Item: Veritas NetBackup
Rating: 7
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Symantec NetBackup

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Before Netbackup we were running BackupExec writing directly to LTO5 tape drives. In spring of 2014 we evaluated NBU and Commvault. Both products would meet the needs of modernizing our environment, however in the end NBU was the more economical choice. We chose to implement NBU, with a 86tb backend Netapp 2240-4 and SpectraLogic T110 LTO6 tape library. Since its implementation in spring of 2014 NBU has allowed us to more reliably backup our Oracle environment and other filesystems. The use of MSDP pools extended the amount of capacity we had for backup and the ability to create policies to automatically move data from disk to tape has decreased the amount of time for backups and restores by 50%.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The activity monitor allows me to easily see if there are issues with backup jobs or the environment.
Community support for NBU is very good. I've been able to research issues with ease and find other users that have been in similar situations.
Policy management for backups is very easy and there are lots of options.

Cons

Limited 60tb MSDP per media server is a frustrating limitation. I have an 86tb san that I cannot leverage all the space on.
A refresh of the GUI is needed. There are menus within menus and it is sometimes difficult to find what you are looking for.
Creating someone type of FAQ for newer administrators would be useful. I'm sure I have run across a bunch of questions that have been asked 50 times before.

Return on Investment

Modernized our Oracle backup processes. They are now more reliable and have reduced recovery times by 50%.
Limited MSDP pools have forced me to look at buying more licenses.
Good support and community makes NBU easier to support.

Alternatives Considered

We selected NBU based solely on cost. When comparing NBU and Commvault, NBU was 10k cheaper in the end and contained roughly the same features as Commvault.

Other Software Used

Tivoli Storage Manager, Symantec Backup Exec, Networker

Likelihood to Recommend

Like most enterprise backup applications, Symantec NetBackup (NBU) suffers from complexity. Using and understanding advanced features can be challenging at times. Real world experience is needed to know if they are worth the time to implement. On the other hand I have found NBU relativity easy to use with a little training from just a simple backup scheduling and restore perspective.

Veritas NetBackup Feature Ratings

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Simple review from a simple storage admin...