Veeam Data Platform Reviews

I used to work for a company that provided Backup/DR as a service to its clients we had to look at various backup and recovery tools to quickly and easily bring back customers data. Before Veeam introduced the backup to tape and WAN acceleration features we were using 3 different products across a number of our clients to provide the required services. After those feature releases, we just used one tool through a single console (the infamous single-pane-of-glass) which reduced the complexity and management overheads within our solutions but also provided our customers with a far greater level of service and reliability.

This is actually quite a hard choice to make when dealing with Veeam Backup & Replication. There are a number of great features such as WAN acceleration, deduplication & compression, replication and the grandfather-father-son backup tree. Not to mention backup to tape which has been a key reason to migrate to Veeam. The primary feature of most value to me is the SureBackup and SureReplica featureset. Having the ability to verify backups and replicas of critical servers in a sandboxed environment means that I can sleep comfortably at night knowing that the data is valid and I can confidently restore data and services if required by the business. Snapshot capabilities within NetApp would also be high on that list.

Backup of physical servers. I know Veeam has vehemently said they will never go down that route but it's a feature I need, and badly. Having the ability to use Veeam within all our virtual environments is fantastic, but it also means we still have a requirement to use TSM to back up our physical servers via an agent. With endpoint protection features being announced recently, I can only hope that this develops into the backup of all physical devices and allows it to be managed through the Veeam console.

Recently I've been discussing the capabilities of endpoint protection with a Veeam Rep. around the area of enterprise applications. In this instance I'm focused on SQL and Exchange. Despite my protestations we are still using physical exchange servers (and I doubt we're the only enterprise) so being able to get a good backup of those servers is critical to allow replacement of current backup solutions. Right now Veeam are not confident with Exchange backups and would recommend one of the DAGs to be virtual to ensure the backup consistency. For SQL however they are happy with their testing and while not being a released feature it is something that can be backed up via endpoint protection. This area of development for Veeam is going to be a critical one for them to truly enter the enterprise backup arena.

99% of the time there are no issues with Veeam. It does exactly what it says on the tin and it really is just as easy as they make it look in their demos and videos. On a few occasions I had issues with VSS failing on a server which came down to being an operating system issue. Another time there was a problem where the backup was not truncating exchange logs. Veeam Support provided a patch within 24 hours which immediately fixed the issue permanently.

In early versions of Veeam, before version 6.5, there were issues but since Veeam has utilised backup Proxy servers there's no issue with scalability. You can leverage servers in your environment that have low workloads to be Veeam proxies as well so you get more value from your environment.

Customer Service:

Veeam customer service is top notch. Previously I have worked closely with them to request licensing and further information on their products and they have always answered quickly and politely or returned my call quickly. If it was on a scale of 1-5 I'd give it 5.

Technical Support:

Technical support is exceptional at Veeam. Any issue I have opened with them has been dealt with quickly and within an hour I've had a support technician contact me. On a handful of occasions where I've had severity 1 calls open with support they have passed off support to their colleagues in Europe and later America to work on the issue with me further out of hours with a smooth handover. Normally with support teams this happens but you have repeat everything all over again but I've not had such an experience with Veeam.

Yes. I used to use products such as Symantec Backup Exec and Falconstor but switched to Veeam as it's designed for virtual environments, it's easy to use and lowers the management overhead, it scales easily and provides a stable backup environment. Right now I'm considering using Veeam to replace NetApp SnapProtect within our environment.

The initial setup is really straightforward. It really is a next, next, next install and can be done by anyone. Some of the feature selection during the installation should be thought about in advance but it's possible to easily enable these later if you don't enable the up-front. Once the installation is complete you then need to add servers as proxies and point Veeam at a backup repository, add vCenter and create the backup pools and that's it. Ready, set, go!

I've only ever done in-house implementations of Veeam. I have had discussions on occasions with Veeams technical team before installation of some more complex environments and they have always been insightful and knowledgeable and understood the capabilities of their products at an in-depth level. But normally the implementation was straightforward and didn't require any assistance.

