top 10 reasons to switch to veeam
Top 10 reasons
to switch from Symantec Backup Exec to Veeam Backup & Replication Veeam® Backup & Replication™ provides fast, flexible and reliable recovery for virtualized applications and data on VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V. Veeam Backup & Replication is designed specifically for virtual environments, which makes its approach to data protection vastly superior to legacy backup tools designed for physical environments. Symantec Backup Exec’s virtual backup is retrofitted to support virtual machine (VMs) and doesn’t fully leverage the virtual platform. Veeam provides a fast, reliable backup solution that fully leverages the power of virtualization. It’s inexpensive, simple to use and quite simply, it just works.
Veeam Backup & Replication v6 1
Instant VM recovery*
2
Application-item recovery*
3
Automated recovery verification
4
File-level recovery
5
Agentless
6
One backup for all recovery scenarios
7
Deduplication
8
Replication
9
Hyper-V support
10
Pricing
Symantec Backup Exec 2010 R3
Select applications only
Not built for virtual environments
Sometimes Additional purchase
No incremental backup Simple, affordable
Complex, expensive
* Currently for VMware vSphere only
To learn more, visit www.veeam.com/products.html
Figure 1: Veeam Backup & Replication provides both technical and commercial advantages over Symantec Backup Exec.
1 2
Instant VM recovery This patent-pending technology lets you run a VM directly from a compressed and deduplicated backup file on regular backup storage. If a VM goes down, you can restart it on any host in a matter of minutes. It’s like having a “temporary spare” for your VMs. To complete the recovery, use Storage vMotion, or if you don’t have Storage vMotion, you can use Veeam Quick Migration technology to move the VM to production storage. Backup Exec does not offer this capability.
Application-item recovery Veeam Backup & Replication’s Universal Application-Item Recovery (U-AIR)™ is a patent-pending technology that addresses the limitations of Backup Exec’s objectrecovery method. With Backup Exec, you are expected to purchase additional products or “add-ons” in order to recover application objects. Additionally, Backup Exec only offers support for a handful of applications unlike Veeam. Veeam’s U-AIR capabilities are: • Inexpensive: U-AIR doesn’t require additional agents, backups or software tools.
3
• Reliable: U-AIR is not tied to application internals, it is easy to maintain and it works seamlessly with new application patches and releases.
Automated recovery verification
4
There are numerous reasons why you might not be able to recover from a backup. For instance, the system you’re backing up might be in an unbootable state, a critical configuration file might have been corrupted, or maybe there is an update or reconfiguration task pending a reboot. Veeam’s SureBackup for VMware enables you to verify the recoverability of every backup, of every VM, every time. Veeam offers other important reliability elements, such as advanced application-aware processing, plus it eliminates the need to babysit backup jobs. With Backup Exec, babysitting backup jobs is part of the job.
File-level recovery
5 6
Veeam offers Instant File-Level Recovery (IFLR) for VMware vSphere that allows you to restore individual files in seconds from an image-level backup. Unlike Backup Exec, IFLR supports any file system, and eliminates the need to take more than one backup (imagebased for VM recovery and file based for file-level recovery). In addition, 1-Click File Restore for Windows is new in Veeam Backup & Replication v6—and is also available for Microsoft Hyper-V—to allow you to securely delegate file restores to help desk operators and, unlike Backup Exec, requires no agents on hosts or VMs.
Agentless With Veeam, there are no agents for you to license, deploy, manage, monitor or update on VMs. This does not mean that Veeam lacks features such as, multi-hypervisor support, application-item recovery or Windows guest file system indexing (which Backup Exec requires additional agents to deliver). Veeam provides all these features and MORE without requiring the use of persistent agents in each VM.
One backup for all recovery scenarios With Veeam, full VM recovery, application item-level recovery and file-level recovery are all available from a single image-level backup. With Backup Exec, there is a different agent installed for each type of recovery scenario.
To learn more, visit www.veeam.com/products.html
7
Deduplication
8 9
With the volume of data growing every day, deduplication is an essential capability for any backup tool, which is why Veeam includes deduplication at no additional cost. Not only does Symantec charge extra for deduplication, it recently announced “new” vRay technology to enhance this offering. This functionality is not new, however, is based on 10-year old technology inherited from Veritas. Additionally, feedback from the marketplace shows that the technology is overkill for small and medium businesses (SMBs), which, shows Symantec’s lack of commitment to the SMB space.
