VEEAM vs. Altaro... FIGHT!

[davethetekkie]

For the primary school that started this thread eventually I went for VEEAM; I've installed it on its own Server 2012r2 VM with a single virtual CPU and 4GB of memory set as a static amount. Installer threatened performance issues but the end result is fantastic. Definitely 10 times better than the Backup Exec environments I've worked with before!

[FragglePete]

Just fired up an old server we retired a couple of years ago. Quickly installed Server 2012R2, set it up as Hyper-V host and then built a VM again with Server 2012R2. Installed Veeam and fed it the 30 day license key. Then went and did some backup and restores of some of the other VMs sitting on my cluster..... wow! Just wow. I like it a lot. Going to see how the Tape Agent works shortly and start planning how it's going to fit in with my infrastructure. I have a physical machine running as our current DC and Backup Server (BackUp Exec) so will need to plan how to do that. But, looks good.

 

Pete

[Davit2005]

Just fired up an old server we retired a couple of years ago. Quickly installed Server 2012R2, set it up as Hyper-V host and then built a VM again with Server 2012R2. Installed Veeam and fed it the 30 day license key. Then went and did some backup and restores of some of the other VMs sitting on my cluster..... wow! Just wow. I like it a lot. Going to see how the Tape Agent works shortly and start planning how it's going to fit in with my infrastructure. I have a physical machine running as our current DC and Backup Server (BackUp Exec) so will need to plan how to do that. But, looks good.

 

Pete

 

It's when you come to do Active Directory objects or Exchange mail box restores thet the software seems to go to the next level I think.

 

Gone are the early days with Veeam when you had to setup a SureBackup job. Now it's jus a matter of doing a File restore from the backup and then click application items, absolutely awesome. And with v9 you can install the console live instead of having to remote to the backup server.

[cpjitservices]

Using Acronis Backup & Restore version 11.7 here installed on one host, Agents deployed to other servers. Hosts and VM's are backed up. VM's replicated locally and offsite. Through Hyper-V.

 

Acronis backs up the hosts and any detected VMs to our storage array... Full and Incremental backups. Backups are a .TIB file which can be mounted on any machine with Acronis installed. File level backup and mailbox is also done but we don't require it here, we do do this at one of our customer sites with Acronis. Again, you can mount .TIB files within Windows. Which can be handy.

 

We have the Universal restore licenses too, which is also handy. Means we can restore to dissimilar hardware if we need to.

Edited June 1, 2016 by cpjitservices

[maddocks1993]

Hello,

 

I would highly recommend Veeam Backup & Replication with Veeam ONE - Comes under the Veeam Availability Suite. You know what Veeam can do but Veeam is the best Backup solution out there today and they will be the best for some time.

 

You will only need to purchase license for HyperVisors, per processor but it is about 4-10k depending on what version you want from Veeam. Renewals are likely to be £300-2k depending how many years of Support you get.

 

If you are worried about Host breaking then you can install Veeam EndPoint Backup which you can integrate into Veeam Backup & Replication console. However make sure to exclude your ClusterStorage and anything with Hyper-V as Veeam Backup & Replication will take control of the Backups in regards to your Virtual Machines. You can also Replicate to another Hyper-V Host and Backup Copy of your Backups, azure cloud connect and DR Recovery. Lot of options my friend, lot of options. Not only that, but the Instant Recovery / Replication is just brilliant and works like a treat.

 

You can install Backup Free Edition elsewhere and do backups to a winzip file via a Powershell command.

 

At the moment, if our Hosts break we will just set up the host completely again if not improve the host from last configuration. The hosts are just to serve RAM / Processor Power and Hyper-V. Long as your Virtual Machines are in HA mode being backed up however many times you should be fine.

 

Regards,

 

Chris.

Edited June 2, 2016 by maddocks1993

[round2it]

I have been testing MY DR systems this week.

 

I purchased the ultimate version of altaro and I have found it to work without fault so far.

 

I have 8 vms on one server and I have done a restore to another 2012r2 box dedicated to DR

 

I found the user interface to be very simple and informative

the support is fast and always available chat right out of the product itself not needed it yet but tested to see how long it took for them to respond 15 seconds in the chat function.

 

Down to the important part

 

I have recovered all 8 vms to another host and each and every one has fired up without any issues at all so I would say that the product is pretty solid.

I also did some file level restores and they are simple and quick to do.

What I did like was the exchange mailbox recovery. I basically extracted a users entire mailbox to pst right out of the software and viewed it in a free pst viewer everything was present and correct.

 

 

I don't have a cluster at the moment but once I do I will be testing again.

 

It is a viable alternative to Veeam especially if money is tight but as said before in the thread don't choose your backup software on price alone.

 

Does it do what I need reliably yes, do I need a phd to use the user interface no, do I feel comfortable with my backup strategy yes.

Edited February 10, 2017 by round2it