Commvault Cloud Reviews

Overall, Metallic has helped us out tremendously from a backup and restore situation. We just had a pretty major restore that we had to do from Metallic two weeks ago for a file that was basically deleted five days ago, and they needed a copy from seven days prior to that. My whole team walked through the restore in about two to three minutes. We basically figured out which buttons to push, then the restore was done 30 seconds later. That was an eye-opener at that point, because we understand what a great decision we made by going with Metallic.

If you ask me today whether Metallic was appropriate for an enterprise-level environment, then I would say, "Yes." If you asked me a year and a half ago, I would have said, "No." Normally, you would think that a cloud-only backup type solution probably wouldn't work for an enterprise environment. Then, here comes NDOT and we're about as enterprise as it gets when it comes to the state of Nevada. Right now, we are doing all kinds of neat stuff with this solution where normally you would need an on-premises solution. They have me convinced now. We are backing up stuff that I couldn't get MABS or Rapid Recovery to backup, and those are on-prem and cloud, e.g., hybrid solutions. If we wanted to, we could go to hybrid with Metallic, but their cloud solution is so stable right now.

I ran the solution through my CISO. When it comes to server guys, I am probably the security-conscious systems guy on our team. I went to the same training that our CISO did. Between him and me, we love Metallic. We think their security is definitely acceptable at a high level.

The ease of use is the most valuable feature, which keeps the training down. Pretty much anybody in my group right now can do a whole bunch with Metallic compared to what we could do with our previous solution, on-prem Commvault. The ease of use is probably my number one priority. With the amount of systems that our systems team deals with, the ease of use is the most important thing. We were bouncing around all of the time from this system to that system to this system, trying to remember how things work. Whereas, Metallic keeps it simple.

It is just about as flexible as you can get; simple. You can put it anywhere you want. You can put it on-prem or in your cloud. I could see where a team that's looking for more of a follow the bouncy ball type of solution might get a little confused. "Oh, no. What do you mean I might have to do it this way or I can't do it that way?" Sometimes, people just want to be told what to do. For an enterprise environment, like we are at NDOT, everything we do is not standard. It is not industry standard; it is not normal. We have all kinds of one-offs. We do need flexibility in the solutions that we get. I will say that Metallic has been extremely flexible in that sense, where we are able to follow the bouncy ball if we wanted to. Obviously, we didn't. We did it our way and Metallic, as a whole solution, provided that to us with no issues.

Permissions can be tricky. There is granularity when trying to get people to write permissions to be able to view, backup, and restore. It is just hard to understand that granularity. I can't even 100% say that it is Commvault. I can say it is not super cut-and-dry right out of the gate. However, I would also say it is great because it is granular.

Getting my guys the right access has a learning curve. Sometimes, it is, "Oh, okay. I think I got it for you." Then, they say, "Oh, nope. I logged in but I can't see this." Then, it is, "Okay, hold on. Give me a second. Let me change that. Okay, it's this one." That learning curve has probably taken a little bit longer than some simpler things. So, Metallic has some granularity, and as a systems administrator, I appreciate that. At the same time, I also realize that I have to learn it.

Seven to eight months ago, the documentation needed improvement, but they have caught up on it now.

I have been using it for a year. My team has been using it for about seven to eight months.

It is a very stable platform.

Right now, we have seven guys on my team and two of us are setting up the backups. The other five of us are strictly doing restores mainly until we get all our backups entirely into the cloud and clean up the groups. I really just need two guys doing that, a junior admin and me. The junior admin has been setting this all up because he will be around for another 15 years. I might as well have him learn it now and be our guru.

For the most part, it does the updates for us. There is a piece that we own down on our network and there is a piece that they own on their network. For the most part, the piece that they own is definitely the bigger of the two. With that being said, our version that we are running on-premises needs an update, which basically means that it is waiting on a server restart. Our servers restart once a month, so I imagine it is scheduled to restart on Sunday. Then, we will get that up-to-date. Metallic pushes it out, then our server installs it. Metallic is mostly on the hook for updates and keeping things up-to-date.

It is 100% scalable.

We were on a hybrid system, which was on-prem and in the cloud as well as local. We had probably 10% of our servers that were backing up locally to themselves. We had about 40% of our big, large servers backing up on-premises. Then, the other percentage was backing up to the cloud.

Once we moved to Commvault, instead of about 80% of my servers backing up to the cloud, we will shortly have them all going to the cloud. Now, I'm not hybrid, but in a simple solution, which is a cloud backup solution. Adding to that is as simple as going to Azure, and saying, "Hey, I need this storage count to be a little bit bigger," as long as I have pre-planned the amount that I would buy from Metallic. In other words, Metallic gives us a price on 100 servers. I know that I have 50, and I am good to scale for another 50. All I have to do at that point is go into my Azure tenant, have it give me some more storage, and at that point now I am scaling.

