arcserve upgrade vs. something else?

[Jeff]

I am fixing some backup issues on a server I did not setup originally,
and we have arcserve v7 running, with no agents. I need to backup an
exchange server, purge transaction logs, and backup a SQL database
under MSDE. I am prepared to buy the upgrade to arcserve v9 and the
exchange and sql agents, but before I pull the trigger, I was
wondering if there was a better mousetrap out there.

Is arcserve the end all be all or is there something else I should be
looking at? I'm backing up approx 15 gb to tape, daily...

Thanks!

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Sad to say, I've sorta kinda given up on Arcserve. When it was Cheyenne, it
was great. Then the CA demons took over, and things have not been the same
since.

What about native NTBackup on this box? You can do online Exchange backups
(w/transaction log purging), and if you run a scheduled internal SQL backup
to file, you can include that too.

Learning the ins and outs of RSM isn't fun, but if you script it all with a
batch file, it works like a champ. Can have BLAT send you the logs every
night, too. Oh, and did I mention that all this costs $0 extra?