I was recently the marketing manager for Orbit and think I can give you
some interesting insights into most of the MPE backup products.

1) With Unison recently selling out to a Big Blue step child, I suspect
they are in a state of shock and/or panic.  I suspect you can eventually
get a demo, but the bigger question is "will IBM dare keep and support any
product which enhances a rival proprietary platform".  I'm a gambling man,
but I won't take that bet.

RoadRunner itself is a sound and reliable product.  It has a loyal customer
base (I know -- we tried to dislodge a few and had only moderate success).
 It's strengths are in the conveniences for small to mid range shops.  They
have a light weight start-up and reasonable performance.  But the product
itself has not had any significant enhancements in quite some time, and
some of their top flight HP3K people have left.  I interviewed with Unison
during a job search two months ago and saw little enthusiasm for MPE
products (they were well focused on their new, open systems spooling
product instead).

2) Backup+ from Orbit was the original /iX online backup product.  The
engineers at Orbit spent quite some time identifying all the issues
associated with making an online backup with near perfect recoverability
(see TurboStore notes below).  The staff is dedicated to the proposition
that data recovery is imperative, and have been known to do whatever it
take to make sure data is recoverable (it is rare that a bug prevented a
straight-forward recovery, but it has happened).

Start-up is expensive since it requires a directory scan (RoadRunner does
not).  However, B+ works at a lower level for disk reading and rips through
a backup faster than anything else.  I don't recall the exact specs, but
others on this list have hands-on experience and numbers to report (Lee?).

They are also rolling-out Delta, a subsystem which backs up just the data
changed within large files.  Unique, but virgin and without sufficient
real-world testing at this point.

3) HiBack -- I don't know enough about to speak in comparative terms.  When
I last played with it as a user (this being 3+ years ago) the MPE part was
not ready for prime-time.  But three years is a long haul and I hope the
integration and reliability has improved.

It's primary advantages are network backup and compatibility with their NT
and UNIX backup modules.  It also has a GUI for simpler administration.
 The GUI, three years ago, was confusing and somewhat arbitrary in design,
and I never warned up to it.  Things change.

Denys, your turn

4) TurboStore is generally sound, but there was a significant oversight by
HP in the design of their online module which, to my knowledge, has not
been repaired (and, given their basic approach to online, may not be
repairable).  In some instances an Image database could be saved to tape in
a corrupt, and non-recoverable state (well, anything can be recovered using
Adager and DB General it seems, but if the database is huge [the reason you
got online to begin with], then it may not be practical).

This potential problem can be avoided but you need to study up on the issue
and write your jobs accordingly.  Visit the Orbit web site
(www.orbitsw.com) where some of this is described, or ask Ron Seybold at
the 3K Newswire for a reprint of the issue with the online backup debate
(come to think of it, Orbit has a crate full of these in their storage
room).

Other than online, TurboStore doesn't add enough extra features to STORE to
make it worth the extra money.  Also see the Orbit site for a comparison
chart of TS features.  Performance isn't any better than STORE in the test
results I saw.

4.5) The killer on the horizon is the TurboSTORE/Networker integration,
alleged for MPE 6.0.  If it all comes to pass, then you can have MPE as a
player in network based backups.  It also will be the first product to
natively support autochangers on MPE (nobody else has announced planned
support).  Autochanger prices are falling and it makes sense for many site
to consider them (especially in a network backup scheme).

I tested Networker as a competitive product, and cannot say enough bad
things about it.  But most of this is personal preference.  Legato cannot
design a navigable GUI to save their lives.  Networker has a half thought
command language within the GUI, and other semi-important elements.  Like
any complex product, there is something to annoy everyone.

There is a Networker list server at iphase.com.  Subscribe for a month and
listen to the complaints.  The two most frequent are (a) "I can't get
decent technical support from Legato so please help me" and (b) "Man this
new release has a lot of bugs".  In Legato's defense many of the problems
are caused due to OEM versions half maintained by Sun and DG and others, so
it may not be a root issue with Networker.  Also in Legato's defense
(having interviewed with them as well) they have and are ramping-up their
tech support staff, and may provide sufficient support in the future
(providing they can teach a squad of UNIX/NT focused people how to spell
M-P-E).

Please note, these are my *opinions* based on rapidly fading memory.  If I
goofed, well go talk to someone still in the business :-)

On Thursday, September 25, 1997 8:18 AM, jeff Kubler
[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] wrote:
> To all,
> I just tried to get a demo of road runner backup
> software.  What A HASSLE!  I was sent into the
> infinite loop of telephone land.  Anyway, I really
> wanted to ask for thoughts and opinions between
> different backup tools.  Anybody have thoughts
> about road runner, orbit, etc?
> Anybody have trouble with getting connected with
> Unison?
> Jeff Kubler
> Jeff Kubler                      |  541-926-3800
> Lund Performance Solutions       |  http://www.lund.com
> Consulting & Training            |
> [log in to unmask]                    |