Veritas NetBackup Appliance Reviews

High available Backup Solution for about 200 Unix Servers (Linux, AIX, SunOS)

We like the simplicity of the solution. You can recover and browse backed up data via CLI (command-line interface). The platform independence of the bare metal restore feature is great.

They could improve the process of installing by not wasting so much local disk space during the process.

The solution's stability is perfect.

The solution is very scalable.

We did previously use a different solution. The change was a management decision because of the pricing.

The initial setup was easy. The only problem that we had occasionally was, when we installed the software, we had to store a big amount of data to disk, because the package included all the operating systems and sometimes the space on the filesystem was not enough. We needed about one and a half gigabyte to install the software.

We use a local high-available backup server version of the solution.

With this solution, we've had perfect support and our use cases were perfectly served. 

I would rate this solution nine out of ten.

We use the solution as a media server and for storing data.

For traditional setups, you need to have one separate media server plus you need maybe a data domain or some kind of storage. If you use the NetBackup Appliance you do not need to have separate media servers and hardware. You can configure the same storage as a media server and master server as well as a storage port. This helps to reduce the hardware costs of the media server.

We've only been using the solution for one year, and since we've installed it, it's been running fine, so I don't have any complaints about it so far. It could be improved if it was easier to run some command items on the GUI. If they could make it a bit more user-friendly then it would be helpful.

In future releases, it would be helpful if there was something to help make recovery easy and the process faster. They need some sort of restore related feature similar to what VMware offers, in which you can directly use the image of a backup. For example, they could offer to make it so you can create a backup that can sit in your storage that you can use to send an image map via email or somewhere convenient.

The stability of the solution is good.

We've just reached the point where we'll be able to see how flexible the scalability is. We haven't tested the scalability just yet, so I can't say exactly if it is scalable or how scalable it can be.

With technical support, it feels like they aren't well trained and it takes forever to get answers out of them. We've had many complaints about them. Usually, we end up fixing it in house, since it feels like technical support is just running out the clock.

I would rate technical support at six out of ten.

We previously used EMC Data Domain. We switched because we required an additional media server, and were using new hardware which was isolated for media server purposes. Since this solution could also work as a media server, I didn't need to buy another hardware license and support for another server, so we switched.

The initial setup was simple. It was straightforward and there weren't too many complications. In terms of maintenance, one person is always managing the backup infrastructure. It's the operation team data center operator who monitors the backup during the night shift.

We have a partner in Dubai that consulted with us on the implementation.

I don't know anything specific in regards to pricing, but I do have friends that say there's an IBM solution that's less expensive than NetBackup.

We only ever made an evaluation between EMC Data Domain, our previous solution, and NetBackup.

If you are using NetBackup software on the same appliance you can expect good performance. In terms of the solution, you may need to log cases with different vendors if you have a different storage solution. However, if you have the NetBackup appliance and it doesn't need backup software you can create logs with the same technical support. It makes it easy for coordination. You can eliminate redundancies if you have a single vendor.

I would rate this solution eight out of ten.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance's most valuable feature is information backup. It works fast to back up and restore the data using snapshots.

There are a few people in Veritas NetBackup Appliance's community support. In case of technical issues, it becomes difficult to find solutions from other users. They should improve this area so that customers can resolve issues correctly. Additionally, an auto command feature could be included in it, similar to Rubrik.

We have been using Veritas NetBackup Appliance for one year.

The product is stable compared to Veeam.

It is a scalable platform. We have less than 20 users for it in our organization. At present, we are evaluating the virtualized infrastructure. Based on the report, we will decide on expansion.

The technical support services could be better. 

Positive

The product's price is high. Although, we need to buy appliances, which makes the pricing competitive compared to Rubrik and Veeam.

It can restore data in case of any crisis. They should improve security features for ransomware attacks similar to Rubrik. I never encountered any event of malicious activity using Rubrik.

I rate Veritas NetBackup Appliance a seven out of ten.

For me, the main use case was as an on-premise data center backup, mainly in the Unix space with Oracle. That was the main reason to use it. I know it's got a capability in the cloud, however, we haven't used it in the cloud.