Now, if I need to, I get a hold of Larry over there in Metallic, and I say, "Hey, buddy. I need to add another 50 servers." Then, he gives me a price quote, and we pay them again. The solution is simple, easy, and scalable. I don't need to buy hardware. I don't have a bunch of engineers down here reassessing our environment. I just got to add some more storage to the cloud, then I start sending more data out to the cloud. I would say, "Scalability is wow." They have done a great job there.

I had a conversation yesterday, between me and my manager, about when we will use Metallic's Office 365 Backup & Recovery. First, we need to get our backups. Between the Metallic solution, the file storage optimization, and now the 365, which are the three things that we have gotten from Commvault over the last year. File storage optimization is next, then 365 is after that. I am going to say sometime in October.

So far, I would give Commvault tech support 10 out of 10. We have dealt with some good and some bad tech supports. Between Microsoft, Dell, and Commvault, those three solutions are at the top of my list when it comes to support.

Anything that we find is usually something that we can fix ourselves. We can get ahold of support, then support takes care of it.

We were using Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS), but there were many problems with it. We turned around, started using Metallic about a year ago. I tested it out. We now have 80% of our servers being backed up to Metallic. We will probably have the rest in the next six to eight weeks. At that point, for the first time in two years, we will have all our servers completely backed up.

When we used to have the on-prem version of Commvault, it was nothing like Metallic. Metallic is a different solution, but it is Commvault. Back in those days, when we had Commvault, it was pretty complex. It was very granular. It had many features, but it was complex. You really only could have one or two guys working on it.

We left Commvault five years ago because the grass is always greener on the other side and cheaper: bigger, better, and stronger. Of course, we came to find out: none of the above. Nothing was true. Basically, we were talked into it by Dell EMC. My old manager, the person whose position I now have, was talked into using Quest Rapid Recovery product by Dell EMC, saying, "Hey, you don't need Commvault. They are one of the biggest backup solutions in the world, and we are an up-and-coming, starting company. We're going to make it cheaper for you. We are just as good. We will show you some cool demos." Those demos looked great. Of course, we went with it. To make a long story short, in the four and a half years that we had Quest Rapid Recovery, we were never compliant on our backups, not once. We were duped.

We are finally back with Commvault, and we now have a 100% compliance backup solution. 

We switched to Metallic because of money. Right now, we are paying less for Metallic than we ever were for Rapid Recovery. I have reclaimed man-hours back for my team. I had one guy for five to six hours a day managing those two other systems, Microsoft Azure Backup and Quest. I lost four to six hours a day for one of my top-level guys by having him troubleshooting that all day long. By going to Metallic, we have freed up man-hours, infrastructure costs, and the time to manage.

I did the first initial setup all by myself. I had it set up in about an hour and a half, then I was backing up a server in about an hour and 45 minutes. It was pretty easy. That was our proof of concept testing. I did that for about three or four months, then I blew it up, broke it, and reimplemented it. 

When we started using this solution, it was seven months into its infancy. By the time we bought it, they had just hit their first year. It has definitely changed around making things a little easier, instead of having to go: here, here, here, here, and there. They have simplified things. They have created nice new little shortcuts. 

The interface now is super easy. You can fumble around in there, then after awhile, you are like, "Okay. That is how this works."

The process of switching to Metallic was really easy. We actually ran Metallic backups during the MABS backup. In other words, we were actually backing up with those solutions as we migrated to Metallic. Of course, we had to age-off. The fact that we did not have to turn off the other backups so Metallic could do its backups made the implementation extremely easy. The cut over was easy. 

We were able to run it in parallel with the other system. It didn't cause any issues. It tells me right there that it's not the same design. Because if it was the same design, then we would've had to turn off the other one which means that we would not get backups for two or three weeks while Metallic catches up. That is not always a good thing to do when you are talking about important systems. Because of Metallic's different way that it backs up, we were able to run it in parallel. The implementation was very simple. It wasn't like we had to go and pull the tablecloth out from underneath the glasses while they were still sitting on the table. It was extremely seamless because of the fact that their backups are done differently than the not-so-good solution we were going with.

I had a couple phone calls with engineers and broke it really good a few times, to the point where it even broke up their stuff there. Once we decided we were going to buy the product and implement it into our environment, they set up a couple of calls with their top level engineers and had us set it up even better than I did in my test environments. They were really good about helping us. So, their assistance and the ease of setup were great.

After it was approved through our infrastructure technical committee, I needed to get a call set up with their engineers for an initial setup of the plans. The first plan to get going the way they recommend. Because when I was testing, I tested from every angle. I broke the heck out of it to know its limitations. We created an initial phone call with their engineers, who helped us set up the first 20 VMs to get backed up under their idea of how they set the system up to work. This was good because I didn't understand this when I was doing my testing. I just did the things I thought that were supposed to be done.

