Veeam Data Platform Reviews

The ability to backup servers without an agent installed is very valuable. Many of our applications are customized by us, and may break with constant changes and updates to third party software and operating system changes. So the ability to integrate the backup solution into VMware for seamless backups is fantastic. Our users don’t know backups are happening, and it really becomes invisible.

Another feature we value is the ease of individual file restoration. Someone will submit a ticket for a file restoration, and we can have it finished within five to 15 minutes depending on the size of the file. Before, we would be figuring out which backup disk or tape had the server on it for that amount of time prior to even starting the restore.

Our company now has nightly backups, whereas before we only had weekly backups. It’s also allowed us to retire our cloud backup solution (HP Autonomy LiveVault), saving us about $40,000/year in storage costs. Since we completely control the backup environment, we’re able to have onsite backups, offsite backup copies, an archive, and even replication all through one interface. It’s made our infrastructure much more flexible, and in a disaster recovery situation allows us to resume business within hours instead of days or weeks.

Moving backup repositories and merging backup chains is either difficult or not possible as far as I know in the current release of Veeam Backup and Replication. This has made it inefficient to retire backup storage repositories, causing us to keep more backup files than we might otherwise do. This means we are wasting space simply to keep a backup for archive purposes, and I can see this being addressed with scale-out repositories in the future.

Veeam has been in place for at least three years at my company, and I’ve used it here for almost two years. This has been across multiple rebuilds of the backup system to go from not useful to confident we can restore anything quickly.

We did run into a few issues of certain applications not being entirely compatible with Veeam, or requiring a bit of customization to our backup jobs to ensure they work correctly. This is mostly due to SQL express databases not allowing truncation during backup jobs, which isn’t necessary a fault with the Veeam software, but our implementation of other products in our environment

Stability has not been an issue when Veeam is installed on a physical server outside the virtual environment, but I would avoid installing Veeam on a virtual machine if you think you’ll be changing the CPU or Memory limits of the VM that Veeam is running. We found this created a very unstable installation for some reason, forcing us to move the Veeam installation back to a physical server. In some environments, a physical server is desired for direct SAN access or for limiting the impact of a backup server on the virtual environment, so a VM instance of Veeam may not be a consideration for many anyway. For those of you without the extra hardware to set up a dedicated Veeam installation, I’d recommend a set it and forget it mindset for the VM to avoid the possibility of performance issues.

It's been able to scale for our needs.

Veeam customer service and technical support have been fantastic. They’ve been very responsive, very professional, and have resolved every issue we’ve thrown at them quickly. One example is in the previous versions, there was an issue with rotating drives, and support provided a fix for us to use rotating drives for offsite backups within about an hour of us calling. Several other issues relating to database backups and log truncation have been resolved within at most a day or two.

The company previously used Symantec Backup Exec, and Veeam was already in place (although poorly configured) when I arrived. We also used HP LiveVault online backup, which was a very poor solution and required constant baby-sitting to be sure it worked properly. We chose to discontinue using HP LiveVault because restores took a very long time, especially Exchange restores, for example, we had to restore a mailbox of a terminated user that was never exported to a PST. With LiveVault, we had to download a 200GB .EDB file, mount it, and export the mailbox as .PST to get the 5 or so mail messages we needed. When we switched everything to Veeam and properly configured it, we were provided the ability to mount a backup and restore a mailbox directly from the backup, even if it's offsite. This proved to decrease restore times to at most an hour, and along with file-level restorations, SQL backup and restores, and the ease of ensuring proper backups for our entire environment, pushed us well over the edge in choosing Veeam as the product we trust for our backups.

The initial setup is very straightforward for a seasoned system/network administrator. You must create login credentials for Veeam in your VMware environment, and you cannot use Veeam without vSphere, so for someone new to VMware or Veeam, make sure to read the installation documents to ensure it goes smoothly. I didn’t have any major issues with setup.

I implemented our Veeam installation myself with minimal help from Veeam support. I definitely recommend a vendor team that will work closely with you throughout the entire process if you will be supporting the Veeam product on your own instead of Backup as a Service. The advice I have about implementation is to make sure you have appropriately sized backup storage and a dedicated WAN if using offsite replication or backup copy/offsite archive.

I believe it’s possible to work directly with Veeam, but we had our VAR handle it, which made the process fairly hands-off and easy. I recommend handling this the same way for almost any licensing, not just Veeam.

