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it_user387966 - PeerSpot reviewer
Researcher at a university with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Good solution for backup and recovery.

How has it helped my organization?

This is our only backup product and we've used it since the beginning because HP was a partner of our organization.

What needs improvement?

It seems to me that HP is not focused in their backup and recovery division. They're going to release other products which integrates with Data Protector and which use special licenses for functions that Data Protector already can do. I wish they'd focus on one product that does everything, and that product should be Data Protector.

One particular improvement I'd like to see with Data Protector is the user management. A user in a group is limited to only some rules without rights to do more backup and recovery functions.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We've had no issues deploying it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Data Protector is absolutely stable for us. We have no issues with instability.

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March 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We only have one terminal shelf so we have only one data center, but they are all backed up, so scalability works just fine. We don't really have a large environment to manage.

How are customer service and support?

I think their support is OK, but not very good. The problem is that Data Protector is spread across so many hardware and software combinations that its development can't keep pace with all the changes in heterogeneous environments. So we have issues with IBM DB2 databases. The integration with Data Protector was old and unstable.

The release cycle for Data Protector was way too fast for customers, going from 7 to 8 to 9. When we had issues, they instructed us to upgrade to version 9, and then we had two or three more problems. We could never fix every problems because new ones kept coming up.

It's been better in the last year, however, because version 9 seems to be stable with some patches.

What other advice do I have?

It's a very good product for backup and recovery. You should do the trial for 30 or 60 days and implement it on Linux or Windows, but not UNIX

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user548295 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Supports multiple operating systems but lacks backup testing before recovery
Pros and Cons
  • "It's supports Unix, Linux, all of the OS's. It's very stable software."
  • "The new backup systems are using new mechanisms for the recovery phases; for example, VM, recovery and testing the backup before recovering it. These features are not available in Data Protector."

How has it helped my organization?

For backup testing, previously it was taking a long time, because we needed to restore all the machines and systems. Now, testing the backup machines is very fast.

What is most valuable?

It's supports Unix, Linux, all of the OS's. It's very stable software, we have been using it for many years now. It's great.

What needs improvement?

The new backup systems are using new mechanisms for the recovery phases; for example, VM, recovery and testing the backup before recovering it. These features are not available in Data Protector. What we need to see is fast recovery and testing of backups.

The second thing is the license type. Because in Data Protector, if you need extra features, you need to buy the agents for these features. Some of the features are Terabytes, some of them are agents. There's some complexity in the pricing and licensing.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable, but there are times when you need to open a ticket with vendor support. It is stable but when you are using any system, you need to open tickets from time to time.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No problem with the scalability. There are many agents, anything I need, I can buy agents and do it with Data Protector. It's very scalable. But it's costly when we need to scale it.

How is customer service and technical support?

Data Protector is great software, but after we started getting support from Micro Focus, it was taking too much time, there was too much delay. That's why we are thinking of testing other backup software. It used to be helpful and very good. But with Micro Focus, now it's taking more time.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't directly involved but I think it was straightforward, because the integrator who did the installation was an expert.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Commvault and Veeam, these are the options on the shortlist. We haven't made a decision because there are new features being added by Micro Focus to Data Protector. We need to see if the new features and updates - maybe up until the end of this year - cover our needs. Perhaps we will not change backup software. But if we find that no, there is still complexity in recovering and testing the backups, then we will choose one of the two above options. 

We requested a PoC from the vendors, just to see the features that are now available.

What other advice do I have?

When selecting a vendor, first of all we need local support, here in our country, so that we don't need to open tickets with the vendor every time. A lot of times we need to open a ticket with local integrators. This is how we choose our backup software.

A lot of the backup solutions have the same features or the features are similar, because when one of them adds a feature, the others, after a few months are are adding the same thing. So mainly, we're based on the local integrator, who is providing the support and who is doing the implementation, who has very good experience. Based on comparison ratings, we haven't found a lot of difference between, for example, the Commvault and Veeam.

If you have a complex environment, if you have different OS's - Linux, Unix, Windows - if you have backup to disk, Data Protector is a very good choice to cover the whole environment. But it will cost you a lot of money.

If you need to use more than one backup software, use Commvault and Veeam for the VM environment. I have been told that Commvault is very good with physical servers and other OS's, and this is why we need to test it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
OpenText Data Protector
March 2025
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it_user437310 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
We can recover the user-specific data when there is data loss, such as a mailbox or file server.

What is most valuable?

  • Backup to Disk with StoreOnce software catalyst
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Zero downtime backup

How has it helped my organization?

Data Protector helps us to maintain data consistency and recover data with minimum downtime. We can recover the user-specific data when there is data loss, such as a mailbox or file server.