The consistency of using it over a long period of time has been excellent. The big one for me is when you're dealing with database backups, particularly. I’ve used it for Oracle and SAN, and I’ve used it a lot. It’s been great.

The solution is stable.

It’s quite scalable.

Depending on the setup structure, it can be complex to implement.

In my case, it's an enterprise environment, and they're always complicated. There's no way to get around there. With Backup Exec, everything is on Windows, and you don't have to worry about it. However, if there's going to be a critical Oracle database on the Unix system and then you're going to have new Windows and the Linux, it is going to be complicated. There's no way around it, particularly with the customers.

I’ve used the solution on and off for 20 years. It’s been a very long time.

I'd say it's very stable. I use it specifically for enterprise customers. Small customers use Backup Exec. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn’t crash or freeze.

The product is extremely scalable. Expanding is not an issue at all.

We’re a large SME. 1,000 people or more are using it.

In my new role, I have no plans to increase usage.

Tech support has usually been good when we've had disasters, or we need to do recovery. Support has been good and we’ve been able to get access to them. We’ve been satisfied with their level of assistance overall.

With NetBackup, just setting it out to different server times and nothing else is okay. Other things are a bit more complicated.

That said, it’s been eight years since I’ve done a live deployment. We got the appliance and had to set everything up.

I was working with a consultant on the last setup I did.

I’m not sure what the latest pricing models are.

I mainly use the on-premies version of the deployment. I don’t typically deal with cloud deployment.

We’re always using the latest version of the solution.

I would recommend the solution to others for enterprise on-premise.

I would rate the solution seven out of ten.

For example, in the past, we had to upgrade the operating system and then the software, but now we have everything bundled so that there is one upgrade for everything, which is a great improvement for us in management. It saves us time.

The features that are most valuable are the ease of integration in deployment and updates. Everything is packaged when you do the upgrade, so it's quite easy to manage. 

The price could be improved.

Also, sometimes when you have multiple appliances, you have to physically manage them one by one. It's okay if you have a few, but when you have ten or more, it's a bit annoying and takes more people/time to handle the management.

The scalability isn't great. Every time you want to add storage, you can't just add a little bit, you need to add a lot.

In a future release, they should make it NetApp storage, that's something there on the roadmap that's not available now.

Compared to a homemade installation, this appliance is very stable.

The solution is not very scalable because when you want to add storage you need to add a lot of storage. You cannot just add a few discs. Every time you add storage, you must add a huge amount of storage. In the future, we do plan to add some appliances, so we will increase the usage and replace some old appliances with new ones.

For specific appliances, support is very good.

The past four years we have used dedicated appliances. Before that, we were using homemade servers.

The initial setup was straightforward. I found it very quick and easy. For maintenance, we just need two people.

We're using the on-premises deployment model.

I would recommend others to consider the solution if they're using a lot of workloads. It's a really good product.  However, if you have only a small workload, it's a huge fixture for nothing. 

I would rate this solution eight out of ten.

We use the Veritas NetBackup Appliance within banking systems. We operate with an older bank in Turkey. Some of our backup administrators possess significant experience with this suite, surpassing their familiarity with other protection sheets. Our usage encompasses various components such as network configurations and PPDM.

It serves as the preferred system for backup operations across the entire CAN due to our team's extensive prior experience. This preference is attributed to its versatility in handling diverse workloads, including databases, email systems, and primary banking platforms. Additionally, all data, including backups and NetBackup metadata, is directed to the Data Domain system.

The utilization of Data Domain is crucial because of its integration with a key Veritas feature: retention lock. This feature ensures data integrity by preventing any alterations to stored data. When NetBackup interacts with Data Domain, enabling the retention lock feature ensures that neither administrators nor backup personnel can modify data stored within the system. This functionality is vital for compliance purposes and meets the requirements of auditors.

I replaced the solution with the data domain systems because we also provide managed backup servers and backup service steps. We are managing to pick up the environment with the DPS and the data domain. We integrate in Cyber Recovery Solutions.

The scalability could be improved.

