Unitrends Archiving 1U 4-Bay Recovery Device
$1,115.99
Mfg # RXDA
CDW # 2753841
Know your gear
The Unitrends RXDA Disk Archiving Unit is a 1U, rack-mountable device designed to provide a spannable, hot swappable architecture for archival purposes that supports archive sets spanning from 1 to 4 drives at a time. The RXDA is ideal for use in small, mid-sized, and large enterprise businesses.
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Unitrends Archiving 1U 4-Bay Recovery Device is rated
4.20 out of
5 by
27.
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Aaron Krytus from
We can remote manage, monitor and report multiple client sites, but there's no support for dual VPN utilization.
What is our primary use case?
We currently use Unitrends to backup of local on premises environment as well as our Azure VMs.
We use our local network as an off-site storage for our Azure VMs and replicate our local backups to Azure.
We also have several appliances installed at our customers. Using the notifications we can easily monitor backups and address any failures quickly.
How has it helped my organization?
This product has given us the ability to remote manage, monitor and report multiple client sites .
We have relied on this appliance several times to recover our clients from Crytpo viruses that have locked their files for ransom.
What is most valuable?
- Cloud replication
- Remote management of clients
- Reporting
- Iinstant recovery (allows a spin-up of your image as a VM on the appliance).
What needs improvement?
Pushing the client to Windows 8 and Server 2012, no appliance update notifications, more stable pricing model, no support for dual VPN utilization (required for cloud replication and remote monitoring which cannot be done simultaneously).
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Unitrends is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is very scalable however if you are a small company that uses multiple subnets you must purchase a higher end appliance with multiple NICs. The lower end appliance no longer come with 2.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Customer service is excellent.
Technical Support:
Technical support is very qualified and educated.
Which solutions did we use previously?
We previously used 3X and they went out of business.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is very easy and straight foreword. You will need to program the Unitrends appliance with network configurations. Next will be installing the client on each workstation. This can be pushed on Windows 7 and earlier. Server 2012 and Windows 8 will require you to visit each workstation.
Configuring some of the advanced features however can be very tedious and difficult. A call to Unitrends support more than likely will be necessary.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the product for ourselves and a several clients.
What was our ROI?
How much is your data worth to you?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing model constantly changes.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Unitrends we also looked at Veeam, Symantec, Acronis, Backup Assist, etc.
What other advice do I have?
This is a great product. Easy to setup, technical support is great, lots of documentation available. The reports are great to keep your backups working and recovery testing is easy.
We have needed to restore a handful of times already and having Unitrends has been 100% thus far making us look good.
There recently has been a lot of restructuring that has been happening at Unitrends and our common contacts and reps keep changing. They have also switched their sales model and no longer sell direct.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:We originally we just a customer and began selling this product to our customers and eventually becoming a partner.
Date published: 2015-07-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Ken Edgar from
Able to migrate backup solutions without having to purchase a lot of hardware separately. Technical support has not been very helpful when there are complex issues.
How has it helped my organization?
We had a pretty solid backup platform before. I wouldn't say Unitrends made anything better, besides ditching Symantec's per TB licensing model and saving us a lot of money.
What is most valuable?
Being an appliance-based solution, we were able to migrate backup solutions without having to purchase a lot of hardware separately.
What needs improvement?
Support is great for small simple issues, but anything more difficult, it is hard to get good resolutions without having to badger them and their management. I think maybe Unitrends' support teams are too small for the size of their customer base and numbers of incidents.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Issues with one appliance having disk-related issues happens often. There were many issues with this one appliance (with different causes). Another appliance is habitually having issues with archive times to Unitrends Archive device.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would like one management console for a whole environment that works quickly. It can be done, however anything you look up slows queries down because you might be searching multiple backup appliances at once.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Like any other company, sales will tell you almost anything, but the real proof is when you get it in your environment for a test drive.
Technical Support:
Technical support has not been very helpful when there are complex issues. It is sometimes difficult to find someone who can answer questions the right way. I have had tickets that have changed hands, and each person claims to have fixed the issue while there are multiple reasons given for the problem.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Symantec Net Backup: It was too costly.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was not difficult, but did require planning.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented through a partner, but much of the work was done by my own team.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Bacula, Rubrik (I think it was too new at that point), and Dell.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Brandon Hetzer from
The customer and technical support are excellent
What is our primary use case?
We use it to back up files and virtual machine (VM) instances.
How has it helped my organization?
It works as expected the vast majority of the time. This is an improvement over other products that seem to break with the slightest change in the environment.
What is most valuable?
The simple and fast restore routine.
What needs improvement?
There are a few quirks where the GUI, agent, and back-end are not precisely meshed. The new OS may have fixed those issues, however.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues.
How is customer service and technical support?
Excellent.
Which solutions did we use previously?
We used software-only products. There were a number of incidents where the compatibility with the hardware was not a 100 percent.
