 iterations of a file change. Version we are running not suited for VMware backups, but IBM does have a VMware TSM version that will accommodate. Assess and be aware of what exactly the business data recovery requires.
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