We were able to recover our investment on Veeam within about 8 months. This was due largely to reduced licensing costs initially but the majority of the savings came from a reduction in the management overheads and the previous baby-sitting we had to do of our backup solution.

The original setup costs were in the region of $45k for a 24 host VMware environment. That was for the full Veeam Availability Suite which Backup and Replication is a part of. The day-to-day (Opex) costs we reduced from one staff member spending 5 hours massaging backups and replications to less that 1 hour a day.

Before using Veeam I reviewed a number of backup solutions. These included Symantec Backup Exec, NetBackup, Falconstor, Acronis, Commvault and ArcServe.

I would recommend getting your hands on trial version or even just use the free editions from Veeam to become comfortable with the console and see for yourself just how easy it is to manage backups. If you use the free edition you'll quickly want to use a full version so you can schedule backups and take advantage of some of enterprise features. Run a POC on some VMs and verify it's the right tool for you and see that the reviews don't lie.

I would also recommend reaching out to a Veeam Gold or Platinum Partner if you have a more complex environment and get your design put up on a whiteboard. While getting Veeam into your environment is the end goal a real focus needs to be placed on data migration and integrity. Your previous backup data needs to be accessible and recoverable and this is where the partners should be able to help. This isn't a recommendation just for implementing Veeam but for all backup solution migration. With Veeam however I'm sure it'll be as easy as everything else.

I used the product for migrating snapshots between clusters.

They could include better automation features for migrating VMs without further configuration for the product.

I used VM Backup and Replication for about a month.

I rate the product stability an eight. 

I rate the product scalability a seven. 

The setup was quite simple and took about four hours on-premises. I rate the process an eight. 

The solution is fairly priced. I rate the pricing a five out of ten. 

I rate Veeam Backup & Replication a six out of ten. It has similar features to other software but lacks distinct advantages.

Instant recovery, ease of use, and integrations are some of the valuable features.     

I have an experience of ten years with Veeam Backup & Replication.

I would rate the stability nine out of ten.

It's highly scalable if at a proxy zone.

I would rate the scalability seven out of ten.

The technical support is quite supportive.

Positive

The setup is on-premises and takes half a day for the first part. The next part takes a few hours

The deployment process requires a few steps, to download the file and follow the standard procedure as instructed.

I would rate the initial setup nine out of ten.

The changes in pricing have been an interesting aspect. It seems to have become pricier, resulting in a reduction in affordability. There are extra expenses involved, including hardware requirements and the procurement of operating system licenses, which must also be taken into account.

I would rate the price seven out of ten.

We use Veeam ONE for backup and replication, and disaster recovery purposes.

I like the backup and backup copy features.

Agent backups could be better. I have many problems with agent backups, particularly on Linux and MySQL databases. MySQL works well with Microsoft products but not with other products. The database backups are not working correctly, and we are losing business. I am not getting any support; administration is also a significant problem.

I have been using Veeam ONE for over four years.

Veeam ONE is stable for small uncomplicated projects.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give stability an eight.

Veeam ONE is scalable.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give scalability an eight.

Support could be better. 

The initial setup is straightforward. Based on the project size, implementing this solution can take 24 hours, 72 hours, or even a week. A team of four can quickly deploy and manage this solution. They can handle configurations and backup failures daily. I can maintain 12 projects by myself.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give the initial setup a nine.

We implemented this solution.

We pay every month for Enterprise Plus. There are no additional costs.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Veeam ONE a three.

The solution is so good to use. It allows for proof of concept. One can run a test on the database, move backups from one server to another, do file restoration or make use of portal storage features. 

Backup and storage is very fast, reducing what would otherwise take hours to minutes. Veeam was designed for virtual environments. The first year it was involved in supporting VMware virtual environments. 

While I do not recall whether the latest version is 10.0 or 11.0 I do know that it allows one to make a back up repository that is very scalable and simple. This can be added from multiple different levels, in respect of a single disc, through employment of cluster servers, data domain storage, or even tape library. This means the repository is very scalable, as the growth of data in the past years has presented a big problem. Cloud services can be employed as a back up repository. 

