Veritas NetBackup Appliance Reviews

The benefits I have observed from working with Veritas NetBackup Appliance include the throughput of the appliance, starting from 2 to 50 terabytes per hour, which compares favorably with other competitors' products in this competitive domain.

The deduplication ratio, inline deduplication, and client-side deduplication for the software itself, not the appliance, are significant advantages I have observed. The hardening of the appliance operating system of Veritas NetBackup Appliance is also notable. I have sold this appliance many times in Egypt and in the Middle East, primarily in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

In my opinion, what can be improved about Veritas NetBackup Appliance includes licensing. A mixed licensing model would be more helpful, such as terabytes plus virtual machines, terabytes plus instances, or number of instances.

I believe this could work and create a new competitive licensing model against other products. Additionally, embedding Enterprise Vault or some of its features in the backup software would enable better competition with Commvault, which offers backup and archiving from the same console.

For the next release of Veritas NetBackup Appliance, I would like to see improvements in licensing, increased deduplication ratio, and enhanced high availability. Having high availability for Veritas NetBackup Appliance without requiring virtual storage like Cohesity would be important. Improving the overall high availability of Veritas NetBackup Appliance would be beneficial.

I have been working with Veritas NetBackup Appliance for approximately 15 years.

I assess the user-friendly interface of Veritas NetBackup Appliance as a complex comparison question. When compared to other products from other vendors, it is somewhat difficult. Comparing it to competitors, it is slightly less intuitive than Commvault and NetWorker. It is easier than NetWorker but more challenging than Backup Exec. Veeam is also much simpler than Veritas NetBackup Appliance.

The advanced analytics tools in Veritas NetBackup Appliance are relatively new to me.

To measure the efficiency of duplicate data elimination in Veritas NetBackup Appliance, I track Veritas tools and data sheets and use them in the customer environment.

Regarding the encryption feature, I am satisfied. Previously, I worked during the era when Veritas and Symantec were the same organization, and I worked with PGP for encryption as a standalone tool. I did not use the Veritas NetBackup Appliance encryption tool. The customers in Egypt are satisfied with deduplication because deduplication transforms the customer data into non-readable data, so they consider it in some way as encryption.

I rate this product a 9 overall.

Mainly, our use case for Veritas NetBackup Appliance is backup for virtual environments as well as databases.

One of the most useful features of Veritas NetBackup Appliance is the Web UI, which is a monitoring tool where you monitor all your backups. The second feature is immutability where you apply immutability on your backup data, and then we also have that on NetBackup. On Flex, we have Flex instances whereby you can deploy different instances of master media as desired. The Web UI is the interface where you log in and administer all the backups. One of the key components of the Web UI is the activity monitor, which shows all the jobs that are happening on the appliance.

The deduplication technology in Veritas NetBackup Appliance is one of the key features which is very beneficial to users who have large data that is similar in terms of file extensions. The DDB is actually a key feature that most customers look at when making their purchase.

Leveraging AI in Veritas NetBackup Appliance is one of the road maps now that they have done a collaboration with Cohesity, which is a feature I'm looking forward to.

Using AI is one improvement I recommend for the Veritas NetBackup Appliance. They have implemented some aspects of AI for features such as malware detection and anomaly detection. I believe they can do more to give customers more insight into their data, allowing them to see it and understand what they can do, such as archiving old data.

They can do more by utilizing the data effectively to provide insights to customers about their space usage, future projections, and options for managing old data.

I have been working with the Veritas NetBackup Appliance solution for more than 5 years.

The setup for Veritas NetBackup Appliance is very easy, but there needs to be improvement in the Flex setup to eliminate the use of shell. On NetBackup, it was straightforward with just a GUI where you connect and get a guided tour for initial deployments.

I have no complaints regarding stability. Initially, there were some challenges back in 2018, but they were resolved. They do lab tests before releasing any patch, so currently, the product is stable.

The solution is easy to scale.

We do not face major challenges because we usually get support whenever we need it. Veritas has a very good support infrastructure with trained engineers, so whenever they have any challenge, they're able to resolve them. These are just common challenges that any user can face and they are able to resolve them.

I would give the NetBackup support a nine, with one point left for improvement because there is always room for improvement.

Positive

The setup for Veritas NetBackup Appliance is very easy, but there needs to be improvement in the Flex setup to eliminate the use of shell. On NetBackup, it was straightforward with just a GUI where you connect and get a guided tour for initial deployments. I would rate the setup for NetBackup as an eight. The initial deployment of NetBackup can be completed in less than an hour.

