HPE Zerto In-Cloud Software for AWS

The primary use case for HPE Zerto Software  is disaster recovery. I use HPE Zerto Software  to help protect VMs in my environment.

One of the most important features of HPE Zerto Software is the ability to easily recover systems based on the required point in time. The possibility to recover systems to the desired point in time while containing consistency within the whole application is significant.

My impression of its near-synchronous replication is that it covers the majority of all use cases. It cannot cover all scenarios and very sophisticated requirements, such as near-zero replication. However, in most cases, these capabilities are fully sufficient to have the system fully operational because I am aware that in case of a real issue or real disaster, there is always the loss of data. This is acceptable functionality in my opinion.

HPE Zerto Software is not reducing our DR testing because we have DR tests based on our policies and they are conducted periodically. However, the amount of time needed to perform DR exercises itself and the engagement of teams required to be present during the recovery test helps much and lowers the costs for the company. This software allows for almost fully automatic recovery, which means that the teams are required only for the verification phase, not during the entire recovery process. This also impacts the costs for DR exercise execution, meaning the costs are lower compared to the scenario when the team responsible for the application needs to recover the system from a backup solution.

In my opinion, it is hard to predict how HPE Zerto Software can be improved in the future because this software is used for a very specific purpose which it works fine for. This purpose is quite limited, so there are all required functionalities now provided by HPE Zerto Software within the application. It is possible to recover the virtual machines and recover pods from Docker  solutions, for example. The application itself cannot recover physical servers, so I would point that out as a feature request that could be discussed by the HPE Zerto Software team as a new functionality, if possible.

Regarding specific security examples that made me decide to switch to HPE Zerto Software, I did not have security concerns. Before using HPE Zerto Software, we did not have the specific requirement from the security perspective to use such software. Probably now as there is DORA requirement, NIST, and NIS requirement. However, we were using this software before this law started, so we already used this software.

I have been using HPE Zerto Software for almost 10 years.

I am generally very pleased with the technical support provided by HPE, so I would rate it a 10.

Unfortunately, I do not use any other software in this approach because we have only HPE Zerto Software. Therefore, I do not have experience with any competitors, such as Veeam, Rubrik , and others. I did not have the chance to use them in a normal production manner.

The initial setup of HPE Zerto Software is not complicated; it is very simple. You have everything from an infrastructure perspective prepared, so you have the privileges configured on the hypervisor solution, along with all components such as network, storage, capacity, and CPU prepared. The installation itself lasts one to two hours at most. After the initial installation, it is only the configuration for the production workload, depending on needs and scenarios and how many systems you have in protection. From my understanding, the initial configuration and installation are very easy and smooth based on my experience. However, some preparation is required, but this is normal for any solution, not just for HPE Zerto Software.

I am not able to estimate the cost of downtime. However, let me imagine that a typical application recovery process lasts two to three hours and it takes two to three persons to be involved in this process. Let me assume that such engagement is not for one application but for 100 applications. Then let me compare it to the situation when you have all these systems protected with HPE Zerto Software and one person is able to recover their systems in minutes and only asks the application teams to verify if it is working fine after recovery. This causes huge numbers of FTE engaged in the DR process, whether in simulations or the real disaster recovery process, measured in many hours compared to minutes that can even be done in parallel. I think the return of value is huge. This is based on not only one action but comparing activities performed four times a year because of the policies requiring such exercises, which many teams are involved in.

I can confirm that HPE Zerto Software has reduced downtime in various situations, and it has reduced, as I mentioned previously, the engagement of the teams required to recover their systems.

Comparing HPE Zerto Software's recovery speed to competitors, I cannot compare what is the time required to recover the systems. However, compared to backups, as this is the initial way to recover systems after failures, it is much faster because it is measured in minutes to recover systems. Compared to traditional backup solutions, it is much faster.

I assess HPE Zerto Software's overall effect on my RPOs by stating that we use it both in simulations, meaning the DR exercises, which we perform periodically in our production environment. As it is, the DR exercise is controlled, which means that we have no loss of data in that case. However, we also had examples of using the software during a real disaster that happened in our infrastructure, and it also worked fine. The RPO requirements were met during the recovery actions, so for us, it proved that it worked fine.