Having dual-cell manager in the environment at primary and secondary sites, data restoration and services can be made up in case the primary site goes down completely.

What needs improvement?

  • Technical Support
  • Troubleshooting
  • Restore using multi-path
  • Restore for Microsoft Exchange
  • GRE

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for more than seven years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

I've had no issues with deploying it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There isn't much instability as the product has been stable with the exception of a few bugs during upgrades.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issue with scalability until now for mid-level datacenters.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

4/10

Technical Support:

Technical support is very poor and I would rate it as 1/10. The response from L1 is very slow and there is no handover when the engineer finishes the shift. There's no direct interaction with the L2 or L3, which makes the case take more time. L1 basically behaves as a mediator for transferring the information from the customer to L2 or L3, and they don't perform any troubleshooting.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I haven't migrated a customer with different solution to Data Protector, but I have seen a customer move from Data Protector to Avamar, Veeam, and Commvault, who had better product offerings.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward if you understand the architecture correctly.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it with out in-house team.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing is categorized for each sub component rather than on the basis of services which is what we would like. For example, there is one license for all GREs, and similarly one license for all zero downtime backup products.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options were looked at.

What other advice do I have?

It's easy to learn for new users, not complicated, and has a simple backup and restore procedure. Last but not the least, it's easy to recover in case of disaster. The drawback is that there is some inconsistency and bugs with the level of technical support.

I would recommend the product to others keeping in mind the ease of implementation, maintenance of software, and easy backup and restore steps.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user384222 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Vendor
There are several valuable features, such as integrations with SQL, Oracle, Exchange, and VMware​.​ Granular Recovery is really difficult to install and configure.

What is most valuable?

There are several valuable features, such as the integrations with SQL, Oracle, Exchange, VMware, as well as the copy-jobs/replication features.

How has it helped my organization?

Data Protector has provided us with somewhat reliable backups for our environment, but it otherwise has not really improved our organization's functions.

What needs improvement?

The Virtual Environment backups still need major improvements. They are working much more smoothly now, but we still get error messages without explanations. More often than not, the jobs fail when other products on the market actually excel at these types of backups.

Granular Recovery and Smart Cache are huge improvements but don’t always work perfectly, and Granular Recovery is really difficult to install and configure. The documentation makes it sound easy, but it never works on the first attempt.

For how long have I used the solution?

I’ve been working with Data Protector since version 3.5, about 12 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There are always issues with deployments and it's never the same issue twice. Most are easy to resolve, but some issues are very frustrating. Again, most revolve around virtual environments.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Since we implemented the new PostgreSQL database, Data Protector's stability has greatly improved.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've had no issues with scalability since implementing the PostgreSQL database.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

The customer service is fine, we are an HP reseller, so we get good service. If anything takes too long to resolve, we usually have internal connections that help us.

Technical Support:

Tech support is not very fast at resolving issues and it takes a long time for them to get anywhere. Usually calls opened about Data Protector tae at least 2-3 weeks before they get resolved. I’ve also had calls open for 2 months with no resolution. This needs to improve and at some level, the support persons need more background knowledge on this product. Also, always having to deal with level one support can be frustrating especially when you know the product very well and are certified in it. Sometimes the questions we are asked make it sound like we are children.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I’m a consultant and have used many different backup solutions. Since we are an HP reseller, we tend to favor Data Protector. However, I must say, other solutions in the industry do a much better job in certain areas.

How was the initial setup?

The initial installation is straight forward. The complexity begins when the backup clients are added and backup jobs start to get configured. That’s when all the error messages start appearing.

What about the implementation team?

We are an HP reseller and are certified in this product. We generally do the deployments for our customers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing is fairly competitive. Licensing can start to become expensive depending on the features required. If many features are required, then usually competitors have a better price.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We usually evaluate other vendor products in backups environment. The top ones are Veeam and Commvault.

What other advice do I have?

Be ready for an exercise in frustration, but once all the problems are resolved, then you’re OK.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We're an HP reseller.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1126809 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
Flexible, very stable, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "If you have an idea of what you are doing, it's very flexible and very stable."
  • "The downside of the flexibility on offer is if you over-configure it, it may fail to function as some configurations may not match."

What is our primary use case?

We can back up Oracle databases, SQL databases, Windows machines, Linux, and virtual machines like VMware with this product.

What is most valuable?

In terms of configuration, it's very flexible. 

If you have an idea of what you are doing, it's very flexible and very stable. We've been using it since 2010 without an issue.

What needs improvement?

The downside of the flexibility on offer is if you over-configure it, it may fail to function as some configurations may not match. That said, it's a very flexible tool to use it. It helps to start with minimal configuration to avoid misalignment of parameters.

