VMWare Backup Solution Comparison - Part 1

[jens_straten2]

Finally, I have some extra time to post our VMWare Backup Solution Comparison. Since I am not a journalist writing test reports, I apologize if my post is cluttered at times. Please feel free to ask if anything is unclear.

Initially, I would like to briefly list our requirements for a backup solution for VMWare:

a) Performance

At a minimum all incremental backups should be able to complete in a nightly window from 9pm to 6am (9 hours). Ideally, we also wanted to have the option to run full backups in that time window.

b) Central Solution

We wanted a solution that is easy to use and that can be executed from an existing server performing a backup over the network.

c) Reliability

The solution is critical to our business and so it had to be reliable.

d) Cost

We were looking for a small business solution with a reasonable initial price and low future cost.

After some initial research we had a list of potential candidates:

a) Backup Exec 2010 from Symantec

b) Veeam Backup & Replication 4.1 from Veeam

c) vRanger Pro from Vizioncore

d) PHD Virtual Backup (esxpress 4.0) from PHD Virtual

e) VMWare Consolidated Backup

[Former Member]

I know it has been 5 years, but for anyone having similar requirements for a VM backup software, I suggest to try NAKIVO Backup & Replication.

a) Performance:

NAKIVO Backup & Replication can be deployed as a Linux based VA, with 4GB of RAM and 2 CPUs the software works really fast. The backups can be completed within provided time window, given that the storage and network are fast enough.

b) Central Solution:

NAKIVO Backup & Replication has a web based interface, which provides central point of management. The software supports multi-tenancy and self-service. Most of our customers say our solution is way easier to use than other similar backup solutions.

c) Reliability:

See our success stories athttp://nakivo.com/en/customers/success-stories.html or read customer feedback on spiceworkshttps://community.spiceworks.com/product/45287-nakivo-backup-replication

d) Cost:

NAKIVO Backup & Replication is designed for SMB; the pricing starts at 199/socket.

Regards,

Anna

[Former Member]

I know it's 5 years later, but I also have a client (SAP ECC + Windows + SQL Server) which would like to use VEEAM for their backup solution.  My findings after research were the following:

Veeam integrates with SQL Server, and can back up the SQL server database. Veeam cannot integrate with SAP (or DB13), therefore Veeam cannot guarantee that SAP will “understand” the SQL Server database after it is restored.

There are no SAP NOTES about VEEAM. From SAP forums I picked up that:

• Veeam does not support integration with SAP systems.
• Veeam backups work for OS recovery
• Data and Log backup of database are still needed for SAP Supported Recovery

[jens_straten2]

After making some calls to Symantec we quickly realized that Backup Exec 2010 is not a small business solution. Even though we understand that Backup Exec 2010 comes with additional funcitonality, this does not justify the significantly higher cost. It also appears that the other solutions listed provide better performance and functionality when it comes to VMWare backups. This seems to be especially true if you are looking for incremental backups.

After a brief review we also dropped PHD Virtual Backup (esxpress 4.0) from our comparison test. Even though we liked many aspects (e.g. ease of use, performance), we ultimately didn't like the fact that PHD Virtual Backup runs on a virtual machine itself. It should be noted that this is just a personal preference that doesn't really have an impact on the functionality of the backup itself.

Unfortunately, we had trouble to get VMWare Consolidated Backup to work and so we didn't evaluate it at all because it didn't meet our ease of use requirement.

That left us with two solutions for a direct comparison for our final decision making process. All testing was performed on the same hardware (1 VMWare Server with 3 VMs; 1 iSCSI server; 1 Windows Server running the backup solution; all machines use 2 GB NICs with load balancing) and we evaluated the following aspects:

[jens_straten2]

a) Performance

Both solutions completed our 3 backups (1x Solution Manager = ~2:00 h, 2x ERP IDES = ~4:30 h) successfully. The total runtime difference between both solutions was 10-15 minutes per backup with each solution coming in first on at least one backup. This made us believe that the actual difference was caused by environmental changes (e.g. network load).

For the restore process we noted that vRanger Pro was consistently faster (Solution Manager = ~15, ERP IDES = ~25 m) than Veeam Backup.

On the other hand Veeam Backup completed all incremental backups (Solution Manager = ~4 m, ERP IDES = ~9 m) faster than vRanger Pro.

Summary: No clear winner in this category.

b) Functionality & User Interface

Both solutions installed quickly, but we noted that the installer from Veeam Backup is easier to use whereas the installer from vRanger Pro provides more options. At the same time the vRanger Pro setup appears somewhat cluttered for our taste.

Each solution provides very similar core functionality which includes different options to perform the backup/restore. These options typically include the following options: vStorage API, VMWare Consolidated Backup and Network. Target drives can be SAN, iSCSI or Network.

It should be noted that all solutions work significantly faster with SAN or iSCSI targets than with simply networked drives.

vRanger Pro seems to provide more flexibility and enterprise functionality (e.g. detailed reporting) in the current release, but it puts replication, which is included in Veeam Backup, in a separate product with additional licensing cost.

Summary: vRanger Pro provides more flexibility in the setup, but Veeam Backup is overall easier to use. No clear winner, but we liked Veeam Backup slightly better.

[jens_straten2]

c) Sales & Support

We initially encountered a problem installing Veeam Backup on our hardware environment and we noted that Veeam Support went out of their way to provide us with a solution. We did not use Vizioncore's support and we would also like to mention that support was not a factor to decide upon a product for us.

On the sales side we can report that both sales teams are very friendly and helpful. Vizioncore quickly sent us some invites to an online product presentation, but we couldn't participate due to time constraints.

Summary: Not a factor for our product selection process.

d) Cost

Both solutions seem to use a similar licensing plan, but we have to keep in mind that replication is included in Veeam Backup. We also liked the fact that future releases are always free as long as the product has an active maintenance contract. This is very small business friendly.

Summary: Veeam Backup provides more value at a lower price.

[jens_straten2]

Test Summary

Both products are very similar in performance, functionality and cost, but we also seem to like Veeam Backup just a little bit more than vRanger Pro. We also liked Veeam's included capability to replicate an entire virtual machine.

Overall, vRanger Pro provides a little bit more configuration flexibility and options for enterprise customers than Veeam Backup in it's current release. On the other hand Veeam Backup 5.0 will be released shortly and it lists a lot of new enterprise functionality along with the highly anticipated Sure Backup functionality.

In the end we feel that all solutions (including Symantec and PHD Virtual) provide viable backup functionality and so it will largely depend on your requirements and budget to determine the right backup solution for your organization.

In our case the best match is Veeam Backup and we have been using it successfully for us for more than a month now.

[jens_straten2]

Comments

I didn't post actual times because they would be environment specific and useless for comparison.

All performance related results were taken in an environment that is NOT a dedicated test environment. However, we gave a best effort to run our tests during idle network times.

This is not a comprehensive comparison. There are other solutions which we did not evaluate.

Please note that any backup solutions requires a VMWare ESX/ESXi license to function.

Disclaimer: Straten Consulting is not associated with any company listed in this report. All results are for informational purposes only and we explicitly encourage you to test all products in your own environment to find the best solution for your organization.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Best regards,

Jens Straten

President of Straten Consulting

http://www.stratenconsulting.com

[Nik3]

Hi Jens,

thanks for posting your impressions.

I have got one question regarding this topic, maybe you read an answer to it somewhere.

Is there a statement by SAP which says that software like e.g. vRanger is supported in an SAP environment (MSSQL)?

Best regards

Nik