This means the organization would have to perform a preliminary upgrade to version 2010 R3 or higher, and then a secondary Backup Exec 16 upgrade. When performing an in-place upgrade, Backup Exec preserves all of the catalogs and data directories from the previous version, unless you opt to remove them. Jun 12, 2014 - I am really excited to announce that Backup Exec 2014 is generally available! Many of you asked us to simplify the migration process to the latest version. But don't just take their word for it, download Backup Exec 2014 today. Stern, senior vice president for Symantec Backup and Recovery, here.
Symantec’s Backup Exec 2014 (BE2014) aims to remedy the shortcomings of its infamous predecessor. The new features list is tiny but the Backup Exec media server now supports Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 and the sorely missed job monitor gets reinstated.
Along with improved backup and deduplication speeds, Symantec’s granular recovery technology (GRT) now supports Microsoft Exchange 2013 and SharePoint 2013. Upgrading from earlier versions of Backup Exec should now be easier as BE2014 will retain all your backup jobs and settings. For testing, we loaded the BE2014 media server on a Broadberry server equipped with dual E5-2470 Xeons plus 16GB of RAM and running Windows Server 2012 R2.
The install proceeded without any problems and took less than 30 minutes to complete. Symantec has relented to pressure and reinstated the Backup Exec Job Monitor Job Monitor returns When we reviewed we warned users that the radically redesigned console presented a steep learning curve and that they should run it in a test environment first before upgrading. Nothing has changed with BE2014 although the obvious addition to the console is the Job Monitor tab. With this feature back in its rightful place, we could now keep a much closer eye on our backup and restore tasks. Two panels show jobs and job history and we could apply filters to each panel to refine the information on display. Agents are required on each server to be backed up and we pushed these out from the main console.
For testing, we used Windows Server 2012 R2, Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role plus Windows 8.1 hosts and had no problems installing the agent on them. Users upgrading from previous versions will need to deploy the new BE2104 agents to their servers which will require a reboot. You’ll also need to configure your backup storage locations.
We used local storage and an LTO-6 tape drive on the Backup Exec media server plus a Boston IP SAN server providing multiple disk targets over 10GbE. The steps required to create a backup strategy have been streamlined to a few mouse clicks It’s all in the resources With BE2012, Symantec moved over to a resource-centric model which is designed to reduce the number of processes required to create a complete backup strategy. This still holds true with BE2014 and job creation is easy. From the Backup and Restore tab you select all the servers you want to protect and choose a strategy from the drop-down list which will be applied to them all. Choices will be based on the storage already defined and active licenses but you could easily create a backup to disk job with tape staging for all your servers with just a few clicks. The new job defaults to starting with a full backup followed by scheduled daily incrementals.
Jobs can be modified prior to release so you can edit the backup sources and destinations, change the schedules, replace incrementals with differentials and add further stages if you wish. The console provides a detailed overview of all backup activity and status of storage devices Deduplication and restoration For deduplication, we created a special Disk Storage device with this feature enabled. The only drawback is this is an optional feature costing around £400 extra. Is far better value as it includes deduplication in the core product at no extra charge. To test deduplication performance we backed up a Windows 8.1 client to an IP SAN target with this enabled.
On completion, we saw that the 90GB of data on the host has been reduced on the target to only 35GB. Data restoration is more streamlined as when you select a server, BE2014 only presents you with the relevant options for this system. For our standard servers, we were given options to restore files and folders whereas on our Exchange system we had additional choices for restoring the datastore or individual mailbox items.
To use the new simplified disaster recovery (SDR) feature, you’ll need to download the 3GB Microsoft Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) so you can create ISO files for restoring protected systems. In the first release of BE2014, the SDR environment is based on Windows PE 4 and doesn’t support Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 8.1. If you don’t want to run manual DR you’ll need to apply the BE2014 Service Pack 1 which adds SDR support for these host systems.
Only the relevant options for the selected system are presented for data restoration Overall Considering BE2012 was launched over two years ago, it’s a big ask to forgive Symantec for taking so long to sort out its flagship backup software. Migration from earlier versions has been improved but we still strongly recommend that users of Backup Exec versions prior to 2012 familiarise themselves thoroughly with it before upgrading. Backup Exec 2014 remedies many of the outstanding issues of the previous version and existing users will no doubt be very pleased to see the Job Monitor again. It does simplify backup and recovery tasks but we recommend checking out arcserve Backup as it has benefited from a more robust development program and is better value.
I am really excited to announce that is generally available! What’s New in Backup Exec 2014?. Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 support: Backup Exec now fully supports Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2. Superior visibility into backup jobs: We heard you loud and clear. The Backup Exec job monitor is back.
You can monitor the status of all backup jobs from a single view, giving you visibility into the status of your backup jobs. In addition, save time and simplify the creation of backup jobs by backing up and managing multiple servers with a single backup job. Simplified upgrade/migration process: Many of you asked us to simplify the migration process to the latest version. If you are using Backup Exec 12.5, 2010 or 2012 you can upgrade and keep your jobs and settings intact, simplifying the move to Backup Exec 2014. Granular recovery for Exchange 2013 and SharePoint 2013: Backup Exec granular recovery technology (GRT) is now available for Exchange 2013 and SharePoint 2013. From a single-pass backup, you can quickly recover granular objects such as Exchange email and SharePoint documents.
Optimized performance: In our internal testing, Backup Exec 2014 has shown up to 100% faster backup and deduplication speeds compared to previous versions of the software. What about Cloud Capabilities? Over the past several months, many of you have been asking about cloud capabilities. I’m excited to announce that Backup Exec 2014 also supports:.