Customers have seen ROI with the Veritas NetBackup Appliance. The dedupe is a key component, and meeting the RTOs and RPOs for backups is critical from their side. Additionally, the immutability feature ensures customers do not incur costs in case of ransomware, allowing for a safe restore, which means they are avoiding ransom payments, and that is a big win for the customer.

The price is slightly expensive for small and medium enterprises. If they can review the prices, we feel it would be beneficial, especially for the African market.

We are using VMware SRM, vSphere, and work with backup solutions including Veritas. We work with both Veritas NetBackup Appliance and Flex Appliance as a partner dealing directly with users.

Our customers are mainly medium and large enterprises. The specific industries using this backup include banking, insurance, governments, and NGOs.

I recommend Veritas NetBackup Appliance as a great product worth exploring. It's one of the leading products in the market, and with enhanced features, they are still doing more to build on it. Overall, I rate the Veritas NetBackup Appliance as a nine out of ten, with one point left for improvements.

I use Veritas NetBackup Appliance for the backup of virtual environments.

The user-friendly interface in Veritas NetBackup Appliance is beneficial and easy to use.

There is a good interface for management in Veritas NetBackup Appliance, which I find useful.

The deduplication option in Veritas NetBackup Appliance is smart for my needs. We experienced an issue with SAP HANA, but it was due to encryption at the source. When data is encrypted at the source and not at the NetBackup level, I realize a zero deduplication factor, which is also a problem documented for Commvault and other software.

The encryption feature in Veritas NetBackup Appliance helps protect sensitive information, as there is encryption at rest and encryption in transit from commands sent from server to client. These features are useful. We do not use an external certification authority, but we use the NetBackup certification authority, the standard one.

I have not used this functionality for potential areas of improvement in Veritas NetBackup Appliance.

I would add some function to better integrate Veritas NetBackup Appliance with Cohesity solutions, especially since Veritas has been acquired by Cohesity, and it would be a good solution to integrate these appliances with their solutions.

I have worked with Veritas NetBackup Appliance for backup and recovery.

I rate the stability of Veritas NetBackup Appliance an eight.

The ability to scale and expand with Veritas NetBackup Appliance is good, and I give it a high rating.

I usually go directly to the vendor for Veritas NetBackup Appliance. We have technical account managers for Veritas and typically involve them for large customer solutions.

I rate Veritas technical support a seven.

Positive

The initial setup with Veritas NetBackup Appliance is simple, as it is a wizard.

Customers say that the price for Veritas NetBackup Appliance is high.

It is a high price because the maintenance has a large cost, especially if the appliance is hardware rather than a virtual appliance.

The main competitors for Veritas NetBackup Appliance in the market are Data Domain and HPE StoreOnce.

I prefer Veritas over Dell and HPE because HP is not as open to other vendors. Veritas has solutions that are open for many vendors, while HP has good integration but it is easier for same-vendor integration.

As a partner, depending on the customer's needs, we choose one solution or another, so there is no problem for us in the purchase process. I rate this review an eight overall.

This requirement is based on what the customer wanted. For example, hospitality customers want Veritas NetBackup Appliance because they are familiar with the options, it is easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to manage. That is why most hospitality customers are choosing Veritas NetBackup Appliance.

I am talking about Veritas NetBackup Appliance as an option.

The main features of Veritas NetBackup Appliance are good. The encryption feature is very good. The product itself and the new features are excellent.

It is pretty user-friendly compared to other software and very easy to deploy.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance as a product is good, but currently the support services are weaker. Technical support and call logging support need improvement.

The main issue is with technical support and pricing. Since merging with Broadcom, the product pricing has become very difficult to manage.

Figuring out pricing from the site is challenging because the initial pricing mentioned on the site is too high. We cannot compete with other products. When requesting special pricing with discounts, getting an approved price from the vendor takes a long time.

I have been dealing with Veritas NetBackup Appliance for more than several years.

Technical support and response times are weaker now. I think they will resolve this problem as soon as possible, likely due to the recent merger.

I would rate the technical support by Veritas NetBackup Appliance a six or seven out of ten, considering both response time and overall competence.

Neutral

We are doing end-to-end services, and the only option I could recommend instead of Dell would be Veeam, but we are dealing with other vendors as well. According to market requirements, we position different solutions. For backup, we have multiple options including Veeam, Avamar, Acronis, and Veritas NetBackup Appliance. It depends on customer preferences, requirements, and their platform requirements.

I am reselling Veeam products as well. There are many suites in Veeam, and we provide solutions according to customer requirements. If a customer requires backup only, we provide the minimal solution. If backup and replication are needed, we adjust accordingly.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance advanced analytics tools are good, though I would need to research more about these features to provide more detailed comments.

