Which BMBR Product Is Best For You?
The Symantec Backup Exec package for SBS costs $600, but you must also purchase up to one dozen additional Workstation Backup Exec licenses at $40 each to cover workstations as well as your server. That comes to $1,080 for our hypothetical configuration, but this also provides sophisticated backup and bare metal or discrete file recovery. Whether on the server or on the workstation (or using Restore Anywhere to run things across the network), backup and recovery are easy and straightforward, as is the media-based Lights Out recovery when a boot image is required to restore a machine. Small businesses that already use Symantec products will find these familiar, and may be able to negotiate bundle pricing on the purchase, or maintenance thereafter.
Like Shadow Protect, the Yosemite Backup SBS Master Server includes workstation backup as part of its overall pricing. To perform bare metal recovery, though, you must purchase the Bare Metal Disaster Recovery Option at $499 in addition to the SBS Master Server at $874, for a total of $1,373. That said, the Yosemite products offer some of the best support for Volume Shadow Copy Services around. This product also supports SharePoint, in addition to SQL Server and Exchange, and supports both hardware and software encryption for backups. Though it is slightly more expensive than Symantec, it also offers arguably better services and performance.
| Product | Yosemite Backup Server for Microsoft SBS, Bare Metal Disaster Recovery Option | Shadow Protect SBS Server | Symantec Backup Exec: SBS edition & Workstation edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server Operating Systems | Windows SBS 2000 and 2003 | Windows SBS 2000 and 2003 | Windows SBS 2000 and 2003 |
| Runs as Windows Service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Networked Workstation Operating Systems Backed Up | Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT | Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT | Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT, Me, 98, 95 |
| SQL and Exchange Server Backup Agents | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Disk/Tape Backup | Disk | Disk | Disk |
| Bare Metal Disk Image Recovery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Discrete File Recovery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supports RAID Bare Metal Recovery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price and URL | Server: $874; Bare Metal Disaster Recovery: $499 (Total: $1,373) | $495 | $600 for Server, $40 per client (Total $1,080) |
Table 1: SBS Product Features and Prices
