Rubrik vs. Veeam: Why and How to Choose [Comparison]

When choosing a data management and backup solution, understanding the differences between Rubrik and Veeam can help organizations choose the best solution for their specific needs. First, let's take a basic look at the two platforms and dive into how Rubrik and Veeam compare to each other in terms of architecture, focus, cloud integration, ease of use and market positioning.

What is Rubrik?

Rubrik is a cloud data management company founded in 2014. It quickly rose to prominence due to its innovative approach to simplifying backup, recovery, and archiving through automation and cloud integration. The platform operates on a converged data management system, combining backup, replication, and disaster recovery into a single appliance.

Core Features of Rubrik

Rubrik’s platform stands out for its focus on automation, ease of use, and scalability. Key features include:

• Instant recovery of applications and VMs.
• Policy-driven automation for backups.
• Immutable backups to protect against ransomware.
• Cloud-native protection for Google Cloud, AWS and Azure.
• Archival and long-term data retention.
• Rubrik’s Approach to Data Backup and Recovery.

Rubrik's primary mission is to eliminate the complexity of backup systems by offering a single software fabric to manage data across on-premises, cloud, and edge environments. It uses a scale-out architecture that ensures backup and recovery processes remain consistent as your business grows.

What is Veeam?

Founded in 2006, Veeam has become a trusted name in the backup and disaster recovery space. Veeam focuses on providing a flexible, software-only approach to data protection that works across virtual, physical, and cloud-based environments.

Core Features of Veeam

Veeam has a rich feature set, and some of the most notable include:

• Backup and recovery for virtual, physical, and cloud workloads.
• High-speed recovery with instant VM recovery.
• Advanced monitoring and reporting.
• Backup immutability to prevent ransomware.
• Cloud-native support for major public clouds like AWS and Azure.
• Veeam’s Approach to Data Backup and Recovery

Veeam is known for its flexibility and multi-cloud capabilities. It allows businesses to back up any workload—whether virtual, physical, or cloud-based—and ensures fast recovery options with minimal downtime.

What’s the Differences Between Rubrik and Veeam [Detailed Comparison]

1. Platform Type and Architecture

Rubrik offers an all-in-one appliance-based solution, while Veeam is software-based and requires additional hardware infrastructure for deployment. Rubrik’s solution simplifies management by consolidating multiple functions into a single platform, whereas Veeam’s flexibility allows users to build a customized backup environment with third-party hardware.

2. Deployment Models

Rubrik offers both on-premises and cloud-based solutions. Its appliance-based model makes it easier to deploy, especially in large enterprises. On the other hand, Veeam is highly versatile, with options to deploy in any cloud, hybrid environment, or on-premise infrastructure.

3. Licensing and Cost

Rubrik tends to have a higher upfront cost due to its appliance-based model, while Veeam operates on a more flexible licensing model, including per-socket and per-instance pricing. For businesses that already have hardware in place, Veeam could be the more cost-effective solution.

4. Performance and Scalability

Both Rubrik and Veeam offer impressive performance, but their scalability differs.

• Rubrik’s scale-out architecture allows for easy expansion, making it well-suited for large enterprises needing to protect massive amounts of data.
• Veeam’s software-based nature means it can be optimized to suit different infrastructure setups. Its flexibility in how backups are stored and retrieved allows for high performance but may require more fine-tuning.

5. Backup and Recovery Features

Both Rubrik and Veeam excel in backup and recovery, but let’s explore their strengths.

• Rubrik focuses heavily on automation and reducing manual interventions, making it an excellent solution for businesses with limited IT staff.
• Veeam offers a highly customizable backup experience. It supports different types of workloads, including virtualized environments, and provides granular recovery options, allowing businesses to restore specific files without needing to recover entire systems.

6. Cloud Integration

As more businesses migrate to the cloud, cloud compatibility becomes crucial.

• Rubrik’s platform is cloud-native, with deep integration into major cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
• Veeam is a leader in cloud integration, offering backup solutions for both public and private clouds, with multi-cloud support.

7. Ease of Use and User Interface

Both solutions are user-friendly but differ in interface and user experience.

• Rubrik’s intuitive interface simplifies backup management, often praised for its easy-to-use dashboard that provides a clear view of backups and recovery points.
• Veeam provides a more detailed, customizable interface that may require more configuration but offers deeper insights and control over backups.

