Veritas Backup Exec Reviews

We deploy Veritas Backup Exec for customers where they have a production site with between 10 terabytes and up to 50 terabytes of data where they then backup the data to their local storage and then replicate it to their site or to the cloud.

I work with partners and end customers, Backup exec is improving yearly and they are introducing new features which enhance things like quick recovery with forever backup, global dedupe, etc.

The one thing for the last 12 months which has been very good for Veritas was the instance-based license. This means that you're able to license per instance, not only per physical server. And also, the incremental backup which they introduced for virtual servers, where it makes it much quicker to restore, it just automatically is able to mount it back to the original backup. This makes it much quicker when you're doing the restore.

The one thing which could be improved, which we have informed Veritas about, is the ability to plug in to the cloud. Meaning, instead of using local storage if we're backing up a small user or end user, we want to be able to make it so they can direct the backups directly to the cloud. It can't be done at the moment. We can only back up to the storage then replicate to the cloud, but we cannot use the cloud as a source of storage.

In terms of features, myself and my team are quite happy with most of the features. The only feature which we need is the plugin to the cloud. That's it. They've been doing a lot of improvements. The other part which they need to look at is the replication feature. In this case, we're talking about replicating between server to server. We do have a lot of competition from Veeam because of that. A lot of people want to have one server in the production side and one server at the other side, and replicate the servers across.

In my current position, I have been using Veritas Backup Exec three years, but I used the product previously when it was still under Symantec for four years.

100%. It's got great stability. In South Africa, it is widely used and it's got very good stability. Just that, as I said, only one improvement they need. Otherwise, the product itself is great.

It is scalable.

For one site you only need one person, max two. The administration or console is very easy to accommodate. One person is able to do that. That's no problem.

I work with technical support a lot whenever there are technical issues. They have been very good. Although they sometimes do battle with something, they eventually get it right. So I will rate them nine out of 10.

The initial setup is very easy.

Normally we take about two hours. It's just that sometime if the environment is old then you have to fix the environment first. But if everything work 100%, two hours, max four hours and then you're done.

For customers, the main point is to make sure that the skill of the solution is readily available in the county. That's the reason why it is an easy product to adopt or to onboard in your environment, especially here in South Africa.

On a scale of one to ten, I'll give Veritas Backup Exec a nine out of 10. It's just one point I'm taking off because of those two small issues. We feel that the competition is using it against Veritas.

Veritas is used for standalone servers. such as physical servers We also use it for backups.

Veritas is good for small environments.

It's a good product.

In one console, you will see a variety of things. In my opinion, it should be simple and straightforward. It is currently a little complicated. 

It is not straightforward to click the drives. 

Even assigning the tapes to the media pole is difficult when compared to Veeam.

Some of the steps, are to assign, create a set, then a media set, for example.

In the future, their console should not be complicated. For example, When you compare with Veeam it has multiple columns on one side itself where you can browse all of the features. With Veritas, it is not like that at all, it goes to the next window, then the next window, and continues that way to view the features.

Veritas Backup Exec is a stable product.

The scalability of Veritas Backup Exec is good.

Technical support is adequate, but it could be improved.

We are also using Veeam and Symantec.

Veeam is completely different when it comes to virtualization, such as virtual machines.

We use Veeam for the majority of our backups.

If I had to rate Veeam, I would give it a ten out of ten.

It is not an expensive product.

I would rate Veritas Backup Exec a six out of ten.

I use it in many uses, for example for Microsoft Exchange and for databases, for active directory and file servers. I use Backup Exec because it has agents for different software and is based on your infrastructure.

I remember in the 2010 version you needed to have two jobs per data source; one job for full backup and another job for a differential. But now you can merge both of them into a single record and have different schedules for them. The results and the interface are better now, and there is no extra knowledge needed for using this. It is very simple.

I prefer to use a tape library and Veritas Backup Exec is fully compatible with different tape libraries. So I prefer this software.