The scheduling could be better. We thought they had made some improvements, however, the scheduling of backups needs to be more flexible and we need to be able to apply different policies at different times.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2010. I've been using it since version six onwards. It's been more than ten years at this point.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is great. For the most part, there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. However, when it comes to new versions, there are certain issues that crop up. They may be due to new developments.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. You can have multiple Cell Managers. For example, let's say your environment is very large. You can have the backup server dedicated to a certain group of targets, and then you can have multiple backup servers. You can have another backup server that manages the other backup servers, which means now you can have a global view of all the backup servers. 

At the same time, when it comes to storage, you can integrate it into several storage areas. Instead of just using tape, you can use the backup directly to disk. That means even the disk capacity can scale up to many terabytes depending on the storage you are using.

In terms of users, I can't say we have so many users as we are an enterprise, and within an enterprise, there'll be people dedicated to managing the backup. 

As we have a couple of hundreds of systems that we are backing up, I would say that we use it quite extensively.

How are customer service and support?

We've used technical support in the past. For example, recently, we were changing our licenses from the traditional licensing to capacity We had to ask them to help us apply the license. That was the first time we were applying that license. For the traditional licenses, we've been doing it ourselves without a problem. They helped to show us how to apply the license, which means next time we can do it ourselves.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward if you know what you are doing. However, due to the flexibility, you may find that you need someone who can guide you in terms of doing the minimum that is required, instead of just over-configuring it. 

In 2010, when I started using it, the backups were actually failing every day, only to find that there were too many mismatching configurations due to the flexibility. 

The deployment process can take a couple of days. For us, we are a large environment. While the installation itself doesn't take long, the configuration will take time in terms of configuring the backup devices and making sure that everything is working. We need to test and then add new clients. Most of the time required is just to configure the backup devices, like the disks to the virtual tapes, and add that line. However, the installation itself doesn't take long. That part you can do in half a day.

There are just a few people managing the backup environment, however, there are a couple of hundred systems that are being backed up. In terms of the people, we have about five users who look after the environment. However, it's stable. They are not busy with the environment every day. It's just to manage backups.

In general, the size of the team needed to watch the system depends on the size of your environment. The platform itself doesn't need a lot of people. One person is enough. That said, just looking after backups is what makes you look for more people. Looking after the platform, we've been using one person for a long time. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In terms of licensing, you just pay for the licenses you use. That said, it depends on what you want to do - depending on the functionality you need. With capacity-based licensing, you just pay for the size of the backups, and you have all the functionality that comes with the platform.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We've tried Veeam for VMware, for virtual machines. At the time, it had limitations. We have since stuck with Data Protector. We have evaluated other solutions, however, for some reason, we decided not to go further.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and an end-user.

We are almost using the latest version of the solution. We are actually using 10. We haven't yet upgraded, however, we are just a step away from the latest.

I would recommend the solution to others. They are 100% perfect. Just like any company, they have their own issues. That said, I would still recommend it as a comprehensive backup and recovery solution. 

I'd rate the solution at an 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.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Backup & Recovery specialist at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
The integration with MaxDB and MS SQL gave us problems as it is never working the way we expect.

What is most valuable?

This is the most difficult difficult question to answer because in order to get certain things done, we need to go to v9 or to a product like Unitrends or Arcserve.

How has it helped my organization?

As time goes on, it actually becomes a handicap. It requires too much storage and there are holes where backups should be.

What needs improvement?

Reporting is definitely an area for improvement, as well as scheduling and the way that pools are created and grouped. Some of these are fixed in v9.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used it for approximately eight years. We came from version 6.1 and upgraded to 7.xx.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There were no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The integration with MaxDB and MS SQL gave us problems as it is never working the way we expect. As they are certified, we expected it to work flawlessly, but it didn't.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issues with scaling it.

How are customer service and technical support?

Once a solution is provided, it works and is OK, but it takes ages to get to that point, mainly due to the fact that we need to supply a lot of data from within a small pipeline, which doesn't always work. I have to admit that now that the new website is up and running, it is better than it was.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No, but we are actively looking for a solution that will put us in the next century. Personally, I believe that v9 combined with dedupe and 3PAR would be a good solution, but it still can't compete with the appliance from Unitrends with backup, storage and deduplication all-in-one.

How was the initial setup?

Reading the manual and following instructions will result in a working version.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are now actively testing SEP Sesam, Unitrends and Arcserve as we need a complete solution for our backups in the Netherlands and Slovakia in real-time.

What other advice do I have?