Regarding the pricing of HPE Zerto Software, I find it reasonable. I rate this review a 10.

The main purpose of HPE Zerto Software is disaster recovery, which is mainly what we focus on, along with data protection. HPE Zerto Software has significant strength in cyber resilience and disaster recovery.

The best features of HPE Zerto Software are mainly very sophisticated and relevant to the current market. The data protection CDP part has real-time replication, unlike other solutions that have snapshot backups. We can set it up hourly, making it ideal for use with workloads. Another attraction is the near-zero RTO, with automated failover within minutes and one-click failover and failback. Currently, we are using a hybrid cloud solution, and HPE Zerto Software supports multi-cloud environments, making it easy to migrate between on-premises and cloud.

Regarding the impact of HPE Zerto Software on our RTOs, we have near-zero RTO, meaning the system must be back online within thirty minutes if we measure the time. It is very quick to recover services.

With HPE Zerto Software's near-synchronous replication, we have some CDP protection, so we typically write interceptions along with some asynchronous replication. There is almost real-time replication available.

Regarding HPE Zerto Software, the learning curve is where I see room for improvement. There should be more features, such as tutorials.

Regarding documentation for HPE Zerto Software, it should not be in-depth, but at least more accessible so that people can understand it easily with simple jargon. For example, if someone mentions RPO or VPGs, new users might not understand it. There should be greater ease of understanding.

I have been using HPE Zerto Software for more than three and a half years in our organization, and we are using the Zerto migration utility. I can consider my usage period to be more than three and a half years.

Regarding stability, I would give HPE Zerto Software a rating of 9.

For scalability, I rate HPE Zerto Software a 9 as well.

On a scale from 1 to 10, I rate the technical support for HPE Zerto Software as 8.5. If it were a solid number, I would say it is a 9.

When comparing HPE Zerto Software with other solutions such as Veeam, VMware, Druva, and Commvault, I can say it has very sophisticated solutions providing good backup capabilities, ransomware recovery, and better RTO and RPO. Although HPE Zerto Software's pricing is somewhat higher, it includes very good features across the board.

The deployment of HPE Zerto Software is very easy compared to other solutions.

The deployment took only two weeks, and we received excellent support from the HPE Zerto Software team.

From the recovery point of view while working with HPE Zerto Software, we save a lot in terms of time, money, and resources, especially during critical applications and deployment time, which is less complex compared to other applications.

In terms of percentage, we save more than thirty percent with HPE Zerto Software.

Regarding the pricing of HPE Zerto Software, I would say it is not high but rather in the mid-range. HPE Zerto Software was purchased through a partner purchase.

My advice for others looking to implement HPE Zerto Software is to always refer to the resources available. I recommend HPE Zerto Software. Overall, considering the learning curves and pricing, I give HPE Zerto Software an 8 out of 10.

HPE Zerto Software 's main use cases include graphics, restore RPO, and RTO. I have used HPE Zerto Software  to help protect VMs in my environment. For VM restore only, it takes about 10 minutes or less for RPOs.

HPE Zerto Software's best features for me are the instant restore and the marking of suspicious malicious activities on the backup job.

When I implemented HPE Zerto Software, my impression of near-synchronous replication is that it works well and achieves very low latency, with only a few seconds delay—seven or eight seconds only. Overall, I see a very good impact from near-synchronous replication and consider it a very good feature.

HPE Zerto Software is more speedy when comparing recovery speed to other disaster recovery products. With Arcserve, I took a few hours to restore the VM and the service, but with HPE Zerto Software, it's just a few minutes only, which is very good.

HPE Zerto Software helps to reduce downtime in various situations. Although I haven't used it in production yet, during drills and theoretical scenarios, it proves effective in saving a significant amount of time.

So far, I do not see any areas for improvement in HPE Zerto Software. Currently, there are no minor improvements I can think of, and I have no concerns so far.

