OpenText Data Protector Reviews

• Ability to manage
• Ability to integrate with various products such as VMware, MS SQL, MS Exchange, and MS SharePoint
• Ability to automatically verify backups

It allows us to have confidence in our backups and our ability to restore them.

Data Protector is a very mature product that allows custom backups, scheduling, and copying in a manner that reduces the amount of time spent with backups from an administrative point of view.

I am not happy with the support structure within HPE when things go wrong.

It takes longer than competing products to get updates to cover a new OS version or product version (i.e., a new version of SQL). This is necessary so that backups within those environments work properly.

The update to Data Protector to cover Windows Server 2012 for backing up the file system took months longer than many of Data Protector’s peers.

I have administered Data Protector for almost 14 years.

I did not encounter any deployment issues.

We had no stability issues since version 9.05 came out. There were some issues with versions 9.0 to 9.02 that caused a month’s long engagement with HPE support to get a patch to fix it.

We did not have any scalability issues.

Each cell manager can handle hundreds of clients and dozens of backup jobs. If you need more, then you can add another cell manager and create a "manager of managers" setup to allow for clients to easily be moved from one manager to another. It’s hard to get the appropriate scale on the disk or tape backup system.

When a complicated fault occurs, it can take a long time to get a resolution. I have had a few cases that wind up with the programmers and it can take months to resolve in those cases.

While fixes that come from such cases have resolved the problem every time, it is maddeningly frustrating to have such long waits.

In one instance, we had to keep calling support to get updates because they would not provide them otherwise.

Once you get beyond Level 1 and wait a long time for a hotfix or patch from Level 3 or beyond, I would give them a rating of 8/10.

Considering the long waits for fixes, if it’s more than an existing patch can handle, and the near worthlessness of Level 1, I would give technical support a rating of 4/10.

We have used this product for the last 13 years. I do periodically review other solutions. Many have great features, but are too limited in scope for a shop that does not have a dedicated backup administrator.

Having to administer a different solution for each backup type would take too many resources for that kind of company.

Solutions like VEEAM are hard to justify.

Veritas NetBackup, while sporting much of the same feature set as Data Protector, does not have any compelling feature for my company to switch to it.

The initial setup was pretty simple for anyone technically minded.

We took these steps:

1. Built a server to host the Cell Manager (Windows, Linux, or Unix)
2. Installed the cell manager (Windows executable or Linux/Unix package)
3. Entered the needed information
4. Installed the needed components to the clients.

It only really gets complex when you start using integrations such as Zero Downtime backups or VMware.

Data Protector can get expensive. Each integration component is a license, mostly per client, that you have to buy,

If you are using disks for backups, it is licensed by terabyte.

If you are using tape drives, it is licensed per drive.

Once you are licensed and as long as you are paying support, the licenses can be transferred from version to version.

I have used the same licenses since Data Protector, Version 6, for my current employer. Other than adding licenses for capacity or have more integration, the base set has been the same for nearly 10 years. They are still in use with Data Protector, Version 9.

I didn’t evaluate any other options in my current job.

Read through the manuals and best practice guides. They are well written and will get you up and running smoothly.

The most valuable feature is the Integration with Oracle, MSSQL and Exchange. They are the easiest to work with.

Unlike some other backup solutions, the configuration and restoration of the data is really easy. Just check it and you are done. We don't have to meddle with configuration files or create several of them, as is the case with IBM Spectrum Protect.

The mailbox restore works wonderfully on Data Protector. The RMAN scripts created by the solution save a lot of time for the database department.

The process to restore a database from one server to another got really easy. It improved the amount of requests the backup administration unit could attend to.

They could really improve on the integrity. A lot of times I get the log error or no log message. To get my data, I have to scan the tape. It's not really the best way to go with the product. It should be more robust.

I have used this solution since 2013.

The server is stable. The issues are regarding what was saved. Sometimes you have to read the tape to get what was saved.

The migration to Data Protector 9 was a nightmare. Migrating to another version is really complicated. Adding more servers is easy.

When I tried to migrate the catalog, the history of backups got lost. HPE was working on a fix.

