Up and Coming – CommVault Round 3…?

No way…

Yes, you read it right. Be expecting more on this to come over the next couple of weeks as I learn more. I will get to play with it in some capacity so maybe I can share some good stuff. I am going to be covering some things around considerations and designs – hopefully. We all know that this was a hot topic a while back but now that the dust has settled maybe I can have some progress. CommVault has made some pretty strong improvements over the past couple of months. They have covered some of the pain points I had with it in a pretty good amount of time. I don’t think this would’ve happened had some folks not made a point to show some of these things openly. My number one gripe back in the day was how CommVault NOR VEEAM had “TRUE” vCloud Director compatibility – IN MY OPINON (all caps shows my emphasis). I am sure that by now this and maybe a few other things have changed. I am not sure I will be doing any comparisons per se but it will be good to see how the latest greatest stacks up. I think by now I can easily say I know what industry standards look like for VMware backups and the expectations and performance should be. One thing you can take to the bank is that I plan to do my home work just like last time. If there is something I don’t like or think needs improved I will most certainly write about it. All the folks out there that read this blog need to understand there isn’t a lot of information out there around some of these topics I cover. I would encourage any person reviewing a CommVault solution to do your homework. There are a lot of things to consider when going with a backup product. Let’s hope this time around I don’t have to pull any punches…

VMware Backup Journey CommVault and Veeam

The Beginning…
When I first started testing solutions for BU/DR for VMware it was a very interesting journey (in my lab). It was a big pain using IBM TSM for  virtual VMware backups, it’s also hard to find information on it as well..(Previous Experiences)  Other products like Data Domain are really useful to and serve their purpose.

VEEAM number 1 for VMware? (Is it true? Decide for yourself )
Personally, you will have to decide for yourself if Veeam is number 1 for VMware.  I personally don’t know because I really haven’t seen it deployed in large environments. I have tested it and worked with extensively a part from that.  I also believe it is one of the most advanced products when it comes to VMware environments.  It also offers a lot of features that most products for VMware Environments don’t. Of course this could be because they have some patent pending technologies.

Enter… CommVault… (The gap filler)
So needless to say as awesome and fun as it was working with VEEAM I had no choice but to check out CommVault. CommVault has an interesting approach and a Gap closer being able to bridge virtual and physical environments. That offer alone is enough for some companies to make a decision.  In some ways it may be better to compare CommVault to IBM TSM then to Veeam.  I will do my best to compare it to only VEEAM in regards to virtual environments.

My Personal Thoughts:
CommVault does have a lot of good things going for it but I sincerely believe (personal opinion) Veeam is a more “mature” backup product for the virtual arena.  I also think that Veeam could learn a thing or two from CommVault like getting into that physical backup space.  At the end of the day most companies would probably prefer an overall solution to multiple solutions  for backup and DR.  The answers lies and design and your requirements.  If your cloud platform has to meet certain requirements then VEEAM may be a better fit.  Then again, if you have to meet other requirements like retention requirements, encryption, of more granular things (like backup reporting) then CommVault may be a better fit. Pricing and things like that also have their pros and cons.

***Disclaimer: The thoughts and views expressed on VirtualNoob.wordpress.com and Chad King in no way reflect the views or thoughts of his employer or any other views of a company. These are his personal opinions which are formed on his own. Also, products improve over time and some things maybe out of date. Please feel free to contact us and request an update and we will be happy to assist. Thanks!~