I have been using a trial for the SPN (Symantec Protection Network), an online storage utility from Symantec. The reason I started the trial was to use my Backup Exec Client and copy my hard drive when I was traveling. But Symantec has let me down with the product, client and the pricing. I come to find out that only the server version of the Backup Exec 12 software will work with the SPN, not the regular Backup Exec 8.5 that normal people use on their computers. Then come to find out that I cannot copy my whole computer like copy a disk using the SPN web based software.
But then I found out the price, I have a 500gb hard drive on my laptop, it will cost me $750.00 a month to back up my hard drive. I have 439bg used on my hard drive in files and emails. I think the price is a bit high myself and that is just for a 1 year copy, if I want them to keep my copy for seven years for compliance reasons it is $1125.00 per month. Yes, I am saying these prices are per month.
Now you would think that Symantec would at least let customers use the software they purchased like the Backup Exec 8.5 with the SPN, but that’s not the case. I think it shows that Symantec is just out to make so money and did not think this product out to well before they put it out. My client kept losing connections over the internet anytime I went from my 3G card, to WLAN to Ethernet during the day. I always had to do a test connection with the SPN Client to get it to come back up. It would not reconnect by itself.
I would skip the product, buy a nice backup drive for your office, invest in a vpn router and do your own backup over the internet over a vpn. It is so much cheaper. Symantec let us all down with this product, the integration to other Symantec products and the horrible cost.
I wonder is Cisco will come out with something since everyone says they wil get into cloud computing. This could be next for the SMB customers, online storage.