Of course, all of the solutions are agent-based, but granular recovery, GTR, works well in Backup Exec. It was Symantec in the past. I can easily recover a user or a file. It mainly works directly to the original location, which is why I prefer to use it.

In the past, it was not user-friendly. But nowadays it's very user friendly. But it could be better if it had a web-based interface. 

A web console would be great because nowadays a lot of products are web-based and you can access the console from various environments. So I would recommend bringing this feature in the next solution.

I want to have a user-friendly interface for virtualization. Now virtualization doesn't have an extra interface. A great interface would be good. And maybe it would be better if they launched a virtual appliance.

I have been using Veritas Backup Exec for at least six or seven years.

I am still working with it on daily projects.

It is stable. It's like other Windows based services. You turn down the tape library and want to restart services. I think it would be better to be more intelligent about these changes. For example, when I want to turn off the tape library and turn it back on, it would be better if there was no need to restart the services. Sometimes I need to restart services or even sometimes I need to restart the server in order to bring up the tape library or ABS.

I don't know how compatible it is with a cloud environment, but for scalability for SMB companies it's good because you could have one central management and deploy different servers in different areas and manage it in a single, central point. I think it is good for SMB's.

Generally, I use this solution for servers and not for clients.

It is good for small and medium clients. Although I think that it would not be popular with enterprise companies. I don't have experience in a closed environment. But I think if you don't have this environment, it would be good and suitable for them too.

Generally, Web Backup is more complex, but Backup Exec is easy to use. 

The initial setup is not very complex. I've deployed in different projects, but installation was the easiest part for me. Having a good plan for the backup solution is more complex than installation, I think. You have to consider the concurrent back-up jobs and the speed and data growth. 

It is good that you don't need to install an extra database.

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Veritas Backup Exec an eight.

I would advise that it's not important which product you use because I think most of the products are good quality and nowadays have at least a standard because of technological enhancements, but it's more important to understand the concept of back-up and recovery. For example, how many jobs are needed, what is your infrastructure, what storage do you need, things like that. Having knowledge of data and back-up recovery is more important than the actual solution.

It's not important which tools you use, because nowadays all the solutions, for example, Veeam, are good. It's better to know what you want and to have good knowledge of back-up and recovery concepts, for example, storage, data, data growth, SQL, etc.

We use the backup solution.

The most important feature is the variety of backup applications it supports, including ERP systems and most other programs, such as Microsoft. It allows for simultaneous backups of multiple applications. The second advantage is the strong support provided. You can open tickets and receive prompt responses and assistance if any issues arise.

The solution could improve and adapt to new applications in the market so we can integrate Veritas Backup Exec with them to facilitate backup processes within these applications.

I have been using Veritas Backup Exec for 3 years.

The product is stable.

I rate the solution’s stability a 9 out of 10.

Veritas is suitable for medium-sized companies across various market sectors such as retail, oil and gas, etc. We can receive additional licenses. There is no issue with storage.

I rate the solution’s scalability a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Technical support is good. They provide a good response after opening a ticket.

Positive

The initial setup is easy, depending on the market.

Firstly, we need to continue operating with the customer to understand their requirements. For example, they need the retention policy set for their email backups. Most customers prefer a weekly backup schedule and two to three months of retention. This clarification is crucial. However, during installation, it typically takes just one day for setup and configuration

In comparison with other vendors, Veritas is competitively priced.

We have options for disaster recovery. Some customers lack another branch or a secondary site. In such cases, we can install additional backup software at our site, enabling application recovery. This setup facilitates extensive testing at headquarters. You can restore from the secondary site or utilize cloud services. The backup jobs can be directed to cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure or Amazon Computers.

We have a partnership with Dell EMC. Dell EMC offers a backup appliance, and we can integrate Backup Exec into the backup software. However, we still need a Veritas backup appliance. The duplication ratio is 4x, but in terms of data demand, it's up to 36. Most backup software already has certification, but it's limited to 4-6x identification issues. However, in the case of a backup appliance, it's running up to 36 applications. If the customer doesn't have backup storage or backup protection for three servers, we can use duplication from Backup Exec.

