We primarily use it for data recovery and backups. We use VMware vSphere for our virtualization, and they fit together seamlessly.
System Engineer at a educational organization with 5,001-10,000 employees
Can clone a virtual server in only minutes
Pros and Cons
- "I love the ability to clone a virtual server in only minutes."
- "I would like to see Cohesity have the ability to do a file level restore from a Windows server, which is storing data on dynamic disk."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
It has mainly given us peace of mind knowing that our backups are going to work, and we will be able to easily restore our data, if needed.
What is most valuable?
The file/folder search feature is great. I also love the ability to clone a virtual server in only minutes.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see Cohesity have the ability to do a file level restore from a Windows server, which is storing data on dynamic disk.
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Cohesity DataProtect
February 2026
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For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not needed to scale over one box.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is great.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used EMC NetWorker with Data Domain.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was fairly simple.
What about the implementation team?
The vendor was there every step of the way to make sure the implementation was successful.
What was our ROI?
We are not sure yet.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cohesity comes with the software and storage/hardware together.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Veeam.
What other advice do I have?
It is a great product. I recommend it.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
A robust, verifiable backup with a restore solution
Pros and Cons
- "A robust, verifiable backup with a restore solution, which decreases our backup and has a restore window."
- "A little more documentation on standard faults would help, as new features are being released quite often."
What is our primary use case?
Our company has approximately 1000 virtual servers in many different countries.
- SQL
- Secondary storage
- Backup window
- Tapeout
- Easy scale out
How has it helped my organization?
A robust, verifiable backup with a restore solution, which decreases our backup and has a restore window.
What is most valuable?
- Scalability
- Ease of setup and use.
There is the possibility to use it as something else: Secondary storage and a place to clone/test machines.
What needs improvement?
A little more documentation on standard faults would help, as new features are being released quite often.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
How is customer service and technical support?
Best customer service in the business.
What other advice do I have?
The vendor is very agile in changing the product to what the user wants.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Cohesity DataProtect
February 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cohesity DataProtect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at a healthcare company
Makes it easy to test backups to ensure that they are valid
Pros and Cons
- "No longer does it take several hours to backup a VM or troubleshoot a backup issue."
- "The dashboard is very easy to use."
- "It is also very easy to determine which VMs are being backed up and which ones aren't. This is helpful to make sure nothing is being missed."
- "We are waiting on the AIX agent to be released."
- "Initial setup can be complex if you need to change IP addresses. Hopefully, they improve that in a future release."
What is our primary use case?
It is used to backup our VM environment plus the few physical servers we still have.
It is also used to replicate our backups offsite. We have used it several times to spin up a test environment. Cohesity makes it easy to test backups to ensure that they are valid.
How has it helped my organization?
It has allowed us to focus on other aspects in IT. No longer does it take several hours to backup a VM or troubleshoot a backup issue.
What is most valuable?
The dashboard is very easy to use.
It is also very easy to determine which VMs are being backed up and which ones aren't. This is helpful to make sure nothing is being missed.
What needs improvement?
We are waiting on the AIX agent to be released. We are also waiting for SQL Clustering to go from testing to live.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
How are customer service and technical support?
Support has been great. The response time has been very quick. I have even received responses on the weekend.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used EMC Data Domain and NetWorker. We switched because of cost, but also because of how hard it is to use EMC products. We do not need separate VMs with Cohesity to back up.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was very straightforward. It can be complex if you need to change IP addresses. Hopefully, they improve that in a future release.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented with a Cohesity engineer.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cohesity came in at the best price. Setup was included and done in half a day.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Rubrik as well as Veeam.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Engineer at a legal firm with 501-1,000 employees
Simplified backups and cut costs tremendously
Pros and Cons
- "Cohesity has very simple reports to help you stay in the know of which servers are being backed up or not."
- "Cohesity has simplified backups and has cut our costs tremendously."
- "I have found that the speed of restores, especially files and folders, are extremely fast. This bodes well for us, and our end users are always amazed at how fast you can get them their files."
- "At times, you may click the wrong server or click too fast and accidentally restore a cluster of servers. It would be very helpful to have a cancel option under restores."
What is our primary use case?
Our firm is using it as our primary backup and restore solution. Not only do we use it to backup both VMs and physical servers, we also use it to restore them along with mounting volumes to do email/Exchange type restores.
How has it helped my organization?
Cohesity has made the pain of doing restores disappear with the ability to open recovery and select files and folders, then have the ability to type in the file or document name and have it show up. This is amazing! This cuts the restore time by 75%.
Cohesity also has very simple reports to help you stay in the know of which servers are being backed up or not.
Cohesity has simplified backups and has cut our costs tremendously.
What is most valuable?
I have found that the speed of restores, especially files and folders, are extremely fast. This bodes well for us, and our end users are always amazed at how fast you can get them their files.
This is just a huge time saver.
What needs improvement?
At times, you may click the wrong server or click too fast and accidentally restore a cluster of servers. It would be very helpful to have a cancel option under restores. I have spoken with the engineers at Cohesity and this should be rolled out with the next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systems Administrator at a media company with 501-1,000 employees
We can run test scripts on production data
Pros and Cons
- "Instead of four different solutions for protecting VMs, physical servers, SQL, and NAS, we now have one solution with Cohesity that is lightning fast and has amazing features."
- "We can run test scripts on production data."
- "We like that we can use production data to run intensive reports that would otherwise bog down the production server."
- "It would be great to add SQL Object Level restore, so user objects, tables, etc. can be restored without having to restore the entire DB."
- "Their documentation could be refined."
