Unitrends v. Symantec Backup Exec 3600

Backup Exec 3600 is a data protection appliance from Symantec.

Primary Advantages of Symantec Backup Exec 3600:

Backup Exec 3600 is a data protection appliance from Symantec.

Primary Disadvantages of Symantec Backup Exec 3600:

Backup Exec 3600 appliance has an entry price that is extremely prohitibitive.
Backup Exec 3600 licensee model is not all inclusive, with licenses required for features like Centralized administration and System Restore.
Backup Exec 3600 offers limited support for Integrated fixed/rotational archiving for disaster recovery and long-term retention (D2D2-disk, -NAS, -SAN).
In an industry in which bad support unfortunately occurs far too often, Backup Exec is legendary for poor support.
Backup Exec 3600 runs Windows Storage Server. Putting data protection software on Windows servers dramatically increases susceptibility to malware attacks.
Care must be taken when performing source-level deduplication (or for that matter, compression and/or encryption) using Backup Exec on systems because of the load it places on those systems.
There is only one usable network port on Backup Exec 3600, which limits the amount of data ingested by the appliance, thereby increasing the backup window.

Products and Licensing

Product and Licensing
	Backup Exec 3600	Unitrends	More Detail
Non-restrictive licensing	Limited	Yes	Standard licensing does not include restrictions on features, platforms supported, or per-client fees. Backup Exec 3600 license includes majority of the agents and applications but not all.
Integrated appliance	Yes	Yes	Support handles a vertically integrated data protection appliance; not just software
Available as physical appliance	Yes	Yes	Available as integrated server, storage, networking, operating system, backup software, archiving software, replication software, and so on.
Available as virtual appliance	No	Yes	Available as integrated operating system, backup software, archiving software, replication software, and so on - as a virtual appliance.
Available as software only	No	No	Available as non-integrated software. Unitrends does not offer non-integrated software

Support

Support
	Backup Exec 3600	Unitrends	More Detail
Supports hardware and software	Yes	Yes	Support handles a vertically integrated data protection appliance; not just software.
Proactive hardware monitoring	Yes	Yes	Standard support includes proactive hardware monitoring
Remote diagnostics	Yes	Yes	Remote diagnostics are available from support
Self-installable	Yes	Yes	The product may be installed by a customer
On-site support	Yes	Yes	On-site support is available
Phone support	Yes	Yes	Telephone support is available
E-mail support	Yes	Yes	E-mail support is available
Online interactive chat support	No	Yes	Online interactive chat support is available
Online support form	Yes	Yes	An online support form (or portal) is available
Knowledgebase	Yes	Yes	A knowledgebase is available
User forums	Yes	Yes	Support monitored and managed user forums are available
Video tutorials	Yes	Yes	Video tutorials offered by the backup vendor

Monitoring and Management

Monitoring and Management
	Backup Exec 3600	Unitrends	More Detail
Appliance-based monitoring/management	Yes	Yes	Monitoring and management of data protection software, operating system, storage, server, and other solution components
Single pane of glass	No	Yes	Monitoring and management of multiple appliances from a single web-based user interface; Backup Exec 3600 requires an additional licensed feature (CASO) for centralized administration. Unitrends appliances have integrated single pane of glass user interface.
Web-based management	Yes	Yes	Monitoring and management can be performed via the web.
SNMP/SMTP/alert-based notifications	Yes	Yes	Notifications are available via SNMP traps, SMTP e-mail, and alerts.

Recovery and Restore

Recovery and Restore
	Backup Exec 3600	Unitrends	More Detail
Instant recovery for Windows	No	Yes	Recovery from a failed Windows server in less than 5 minutes.
Instant recovery for VMware	No	Yes	Recovery from a failed VMware server in less than 5 minutes.
Dissimilar bare metal restore	No	Yes	This includes P2P, P2V, V2P, and V2V. Backup Exec has a different licensed product for bare metal; Unitrends has integrated dissimilar bare metal restore support
Heterogeneous bare metal restore	No	Yes	This includes not only Windows but VMware, Hyper-V, XenServer, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, and other operating systems. Backup Exec has a different licensed product for bare metal; Unitrends has integrated bare metal restore support
Heterogeneous backup	Yes	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends both support a vareity of operating systems, applications and hypervisors.

Backup

Backup
	Backup Exec 3600	Unitrends	More Detail
Virtual and physical backup	Yes	Yes	Supports virtual and physical environments.
Heterogeneous backup	Yes	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends both support a vareity of operating systems, applications and hypervisors.
Heterogeneous storage protection	Yes	Yes	Support for protecting NAS and SAN volumes
Integrated fixed/rotational archiving	Limited	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 does not support rotational archiving.
Continuous incrementals supported	Yes	Yes	Continuous (includes near-CDP snapshot)-based incremental backup is available.
VMware CBT (Change Block Tracking)	Yes	Yes	Support for VMware's CBT is available
Hyper-V CBT (Change Block Tracking)	No	Yes	Support for Hyper-V CBT (which Microsoft does not support) is available; Backup Exec offers only "full" Hyper-V backups
Application level backups	Yes	Yes	Application-level backup is available;
Differential backups supported	Yes	Yes	Differential backup is available
Direct backup to tape	No	No	Direct backup to tape (also called D2T) is available
Maximum concurrent backups	Unlimited	Unlimited	The number of concurrent backups

Technology

Technology
	Backup Exec 3600	Unitrends	More Detail
Supports agents	Yes	Yes	Supports client-level agent-based protection where necessary
Supports agentless	No	Yes	Supports agentless-based protection where necessary; Backup Exec supports this for VMware, Unitrends supports this for VMware, NAS, and iSeries (AS/400)
Deduplication	Yes	Yes	Supports deduplication; Backup Exec 3600 supports source level global deduplication; Unitrends supports target-based byte-level (content aware) deduplication
Retention control policies	Yes	Yes	Supports minimum and maximum retention setting
Encryption	Yes	Yes	At least AES-256 level encryption
Failover virtualization	No	Yes	Supports Windows and VMware instant recovery
Integrated fixed/rotational archiving	Limited	Yes	Integrated Disk-to-disk-to-disk, -tape, -SAN, and -NAS for both long-term retention and disaster recovery; Backup Exec 3600 does not support rotational archiving; Unitrends offer integrated fixed/rotational archiving to disk, tape, SAN and NAS devices.
Grid-based scalability	No	Yes	Backup servers (or appliances) are configured in a grid for interoperability, monitoring, and management
Integrated symmetric and asymetric replication	Yes	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends both support replication in a private and public cloud configuration.
Hub-spoke replication	Yes	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends both support replication in a private and public cloud configuration.
Integrated peer-to-peer replication	Yes	Yes	Cross replication between appliances is supported by Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends.
Integrated private cloud replication	Yes	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends both support replication in a private and public cloud configuration.
Integrated public cloud replication	Yes	Yes	Backup Exec 3600 and Unitrends both support replication in a private and public cloud configuration. Backup Exec 3600 does this with a partnership with Nirvanix, while Unitrends delivers a more integrated public cloud offering with Vault2Cloud.

Unitrends makes this document available for informational purposes only. While we do our best to keep this up-to-date and accurate, we can not and do not represent, warrant or guarantee that it is complete, accurate, or up-to-date, nor does Unitrends offer any certification or guarantee with respect to the opinions expressed herein. Changing circumstances may change the accuracy of the content herein. Opinions presented in this reflect judgment at the time of publication and are subject to change. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, Unitrends assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages resulting from the use of the information herein.

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