We need a paid backup solution for Windows that handles local and remote file shares, full and incremental backups, encryption and preferably databases. We also need reports listing the files backed up.
Our tape policy calls for daily backups of files modified within the past 10 to 30 days and a separate monthly backup of the whole share. We tried Veeam, Nakivo and AOMEI Backupper, but couldn't find the date filter or reporting we need. What else is worth checking?
Iperius Backup is worth a look if tape is central to the setup. It's a commercial option that supports writing to tape, but I'd check the exact edition and test the modified-date filter and file-level reports before treating it as a replacement.
Have a look at Zmanda. It may be a candidate for filtering by file type and date, and commercial support is available. The file-level reporting might take extra work, so ask for a demonstration of the actual report rather than just a feature checklist.
Give the vendor an example share and the exact date window you use. Also check whether the paid offering satisfies your policy if its underlying software includes open source components.
Before ruling out a disk-based product, check what the tape policy is trying to accomplish. A disk backup followed by a tape copy could change the workflow enough that some of the current requirements aren't needed. That depends on whether the policy permits it, of course.
Incremental or differential backups capture changes relative to a previous backup. They aren't necessarily the same thing as selecting every file modified in a rolling 10 to 30 day window. Work out whether the rolling window itself is mandatory, then test restores from the resulting tapes.
Commvault is another commercial option to investigate, including its cloud offering if that fits your environment. It may be more configurable than the simpler products, but the date selection, tape workflow and detailed reports should all go on the evaluation checklist. Don't assume the cloud option makes sense for large shares without checking the data path and storage requirements.
Whatever you pick, plan for the old tapes separately. You may need to retain the Backup Exec server and compatible tape hardware for as long as those backup sets must be kept, unless you can migrate them to another format.
Test a restore from an old tape before retiring anything. A new backup product doesn't automatically make the existing sets readable.
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pHase.shifted:
The file list matters here too. A successful job summary isn't necessarily a substitute for a report showing which files were actually included.