Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) vs HPE Zerto Software comparison

Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) vs. HPE Zerto Software

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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

Barracuda Email Gateway Def...

Ranking in Cloud Backup

40th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

HPE Zerto Software

Ranking in Cloud Backup

3rd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

339

Ranking in other categories

Backup and Recovery (2nd), Cloud Migration (2nd), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Cloud Backup category, the mindshare of Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Zerto Software is 4.2%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Backup

Featured Reviews

Alex Clerici

System Integrator IT Manager at Tecnimex S.r.l.

Valuable, reliable, and offers a comprehensive dashboard

Setting up Barracuda was moderately complex and it took about an hour with initial support from Barracuda engineers. While the deployment process wasn't overly complicated, having some knowledge about Barracuda or assistance from an engineer is advisable, especially when dealing with customer architectures. Once set up, ongoing support wasn't necessary, making it a relatively straightforward process.

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Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at Amrita

Leverage disaster recovery with reliable support and cost-effective future-proof features

Zerto is straightforward to implement because it only requires the installation of an agent on the VMs designated for migration. A service, typically a VM, must also be deployed at the disaster recovery location. This entire process is simple and can be completed within three days. Zerto's near-synchronous replication occurs every minute, allowing for highly granular recovery points. This means that even if interruptions or malware disruptions occur within that minute, Zerto can restore to the last known good state, effectively recovering the entire setup to the latest backup. This capability ensures high data security and minimizes potential data loss. One of the main benefits of implementing Zerto is its data compression, which significantly reduces the load on our IPsec VPN. Zerto compresses data by 80 percent before transmitting it across the VPN, minimizing the data transferred between geographically dispersed locations. This compression and subsequent decompression at the destination alleviate the strain on the VPN, preventing overload and ensuring efficient data synchronization. Zerto simplifies malware protection by integrating it into its disaster recovery and synchronization features. This comprehensive approach eliminates the need for separate antivirus setups in virtual machines and applications. It streamlines our security measures and removes the need for additional software or solutions, resulting in an excellent return on investment. Zerto's single-click recovery solution offers exceptional recovery speed. Through the user interface, a single click allows for a complete restoration from the most recent backup within two to three minutes, enabling rapid recovery and minimal downtime. Zerto's Recovery Time Objective is excellent. In the past, if a virtual machine crashed, we would recover it from a snapshot, which could take one to two hours. With Zerto, the recovery process takes only five minutes, and users are typically unaware of any disruption. This allows us to restore everything quickly and efficiently. Zerto has significantly reduced our downtime. When malware affects our data, Zerto immediately notifies us and helps us protect other applications, even those not yet implemented with Zerto. By monitoring these applications, we can quickly identify and address any potential malware spread, minimizing downtime across our systems. Zerto significantly reduces downtime and associated costs during disruptions. Our services are unified, so in the event of a disruption without Zerto, even a half-day disruption would necessitate offline procedures. This would lead to increased manpower, service delays, and substantial financial losses due to interrupted admissions and other critical processes. By unifying service processes, Zerto minimizes the impact of outages. Zerto streamlines our disaster recovery testing across multiple locations by enabling efficient failover testing without disrupting live services. Traditionally, DR testing required downtime of critical systems, but Zerto's replication and failover capabilities allow us to test in parallel with live operations. This non-disruptive approach ensures continuous service availability while validating our DR plan, even in scenarios like malware attacks, by creating a separate testing environment that mirrors the live setup. This comprehensive testing provides confidence in our ability to handle real-world incidents effectively. This saves us over 60 percent of the time. Zerto streamlines system administration tasks by automating many processes, thereby reducing the workload for multiple administrators. This allows them to focus on other university services that require attention and effectively reallocate support resources from automated tasks to those requiring more dedicated management. Zerto is used exclusively for our critical services, providing up to a 70 percent improvement in our IT resilience.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find Barracuda Essentials' dashboard incredibly valuable as it provides everything I need at a glance."

"The most valuable functionality is their robust blocking feature, along with fundamental rules for our environment."

"If a customer faces an email security issue, we'll do some initial troubleshooting. If the issue isn't resolved, we work with the Barracuda team for further assistance."

"It makes it easier for customers to access emails during security incidents."

"Its ease of use and scalability are valuable."

"I give Zerto's stability a nine out of ten."

"It is cost-effective and stable. It protects virtual machines, and there is a fast recovery time."

"I appreciate most that we can do quick failover tests without actually going to live failover, which is very helpful because we have to do SOC audits, and they want to see that we do test this. It is extremely easy to test to show whether or not these things boot up in a test environment, which they do."

"I like the less than one-minute RPO, the ability to IP customize during failovers, and the cloning feature that I can use to clone VMs over at the target location. As part of the automation failover, if we need to change an IP when it fails over to the other data center, Zerto will handle that; there's no need for manual intervention. As far as the cloning, we use that to do quick testing of a VM in the remote data center for lift-and-shift processors."

"Zerto's scalability has been good."

"I like the fact that Zerto is target agnostic. It doesn't care what type of storage it writes to. The journaling is also excellent. You can easily and quickly restore to seconds before an event. The immutable data copies feature is one reason we adopted Zerto. That's one of its selling points."

"Zerto is 400 times better."

More HPE Zerto Software pros

Cons

"Enhancements are required on the data transmission front."

"There Is room for improvement in the quarantine and user interface."

"They could implement scheduled reporting in the product."

"Sometimes there are minor issues that can be frustrating, but not consistently bad."

