Comparison of Arcserve UDP and Veritas NetBackup

Anyone involved with IT in a midsize enterprise in any meaningful capacity wants to make the best choice when it comes to data protection.

These individuals intuitively understand the complexities associated with supporting this environment. Inside the data center one finds multiple types of software. Outside the data center, one encounters multiple types of clouds, edge devices and PCs.

On top of these variables, enterprise IT must also account for next gen requirements that span the gamut. All these variables contribute to an enterprise needing a sophisticated solution that protects its data and equips it for future requirements.

Arcserve UDP and Veritas NetBackup
Midsize enterprises frequently consider Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) and Veritas NetBackup as solutions to protect their environments. Both products target enterprises though they approach them differently.

Arcserve specifically targets and develops its UDP software for midsize enterprises with 250-5,000 employees.

In contrast, a recent analysis of over 2,000 companies that use NetBackup found these companies range in employee size. 38% were midsize (200-5,000 employees) and 30% were large enterprises (5,000+ employees.) This analysis illustrates NetBackup provides the breadth of features that enterprises need.

The larger question becomes whether a midsize enterprise can easily and cost effectively utilize NetBackup’s features. That’s where the importance of selecting a solution optimized for a midsize enterprise emerges.

Baseline Requirements for Midsize Enterprises
To make the best choice, a midsize enterprise must first verify any solution under consideration meets its baseline data protection and recovery requirements.

These break down into 5 general areas:
• OSs (OSes)
• Applications
• Hypervisors
• Cloud
• Next-gen requirements

Both UDP and NetBackup deliver on these features core to midsize enterprise requirements. Each solution supports the primary applications, databases, OSs, and hypervisors that a midsize enterprise commonly uses.

Arcserve’s focus on delivering a solution optimized for a midsize enterprise shows up in a few ways. The company brings its own cloud offering to the table. Using its all-in-one DR service, the firm can host backup data and perform recoveries in its cloud on behalf of the midsize enterprise. The vendor also protects Microsoft Office 365 data whereas Veritas offers a separate SaaS backup offering to protect Office 365 data.

Endpoint Data and Anti-Ransomware Protection
Endpoint data and anti-ransomware protection frequently factor in when making the best choice among data protection solutions. Both Arcserve and Veritas share some traits in common in how their respective solutions help a midsize enterprise protect vs. ransomware. The two firms do, however, currently differ in their respective strategies for detecting and preventing ransomware on endpoint devices.

Veritas suggests that a midsize enterprise separately deploy Carbonite EndPoint to secure its endpoint devices from ransomware.

In contrast, Arcserve offers its own backup agents to backup endpoint devices. It also partners with Sophos to detect and protect Windows, Linux, and Unix clients from ransomware.

Installation and Management
Both firms offer integrated backup appliances to accelerate and simplify deployment and management of their respective solutions. Both these providers each offer a range of appliances to meet the needs of different size midsize enterprises.

To configure NetBackup, best practices call for deploying a minimum of 2 servers: a NetBackup master server and one or more media servers. A midsize enterprise should find UDP offers a more straightforward, lower cost software configuration and licensing framework. An enterprise may only need to acquire a single Arcserve server that can host all necessary UDP software and associated license keys.

Backup Solution Costs
Often the cost of the software becomes the deciding factor when making the best choice. Both vendors offer software licensing options that may appeal to a midsize enterprise. Among NetBackup’s additional software licensing options, 2 stand out. Its Starter Pack provides data protection for 5, 20, or 40 clients and starts at about $3,250. While more affordable, a midsize enterprise cannot upgrade this version to NetBackup Enterprise Server.

UDP breaks its licensing out in distinct ways that a midsize enterprise may more easily grasp and implement. A midsize enterprise may choose from four different editions of UDP with pricing starting at under $700. Once a midsize enterprise identifies the version that best matches it requirements, it selects the most optimal software licensing option for its environment.

UDP Tuned to Midsize Enterprise Needs
Both UDP and NetBackup provide the range of features that merit consideration by a midsize enterprise. However, when it comes to making the best choice for data protection in midsize enterprises, Arcserve specifically tunes UDP to match these requirements.

It already natively supports Office 365 and endpoint data protection and delivers all-in-one disaster recoveries both on-premises and in the cloud. Further, it delivers these features using a robust, yet simple to understand software version and licensing model.