This solution alleviates the compatibility issue.
How was the initial setup?
It was probably as simple as could be considering that every environment will need some amount of tweaking.
What about the implementation team?
It was implemented in-house.
What was our ROI?
Not calculated. Estimated at about one year.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Initial pricing is competitive. Renewal pricing is steep, so make sure to project costs for the lifetime of the appliance(s).
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
None worth mentioning here.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-11-26T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Rick Pooley from
Allows us to add new assets to our existing backup strategy with minimal errors
Unitrends allows us to easily add new assets to our existing backup strategy with no headaches. I am used to seeing quite a bit of errors when using different backup strategies and this has been minimized. When I have had to reach out to Unitrends support, they are quick to get back to me and try their best to help come up with a solution. I've had good luck with the product so far and wouldn't hesitate to implement it again.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
itmanage759144 from
Cuts down on the amount of time spent verifying backups
What is most valuable?
* Backup to disk
* Ability to restore to virtual machines.
How has it helped my organization?
It cuts down on the amount of time spent verifying backups.
What needs improvement?
Renewal issues: It should have the ability to do year-by-year for multiple years.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Any issues that come up are handled by tech support and our onboarder.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is rock solid.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service: Awesome support.
Technical Support: Awesome support.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Arcserve. We switched to a new solution due to usability.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
In-house.
What was our ROI?
Two years.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Not applicable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No.
What other advice do I have?
It is a great system.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Bartt Nelson from
Easily mastered interface and application for backup/recovery, which is versatile, fast, and reliable
What is most valuable?
* Easily mastered interface and application for backup/recovery.
* Versatile, works well in VM and physical environments.
* Nice VM or file-level recovery, without spinning anything up to accommodate.
How has it helped my organization?
Fast and reliable. Able to integrate two sites and backup environments over an extended campus WAN.
What needs improvement?
Implement the changes that are being requested through the GUI.
For how long have I used the solution?
Seven years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Mostly networking, not the appliance or implementation specialists fault.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Having issues backing up systems with tons of small files.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Yes, expansion is only possible by buying a new appliance.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service: Good.
Technical Support: Very good technical support.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Yes, switched companies and the requirements changed drastically.
How was the initial setup?
Very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
Mostly in-house with some vendor assistance.
What was our ROI?
Good.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
No advice. The pricing is fairly competitive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, Veeam and others.
What other advice do I have?
No, we are happy with second gen of the appliance that we have purchased.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Kris Carty from
Diversifying jobs within the same server helps break down a large chunk of data into more manageable and concentrated chunks
What is our primary use case?
This is my primary backup and archive service.
It is an easy system to use. The support, if needed, is always willing to help.
How has it helped my organization?
It is a quick and easy way to organize my backups and to keep track of them.
So far, I have not had any issues and support has always been helpful.
What is most valuable?
The ability to diversify jobs within the same server helps break down a large chunk of data into more manageable and concentrated chunks.
What needs improvement?
The next release should bring back the ease of some search issues from the legacy program.
The ability to run just differentials without pulling the full on your archive.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues.
Which solutions did we use previously?
This is our second system with Unitrends.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Talk with the sales guys. They can work with you on the best package.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Not this time around.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-12-24T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
SenInfra8967 from
The whole appliance needs to be more resilient. If you are a large organization, this is a product for you.
What is our primary use case?
It performs as a backup product.
How has it helped my organization?
The whole appliance needs to be more resilient. It lost our database, and that is something that cannot happen. If the data was written and managed a little better, we would not lose our entire backup. A bit more thought needs to be put into the process.
What needs improvement?
There are some questions as to how safely they are storing backup data. We had an issue about a year ago, but it actually ended up wiping our entire backup history, because one of the databases got corrupted, and we couldn't recover the backup data. Six to seven years of backup data just disappeared. So, obviously we weren't too happy. It's one of the primary reasons we're looking at the market and have gone down a different route for backups, essentially.
I also think there should be a lesser focus on the physical appliance, which was virtualized. I'm willing to look at it from the ground up and go actually a bit more resiliency, we don't want to lose the entire database because it took a snapshot of the appliance. This is a pretty common thing. We unravel all this data that's backed up if we need to collaborate.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's fairly stable, it runs, it does a backup like you said. Things don't tend to go wrong until either VM upgrades or Unitrends breaks with an update. In terms of that it just carries on. It does its job, that's the main thing.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable to a point. Yes, it is quite scalable.
How is customer service and technical support?
The technical support team is pretty good, actually. In all fairness to them, they are good. It is not their fault that their products are not functional in all aspects. But, from the support perspective, they did work quite hard to get things working in our favor. They did try their best. We cannot fault the support team for a problem with the product, itself.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved with the initial setup. It was inherited by me.
What was our ROI?