We had a second follow-up call with them. That second follow-up call was for any questions that we had for the month in-between what we were doing with our backups, e.g., checking things out and playing around. They answered a whole bunch of questions for us and helped us set up single sign-on. It was a smooth process. They were willing to help us out, which helped us out tremendously. We basically used their support to help us implement the solution.

Once you set up a bunch of these backups, you will get notified in an email if they are wrong. If you're not adding anything the next day or another server, there is no reason for you to even be in there, unless there is a restore. 

At the moment, we are trying to add 400-plus servers. Therefore, we are going to have a guy in there for half an hour to an hour a day adding a few more servers. When adding a few more servers, you need to be careful. You don't want to rock the boat too much, then all of a sudden you have a big problem. So, it is just a little bit at a time. Right now, we are talking about an hour once or twice a week. Once our servers are sitting up there and this stuff is going, there should be no maintenance. 

I have made this very clear to my team. I don't need a guy in there, like we did with Rapid Recovery, chasing down errors. There are no errors. It is backing up. It will tell you when it is not. Then, when it's not backing up, we will tackle that. 

I just don't see a lot of maintenance on this solution. Management of it really has nothing to do with anything unless you are fixing or reimplementing something. For the most part, once you set it, then it is a set-and-forget SaaS solution.

We have a seven-man team. I am the supervisor with six guys underneath me, who are all veteran IT professionals. One of those gentlemen, a $100,000 a year guy, was on Rapid Recovery for four to six hours a day, every day for the four years that we had it. He was just maintaining it, fixing problems and backup errors. When we went to MABS, it was the same problem. He was now managing both of these things, because we were dual-headed at that point. Once we got into Metallic, I had one of our junior-level admins, at that point, take this project on. He moved 80% of our servers into the cloud and basically checks an email once or twice a week, looking at the backups for about 20 minutes a day.

The labor has gone down exponentially. It is insane. We are talking about a $100,000 solution that we paid for Rapid Recovery a year, plus the $100,000 a year salary for having one of my guys managing it every day. Whereas, we are paying Metallic an X amount of dollars right now and spend about five or 10 minutes every other day just to verify that the backups are good. We don't have to fix anything.

We are basically getting rid of hardware that we were paying for Rapid Recovery. We are actually leveraging some of Rapid Recovery's hardware for MABS, so we cut down on MABS and Rapid Recovery. Now, the hardware that we would need to renew warranties and get support for is no longer necessary.

I used the free trial to test it. That was our proof of concept. I had the servers up and running by the middle of the day. I think I started it some time around breakfast. It took a couple of hours. It was really simple.

Hands down, Metallic provides us with more predictable costs for our backup requirements. You are getting what you pay for. If they are charging you X amount of dollars at that point, that is what you are going to pay. So far, I have not seen any hidden costs or any kind of gotchas. It is pretty cut-and-dry. They will let you know, "Hey, you are going to use our storage and it will cost you this much. You are going to use your storage, then we are going to charge you this much to backup." What they told us they were going to charge us is exactly what they are charging us now for the next two and a half years.

We also evaluated NEC, which is another big solution out there, like Nike or Converse. NEC has their own data centers. The government uses them. They are big and their solution is robust. We tested it, and it worked well too. However, the bottom line was a huge sticker price shock. We went with Metallic because of cost. 

Since I have been in this NDOT environment for eight years, we have used Commvault, Rapid Recovery, MABS, and now we are back to Commvault Metallic. Of those four products, with Commvault being the first and now the last, those have been the two more stable products. The first one that we used was Commvault on-premises, with MediaAgent and physical servers on-prem, which was extremely stable. Then, we went to Rapid Recovery and that wasn't stable. Neither was MABS. Now, we are back to Metallic and it is stable again. Most solutions I have used from Metallic, from the on-prem now to the cloud, have been extremely stable when it comes to backup.

Definitely take advantage of the support team in your initial rollout because Commvault is not a follow the bouncy ball type of solution. It is definitely granular, configurable, and scalable. With the initial deployment, it is important to get that right because everything is going to start working off of that initial deployment. It is a good idea to take advantage of their support tier in that initial deployment and not try to set it up 100% on your own. I did, and It worked. However, once we got a hold of the engineers for the production rollout, they started answering some of my questions. If I would have known the answers that they gave me back when I rolled it out, the rollout would have been much easier and not as hard as it was. It could have been even better. 

Get a little knowledge from these guys. Have them help you roll it out. It takes half an hour. That is all it took us. We had the engineer on the phone for half an hour. He had us setup and backups going, with the vision that Metallic was built for, not the vision that I had thought it was for. My biggest recommendation is to take advantage of their support during the initial deployment. From there, you can be as creative as you want. It is always good to get that help in the beginning.

There have been discussions about doing the solution’s Endpoint Backup & Recovery. It really just comes down to the fact that we would need more push from the business. Right now, the business understands that most of their data is stored in the cloud as-is. So, backing up into a computer is not necessary, as the data that they are putting on that computer is in the cloud. I don't see us using it any time soon.