The pricing in the Middle East is comparable and acceptable.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

There are a couple of primary use cases. The main reason is backup deduplication at both target and source. The backup also provides a historical record that complies with archive requirements for our enterprise. 

Additionally, we use NetBackup for our archiving project.

We use all the features of NetBackup Appliance. The most significant benefit has been the time to restore. Depending on the level of loss, I can instantiate a new version of the application and run it directly from the backup appliance while building alternative infrastructure.

The only room for improvement is that the cost per terabyte is extremely high. It would be beneficial if they could differentiate between archive data and real-time data. NetBackup sees everything in the unit as the extent of the data volume, sometimes including archive data, which should be measured differently.

I have been working with the product since 2012.

The solution is very stable. There was only one issue during a version upgrade, which was resolved with online support.

I would rate the scalability of the product as a nine out of ten. It is quite scalable.

The customer service and support are excellent. There was one technical issue, and their response was exceptional.

Neutral

We came from a Tivoli and HP Data Protector background. We benchmarked several solutions, including VMware. Veritas provided us with the scalability and all we needed, which suited our internal systems much better.

The initial setup was straightforward and took about two hours.

I have a team of specialists, consisting of thirty engineers, which helps with the deployment.

There is a reasonable return on investment. In terms of percentage, I estimate savings at around seven percent.

The cost of the product is reasonably priced. I would rate the affordability as a seven on a scale of one to ten.

We evaluated solutions like VMware and others before selecting Veritas.

I would recommend Veritas NetBackup Appliance due to its ease of use, excellent technical support response, and reasonable pricing. 

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the overall solution as a nine.

My main use case for Veritas NetBackup Appliance is for backup and recovery. I use Veritas NetBackup Appliance for backing up all customer data across Hyper-V, VMware, Oracle, SAP HANA, simple file, Exchange, and any kind of workloads.

The kind of data or systems I am mainly backing up with Veritas NetBackup Appliance includes VMware, Oracle, MSSQL, Hyper-V, SAP HANA, file, Exchange Server, and cloud.

The best features Veritas NetBackup Appliance offers for me are a simple user interface, especially the web UI, ransomware resiliency, the notification around anomaly detection, and the ability to do malware scanning.

The anomaly detection and notifications in Veritas NetBackup Appliance have helped me in my day-to-day work because when I have a server that is being backed up and it has some anomaly, for example, ransomware trying to encrypt it, I will have a considerably different footprint for the server backed up yesterday and the one which has been affected by malware. Therefore, anomaly detection will be able to flag that anomaly, and I can pass that information to the security team.

I would add that the web UI of Veritas NetBackup Appliance is also simple, as it has everything that I need and requires very few clicks. It is easy for me to work with.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance has positively impacted my organization because I know I have a reliable backup solution. It is my last point of resort. If I am attacked or if I need recovery, and I cannot get it from Veritas NetBackup Appliance, then I have problems.

I think Veritas NetBackup Appliance can be improved in terms of support. Support for appliances needs to be improved, specifically the quality of support that I receive.

The specific areas that need the most improvement in Veritas NetBackup Appliance include first-line support needing to have better information and better experience in the product so that I do not keep escalating things to the backline team.

I would also add that Veritas NetBackup Appliance can eliminate the Java UI and move everything to the web UI, which is easy, simple to use, and the way forward.

I have been using Veritas NetBackup Appliance since 2012.

A specific example where Veritas NetBackup Appliance helped me recover data or avoid a major issue is when I had a scenario where a customer was using two backup applications, one being Veritas NetBackup Appliance and the other one being one of the other common Windows-based solutions. The environment was attacked by ransomware, and they were able to recover 100 percent using Veritas NetBackup Appliance, whereas the other backup solution was 100 percent affected.

My advice for others looking into using Veritas NetBackup Appliance is to see it as a reliable solution that always works, but it just needs to be configured properly. Otherwise, it is a very reliable solution. I would rate this product a 9.

Our primary use case involves basic use cases that include performing backups and restoring backups when necessary. 

Additionally, the Oracle agent for databases and Oracle RAC support is significant for taking backups and application cloning.

The Oracle Agent and Oracle RAC support are valuable features; they are crucial for taking backups and cloning applications. NetBackup Appliance has many features. Backup Exec is a great product as well. 

NetBackup is well-developed with strong features, including deduplication technology, which allows us to retain backups for longer periods—exceeding our expectations by keeping backups for almost a month. 

It's effective for data recovery and capable of handling large-scale data recoveries. It is very stable and keeps applications secure. However, the AI integration is not yet tested.

One area needing improvement is to facilitate Oracle database restores using the GUI on the NetBackup Appliance. Having a wizard to streamline the process would be a great feature.