It's important that data history remains in all migrations. Otherwise, the solution cannot be used on environments with long expiration dates, such as in a bank where data must be kept for ten years.

Technical support is not the best. They take a lot of time to solve complex problems, but at least you know they are trying their best.

I used IBM Spectrum Protect for over five years. The company switched because the licensing costs were large.

The installation was really straightforward. Just check the integration and you are done. The only consideration is that you must have a really powerful profile to do all the installations.

Data Protector has one of the most flexible and affordable prices. I suggest the following:

• Always check the expiration timeframe for the data
• Keep the SLA actualized for every unit
• Avoid backing up data without control and for longer period of times than needed

We evaluated Veritas NetBackup, IBM Spectrum Protect, and Microfost.

It's a great product. You must read the logs every day to be sure that everything runs smoothly. It is really easy to backup and restore your data across all servers, something that IBM Spectrum Protect struggles to do.

The granularity of brick-level restore functionality is very valuable. We receive approximately 10 restore requests on a daily basis for your typical file/folder restore, with the odd Exchange mailbox restore request thrown in, just to keep me on my toes.

Backing up to disk (HPE StoreOnce 4900) has been valuable in reducing the man-hours in managing the backups, with the added bonus of backup replication for all jobs to the opposite HPE StoreOnce. Historically, all our backups onsite backed up directly to LT04 tapes. This method brought a lot of its own challenges: tape management, costs, man-hours; not to forget having to ensure all our backups completed within the scheduled backup window throughout the week/weekend was tight.

The reporting capabilities of HPE Data Protector are very limited and is the main area I feel that HPE Data Protector needs to improve on. The standard report options available with the product are adequate for generic reporting.

However, if you’re like me and want to get customised reporting, you then have a problem and you will need to purchase another licensed product: HPE Data Protector Reporter.

I have used HPE Data Protector for six years.

Deployment of our new HPE Data Protector 9 environment went quite smoothly, even with the addition of our HPE StoreOnce appliances, which were new to me and required a lot of planning in regards to scheduling/creation of backup stores, etc. Our HPE consultant was very helpful in assisting me in the execution of the new environment.

Part of this project was a requirement to migrate all the servers and data from the legacy Cell Manager (DP7) across to the new Cell Manager (DP9). This project has been very frustrating, as it has been fraught with technical issues. The main issue was a corrupt IDB (DP7). HPE support had worked on this issue for a long time. They had our entire environment in their labs and to date have not been able to resolve the IDB corruption. Currently, we are working with one of the HPE consultants to manage the export of the data via a custom script. Time will tell how successful this migration will be, but until then, I will just have to continue managing two onsite production DP environments.

I rate them 4/5. I cannot fault their customer service. Luckily, our customer service team is in the same locale as us, which is very helpful. Small things like this make a big difference to the customer service experience.

Technical support gets 4/5. Mainly, the technical support is very good. You kind of have your preferred support guys working on your cases, than some of the other guys. Some of my own company’s users probably say similar about me and our team, but hey, that’s the way it goes!

The implementation team gets 4/5. Implementation was through HPE consultancy.

Over the course of the deployment I had two different consultants. The first consultant got a promotion within HPE and the second consultant was from Italy. I now have a 3rd local Eire based HPE consultant that will be assisting and guiding me on the legacy IDB migration. I look forward to working with him, as his knowledge of the DP is outstanding.

It’s important to get your licensing right as this will drastically Influence the pricing.

Consider the following:

• How much Data is getting backed up on a weekly basis?
• What are your Data retention policies?
• How many different types of Integrations, i.e. Oracle DB’s /SQL /Exchange /SharePoint/VMware, etc., your company has? (These numbers could influence the licensing model you adopt, as the more integrations you have – the capacity licensing model may be the most cost effective.)

Luckily for me, I inherited HPE Data Protector.

I have evaluated other backup products for some of our overseas remote sites and found Veeam Backup and Replication 9 to be the best product to meet our needs.

Implement the B2D technology, i.e. HPE StoreOnce, depending on your company setup. If a DR/FO is a requirement, consider another HPE StoreOnce in the DR/FO site and avail of the HPE StoreOnce replication capabilities.

