Item: Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery is currently being used on one of our main datacenters, in Brazil.
We use it to backup our NetApp storage with around 900TB of user data (CIFS and NFS shares), it also protects around 100 general application VMs and our Oracle databases running on both OVM and Exadata.
Commvault has a great integration with NetApp storages (we actually started using for NetApp backups only, at that time it was sold with NetApp as a 'feature' called SnapProtect).
It allowed us to completely retire our tape libraries as now we run backups directly to Cloud object storages. It's deduplication algorithm works really well and ensures we only upload the modified data.

Pros and Cons

Deep and complete integration with NetApp storage.
Ability to backup data directly to Cloud object storages (BLOBS, S3, etc.).
A wide range of features and integrations to most virtualization platforms.
Integration with Oracle databases.

Complex to implement and to administer.

Return on Investment

It allowed us to protect our ~900TB of user data, in the way we didn't have before.

Alternatives Considered

Veritas NetBackup, Veeam Backup & Replication and Data Protector (formerly HP Data Protector)

Not all the backup tools have the ability to backup directly to Cloud (Blobs, S3, etc.).
It can be a little controversial, but when dealing with 900TB of user data to be backed up you don't have much options.
When doing this backup to tapes, we had 2 giant Tape Libraries consuming 2 Racks in our Datacenter and it took weeks to complete.
Besides, with all the issues that Tape backups brings.
Commvault also have great interaction and integrations to most technologies (storages, virtualization, operating systems, databases, etc.).

Support Rating

I would rate Commvault's support as an 'average' support.
Now that we have a very experienced guy working with Commvault, most of the time we can fix or do anything by ourselves.
We had some issues with their support taking a really long time to respond and fix some issues in the past.
In most cases we ended up appealing to the community, other peers, or Commvault's SE team.

Key Insights

Do you think Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI's feature set?

Yes

Did Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Commvault Cloud powered by Metallic AI again?

Yes

Usability

It's a 9 only because it is very complex to administer.
It would be good if they could transform the management console to be more user friendly, while keeping its functionality and wide range of features.
But it is a very complete tool, with a lot of fine adjustments to your backups, thresholds, policies, backup destinations.
We're really satisfied with Commvault protecting our environment.

Likelihood to Recommend

It's very well suited to large environments, where you have a wide set of different technologies.
In this scenario, Commvault is the most likely backup system to be compatible with all technologies/systems you use.
It's also very recommended to protect a large NetApp environment. They have a very good partnership and it is reflected on the integration between the two systems.
The 'price' for it is that Commvault is a complex tool to implement and manage.
It works in a different concept from the other backup tools in the market. It's not 'job-oriented', but 'policy-oriented.'
It brings some headaches to those who dont have much experience with Commvault. To administer large environments, I would recommend to look for someone experienced on it.
We did it a few years ago, and this guy did a really good job improving our backups.

A very complete backup tool

Overall Satisfaction with Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery