IBM Storage Protect is a good fit for heterogenous backup needs
August 22, 2025

IBM Storage Protect is a good fit for heterogenous backup needs

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

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Storage Protect

Storage Protect is used as a generic backup solution for all the platforms we are running, including virtual machines with Windows, Linux and AIX, databases that include Oracle, Db2 and SAP HANA and virtualisation platforms like VMware.
We backup to several Storage Protect servers, which are replicated to another set of SP servers to maintain access to data that was backed-up in case the primary site becomes unavailable.
The second set of Storage Protect servers is connected to a tape library, allowing all data to be offloaded to tape. These tapes are exchanged daily, to be used in case of malware/ransomware attacks etc.

Pros

  • Continuing a failed backup/restore session, even if the Storage Protect server is temporarily unavailable.
  • The incremental-forever approach for regular files, just back them up once and only create a new backup when a file has changed.
  • Subfile backups, to only backup the changed portion of a (very) large file.
  • Deduplication and compression, both causing backed-up data to use a small portion of the original file size in space-consumption on disk or tape.
  • Extensive settings, policy-based, to govern how many copies of data to keep, for how long, where to store them etc.

Cons

  • Some administrators are trying to mimic daily, weekly and monthly backups. Or come from an environment where that schedule is the norm. It is hard to explain/understand that SP works completely different.
  • People fail to understand that policies govern the 'lifetime' of a backup, regardless whether on tape or on disk. Administrators of other backup tools feel that it should be possible to put a tape back into the tape library and restore from it, no matter how old the backups are. In reality SP 'expires' the data from its database, making the tape useless if it is too old. Massive deduplication and compression makes data on tape unusable if the corresponding data is no longer in the SP database.
  • New versions usually introduce new features, but often also new bugs. Things that used to work perfectly might go wrong after you install a new version. Also the new features do not always work as promised. Better beta-release testing seems appropriate.
  • Initial setup can be a hassle and requires good detailed knowledge about all the product options. It can do a lot, but you can/must tweak a lot. Also, when serious problems do occur, you need a skilled administrator (or call IBM) to fix it.
  • We had to buy only one backup suite for a huge part of our organisation, all backup/restore needs could be fullfilled by the same product.
  • We do not need backup administrators for all kinds of backup-restore software.
It is suitable for a huge part of our organisation, supports many operating systems (including Windows, Linux and IBM AIX), supports many databases - also for online backups (like Oracle, Db2 and SAP HANA), has an Operational Center for control, command-line and GUI for backup/restore. It just works well, once setup correctly.
We have been using TSM (former ADSM), rebranded Spectrum Protect and now rebranded Storage Protect a long time already. The product served us well.
Last time we compared it to competitors we found they all had something lacking. And switching backup suites is no small task if there is data you need to keep 5, 7 or 10 years anyway. Commvault gets close, but doesn't match all features.

Do you think IBM Storage Protect delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with IBM Storage Protect's feature set?

Yes

Did IBM Storage Protect live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of IBM Storage Protect go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy IBM Storage Protect again?

Yes

IBM Storage Protect is well-suited for large heterogenous environments, with skilled IT staff on-hand. You need a person (or group of people) to monitor day-to-day operations, tweak schedules where needed and be mindful of things that might go wrong.

It is also well-suited if you have other IBM products that integrate well with Storage Protect, like Storage Protect Plus or IBM Defender.

It is less suited for small companies, with only one person responsible for IT. Employing Storage Protect would be overkill and use too much time of the administrator.

IBM Storage Protect Feature Ratings

Data Center Backup
8.3
Universal recovery
8
Instant recovery
7
Business application protection
9
Multiple backup destinations
9
Incremental backup identification
9
Backup to the cloud
8
Deduplication and file compression
9
Flexible deployment
7
Management dashboard
8
Platform support
9
Retention options
7
Encryption
9

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