Right now, Metallic is used a lot. For the most part, it is now the entire backup of our 400-plus servers. It will be used even more with the 365 implementation, Active Directory backup implementation, and disaster recovery. One of the good things about going to Metallic in this cloud solution, where all of my servers now live in the cloud, is I have a DR solution now, as opposed to having to move it down to another place or building in Las Vegas. Now that we are central with our backups to the cloud, we can focus on a DR solution. It definitely is very important to our infrastructure. As a server team, backups are number one. Metallic has now become one of our fallbacks on solutions for all kinds of stuff.

Spend it if you got it. The biggest lesson that I learned from using Metallic is sometimes going with cheaper isn't always better. That is why we left Commvault. While Metallic might be a little more expensive than Quest or MABS, with that extra dollar you are paying, you are going to get your money's worth.

I would rate them as 10 out of 10. I can't really complain. Right now, they look like a knight in shining armor. What do you normally do with a knight in shining armor? You put a medal on him.

Commvault's primary use case centers around comprehensive data management and protection, particularly in cloud environments. Organizations leverage Commvault for its robust capabilities in backup and recovery, safeguarding data across both on-premises and cloud-based infrastructures. 

The solution excels in facilitating the efficient management of data in hybrid and multi-cloud setups, enabling seamless movement, copying, and overall control of information stored on platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Commvault plays a pivotal role in disaster recovery planning, ensuring swift data retrieval and business continuity in the face of unexpected events. 

Additionally, the platform often extends its functionality to include archiving solutions, aiding organizations in meeting compliance requirements and optimizing long-term data storage. With a focus on security and compliance, Commvault provides features to protect data and align with regulatory standards. 

Moreover, it may contribute to cloud cost optimization by offering insights into data usage and implementing strategies for cost-effective storage. It's essential to consult the latest documentation or contact Commvault directly for the most current information on their cloud solutions as of 2024.

Commvault Cloud has proven instrumental in enhancing organizational operations through its robust data management and protection features. By providing efficient backup and recovery solutions, it ensures the safeguarding of critical data, reducing the risk of data loss due to various unforeseen events. 

The platform's adept handling of hybrid and multi-cloud environments enables organizations to streamline data management across diverse infrastructures, optimizing resources and harnessing the benefits of various cloud platforms seamlessly. 

Commvault Cloud's disaster recovery capabilities contribute significantly to minimizing downtime, facilitating quick system and data restoration in the face of disruptions. Moreover, the solution aids in implementing effective data archiving strategies, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and reducing the likelihood of compliance-related issues. 

The integration of enhanced security measures further fortifies data protection, mitigating risks associated with unauthorized access or breaches. Commvault Cloud's potential to optimize cloud costs by providing insights into data usage and recommending cost-effective storage strategies contributes to overall operational efficiency. 

While the success of implementation hinges on factors such as planning and training, ongoing assessments and communication with Commvault support are crucial for addressing any challenges and ensuring continued alignment with organizational needs.

Commvault Cloud offers a suite of features, each contributing distinct value to organizations based on their unique needs. 

The backbone of its utility lies in robust backup and recovery capabilities, ensuring data resilience and swift recovery in the face of unforeseen events. The ability to seamlessly manage data across hybrid and multi-cloud environments stands out as a pivotal feature, allowing for flexibility, resource optimization, and scalability as organizations navigate diverse cloud infrastructures. 

Disaster Recovery features further enhance business continuity by minimizing downtime and facilitating rapid system and data restoration. The effectiveness of Commvault Cloud extends to archiving and compliance functionalities, crucial for industries with stringent regulatory requirements, mitigating the risk of compliance-related issues. 

Security measures, including encryption and threat detection, contribute significantly to data protection, safeguarding against unauthorized access and cyber threats. Additionally, the platform's Cloud Cost Optimization features provide insights into data usage, aiding in the implementation of cost-effective storage strategies and contributing to overall operational efficiency. 

The value of these features ultimately depends on an organization's specific goals, industry context, and IT infrastructure, emphasizing the need for regular assessments to ensure ongoing alignment with evolving business requirements.

Commvault Cloud, while offering a robust suite of features, could potentially benefit from improvements in certain areas. One area for consideration is user interface and user experience enhancements, aiming to streamline navigation and make the platform more intuitive for users with varying levels of technical expertise. 

Improved documentation and user training resources could also contribute to a smoother onboarding process and more effective utilization of the platform's capabilities. Additionally, ongoing efforts to optimize resource utilization and minimize any potential impact on system performance would be valuable. As for potential features in the next release, integration with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence for more intelligent data management and analytics could provide valuable insights for organizations. 

Enhanced automation capabilities, including more sophisticated policy-driven automation for data workflows, could further streamline processes and reduce manual intervention. Integration with additional cloud services and platforms, keeping pace with the evolving cloud landscape, would broaden the platform's compatibility and usefulness. 