8. Automation and Orchestration

Automation helps streamline backup processes and ensures consistency.

• Rubrik excels at policy-based automation, allowing businesses to set data protection policies and let the system take over.
• Veeam offers automation tools but requires more manual configuration compared to Rubrik’s automated approach.

9. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

A strong disaster recovery plan is critical to ensuring business continuity.

• Rubrik offers built-in disaster recovery features with automated failover and failback, minimizing downtime.
• Veeam also offers strong disaster recovery tools, but these may require more configuration and planning compared to Rubrik’s out-of-the-box features.

10. Support and Customer Service

• Rubrik provides 24/7 customer support and a strong knowledge base.
• Veeam has a reputation for excellent support, offering multiple tiers, including community-based support and paid tiers for more advanced assistance.

11. Customer Reviews and Industry Reputation

• Rubrik customers often praise the platform’s simplicity and speed but note that the cost can be a barrier for smaller organizations.
• Veeam users appreciate its flexibility and cost-effectiveness, though some mention that the initial setup can be complex.

How to Choose: Rubrik vs Veeam

🔵Who Should Choose Rubrik?

Rubrik is ideal for large enterprises looking for an all-in-one, appliance-based solution with strong automation capabilities and cloud-native features. Businesses with a priority on security, automation, and ease of use will benefit from Rubrik’s streamlined approach.

🟢Who Should Choose Veeam?

Veeam is perfect for businesses seeking flexibility and scalability across diverse environments. Its software-based nature makes it a good fit for companies with existing infrastructure or those looking to build customized backup solutions.

Free Alternative: Data Backup Using AOMEI Cyber Backup

If you’re looking for a high-performance, user-friendly, and cost-effective backup solution, AOMEI Cyber Backup is the perfect alternative to industry heavyweights like Rubrik and Veeam.

Whether your business relies on physical servers, virtual environments, or cloud-based platforms, AOMEI Cyber Backup offers a versatile, user-friendly toolset for efficient data backup, recovery, and disaster recovery planning.

🔰 Automated Backup Scheduling: Create customized backup schedules that fit your business needs and never worry about manual backups again.

🔰 Support for Multiple Platforms: AOMEI Cyber Backup supports Windows Servers, VMware, Hyper-V, and various other platforms, ensuring seamless protection across your infrastructure.

🔰 Centralized Backup Management: Manage backups for all your devices from a single, intuitive dashboard, saving you time and effort.

🔰 Fast and Reliable Recovery: Restore your systems quickly and effortlessly in case of data loss, minimizing downtime for your business.

AOMEI Cyber Backup vs. Rubrik and Veeam

✏ Cost Efficiency: AOMEI Cyber Backup is a more affordable solution, making it ideal for small and medium-sized businesses looking to balance budget constraints with powerful backup capabilities.

✏ Simplified Management: Unlike Rubrik’s appliance-based setup or Veeam’s detailed customization, AOMEI Cyber Backup offers a streamlined, centralized backup approach that’s easy to deploy and manage.

✏ Virtualization Support: Like Veeam, AOMEI supports both VMware and Hyper-V environments but at a fraction of the cost, offering agentless backup for virtual machines.

✏ Flexible Licensing: AOMEI’s pricing structure is simple and transparent, avoiding the complexities of Rubrik’s appliance-based model or Veeam’s per-socket or per-instance licensing.

With AOMEI Cyber Backup, you can effectively protect your data, utilizing its automated, reliable and secure backup technology.

Easier Steps to Backup VMware VMs

1. Bind Device: Navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to add a VMware host. And then add VMs by entering the host information.

2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and select VMware ESXi Backup as the Backup Type. Then set Task Name, Device, Target, Archive and Schedule.

3. Start Backup: Click Start Backup and select to Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

* If you need to enjoy more features such as Backup Cleanup, you can upgrade to the cost-effective Premium version.

Conclusion

Both Rubrik and Veeam offer powerful backup and recovery solutions. Rubrik excels in automation, simplicity, and integrated cloud-native capabilities, while Veeam stands out for its flexibility and wide range of deployment options. The best choice depends on your organization's size, infrastructure, and specific data protection needs.