Always look at your backups strategy, and what your RPO and RTO are. Also, understand your infrastructure and the risks involved, including how the backup works.
If you are a large organization or corporation, with multiple sites, you can replicate the data from one Unitrends device to anoter Unitrends divide appliance. Then, this is definitely a solution for you. But, if you are a smaller corporation or organization, and you are worried about your backups, Unitrends may not be your best product choice.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have no advice about the pricing of the product.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I inherited the product, so I did not comparison shop or evaluate other products.
What other advice do I have?
It hasn't improved our backup because of the signal comeback with their solutions. They purchased RDR, but we don't know whether, I believe there's new functionality now in the current version, but it's not quite there yet. But there's still the pitfall there. If the database gets corrupted you lost access to your data unless it's stored under the appliance. So, you are basically doubling up on your data storage. So, I can't really say much more than that.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2018-10-28T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer963924 from
The daily backup report is one of the most valuable features
What is our primary use case?
We use it to back up our VMware environments. We do daily backups of virtual servers and databases.
How has it helped my organization?
It has reduced recovery time. From recovering VMs to just simple file-level recovery. It's all fast and easy.
What is most valuable?
The daily backup report is one of the most valuable features. There is a clear report sent and emailed to me every morning that shows if all backups were successful.
What needs improvement?
The only area that I would say needs some improvements is the initial setup. A little more assistance and help during implementation would be great.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2018-11-25T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
it_user215967 from
?Technical support is inadequate, but ?it has removed the need to have a copy for backup replication purposes
How has it helped my organization?
It has removed the need to have a copy for backup replication purposes, as we replicate our backups to the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The ability to backup both physical and virtual machines, along with having an appliance store the backups locally instead of on a file server, NAS, or SAN.
What needs improvement?
Technical support is quite inadequate. Techs don't see to be well-versed in troubleshooting issues that arise and tickets stay opened for weeks for resolution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Restoration has been unstable when needed. Some backups don't restore properly or take an excessive amount of time to complete.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not needed to scale, so this is not applicable.
How is customer service and technical support?
I give them a one out of 10.
How was the initial setup?
It was supposed to straightforward, but ended up being complex due to unforeseen issues by Unitrends support.
What other advice do I have?
Carefully observe reviews on this solution by actual end users before considering this as a backup strategy.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-09-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer753399 from
It saves time and pays for itself in one year
What is our primary use case?
* Backup
* Recovery
What is most valuable?
Ease of use.
How has it helped my organization?
It saves time.
What needs improvement?
All things with a computer chip.
For how long have I used the solution?
Two years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
None.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
None.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
None.
How is customer service and technical support?
Outstanding.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Vendor provided backup service. Unitrends product paid for itself in one year.
How was the initial setup?
I had excellent help from my reseller.
What about the implementation team?
A vendor team did the implementation.
What was our ROI?
One year.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Affordable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, Veeam.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-11-15T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer791514 from
It has drastically cut down on our restore time
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use Unitrends to assist when a file or server level restore/backup is needed. We perform nightly backups of all servers, as well as a monthly backup to disk, which is stored offsite.
How has it helped my organization?
Unitrends has helped us cut down the time that it takes to restore a server to its original configuration. Before, we only had the file structure backing up on a nightly basis and were utilizing bare metals.
Unitrends has drastically cut down on our restore time.
What is most valuable?
The scheduling and event viewer is easy to use and a helpful item when setting up new servers to be backed up. It determines what errors are being generated as a result of an issue.
What needs improvement?
The amount of updates which are being released. We were running 9.2 for the longest time when 10 came out. We were advised to upgrade, then two weeks later, we were told to wait. Since version 10 came out, there have been multiple versions released for Unitrends. Updates should be limited to two or three a year, focusing more on quality instead of a rushed bug release.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No scalability issues.
How is customer service and technical support?
One of the best features is the customer service. When submitting online, the techs are quick to return my call and are very patient and helpful in answering all my questions.
I recently had an issue backing up a specific server (and without sending an email), the tech emailed me at 4 AM and provided a solution to the error which was generated.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Since I have been with the company, we have always used Unitrends.
What was our ROI?
I do not know.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You should be aware how much the monthly costs are to use, what the initial costs for hardware are, and what the options to expand are, if needed.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate anyone else.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2018-06-13T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Greg Forquer from
We have been able to move completely away from using tape and robocopy for backup efforts
How has it helped my organization?
We have been able to move completely away from using tape and robocopy for backup efforts.
What is most valuable?
* Reliable DR
* Backup/archive to multiple locations
* Excellent support
What needs improvement?
Making the seeding process more accessible and easier to understand. Also, make more of the undocumented best practices easier to find
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
When we first moved to v10, we did have issues with restores. Support jumped right in and found the issue, and published a bug fix, this took care of the issue.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
None.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Excellent. I like that I can chat directly with them for simple issues, and can also reach out to higher level engineers for the more difficult issues.