Veeam is the first backup solution I’ve used that’s designed for Virtual environments. With that disclaimer, I’d give the product 8/10 for out of the box functionality and ease of use. However, this is assuming there are no issues for Veeam in your environment, but we did have a few. This required several support calls with Veeam, which did somewhat quickly offer us a properly working backup system. Including Veeam support’s assistance, my rating would go up to 9/10, but this depends if you have a perpetual license with no support, or a subscription with ongoing support. The support increases satisfaction in this product, at least initially.

I’d highly recommend considering an offsite storage provider that supports Veeam Cloud Connect. We use SingleHop, which costs about $900/month for 7TB of online storage. This is expensive, but allows us to have our backups hosted offsite, secure and fully supported by Veeam. Also, make sure your local backup target is fast enough to support simultaneous writes and reads at a high enough rate not to eat into your production day, or at least minimize backup windows. It’s obvious to me, but maybe not obvious to others—don’t skimp on your backup storage, and don’t put your backups on your production storage device (SAN, NAS, etc.) It makes backups pointless in the case of a storage device failure.

Below is a screenshot of our Archive settings, which pull from production backups and keep weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly backups up to our retention policy automatically. It's very hands-off, which I love and it's great for auditors, as we just send them this screenshot and they check off the box about records retention and backups.

This is a list of our backups and backup copy jobs to show how we’ve set it up. Note our “Production Servers” backup says it last failed, due to an issue with our backup storage location not being fast enough and getting bogged down. I was working on this as I wrote this review.

The solution's interface, GUI (graphical user interface), and backup are good.

The solution’s scalability could be improved. Veeam Data Platform has limitations for features like Hyper-V and open-source hypervisors outside VMware.

I have been using Veeam Data Platform for five years.

Normally, the solution is not very stable when we back up big databases.

I rate the solution a seven out of ten for stability.

It’s not very easy to scale the solution.

I rate the solution’s scalability a six out of ten.

The troubleshooting provided by the technical support team needs to be improved.

Neutral

The solution’s initial setup is easy.

One person can deploy the solution in two to four hours.

We have seen a good return on investment with the solution. Veeam Data Platform has helped save 70% of our time.

Veeam Data Platform's pricing is affordable.

Veeam Data Platform is not a good solution for customers who do not use VMware. Veeam Data Platform doesn't have storage and needs to integrate with other vendors for storage. Customers using anything other than VMware should clarify all the requirements and limitations of Veeam Data Platform before using it. It is easy to integrate the solution with other systems like Lenovo and Dell.

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

We use the product as a backup solution during emergency scenarios. 

One thing we like about the product is that it's good and not as expensive as similar products. Right now, there are different ways to back up your information—you can back up directly to a disk or the cloud. It allows you to have various kinds of repositories.

It would be nice to see more affordable training options for individuals who want to enhance their skills. Some people I know have been interested in training courses, but they found them too expensive.

Veeam Backup & Replication is a stable product. 

I rate Veeam Backup & Replication's scalability as nine out of ten. 

The product is stable and takes care of everything we need. We've only had to ask for support a few times, but each time, they've been really helpful.

Positive

The main difference between the solution and its competitors is based on pricing. Other products are more expensive. 

Veeam Backup & Replication's installation is simple. 

Every backup solution is like car insurance. You'll see the return when you have a problem. If you don't have any problems, you won't see the value of a backup solution. You realize the value when something goes wrong. It helps you feel more confident that you can recover the information if something happens to your company.

The solution's pricing is cheap. 

I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten. 

For our clients, the optimal use case depends on their specific requirements. It excels in safeguarding commercial machines, physical servers, and diverse workloads, including those hosted on AWS EC2 instances. It proves highly effective in managing databases, catering to various platforms such as Cisco and Oracle, and addressing the unique needs of different clients.

The most valuable aspects are the latest features in version 12.1, which introduced enhanced security features.

Margins should not be distinct; instead, they should seamlessly integrate with the Veeam Backup and Replication tools, requiring minimal separation.

I have been working with it for more than five years.

I would rate it stability capabilities eight out of ten.

It offers excellent scalability. Our clientele typically consists of small, medium, and enterprise businesses. I would rate it nine out of ten.

I would rate its technical support services ten out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward. I would rate it ten out of ten.

The deployment process typically takes two to three hours.

It is highly cost-effective when compared to other solutions. With only one license needed, all features can be enjoyed, eliminating the need for separate licensing for individual components.

We recommend using it because of its simplicity. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

Our common use case is to offer backup solutions and disaster recovery services to customers.

A key benefit is the constant security of data. It enables us to assure customers that their data is consistently accessible, even in the face of server issues or potential disruptions.

