Arctera Backup Exec vs. Unitrends

One of the differentials is that of all the backup tools I used, Veritas Backup Exec has the best management and control interface. It is very easy to use and configure the rules. There are several options that we can optimize our work for our specific needs, from scheduling a backup, restoring data, directories, alerts system, error reports, backups, inconsistencies and other very interesting things. It has integration with SQL, vmware, hyper v. Backup and restore speeds are fast and secure.

Incentivized

Application restorations will be tested fully automatically
and measures what the actual recovery time is and what the recovery points are.
It's analysis compliance with service-level agreements and also identifies any potential
threats to data recovery. If the system identifies an issue, then it will
notify the user and will recommend steps for correcting those issues. Unitrends Data Center Backup and Recovery provides fully automated and customizable dashboards which require less
administrative interaction on a day-to-day process.

Incentivized

• The license/agent deployment feature in Backup Exec facilitates effective and speedy population within your data center.
• Veritas Backup Exec's feature rich job creation is intuitive and simplifies backup strategies.
• Customizable views in the Administrator console allow you to view your backup environment to maximize visibility.

Incentivized

• The setup of the device is very straightforward and simple. It's not confusing when configuring the backup device.
• Adding assets to the system is very easy. The Unitrends agent that enables the backup of devices is simple to install. Once it is installed, you move on to creating a job for backing up the asset, which is also simple to setup.
• Looking at the whether backup jobs are successful has a well laid out UI. You can filter by almost anything you want to find specific jobs or assets to check on the backups that were made.

Incentivized

• The user interface can sometimes be sluggish and hang between options.The minimum spec is 2Gb but if running on a dedicated server I think 4Gb is recommended
• As more companies seem to be entering the backup software market, Acronis is very aggressive on pricing and even offer discounts if you are replacing other backup solutions, the Backup Exec pricing plans have become a more expensive
• Our version is an older 2014 version and has inadequate support for VM backs

Incentivized

• When attempting to do a restore, it is a bit clunky on the process. While when it is completed it does work, but kind of confusing, especially on your first attempt.
• We had to back up not only AD servers, mixed environment of stand-alone and VM's we also still had Netware servers that required a backup. It was a bit more tedious setting the Novell servers up for backup. A cleaner install for Netware would be nice, but not sure how big of an issue that will be since it is less used (Netware).
• Unitrends and VMware work well with snapshots, but it needs to be emphasized that in some instances you need to REMOVE any existing snapshots of a server before you do different tasks, or it will not work at all.

Incentivized

This software is a mess in my brutally honest opinion. I've spent more time babysitting this software while backing up 20 servers than I did with Veeam backing up 600+. I've had multiple jobs run fine for weeks at a time that just randomly fail out of the blue for seemingly no reason whatsoever. There's no intuitive way to chain jobs, so automation becomes somewhat more problematic if certain jobs depend on other jobs. The forever incremental feature feels tacked on since the merge operation merges all your incremental jobs into the most recent backup and doesn't have the option set a limit on how long to keep your point in time restores.

I am 100% likely to renew my Unitrends support and keep my appliance. I don't see any products that have come close to being able to do the on-prem and cloud backups with the ease of Unitrends. This is a great tool and I can't imagine someone wanting to implement anything else.

Incentivized

It can do a lot of things on paper and sounds terrific, but in practice it doesn't do any of them well. It can easily be sold to non-technical minds and C-levels, but of all the backup solutions I've used in the last 15 years of my career, Backup Exec is easily the least fault tolerant. Unless this software is a sunk cost and you're on a shoestring budget, I recommend almost anything else. Jobs fail often with obscure error codes and the KB articles in the Veritas support portal are a mess. Within 30 days of a fresh deployment I've logged more tickets with their support than I did in 3 years with Veeam.

Unitrends is simpler that most other appliances but I believe there is some room for improvement. The backup wizards could be simpler and retention rates need to be easier to understand. The registration of appliances with the appliance can be frustrating. Once the appliance is setup to backup the various machines it is a breeze to administer.

Incentivized

The weekly error on save needs a manual reload from me. The SDR can't restore the virtual machine of hyperV during a test.

Incentivized

The appliances have been there when we need them and have rarely if ever gone down. Hardware issues have been resolved quickly.

Incentivized

No problem for this point it is in the average.

Incentivized

The hardware is adequate and speedy. The user interface responds quickly. Backups complete quickly.

Incentivized

In the few instances of having to contact support, our overall outcome was always good. They would have received a better score if the wait time was less, but I attribute this to the timing of support calls - it was during the previous owner's time. We have not had to open a support ticket since Veritas Backup Exec took the product back over.

Incentivized

They're incredible, attentive, thorough. They make sure my issue is resolved and follow up. I'm usually behind on giving them a reply or an update. They have always gone above and beyond for me, and I'll continue to do the same for them.

Incentivized

It was sufficient to get started. It was not super deep. We called support often to get going.

Incentivized

It was pretty straightforward.

We were contacted by Unitrends and they scheduled a training/install/configuration session with us. They were more than happy to answer any questions we had and we arranged an additional session with them to help us with the archiving. The implementation went very well with no major issues.

Incentivized

Veritas Backup Exec is very comparable to Unitrends and in some areas is easier to use. The license side of Veritas Backup Exec is much more difficult to manage compared to Unitrends. Unitrends seems to be a much smoother solutions to protect virtual environments. Restoring data with Veritas Backup Exec is logical and easier to achieve, Unitrends is a bit less logical or intuitive.

Incentivized

While all of the products I evaluate could do the job and I have experience with them all, Unitrends' solution is just easier and more affordable. All solutions have negatives, but Unitrends' are so easy to live with that I had no reason to make a change. I'd also put their support up against anyone. You can almost always get someone if you need them, but I almost never need help.

Incentivized

We only use it on the on-premise version on a single site.

Incentivized

Once you exceed the capacity of the appliances, you have to forklift a new appliance. This is very expensive.

Incentivized

• As the person tasked with the job of protecting the company's data, I am glad that Backup Exec performs that job well. I am able to often set-it-and-forget-it and go about the rest of my duties. I have never had a situation where Backup Exec was called upon to restore data and it was unable to do so. This reflects well on both me and my department and provides a sense of security to the rest of the company.
• I am not making full use of the product and have not licensed a number of its features, but even the base feature set is impressive. To be clear, Backup Exec is no longer the only product we reply upon for data protection, but it is still a large part of that program. If an SMB can find the budget to afford to license the set of features meet its particular demands, Backup Exec will do what you need.
• As an industry leader, Backup Exec is well positioned to stay at the head of the pack (as they have done for many years) and provide their customers with a comprehensive set of capabilities that will always remain in the forefront of technology.

Incentivized

• The security of disaster recovery is important, and Unitrends Data Center Backup and Recovery helps us
• We went with cheaper alternatives for less important data
• The large cost keeps us from utilizing Unitrends Data Center Backup and Recovery in a larger capacity

Incentivized