Lastly, advanced security features, including continuous monitoring, threat intelligence integration, and proactive threat response capabilities, would fortify the product's defense against evolving cyber threats. 

Regular feedback mechanisms from users and staying attuned to industry trends would help guide the development of features that align closely with the evolving needs of organizations in the dynamic landscape of data management and cloud services.

I've been using this solution for two years. 

Our clients use the solution for their emails.

The email archiving feature is very smooth and better than others.

The product must improve Oracle client configuration. It is difficult to configure clients of Oracle and SaaS. The solution must also improve bare metal restore for Oracle and Active Directory. Active Directory is not fully protected with bare metal restore. The tool must improve the 1-Touch recovery of Oracle and Active Directory.

The product must provide features for converting VM to physical and physical to VM.

I have been using the solution for six years.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

The tool’s scalability is very high. It can be scaled in any environment. I rate the scalability a ten out of ten. In a single organization, we have 4000 to 6000 users. Our clients are enterprise businesses.

Technical support is very good. The support personnel are very fast and helpful.

Positive

It is easy to configure the tool. I rate the ease of setup a nine out of ten. The on-prem version is better than the cloud version. In the future, as the technology grows, the cloud version will be better. Our customers trust the on-prem version. It takes one day to deploy the product.

To deploy the solution, we must install Commvault’s master server and MediaAgent. Then, we must configure the email archiving solution and add storage.

The product is cheap. It is an integrated solution. I rate the pricing a two out of ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. We have to pay for the implementation services.

Our company has a partnership with Commvault. Overall, the solution is better than its competitors. I would advise people to use the solution again and again. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

We had a requirement to store our database and virtual machine backups in the cloud instead of having local backups. To fulfill that requirement, we use a Metallic solution. The reason that we are moving to Commvault Metallic is that, at that moment, we are using a Commvault backup solution. While using the Commvault backup solution we got positive feedback. So, we didn't hesitate to move to their own cloud solution, Metallic. While using this product, we've also received the same positive feedback.

We had a backup solution. We were trying to find a better backup solution than the old one. We were searching for backup solutions based on the below criteria:

• Backup-taking method
• Backup retention and the ability to change retention
• WORM feature availability
• Security tools
• 24/7 Availability
• Portability of Backup and VM
• Deduplication ratios
• Encryption mechanism

While we were looking out at the market, we found this solution perfectly matched so we decided to try it.

The most valuable feature is the deduplication ratio. It saves most of our space and reduces the network traffic. Space is a very important factor. Thanks to this deduplication ratio, we are able to maintain our backup retention time for a variety of reasons. It also reduces network traffic and saves us from network-related issues. When the backup gets smaller, we can easily transfer between locations very quickly and accurately. It provides good cost savings as well.

We are using a production environment with customer-sensitive data on it. As per our central bank rules and regulations, we can't keep our customer's sensitive data in the cloud. So we are looking forward to having a good solution that can work with us. The Metallic team is working on this and will come up with a better solution in the future. If we can figure out this issue, we won't have future issues relating to our government authorities, and we can also fulfill our company's requirements easily.

I've been using this product for the last year.

It is maintaining our backup without failing.

The scalability is very good.

The support team wants to improve its SLA.

Neutral

We did use a different solution; this is the better solution for us.

The initial setup is straightforward.

We implemented with a vendor team and I would rate their services eight out of ten.  

We have noticed an ROI related to good space and network utilization savings.

In this product, the cost-benefit is very high.

We also evaluated EMC NetWorker, Veeam, et cetera.

This is one of the best solutions I've come across.

We are a part of a global team for data protection. We have multiple regions around the globe that we are supporting 24/7. This is our presence with respect to the data protection environment.

We are backing up around eight petabytes of data in our organization. We have multiple platforms that are being backed up. We have OS servers, and we are also backing up multiple applications such as Exchange. We are using different databases such as Oracle and SQL Server. We also have NAS shares originating from NAS devices.

We have a hybrid environment, and we also have on-prem. We are backing up on-prem, and we also have a cloud for which we are using Azure Backup. Currently, I'm using version 11 and service pack 22. I started with version 7, and I have worked on versions 8, 9, and 10.

We have a global presence, and we are backing up a lot of remote sites. We have integrated a couple of cloud services by using Commvault. For the cloud environment, for a few regions, we have not directly backed up. We have implemented the Commvault solution inside the cloud. So, we are using it as a normal backup application rather than using the native backup solutions in the cloud, but for on-prem, we are completely using Commvault. 

Commvault has a concept of workflows. It has a lot of default workflows, and it also allows you to customize your workflows, which minimizes the manual intervention of the admins. If these workflows were not in place, the admins would spend a lot of time in manual intervention. On average, we save 25% to 30% of workload with the automation of tasks.