Technical Support:
Excellent, see previous answer.
Which solutions did we use previously?
We used Zerto, which was not able to do file-level restores for any volume larger than 2TB.
How was the initial setup?
It was straightforward in the initial setup, but a bit more complex in the tuning and tweaking.
What about the implementation team?
I actually implemented most of it by myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Make sure you do the homework to size the solution properly. Buy the Enterprise Plus licensing if you can afford it.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
itmanage759144 from
It provides instant recovery for a solution that backups all the servers on our network
What is our primary use case?
Backup of all servers on our network.
What is most valuable?
Provides instant recovery.
How has it helped my organization?
Our ability to backup quickly.
What needs improvement?
None.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than three years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Tech support helped us with the deployment. They were awesome.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is rock solid.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How is customer service and technical support?
It is a 10 out of 10.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Arcserve.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. We received help once we were up.
What about the implementation team?
In-house.
What was our ROI?
Unknown.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing and renewals are a tad expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-11-13T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Eric Wesley from
We went from tape backups to hard disk backups. The restores have been a lot quicker.
What is most valuable?
Loving the new SLA Policy feature. Recovery is very quick.
How has it helped my organization?
We went from tape backups to hard disk backups using Unitrends. The restores have been a lot quicker.
What needs improvement?
Stabilizing SQL database backups: They are way too sensitive and I am having to constantly fix SQL level backups.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
None. Easy deployment.
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?
Customer Service: Excellent.
Technical Support: Excellent.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Symantec NetBackup.
How was the initial setup?
It was actually very straightfoward
What about the implementation team?
It was in-house with the assistance of Unitrends tech support.
What was our ROI?
I've already received my ROI through many man hours being saved going from tape to hard disk.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Consider the Enterprise Plus license, it adds a few extra analytics and reporting that will provide you with a little more insight into your RPO and RTOs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Dell solution, ExaGrid, and a little bit of Veeam.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Joseph Colon from
The licensing is all included in the appliance, but it could be a little more customizable
What is our primary use case?
Backup replacement for Backup Exec. Also, we are replicating backups from one datacenter to another.
How has it helped my organization?
VM backup is much faster and more reliable, as I can test my backups with Data Copy Access jobs.
What is most valuable?
It is very easy to set up and get started. Almost too easy. We racked this device and had it up and running in less than 15 minutes. The racking of the appliance took the longest, as it is heavy.
What needs improvement?
We have a huge VMware infrastructure with multiple hosts that use local storage. Backup jobs of VMs seem to target one host at a time, so if there are 10 VMs on that host getting backed up, it hammers that ESXi host until sometimes the jobs hang and nothing more occurs. It would be great to have the job throttle/limit the max number of backups on a single ESXi host.
For how long have I used the solution?
Still implementing.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Everything has been stable since implementation.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Not yet.
How is customer service and technical support?
So far, they have gone out of their way to assist us if there are questions or issues.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Yes, we utilized Backup Exec and a Dell DR4000 disk appliance. We were going to replace the DR4000 with a DR6300, but found that the cost of Unitrends was about the same as the DR6300. We liked the fact that the Unitrends appliance was all-in-one.
How was the initial setup?
Very simple. You just put in a name and an IP address, then browse to the website to get to the console, deploy agents, and start backing it up.
What about the implementation team?
In-house implementation.
What was our ROI?
Not calculated.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of Unitrends definitely draws you in. The licensing is all included in the appliance, which is a great incentive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Yes, we looked at Backup Exec and the DR6300, as well as the Dell EMC iDPA 5800. The price of the iDPA was steep and they would not let us demo a unit.
What other advice do I have?
So far, so good. It could be a little more customizable, but hopefully reviews like this and feature request updates that I have submitted move that along.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2018-01-11T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Andrew-Murphy from
The best part of their service is their tech support. They keep following up until they know everything is right.
How has it helped my organization?
Less headaches to worry about backups. 99% of the time, I don't have to touch it. Set up the jobs and let it go. 1% is the setup of new backups and verification the new backups work.
What is most valuable?
* Backup and restore
* Replication to Forever Cloud
* Tech support
What needs improvement?
Follow up for the DRaaS service setup. I'm still waiting to schedule a DRaaS test after upgrading several months ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yes. I was backing up too much information. Changed from doing two physical appliances, one local, and one remote to two local and a Forever Cloud for remote. This doubled our storage space for backups and solved the problem.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Good customer service. No problems with my sales rep.
Technical Support:
High level of tech support. The best part of their service. They keep following up until they know everything is right.
Which solutions did we use previously?
I've used physical tape, NetBackup, Arcserve IT, Backup Exec, and high-speed tape caching. It's great going right to disk.
How was the initial setup?
I didn't do the initial setup. However, when we converted the second remote to a local support, they guided me through the entire process.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented straight through Unitrends Support
What was our ROI?