I have been using HPE Zerto Software for just a few months after changing from Arcserve.

During the POC with old hardware, I encountered some performance issues, but that is a hardware problem and not due to HPE Zerto Software.

HPE Zerto Software is flexible to scale. I can buy just a few or more as needed, and it offers great flexibility.

I believe HP support is very good. They follow the SLA and the local engineer is well-informed about HPE Zerto Software. The technical support is excellent. There are instances where I need to follow up and self-investigate, but overall, everything is fine with the support.

I compare HPE Zerto Software to Arcserve backup. I think HPE Zerto Software is easier and more simple than Arcserve, the previous product.

Deployment of HPE Zerto Software was easy for me. I accomplished the deployment in-house.

I purchased HPE Zerto Software from a local distributor.

I have not seen any return on investment from HPE Zerto Software yet.

I think HPE Zerto Software is expensive. If I had to rate its expense from zero to ten, I would give it about 1.5 compared to other products.

I currently work with HPE Zerto Software as my backup solution, previously utilizing HP as part of my infrastructure. Even though I have been using HPE Zerto Software for just a few months, I find it incredible because it's much better than the CA backup I used previously.

HPE Zerto Software has helped to reduce my company's DR testing. With its drill and test functionality in a separate environment, I think it could save three or four hours during testing.

My company decided to switch to HPE Zerto Software for the enhanced protection and benefits of ransomware prevention for backup data, as well as effective RPO and RTO functionality. Every function is working very well.

Although I haven't used HPE Zerto Software on the production environment, only in drills or POCs, I think it could save a few hours similar to those tests. Regarding time savings in data recovery due to ransomware or other causes, there is potential for improvement.

I observed savings because I combine HPE Zerto Software with hardware for multiple backups. It wouldn't be a comprehensive solution without another safe place to store backup data, so I believe it needs to be combined effectively.

I am not sure about data recovery in the cloud since I have only implemented HPE Zerto Software on-premises. My overall rating for this product is 10 out of 10.

HPE Zerto Software ’s near-real-time replication capability is a critical part of how we deliver disaster recovery to our clients. Operating in The Bahamas, we are in a hurricane-prone region, so geographic resilience is a major concern. Many of our clients value the assurance that, in the event of a natural disaster, loss of power, or even the complete destruction of a local data center, their environments can be brought online in a different jurisdiction and continue operating exactly as they would on-premises. This level of protection and peace of mind is one of the primary reasons we deploy Zerto for our customers.

In addition to disaster recovery, some clients use HPE Zerto Software  for testing and validation purposes. The platform allows us to run disaster recovery tests in an isolated environment that mirrors production, enabling clients to validate real-world failure scenarios during business hours without disrupting live systems. This has been especially valuable for organizations that want confidence in their recovery plans but cannot afford downtime.

HPE Zerto Software also enables us to deliver disaster recovery in the cloud rather than relying solely on physical data centers. We typically provide clients with a virtual data center where their replicated environments reside, allowing for faster deployment and greater flexibility. One of Zerto’s strongest advantages is that it is hypervisor-agnostic, supporting platforms such as VMware, Hyper-V , and public cloud environments. While some customers still prefer dedicated physical infrastructure for private deployments, the majority of our clients are comfortable with a cloud-based approach. For them, Zerto has proven to be an efficient, reliable, and scalable solution that accelerates recovery readiness while simplifying overall operations.

One of HPE Zerto Software’s best features for us is its built-in ransomware resilience. Zerto continuously journals data changes and uses anomaly detection to identify unusual write behavior that may indicate a ransomware or cyberattack. This gives us early visibility into potential threats and allows us to respond quickly.

A key strength of the platform is its immutable journaling and recovery checkpoints. Zerto maintains frequent, immutable restore points that cannot be altered or encrypted by ransomware. This allows customers to roll environments back to a point just before an incident occurred, with confidence that the data has not been compromised. From a customer perspective, this provides a high level of assurance that their data remains protected and recoverable even in the event of a successful attack

While Zerto is hypervisor-agnostic and reliably replicates data, newer VM hardware versions, particularly in VMware environments, may not be immediately supported when customers update aggressively. This can create challenges in shared or cloud-based Zerto platforms, where upgrading the Zerto infrastructure to support a single customer’s newer version may impact other tenants.