The most valuable aspect is its reliability in recovering any replaceable data in the event of server issues in a production environment. It proves to be a dependable solution for ensuring business continuity in case of a disaster occurring at the current production site.

It would be beneficial if it could expand its coverage to support Frostbox and provide greater flexibility for service providers to recommend backup solutions based on customer preferences in prospective environments.

I have been working with it for more than one year.

It provides good stability.

It offers high scalability capabilities.

So far, the support team has proven valuable in providing effective solutions and useful guidance.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward.

In the initial stages of deployment, it's essential to understand the customer's backup infrastructure needs. This involves determining the specific requirements of the customer and assessing whether our existing environment is equipped to meet those needs. Maintenance is relatively straightforward for me.

Customers are experiencing a significant positive return on investment.

The pricing is reasonable. It provides good value for the money. Licensing costs can occasionally present a significant financial challenge.

It's particularly useful for those looking to offer backup services, complemented by optional additional recovery and replacement services with Veeam. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

Veeam Backup Replication's most valuable features are the ease of use, good integration with others solutions, such as Oracle ERP, and by using the UI you can create and achieve operations you want to do.

Veeam Backup Replication could improve by making the monitoring system free. If I would like to have any monitoring system by Veeam I have to purchase it. It should come free with the solution. They should provide a monitoring system to make the work easier and smooth.

I have been using Veeam Backup & Replication for approximately 

The stability of Veeam Backup Replication is good.

Veeam Backup Replication is a scalable solution.

The support from Veeam Backup Replication could improve.

I rate the support from Veeam Backup Replication a four out of five.

Veeam Backup Replication is built for a virtual environment. I have used other solutions, such as Data Domain and which is used for the backup of the networks or other areas. I have found it a more difficult application to use. It can be even more difficult if you need to write a script for anything you would like to do. Veeam Backup Replication there are not any difficulties. 

I prefer Veeam Backup Replication.

The initial installation of Veeam Backup Replication is extremely simple.

The price of Veeam Backup Replication is reasonable. It is not inexpensive nor is it expensive, it is in the middle range compared to other solutions. There can be additional costs for addons.

I would advise others that the implementation of Veeam Backup Replication is straightforward and it is a great solution. I recommend Veeam Backup Replication to others.

I rate Veeam Backup Replication a ten out of ten.

Veeam takes our installation and server backups, then writes them on a disk and the tape backup. After that, it replicates the backups to another recovery site. IT is the only department that uses Veeam directly. It has three to five people.  

I like all of Veeam's features, but the most important ones are the tape backups and replication. Those are the two options available for us, and it's enough for our needs.

I've been using Veeam for more than 10 years

Veeam is stable.

Veeam is scalable. 

I sometimes contact Veeam for some adjustments or updates. They get back to me in a reasonable time. I've also asked them about the availability of particular features or questions about deploying the solution. There are different solutions for freeware and enterprise deployment. Enterprise deployment has various features available to end-users, so I've asked if these solutions are available to us. 

I worked with NetBackup at my previous company, but that was more than eight years ago.

Veeam is easy to install and deploy. 

We pay a yearly license for support and upgrades. I haven't researched the price of any other solutions, so I can't say whether it is expensive or cheap relative to others. It is affordable enough for me.

In the past, Veeam had a host-based license, but now it will be part of Microsoft's core license. I don't like this licensing model. Host-based licensing is better for my system. Maybe so other organizations prefer the core-based.

I rate Veeam Backup and Replication eight out of 10. I recommend Veeam. It is simple and easy to use.

My company is an end user customer of Veeam Backup and Replication and we use it for storing and protecting our server backups.

The advantage of Veeam Backup and Replication is that it is very economical. The price is affordable and the cost benefit is good.

My main concern about Veeam is that I hope our backups will still be secure in the event of a security incident such as a ransomware attack. In Veeam version 11 they do state that there is ransomware protection, but until it has been proven to be effective, I don't have any assurance that it will prevent data loss.

Beyond improving on the security measures, I don't have further expectations for Veeam Backup and Replication.

I have been using Veeam Backup and Replication for two years. 

I have no doubts about the stability of Veeam. 

At the moment it is not necessary for us to scale up our usage of Veeam but I can say that I believe it is very capable of being scaled, should the need arise.

The support we get is very helpful, but it is not through Veeam directly. We use a Veeam partner called Netgroup Solutions to help us and they have been good.

The installation of Veeam Backup and Replication was very easy. 

A nice aspect of Veeam's pricing is that the cost benefit is good. It's very economical.

Veeam Backup and Replication is a good product and I would rate it a ten out of ten.