Is Dantz Retrospect ready for prime time?

[akwete]

Could someone convince me why I should purchase Dantz Retrospect for Windows v7.5 Multi-Server version and dump Veritas BENT 10.0? It's almost a perfect fit for my setup - Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape backups of several Mac/Windows clients and servers, with synthetic backup support. Veritas BENT 10d(10.1) offers superiors features for the Windows operating system, but support for the Mac platform is archaic, the options I need are are pricey, plus I may need additional hardware.

 

Seems like a no-brainer? Well after reading comments on this forum, I get the impression that Dantz Retrospect has significant quality issues when used in a production network environment. Every software application has bugs but when the bugs significantly affect the application's functionality, that scares me. Can someone reassure me that this is not the case? I really want to go with Retrospect but the integrity of my data must not be compromised. I prefer to spend my time policing my users to backup their data, and not fixing the backup setup.

 

Is Retrospect ready for prime time?

[waltr]

hi dan,

 

one thing that you are missing in your assessment of Retrospect by reading this board is that no one comes to the forums to talk about the success they've had with the product. what's worse is that when a problem is solved, that user will disappear, sometimes without even a 'thank you'. i think you should use a better yardstick.

 

my suggestion would be that you download a trial copy of the software and test it out for yourself. the board is always here if you have questions.

[Mayoff]

Also, so you don't get confused: "Dantz" does not exist anymore. The company is now EMC or EMC Insignia or EMC Retrospect

[akwete]

Alright let's get granular. My EMC Retrsospect 7.5 evaluation is almost up (can it be extended?) as such here are my issues so far (in order of importance):

 

1. Backup to Disks are much slower (about 80% reduction in througput) than Veritas BENT 10.

2. Proactive backups seem to (or maybe want to?) stop executing if I close the Retrospect Server console.

3. No push installation feature for windows clients.

4. No remote administration console.

5. Limited support for integrated authentication (windows clients.)

 

 

I seek solutions. As I said earlier, EMC Retrospect 7.5 is a much better fit for my IT setup.

[michaeln]

Hi,

 

1. Any details you can provide? What are you backing up when you see these slow throughputs? Local? Clients? What are you backing up to? Direct attached storage? NAS? Retrospect goes through 2 phases, a copy and a verification phase so it isn't unusual that it would take longer. 7.5 now has a media verification option which should speed up the process. You can also turn off verification and schedule the media verification for a later time.

2. The Retrospect Server app will need to stay open for any execution. If you're worried about security issues, you can always set a password on the app.

3. With 7.5 you can use Microsoft SMS to push out the client .msi installer or you can use Active Directory Group Policies: http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=8352&p=2

4. That's probably a feature request and would be a great thing to have.

5. Not sure I understand this. 7.5 now has an automatic client login function so that you don't have to manually login and key in the password for each client (definitely handy if you have lots of clients). Maybe this is what you are referring to?

 

Hope this helps. I believe you can call into Customer Service and ask for an extension license.

[tomnibus]

I use Retrospect to backup 8 servers in my system, Macs and PC's and one Linux. It's a good setup. However, I have one problem that has been posted to this forum and it's never been addressed by EMC (only they can). This problem, for me, has been around for at least 3 years and there is no indication that it will be dealt with.

 

On the windows and Linux retrospect clients you can bind the client to an IP address. A specific one. On the Mac, it merely attaches to the first one it finds. I have a gigabit non-routable LAN and a 10/100 'public' network. I would like the backup to run over Gigabit, and for the Linux and windows clients it does. But on the Macs, it will attach to the 10/100 line. Even if I specifically setup the client using the non-routable IP address, it will still use the public side of the network.

 

It is frustrating as hell. Especially when reading my network throughput graphs.

 

So far, that is my only problem with Retrospect.

[michaeln]

Quote:

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I use Retrospect to backup 8 servers in my system, Macs and PC's and one Linux. It's a good setup. However, I have one problem that has been posted to this forum and it's never been addressed by EMC (only they can). This problem, for me, has been around for at least 3 years and there is no indication that it will be dealt with.

 

On the windows and Linux retrospect clients you can bind the client to an IP address. A specific one. On the Mac, it merely attaches to the first one it finds. I have a gigabit non-routable LAN and a 10/100 'public' network. I would like the backup to run over Gigabit, and for the Linux and windows clients it does. But on the Macs, it will attach to the 10/100 line. Even if I specifically setup the client using the non-routable IP address, it will still use the public side of the network.

 

It is frustrating as hell. Especially when reading my network throughput graphs.

 

So far, that is my only problem with Retrospect.

 

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This isn't relevant to this thread. Please start a new post regarding this issue.

[akwete]

1. Any details you can provide? What are you backing up when you see these slow throughputs? Local? Clients? What are you backing up to? Direct attached storage? NAS? Retrospect goes through 2 phases, a copy and a verification phase so it isn't unusual that it would take longer. 7.5 now has a media verification option which should speed up the process. You can also turn off verification and schedule the media verification for a later time.