"With the VPG (virtual protected group) it would be nice if you could pick individuals in the grouping instead of having to failover the whole group."

"Zerto's documentation is outdated. I'm finding it hard to find documents related to my questions. Their documentation is bad."

"If the log was more detailed and more user-friendly, we wouldn't have to make the calls to the support to try and figure out where the problem lies."

"We did look at the long-term retention backup feature of Zerto a few years ago, and at that time, it was limited. I can't say what it is right now, but at the time, its functionality was limited in terms of basically where we could save it and how we could save it. Offsite air gapping our backups is important to us to help protect against ransomware, and at the time, it couldn't do that. That would be one area that would be important before we consider using the long-term retention again. I haven't looked at it recently, and they may have addressed this in the meantime, but if not, this would be an area of improvement."

"Long-term retention of files is a function that isn't available yet that I'm looking forward to them providing. The long-term retention is the only other thing that I think needs improvement."

"The technical support response time has room for improvement."

"I would like to see different reporting options than what is currently available. I would like to be able to grab different data points that do not currently exist in the reporting system."

"I would suggest improving automatic updates. Their software requires updating level by level to keep it current. I was unaware that I was several versions behind, so I needed assistance to guide me to the current version."

More HPE Zerto Software cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cheaper compared to other products."

"The product's price is higher than other vendors."

"The licensing is a little bit steep, but there is some value that you do get for it as well."

"Obviously, it would be nice to have it for free. Nevertheless, a lot of effort has gone into making it a top-notch product. An excellent product with expert support is never going to be cheap. I think it's fairly priced for what it does and the benefit it brings to our business."

"My understanding is that it's expensive but worth the price."

"When they changed their licensing model, pricing might have gotten a little more expensive for some use cases, but it has been pretty straightforward."

"The licensing cost is fair."

"Everyone knows Zerto is a little on the expensive side, but what else is there on the market that does the same thing?"

"We paid a big investment upfront with renewal fees each year."

"Compared to other options like SRM, Zerto is a more expensive solution, making it primarily suitable for larger organizations."

More HPE Zerto Software pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user159711

Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Nov 9, 2014

VMware SRM vs. Veeam vs. Zerto

Disaster recovery planning is something that seems challenging for all businesses. Virtualization in addition to its operational flexibility, and cost reduction benefits, has helped companies improve their DR posture. Virtualization has made it easier to move machines from production to…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials)?

If a customer faces an email security issue, we'll do some initial troubleshooting. If the issue isn't resolved, we work with the Barracuda team for further assistance.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials)?

It is cheaper compared to other products.

What needs improvement with Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials)?

The features and product itself are good. Sometimes there are minor issues that can be frustrating, but not consistently bad.

What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?

Ik fluister:VM Host Oracle en DataGuard hebben we per toeval vervangen door Zerto :-) tijdens de Zerto implementatie en VPG werden de Host Data in write-ack Block-Level gerepliceerd. Qua licentie 1...

What do you like most about Zerto?

Its ability to roll back if the VM or the server that you are recovering does not come up right is also valuable. You have the ability to roll back a few seconds or a few minutes. The rollback feat...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zerto?

I ballpark Zerto's pricing at about $1,000 per VM, which I find fair for what it does, but the cost of entry was tough initially due to the minimum number needed to start. I really needed to prove ...

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Product Reports

Cloud Backup

Download Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) product report

Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) report

HPE Zerto Software

Download HPE Zerto Software product report

Also Known As

No data available

Zerto Virtual Replication

Overview

Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) offers comprehensive email security, archiving, and backup solutions. It safeguards businesses from phishing, malware, and spam with effective threat detection.

Barracuda Email Gateway Defense uses cloud-based technology to provide robust protection against email threats. Its extensive features cover encryption, archiving, and continuity, making it ideal for businesses seeking to bolster email defenses. The system is user-friendly and offers seamless integration with existing IT infrastructures, enhancing security without adding complexity to the workflow. While highly effective, some users suggest improvements in reporting capabilities and customization options to maximize its efficiency.

What are the key features of Barracuda Email Gateway Defense?

Advanced Threat Protection: Scans all incoming emails for malware and phishing attempts.
Data Loss Prevention: Prevents data breaches through automatic email scanning.
Email Continuity Service: Ensures email service is uninterrupted during outages.
Cloud-based Archiving: Provides secure archiving and retrieval for compliance.
Encryption: Secures sensitive emails through automatic encryption features.

What benefits or ROI should users consider?

Enhanced Security: Reduces the risk of cyber threats with real-time protection.
Compliance Assurance: Aids in meeting industry regulations with archival solutions.
Operational Efficiency: Simplifies management through automated processes.
Cost-effectiveness: Minimizes the need for additional security hardware.

Barracuda Email Gateway Defense is especially beneficial in industries handling sensitive information such as healthcare and finance, providing the necessary security and compliance measures. It integrates seamlessly into these industries' IT environments, offering reliable data protection and continuity assurance.

Barracuda Networks

Zerto is used for disaster recovery, business continuity, data migration, and ransomware recovery, providing continuous data protection and near real-time replication. Valued for ease of use, efficient failover processes, and versatile integration, it enhances organizational efficiency, reduces errors, and boosts productivity.

Zerto acquired by HPE

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

United Airlines, HCA, XPO Logistics, TaxSlayer, McKesson, Insight Global, American Airlines, Tencate, Aaron’s, Grey’s County, Kingston Technologies

Barracuda Email Gateway Defense (Barracuda Essentials) vs. HPE Zerto Software