Comments on: Review: Symantec Backup Exec 11d and Continuous Protection Server – Conclusion

By: Richard Krvaric

Richard Krvaric — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:42:52 +0000

We upgraded from BackupExec 10d to 11d, and suddenly ALL Backups take TWICE as long, if not longer!
On Friday night we start a Full Backup to Disk then to Tape, and all of it used to finish on Sunday during the day.
Now it doesn’t even start to do the Tape duplication portion till TUESDAY! and that alone takes a whole day, which used to only take a few hours.

Sheesh.. how do i DOWNGRADE without losing all my backup jobs!?

By: Hywel Mallett

Hywel Mallett — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:30:12 +0000

It’s true that the integration between Backup Exec and Continuous Protection Server could be better. Backup Exec is certainly improving in terms of features, but many people feel that the stability and support suffered when Symantec took over. As you say, with pricing, agents for Exchange, SQL, Sharepoint Portal etc all cost money with Backkup Exec, and I don’t know how this compares with DPM…

By: Rob Berry (MCSE)

Rob Berry (MCSE) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:08:36 +0000

Using a Dell Powervault ML6000 library this product is flawed.
You cannot import a tape into the library without a backup administrator clicking “yes” to an import operation (which is the only way to get tapes into the library and have backup exec acknowledge them).
Hopeless therefore for automating backups without a backup administrators intervention eg over a weekend if tapes are changed, an administrator has to click OK to import. If one forgets…no backup…useless!

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:14:28 +0000

Kingsley , it is interesting what you wrote about brick-level backups of Exchange with DPM v2. I tried this with the Beta 1, but I wasn’t able to get it working. Hopefully, the final will offer this feature.

By: Saied A. Dadhaboy

Saied A. Dadhaboy — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:32:23 +0000

Anyone to compared this with Stricklin Software Group’s DRP server? My company are interested in this product and want to installed it for data protection..

By: Kingsley

Kingsley — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:01:26 +0000

Michael,

I stand correct on Microsoft DPM v2 BETA 1 on Recovery on Exchange. Apparently, you can restore the mailbox “as file” without having to bring down the entire Exchange down. However, when you restore the mailbox “as file” and redirected to another location, you then mount that database in the Restore Storage Group on Exchange, then use Exmerge to extract the individual mailbox to a PST file and go from there. Still a bit looong method to recover just a mail item for a user.

However, from my personal experience ExMerge is not reliable and “flaky”… Unlike Microsoft’s DPM’s looooong method of recovering individual mail item, I’d prefer Backup Exec v10.1d. Backup Exec v10.1d can restore individual mails back on to the user’s mailbox on the exchange on a fly.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:31:57 +0000

Kingsley, thanks a lot for this comprehensive assessment. It is quite interesting to note that DPM is so much faster than Backup Exec when using a SAN. I am still waiting for the final to come out. What I like most about DPM is that it focuses on CDP only. I hope to get rid of old-fashioned archive-bit-based backups as soon as possible.

By: Kingsley

Kingsley — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 21:10:47 +0000

We’ve tested Microsoft DPM v2 BETA 1 and Backup Exec v11d (with *ALL* hotfixes 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16).

The focus of this comment is mainly the backup to a SAN test. In our test environment, we have a Dell EMC AX 150i with dual ports on a gigalan switch. Host is a Duo Core 3.4 Ghz with 2 GB RAM at 667 mhz on a 250 GB SATA and on Windows Server 2003 with SP1 with all the critical updates in place.

Microsoft DPM v2 BETA 1
=======================

GOOD:
1.) Data transfer was “FLYING”. According to the Powerpath Administration, the I/O speeds were averaging 250 ~ 350 and top speed of 425!!!
2.) Install and Uninstall remote agents remotely from DPM.

BAD:
1.) Still buggy with “Replica Invalid” issues. They will need to work on that.
2.) No way of restoring individual mail items from the mailbox in recovery without having to bring the exchange down. They DEFINITELY have to work on that.
3.) Super slow…memory hog. Age old problem. Always bloated.

Backup Exec v11d
================
GOOD – All useful functionalities are there, especially with Exchange mailbox.

BAD:
1.) Slow performance in backing up to SAN. Data transfer rate, according to Powerpath Administration, the IO speed was averaging from 5 to 150.
2.) Was broken to begin with, make sure *ALL* the hotfixes are in place.
3.) No way to uninstall remote agents remotely.

By: Kingsley

Kingsley — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 21:20:55 +0000

Veritas Backup Exec v10.1d has been quite stable and solid for us until Symantec bought it.

The upgrade to Backup Exec v11d was disastrous. Full of bugs that results in the loss of backup. This was unacceptable. Backup is mission critical and should never have any failures.

After reviewing the Microsoft DPM v2 Webcast, I am looking forward to it. We are downloading the v1 and testing that out now.

By: Greg Muir

Greg Muir — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 21:10:31 +0000

This is a real shame. I inherited the backup situation at the company I currently work for. Veritas never seemed to work right. I’ve been running robocopy backups to an external drive simply because I could never be sure that the Veritas backups would be there for me when I really needed them. Between shadow copy and robocopy, I’ve got my data fairly secure. I hoped I could count on BackupExec for the long-term but even that seems to be a shakey proposition. I don’t have very long-term archival needs so I think I’ll just keep rotating my extrnal drives and rely on shadowcopy for day-to-day recovery.