More sleep!
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When you purchase initially, get into the program which gives replacement hardware for free when you renew your support agreement. It makes the renewal down the road so much easier to cost justify.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Datto.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
it_user215967 from
In the past we used two separate products for backing up virtual and physical nodes. We switched because this solution supports both.
Valuable Features
It's an all-inclusive backup appliance that is separate from other storage needed to backup. It is also valuable because it has the ability to backup both virtual and physical nodes.
Improvements to My Organization
It has made our business continuity process more efficient with less administrative overhead needs for managing two backup solutions for both physical and virtual needs.
Room for Improvement
It needs both a better interface and a more solid support structure for when issues arise.
Use of Solution
I've been using it for almost a year now. We transitioned from Veeam Backup.
Deployment Issues
The transition was challenging due to bugs and misconfiguration but we worked through it.
Stability Issues
There have been no performance issues.
Scalability Issues
It's been able to scale for our needs.
Customer Service and Technical Support
It's average.
Previous Solutions
We used to use two products - Veeam and ArcServ. We chose Unitrends because it is all-inclusive and meets both virtual and physical backup needs.
Implementation Team
We implemented it ourselves with guidance from the vendor.
Other Advice
It has solid qualities such as being all-inclusive disk backup appliance with replication capabilities off site. Make sure you understand the pros and cons of the solution compared to what your currently are using.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2016-06-07T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
sftech82 from
A solution which can backup most operating systems to its appliance
What is most valuable?
Support for older operating systems.
How has it helped my organization?
A solution which can backup most operating systems to its appliance.
What needs improvement?
Linux full bare metal backups (automatic).
For how long have I used the solution?
Eight years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Every few years, an update may not be applied right and we may have to manually reload the software.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Every few years, an update may not be applied right and we may have to manually reload the software.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service: An eight out of 10. They are very helpful most of the time, which is why we selected them.
Technical Support: An eight out of 10. They are very helpful most of the time, which is why we selected them.
Which solutions did we use previously?
rsync.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The nice thing with this appliance is you do not have to worry about server licencing, and it's separate from the SAN.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Veeam.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-10-30T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Mark Pearson from
It makes it easier to track and set up new backups due to its coverage of both physical and virtual environments
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to back up both physical and virtual environments in and out of the office.
How has it helped my organization?
Easier to track and set up new backups due to its coverage of both physical and virtual environments (or we would have needed two separate solutions).
What is most valuable?
* The ability to back up both physical and virtual appliances under one roof.
* Its cloud backup capability.
What needs improvement?
Network-based storage stability could be improved.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I had some issues early on with network-based storage dropping connections, therefore corrupting the backups.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues.
How is customer service and technical support?
A 10 out 10. Whenever I have had issues, the customer service staff has been more than helpful in resolve them.
Which solutions did we use previously?
Veeam. Cost of licensing was getting expensive due to our other site expanding.
How was the initial setup?
Fairly easy, once I got my head around the way they set retention policies.
What about the implementation team?
In-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Several options are available. Speak to their sales staff to ensure you have the right solution for your needs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-11-16T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Mike75 from
Unitrends Recovery Archive
It is a solid product and works well with the Unitrends backup appliance. My only gripe is that the drives require a carrier and it only comes with four of them. If you want to do any anything other than a four week rotation you need to remove the drive from a carrier each time.
Date published: 2014-05-14T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Steve from
Unitrends Recovery-822 and Archive
Product was easy to install and configure for our retention policy. Software is easy to use and setting up schedules was easy. Restore was just as easy. Built in reports are easy to get to and execute. Only Con I would have would be some of the buttons are easy to miss on some of the dialogs and I find myself struggling to find them.
Date published: 2014-06-12T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1352379 from
An easy-to-use solution; lacks clear cloud unification and direction
What is our primary use case?
We used Unitrends for Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster, VMWare ESXi Clusters, physical servers, virtual servers, SQL databases, and Exchange DAGs databases.
How has it helped my organization?
We consolidated down from several disparate backup applications to Unitrends and AvePoint.
What is most valuable?
The daily reports that showed Red, Green, Yellow status for each asset/server/database protected. Simple and easy to use for daily logging, providing assurance all was well.
What needs improvement?
It seems like Unitrends moved away from enterprise customer engagement and moved more towards the managed service provider market. I'm familiar with that market because I do that type of work on the side. That's great, but that's a whole different market and avenue from the enterprise backup market; how they interact is totally different as well. I don't know what happened, but their customer engagement went completely downhill on their sales side. You just can't do that.
