Question : Problem: Is Microsoft Backup Server (2008) reliable and effecient?

I currently run an older version of VERITAS backup exec.  After a recent purchase of a new server, I want to cut cost by not upgrading.  Plus adding licensing for 4 Hyper-V sessions and one server core.  I'm curious as how reliable and easy is Windows Backup Server is on Windows 2008.  Also, can the Backup Server do backups of Windows 2003 servers on a LAN.  I have a HP SCSI tape drive that holds 300GB per tape.  I use a differential backup plan and only tap 138GB on full backups at the moment.  Any tips would be very helpful or cheaper solutions other than Symantec.

Answer : Problem: Is Microsoft Backup Server (2008) reliable and effecient?

It's not very reliable at all. In fact, Windows Server Backup (WSB) is a backwards step from NTBackup which was included in previous versions of Windows.

I would not trust the package at all, except for very simple single file server backups. Since you are running Hyper-V, I would definitely consider a more robust package such as Backup Exec, which has support for remote agents in order to back-up your Virtual Machines and any network PCs.

WSB does not support network based backups, and backups to a network share are also *very* limited in functionality. WSB also has no native tape drive support and cannot back-up to any form of tape (even with drivers), so attempting to back-up to tape with WSB is a no-go.

I would suggest either upgrading Backup Exec to 12.5, or considering another backup solution; many people have been recommending 'Backup Assist' recently. I have not used this product myself, however.

-Matt