While I may not be the user testing each new market product, I am very happy with the solution's scalability. It boasts a support team that is good and fast and can conduct its affairs in a host of languages. When it comes to instances involving support, I can discern the differences over the past two months. Technical support is fast, helpful and provides good advice. 

While we do not consider it to be a big deal, I know there are other users who consider the running of the latest version of VMware vCenter while making use of the virtual environment to be an issue. One must update VMware or Veeam with care because of the compatibility issue involved. Installation and support must be taken into account. 

While strength, complexity and compatibility of the solution may pose issues for others, they do not for me. 

I feel the solution to be user-friendly. 

The monitoring, reporting and dashboard features are also fine. 

I am not aware of implementation issues and I have no concerns about the solution's security or stability. I have even tested the setup and it can be automated. At present, I see no need for an increase as I am not making 100 percent use of the product. 

This said, the limits of Windows integration on servers should be addressed. Many shops use only Linux and do not wish to run the Windows Server policy. As they have people with an understanding of Linux, they do not see the need to employ another person merely for backing up the server. 

Nowadays one can run Microsoft SQL Server on Linux without any problem, perhaps with this same ability being afforded to Windows Server. 

Occasionally, in the course of upgrading one's virtualization platform, the backup can be ruined. I know of people who do downgrade virtualization out of concerns for the success of a data center backup run. For me, personally, this does not present an issue as I am more conservative in how I conduct my administrative functions. 

We have been using Veeam Backup & Replication for three or four years. 

The solution is absolutely stable. 

The solution is absolutely scalable. 

I am absolutely satisfied with technical support. We benefit from it completely. Its multi-lingual character is definitely important. 

We were using IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for 15 years before making use of the solution, although I don't know what the product is called at present, as it replaced a branded IBM Protect product. 

We were using IBM Tivoli Storage Manager at a time when the majority of our data servers were running on physical machines. From IBM's perspective, the licensing has become more involved since virtualization became increasingly prevalent. While it was not in my purview, the prohibitive nature of the product led us to migrate to Veeam software and to procure a different license. 

While IBM Tivoli Storage Manager was considered to be the leading solution of its time, it was also very complicated. 

The installation involves a single package and is pretty simple. This is in comparison to the installation of the DB2 of Tivoli. Now, the installation is done in a single stroke and is so simple and the solution so nice. While we don't really make use of it at the moment, several years ago we constituted one of the main monitors of the virtual environment. 

The installation time is contingent on its scale as it varies based on the size of the environment. Another factor would involve the installation of disparate versions for different machines, such as concerns a proxy repository. A further possibility is to install everything in a single machine in virtual storage. 

I would put the main installation at 20 minutes and add another hour for configurations, such as those involving emails and reports. 

I consider the installation to be fully completed once I can carry out a task. We are talking about one or two hours. This takes into account the different applications for disparate environments in Veeam's environment. 

Overall, we have two people who are responsible for deployment and maintenance as it relates to everything involving the physical backup and virtual environment. 

We purchase a license annually. 

When it comes to the cost, IBM software is significantly more expensive than the solution for our environment, although we are talking about four years ago. 

We have two Veeam servers in two disparate sites.

The solution is not deployed on the cloud. One of the servers is physical and the other virtual, with the support and backup capabilities comprising 50 kilobytes of SSD storage. 

I would recommend the solution to others. 

There are approximately 700 people making use of the solution in our organization. 

I rate Veeam Backup & Replication as a ten out of ten.

I have found the backup call feature very good.

I have found that the reporting could improve in its structure.

In an upcoming release, the remote site application, physical workload, and other application integration could improve.

I have been using the solution for approximately four years.

We have experienced some bugs that we reported to the Veeam team and most of the issues have been resolved. For example, we had an issue recovering a file that was 256 characters long which we were testing out. We resolved it by restoring the whole volume.

We are satisfied with the technical support.