 

I was backing up up clients to DAS on a 100Mb/s Full Duplex LAN. The speeds I observed where real-time running average and at the job completion. I could try with verification off but I use verification here for comparison.

 

2. The Retrospect Server app will need to stay open for any execution. If you're worried about security issues, you can always set a password on the app.

 

Really? I'm lost. You mean a console session must be opened for backups to run? Shouldn't it run "headless" as a service? This is a major problem. Please explain.

 

3. With 7.5 you can use Microsoft SMS to push out the client .msi installer or you can use Active Directory Group Policies: http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=8352&p=2

 

I guess this is more of a feature request, but it sure would be nice to have remote installation support built-into Retrospect, without the need for third-party applications.

 

5. Not sure I understand this. 7.5 now has an automatic client login function so that you don't have to manually login and key in the password for each client (definitely handy if you have lots of clients). Maybe this is what you are referring to?

 

Sort of. I prefer not to use certificates and instead leverage my investment in Active Directory lol!

 

 

Please provide more details on issue 2 above. Retrospect not being able to run headless (if true) is highly undesirable.

[tomnibus]

Quote:

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Quote:

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I use Retrospect to backup 8 servers in my system, Macs and PC's and one Linux. It's a good setup. However, I have one problem that has been posted to this forum and it's never been addressed by EMC (only they can). This problem, for me, has been around for at least 3 years and there is no indication that it will be dealt with.

 

On the windows and Linux retrospect clients you can bind the client to an IP address. A specific one. On the Mac, it merely attaches to the first one it finds. I have a gigabit non-routable LAN and a 10/100 'public' network. I would like the backup to run over Gigabit, and for the Linux and windows clients it does. But on the Macs, it will attach to the 10/100 line. Even if I specifically setup the client using the non-routable IP address, it will still use the public side of the network.

 

It is frustrating as hell. Especially when reading my network throughput graphs.

 

So far, that is my only problem with Retrospect.

 

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This isn't relevant to this thread. Please start a new post regarding this issue.

 

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Why is it not? He wanted information on people's experience with Retrospect. That is what I gave him. I am using it in an enterprise environment and that is what I have experienced with it.

 

And I do have a thread open with this problem with no solutions or comments from Retrospect staff Right Here.

[waltr]

hi tom,

 

Quote:

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And I do have a thread open with this problem with no solutions or comments from Retrospect staff

Right Here

.

 

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this is a community board. while i do think that some EMC employees visit from time to time that is not guaranteed or implied.

[michaeln]

Hi Dan,

 

 

 

1. Out of curiosity, what kind of speeds are you seeing and is the slow down during the Copy or Compare phase? This should be listed in the Operations Log. Is there a difference between local vs. client backups?

 

Also, what kind of connection do you have to your DAS? USB? FibreChannel? Not sure if you have enough space but what kind of speeds do you get if you're backing up TO the local C:? Sorry to flood you with questions but just wondering if we can narrow down the bottleneck here.

 

 

 

2. The currently released version, 7.5, runs as an application and not a service.

 

Others on this forum have also inquired about this and I believe it has already been logged as a feature request.

 

 

 

Quote:

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Why is it not? He wanted information on people's experience with Retrospect. That is what I gave him. I am using it in an enterprise environment and that is what I have experienced with it.

 

 

 

And I do have a thread open with this problem with no solutions or comments from Retrospect staff

Right Here

.

 

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Tom, sorry no offense intended. Just didn't want to stray from Dan's issues and have your questions lost in the shuffle.

 

I have listed a suggestion for you to try in the other thread.

[Mayoff]

Quote:

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hi tom,

 

Quote:

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And I do have a thread open with this problem with no solutions or comments from Retrospect staff

Right Here

.

 

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this is a community board. while i do think that some EMC employees visit from time to time that is not guaranteed or implied.

 

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I happen to see 3 EMC people in this thread, although they may not have directly identified themselves that way.

[akwete]

Quote:

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Hi Dan,

 

1. Out of curiosity, what kind of speeds are you seeing and is the slow down during the Copy or Compare phase? This should be listed in the Operations Log. Is there a difference between local vs. client backups?

 

I see about 200MB/min - 300MB/min during the client Copy phase (a little higher during the Compare.) Local backups report about 600MB/min. This compares with about 600MB/min client copy speeds and 2000MB/min local copy speeds using Symantec Backup Exec 10 (verification method differs as such I choose not to report these.)

 

Also, what kind of connection do you have to your DAS? USB? FibreChannel? Not sure if you have enough space but what kind of speeds do you get if you're backing up TO the local C:?

I've got a U320 SCSI connection to the DAS. Plenty of space (it's new and hardly used lol!)

 

2. The currently released version, 7.5, runs as an application and not a service.

Others on this forum have also inquired about this and I believe it has already been logged as a feature request.

 

This is a major disappointment! Unfortunately my Retrospect evaluation expired yesterday and I've decided to take a look at Retrospect after this feature is supported.

 

Thanks for the feedback.