Expert System Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
A leader in backup and archiving, but the solution should have higher availability
Pros and Cons
  • "It's the leader in backup and archiving."
  • "Its competitor, Veeam, includes backup and replication in the same product. I don't know if Commvault has it or not, but they should if they don't."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for Commvault is to archive our files. It allows us to move images from temporary storage to permanent storage. Commvault moves everything from the source to the destination, with categorization of the image archive.

What is most valuable?

Archiving and storage are very good.

It's the leader in backup and archiving.

What needs improvement?

The solution needs higher availability.

Its competitor, Veeam, includes backup and replication in the same product. I don't know if Commvault has it or not, but they should if they don't.

Also, they should have a module for reporting and supervising, like Veeam. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for about six months now.
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Commvault Cloud
April 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing for the solution used to be very expensive, but over the last year or so it's been lowered. 

What other advice do I have?

We use the on-premises deployment model.

Commvault is an industry leader. Also, the price is competitive with other solutions, like Veeam. In Morocco, all customers chose Veeam because it's very simple and also their price is not expensive. Now that Commvault has adjusted pricing, they are another solution that people should consider.

I would rate the solution seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user537843 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Good technical support, but the product could use more training
Pros and Cons
  • "Cloud integration."
  • "Training."

How has it helped my organization?

  • Single pane of management
  • Policy driven backup

What is most valuable?

Cloud integration.

What needs improvement?

Training.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How is customer service and technical support?

Good.

How was the initial setup?

Complex.

What other advice do I have?

Invest the time and resources to learn and develop your policies.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Commvault Cloud
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Commvault Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,334 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Systems Administrator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
You can have deduplication on your primary as well as your secondary backup copies (tape, cloud, disk).

CommVault - Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup Software and Integrated Appliances five times in a row.

Looking at the competition in the market, big names comes up; so how possibly CommVault has maintained this position in the last five years? Let us go over a few points that stands out in the Simpana 10 software suite:

1. Deduplication - this leads to a reduction in data being written to the selected storage for your backups. You can have deduplication on your primary as well as your secondary backup copies (tape, cloud, disk).

2. Bug fixes and hotfixes - Commvault has build their software from scratch; no acquisitions were made to build the suite up. We can therefore say that they have a very talented R&D and global team. Added to that their support centers operates around the clock from corners of the world, and for those with a support contract I must say you will be blown away by the number of things these support guys can actually teach you.

3. Partnership and integration: So how come CommVault push to the forefront its support for multiple platforms and vendors(storage etc)? I have been to a few CommVault events, webinars and have noticed how the list of partners have been growing; Software partners, hardware/storage, Cloud.

4. What else have we noticed about CommVault? Single software platform; right!

With Version 11 release this year, lets see what else Commvault has for us.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user633354 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Consultant
In the VM, we have Live Recovery, Live Mount, and Live Sync
Pros and Cons
  • "In the VM, we have Live Recovery, Live Mount, and Live Sync."
  • "We previously had difficulty with the support being foreign."

What is our primary use case?

It's for the file system backup, reel backup, and databases.

We have been using the solution for four years.

How has it helped my organization?

We have a physical server with actual machines, applications, and databases running on it. We do a daily backup on these.

What is most valuable?

In the VM, we have Live Recovery, Live Mount, and Live Sync.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We are happy with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are happy with the scalability. We have 30 to 40 physical servers with 100 VMs. With this product, it is not about users, but about the amount of nodes utilized.

We will probably increase by two or three nodes in six months, depending on the requirements of our project.

How are customer service and technical support?

We are very happy now with the technical support, as it is Indian. We previously had difficulty with the support being foreign.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not previously use another solution.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation should be done by a certified Commvault engineer to avoid issues in the future.

What other advice do I have?

We are waiting for the new version to come out.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Distributor.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Leader in Advanced Services department at a tech services company
Consultant
Built-in reports provide better visibility with almost zero effort put into the configuration
Pros and Cons
  • "Great archive feature, OnePass, for the file system and Exchange servers."

    What is most valuable?

    1. There are many features that I value Commvault for, but to name only a few:
    2. Wide support for different OSS and applications. You can backup almost anything with Commvault.
    3. Policy-based configuration, which allows for easily configurable policies for even larger environments.
    4. Central administration: Management and deployment are done from one administration console. No need to login to clients neither during configuration nor during installation. Upgrades and SP installation can also be done automatically or manually from the administration console.
    5. Great working global deduplication which saves a lot of space and bandwidth if you want to use replication. It can be configured as a source or target side.
    6. Ability to easily configure data flows between primary and secondary storage using different storage (disk, tape, or cloud) with different policies for each storage.
    7. Built-in reports provide better visibility with almost zero effort put into the configuration.
    8. Great archive feature, OnePass, for the file system and Exchange servers.
    9. Great stability and resiliency, and many others.

    What needs improvement?

    Licensing could be better explained. Sometimes, it's unclear what features are available in different licensing models.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    If you set it right at the beginning, then it basically just works with very little administrative effort.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Commvault scales great in a scale-up and scale-out manner. E.g., if your backup server (MediaAgent) isn't enough anymore, you can simply add another. Same goes for disk space and other resources.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Very good. Guys from tech support are very quick to respond. On average, I had my issues solved in a day or two.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I use other solutions (TSM, Veeam, etc.) and Commvault is my number one for ability to easily manage very complex environments with very little administrative effort. Also, resiliency is it's strong advantage, i.e., if you backup SQL DBs with Commvault and someone does a backup outside of Commvault, it will automatically convert the next job (whether log or differential backup) to full where other solutions could simply fail.

    Another great example is when doing VMware backups, Commvault automatically discovered hosts affected with a known CBT issue (in v6.0) and turn it off, where needed. This is the difference between just having a backup and having data that you can count on if you need it.