Commvault is helpful in reducing storage costs. There is a concept called deduplication, and Commvault has extensive technology and a lot of features when it comes to deduplication. It is one of the backbone features of Commvault that helps in reducing the space consumed on storage devices, which reduces the storage cost. On average, we can reduce up to 80% of the storage costs by implementing the deduplication technology by Commvault. 

IntelliSnap for snapshot collection is one of the most efficient and easiest ways to back up large amounts of data.

It is user-friendly. Commvault offers all kinds of solutions to integrate with multi-cloud, and it is very easy to deploy and integrate.

Commvault’s coverage for applications, databases, and virtual workloads is very good. I've been working with Commvault for the last 12 years. Commvault can support any workload that you have in your environment. They are also evolving with new technologies. They are being able to adapt to the upcoming and emerging new technologies. You can back up anything by using Commvault. When MongoDB was quite new in the market, Commvault was already supporting backup for MongoDB. Commvault is evolving at a very good pace.

Commvault offers a lot of solutions for disaster recovery. Previously, they had only native or legacy disaster recovery for standalone backup services. Then, they came up with something SQL Log Shipping where you can have two servers, primary and secondary, and you can do SQL Log Shipping between the two. So. when a primary server goes down, it can bring up to the secondary server by restarting the SQL instances. Commvault also offers high availability. It offers global DNS, and there wouldn't be any manual intervention when one of the backup services goes down. So, it supports the cluster mode. These are the three options right now that Commvault is offering with respect to disaster recovery. They are also offering some cloud-based solutions for disaster recovery.

Commvault can adapt to multiple storage platforms. There is a vast list of storage arrays that are supported by Commvault. The software drivers are provided with Commvault. It has the IntelliSnap feature, and Commvault is doing well to support multiple storage arrays from different storage platforms.

We do not use Command Center, but we are using CommCell Console. We're navigating and manipulating the entire environment by using CommCell Console, and we are comfortable with it. We didn't find Command Center user-friendly. We found it a bit difficult to use. It decreases the efficiency of the tasks to be performed. It was probably implemented as a centralized application to manage all environments, but it was probably not a good idea. I and my colleagues across the globe are comfortable with using CommCell Console rather than Command Center.

Commvault is doing releases very often. The services packs and maintenance releases come quite often. They should slow down a little bit because quite often, when we implement a feature release or a bug-fix release, it causes some issues, and some of the options do not work.

It is more expensive than other solutions.

I've been working with Commvault for the last 12 years.

The frequent releases from Commvault impact the stability. When we implement a feature release or a bug-fix release, quite often, it causes some issues, and some of the options do not work. This is one of the cons that we have related to the stability of the Commvault application.

It is very flexible. We did not find any issues with regard to scalability. We are backing up eight petabytes of data. 

In terms of users, we are a team of six people providing 24/7 support. We are a part of the Global Data Protection team in our organization. In our team, we have Data Protection Engineer 1, Data Protection Engineer 2, and Data Protection Engineer 3. Apart from that, we have Architect 1 and Architect 2. These are the standard roles in any team across the organization.

We have very well-versed and capable engineers in our team. Our team is capable of planning, designing architecture, and managing operations. We have distributed these roles across the team. There is no dedicated person. Recently, we implemented Metallic in our environment, and as a senior member of the team, my role in that project involved planning, designing, and coordinating with the vendor. I also had to coordinate with different internal teams. We have something called Architecture Review Board. We plan and come up with a solution, and then we propose it to the management and get all the approvals. I have been a part of that. In addition to this, I do the regular normal BAU activities. I spend around 40 hours a week working with Commvault because I am from the core backup and the core data protection team. 

Commvault is the only enterprise application that we have for this purpose. It is being used in our organization for protecting data, and we plan to continue with Commvault. We don't have any plans to switch.

To my knowledge, over the last five years, we have used their professional services only once, and that was to upgrade our Commvault environment from version 9 to version 10. We don't use their technical support much. We haven't had any major issues for which we had to contact them, but we are quite satisfied with their technical support. I would rate them an eight out of 10.

I have worked on Veritas NetBackup and Dell Networker. Commvault was offering more options and solutions. We also found it to be very user-friendly and easy to deploy. 

Its initial setup was straightforward. It didn't take much time.

After the planning is done, if all approvals are there for the budget and other things, the implementation takes at least two to three months. When the hardware is in place, the deployment of Commvault is not that difficult. Within a day, you can complete all Commvault configurations. It is quite easy to deploy. Only the hardware part consumes a lot of time in terms of approvals, budget, etc.

Until now, we haven't reached out to the vendor or Commvault professional services. Commvault has an implementation team that offers services to deploy the solutions in our environment, but we haven't opted for these services. However, a couple of years ago, when we were upgrading our environment from version 9 to version 10, we did opt for their professional services. We required only one staff member from our end and one staff member from their end.

I do not have the exact number. Its return on investment is probably more than 50%.

It is quite expensive when compared to other applications in the market.

