Ding Dong the Tapes are dead - Avamar backups just work!
Updated February 23, 2016

Ding Dong the Tapes are dead - Avamar backups just work!

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

6.1

Modules Used

  • Server, Enterprise Manager

Overall Satisfaction with Avamar

We used Avamar for both image level and file level backups for VMs, most of which were Windows 2008 servers. We were able to set retention policies that satisfied SOX requirements for financially relevant servers. General file server backups were also taken and restored on a regular basis as requested by end users.
  • File level recovery is quick and easy. No more searching for sets of tapes to restore incremental backups.
  • Backup speed is excellent due to de-duplication.
  • The user interface is fairly intuitive and is easy to train junior level technicians on basic functions.
  • End user perception of data integrity is improved and confidence is high.
  • Avamar is scaleable but expansion is expensive.
  • Storage management could be improved regarding checking real-time available space. Nodes seemed to always be out of sync.
  • Corrupt snapshots were sometimes a problem. Not always, but at least once a quarter.
  • Timely data recovery helped our service department resolve customer issues regarding serial numbers and product info.
  • Less time managing backups led to more time supporting field sales reps and assisting their transactions.
  • Hot image level backups decreased server downtime and kept productivity stable on the user end.
We were considering going with the newer version of the tape backup method we have been using for years. However tapes deteriorate and off site storage adds up. Backups are slow, recovery from incremental backups is slow and unreliable.

FireEye backup to the cloud was cost prohibitive at the time, and end user confidence was not high for data stored electronically off site. Our finance department did not want financial data stored outside of our environment on public servers.

There are still some finance departments that require archives on physical media. What choices are available and what are the methods to export to a chosen media? How would one go about restoring data from this media?

Dell Avamar Feature Ratings

Universal recovery
8
Instant recovery
8
Recovery verification
8
Business application protection
7
Multiple backup destinations
2
Incremental backup identification
6
Deduplication and file compression
8
Snapshots
8

Using Avamar

3 - IT management and support group. Basically used for data retrieval upon demand. Standard users do not have access to the system, they can only place a formal request. The manager would pull reports and the support admins would keep an eye on the backups and snapshots. Data recovery is done by all.