Invest in HPE consultancy to help plan out the environment.

The most valuable feature is the ability to back up to tape. We can quickly restore files that have been deleted or are missing from the system.

It allows us to be more flexible with how we do our system backups.

We would like to have a direct plugin to VMware.

It could also be simplified, made more usable and manageable.

In the current version, it is very stable. We are currently a couple of versions behind. At this stage, it's very stable.

It's designed for enterprise businesses. We're a small to medium business. It's more than perfect for us.

I haven’t used technical support in the last couple of years.

We have always been using Data Protector.

Because of the version we were on, it was quite complex at the beginning.

I would advise colleagues to try it. If it fits their system, then go for it.

Our most important criteria when selecting a vendor was cost.

Using it on smartphones and laptops is valuable. Now I have seen a new version of the HPE smartphone and it is fantastic. Syncing among devices is very interesting to me.

It takes less time. You need fewer passwords. You need less of everything else. You have everything in one space; you can control everything: your payments, your business, your email, and so on.

It is stable. It is always up.

It is scalable. I think it would be a great idea to show it to my colleagues and have them join us in using it.

I have a special group, IT support. After some training, maybe it will be fully supported for us.

The initial setup was complex in terms of IT, the business, and our technical support. I think it is possible for us.

I would recommend this product to a colleague.

The most important thing to me is that I can trust the vendor. I never feel that I am on my own without support.

The most valuable feature is the integration with the infrastructure layer, for example, to storage systems like 3PAR. That is really valuable because you can use functions in the hardware platform to integrate with the functionalities in the Data Protector.

It provides secure and high availability platforms.

The organizations I work with that use the product are actually managing to get a higher availability figure. They can design their infrastructure to manage it in an easier way, so they need to spend less hours of management.

I would like to see more integrations with virtual environments and more integrations with platforms like SQL Server, Oracle, and SAP.

The stability is excellent, actually. It more or less depends on how often they release new versions, but the stability is extremely good.

The scalability could be a bit better, actually, because that connects to the stability question. You don't enforce new functionalities in a stable product unless you're willing to accept some disturbances or destabilization of the product.

The technical support is very good. They have both local and central skilled technical resources, so it's very valuable.

We needed to move towards a new system because of the complexity in the environment. We were looking for ease of use.

The initial setup was very straightforward.

We also considered Veeam and NetBackup. We chose HPE Data Protector because it is easy to use.

When you evaluate products, take one important aspect, for example, ease of use; and then try to focus on that aspect when you compare it to different vendors.

We use this solution for data deduplication. It also has the media library, so our disk-to-disk backup is also backed up to the tape. If there is data corruption in the disk-to-disk backup, we will have a copy on the tape.

Other solutions do not have this feature. If data corruption happens without this feature, you will be in trouble.

It is easy to recover our backup data using Data Protector.

I would like to have more capacity. This can be done by having more deduplication and compression. If they can compress the data more and more, we will save more space. We won’t need to pay for more and more space, especially in the Oracle databases, where we don’t get much compression.

I would like to see them address this issue, so we can have the Oracle database compressed to the maximum level.

The product is stable. We have had some issues here and there, but we have good people in support who can help us.

This tool is scalable.

In general, technical support is fine.

When it comes to hardware support, HPE will help you in a minimal amount time.

When in comes to software problems, you do not know when they will close your issues. They are unpredictable in terms of when they will get back to you. They are slower with software issues than with hardware issues.

The initial setup was straightforward.

We are evaluating EMC.

In addition to low cost, I am looking for stable systems.

When looking for a vendor, we look at the financial thing. We are looking to reduce costs. From the technical side, most of the competitors have the same technical capabilities. From the technical side, you can get what you are looking for here or there.

The most valuable feature for me is the number of agents available to back up our data.

It provides one solution for all our backup needs.

We could use the ability to do snapshots for mass storage systems.

The stability is very good.

Technical support is very good.

The initial setup was 12 years ago. That’s a long time ago.

I would advise colleagues to have a look at it, and maybe to choose it.

The most important criterion when we select a vendor is the catalog of products, quality of the product, and the price.