NetBackup was your choice – and it remains so. What’s changing now is the foundation.
What was NetBackup – and what is it today?
Anyone who has worked in enterprise IT environments will be familiar with NetBackup. Its history dates back to 1987 – a time when structured backup for large enterprises was still truly pioneering work. Through acquisitions of OpenVision (1993), Veritas Software (1997), Symantec (2005) and Veritas again (2016), NetBackup has become the most widely used backup software in complex enterprise environments.
What continues to set NetBackup apart today is its breadth: physical servers, virtual machines (VMware, Hyper-V), databases (Oracle, SAP HANA, Microsoft SQL), Kubernetes containers, and hybrid multi-cloud environments on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud – all managed under a consistent policy framework. Over 500 exabytes of data are currently managed by NetBackup. This is not a legacy tool. It is proven infrastructure in operation.
📌 Important clarification regarding the acquisition
The acquisition by Cohesity (completed in December 2024, company valuation: over USD 7 billion) includes NetBackup and the Alta Data Protection platform. Veritas Backup Exec, InfoScale and Data Compliance have been spun off into the new company Arctera and remain under the Carlyle Group. Cohesity has publicly assured that NetBackup will continue to be fully developed and supported – no product will be discontinued or subject to forced migration.
NetBackup 11 – what the current version can already do
Long before Cohesity came into the picture, Veritas introduced significant security features with NetBackup version 11. These now form the foundation upon which Cohesity is building:
- Adaptive MFA & Risk Engine
Multi-factor authentication for backup administrators, combined with a risk-based engine that detects and blocks unusual access attempts. - File System Anomaly Detection
Detects encryption patterns and unusual file access – typical indicators of ongoing ransomware or wiper attacks – directly at the endpoint level. - Immutable backups & storage immutability
Storage-agnostic immutability prevents attackers from altering or deleting backup data – even if admin credentials have been compromised. - Blast Radius Analysis
Hash-based search across the entire enterprise environment – quickly identifies all systems affected by malware before recovery begins. - Security Risk Meter
Continuously assesses the security configuration of your NetBackup environment, highlights deviations from the baseline and prioritises actions required. - Quantum-secure encryption
NetBackup 11 implements future-proof encryption standards – an early step against the growing threat posed by quantum computing to today’s data.
The real innovation: SpanFS and DirectIO
The biggest technical news for NetBackup customers is not the acquisition itself – but what Cohesity brings to the table technically. With DirectIO and the underlying SpanFS file system, a connection is created that fundamentally modernises NetBackup environments without altering existing workflows.
In concrete terms, this means that NetBackup will in future write its backup data directly to SpanFS – Cohesity’s patented, web-scaling file system, which can be used simultaneously by NetBackup, DataProtect and Cohesity Analytics services. A single, optimised copy of data – no more data silos between backup storage and analytics.
🔧 DirectIO – Three technical layers
- Client deduplication: Deduplication takes place directly at the source – less network traffic, faster backups, reduced storage costs.
- DirectIO protocol: An optimised evolution of OST (OpenStorage Technology) with integrated inline indexing, replication and SmartFiles views for instant data access.
- SpanFS file system: Consolidates backup, file and object storage into a single intelligent, immutable data layer – with native support for NFS, SMB and S3.
Three paths – no ultimatums
Cohesity has outlined three clearly defined migration paths for NetBackup customers. What all three have in common is that they are not one-way streets, and no path forces you to abandon existing investments.
Path 1: Keep & Expand
NetBackup stays as it is – with targeted expansion of cyber resilience features.
- Upgrade to NetBackup 11.2 for the latest security features
- NetBackup Flex Appliances: Turnkey protection with no infrastructure overhead
- FortKnox: Air-gapped cloud cyber vaulting for critical backups
- Immutable backups, MFA and CyberUp upgrade incentives
Path 2: Optimise infrastructure
Retain the NetBackup application, migrate the storage backend to Cohesity Data Cloud.
- NetBackup writes directly to SpanFS via DirectIO
- Standalone media servers are replaced by containerised services
- Up to 53% cost savings compared to legacy storage
- No workflow changes, no retraining of teams required
Path 3: Migration to DataProtect
Full Cohesity Data Cloud – all features available from day one, including AI-powered security.
- Automated policy/schedule migration tools available
- Unified platform: backup, security and AI in a single interface
- CyberUp programme: dedicated migration support & incentives
- Helios as a unified management solution for both platforms
Cyber resilience is not a product – it is a process
Cohesity’s own fact sheet on cyber resilience highlights what CANCOM Austria also experiences daily in customer projects: anyone who wants to recover quickly after a ransomware attack needs more than just good backup software. They need a well-planned process that begins long before the attack.
Cohesity’s 8 best practices are not merely a marketing document. They describe real requirements that we repeatedly identify as missing in incident analyses: a cross-functional resilience team, regular tabletop exercises, network segmentation, air-gapped backups with MFA, and a clearly defined communication protocol for emergencies.
What does this mean for your organisation in concrete terms?
If you use NetBackup today, you are in a stronger position than many others. Your teams are familiar with the interface, your policies are defined, and your recovery processes have been tested. That is valuable institutional capital.
What has changed: The threat landscape no longer justifies relying solely on backup as a safety net. Ransomware gangs now specifically target backup infrastructures – and the time between infiltration and activation is often weeks. During this time, compromised backups remain in the catalogue.
Cohesity addresses precisely this: with anomaly detection, the DataHawk Threat Intelligence Engine, Clean Room Recovery and the zero-trust architectural approach in SpanFS. CANCOM Austria supports you in integrating these features into your existing NetBackup environment – at a pace that suits your organisation.
Which of the three paths suits your environment?
CANCOM Austria offers a free NetBackup assessment: we analyse your current backup infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities and show you exactly which migration path delivers the greatest value.