Backup Exec vs Backup Exec System Recovery

Hello all,

I have a general question that has been bothering me for some time. Why does Symantec still make backup exec when BESR will not only do image backups, but file backups as well?

The only reason I can think of is for people that still backup using tape. I priced it out last month and a license of BESR is cheaper than BE, and it seems to have more functionality. I'm confused.

I've been running BESR on our new server for about 2 weeks now and I love it. It's a great product.

Thanks,
Sub

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Comments

blargoe

subl1m1nal wrote: »

Hello all,

I have a general question that has been bothering me for some time. Why does Symantec still make backup exec when BESR will not only do image backups, but file backups as well?

Isn't BESR significantly more expensive? It's great for DR, but I don't think you can do granular item-level restores for Exchange, SharePoint, etc.

subl1m1nal

When I priced it out, BESR was about $100 cheaper (this is off the top of my head). Good point about the granular restore. The server I priced it out for doesn't run exchange or Sharepoint, but I believe there is a granular restore option similar to BE.

Lamini

watching this thread for the answer! I have some systems with BackupExec and remember trying to figure out why there were two server backup solutions from Symantec, but never delved into the pros/cons of each, I did see the price difference.

subl1m1nal

Glad I'm not the only person wondering. I'm familiar with both products, but to me it makes more sense to go with BESR. It's more cost effective and has more functionality. The only downside I see is that it doesn't do tapes.

FYI: They do make a granular restore option: https://www4.symantec.com/Vrt/offer?a_id=87617

blargoe

Are you paying for the central management of your BESR installs (I think there is a mgmt server that is an add-on) vs the server/agent model for Backup Exec? For the life of me I don't remember exactly how that works. I've been on NetBackup for 3 years now but I have a single server protecting itself with BESR. For a single server, BESR >>>>>>>> BE in every way including cost. Probably similar for multiple servers if you're not using tape but I can't say for sure since I've never managed multiple BESR.

subl1m1nal

Nah, I'm running just in standalone mode. I do believe there are ways to add agents however. Not sure of the cost comparison to BE.

skyline

From symantec's site

"BESR is mainly meant for Disaster Recovery of a system disk, but one could also use it also for data backup in smaller environments. it is ONLY disk support.
BE one can use to do total backup or together with BESR copy RP's to tape and do a backup of all the DATA"

Hope this helps

brad-

The last price I saw was:
BESR: $510 per unit
BE12.5: $363

Those were for servers. The DT/LT price was $180.

12.5 Had some other built in costs for the admin console, SQL, Exchange, copy to tape, etc.

I tested both of them and I really liked BESR. Worth that cost IMHO.

Bluejean

There are a few key differences between the products.

1. As you mentioned BE will back to tape as BESR will not.

2. BE offers "data protection" whereas BESR is "full disaster recovery."

3. BE is more customizable than BESR. If you have 5 servers, a mix of file and SQL servers for example, you would first purchase your core BE license and from there you can purchase specific agents and options for the rest of the servers. For a file server you would use an Agent for Windows Systems and this is significantly cheaper than buying a license of BESR, as BESR is licensed per server. For some customers the over all cost of BE is far less than BESR as not every server requires a full system restore.

4. BE offers a built in "Continuous Protection" agent. When using Continuous Protection you will never lose any data. For example, every time an employee saves a document, the CP agent will take an image of the new data and send it to the standby CP server. With BESR, let's say you only run backups at the end of every night. If your system fails during the middle of the day you will in theory lose any unsaved data from the previous backup to that point. Some customers actually use BE in conjunction with BESR for this feature alone.

I know I am a bit late answering this question but hopefully this helps to clarify.