What is our primary use case?
- On-site disaster recovery
- Cloud disaster recovery
- Test and dev
Cohesity gives us unparalleled features.
How has it helped my organization?
Instead of four different solutions for protecting VMs, physical servers, SQL, and NAS, we now have one solution with Cohesity that is lightning fast and has amazing features.
What is most valuable?
SQL backup and recovery is our favorite feature.
We use it for test and dev as well, so we can run test scripts on production data. We also like that we can use production data to run intensive reports that would otherwise bog down the production server.
What needs improvement?
I can't wait for native bare metal recovery. It would also be great to add SQL Object Level restore, so user objects, tables, etc. can be restored without having to restore the entire DB.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There were some initial issues with network setup and discovery. Also, registering MSSQL agents came up with a few errors that I had to work with support on.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues with scalability. Adding space or performance is as simple as adding a node to the block.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer service is amazing. Replies within the hour and resolution usually within four to six hours. Some conversations with engineering have taken up to 24 hours.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
- VMware Data Protection
- CrashPlan
- Windows Backup
- Local MSSQL backups
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was more complex than Rubrik. Their documentation could be refined.
What about the implementation team?
Implemented in-house, worked directly with Cohesity.
What was our ROI?
The ROI is huge. Not really measurable at this point, but the price of the unit was a fraction of what a couple hours of downtime could result in.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing is per node and per protected terabyte. You will also pay 10-15% annually for support.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
If SQL is in heavy use at your location, I would highly recommend narrowing your PoC testing to Cohesity and Rubrik. They will be competitive on pricing with each other, so really put them through the paces.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Storage Administrator with 10,001+ employees
Setup was extremely easy from racking to backing up was about one hour
Pros and Cons
- "Converged system. It makes much more sense to have the backup server running on the same hardware as the storage for backup and recovery."
- "Setup was extremely easy from racking to backing up was about one hour."
- "Cohesity customer service is the best that I have ever used. They are extremely fast in responding to cases, fixed all issues, and answered every question in a very timely manner."
- "Add the ability to delete View Boxes and External Targets in the GUI."
What is our primary use case?
Primary backup of our VMware environment with archiving to the cloud. By archiving to the cloud, we can cut out the need to purchase additional hardware for replication at our DR site.
How has it helped my organization?
Cohesity will reduce the complexity of our backup and recovery system. Our current system requires us to set up and maintain many proxy servers to facilitate the backups. Cohesity does not need this and out performs our current system.
What is most valuable?
Converged system. It makes much more sense to have the backup server running on the same hardware as the storage for backup and recovery. This reduces the complexity of the environment and ensures that it just works.
What needs improvement?
Add the ability to delete View Boxes and External Targets in the GUI. Currently, once you setup a View Box or External Target, there is no way to remove them (if you set these up for testing, for instance).
For how long have I used the solution?
Still implementing.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues.
How are customer service and technical support?
Cohesity customer service is the best that I have ever used. They are extremely fast in responding to cases, fixed all issues, and answered every question in a very timely manner.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes, we did. Cohesity out performs our old system at a reduced cost as well.
How was the initial setup?
It was very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
Vendor team. The vendor's expertise was excellent. They included all the knowledge transfer that we needed to begin using the unit.
What was our ROI?
Not sure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Setup was extremely easy from racking to backing up was about one hour.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, we also evaluated Rubrik.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systemmanager at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
It offers an easy, quick backup and restore of files and VMs. Also, the "Google-like " search for files is awesome.
Pros and Cons
- "It offers an easy, quick backup and restore of files and VMs. Also, the "Google-like " search for files is awesome."
- "The support is awesome. They are very fast, competent and friendly."
What is our primary use case?
- VM backup and restore
- Physical server backup and restore
- File restoring
- Cloning of VMs for test and dev
- File sharing, like NFS
How has it helped my organization?
Old backup solution: Full restore of mission critical systems took around one day.
Cohesity does this process in under one hour.
What is most valuable?
It offers an easy, quick backup and restore of files and VMs. Also, the "Google-like " search for files is awesome.
The administration of the Cohesity is easy.
What needs improvement?
Replication between two clusters should be included in the next few releases. There are many features which will be added in the next few releases.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and technical support?
The support is awesome. They are very fast, competent and friendly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes IBM TSM. We switched because of licence costs and the old fashioned style of making backups in the virtual environment with an agent-based tool.
How was the initial setup?
It was straightforward and easy.
What about the implementation team?
It was done by a vendor team with great Skills
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Veeam and VMware VDP.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
The biggest attraction to the product is its ability to scale up with ease
Pros and Cons
- "The implementation and training are all done through the sales engineer, which provides for a seamless and great experience when it comes to starting with a new vendor."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution was as a backup and recovery solution, with the ability to handle VMware and a small subset of physical servers.
How has it helped my organization?
We have a rapidly expanding data set that our previous backup solution could not handle and the upgrade path was a complete redesign of hardware and when that solution maxed out, then it was the same over and over again. The biggest attraction to start looking at Cohesity was being able to scale up with ease. After discussing the option and features, it was clear that Cohesity is made to handle things quickly, simply, and with ease.
What is most valuable?
Overall, the simplicity of the solution and the support behind implementation, training, and continued support. The implementation and training are all done through the sales engineer, which provides for a seamless and great experience when it comes to starting with a new vendor.
What needs improvement?
The one drawback of this quick innovation is that their units were shipped with outdated firmware, but this was quickly remedied, and they have made operational changes to reduce the likelihood of sending outdated firmware again.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
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Updated: February 2026
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