Backup Exec is being sunset, so I'm evaluating Veeam Backup & Replication, Commvault, and Arcserve UDP/Backup as replacements. We have about 8 TB of company data and currently use a dedicated backup server with large local RAID volumes. There are no tape libraries or removable drives involved. We retain backups for a year, run full backups on Fridays that usually finish by Sunday night, and run incremental backups on the other four weekdays. Cloud backup does not need to be built into the replacement product because MSP360 already sends copies to Amazon S3. We also keep the local backup copy and take a rotating copy of the data home once a month. Commvault seems potentially excessive for our relatively straightforward environment, while Veeam appears to have stronger phone support and Arcserve looks simpler. I've used Backup Exec since the Novell NetWare days and have learned its quirks over the years, so I'd appreciate recommendations from people who have migrated from it, particularly regarding reliability, restore experience, support, and ease of administration.
5 Answers
Between the options listed, I’d choose Veeam. Commvault is a very capable product, but it can be a lot to configure and manage. In a smaller environment, I’d probably want an MSP or service provider handling it. Veeam gives you many of the important capabilities while remaining practical for an in-house administrator. Arcserve may be simpler, but it doesn’t seem to be the option most people are recommending for a fresh deployment.
Commvault is worth considering if the pricing works out. We moved to it from another backup product in a smaller environment and have been very happy with its reliability and feature set. We use a similar schedule, plus frequent database snapshots and an S3 copy. It can be overkill, but sometimes the licensing is competitive, especially if you work through a reseller or service provider. I’d still have Veeam as the simpler default choice for your stated requirements.
Veeam would be my first choice here. It’s generally straightforward to manage, has a strong track record for restores, and support has been good in my experience. I’ve used it since 2012 and have only needed to open a couple of support cases for problems I couldn’t solve myself. For this size and backup design, it should be a much more natural fit than Backup Exec.
That’s the kind of transition experience I was hoping to hear about. A product that is dependable without requiring years of learning its quirks would be a big improvement.
I’d narrow the decision to Veeam and Commvault, then run a proof of concept using your real backup set and a representative restore. Veeam is usually easier to operate independently and is unlikely to feel like a step backward from your current workflow. Commvault may offer more power than you need, but it could still make sense if its cost and support model are favorable. I wouldn’t choose Arcserve without testing job performance, reporting, and restores carefully first.
Make sure the replacement supports a proper multiple-copy design rather than treating one cloud backup as your only safety net. Veeam would let you keep a local copy, send another copy elsewhere, and optionally use cloud or archive storage. A hardened Linux appliance deployment could also reduce the maintenance burden compared with installing the backup server on Windows. Whichever product you select, test full restores regularly and verify that the monthly offline copy can actually be recovered.
That’s an important distinction. Keeping local, off-site, and offline or otherwise isolated copies provides much more confidence than relying on a single hosted backup copy.
That matches my experience: Commvault is excellent, but it feels more like a platform you staff and design around rather than a straightforward replacement for a local backup server.