Riverbed Whitewater Appliance. Quantum Q-Cloud Please stay tuned on this front - we plan to announce support for an additional cloud platform shortly. What Are Customers Saying? Thank you to the more than 3,700 customers and partners who registered to participate in the Beta program this spring. Below is some of the most recent feedback we’ve received:. “Our backups complete with near 100% reliability and restores are consistently successful with zero fuss.” – Brandon Mosak, IT Director, Task Force Tips, Inc. “It Just Works!” – Terry Green, IT Manager, Autochair.
“I’ve used other backup solutions on a virtualized environment with varying degrees of success. But for me, the ability to back up a virtual machine image as well as the files inside it—or restore an entire virtualized application or the granular data in it, whether it’s Exchange or SharePoint or SQL—that’s what makes Backup Exec 2014 far more compelling than its competitors.” – Paul Flatt, Infrastructure and Support Manager, Mitre 10 NZ But don’t just take their word for it, download Backup Exec 2014 today and let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing about your experience.
We will continue to release service packs every 90 days, and the current target for Backup Exec 2014 Service Pack 1 is September 2014. In addition, we’ll keep you updated as we have more information to share about future product plans. If you’d like to read more about the journey to Backup Exec 2014, check out the post from Pablo Stern, Senior vice President for Symantec Backup and Recovery,.
Thank you for your continued support of Backup Exec. To access a 60-day trial of Backup Exec 2014, go to: –––––––––––––––––––––––––– Symantec internal testing. Not aware of a document like that at this time, I'll ask around.but what I can tell you: Since you are on active maintenance, our Customer Care department will be processing Backup Exec 2014 license keys - started today. You should be getting yours soon. You can simply download BE2014 and run the setup which will upgrade your current Backup Exec 2012 installation. This will put you in a 60 day trial mode until you receive your updated license file.
If you would rather wait to have your license file to do the upgrade, feel free to read and learn about What's New with BE2014 here: http://www.symantec.com/page.jsp?id=introducing-backup-exec-2014. Hi, I am so glad this this has finally been released. However, I am having problems with the Remote Agent for Windows crashing after the service start up (when I try to connect to it from the console) on the primary BE server. Can't do anything at this point since the console can't connect. I'm running Windows Server 2012 R2. Having said that, can someone point me in the direction for a forum that might help with this? (I'm sure I'm probably posting in the wrong place, please don't flame me, just don't know where to go for 2014 support) Thanks.
Elias, thank you for the links. There is only one server. The remote agent on the only BE server is crashing thus preventing the (locally installed) management console from connecting to it in the Servers list. It was installed using the standard single server option.
The server shows up in the Servers list but will not establish a connection and warns that not all the services are running. I don't see anything related to this in the links that you provided.
I'm at a loss. I do see that there was a bug fix for the 2012 version regarding other types of beremote.exe crash problems.
I would be happy to provide more technical details to anyone that can help. I bought a BE 2012 license last year in March and I really needed it to migrate it to my WS 2012 R2. I was forced to make the migration without it due to overwhelming pressure to upgrade to Exchange 2013.
I have no idea how licensing is going to be affected but at the same time I'm not even able to get it to run. My impression, when I purchased it for my 2012 server, was that Windows Server 2012 R2 was to be included in the BE 2012 R2 release. The old server has been shut down for about five months now and I've been running the absolute bare bones Windows Server Backup module to maintain the new platform ever since. Now that the 2014 release took so long I'm stuck with BE 2012, that has been unusable for months and is now just outside my maintenance window and have no idea if I'm going to have to drop well over a grand to get it to do what it was originally purchased for.This is all so frustrating.
Sorry to vent, I can't even get it to work.sorry if this got posted multiple times. I've looked at the SCL for 2014. I see that Server 2012 and Server 2012R2 are compatible. What about Windows Storage Server 2012 and Storage Server 2012R2? They are based on Server 2012 Standard Edition. This link is to the MS site regarding Storage Server 2012. We use it for some of our remote office's NAS servers.
It makes things really nice to use. Onboard deduplication. Volume/Disk/Pool creation.
I'd really like to use it as a target for D2D backups for the remote sites to store their backups on locally for faster restoration. Please advise. Unfortunately not. Most of our BETA users, since they were going to a new platform (Windows 2012 or Windows 2012R2) installed BE2014 fresh and created 'new' jobs. Since the framework of BE is vastly differently between BE2010 and BE2014 - it was easier for them this way). However, you can upgrade your existing installation, letting the upgrade handle all the migration of your data to BE2014, then move the database/jobs, etc. From one server to another, that we do have documented.
Hope that is another option that works for you. Must uninstall because remote agents hang without any reason When uninstalling (complete uninstall) Backup Exec 2014 the installer fails because some services seems to be on hang state I must consult to log file to check why installer is failling. It will be simple to have checkbox to force BE 2014 services to stop even on hang state. After shutting down manually the services Backup Exec will uninstall.
Uninstalling does not delete all files and folders. When reinstallaing again the product the setup fails on installing Microsoft SQL Server Express. V-225-53 Error - The return value for Microsoft SQL Express returned error code: Please review C: Program Files (x86) Microsoft SQL Server 100 Setup Bootstrap LOG Summary.txt for more details But this file does not exist. Your product seem to always be in beta state Gonna switch to veeam. Thanks for all your comments and feedback on the release of Backup Exec 2014. Now that we've officially launched, we'd like to ask that you continue your conversations and questions regarding Backup Exec 2014 within the official on Symantec Connect. By posting your technical Backup Exec 2014 questions directly to the forum, other community members will be able benefit as they search for solutions, find recommendations, and learn more about the latest release of Backup Exec 2014.
We look forward to your continued feedback and hearing more about your experiences with Backup Exec 2014.