Replication Veeam offers 2-in-1 backup and replication so customers can take full advantage of the enhanced data protection that virtualization provides, including near-continuous data protection (near-CDP), and the ability to fail over individual VMs. Symantec Backup Exec does not offer image-based replication for VMs. (They do offer logbased replication for Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server from separate products.)
Hyper-V support
10
Veeam Backup & Replication supports Microsoft Hyper-V, as well as VMware vSphere. Multiple-hypervisor support not only allows you to manage your Hyper-V and VMware environments from a single license, installation and console, but also gives you the flexibility to change your data protection tool if you decide to switch hypervisors. Additionally, Veeam’s support for Hyper-V allows you to take advantage of these industry firsts: • 2-in-1 backup and replication • Changed block tracking • Built-in deduplication and compression Backup Exec’s agent for Hyper-V adds additional licensing complexity and lacks critical capabilities. In order to have support comparable to Veeam Backup & Replication for Hyper-V environments, you would need to separately license and purchase the Backup Exec server, Hyper-V Agent, and the Deduplication option. Additionally, the Backup Exec agent for Hyper-V does not support incremental backup, which means you need to do a FULL backup of the entire VHD every time.
Pricing Veeam Backup & Replication is significantly less expensive than Symantec Backup Exec. Veeam has had numerous customers switch from Backup Exec for the same cost as their Backup Exec maintenance renewal alone. Symantec Backup Exec’s is expensive and the pricing is also quite complicated, with many separately licensed components and agents.
About this comparison This comparison was created at the request of Veeam customers and prospects to help them evaluate their options for VMware and Hyper-V backup. While every attempt has been made to provide and accurate comparison, please recognize that Veeam’s access to information about competing products is limited. However, to the best of our knowledge, the information presented in this document is correct as of the date of publication, but please let us know if you have additional information that is not represented in this document.
To learn more, visit www.veeam.com/products.html © 2012 Veeam Software. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 03 05 2012
to switch from Symantec Backup Exec to Veeam Backup & Replication Veeam® Backup & Replication™ provides fast, flexible and reliable recovery for virtualized applications and data on VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V. Veeam Backup & Replication is designed specifically for virtual environments, which makes its approach to data protection vastly superior to legacy backup tools designed for physical environments. Symantec Backup Exec’s virtual backup is retrofitted to support virtual machine (VMs) and doesn’t fully leverage the virtual platform. Veeam provides a fast, reliable backup solution that fully leverages the power of virtualization. It’s inexpensive, simple to use and quite simply, it just works.
Veeam Backup & Replication v6 1
Instant VM recovery*
2
Application-item recovery*
3
Automated recovery verification
4
File-level recovery
5
Agentless
6
One backup for all recovery scenarios
7
Deduplication
8
Replication
9
Hyper-V support
10
Pricing
Symantec Backup Exec 2010 R3
Select applications only
Not built for virtual environments
Sometimes Additional purchase
No incremental backup Simple, affordable
Complex, expensive
* Currently for VMware vSphere only
To learn more, visit www.veeam.com/products.html
Figure 1: Veeam Backup & Replication provides both technical and commercial advantages over Symantec Backup Exec.
1 2
Instant VM recovery This patent-pending technology lets you run a VM directly from a compressed and deduplicated backup file on regular backup storage. If a VM goes down, you can restart it on any host in a matter of minutes. It’s like having a “temporary spare” for your VMs. To complete the recovery, use Storage vMotion, or if you don’t have Storage vMotion, you can use Veeam Quick Migration technology to move the VM to production storage. Backup Exec does not offer this capability.
Application-item recovery Veeam Backup & Replication’s Universal Application-Item Recovery (U-AIR)™ is a patent-pending technology that addresses the limitations of Backup Exec’s objectrecovery method. With Backup Exec, you are expected to purchase additional products or “add-ons” in order to recover application objects. Additionally, Backup Exec only offers support for a handful of applications unlike Veeam. Veeam’s U-AIR capabilities are: • Inexpensive: U-AIR doesn’t require additional agents, backups or software tools.