Its license is completely based on workload capacity. If I buy a license for 100 terabytes, I can back up anything. I can back up any platform, technology, or application, which is an advantage. Previously, we had to buy an agent for a particular application, and the cost was different for each agent. Now, the cost is completely based on the storage capacity. The license for one terabyte can cost around $1,700 for backing up anything from your environment.

We evaluated EMC Avamar and TSM, but we stuck with Commvault.

I have recommended this solution to a lot of people based on the experience I had. It is very easy to use and deploy, and it is not that complex. The only con is that it is a bit expensive as compared to other solutions.

I have been working with Commvault for the last 12 years. They are constantly evolving and coming out with a lot of innovative ideas, which is quite inspiring. The biggest lesson that I have learned by using this solution is that we have to adapt and evolve along with the changes.

Commvault provides multiple solutions, not only to back up on-prem but also to the cloud. Commvault has a cloud-based SaaS solution called Metallic. We have Office 365 in our environment, and for its backup, we have implemented Metallic. Commvault is playing a huge role in backing up different kinds of environments, such as on-prem, cloud, or hybrid.

Commvault HyperScale X helps to minimize not only the OpEx cost but also the CapEx cost. Commvault HyperScale X offers a lot of hardware solutions. It is easy to manage. It is just plug-and-play.

For storing the data on tapes, we have hardware encryptions in place. We have software and hardware encryption, but we do not use Commvault's encryption solution. Commvault does ensure that encryptions are in place for sending the data to the public domain or outside the environment, but we are using third-party encryption tools. Similarly, Commvault provides security solutions that have a lot of things, but we are not using any Commvault-based cybersecurity solution. We have our own solutions that are managed by our cybersecurity team. We have been using them for a couple of years, and we are good with them.

I would rate Commvault an eight out of 10.

We use the Commvault for data optimization because it maintains enough data. We have implemented it to run two incremental backups per day and a full backup at the end of the week. We also perform the restoration of the database and DR servers, using it.

Commvault is a software-based solution that can manage backups to any storage and VMs. It integrates redundant storage and preserves jams in a storage area, providing up to 70% compression rate. Backups of large volumes do not take much time to complete. It also facilitates restoring Oracle data, which can be opened directly to a database after restoration without any user intervention.

There are still a lot of ways to improve the recruitment process. Commvault deployment is executed remotely, but managing their support on time is difficult. They reply to the support portal weekly, but there are some delays.

I have been using Commvault Backup & Recovery as a customer for around two years.

The stability is good. I rate the product’s stability an eight out of ten.

There is some gap in technical support, but it is good. Restoration happens only when there is a disaster. In that case, customers always expect the solution providers to be present. They regularly go through the update process and release updates frequently.

Neutral

The initial setup is easy. Integrating the database and server for clients might be difficult. The deployment does not take much time. However, changing advanced features or integration may take some time. Once the software and backups are ready, it will take seven to ten days to complete. You may need more people involved in the deployment if you have many servers. A team of two to three people is usually sufficient, including a deployment engineer from Commvault and two to three executives on the client side. I rate the process a six or seven out of ten.

The product generates a good return on investment.

I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten.

They should decide to go for Commvault Backup & Recovery or another solution depending on the infrastructure requirement. 

I rate it a seven out of ten.

We use the solution for file system backup, Linux OS system backup, and Domino backup. Our data center team uses the solution for testing servers and database-level backups. In my company, we are not using the end-point features.

Earlier, it would take us a long time to create a backup. After implementing Commvault, the time needed for creating a backup has been reduced.

IntelliSnap and file system backups are valuable features. There are multiple functions, but we are currently using these two functions.

Data center backup must be improved. We also want the product to provide us with a cloud-based backup. If we use Microsoft Exchange Online for email services, we want to know how to get a backup in Commvault.

I have been using the solution for the last three years.

I rate the tool’s stability an eight out of ten.

The solution is really good in terms of scalability. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten. We have deployed the product in three factories. We are centrally managing the solution from the head office. Three people in our organization currently use the solution 24/7 to its maximum potential.

We have faced a little bit of delay in support. The support team is not available during the night. The product must improve support.

Neutral

Previously, we were using EMC NetWorker. It had some limitations. We compared it with Commvault to determine which solution would fulfill our requirements. We switched to Commvault because it had certain features that were not available in EMC NetWorker.

The initial setup was easy. I would rate the ease of setup an eight out of ten. Currently, we are using the solution on-premises. We are also checking whether we can take backups on the cloud. It took us almost three to four months to deploy the product.

Commvault Professional Services helped us with the deployment. We required two or three professional team engineers for the deployment. We have two to three engineers to manage the solution in the data center.

The tool is affordable. I rate the pricing a six out of ten. Implementation requires additional costs because we need Commvault Professional Services.

We evaluated other options, like EMC Networker and Veeam.

People considering using the solution must consider their budget and requirements. They must also consider the quality of support. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Our current use case is for storage backup of large Veritas Clusters. We have around 350 TB of storage backup and we use Commvault's HyperScale X with unlimited data backup.