It would be beneficial to see more flexibility around supporting older and newer platform versions simultaneously, or enhanced tooling to better manage version mismatches in multi-tenant environments. This would help service providers accommodate customers who move quickly with upgrades without forcing platform-wide changes that affect other clients.

I have been working with HPE Zerto Software for about the last eight years.

Zerto scales really well as environments grow. We’ve used it in smaller deployments and in larger, more complex environments, and the overall management doesn’t change much as you add more workloads. Once the core setup and networking are in place, protecting additional VMs or expanding to another site is fairly straightforward.

One of the things that helps with scalability is that Zerto is consistent across different platforms. Whether workloads are on-prem, in a secondary data center, or in the cloud, the replication process works the same way. That makes it easier to scale without having to learn or manage different tools for different environments.

We have been exposed to other solutions in the market, such as Veeam and some of VMware’s native replication options, but we did not extensively deploy them for disaster recovery. While Veeam does offer replication capabilities, our organization standardized early on HPE Zerto Software, and it has remained our primary disaster recovery platform.

We chose to stay with HPE Zerto Software because it consistently met our recovery objectives and aligned well with our operational model. As a result, we have continued to build our disaster recovery services around Zerto rather than switching between multiple tools. This focus has allowed us to develop deep expertise with the platform and deliver a consistent, reliable disaster recovery experience for our customers.

The initial setup with HPE Zerto Software is very straightforward. Deploying the platform itself is a breeze, and getting replication up and running does not take much effort. The only part that can become more complex is configuring the environment to match the customer’s specific needs, which can vary depending on networking, security requirements, and how the target environment is designed.

Overall, the core setup is simple, and any added complexity usually comes from tailoring the solution to fit the customer’s environment rather than from the product itself.

From a pricing perspective, HPE Zerto Software is more expensive than many competing solutions on the market. However, in our experience, the value becomes clear very quickly once customers see the product in action. Zerto is relatively easy to set up, and its ability to demonstrate near real-time replication and recovery in a live demo makes it much easier to justify the cost.

While pricing can initially be a concern, running a proof of concept typically shifts the conversation. Once customers understand the benefits, particularly around recovery speed, minimal data loss, and operational simplicity, they tend to focus less on price and more on how to adopt the solution within their environment. From that point, licensing discussions become more straightforward, as the product effectively sells itself based on performance and reliability.

I have seen and been around certain applications such as Veeam. Veeam has a replication option, but I have never fully explored it. We bought into HPE Zerto Software, and it has always been HPE Zerto Software as our number one go-to for disaster recovery. I know that VMware has some built-in replication options as well, but we have really and truly stayed in the same lane of disaster recovery with HPE Zerto Software.

HPE Zerto Software is what we often describe as the Ferrari of disaster recovery. It is a very refined platform with strong built-in safeguards, near-real-time replication, and a clean, intuitive management interface through Zerto Virtual Manager. The ability to manage access through Active Directory or independent logins, combined with immutable journaling and ransomware anomaly detection, gives us a high level of confidence in both security and recoverability.

Zerto excels in fast recovery and low disruption. We can restore workloads to just before an incident occurs, significantly reducing downtime and data loss. We have successfully used it to recover from a real ransomware incident, restoring clean environments quickly and keeping business impact to a minimum. Its migration capabilities are equally strong, allowing us to move workloads with minimal interruption while continuously capturing incremental changes until cutover.

Disaster recovery testing is another major strength. Zerto allows us to perform full DR tests during business hours in an isolated environment without impacting production, which has led to more frequent and more effective testing for our clients. The platform is also easy to operate, reducing the number of staff required during recovery scenarios and simplifying ongoing management.

