SUMMARY: Legato NetWorker Backup Software

From: Kevin M. McGrath (kmcgrath@keyspanenergy.com)
Date: Tue May 14 2002 - 13:23:37 EDT


howdy,

Sorry for the delay in summarizing and thanks to all for a great volume
of responses.

I will be taking a look at the Veritas, amanada and Bakbone products for
comparison.

I also need to find a jukebox tape device as my one DAT drive won't cut
it on the full system.

My edited response comments follow:

Check out the Networker list -
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/networker.html
There are a bunch of good comparisons between networker and other backup
software solutions.
Veritas is worth a look.

Sometimes Networker is a bit finicky while you're setting something up,
but typically once you've got everything setup, it runs like a champ.

It (Networker) is very stable and has all of the features that anyone
else has.

Use Legato! It is fast in restores.

Legato is a good product, though not as intuitive as it might be.

We use a freeware piece of software called amanda and are very pleased
with it. If you'd like to have a look, check out www.amanda.org.

you are buying an EBS ("Enterprise Backup Solution") implementation
whether you know it or not.
http://www.compaq.com/products/storageworks/ebs/index.html
EBS is basically just a set of white papers and approved / supported
configurations. Legato Networker is one of the fully certified EBS
products.

I've had nothing but good luck with it (Networker)…

You can write some very simple scripts to accomplish your backup
activities...

…have been very satisfied with it (Networker). The only backup software
in it's class that I am aware of is Veritas.

Try one of these:
ArcserveIT (Computer Associates)
Arkeia (Knox Software)
Backup Exec (Veritas Software)

Any true admin I know will state that it is a love/hate relationship
with
legato, and all other backup vendors…… Just remember any backup product
usually works for the backup, while the real products provide the
restore… legato was much better when we had support directly from dec.

Legato is a good backup software from an enterprise standpoint in that
it handles many clients or juke boxes well. An even better product is
Veritas NetBackup, but it does cost more.

…You have to do a lot of testing and digging to understand it but it is
worth it once everything is set. If he is going to get a jukebox he
might want to stick with Legato.

I've been pretty pleased with NetWorker, particularly the ability to
restore files across the network from my live server to my test server.

…Veritas NetBackup (I believe this costs more) and Amanda (which is
free). NetWorker's Workgroup
Edition would probably be the version for you.

In general, Legato is your only option -- especially with regards to
AdvFS.
The Veritas product that supports Tru64 is now a dead product.
Their "new generation" product does not (and will not) support Tru64.
There is (or at least was) an Open Source thing called Amanda which
never worked reliably with AdvFS when we looked at it 5+ years ago.

Legato, like any other software like this I've used (BrightStor,
NetBackup) is fantastic when it's working well. When it's not it's a
headache… Documentation is pretty good, especially things like the
disaster recovery guide and their knowledge base isn't too bad either.

I like the fact that this is really the only enterprise backup software
really written for Tru64 Unix and TruCluster

Checkout BakBone's NetVault product

Thanks to all who responded:

Penny Jaye Deeney
S J Lowe
John Losey
Michael Wheelock
Dunn Alethia
Michael Acklin
Mark Hardman
Greg Freemyer
Ken Kleiner
Tom Korenek
Bruce A Welch
Hannes Visagie
Yogesh Bhanu
Pat O'Brien
Daniel Danielson
Barbara Mitterling & Larry Alexis
Bruce Senn
Stuart Whitby
William H. Magill
Adrian Blount
Anthony.Miller
E. Richard Glazier
T.J. Cooley

regards,
kevin

> howdy,
>
> I'm in the process of winding down a 30 day eval of this product on my
> Alpha DS20E running 4.0F and I was wondering what other people thought
> of this product? can you recommend any similar backup software to try?
>
> my initial impression is that this product appears to do what I want,
> but I had to do a lot of digging and testing to understand how it works.
> it may be overkill for us right now with only one alphaserver with only
> one tape drive but when my full system becomes operational we are most
> likely moving to a juke box tape device to backup numerous, ~10,
> servers.
>
> TIA,
> kevin



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