We have also worked with Acronis, Commvault, and Veritas.

The initial setup is very simple.

The price of the solution could improve when comparing it to competitors. The market is very competitive and they should have some discounts or special offers.

We have evaluated Commvault and they have a very fantastic rating compared to Veeam Replication. 

I rate Veeam Backup Replication an eight out of ten.

We use this solution for virtualization with VMware. I have approximately 50 servers. We also use it for replication of the file server.

There haven't seen any changes to the way the organization has improved.

I would like to see the replication and a recovery plan of the servers in the cloud. It's very important.

I have been using this solution for three months.

We use one of the first versions of this product.

It's a stable product. I would rate it an eight out of ten.

It's a scalable solution.

In our company, we have one administrator and one other operator who use it. One person for each server.

Based on the orders we receive, we will continue to use this product.

Technical support is good. I would rate them an eight out of ten.

Previously, I was using IBM Spectrum.

Three months ago, I made the decision to change to Veeam Backup & Replication because IBM solutions are expensive.

IBM is very good software, but the problem is the cost. I would rate IBM a ten out of ten.

I was also using Acronis, but I wasn't sure of it. I did not have the experience with it.

The initial setup is straightforward. It's easy.

It's not complex to replicate and back up the system.

We used an integrator, reseller, and a public consultant, which was very expensive.

The experience was good but it was a bit of a process with a bit of a struggle.

This is an expensive product, so reducing the cost would be an improvement. The difference between IBM and Veeam Backup & Replication is insignificant.

It is approximately $4,000 to $5,000 for the purchase of the product and I paid an additional $2,000 for the renewal.

For large enterprise companies, I would suggest IBM, but for small companies, I would recommend Veeam Backup & Replication.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Primary backup and long-term retention to protect our client data across our datacenters. Allows for incremental RPOs for VM and file-level recovery across multiple datacenters to our IT staff of more than 200 technicians. Enable fast restores and long term archival.

As our datacenters continue to grow, we had a challenge of reducing backup windows while being able to scale our total protected VMs. Before Veeam, we had backup infrastructure sprawl. Veeam was able to reduce our overall backup windows while reducing our dedicated backup infrastructure.

Granular permissions through Veeam Enterprise Manager have allowed for us to pass control down to our support staff instead of having it with senior datacenter resources.

Vendor integration for many of the enterprise features have allowed for us to have greater performance from our storage vendors further improving on our commitments to protect our clients' data. 

Multithreading of health check process: This can take too much time to process on large jobs and/or large VMs. Better to have built-in deduplication for long-term retention. Storage efficiency is a weakness.

Additional executive summary reports for the entire infrastructure would be a nice to have.

Three to five years.

No, we have not experienced any stability issues.

One challenge that we have encountered was on the long-term retention of data. Be sure to look into a dedicated deduplication appliance. 

Also, know where the bottleneck is within your environment. If you are repurposing older equipment, it likely won't be up to the task. Storage performance is crucial to your backup times.

Support has been great; no complaints.

We used PHD Virtual and what is now Unitrends UVB. Backup infrastructure was becoming a significant cost and scaling this solution meant more sprawl. Backup windows were increasing outside our comfort levels. At the time, we as acquired a company with additional datacenter services. Consolidating to one solution with a single interface was key. This, in turn, ensured that we had complete visibility of our backup environments across multiple datacenters.

Veeam helped us solve all of these areas of concern.

It was pretty straightforward.

In-house.

We have increased our scalability while being able to free up senior resources from recovery activities. I estimate our overall savings to about $20,000 per year.

Plan your long-term backup strategy for growth and size the solution appropriately. Veeam has a number of setup options to choose from so make sure you understand them to make the right decision.

I would always suggest a multi-year agreement as this will allow for the best possible ROI of licensing.

We looked at vRanger, Unitrends, and Datto.

Since everyone's data is different, I would recommend a proof of concept project to understand how your data will be used within this solution. If you are intending to keep data for long-term retention, look at a dedicated deduplication appliance.