If you’re wondering whether there are alternatives to Veeam and how they compare, this guide walks through one of them, Catalogic DPX, and where it lines up with Veeam and where it differs.
If you’d like to see a practical example, take a look at our case studies in resources.
At a glance: Veeam vs. Catalogic DPX
Agent-based and agentless
DPX has been protecting data for over 25 years, and its architecture reflects how infrastructure has evolved over that time. Rather than committing to one backup method, DPX supports both agent-based and agentless backup, so the method can be chosen per workload rather than dictated by the platform.
DPX also supports mounting backups directly from vStor, so a recovery point can be accessed and browsed without a full restore first, useful for pulling individual files or verifying a backup before committing to a larger recovery.
GuardMode, ransomware detection built into every license
DPX stores backups as immutable, air-gapped snapshots, and GuardMode adds active monitoring on top, watching for suspicious file activity and signs of encryption before and during backup. When it flags a threat, it identifies which files were affected and points you to the last clean recovery point, so recovery decisions have a clear starting place.
GuardMode is included in every DPX license, regardless of environment size. DPX also includes KMIP-compatible keystores, which helps organizations in regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and government meet compliance requirements around encryption key handling.
Tape support
DPX has full tape support including LTO-9, and it’s a part of the product we’re committed to maintaining long term. For organizations in government, healthcare, or financial services where tape is part of a compliance strategy or an air-gapped retention requirement, that support is built to last.
If your retention strategy depends on tape today, or you expect it to going forward, DPX is built around that need.
What DPX is built for
DPX is designed for on-premises and hybrid environments, VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox, and physical servers, with vStor as the software-defined backup repository underneath. vStor runs on your existing block storage, handles inline deduplication and compression, replicates for DR, and stores backups as immutable snapshots, included in the DPX license with no extra software cost. You can deploy as many repositories as your environment needs.
DPX is worth a serious look if:
- Your environment is on-premises or hybrid, running VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox, or physical servers
- You want GuardMode’s ransomware detection included by default, not tied to a specific tier
- Tape is part of your retention or compliance strategy
- You need NDMP support for NetApp or Isilon environments
- You’d like a software-defined repository that runs on your own storage
Learn more about Catalogic DPX.
What moving to DPX looks like
Moving to DPX covers those same workloads under a single license that includes vStor and GuardMode. The migration is handled with DPX protecting workloads through the cutover, so there is no gap in coverage.
Want to compare your specific environment and current spend? Let’s talk.
Kacper Wasiak
GTM Manager