3
• Reliable: U-AIR is not tied to application internals, it is easy to maintain and it works seamlessly with new application patches and releases.
Automated recovery verification
4
There are numerous reasons why you might not be able to recover from a backup. For instance, the system you’re backing up might be in an unbootable state, a critical configuration file might have been corrupted, or maybe there is an update or reconfiguration task pending a reboot. Veeam’s SureBackup for VMware enables you to verify the recoverability of every backup, of every VM, every time. Veeam offers other important reliability elements, such as advanced application-aware processing, plus it eliminates the need to babysit backup jobs. With Backup Exec, babysitting backup jobs is part of the job.
File-level recovery
5 6
Veeam offers Instant File-Level Recovery (IFLR) for VMware vSphere that allows you to restore individual files in seconds from an image-level backup. Unlike Backup Exec, IFLR supports any file system, and eliminates the need to take more than one backup (imagebased for VM recovery and file based for file-level recovery). In addition, 1-Click File Restore for Windows is new in Veeam Backup & Replication v6—and is also available for Microsoft Hyper-V—to allow you to securely delegate file restores to help desk operators and, unlike Backup Exec, requires no agents on hosts or VMs.
Agentless With Veeam, there are no agents for you to license, deploy, manage, monitor or update on VMs. This does not mean that Veeam lacks features such as, multi-hypervisor support, application-item recovery or Windows guest file system indexing (which Backup Exec requires additional agents to deliver). Veeam provides all these features and MORE without requiring the use of persistent agents in each VM.
One backup for all recovery scenarios With Veeam, full VM recovery, application item-level recovery and file-level recovery are all available from a single image-level backup. With Backup Exec, there is a different agent installed for each type of recovery scenario.
To learn more, visit www.veeam.com/products.html
7
Deduplication
8 9
With the volume of data growing every day, deduplication is an essential capability for any backup tool, which is why Veeam includes deduplication at no additional cost. Not only does Symantec charge extra for deduplication, it recently announced “new” vRay technology to enhance this offering. This functionality is not new, however, is based on 10-year old technology inherited from Veritas. Additionally, feedback from the marketplace shows that the technology is overkill for small and medium businesses (SMBs), which, shows Symantec’s lack of commitment to the SMB space.
Replication Veeam offers 2-in-1 backup and replication so customers can take full advantage of the enhanced data protection that virtualization provides, including near-continuous data protection (near-CDP), and the ability to fail over individual VMs. Symantec Backup Exec does not offer image-based replication for VMs. (They do offer logbased replication for Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server from separate products.)
Hyper-V support
10
Veeam Backup & Replication supports Microsoft Hyper-V, as well as VMware vSphere. Multiple-hypervisor support not only allows you to manage your Hyper-V and VMware environments from a single license, installation and console, but also gives you the flexibility to change your data protection tool if you decide to switch hypervisors. Additionally, Veeam’s support for Hyper-V allows you to take advantage of these industry firsts: • 2-in-1 backup and replication • Changed block tracking • Built-in deduplication and compression Backup Exec’s agent for Hyper-V adds additional licensing complexity and lacks critical capabilities. In order to have support comparable to Veeam Backup & Replication for Hyper-V environments, you would need to separately license and purchase the Backup Exec server, Hyper-V Agent, and the Deduplication option. Additionally, the Backup Exec agent for Hyper-V does not support incremental backup, which means you need to do a FULL backup of the entire VHD every time.
Pricing Veeam Backup & Replication is significantly less expensive than Symantec Backup Exec. Veeam has had numerous customers switch from Backup Exec for the same cost as their Backup Exec maintenance renewal alone. Symantec Backup Exec’s is expensive and the pricing is also quite complicated, with many separately licensed components and agents.
About this comparison This comparison was created at the request of Veeam customers and prospects to help them evaluate their options for VMware and Hyper-V backup. While every attempt has been made to provide and accurate comparison, please recognize that Veeam’s access to information about competing products is limited. However, to the best of our knowledge, the information presented in this document is correct as of the date of publication, but please let us know if you have additional information that is not represented in this document.
To learn more, visit www.veeam.com/products.html © 2012 Veeam Software. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 03 05 2012