Test everything at least twice. Don't listen to others but do the actual tests, even the absurd ones like "suppose I lost my entire backup solution in a fire, let's start from scratch and try to get everything back from tapes and or disks and or remote replica."

I realize that v7 is almost out of support and we are looking to either upgrade or go for a different solution. In my experience with the sales and technical sales from HP, they have no fitting answer for our current solution unless we pay a lot of money for an assessment which will not guarantee anything. So if HP wants to improve their products, then being clearer about their product as a whole it would help. It took me weeks to find out what I could do with HP 3PAR and backups. From my point of view, they need fewer products and more integrated ones, especially backup and storage which are one and the same.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user384924 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Adminstrator at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Feature-rich and capable, but not as reliable as it needs to be.

What is most valuable?

We purchased it as part of a package with StoreOnce. Its integration with StoreOnce was probably the key selling point for us and made us choose Data Protector and not one of the other products on the market that don't natively support StoreOnce. There's quite a wide range of application integrations, for example, with SQL Server, Exchange, and Hyper-V.

How has it helped my organization?

It's allowed us to reliably perform backups without a whole lot of constant attention required. Again, the integrations with SQL Server, Exchange, and Hyper-V are reliable and effective. The integration with SQL Server 2012 is particularly well-executed.

What needs improvement?

Data Protector is a fairly complicated product and some of the terminology is quite complex. There is a bit of a learning curve for new administrators who are working on it. Some of that could be eased by having a better GUI, which is not very good. There isn't much good reporting built-in to the GUI. For example, to see the status of yesterday's Exchange backup you have to click on and view all of the possible numbered backup sessions from yesterday until you find the one that relates to Exchange.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for 18 months.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We've had no issues with deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have become frequent customers of the Data Protector technical support team because Data Protector does fairly regularly break. And it does so, generally, without any involvement on our part. The software is not as stable and reliable as it should be.

Invariably, the response from technical support to that is to install the latest set of patches for Data Protector. It's very frequently patched. Upgrading to the next patch release is quite a big task because you also have to upgrade all of the components running on all of the backup targets at the same time.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've had no issues with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

While they're fairly knowledgable, they're not very responsive. The turnaround time on critical tickets can be many days. First-level support is not very knowledgable, so virtually everything ends up going up to second-level support, who are, quite obviously, overworked.

Generally, once you're talking to someone, it's a reasonably good experience. But the response times aren't as good as they should be.

Technical support for Data Protector isn't as good as with 3PAR, the Blade platform, and the ProLiant servers. Support for those, 3PAR in particular, is noticeably better.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Tivoli Storage Manager, which was similar in complexity to Data Protector but less reliable. Tivoli required daily care and attention to keep it running. Data Protector, while imperfect, is significantly more reliable than Tivoli was for us.

How was the initial setup?

I'd say for a typical organization of our size, where you're not able to send someone on multiple training courses and make them the full-time "backup guy", it's probably going to be a project that requires external consultancy. There are very many moving parts. It's a complicated architecture with confusing and not-always-consistent terminology.

What other advice do I have?

Data Protector is a little bit more complicated than it should be. I think most people would probably agree that there's no such thing as good backup software, but Data Protector is certainly not the worst that we've used. It could be more reliable. It could be a little easier to understand. It could have a better user-interface, with better reporting. But in terms of actually, reliably, backing things up, it's superior to the other products that we've used in-house.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user567924 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
We use it with just a client on servers, and then do backups. The license structure for advanced features can make it costly.

What is most valuable?

We bought it when it was a very simple product with a clear license structure, and it just did what we needed it to do.

What needs improvement?

The license structure for advanced features, such as backing up to disk or compression, can make the license pretty costly. That’s the main thing because we use it in a very simple way with just a client on servers, and then do backups. That license structure was really simple and cheap; but if you want to do a little bit more, then the structure gets pretty expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Data Protector for 15 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It has really improved over time. In the beginning, it was not a real enterprise solution but it has evolved into an enterprise solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. It has a nice relationship to the hardware that HPE has.

How are customer service and technical support?

It depends. It takes some time to get to the real person who knows how to solve the problem. So that's difficult with HPE. You need to pass the first level, a second level, and so on.

We get phone or WebEx sort of support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have always used Data Protector in our organization.

How was the initial setup?

Upgrading the solution is straightforward. We do it ourselves without any help.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Every other year, we look at what's new in the market. We take a quick look, and scan to see what’s around to see if we should switch. We look mainly for vendor reliability. The support level should be good. For the past 15 years, we haven’t done much switching because there was no reason for it.

Still, there are other products that fill gaps in the backup market, like Veeam and other ones.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free OpenText Data Protector Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free OpenText Data Protector Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.