My advice to organizations considering HPE Zerto Software is to clearly understand their recovery objectives. If you require very low RPOs, fast recovery times, and confidence against ransomware or major outages, Zerto is an excellent choice. While it may be more expensive than some alternatives, its performance, reliability, and ease of use justify the cost—particularly for medium to large enterprises.

The purpose was for cloud migration, as it's for cloud DR as a service. It's for DR purposes on the cloud and also on-prem to different sites. The main challenge is that I'm not working with one customer but I'm working with multiple customers. My role is I'm an architect that provides DR solutions and cloud solutions to the customers in Israel, but not only in Israel. Most of the use cases are for DR as a service. The challenge is to provide a disaster recovery solution for big organizations, and they are not limited to their on-prem sites.

The most liked feature in HPE Zerto Software  is that it uses CDP, Continuous Data Protection. It's a protocol that provides a very low RPO, which is Recovery Point Objective . This means how much data you lose when a disaster occurs. This is the main feature of the product. It's called CDP, and until two years ago, it was the only product able to provide that. Today, there are competitors, but they are not as mature as HPE.

The near-synchronous replication is the CDP I just mentioned. The near-zero replication is possible due to the CDP usage, and this is a game changer. DR in the cloud is much cheaper, and the ROI is absolutely in favor of cloud DR because we do not need to purchase any hardware. As a customer, I do not need to purchase hardware, rent a physical data center, or bring all my equipment to locate in the DR site.

It's not only in the cloud; it's DR as a service, which means that the recovery operations are performed by a dedicated team specializing in this area. Organizations don't need to have the expertise to manage and know HPE Zerto Software  platform because a dedicated team of the cloud provider is actually operating all the necessary steps to recover the systems. Comparing to a regular backup solution, it reduces downtime by 95%. The recovery time objective reduction comes from the fact that it's CDP. Additionally, HPE Zerto Software comes out of the box with an orchestration tool, which means you can automate the recovery process and don't need to perform tasks manually for the recovery operations. The recovery process with HPE Zerto Software is better compared to other DR solutions. However, it's equivalent for some products or methods.

There are few areas for improvement that are mostly technical. It has limited support mostly for VMware environments; they are trying to reduce support for Hyper-V  and now bring it back, but it's not working as easy with VMWARE. There is a problem where you need to perform a full sweep to back up and sync a VM from the beginning, which occurs in some scenrios. There are times you need to restart synchronization from the start, which is a heavy operation without clear reasoning, consuming a lot of resources.

I have been architecting soluitions with this product for four years.

I rate the stability of HPE Zerto Software at nine.

Scalability is rated at 10, but it is limited mostly to VMware.

The deployment, whether cloud or on-prem, is easy. The deployment process takes about one to four hours, specifically the deployment of the HPE Zerto Software footprint.

in DRaaS , maintenance is easy because it's cloud-based; everything happens behind the scenes for the customers and end users.

DR in the cloud is much cheaper, and the ROI is absolutely in favor of cloud DR because we do not need to purchase any hardware. As a customer, I do not need to purchase hardware, rent a physical data center, or bring all my equipment to locate in the DR site. Having it in the cloud is very beneficial for customers and organizations. It's not only in the cloud; it's DR as a service, which means that the recovery operations are performed by a dedicated team specializing in this area. Organizations don't need to have the expertise to manage and know HPE Zerto Software platform because a dedicated team of the cloud provider is actually operating all the necessary steps to recover the systems.

I would say the pricing is expensive, rated at 10.

For now, HPE Zerto Software is the best with CDP, although other vendors are catching up. In two years, it's not guaranteed they will be the leaders.

HPE Zerto Software is not the only recovery tool needed for ransomware recovery. It provides the ability to deploy systems for review and cleanup, it's beneficial to use it to reduce the time for bringing back the system for ransomware investigation. It reduces time by about 50% in a ransomware case. I absolutely recommend HPE Zerto Software, but my first advice is to ensure proper sizing and validate that applications are supported by a tool that supports CDP. There's a possibility that a VM, which is hosting an application, may not always be considered by HPE Zerto Software when copying VM data, so checking application support with CDP systems is crucial.