What is our primary use case?
We are using it at a site for our client. We've got three Hyper-V services with the client's virtual machines. We've got Exchange. We've got Active Directory. We've got a database server. We've got a payroll system. It does backups of everything onto an external hard drive and offsite.
We're using its latest on-premise version.
What is most valuable?
I get my reports. It is generally very reliable. Unless there is a major change, it doesn't stop backing up. I've got my server room set up with everything connected to the same power, and I never have power issues or failures of backups because a sub-site has gone off. Off-site, because it takes a bit longer to run, it might encounter power issues because we do suffer from power cuts here, but generally, it is very good.
I also like the ransomware checks that it does.
What needs improvement?
The main challenge that I have had with it was no line of support, but I've anyway taken away the Linux machine that I was using. So, I don't need that anymore.
I'm migrating my Exchange to the cloud. So, I probably will stop using the exchange backup side of it sometime next year, but the rest of the virtual machines that I have on-premises are very well covered by it. To be able to back up my online Exchange, I know there is a backup in the cloud, but I prefer to have something physical with something on my premises as well.
It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using it for three and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a very stable product. The only challenge that I've had was when I did the last update on it, it stopped doing my backups. I deleted the current job and recreated it. It started working, but what I needed to do was just restart the services. I was in crisis mode.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My setup is rather small. I don't have more than 10 virtual machines. It's not that big. We are only using it to back up our servers because we've got redirected folders on it. So, our users don't have backups on their specific computers. Everything is backed up on the server.
We've got about 40 users in the organization. We've got administration staff. We've got accounts, and we've got some general users who are just doing communications. At the moment, our office usage is at a stable stage. Most of the work that we do here is mining and value addition. So, generally, the office staff isn't going to grow. It's the quarry staff, and those people don't actually use the system.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't had an opportunity to make a request. If I have an error, I look up what the error code is, and generally, it will tell me what needs to be done. So, I've never had a situation where I needed to call to get tech support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using Windows backup, but now, we're using this product. I switched because I needed something that would give me better reporting. I needed something that I would log into my Exchange and do the actual backup properly within Exchange and that would work with my database program. Windows backup was very basic.
How was the initial setup?
It was straightforward, but I've been in IT for close to 30 years. So, it's nothing new.
I'm sure it took me just a couple of days because I had to do the individual virtualization service. I did one and then made sure that it was running properly before doing the next.
What about the implementation team?
We did it in-house. Its maintenance is being done by me.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's on a yearly basis, but I'm not the one who does the licensing on that. I don't have any figures, but it's on a yearly basis, and I believe it's reasonable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I was thinking of going with Veeam, but BackupAssist responded quicker when I did my inquiries. Veeam didn't respond in time. If you can't respond to me quickly, it makes me wonder how my experience is going to be. So, I went for BackupAssist. It was also a product that I had seen before. So, it was something I was comfortable working with.
What other advice do I have?
I would definitely recommend this solution to others. I would rate it a nine out of ten. Nobody makes anything perfect. For our use case, it's close to perfect.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises