Commvault Cloud Reviews

Complete Data Protection is a multi-platform solution that covers almost everything — Linux, Windows, SQL Server, Oracle, MYSQL Postgres — in a single platform. You can schedule backups and restore databases locally or remotely.

Complete Data Protection is convenient because you can manage various types of databases, and it's pretty easy to set it up.

When you deploy Complete Data Protection for past services, it's more complicated because you cannot directly back up from the previous service host. We have to build a proxy server, like a middleware, to directly access the past database server. It's complex and hard for beginners to figure out.

I have been using Complete Data Protection for about three years.

Complete Data Protection is pretty stable.

We have hundreds of database backups, and Commvault has handled that well. If anything fails, they will send an email notification to notify you of what has failed.

I rate Commvault support eight out of 10. Commvault support is typically good, but they're not all equal. Some of their technicians are more knowledgeable than others.

The initial setup is complex, and the step-by-step process isn't laid out in the documentation. It isn't very detailed. They don't show you how to set up a proxy server, so I spent a few weeks to figure it out. Once you set it up, it's easy to add another database and schedule a backup.

I think only large enterprises are willing to pay for it because they charge by data volume. And I think some other companies won't use this, maybe it costs more money.

I rate Commvault Complete Data Protection eight out of 10. It's easy to use once you set it up.

We use it for data protection.

We have two consoles: one on the West Coast and another on the East Coast. Our database copy and auxiliary are sent to an outside location for DR, just in case we need to do a system recovery.

Initially, it was on-prem, but we moved it to the public cloud since everything is on the cloud.

Several years ago, we encountered some ransomware. We just had to recover the file with Commvault, which was great.

Commvault provides data protection. Their engine is ransomware-agnostic so ransomware doesn't compromise our backup data. Therefore, we can rely on their data protection to recover and back up our production system.

The virtual server agent (VSA) backup for vCenter is useful and also saves some money. If you use the front-end, which is the agent, then it is a front-end terabyte model, which is very expensive.

Everything is in a single place. I love it. I use the Java GUI console.

Commvault provides us with a single platform to move, manage, and recover our data across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud locations. This is important to us. 

There are a vast number of supported storage vendors out there who can support the Commvault connection, whether you are using public or private cloud. This is something that I really like.

Initially, I spent quite some time understanding the product and how it functions.

While there are newer features on the Command Center, there are still some missing things. I don't use it at all.

For Office 365, they have limited functions and features. 

Commvault could make the product more cost-effective on the public cloud side. We are using this solution to back up whatever is still on-prem. We are not using it to back up what is on the public cloud because we have a native backup solution for that, which is provided by the vendor. As our footprint gets bigger, we will continue to evaluate this, but the last time that we did a cost analysis, the cost was not comparable to the solution that public clouds are offering.

I have been using this solution for seven years, since I joined the company.

The stability is great. The product is very good.

It is very scalable. You can scale out as much as you want to the data platform as well as expand to other network platforms. We have seen some resellers or other vendors who are using Commvault as part of their service provider to back up their clients. In terms of scaling, they can use it to back up private data, public data, etc.

The technical support is great. They are very responsive and right on top of things. Sometimes they go above and beyond to get your answer and solve the problem.

Our 24/7 SLA has never been missed. When you call support, whatever time frame is promised based on the SLA, they deliver on that.

I would rate the technical support as eight or nine out of 10.

Positive

It is a little complex at first when you need to choose the product design, features, and functions. Once you understand those, it is not difficult.

Early on, we were using Commvault Professional Services. Now, I handle the deployment and maintenance myself. I support this solution for our entire company, which is about 2000 users.

If you architect and design it right, then it will save you a lot of time. Right now, I don't need to spend much time on it. I am spending an hour on it per week. It is saving our admin teams around 50% of their time.

Commvault is saving us a lot with its dedupe and compression. This reduces our footprint by 75% to 80%.

Based on the customer's needs, their pricing and model is very confusing sometimes. You need to check with their sales to make sure you are getting the right pricing on whatever you are using. I know that they have simplified a lot regarding the licensing model nowadays, but it is good to always double check and make sure it has everything that you really need.

We pay for the license every year. Initially, it was around $100,000. Now, it is down to $30,000 to $40,000.

There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

Commvault has the capability to go to the tape library directly. I know that there are some solutions out there not capable of doing that. 

Look at your business needs, potential growth, and the vendor from a technical, support, and the cost standpoint. You also need to look at the cost, looking at the license very closely, which is a bit confusing.

Go to their classes and try to attend their training, at least for the fundamentals of building a foundation. Take a few classes to get up to speed. That is probably the best learning path to understanding Commvault.

Commvault has good scalability and functionality that support what is needed.

The product is pretty strong. You just need to know how to use it and implement it correctly.

I would rate this solution as eight out of 10.

Back in July 2021, we migrated to Office 365. I am in the process of migrating users' mailboxes from on-prem to Office 365 in the cloud. In the initial design, there was no backup solution. Whereas, we back up all mailboxes twice a day onsite. I raised it with Senior Management that we need a backup solution for users' mailboxes. 

Via Metallic, we are backing up Exchange mailboxes in Office 365, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Our presence for OneDrive and SharePoint is very minimal because we are still in the project phase. We have already migrated 100 mailboxes out to the cloud and further migration of another 600 users. We are in the process of scheduling that. 

They gave us the option of where to store data. We chose UK data stores, which is called Storage U.K. South. It is really flexible. The best thing is that Metallic followed the model for Office 365. It is the same model, so we pay only for user mailboxes. We do not pay for shared mailboxes, which is really good. We don't have to buy four terabytes of space or anything. We are paying at a level of 750 users mailboxes to be back up and shared mailbox is free. More than 750 users and the price will reduce. 

The backup runs automatically every eight hours. Therefore, there are three backups in a day. So far, we have never seen where the backups have over run. As far I am concerned, it is very good product, simple to restore and I would highly recommend it. 

From the technical point of view, we have delta backups. Once a mailbox is migrated to Office 365, whatever the size is, it gets a backup fully once. After that, only delta changes get backed up. This is a really good solution because you don't use a lot of bandwidth since you are only changing deltas. There are no restore charges.

So far, for anything that gets backed up, it is good.

Restoring is very fast. In testing, I did a restore for a single item from a mailbox. Within a minute, I had the message back in my mailbox. So, it didn't take hours or days. Obviously, there will be a limit. If we suddenly go into DR and have to restore five terabytes of emails for people, then it will take a couple of days, which would be acceptable. For general usage, where we have to do the odd restore, we have never had issues. It happens within minutes.

It does back up Azure AD. This is a feature that we really haven't used. We have not had any issues with users or a group to run a restore. The option is there and if required the Azure AD Group object can be restored. I am sure if I tick on it, then it will restore that option back into Azure AD. This is an extra bonus that we got for free.

I am a consultant. Therefore, I have assessed the product, recommended it, and implemented it. I then hand it over to the BAU guys for the normal business day-to-day, as I work on projects. They do a Daily check. Unless in the last four weeks something has changed, we get four emails. One for each product: Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. So, we are getting four backup reports. 

It would be nice to have just one email report come in, then we can filter out failures. If everything is backed up, we really don't need to see the report. If it is in a single report. A simpler customised report would be good.  

In the roadmap, they have something around reporting. They are aware that they need to improve it. It might already be there or we haven't set it up. However, in the last four weeks, which was the last time that we checked, we didn't see anything different.

We set up the solution in November 2021. So, by November 2021, we were fully up and running.

The stability is perfect. Whenever I log in, it logs in. When I click on something, it loads up. So, I haven't seen any issues.

Sometimes, some dashboards take a bit of time to load but they have to go back and do queries, which is normal. It is your bandwidth and your Internet. When 700 users are logged onto our site, then our Internet will be a bit slower. When compared with our other products or anything else that I have used, the solution is sleek, fast, and smooth with no issues.

We haven't been involved in any scalability. We just have a simple backup for our four products, and that's it. I am sure it is scalable since I can see in their dashboard that they use Dynamics 365, Salesforce, and do endpoints. However, we do not use any of those products.

The project has been handed over to a BAU (business as usual), which is a team of two server engineers who work with it. One of the engineer's jobs is to check the backups daily. That involves checking the Metallic backups. We set up an daily email, which they receive and can confirm the backup has run. Rather than log into a dashboard, look at figures. or go around looking for information, it is on their fingertips in the morning. It takes one minute and their job is done.

We work through another partner for support. We work through them, and if they can't resolve anything, then it is escalated to Commvault directly.

Metallic support is direct. I have raised one ticket. One of my OneDrive folders was not backing up, so I raised a question. Before even half the day was gone, the problem was resolved.

I would rate them as a nine out of 10. I didn't get a very clear answer on exactly what they did to resolve the issue. I know they took the issue onboard and resolved it in a reasonable time, but it wasn't detailed technically enough for me about what was the actual issue. Why did it not back up those two folders in One Drive?

Positive

We reached out to our partners, COOLSPIRiT, who engaged with Metallic and we setup a Demo. We all liked it because the solution is just simple.

We have Commvault for onsite backups. Commvault is used for on-prem mailbox backups, whereas Metallic is used for cloud backups of Office 365. We moved to Metallic as a SaaS backup solution.

The initial setup was easy.

COOLSPIRiT is our partner, so they set up the session with Metallic.

We had a Metallic consultant. He went through it step by step. I wanted to keep the control, because if I gave him the control, I literally would have put my feet up on the desk. There was not a lot to do. There was just the connectivity with Azure AD. The consultant does this day in, day out, so he just whizzed through it.

We had less than an hour-long session. If I wasn't slow with the mouse, we would have been done in half an hour. He was letting me drive and understand as he was explaining. We didn't even do the full hour session.

The Metallic consultant was nice and friendly. He explained what and why he was doing something. He also explained what our prerequisites are.

The prerequisites are very simple. You just need a O365 global admin account. Later on, it was removed. It is just for the initial Metallic and Azure AD connectivity.

Metallic has reduced the amount of manual work that we require to manage our backup operations. It is set and forget. It is actually one of those things. Usually when you set up a backup system, you need to sometimes work on it, do your daily checks, etc. Now, this solution is just set and forget. You receive a report telling you, "You are backed up."

Every day, if you do a daily check of backups, that could take anywhere from half an hour to an hour. So, it is probably saving us at least five hours a week.

If needed, we have Commvault on-prem backup solution for Exchange. Now, that has gone to the cloud. The good thing is we don't have to pay for bandwidth and hardware. We don't pay for licensing, operating systems, updating those systems, and having a team for it. Comparatively, there is a cost savings. 

We like that there is no extra cost for SharePoint, Teams, or OneDrive. It is all mimicking Microsoft's model. Every user has one terabyte of space. When users start using OneDrive, everybody has one terabyte that will be backed up included in the price.

We didn't actually physically evaluate another solution. Our biggest concern was that if we selected something like Veeam, Veritas Backup, or another backup company out there, we would then have had to change our backup systems since we are running Commvault. We wanted something similar to the Commvault product, or something they would recommend in their solution, as we are not ready to change from Commvault and go to another backup vendor's solution.

Close your eyes and just go for it. it just works. I would highly recommend it.

I would rate the solution as 10 out of 10. I love criticising companies to find some fault or try to break the solution. That is what I was trying to do during testing. However, I couldn't pick up anything apart from reporting, where there is room for improvement. I am sure they can come up with something better for the reporting.

We provide backup services to our customers and we implement Commvault for most of our backups. This includes cloud with VMware, cloud with IBM, cloud with Azure, SAP applications like HANA or traditional SAP, for databases including Oracle and DB2, and across several operating systems including AIX, Solaris, Windows, and Linux.

We have a separate, private backup network. It has its own appliances from different vendors and the information on it is not visible to our main network. This is to help protect against ransomware and other threats.

Commvault provides us with a single platform to move, manage, and recover data across our on-premises and cloud locations, which is something that is very important for us. We have data centers in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, and we need to administer all of the environments from a single location in Mexico.

The administrators connect to all of the environments on-premises. We have two flavors; the multitenant environment and the dedicated environment. We manage all of these from Mexico.

Commvault is very good in terms of coverage for applications and databases. This is important because we don't only administrate backups. We have managed services that include the database, application, operating system, and storage. We talk with the administrators for the database and operating system to create a policy that ensures all of the data that we need to recover the environment is complete.

The recovery process is consistent across platforms and this is important to us because clients give us the information, and we need to back it up and to ensure that we can recover it if they have a problem.

The recovery options are good because we offer our clients a complete recovery of their information, as well as an option for partial recovery, based on their needs. For example, we can offer the recovery of a single table in a database, depending on what the scenario is.

The most valuable feature is the compatibility with our entire environment.

The embedded deduplication engine is really good because we use a Near Line SAS disk as a repository for our backups, and we don't need to pay for another appliance such as a Data Domain or Quantum so that we can have hardware-based deduplication.

One of the benefits of using Commvault over the years has been that all of our administrators have the ability to perform admin functions. They haven't had any complaints about the interface.

Commvault has support for multiple storage platforms, which is helpful for us. We use block storage for some backups, and we use appliances that have duplication capabilities for other backups. The method in which Commvault fits in depends on how much money the client spends. For example, if they have a higher budget then we use PCI-compliant appliances, or snapshots in the backups to ensure that we don't have ransomware. Other clients pay only for the amount of storage that they use. In some cases, we use replication at the host level, whereas in other cases, it is at the hardware level. The console that we have with Commvault can manage all of the environments and hardware that we have.

I would like to have a manager-level dashboard to review the backups. This is not from an administrative perspective where you can see the details of the execution. Rather, it would only show the percentage of completeness for each one.

I have been working with Commvault for more than eight years.

We have not had any problems with stability. 

We have more than 10 implementations in all of our data centers.

Using Commvault helps to minimize the amount of time that we spend on backups. I am not exactly sure how long it would take otherwise, but we back up approximately four petabytes of information each day.

Scaling is not a problem for us. If we need to, we can install more servers and install a new console.

We use Commvault support on a daily basis. People from the database teams need help restoring data, so they contact Commault for assistance.

I would rate their support a nine out of ten.

Prior to Commvault, we used Veritas NetBackup for five years.

A lot of our environment is currently backed up using Commvault but we are planning to use Veeam and Commvault together. Veeam is priced better than Commvault and right now, we use Veeam to back up our virtual machines. As we split more of the information between the two different applications, we may use Veeam for cloud environments, and for traditional environments, Commvault.

There are some applications like SAP HANA that are not compatible with the Veeam software. In cases like this, we use Commvault.

This product is very easy to set up. The reason is that we do everything. We implement, we operate, and we migrate. One of the reasons that we continue with Commvault is that we have spent a lot of time training people. This means that the people in the company can do everything without the need for third-party persons.

It takes between two and three hours to install a new console.

Over the years that we have had this same software, people on the admin team have become certified by Commvault. This ensures that they are doing things properly and doing them well.

We charge our customers on a per-gigabyte basis.

Using Commvault has helped us to reduce storage costs because, in some cases, we changed to block storage. Using block storage and software-based deduplication is cheaper than the appliances that have deduplication embedded in them. In some cases, we have reduced our hardware cost by 50%, whereas in other cases, it has been reduced by more than 75%. It depends on the technology that we compare. For example, the Data Domain appliance is perhaps four times the cost of the Near Line SAS disk in traditional block storage.

Reducing the hardware that we have in the data center, also reduces our costs in terms of energy and space. I do not have an estimate as to how much we save.

Commvault is more expensive than Veeam, which is the reason that we are changing to Veeam for cloud environments.

We had been running Veritas NetBackup and did an RFP to change the backup software. We tested Veritas, Commvault, TSM from IBM, and Dell NetWorker. The finalists were Veritas and Commvault. We found that there were more advantages to using Commvault. For example, it has deduplication embedded into the software and if we wanted this with Veritas, we needed to pay an additional fee. This is why we changed and we have maintained it for several years.

In comparing solutions, I think that generally, today, all software solutions are the same. We have the same compatibility using Veritas, TSM, NetWorker, and Commvault. The main reason for us to maintain Commvault is the expertise that we have with the tool. All of them have deduplication capabilities and can use different repositories, so I don't have a problem with the other brands.

Commvault has the capability to discover unprotected workloads, although we don't use this because we only work with policies. Our clients tell us the policy that they want to apply to their environment, and we don't analyze their environment beyond the scope that they specify.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Our current use case is for storage backup of large Veritas Clusters. We have around 350 TB of storage backup and we use Commvault's HyperScale X with unlimited data backup.

With Commvault, our backup performance is way better, compared to what we had, because we have a disk-to-disk backup.

It also helps to ensure broad coverage with the discovery of unprotected workloads. That is always helpful for us. Our environment is very dynamic. We often have high data-demand spikes.

In terms of time saved, because the backups are automated, our team generally spends 30 to 45 minutes reviewing the logs and any errors, and it saves us two to three hours per week.

The deduplication and compression have helped to reduce my backup costs. This year, I haven't had to purchase any expansion for my backup storage, thanks to Commvault. Otherwise, I would likely have had to spend around $150,000. And next year, I can add one more node to HyperScale X before expanding it. So it has saved 20 percent of my backup budget.

The main solution from Commvault is the HyperScale X backup. Instead of a dedicated appliance, we have a three-node HPE Apollo cluster for backing up. That gives us the best value regarding speed.

Another valuable feature is that, in general, recovery is faster than any other solution we have reviewed. That is especially the case for small, micro files, 2 or 3 KB research files.

The Commvault user interface is very nice and intuitive. It's perfect compared with other products I have used. It's in a completely different world. When running a backup, the display is very clear about the estimated time.

And using Command Center, we know exactly how many backups are running and it gives us clarity on our backup state. It gives us a report and can just send a screenshot of it to the team.

In addition, Commvault gives us a single platform to manage and recover our data. Since we are a research organization, backup is one of the most critical parts of our IT operations and services. Internally, we run it as a managed service, and there is a single console that makes it easy for management to see the performance.

The majority of our file servers are backed up by Commvault. They provide protection against ransomware with their intelligent methods. We haven't experienced a ransomware attack, but I know they have good coverage. They will make sure they recover a backup at any cost.

They need to improve when it comes to large, video file archiving. They're good, but they have not met my expectations as a customer in this area.

Also, HyperScale X does not back up NDMP, or they only use a native file share backup.

I have been using Commvault for three years.

The stability means our team can relax. On average, we used to get six backup failure errors a week, and that has been reduced to two.

The scalability is good and we plan to increase our usage of Commvault in the future.

From the time that our deployment was successfully completed, we have hardly reported any errors.

During deployment we had a couple of issues. Commvault provided us with excellent support to make sure all the issues were fixed. Customer satisfaction is a priority. The local sales and consulting team also extended support to us. They made sure we had a clean installation and a clean operation. Initially, when we had problems, I thought things were not good, but my impression of them changed. I see the real value that they bring, and I appreciate them. I'm a very tough customer, but Commvault's support made sure that I achieved my goals and I respect them. They are patient.

Often, once the sale of a product is done, the salespeople run away. But here, the entire team was involved to make sure they delivered and deployed. After that, they extended support for anything that might require it. They said if anything happens, if there are any issues, here is a number to call to make sure that it is resolved.

After the deployment, both the sales guys and a technical guy came to meet with us to understand our future plans. They listened patiently and they did not try to sell me anything. They just added value. That is the reason they are number one.

They do a quarterly review and explain the latest improvements with Commvault's technical experts. There is also training and certification to help us use the latest features to our benefit.

Positive

Initially, our Commvault was configured for a particular use case. After that, we had a detailed discussion in which they listened to our complete concerns and architecture. From that point, the deployment of HyperScale X was very fast and clean. So when they know the environment, the setup is very good.

For our 350 TB deployment, it took seven days to complete, including networking, installation, updating, and getting a full backup to run. QoS took another few days, making the total time about 10 to 12 days.

Commvault support helped us to deploy the solution. I would especially recommend their professional services.

We look at return of value because as a backup solution, we cannot say it gives us ROI. We have a clear ROV due to the reduced efforts for our team, as well as manpower reductions and fewer failures. And technically, we have a faster backup. We have seen a high return of value, and management is also happy.

The pricing is very competitive. When Commvault knows you are comparing it with the other leading providers, they are ready to compromise on pricing. But you have to make sure you get a long-term commitment on the pricing. Otherwise, when you have a future expansion, they will take advantage of it.

Our company evaluated other solutions, but that process was done by another team. But I read a document that reviewed the evaluation, and they evaluated Veeam as well as Micro Focus Data Protector and NetBackup. They looked at industry reviews and at our specific use case for archiving and backup, and Commvault had the best score.

Pricing is the one area where you have to focus. You need to have a clear plan. HyperScale X is one option and it's nice to use when you have third-party hardware, if you want to have disk-to-disk. 

Make sure you convey your use cases to Commvault's professional services. They will listen to you and they will advise on the options. Also, have an assessment done by Commvault professional services to make sure you have a long-term plan in place. 

Other than the large file archiving that needs improvement, VM is good, cloud backup is good, file server is amazing, and they do a good job when it comes to physical server backup. SQL backup is also good, and Linux back is also amazing.

We now have the capability to recover a virtual machine without relying on the NFS system, but instead are able to use certain features provided by Commvault. This is why we've opted for Commvault over other technologies.

They could work on the implementation of the features.

We will be using Commvault Backup & Recovery for the next 3 years.

Every three years, we require server updates to either embrace new technologies or enhance our existing technology stack. Therefore, our approach involves reevaluating and refreshing our infrastructure every three years, so we can’t comment on this solution as we have started fresh.

We usually interact with integrators, however if the issue is complex, we refer to technicians for further support and guidance

We are consistently exploring new solutions for our systems, and each solution must align with our server requirements and other objectives. Our timing is also a key consideration, as we operate on a three-year cycle. We have worked with SAP, Oracle, and Cisco.

The installation is complex.

I can’t fully endorse it, because it depends on the final use of the customer. I would conservatively, rate it an eight out of ten. 

We use the Commvault HyperScale X to manage complex infrastructure, so deployments are fast.

Commvault HyperScale X is also a good choice for regulations that require the backup system to be isolated from the rest of the infrastructure. If there is an issue with the software, we open a support ticket with the software vendor. We then escalate the case to the hardware support team.

Commvault HyperScale X is more expensive for hybrid environments than traditional solutions.

I have been using Commvault HyperScale X as a reseller for five years.

I rate the product’s stability an eight out of ten.

The scalability is very good, but there is a limitation on expanding the cluster to scale to a higher level. We have smaller and enterprise-level clients. I rate its scalability a nine out of ten.

We have a team of four to manage support. We have many paid credits for networking and application support.

Positive

The initial setup is moderately easy. I rate the process a seven on a scale of ten. The deployment time depends on the environment. It takes around four to eight hours to complete.

I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten.

If the customer needs to protect five terabytes of data, they will need five licenses if they need to upgrade to make devices flexible or create this model. Many small customers can start with a 10TB appliance, and enterprises can scale up to 50 TB. The appliance is compatible with various hardware platforms, including LG, Lenovo, IBM, Dell, etc.

I recommend the Commvault HyperScale X for its enhanced quality, performance focus, and data isolation. I recommend looking for support for various solutions from a single vendor. Overall, I rate it a seven out of ten.

The primary use case is as a backup and recovery solution. We have two data centers and we have a Commvault server for replication in both. We back up all our infrastructure with this solution, from Active Directory to SQL, web servers, file servers, databases, et cetera.

Commvault helps to ensure broad coverage with the discovery of unprotected workloads. The Discovery feature lists all the resources that we have, all the virtual servers and all the physical servers. You can also automatically deploy agents or set up schedules. At first, we did some manual tuning to customize it before deployment. Now, the virtual infrastructure administrator just has to add the VM tag on the virtual machine and that machine will automatically be backed up in the next schedule. It's a good automation feature.

It also helps by minimizing the time our admins spend on backup tasks so that they can spend time on other projects. Before Commvault, we had two backup administrators who were using a backup and restore application to restore every test that we had to do. It was a full-time job just monitoring the backups and doing the restores. With our new solution from Commvault, we have successfully implemented web-based backup and restore management for our different teams, including our file server, database, and Exchange teams. We split operations among those teams and each one has access to the backup Web Console. This console from Commvault is very useful for segmenting the restore options. That way, the database backup administrator only has access to the database servers and can only do backups and restores of databases and does not have access to Active Directory or file servers. The web-based backup and restore is a really great option.

Whereas before, we had one full-time engineer doing backups and restores, now that engineer is only working on it for two to four hours per week. Across our four teams, it's saving us about 10 to 12 hours a week.

The solution has helped to reduce storage costs as well. Commvault has an option to move data from primary storage. When you do a backup, it scans all the files from the file server and you can set a policy to remove all files that are more than, say, three years old from the primary storage. And on the primary storage, there is only a link that connects to the backup source. When a user needs a file on secondary storage, there is no problem because it only reads the file. When the user opens that old file, it's automatically restored and the user can access it. For our IT team, it has saved us between 5 and 10 percent of storage. It depends on how widely you implement the solution and the policies you set. You could save 50 percent if you have a broader policy.

We have also saved on infrastructure costs because Commvault takes less time to do the backup jobs, due to the deduplication. Also, the background tasks that are used to copy the backup jobs to tape are deduplicated. The full backup of our infrastructure can now be done in a couple of hours during the night. Before, some backup tasks would take more than a day, on the weekend. There has been a reduction of 80 or 90 percent in the backup window.

Commvault's most valuable features are its 

• deduplication
• encryption
• support for many OSs
• support for different infrastructures. 

We have VMware, Hyper-V, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL. We have a lot of different systems, and all of them are supported under one licensing agreement. That's one of the benefits.

We use two user interfaces on a regular basis. One is the Web Console, which is simple and has all the necessary functionality. You can add servers, back up servers, and restore. We also have a replication solution implemented and we use the Web Console for that as well. But for the initial configuration and for some deeper configurations, we also use the Commvault application. It's big and has all the fine-tuning options.

The solution's Command Center is very straightforward. It has an intuitive user interface with graphs, tables, alerts, as well as many options for alerting and messaging. Of course, you have to get used to the environment, but it's easy to use.

It is also important that Commvault provides a single platform to move, manage, and recover data across on-premises locations. That's because we have different storage and virtualization platforms. We have no problem if the file resides, say, on NetApp storage and we have to restore data to a workstation or some kind of Windows Server. Also, when we did some migrations from our old Hyper-V cluster to the new VMware cluster, those integrations between different infrastructures were successfully accomplished with the Commvault solution. We have no issues with different types of resources we need to back up.

In addition, the recovery options are pretty straightforward. For example, if you choose a virtual machine, you can restore the full virtual machine, you can restore the virtual machine on a different platform, you can restore just a virtual disk, or you can restore just a file within the virtual machine. You have all the options. In the web-based user interface, you can also restore using download options. You can browse through the files or virtual machines and download the file from the backup. They have a great range of restore options.

We had some small issues with the reporting, but that was just a matter of fine-tuning the kinds of messages we receive by email. It was a little overwhelming in the initial configuration. So we reviewed our configuration with our partner and customized the reports so that we only get the important reports. I haven't seen any big issues or things that the solution is missing.

We implemented Commvault at the start of 2021, so we have been using it for almost a year now.

We had one issue. The Commvault server is an Active-Passive cluster and the Active node had some hiccups. It wasn't something serious, but the Commvault server was unable to connect to one of the agents. I believe our partner discovered it because they also receive messages from our Commvault solution. They just informed us that the Commvault server had to be restarted. We did so during working hours because backups are done at night, and there were no issues. It was a standard procedure and we have had no other big issues.

At the start of the Commvault project, we put together a list of all the resources that we have. They counted our resources and gave us the exact number of clients we needed to buy to cover all of our infrastructure and we had no issue there. Of course, we also have some plans for the growth of our infrastructure. If we have any big upgrades, we will also upgrade the Commvault infrastructure.

