Item: BDRSuite
Rating: 9
Author: Jesse Brandt

Usability

The install and initial setup were very simple and easy to follow. I was able to get my first server into the backup portal quickly to begin testing.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We switched to Vembu BDR Suite to replace an aging Tape Backup system to perform on-site backups of all of our VM Hosts and VMs.
It has greatly improved the speed of recovery, and the time it takes to perform a backup is significantly faster than our previous solution.
This software has resolved our worries about moving away form Tape drives as a primary backup system.

Pros and Cons

Recovery time is very fast
Can set many recovery points down to 15-minute intervals
Schedule Rollups to improve storage

Easier to eliminate old storage locations

Return on Investment

Decreased the Time it takes to manage backups, providing IT Staff more time to perform needed tasks.

Decision Factors

Cost-effectiveness was the initial reason I explored Vembu, but performance kept my attention. The ability to manage backups from a web GUI on any PC and assign permission to other team members and delegate tasks has been fantastic. The performance boost has allowed us to focus on more business-driven tasks and reduced outstanding issues for our department.

Physical Server Support

We are backing up physical servers and Windows 10 desktops as well as our virtual machines. As we expand our storage, we hope to back up all of our Windows devices with Vembu and consolidate our backup strategy to one software. Vembu made this idea very easy to come to, and the software made execution a breeze.

Hive File System

VembuHIVE performs reasonably well, however, I do not believe it is working on the scale of other compression or Deduplication programs.

I am running Deduplication on the same volume Vembu is compressing and it is cutting another 30% off the total storage size.

With frequent update releases, I am confident that Vembu will continue to improve their compression implementation.

Alternatives Considered

Veeam Backup & Replication

I tested Vembu against Veeam and for the price, Vembu was the better option. I also had a great support experience as I had to contact Vembu twice after mistakes I made. While using Veeam the software was not as intuitive and support responses were not as swift and accurate.

Likelihood to Recommend

Very good at immediate VM recovery when compared to recovering from an image. File-level recovery is available as well or you can mount the backup as a directory.

The backup repositories could be named more appropriately, currently, they are numbers. I'd like to be able to browse right to them in the file system rather than navigate the Vembu software every time for a single file.

Vembu BDR is a great find!

Overall Satisfaction with Vembu BDR Suite