Hey everyone, I'm looking for some guidance as we're planning to migrate from BackupExec, especially since it's going End of Support at the end of March. It's a good time for us to explore new options. I have a few requirements in mind for the alternative software: it should support deduplication to save space and also handle our tape library. Our current backup strategy involves running weekly full backups (with a 30-day retention) and daily incremental backups on-site, alongside duplicating the full backups to disaster recovery (DR) and tape. The options I'm considering so far are Commvault, Nakivo, and Veeam (with ReFS), though I'm curious about the deduplication capabilities compared to what we're used to with BackupExec. Any experiences or recommendations would be appreciated!
5 Answers
In my experience, both Veeam and Commvault are solid choices. Commvault is a powerful solution but requires some serious hardware for its deduplication database. Just make sure you have a fast SSD setup. I'm curious about how Nakivo stacks up too!
If you go with Veeam, I suggest skipping ReFS unless you can dedicate your storage to a new server. Their hardened Linux repository is an excellent option for added security with built-in deduplication and compression features.
Commvault has strong support for tape libraries and good deduplication features. They've even got tools to help import your existing BackupExec backups, although just be aware that it does require some pretty powerful hardware. If you're set there, it's definitely worth considering!
Thanks for the info! I’ll definitely give Commvault a closer look.
I made the switch from BackupExec to Veeam a while back and have been really happy with it. The deduplication feature helped me save a ton of space. I opted not to use tapes and focused on primary storage for a week’s worth of restore points, along with cloud storage for anything long-term. It's been working great!
How does the space saving compare to BackupExec? I’m really trying to minimize storage needs.
I'd advocate for Veeam. Depending on your repository setup, you could optimize deduplication settings to enhance performance. Budgeting for dedicated hardware might really help streamline the process.
I don't currently have SSDs at my primary site, so I need to look into that. Appreciate the heads up!