SAP HANA Is limited in its capabilities. I recommend going with NetApp. NetApp is designed for enterprise applications like SAP HANA. It does backup and is well positioned for small and medium companies like Microsoft, including SharePoint and file servers. Customers have certifications like Microsoft 365 and Salesforce on the cloud.

Overall, I rate the solution a 9 out of 10.

It's user-friendly, and, except in the case of AIX, it supports a wide variety of platforms. This includes Windows, VMware, Linux, et cetera. It's okay as a product.

The solution is stable.

It is a scalable product.

The solution is easy to set up.

It doesn't support the AIX platform.

I've had a little problem in the tape solution in the Backup Exec. When you use a tape solution, take a backup in the tape, not in the disc, and restore it, there is a little complexity. It's not really user-friendly in that aspect.

I've been using the solution for five years. 

The solution is stable and reliable. There aren't bugs. It's not glitchy. It doesn't crash or freeze. The performance is good. 

You can expand and scale the product. It's not a problem at all. 

We might have five or six people using the solution right now. 

I didn't face any problems just yet. I have not reached out to support. Typically, I can just search the internet and find an answer to my questions. I'd, of course, reach out if I had a huge problem. 

The initial setup is straightforward and simple. It's not a complex implementation by any means. I'd rate it a four out of five in terms of ease of setup. 

I haven't followed any details related to there being an ROI. 

I'm not sure what the exact costs of the product are. 

I'm a customer and end-user.

I've enjoyed the product. It's a user-friendly and widely support platform and is flexible and scalable.

I'd rate the product seven out of ten.

It is a good overall suite of products.

I would like to improve their ability to back up the cloud environment. Additionally, it would be nice to have a simpler UI.

The product is stable.

The product is scalable.

I think that customer support is okay.

I did not participate in the installation, but it's a bit cumbersome to use compared to other products.

For the price I've seen, it could be lower compared to other products.

Cohesity and Rubrik are both more modern and have a simpler user interface to use in case recovery is necessary.

I use the solution daily for daily backups and weekly for full backups and monthly for the stuff that gets sent off-site.

As far as if we need to restore a file, the solution absolutely has improved the way our organization functions. It saves us a lot of time. We're backing up all of our servers with it.

The backup potential of the solution is very good. It's protected us in the past very well and allowed us to get up and running after an attack with minimal loss.

The product needs to be consistent. Within the process itself, a lot of times it will hang on the jobs and you have to then restart all the services to get it to release. The job rate sometimes just randomly will tank. Therefore, you have to stop jobs and restart them in order to get them back at a quicker pace. Those are probably the two worst features. 

Something within the software itself isn't quite right. There may be a bug or glitch. It will work fine for weeks and then all of a sudden it just tanks.

I've been using the solution for about 12 years, however, it's my understanding that the company itself has likely used it longer.

We've found some sort of bug or glitch in the solution that makes it a bit unpredictable. It will work fine for weeks and then all of a sudden it just stops and takes a dive.

That said, it's pretty stable. I would probably say, it is at least 90% stable. It's that 10% where the job rates have a little bit of a problem. I was hoping that this newest version would be better, however, it has the same issues as older versions.

The solution's scalability is actually getting better. I have not tried to go into the virtual world with it, however, it says that the product can do it. I've not tried it due to the fact that we're using the other products for it, and have Veeam for a virtual solution.

There are three of us that would potentially could go into the product to use it. That includes a network administrator and myself.

At this point, we don't have plans to increase usage.

I have never used technical support personally just yet. The previous administrator had to for a couple of different issues and they mentioned that support was good. 

I'm not sure if a different solution was ever used. I've been at this company for 12 years and we have only used it. They used it even before I arrived. I'm not sure if anything came before it.