I have been working with Veritas NetBackup Appliance for almost six years.

The solution is noted for its stability. I am satisfied with its performance and would rate it ten out of ten for stability.

We have not tested the scalability feature extensively as we have only one backup appliance in use.

I contacted their support once, and the process was slow, which discouraged further contact. I rate the support five out of ten.

Neutral

Before joining my current company, I used Backup Exec for ten years. I switched to NetBackup Appliance after moving to another company.

The initial setup is not easy. While the setup process is straightforward, configuring it to work with the media center and making it operational requires a lot of effort and work.

We deployed the software with one senior engineer and one junior engineer.

NetBackup Appliance is expensive, yet not excessively when compared to its features and capabilities. It's more costly than Commvault, which offers similar features at 70% of the price.

Veritas should be more transparent with its customers, especially following recent acquisitions. It needs to provide a clear roadmap for its products and assure customers about support and future updates. 

I rate NetBackup Appliance eight out of ten.

I use Veritas NetBackup Appliance for managing and backing up all production data.

The most valuable features of Veritas NetBackup Appliance include extension syncing, making copies of the data, expiring images, replication, and speed. These features are very useful. The biggest advantage is that I do not need to manage backups on traditional tapes, which helps maintain total business continuity.

The costing part is on the higher side. The reporting could also be improved.

I have been using Veritas NetBackup Appliance for the last five years.

I would rate the stability of the solution as eight out of ten.

The scalability is very useful, and I would rate it as eight out of ten.

All is good with technical support.

Neutral

I would rate the setup experience as eight out of ten in terms of ease.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance has helped reduce costs by 30% and has improved operational efficiency.

Regarding cost, it's quite expensive, but I'm not sure about the exact licensing costs. This needs to be checked.

Information needs to be ready, and it's a regular job to manage the devices and appliance. One dedicated person and a team are required to handle it. My overall rating for Veritas NetBackup Appliance is eight out of ten.

The appliance is mainly for our servers and file servers, and it’s very user-friendly and secure.

The Veritas NetBackup Appliance is convenient because it’s a portable device and doesn’t require a lot of additional hardware or licenses like VPN solutions.

We haven’t activated all the features yet because the service provider needs to do it. For now, we’re focusing on getting familiar with the system before activating additional features. The system notifies us if backups aren’t detected, which helps us stay on top of things. Regarding duplication, it works well with snapshots and replicated files on NAS. Compared to DPM, it’s much more efficient and doesn’t have virus attack issues.

Our main challenge was deciding on the right capacity for expansion, but once we settled on two NAS servers with sixteen TB, things have been smooth.

We haven’t faced major challenges, just the initial capacity decisions. We got good reviews from other partners before installing it. We haven’t had much hands-on experience since it’s under warranty and we rely on 24/7 support from the service provider. We handle any errors by monitoring and notifying the provider as needed.

We’ve been using Veritas NetBackup Appliance for about one and a half years after switching from DPM.

The product itself is fine, but improvements could be made in the interface and some other areas. It’s new for us, so we’ll see what improvements we might need in the future.We use it for mid-range needs and have scheduled backups that happen overnight, saving us time. It’s user-friendly and provides clear notifications if something goes wrong with a backup. Overall, I’d rate the Veritas NetBackup Appliance at eight out of ten so far. We’re considering Checkpoint as a second security option but haven’t decided yet.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance fairly covers our enterprise requirements and supports all our databases and operating systems. We've got the latest technology, which is the fixed appliance, and we're pretty happy with it.

The pricing for the solution's software maintenance and licensing is high. It's difficult to make a switch with the tool because the actual physical storage doesn't work with anything else. It doesn't integrate with other tools.

I would not recommend Veritas NetBackup Appliance for a small organization. There are other Veritas backup products, like Veritas Backup Exec, which are more suitable for smaller companies.

The Commvault product is the closest tool to Veritas NetBackup Appliance. Some of the other solutions still lack some enterprise features.

The pricing for the solution's software maintenance and licensing is high.

From a depreciation point of view, the appliance has about two years left. We've got to write that out. Otherwise, replacing it will be even more expensive.

We have combined Veritas NetBackup Appliance with the NetBackup Insights tool for reporting. We get a lot of value in terms of pairing the two products together. NetBackup Insights also allows us to report on other storage entities.

Ransomware detection and anomaly detection in terms of malware are running through AI features. We are in the process of using 10.1 to enable that in our environment. It's not yet enabled, but the features are there.

I would recommend the solution to other users. If pricing was not a problem, Veritas NetBackup Appliance is one of the better enterprise products in my opinion.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.