Deb,
 Their training classes are decent, but I noticed that even their
advanced class seemed a little basic. Just book knowledge, with very
little emphasis on real world troubleshooting / performance issues.
Anyone can take a standalone tape drive and make a backup and restore
work. This was the extent of the class in a nutshell. We also converted
a basically blank database from ascii to binary. We worked surprised
when that worked... :) Unfortunately, the classes dosn't address any of
the real world problems most of us encounter. I recommend starting a
local veritas users group... MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE in my opinion.

I think the java gui needs MAJOR improvement. Upon upgrading to
Netbackup 4.5 we will be losing a lot of everyday functionality.

The advanced reporter is in my humble opinion, a piece of garbage. What
is needed is a reporting and tape tracking tool which catches and
highlights errors/contradictions, not something that simply pulls raw
data, which may or may not be correct, and then presents that data. I
guess what I am saying is a more "intelligent" tracking/reporting system
should replace Advanced Reporter, and should be INCLUDED in the
Netbackup package, not another add-on.

- Paul


>>> Deb Heller-Evans <deb AT tickleme.llnl DOT gov> 01/24/03 10:25AM >>>
Hello,

I'm considering changing our backup software from Networker to
NetBackup.  

I know the pros and cons as Legato and Veritas like to present them,
but I'd
be MORE interested in knowing what real users of the NBU software have
to say 
about the product they're paying lots of money for and using.  

For example, Do you like how NBU is set up?  It's GUI?  What are the
problems
you encounter?  Is it totally reliable?  What do you always have to
watch out
for on a regular basis?

How is technical support?  Are they knowledgeable, and available?  Is
the
escalation process handled well?  Anyone been to their training?  What
did you
think?  

I've used Networker for over 10 years (since v3.1) in my various
incarnations
from one company to the next.  I'm tired of dealing with the same old
issues
over and over again, (configuration issues, re-configuration issues,
client
updates, tracking version numbers, etc) and even the same old GUI -
you'd
think they'd update the Unix interface after all this time.

I'd be particularly interested in hearing from those of you who are
familiar
with both products, and what you think about them.  Good and Ugly.

Thanks,

deb



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