I don't know what happened, but I looked at their cloud product and it just looks like an IaaS implementation of their on-premise product. Cloud products really need to be engineered to be cloud-aware. I haven't looked at it for several months now, but at that time, I wanted it to work out, it just did not seem like it was cloud-aware in terms of being able to have tiered storage and different capabilities that I wanted.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Unitrends since august of 2015. We're still using it for a few things but we are in the process of switching to Rubrik.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
All I can tell you is my friends made fun of me because of how often I had to call technical support.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's not easy to scale it. At some point, it requires a forklift upgrade. So that's not very conducive to scaling well; at least for what we were using it for.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support was awesome. They were very good people to work with and I liked them a lot, but the product needed some work.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used a lot of different solutions before Unitrends. We had so many different solutions that we were using to meet our needs and Unitrends was able to help us bring that down to just Unitrends and DocAve. Before all of that, we were using a combination of Symantec Backup Exec, Dell AppAssure, Dell Quest vRanger, and a little bit of Metalogics — there were just too many. It was painful trying to work with all those. With Unitrends we were able to get down to just Unitrends and AvePoint.
The main reason we left Unitrends to go with Rubrik was due to its lack of a clear cloud unification and direction. For several years I liked the product in terms of their support and willingness to keep it going. It was very cross-platform compatible in the number of things that it could back up — way more than I ever needed. We had bought it in August of 2015 when they were selling it as software; however, they no longer sell it as plain software anymore; unless you're talking about their cloud products. I just felt like it got to the point where the company was no longer responsive.
We told them we were getting ready to evaluate new products and wanted them to submit a plan as we were going to start over with them, but we never heard anything back from them. I blame that on Kaseya (who bought them), which I feel bad about that because I really liked the company. I really liked the people. I really liked the support. I really liked the product. It was the first time I had ever seen a very good reporting system that provided a daily report that some people have called a "Christmas tree" report. Other people have called it a heat map report because it provides a red, green, or yellow indicator for each asset that you're trying to protect. That's why I was so in love with it — that report made my job a lot easier. Before choosing Rubrik, we looked at several other products: Arcserve, Veeam, and several other solutions, we had to weed through hundreds of reports and carefully read through them to determine whether they were successful or not — how much they backed up and so forth.
Whereas with Unitrends, you just got an indicator — red, green, or yellow: green means everything is good; red means you definitely need to look at it; yellow means look at it tomorrow and make sure it's not yellow tomorrow unless you know it's okay for it to be yellow. That was the beauty of Unitrends that I really liked. Cohesity does have that feature, which is a nice thing about Cohesity. Rubrik Compass hopefully will also be included in the future as part of their product. When you're looking at hundreds of backup jobs every morning, and you want to know how they performed, it's too much to try to read dozens if not hundreds of reports and lines. I'd rather see red, green, or yellow.
Rubrik and Unitrends both give you seven days at a view. So whatever day you were looking at, you always had the previous seven days. For that alone, the three products — Rubrik, Cohesity, and Unitrends — were wonderful for my needs. I Almost bought Zerto. I kept begging Zerto to show me their reports and I'd actually almost committed to them. Finally, I got tired of waiting; I then configured the reports on my own and they were awful. Zerto makes a fine product as well, but their reporting is awful. I hate to say it, but that's a big deal for me — daily reports that make sense and are easy to understand and use.
How was the initial setup?
What about the implementation team?
What was our ROI?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Unitrends licensing depended on the number of CPUs you had, simple.
It was competitive with other products. I think it was around $1000 a CPU a year. We have about 40 CPUs so It was costing us about $40,000 a year — that was our renewal price. I think the initial price may have been more. We didn't buy their hardware. We built our own and deployed their solution on our hardware, which was a blessing and a curse.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
ArcServe, Veeam, Zerto, BackupExec, vRanger, vmPro, AppAssure, Metalogix.
What other advice do I have?
Buy everything from them. I don't even think you even have a choice anymore. After us and another big client, they told me they did away with the idea of selling their software. They only sell solutions that are their hardware and their software. You can't install it on your own equipment anymore. Also, beware of the forklift upgrades that are required at a certain point.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Unitrends a rating of seven.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2020-10-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1534704 from
Decent platform to go with; don't have any issues with it
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for Unitrends is backup.
What needs improvement?
Probably the biggest issue I've had is actually paying for the unit and part of that problem is that they use a third party for the billing. When my sort needs to be renewed, I'm never notified. So, six months later, I will have an issue and try to get support for it, and then it will be a big hassle because I was never built for the support to begin with and then they wouldn't give me the support.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Unitrends for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Recently, we've been having some issues that I haven't reported yet. They're related to backups being skipped because some of our servers need an update. I'm not sure why it's happening. It doesn't happen to every server; it's just one server occasionally. And as soon as I do the update, then it's fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is where I'm running into more of an issue right now. To upgrade is pretty expensive. It's not like you can just buy a smaller appliance and put it with the one you already have. You need buy a larger appliance and that can get fairly pricey.
How are customer service and technical support?
