Acronis Backup Advanced outperforms Symantec Backup Exec and is a better server backup solution, according to a review published by Network Testing Labs.
Our testing revealed that Acronis Backup Advanced is faster, uses fewer computing resources, is easier to administer and is less expensive than Symantec Backup Exec 2014.
Barry Nance, NetworkTestingLabs.com
Symantec and Acronis are heavyweights in the data protection industry, and offer competing products for business and enterprise users. In this case, the two software suites were evaluated on the basis of performance, usability, features, and price.
The performance tests revealed a 24% faster backup time, and a 18% faster restore time, for Acronis Backup Advanced. Acronis also used 15% less disk space than Symantec Backup Exec, when creating the backups.
When it came to usability and features, Nance pointed out that Acronis Backup Advanced is image-based, while Backup Exec is file-based. Although image-based backups can be made with Symantec’s System Recovery products, these features lacked integration with the latest Backup Exec 2014.
Acronis Backup Advanced was noted for its simpler approach to licencing. “Making sure you specify exactly the right Symantec components – not too many, and certainly not too few – can be a nightmare. Acronis’ licensing is simple and straightforward in comparison,” Nance writes in the review. Features such as deduplication and incremental backups are included in the Acronis pricing structure, while they must be purchased separately for Backup Exec.