The initial implementation was actually fairly easy. It was pretty straightforward. I actually just rebuilt it and put it onto a newer server. It is actually very easy.

I had deployed within a day due to the fact that I was familiar with it. If somebody wasn't familiar with it, might take them up to a couple of days to do it. I was very familiar with it and therefore could do it pretty fast. It took me just a few hours or probably a day's worth of work to get everything in there, the way I wanted it.

We do not require any additional staff for deployment and maintenance.

We handled the implementation in-house. We didn't require a consultant or reseller to assist us.

Any time any of these products can back up your systems so that you can quickly restore them or restore files is most definitely beneficial to your company.

The solution is not the cheapest option. It's pretty pricey.

Although I know that we pay for it yearly, in March, I'm not sure of the exact costs.

The pricing goes by different types of databases that you're backing up. It's more expensive, for example, if you have an SQL database depending on what you're backing up.

I don't recall paying anything beyond a standard licensing fee for the product.

We're currently considering looking for a new solution. We want to see what is out there. This product is also quite expensive.

Having a reliable backup is essential to your company. For example, we were using this product to back up one of our servers that got the CryptoLocker virus. We were able to go back and restore it to just a few hours previous to the attack and we were able to get everybody right back up and running within a day, in less than a day's time. It absolutely could have just spread right through the whole environment had we not caught it. This solution gave us the ability to be able to get back up with minimal data loss.

Overall, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. If they were able to take out some of the bugs we have found I'd rate it higher.

Primarily we use the solution for our ERP, databases, and applications. 

The most important part of any organization is the data. When you do a backup, you want the data to be available whenever it is required. Veritas offers a more predictable backup and recovery process.

The beauty of the solution is that you can rely on it. It offers a quick recovery time when it's backing up items. The way it recovers data is excellent. Sometimes with other software, a complete backup doesn't happen. 

With Veritas, the SLAs are pretty predictable and you can achieve complete backups easily. It offers duplication and compression and the safe sorting of information.

The licensing packet is confusing. If Veritas could do a better job of clarifying it, that would be helpful. For example, if you have a mixed environment of Linux and Windows, you end up buying too many licenses. If you compare it to Veeam, for example, it allows you to buy one simple license that you can use on all of your operating systems. They've made it very simple. 

The industry trend is moving towards hyper-converged and a regular pay-as-you-go model with more simplified resources. Users are looking for a plug-and-play kind of solution. Veritas should move towards this as well.

The stability of the solution is good.

Our organization doesn't grow much. For our customers, however, it has been very valuable. The licensing structure is a bit difficult. You have to keep buying the licenses even if you have the capacity. It's not simple. 

Technical support is pretty good. They are available 24/7.

The initial setup was pretty simple because we have expertise. We are partners with Veritas and we do installations on a regular basis. 

In reality, the installation time is even shorter for the Veritas portion. Integration, of course, takes a bit of time. You need approvals for the different application owners, for example. It takes time, but installation is a maximum of one day.

We are a reseller, so we handle the implementation of the solution for clients.

We have licenses that run on a yearly basis. We are paying somewhere around $10-15,000 on licensing a month. We don't have too big of an environment. 

We're a reseller of this solution. We also use an on-premises version in our offices.

It is the most preferred backup solution for data protection for our customers. 

We use it ourselves for our production environment backup. Whoever is accessing our server, whoever is accessing the sources, is using it. It's mandatory for our organization to understand the product. Everyone including the sales team, the pre-sales, the technical guys,  etc., everybody knows the product.

If you are looking for a safe and reliable solution, I would recommend it. If you're looking for something new, or something sleeker or more simplified which will give you more flexibility, I would recommend a Google product. 

In this solution, you have a lot of features. You can use it as secondary storage. You can use it for a backup that's more granular. Like Veeam, you can recover items from the database.

It would be good to add more features, like APIs.

I would rate this solution eight out of ten.