    How was the initial setup?

    Initial setup may take some reading, but can be done pretty quick in simple environments. The administration console may be overwhelming at first look, but is very easy to use after some practice. I would say that given so many features and options hidden behind it, it is a job well done.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Evaluate different licensing models before buying. It can save a lot of money.

    What other advice do I have?

    Commvault is very committed to their product, so with either a small or very large environment, you can't go wrong choosing Commvault.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: My company is a partner of Commvault.
    PeerSpot user
    PeerSpot user
    Unix&SAN team lead at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    A wide range of application-specific agents with very flexible options related to backup, recovery and data management.
    Pros and Cons
    • "Well documented SQL views and customizable reports, together with scripts and workflows provides ability to automate processes and ensure proper controls are in place."
    • "Mostly controls, visibility, cost allocation."

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have covered all our important applications by backup policy and ensure that application owners are aware, how data is backed up and what RPO is expected, as well as cost of such backup implementation.

    What is most valuable?

    A wide range of application-specific agents with very flexible options related to backup, recovery and data management.

    Also, pretty we 

    What needs improvement?

    Mostly controls, visibility, cost allocation. Other general features like backup protection (via multiple copies), storage optimization (like compression/deduplication, tape refresh etc.) were in place before we switched to CommVault.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Previously, with versions 8 and 9 yes. But starting from version 10 there were no major issues.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    In general, no. But some features like context indexing and searching have some limitations, which should be considered from the very beginning.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Customer Service:

    I would rate at 9 out of 10. Customer service is arranged pretty well.

    Technical Support:

    Depends on the topic. Issues related to configuration are resolved in a timely manner by first-line support. But if something needs to be escalated to development, it's really hard to predict when the issue will be resolved, even having BCS. The only way here is to have Professional Service in place, which is not reasonable from a cost perspective. Though, at the stage of initial assessment, first-time deployment or analysis of bottlenecks and potential issues/risks in future, Professional Service is definitely makes sense.

    Overall rating: eight out of 10.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Yes, we had different solutions across locations. The decision was made to unify the backup solution across our branches. CommVault was chosen based on multiple factors.

    How was the initial setup?

    Initial setup is pretty straightforward. But further migrations required a lot of effort (like DR setup, migration to another major version, migration of major components (CS/MA) to another servers, etc.).

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented in-house. Vendor (partner actually) was engaged during assessment of our environment before major version upgrade. Professional Service was very valuable. Level of expertise was really impressive.

    What was our ROI?

    I cannot estimate ROI for backup/archive solutions.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Can't provide such advice. It highly depends on initial environment and estimated growth for year and more.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Definitely yes. I would not reveal other options we looked into but I believe everyone is aware of the top five backup solutions.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user755382 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Sr.System Engineer with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Enables backup and archive in a single job
    Pros and Cons
    • "Backup and archive with a single window, with a single backup job. You only need to type "c"."
    • "I just wanted to compare the features, which are there in EMC NetWorker, which are not available in Commvault. We have things using Networker."

    How has it helped my organization?

    Earlier, the legacy was you needed to backup and, when you needed to do an archive, you needed to do an archive job again. With Commvault it is a single job, which does both backup and archive, so it does not touch the data twice.

    What is most valuable?

    Backup and archive with a single window, with a single backup job. You only need to type "c".

    What needs improvement?

    Actually Commvault is good software. I just wanted to compare the features, which are there in EMC NetWorker, which are not available in Commvault. We have things using Networker, I just wanted to see what is the advantage over Commvault.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Commvault is very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is scalable, and it can grow up the environment.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    No, it was in manual backup earlier, now it is an automated.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was pretty simple and straightforward.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Symantec, Veritas. We chose this one because it was the first which had all available storage types, deep storage, cloud storage, and it has a global database system.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user831651 - PeerSpot reviewer
    it_user831651Sr. Storage Engineer with 1-10 employees
    User

    For disclosure, I was an installer and supporter of Networker from 1993 to 2013. I've installed and configured it hundreds of times for customers. I had to script it to do a most things. I considered Networker a toolbox that gave me the tools I needed to get the job done. Around 2000, we started investigating CommVault. It took a few years before they finally had the feature set to compete with Networker. I have done a couple of hundred installs and upgrades of CommVault, and still do. We totally dropped even doing PS for Networker with 9.x. In a nutshell, CommVault did everything out of the box, that I had to script Networker to do, and more. There is no comparison. CommVault is the Lamborghini of data protection without the price tag, due to competition. Capitalism works.

    Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
    Consultant
    Consult with the Commvault team for proper hardware sizing and take suggestions on implementation phases
    Pros and Cons
    • "One-Pass (Archive) DataBase backup (Online Backup and Granular level restore), VM backup and restore."
    • "Endpoint backup."

    How has it helped my organization?

    Let's take the example of 5TB file data. Out of 5 TB, around 3 TB data is non-usable (Achievable).

    With Commvault, we run a single job as a one-pass job, it will run backup and archive in a single job, no need to run two jobs for backup and archive them differently. It saves my backup window.

    What is most valuable?

    One-Pass (Archive) DataBase backup (Online Backup and Granular level restore), VM backup and restore.

    What needs improvement?

    Endpoint backup.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    No.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    No.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Good, a nine out of 10.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    No.

    How was the initial setup?

    Straightforward, it takes 30-40 min to setup the server.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    New licensing is easy and affordable.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Yes, Symantec, EMC, and HPE.

    What other advice do I have?

    It's a good product, but consult with the Commvault team too, for proper hardware sizing and take suggestions on implementation phases.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Commvault Cloud Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: April 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Commvault Cloud Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.