When I have had to use tech support, they've been very good. I've had a couple instances where something wasn't happening correctly and I called them and got a call back within the hour and we were able to get through it. I've been very happy with the couple times that I needed them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using Backup Exec before that, but they had made updates to their software which I just didn't like at all. It also did not give me the ability to do a bare metal restore if I needed to; that's why I went with the Unitrends.
How was the initial setup?
It was pretty straight forward in setting up at the beginning. The original software was probably a little easier to use than their current software.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think it's a decent platform to go with; I don't have any issues with it. I guess the one thing that I would say is get a bigger unit than what they recommend because if I had done that, I wouldn't need to be upgrading now; I could have stayed with the same size.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-04-02T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Todd Guthrie from
The solution can be used to back up servers and Hyper-V cluster nodes, but its support is super expensive
What is our primary use case?
We use Unitrends to back up all our servers and Hyper-V cluster nodes.
What is most valuable?
The backup feature and recovery option are good because they allow the instant recovery of Hyper-V nodes and files. Since we have set up versioning on our file servers, often there is no need to recover using the Unitrends appliance. We use the instant recovery option to recover if it's an entire server.
What needs improvement?
The solution’s support and onboarding process needs to be improved.
If you purchase a Unitrends appliance, they'll give it for free but charge you heavily for the support. We got the Unitrends appliance worth $ 67,000 for free but paid $ 90,000 for three years of support. We've had a couple of renewals since then, and we've negotiated and got better renewals per year, paying around $ 16,000 to $ 18000 per year instead of $ 30,000.
Unitrends' support is super expensive, and sometimes they are unresponsive.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Unitrends since 2017.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I wouldn't rate Unitrends a ten out of ten because we had some hard drive failures in the appliance. Typically, when you have OneDrive, you can get it replaced. For some particular reason, the situation caused the entire system to crash. We had to reinstall the CentOS operating system on it, and we lost all our backups.
They said there was no way to retain it, and it was pretty devastating and concerning that a drive failure would cause the loss of all the data on the appliance. It was extremely disappointing, and we had to start from scratch after three years worth of backup data.
I rate Unitrends a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
While buying a Unitrends appliance, you must specify the size you think you'll need for three to five years. They have an 18-terabyte and a 120-terabyte type of appliance. So it's your responsibility to at least provide them with the amount of data you have. Then when you work with the person quoting from Unitrends, they'll provide a quote based on their existing data and what will be calculated over three to five years. That way, you are sizing up the correct appliance.
Unitrends is used in our organization by the IT team, comprised of a small group of IT professionals who manage and support it.
I rate Unitrends an eight out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
It's easy to create a support request through their portal, but often, the support person is not responsive or doesn't get back to you when they say they're going to. You find yourself bouncing back and forth to get them involved. It shouldn't be that complicated, considering the amount we pay each year.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I have worked with NetBackup Enterprise, Commvault, and Veeam solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is fairly easy. Setting up the jobs and establishing the SLAs for each job is easy with Unitrends. It is easy to configure each protected asset to have a specific retention. Since Unitrends didn't explain the process during the initial setup, we learned how to establish retention over the years and got better at it. Maybe Unitrends has a better process now, but back in 2017, when we initially acquired the appliance, its onboarding was not that intuitive.
After the first year or so, the engineers on my team scheduled time with the support people who helped them. So it is something that is covered under the support cost. We could have had a better overall onboarding experience when we initially set up the appliance. Maybe Unitrends has improved now because some other organization acquired it. They've expanded their toolset, and they have a much broader option of packages besides the backup appliance, like a service desk.
What about the implementation team?
The solution’s deployment took two to four weeks. We implemented Unitrends through an in-house team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Unitrends is an expensive solution. We've negotiated deals where they've given us the $ 62,000 to $ 64,000 appliance for free but charged $ 90,000 for three years of support.
What other advice do I have?
We are using Unitrends Version 10.6.7-2.202209062126.
We're still a Unitrends customer for one site.
Unitrends is deployed on-premises in our organization. We do have a support agreement where we can upload data to the cloud. Unitrends does have its own cloud offering, which is decent but pricey. Initially, we had a total of nine terabytes, and it was a bit expensive for their offering. Maybe Unitrends will be more competitive now since Nutanix and Wasabi offer cloud backup data.
I advise users to consider how they negotiate the price of the tool. The way we negotiated with them was that they would have promotions and give us the appliance for free. Although it seems like you're getting it for free, you're paying a lot more for support, making you wonder if they're hiding the appliance's cost in the support they're charging you. I like the appliance. Although I was unfamiliar with it, it was a decent product after its use. The only thing I would be concerned with is the solution's price.
Overall, I rate Unitrends a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-07-31T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Michael Powell from
Reliable and has a simple user interface, but its on-premise version isn't easy to scale
What is our primary use case?
We use Unitrends to back up our virtual machines and files. Every once in a while, we also use it for restoring files.
