Zerto vs Veeam vs Bacula Enterprise

Veeam is a popular data protection services company that has grown consistently since it began its operations in 2006. The platform focuses on virtual machine data and replication and partners with several businesses to provide services to a growing customer base. The main benefits of Veeam are the platform’s reliability and speed. Because the solution has a free plan, more documentation is available to help you deal with your backups.

How it Works: Veeam uses VM snapshot technology to create replicas of virtual machines (they do this by combining the snapshots with Changed Block Tracking, or CBT). When the system creates a snapshot, it also assembles a redo file and fills it with all changes made during the replication. Once it’s finished, it merges the redo file with the snapshot into a live disk file – so the next time you start a replication job, you will only have to copy the latest changes to the replica VR. Because of this technology, however, you should keep in mind that Veeam can cause disruptions to production environments and have RPOs of hours.

The three solutions we have covered are all leaders in disaster recovery and data backup. Each of them, however, has different benefits that can fit your business better depending on your particular needs.

Why Zerto

• Licensing: Zerto offers three licensing categories, which you can mix and match based on different applications. Zerto for Virtual Machines offers a Zerto Data Protection plan with backup administration (local replication, orchestrated backup, long-term retention and analytics), disaster recovery (same as previous plus orchestrated DR, one-to-many replications, remote replication, and moves), and a migration license. Zerto for Kubernetes Licensing offers continuous backup and disaster recovery on-premises or in the cloud for 8 vCPUs across worker nodes and has a discount for high-volume purchases. Lastly, there is Zerto for SaaS Applications, a new backup offering for SaaS cloud data that automates Microsoft 365, Google Workplace, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Salesforce solutions. The prices are not available online, so you will have to contact a channel partner to choose the best deal based on your infrastructure.
• Security: Zerto has implemented good security features to keep your data protected. Its disaster recovery plans include encryption and communication over secure channels. The company meets tough enterprise-class standards for mission-critical applications.
• Summary: If you want to get a fast RPO for your virtual systems, Zerto is an excellent option.

Why Veeam

• Pricing: The price of a Veeam implementation varies depending on the number of workloads you want to protect and the subscription period. The model allows you to calculate the cost for virtual VMs, cloud VMs, servers, workstations, Microsoft 365 users, and NAS/file shares (TB). The subscription periods are 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 years.
• Security: Veeam uses immutable native backups (Hardened Linux Repository and Amazon S3 Object Lock); it tests all security patches against fresh production data and verifies backups during recovery processes using an interface that mixes malware and antivirus solutions).
• Summary: If you are not too worried about RPO requirements and you are looking for an affordable solution, Veeam is a great option to use for replication.

Why Bacula Enterprise

• Pricing: Unlike its competitors, Bacula Enterprise has no capacity-based pricing. All charges are transparent; you choose a server, and you don’t need to worry about any additional CPUs. All it takes is an annual subscription, and you will have immediate access to all patches, upgrades, and updates. There are a number of levels of subscription (for example , Standard, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum), which are determined by the number of machines or “agents” you want to backup, restore, or deploy. In short, Bacula’s licensing model is very simple: One subscription gives you access to all features, and there is no data volume charge.
• Security: Bacula Enterprise uses a unique modular architecture that does not require two-way communication between elements – therefore removing security vulnerabilities present in its competitors’ solutions. Bacula plans also include two-factor authentication, TOTP (Time-based One Time Password), automated system checks, immutable and Append only volume protection, antivirus, and communication encryptions, among others. Bacula’s security is so robust that some of the largest western military and government institutions rely on its solution.
• Wider Technology Fit: The breadth of files types, applications, databases, virtual machines, containers, Cloud interfaces, storage interfaces, operating systems and other technologies that Bacula offers native integration into is remarkable. This means a data center can back up its entire department from a single Bacula platform, becoming more secure, more efficient and lowering costs dramatically.
• Scalability: Bacula is especially scalable and robust in big, complex and demanding IT environments, such as HPC and large government research laboratories.
• Flexibility: Bacula is typically far more customizable, flexible, modular and agile to use than its peers. One example is that Scripts are easy to implement. Another is the way users can mix-and-match its browser-based GUI with its Command Line Interface.
• Summary: Bacula Enterprise can be your ideal choice if you are looking for a robust scalable disaster recovery solution that won’t penalize you for a high data volume.

Which is Better: Zerto, Veeam, or Bacula Enterprise?

Zerto offers cross-platform replication, continuous data protection, and automated migrations with ready-made compliance, but it can be an expensive platform to scale and doesn’t offer comprehensive reports. Veeam supports over a hundred cloud integrations and granular storage infrastructure options, although its snapshot technology means you might have challenges meeting demanding RPOs. Bacula Enterprise offers state-of-the-art security and excellent granular disaster recovery and supports numerous storage alternatives, but the sheer breadth and depth of the solution can be harder to master – although this is mitigated somewhat by its recently-modernized web-based GUI. A command line interface is also available.

Bacula Enterprise is the best backup solution for scenarios where you need to store large amounts of data and quickly recover it. The platform is robust, reliable and was developed with cost-benefit in mind, and supports many integrations such as visualization tools and databases.

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