We have a lot of Commvault's features implemented. We're also in the process of testing the backup of endpoints, such as laptops and devices from end-users. There are just a few features from Commvault that we don't use.

We use technical support through our partner because our partner has a lot of inside knowledge. For the majority of issues our partner gives us the solution, but they have had to report some small issues to Commvault support. They spoke directly with Commvault support and the solution was available in a few days. It was a very good troubleshooting experience.

Positive

We used NetWorker and Veeam. The NetWorker solution was the older solution and, in some very old clusters, we also used TSM (Tivoli Storage Manager) from IBM. The TSM solution was no longer supported and the Dell EMC NetWorker solution, which we used for our physical servers, was difficult to maintain. Veeam was a good solution for our VMware infrastructure, but we needed a solution with support for a wider variety of infrastructure types. One of our major goals was to eliminate our multiple backup solutions by going with Commvault.

If we had to do the initial setup ourselves, it would be complex, of course, because we have a big infrastructure with different types of targets. But our partners helped and they managed to cover all the tests that we implemented at the start of the project. So, overall, the setup went really well. It took just a few days, maybe a week, to add our agents. After the initial configuration, it was really easy to roll out the solution to our entire infrastructure.

Our partners, called Our Space Appliances, are system integrators in backup and storage solutions. They know our infrastructure.

We had a process for choosing a vendor. We called a number of vendors and had proposals from the Veeam, NetWorker, Cohesity, and Commvault.

The big pro for Commvault was that it was a single solution for our entire infrastructure. The licensing model was also an advantage and the experience of the partner was also a big plus. Some of the other solutions we evaluated did not make it to the second round because they did not support all the infrastructure we have in our environment. In the last round, the battle came down to pricing, as well as some small features, and Commvault was the best in all the criteria.

Commvault is a pretty comprehensive but, maybe, complex solution when you first start with it. But that's why it is a perfect match for complex infrastructure, as it supports all types of infrastructure. Commvault is not appropriate for small businesses with just one type of virtual environment. There are different vendors that may be better for that use case. But when looking at enterprise backup and recovery options, Commvault is the easiest to use, and it has the widest range of features.

We are currently moving to Exchange Online. We have between 1,500 and 2,000 users. We have already deployed Teams on the cloud, and now we are migrating user mailboxes to cloud. Our next step, in the following month, will be a backup of Microsoft cloud solutions through Commvault.

In terms of the coverage of Commvault, we have a big Oracle Database and the Oracle administrators are a separate team. They do their own backups using RMAN. They then move the backup to the separate Sun ZFS  storage. We also tried that backup with Commvault, using the Commvault agent to run RMAN. The test went well, the backup was good, but the database team was used to their old solution. So we agreed to implement a backup of the ZFS file server.

Ours is an all-on-prem solution so we don't have any other networks being backed up. We do have a DMZ with different VLANs and so there were some problems. We had to install an agent on the DMZ zone, an agent that has access to resources in the demilitarized network. But it's a no-brainer. We just have to open a specific port so that the backup agent can communicate with the CommCell server, and the resources are backed up successfully.

In addition, to protect against ransomware we use Commvault's alert options because Commvault can predict big changes in the network with its AI solution. This is the first line of defense. The second line of defense is that we are now in the process of implementing secondary, offline storage to ensure an air gap between the primary backup, the replicated backup, and the offline backup storage. In case of a ransomware attack we will have off-site backup storage.

It is a good solution in the enterprise market and serves as an enterprise solution. It is a leading solution. So, you have different kinds of workloads. My customers have a type of workload that the solution supports. Either you can have the solution on the cloud or on the on-premises version. Also, there are different kinds of workloads, like Oracle, SQL, MySQL, or MongoDB. Normally, you will not find all kinds of workloads in one product.

Auxiliary (aux) copy and DASH copy are the most valuable features of the solution.

In GUI, some of the features have been divided. So one is the browser-based command center, and then the old interface with CommCell browser. They have to add more features and functions that are the same as whatever is there in the command center. We prefer that because, otherwise, we have to do two different interfaces for different kinds of jobs. We cannot do some jobs in the old interface with CommCell browser since we have to go into the command center.

Whatever Commvault Complete Data Protection has, they need to improve. Sometimes, we have a performance issue with the backup speed. So, that has to be rectified and improved.

I have experience with Commvault Complete Data Protection for more than fifteen years. Also, I have used the solution within the last twelve months. Regularly, our company has been supporting our customers with the setup process. Lately, we have been involved in the implementation of HyperScale from Commvault. So we support our customers regularly. I think maybe a month or a month and a half ago, we implemented Commvault's HyperScale solution. We are using Commvault Version 11.28.