With Commvault, our backup performance is way better, compared to what we had, because we have a disk-to-disk backup.

It also helps to ensure broad coverage with the discovery of unprotected workloads. That is always helpful for us. Our environment is very dynamic. We often have high data-demand spikes.

In terms of time saved, because the backups are automated, our team generally spends 30 to 45 minutes reviewing the logs and any errors, and it saves us two to three hours per week.

The deduplication and compression have helped to reduce my backup costs. This year, I haven't had to purchase any expansion for my backup storage, thanks to Commvault. Otherwise, I would likely have had to spend around $150,000. And next year, I can add one more node to HyperScale X before expanding it. So it has saved 20 percent of my backup budget.

The main solution from Commvault is the HyperScale X backup. Instead of a dedicated appliance, we have a three-node HPE Apollo cluster for backing up. That gives us the best value regarding speed.

Another valuable feature is that, in general, recovery is faster than any other solution we have reviewed. That is especially the case for small, micro files, 2 or 3 KB research files.

The Commvault user interface is very nice and intuitive. It's perfect compared with other products I have used. It's in a completely different world. When running a backup, the display is very clear about the estimated time.

And using Command Center, we know exactly how many backups are running and it gives us clarity on our backup state. It gives us a report and can just send a screenshot of it to the team.

In addition, Commvault gives us a single platform to manage and recover our data. Since we are a research organization, backup is one of the most critical parts of our IT operations and services. Internally, we run it as a managed service, and there is a single console that makes it easy for management to see the performance.

The majority of our file servers are backed up by Commvault. They provide protection against ransomware with their intelligent methods. We haven't experienced a ransomware attack, but I know they have good coverage. They will make sure they recover a backup at any cost.

They need to improve when it comes to large, video file archiving. They're good, but they have not met my expectations as a customer in this area.

Also, HyperScale X does not back up NDMP, or they only use a native file share backup.

I have been using Commvault for three years.

The stability means our team can relax. On average, we used to get six backup failure errors a week, and that has been reduced to two.

The scalability is good and we plan to increase our usage of Commvault in the future.

From the time that our deployment was successfully completed, we have hardly reported any errors.

During deployment we had a couple of issues. Commvault provided us with excellent support to make sure all the issues were fixed. Customer satisfaction is a priority. The local sales and consulting team also extended support to us. They made sure we had a clean installation and a clean operation. Initially, when we had problems, I thought things were not good, but my impression of them changed. I see the real value that they bring, and I appreciate them. I'm a very tough customer, but Commvault's support made sure that I achieved my goals and I respect them. They are patient.

Often, once the sale of a product is done, the salespeople run away. But here, the entire team was involved to make sure they delivered and deployed. After that, they extended support for anything that might require it. They said if anything happens, if there are any issues, here is a number to call to make sure that it is resolved.

After the deployment, both the sales guys and a technical guy came to meet with us to understand our future plans. They listened patiently and they did not try to sell me anything. They just added value. That is the reason they are number one.

They do a quarterly review and explain the latest improvements with Commvault's technical experts. There is also training and certification to help us use the latest features to our benefit.

Positive

Initially, our Commvault was configured for a particular use case. After that, we had a detailed discussion in which they listened to our complete concerns and architecture. From that point, the deployment of HyperScale X was very fast and clean. So when they know the environment, the setup is very good.

For our 350 TB deployment, it took seven days to complete, including networking, installation, updating, and getting a full backup to run. QoS took another few days, making the total time about 10 to 12 days.

Commvault support helped us to deploy the solution. I would especially recommend their professional services.

We look at return of value because as a backup solution, we cannot say it gives us ROI. We have a clear ROV due to the reduced efforts for our team, as well as manpower reductions and fewer failures. And technically, we have a faster backup. We have seen a high return of value, and management is also happy.

The pricing is very competitive. When Commvault knows you are comparing it with the other leading providers, they are ready to compromise on pricing. But you have to make sure you get a long-term commitment on the pricing. Otherwise, when you have a future expansion, they will take advantage of it.

Our company evaluated other solutions, but that process was done by another team. But I read a document that reviewed the evaluation, and they evaluated Veeam as well as Micro Focus Data Protector and NetBackup. They looked at industry reviews and at our specific use case for archiving and backup, and Commvault had the best score.

Pricing is the one area where you have to focus. You need to have a clear plan. HyperScale X is one option and it's nice to use when you have third-party hardware, if you want to have disk-to-disk. 

Make sure you convey your use cases to Commvault's professional services. They will listen to you and they will advise on the options. Also, have an assessment done by Commvault professional services to make sure you have a long-term plan in place. 

Other than the large file archiving that needs improvement, VM is good, cloud backup is good, file server is amazing, and they do a good job when it comes to physical server backup. SQL backup is also good, and Linux back is also amazing.