What is most valuable?
What I found most valuable in Unitrends is its simple user interface. It also works reliably.
What needs improvement?
It's a little complicated for us to speak about areas for improvement in Unitrends because the previous director didn't renew its maintenance, so we're running an old version. We haven't been talking with the Unitrends team about updating to the most recent version, but one of the problems we have is that the device will be EOL in two years. We could switch to their software, but we're not sure we want to go through that.
Unitrends can be challenging to scale.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Unitrends for about four months, but my company has used it for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Unitrends has been stable, and I've not been making any changes to it either. It's more of a setup-and-run, where I set up new VMs, and then add the VMs, and that's about it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The version of Unitrends used within my company isn't easy to scale as it's a hardware appliance. If the company needs to add more storage, it wouldn't be able to.
How are customer service and support?
We spoke with Unitrends support about renewing the maintenance on the appliance and the features we're looking for. We were looking to back up our Microsoft 365 in addition to our local backups. We were also looking to move some VMs into Azure, so we asked if they had another product for cloud-based backup, and they suggested the software version of Unitrends.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used Symantec and Commvault. I used Commvault in the previous cloud company I worked for, where I implemented solutions, and the implementation department used Commvault for backups.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Unitrends is pretty straightforward. I implemented it at my previous company and found it easy.
I rate the implementation as seven out of ten.
I don't remember how long the deployment of Unitrends took.
What was our ROI?
I stepped into this environment with Unitrends already running, so I have no information if there's ROI from it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When we renew the Unitrends maintenance contract and update it to the latest version, the cost would be $5,000 per year. We don't want to venture into a project where, two years from now, we have to search for a new backup system because Unitrends will be EOL in two years. We'd instead present a cohesive package to the executive committee, so we're hesitant to continue with Unitrends.
There are no hidden costs. They've been transparent with the costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have Veeam as our prime candidate. Most likely, we're not going to continue with Unitrends because it will reach its end of life in less than two years. We have a major project with a time horizon of five years, not two years.
What other advice do I have?
My company has a whole variety of products, but it's using Unitrends as a backup solution.
I can't recall the version number I'm using for Unitrends.
I advise anyone looking into using Unitrends to check if the particular device is going EOL, particularly if running the physical version. However, I have no idea if Unitrends is going EOL on all physical devices or just the version my company uses, which goes EOL in two years.
My rating for Unitrends is six out of ten.
My company is a Unitrends customer.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Derek Schneider from
Offers excellent stability, scalability, and effectivness
What is our primary use case?
I use Unitrends to back up my VMware virtual machines and files, ensuring redundancy for both disks and protection against ransomware. I have implemented an air gap strategy by keeping some backups physically disconnected for added security.
How has it helped my organization?
Using Unitrends has significantly improved our organization's functionality. The onboarding process was helpful, and now I can create scripts for virtual machines. With the sandbox environment, I can test functions like pinging between the domain controller and file server, transferring files, and checking SQL Server queries—all from the backup without affecting our live environment. The automated process provides a detailed report, giving me confidence in the backup's reliability for potential restores. It is a great peace of mind to see everything in the green.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Unitrends for me is the automated feedback. It lets me know that tests have been successful without the manual effort, saving time and avoiding getting bogged down in the details.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvement, the UI, especially in the recovery section, is unclear about which repository it uses—I had to hover over to find that information. Figuring out the scripting part wasn't straightforward; it took some time and had a few hiccups. Simplifying the scripting process and improving UI clarity would be beneficial.
In the next release of Unitrends, I would like to see the ability to set retention based on the destination repository. Currently, I can set retention based on the data being backed up, but having the flexibility to specify retention periods for different repositories would be beneficial. This would allow me to tailor retention settings based on the importance and nature of the data stored in each repository.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Unitrends for four months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability as a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of Unitrends as a ten out of ten. It is highly scalable, allowing easy expansion to multiple locations or environments. The cloud dashboard feature is well-suited for bringing everything together in one place. Currently, it is servicing data for about 70 users.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate Unitrends' tech support as a nine out of ten. They have been responsive, addressing my questions promptly and effectively resolving the issues I encountered.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I switched from Veeam to Unitrends because I had difficulty with Veeam's scripting, and I preferred Unitrends' offer of a physical hardware appliance at a similar price point. Veeam provided only software, and I missed the inclusion of free hard drives for extra storage. After using Veeam for about two years, I decided to try Unitrends for a two-year trial, and it has been working well for me.
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the easiness of the initial setup of Unitrends as an eight out of ten, with the scripting part being a bit challenging. It took about three weeks to complete, mainly due to waiting for post-backups and testing. The appliance was up and running within a day and a half. The deployment process involved assistance from a Unitrends representative, guiding me through the setup and configuration in either the appliance or web interface, based on preference.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate Unitrends as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2024-01-27T00:00:00-05:00