The solution is good sometimes in some environments. But sometimes, in some environments, it has to be improved. On the network backup, it has to be improved. If, almost across the networks, one has different VLAN backups, the performance backup is sometimes degraded due to the network configuration and because of the load on the network. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. Currently, one of my customers has an almost one-petabyte backup solution. So, it was increased from gigabytes to petabytes. It can be increased if you have a big setup in place. With HyperScale Appliance, it is easy to expand the server. It will just expand your capability and the storage capacity, and a few other capacities in the solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. I have around fifteen big customers. There are a lot of customers of the solution who use it, with other vendors supporting it. The solution has quite a big market for the solution.

If the support we receive is from India, then sometimes we have a problem since it takes time owing to the fact that initially, a few people handle the issue before forwarding it to the next level. Maybe some years back, the support was from Australia, the UK, Canada, or the USA, and sometimes from Germany or some European nation, which was very good since there were very qualified people in their team who could resolve our issues within an hour. After they shifted some backup support to India, they included people who operate at a basic or initial level. So, they start troubleshooting, but we think that it's just killing time so that they can get some other people to intervene. I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

We provide solutions depending on a customer's requirements and setup. We also provide solutions like Rubrik and Veeam. I did not work with Veeam, but Veeam is mainly for on-premises virtualization. Its workload is very limited. Also, the expandability and scalability have limitations. However, if you have VMware Hypervisor on your premises, then the solution is okay.

If one has some kind of initial knowledge of any kind of backup solution like Veritas NetBackup, then it will be a little bit easy to implement the solution and then understand the architecture. But if you don't have the knowledge of any other solutions, then it would prove to be a learning curve of tasks related to implementation and administration or designing.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the initial setup a five.

Depending upon the solution, sometimes the deployment can be done within one day or within half a day, especially if you have a small setup. But if you have a big and complicated setup, it will take days to implement. It also depends on how complicated the infrastructure the customers have in their environments.

We have to definitely follow steps before we implement the solution. Before we implement any other agents or media agents, we have to implement ComCell, the main backup server, then the media agent, and then the client. This sequence has to be thorough. For updating any page or anything like that, we have to follow the same sequence, which includes the backup server, the media agent, and the client.

Pricing is quite expensive, though I don't exactly know the prices. It is expensive compared to other products because it's for an enterprise setup and not for a small setup. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest price, I rate the pricing an eight.

This software features a single interface that covers all essential functions, including core data management, backup, restore, copy, and DR. It eliminates the need to access the client side and simplifies the configuration process. The centralized configuration makes installation easy. Additionally, the software supports a wide range of platforms, including Linux, Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft versions, unlike some older products, such as Veritas NetBackup, which doesn't have the latest version support in their solution. Sometimes, even Microsoft products don't have the latest version support.

I like the product because of its simplicity and the fact that it provides one single interface for managing everything, including storage, data, and policies. Additionally, there is no need for any configuration on the client's end. Even with 500 clients, you don't have to individually configure the solution for each one. Instead, you just need to install a push agent, which is a small agent, and all tasks can be performed from a single interface. Moreover, the product offers comprehensive support for different software versions. Whether it's upgrading from Exchange Server 2016 or Exchange Server 2013 to Exchange Server 2019 or Exchange Server 2020, or using Oracle version, or other releases, they have immediate backup solutions available, ensuring compatibility during upgrades.

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

I use Metallic to back up a customer's environment. It's the solution offered by our partner, a South African company called Data Protection Management. I'm just the intermediary, providing data loss prevention to my client. I've never seen the interface or used the platform. My client uses Metallic to backup data from Microsoft solutions like SharePoint and OneDrive. 

The reporting could be improved because the reports we get from our partner aren't sufficient. It isn't very detailed. I'm not sure if it's an issue with our partner or Metallic. They do a full backup on Monday and incremental backups throughout the week. However, we don't get detailed reports about the size of the incremental backups. The report just tells us whether a backup was successful. 

In addition to the core backup features, I would also like to see Metallic add patch management. It's a crucial way to minimize threats against data sources. 

I have used Metallic for six months.

I rate Metallic eight out of 10 for stability. 

I rate Metallic 10 out of 10 for scalability. 

I rate Metallic support 10 out of 10. They did the setup for us. Metallic support was exceptional, and they knew what they were doing. 

Positive

I rate Metallic nine out of 10 for ease of setup. Metallic set up the solution for me, but they walked me through the process. It seemed easy and took a few hours. 

I rate Metallic 10 out of 10 for affordability. It's highly cost-effective compared to other products I've used. I pay a monthly fee of 57 rands per user as a reseller and sell it at a markup to my client. 

I rate Metallic 10 out of 10. Metallic is user-friendly, cost-effective, and the technical support is impressive.