I rate the solution's stability a five or six out of ten.

The solution has some limitations depending on the development environment. It is not scalable.

Two to three customers are using this solution.

The initial setup is not easy. It takes a long time because there are many components to integrate, like a backup console, media server to define each systems. If you start a project, it will take a lot of time to perform the access to backup services.

Veritas NetBackup Appliance's functionality relies on the Veritas software and the hardware. It can integrate with various storage systems like Flex apps, ensuring compatibility with diverse infrastructure setups. However, thorough testing is necessary to ensure optimal performance within the domain system.

 If you have experience with the NetBackup software before, transitioning to the appliance may involve a learning curve. However, once familiar with the software, managing the backup processes becomes more manageable.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

The primary use case of this solution is to manage the backup of our very large infrastructure. We have five thousand servers on virtual machines used for several applications such as Oracle database, SAP, SharePoint, and other enterprise software. 

Our experience is in the manufacturing industry. The workload includes lifecycle management, manufacture execution, and software to support the manufacturing processes.

The most valuable feature is that the backup and restoring process is very fast. It is very resilient and it is quite easy to manage. I only have an architectural perspective, but another feature is the new multi-tenant feature available on the Flex system with the Veritas 5340 Appliance. This is a very appreciated feature, and we are required to maintain segregation between tenants.

We had some problems with the backup of the physical server. With the virtual machine field, the virtual server area was very strong. We had some difficulties with the physical server, the IBM Power, and the AIX operating system. The problems were with both the server-side and the storage-side. There were also issues in doing the back up for a physical server with others, like Windows server.

This is not a very complex problem in a Virtual environment, but we are facing a Legacy infrastructure, and we had some problems with Veritas and integrating with the Legacy hardware.

The interface is very poor. Currently, they are working on implementing a new web interface that enables the multi-tenancy directly on the user. The new features that they are implementing are faster and in terms of functionalities, they cover a lot of enterprise challenges.

This solution is stable, and we haven't had any problems. We have experience with other back up solutions such as IBM, DOT rep-storage manager, now known as the IBM Spectrum Scale. These are quite similar in terms of stability. It is also very reliable and it's not difficult to implement or to deliver an availability solution or a disaster recovery solution.

This solution is scalable. We can add a storage shelf to scale the storage capability. You can scale the master server to give you more computation of resources. The management of the infrastructure is scalable. We currently have a multi-tenancy limit where you can manage a maximum of eight tenants. If you require more than eight then you have to scale out. We have not yet been faced with this issue but there is quite a bit of mutation of this product.

We have ten users as backup administrators.

We have a relationship with backup support. Any engagement with technical support is very easy and quick. I have had good experiences when I have been faced with any problems. I have never had to call the help desk directly or the support team. I have always gone through the account manager for a solution.

The setup was not complex, it was straightforward. We had a delivery team very specialized in it, so it was not at all difficult. 

The deployment took about two to three weeks from the shipment of the hardware to the release of the solution in the production system. We are currently phasing another project stream in September. We were supposed to plan two weeks of activity to set up and configure the solution. I am currently the project manager of the project.

This is an available and reliable solution, which is very good to set up for enterprise systems. We had some issues with the management of delivery where we were only provided with a technician to implement the solution, which delayed the planning of installation. However, the technician was highly qualified.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We use the on-premises model of this solution. Our primary use case of this solution is to get backups for all of our servers and backup for our in-house programs. 

The recovery backup has been problematic. 

They need to make the licensing more clear. They should give all of the licensing details for the portals and be more clear. I have accidentally purchased the incorrect license because it's not clear.

Stability is good. We haven't had any issues when restoring backups. If you do a regular backup I would give the process a nine out of ten. But for the recovery side of this process, I would rate a four out of ten. It needs improvement. 

Scalability is good. Technical support helps us with this. 

We rarely need their help. I would give their technical support an 8.5 out of ten. We are satisfied. 

The initial setup was straightforward. 

The licensing costs are approximately 150,00 Saudi Riyals. It's a costly enterprise. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. I would recommend it to somebody considering it.