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AWS Backup vs CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Backup
Ranking in Cloud Backup
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
SaaS Backup (4th)
CTERA Enterprise File Servi...
Ranking in Cloud Backup
12th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
File System Software (2nd), NAS (9th), Cloud Migration (7th), Cloud Storage (10th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (8th), Cloud Storage Gateways (2nd), Content Collaboration Platforms (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Cloud Backup category, the mindshare of AWS Backup is 3.5%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Backup
 

Featured Reviews

MuhammadAzhar Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplify compliance and management of multiple backups with centralized cloud solutions
AWS Backup could benefit from including more services. Currently, it only includes around ten services, while AWS offers over three hundred plus services. Also, it would be helpful if AWS Backup could integrate logs more thoroughly. This would allow not only new users but also experienced users to more easily check logs directly from AWS Backup.
Igal Muginstein - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers flexibility, fast performance, and ransomware protection
The platform is releasing new features at a fast pace, which sometimes leads to version updates every three to six months. Although updates are generally not complex, it is challenging to stop the production environment during these updates, even if the downtime is just a few minutes. This is a common challenge across all NAS providers. From my perspective, the most important area for improvement is developing a method to perform updates without affecting customer production environments. Additionally, there are some cache size limitations that might become problematic for future use cases, though they don’t impact current applications. Collaboration for NFS and SMB protocols could also be enhanced. Although this issue isn't specific to CTERA, it is something we are working on together to improve. The quality of the versions has improved, but occasional issues still arise. All solutions face this challenge, but we hope to see a continued reduction in the number of bugs. That said, we haven't had any major production problems in the last four years, and we appreciate how responsive CTERA is to our issues. We engage in brainstorming sessions together, and we value this relationship.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution has an effective overwrite feature."
"RDS backup is one of the most crucial components of any client's cloud environment, so we generally use that. Additionally, we store EBS snapshots in S3."
"It's very easy to configure. Since it's a managed service, it's very straightforward to set up and use. And my customers get on with it very fast."
"The most valuable features of AWS Backup are point-in-time recovery and support resources."
"The replication in the recovery region is the most valuable feature."
"The advantage that AWS Backup has over competitors is that it's very simple."
"It is an easy-to-use solution."
"It is highly scalable for both SMEs and large enterprises."
"CTERA's instantaneous and redundant file replication, available across multiple geographical locations, ensures easy and user-friendly recovery."
"The features I find most valuable are in the gateways themselves. They have done a great job over the years of providing insight into what is happening with our products, with the batches that come through that are scanned. I enjoy that part of it, and it is fairly easy to use from our standpoint once we get to know the product."
"It is a three-in-one solution for us. It is a file-sharing platform, an archiving solution, and also a backup solution."
"CTERA is a very scalable product, allowing us to grow."
"CTERA has been particularly capable of keeping all of our workstations backed up. That became a critical feature for us during the pandemic when computers were rarely in the office. Everybody went off-site with their computers, and we were accustomed to working with a centralized storage infrastructure where people would come to the office and connect to the server to use, create, and modify files. Everything was done directly to that server."
"The support is awesome. It is top-notch. I would rate their support a ten out of ten."
"The solution provides data eviction, where unused data is evicted from the local file, freeing up space. It also allows data to be rehydrated from the cloud when needed."
"The best feature is the migration tool within CTERA."
 

Cons

"AWS Backup could benefit from including more services. Currently, it only includes around ten services, while AWS offers over three hundred plus services."
"When it comes to encrypting data, it is not so convenient."
"The time it takes to complete the backups could be reduced."
"It could be less expensive."
"There are multiple enhancements needed in terms of compatibility with all database services, as AWS Backup is currently limited to specific ones."
"Its cost could be better than a few of its competitors."
"The solution's reporting features and restore features can be improved."
"One improvement I would like to see in AWS Backup is the implementation of incremental backups."
"It would help to have a global single-pane-of-glass view of all my CTERA devices. We have different regions, and we must log in to each portal to see what's happening with those. It would be nice to have a single portal to see the health of the devices, versions, and firmware upgrades. Sometimes, we want to dive into something more complex, like investigating why CTERA storage usage grew from 2 terabytes to 4 terabytes in a week. That's a little challenging. It's something we would like to see on the road map."
"One area for improvement is the migration tool, which at times does not work as designed, necessitating the use of alternative solutions like Robocopy."
"More monitoring from the platform would be good. There is some monitoring, but it is paid. It is a chargeable service. It would be good for that to be included in the base."
"I am looking for a process where version upgrades do not impact the customers. There is no downtime."
"Stability-wise, we just went through one issue that they addressed. We were having cloud sync issues."
"However, in some cases, they could improve performance."
"One of the bigger things that I would like to see is additional logging. There are logs in there. They provide us with the initial logs on what is happening on our CTERA device. I appreciate that, but they do not give us any further information. I would like to have more information on the logs themselves."
"The web portal that our users access to view data and backups could be optimized. CTERA could apply some of the improvements made to their administrative interface on the user side. The administrators are a much smaller group of people than the users, so it would be helpful if they targeted user experience resources to them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The clients pay for the whole AWS bundle. It is an affordable solution."
"The product is inexpensive."
"AWS Backup is free of cost, but we need to pay for the backup storage being used."
"There is a lot of flexibility with the services and pricing. The price is reasonable when compared to other products. This is very good for us."
"Our customers pay a monthly AWS fee that includes the AWS Backup service."
"AWS is more expensive than some competitors like Azure."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
"We don't use a lot of space, only approximately 900 GB, so the price is reasonable. For standing, it's okay. We normally do a payment to SSML, and they are the ones who pay over there. It is around $100 monthly."
"CTERA's pricing seems to be on par with some of the other players, such as Nasuni and Azure. They all have benefits, but CTERA is competitive for its features."
"So far, pricing seems to be fine."
"I am not directly involved in the pricing aspects, but I understand that CTERA's pricing is competitive and within industry standards."
"It is fairly priced. I am not too involved in the pricing of what we used to pay, but it would have reduced the cost of ownership. I cannot give a figure, but the EMC solution was very expensive compared to CTERA."
"It is hard to compare the costs if we want to retain the same model of a separate high-performance storage or certain things, but it is one of the cheapest solutions available in Israel."
"CTERA's pricing model is competitive compared to other companies that achieve the same thing. Their closest rival is Nasuni, and CTERA is significantly more affordable than Nasuni."
"I find the pricing reasonable. They offered us deals that helped us. Especially with the upgrade to a bigger unit last year, they were helpful with the deal."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
70%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Educational Organization
4%
University
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Backup?
The solution's most valuable features are its backup capability and tight integration with other AWS services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Backup?
AWS Backup operates on a pay-as-you-go model without requiring a license.
What needs improvement with AWS Backup?
There are multiple enhancements needed in terms of compatibility with all database services, as AWS Backup is currently limited to specific ones.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform?
I am not directly involved in the pricing aspects, but I understand that CTERA's pricing is competitive and within industry standards.
What needs improvement with CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform?
One area for improvement is the migration tool, which at times does not work as designed, necessitating the use of alternative solutions like Robocopy. AI and automation features could enhance the ...
What is your primary use case for CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform?
We use it as a hosted cloud solution. We had initially tried Azure File Sync, but that did not work. Due to certain security concerns, I was tasked with researching alternatives. I evaluated severa...
 

Interactive Demo

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

TransferWise
McDonald's, WPP, US Navy, Gore, Festo, Stryker, Bezeq, PERI
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Backup vs. CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.