What is our primary use case?
We are using it to back up and replicate our critical infrastructure to allow us to replicate back when we are in a disaster recovery situation or a test.
How has it helped my organization?
When we were in a disaster recovery (DR) test, we could not pull back the data in a timely manner. Zerto allows us to pull the data back in a timely manner. We also can create better RTOs and RPOs. We wanted an RTO of fifteen minutes and we've managed that.
What is most valuable?
To be able to replicate back to production is the most useful aspect of the product. It allows us to do a disaster recovery test and recover within eight hours. I couldn't do that before.
I'm also working with near-synchronous replication. It's very important to be able to keep my production and replication in sync.
I like the idea of Zertos being able to block unknown threats and attacks. In fact, one of my machines had a little encryption on it, and it detected that encryption, and I had to go look at it. It was nothing, in that instance, however, it was a neat feature. We could see that it was definitely looking for encryption and malware on our side.
Our disaster recovery testing is a lot easier and is much better with this product. Our RPOs and RTOs are now more in line with our other critical systems. We're now down to five minutes, well below our original 15-minute RTO goal.
Instead of being up all night, trying to get data back, I would no longer need to stay up all night. I've saved about four hours.
The product is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
I haven't noted any areas of improvement just yet.
I'd like to see a way to do a one-stop shutdown of replication so I know I'm not missing data and can do my DR test.
I'd like to get better recovery point objectives and get more data back from our DR site faster.
The pricing could be a little bit lower.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about two months now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. I have never had any issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have not tried to scale the solution.
I have the solution for multiple locations in one department.
How are customer service and support?
I've had two cases resolved via technical support. They helped me resolve issues I had with the installation. It did take me a few tries to resolve the issues.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used Veeam in the past. It's pretty good for certain things. However, it was hard to get continuous replication. Zerto is much easier to get that constant replication that we need. In terms of speed, for Veeam, it's about an hour right now across our secondary data center. It's not as fast. We moved to Zerto to get more data back from our DR site faster.
How was the initial setup?
I was involved in the initial setup. The initial setup is easy. Veeam had an easier setup, however, once we got Zerto going, it was easier to scale up and test. It's easier to manage in the long run.
The deployment had a bit of complexity. The problem we had was that the VRAs would not install and we had to turn off some security features. The ESXi server was not well documented.
We set it up in multiple locations in one department.
It took us about three weeks to deploy the solution.
The maintenance is simple. I handle the maintenance myself.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the initial setup in-house internally. I managed the process completely by myself.
What was our ROI?
It's just been a few months. We have yet to see a return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zerto is a bit more expensive compared to Acronis or Veeam. That said, for us, the pricing was still reasonable. That said, we couldn't do all of our machines.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also evaluated Nutanix and Acronis.
We chose Zerto since it has very good integration with HPE servers. It's also an industry standard. Many people are using it.
What other advice do I have?
I've never used its immutable copies features. I've just discovered the feature and need to look more into it.
I didn't use the cloud while using this solution. I have used the solution to help me protect VMs in my environment.
I haven't had to migrate data just yet. The solution has yet to help us reduce downtime. It also has yet to help us save time in data recovery situations due to ransomware. We haven't had an incident as of yet. While it's saved time, we haven't been able to test all of our machines and all of our servers yet.
At this point, the solution has not reduced the staff involved in data recovery.
This product augmented what we have in terms of legacy backup solutions. It did not replace anything.
My advice to others is to use Zerto for critical servers and things that need to be watched carefully for malware and encryption.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.