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AppAssure gets it done
April 08, 2016

AppAssure gets it done

Tony Albanese | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with AppAssure

AppAssure is used to back up all our Windows and Linux servers, both physical and virtual. In the past we were using Tivoli and find this a much easier solution to manage. Traditional file level backup solutions were problematic with our document management application because of the sheer volume of files. The ability to export a backup to a virtual machine has allowed us restore a "broken" VM with just a few clicks. This same function gives us the ability to have a "standby" VM ready to power up should a production VM fail.
  • Installation and setup is simple. You can be up and running in minutes.
  • Your backups can be replicated to the cloud or to another AppAssure server to give you additional protection.
  • The user interface is simple and easy to use and improvements in the UI and reporting are getting better with each update.
  • My biggest pet peeve is when the agent on a protected machine stops working. These failures don't show up on my daily report. I need to check the GUI to insure all the agents are talking to the core. Killing the agent process on the protected machine, then starting the service always seems to get them talking once again.
  • Linux support is limited to specific distributions. We often have to enlist AppAssure Technical Support to get our Linux VMs protected.
  • Dell releases patches to both the core and agents. The GUI reports the version of the version level but nothing about any applied patches.
  • Early versions of the product and conflicting "Best Practices" made our initial implementation problematic. Enlisting Dell Professional Services to assist us with our 5.3 to 5.4 upgrade was well worth it and put us in the right place. If you are using a VAR for your implementation make sure they have the experience needed.
  • When a web developer broke our corporate web site, I was able to export a backup to a new VM and get us back online in less time than it took to figure out what broke.
  • AppAssure's ease of use has allowed our help desk staff to do end user file restores without involving system administrators.
Price, features, and ease of use made AppAssure an easy decision for us.
AppAssure works well for quick access to point in time backups of Windows machines without having to do a complete restore. The virtual standby function is useful as a disaster recovery or high availability solution. Recent upgrades to the product and rebranding to Rapid Recovery look promising. If your Linux machines are mission [critical] make sure your administrators test restores so they can perform them in a timely manner should the need arise.

Quest Rapid Recovery Feature Ratings

Data Center Backup
8.4
Universal recovery
8
Instant recovery
8
Recovery verification
9
Business application protection
6
Multiple backup destinations
10
Incremental backup identification
5
Backup to the cloud
10
Deduplication and file compression
10
Snapshots
10

Using AppAssure

12 - The entire technical staff of our Information Services department rely on AppAssure to protect our servers.
1 - Windows server and storage knowledge are recommended. We have 5 AppAssure core servers, although several people monitor the daily backup jobs it just takes a single person to maintain the application and the hardware it runs on.

AppAssure Implementation

Our initial installation really was not optimum. With the help from Dell Profession Services we were able to get our implementation sized correctly and better understand how to get better deduplication results.
  • Vendor implemented
  • Professional services company
We used a Dell Reseller to purchase AppAssure and some Dell storage. They were very helpful in getting the hardware setup but they lacked an in-depth knowledge of the product. When it came time to do the first major version upgrade we went with Dell Profession Services. They have a dedicated team that knows the product.
Change management was minimal - Change management was minimal, early on it was just a matter of finding out if a server had been moved to AppAssure if a restore was needed.
  • Conflicting "Best Practice" information from Dell Tech Support
  • Having a large install base and needing to update the agent on all those machines after updating the core software