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Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs Dell PowerVault comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.3
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain provides significant ROI through efficient storage, instant restores, and cost savings on tapes and space.
Sentiment score
4.9
Dell PowerVault provides cost-effective storage, offering stability and reliability, especially beneficial for entry-level and budget-conscious users.
If a customer uses Dell PowerProtect Data Domain with a replication policy, they can replicate minimal data changes daily, removing headaches associated with the physical transfer of tapes.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
One is less floor space in the data center and the ability to pack more data into the backup storage on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain as compared to the traditional backup storage.
Vice President - Information Technology Systems Engineering at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The best part is the compression and deduplication feature.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
This represents money saved and time saved, because one person has been able to store, view, modify, analyze, stop, and work properly on the administration of their own equipment and the entire storage farm that is under a single console.
Since we already have a very simple environment and a quite resource-optimized environment, I think the major return on investment with Dell PowerVault was above all being on a super stable, reliable platform that gives us the confidence to continue growing using the same platform.
IT Team Leader Latam at MC Bauchemie
I believe Dell PowerVault is the best option on the market at the moment, especially for entry-level and budget solutions.
System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain's support is proactive and responsive, though some desire quicker access to advanced technical assistance.
Sentiment score
5.4
Dell PowerVault customers generally commend its technical support, valuing quick responses and commitment despite some communication challenges and regional variances.
We feel that we are working with people who understand the technology and the historical patterns of this environment, and when we raise a support request, we have no doubt because it seems that we are working with a product engineer.
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Nowadays, we can connect directly to the Dell team and in a very minimal time, we can get the support from them.
Product Manager, Dell Client Solutions at Team Computers
They respond within 24 hours of case submission, which is crucial for maintaining the solution.
Sr System Expert at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Supporting Dell PowerVault is very easy.
Senior Presales Solutions Engineer ( DELL EMC & VMware) at NTT DATA
The technical support for Dell PowerVault is pretty good and they usually get back to us in a couple of hours with a technical engineer.
Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
When things get more complex and there are interdependencies with other vendors, Dell still struggles a bit, for example, regarding Microsoft products.
Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain offers strong scalability and seamless storage expansion, though initial sizing is crucial for optimal performance.
Sentiment score
6.4
Dell PowerVault offers scalable storage solutions for SMEs, though larger firms may face complexities and performance constraints.
The scalability depends on the IT department's strategy.
Sr System Expert at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is very scalable; it expands easily with new enclosures.
Storage Engineer at Comtrade Group
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain can scale up horizontally to meet the growing needs of our organization.
lead at Boston Scientific
I don't face any issues with security with Dell PowerVault.
Senior Presales Solutions Engineer ( DELL EMC & VMware) at NTT DATA
Dell PowerVault has features that specifically address the needs of small and medium-sized businesses because it is always very well received with the price-performance ratios that we have repeatedly seen out in the field.
Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group
It is a system that was chosen specifically for this capability, allowing extension as needed and providing scalability on demand.
Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is praised for reliability and stability, with minimal downtime and strong performance over years.
Sentiment score
7.4
Dell PowerVault is mostly stable, integrates well, and offers reliable security despite occasional minor issues and active-passive controller drawbacks.
We have never encountered issues such as data corruption with these systems.
Storage Engineer at Comtrade Group
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with it.
ICT Assistant GM at Phpco
I have been using it for up to three years with no upgrading or downtime.
Data Protection Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
This was especially important given the choice to store video that is extremely critical both from a general point of view and from a legal point of view, where data must be kept and secured.
Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
It is stable, performance is acceptable, and has good integration with backup, with interfaces like Fibre Channel and SMB to expose to the client.
System Advisor at CRIF SpA
Dell PowerVault has been stable.
Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain needs improvements in security, integration, usability, and pricing to compete effectively in the market.
Dell PowerVault needs improvements in responsiveness, integration, deduplication, pricing, support, cache capacity, and management for complex environments.
Local support must be available in the country.
Head Of Systems Group at NCCPL
We can leverage writing NAS level backup into Dell PowerProtect Data Domain rather than utilizing any other software tools such as Networker.
Vice President - Information Technology Systems Engineering at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain represents the fastest and most reliable solution, ensuring great integration with backup software.
Storage Engineer at Comtrade Group
It would be beneficial for Dell to enhance outreach to new customers directly to prevent resellers from scaring them away with higher pricing.
Associate Vice President - Technical Services Group (TSG) at HGS
Only when environments become more complex, especially in the enterprise area, does Dell PowerVault struggle in the software area, including centralized management.
Sr. Sales Consultant at Teccle Group
There are two aspects to consider: replication, meaning replicating data from one site to another concerning Dell PowerVault, and another very important area where significant improvement is needed—everything related to expansion rules.
Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain offers high costs yet competitive performance, better suited for enterprises, with ongoing expenses and capacity-based licensing.
Dell PowerVault is an affordable, competitive storage solution, though some users find it costly compared to alternatives.
It is almost four times the earlier price.
Head of Sales and Operations at New Horizon Computers
For small clients, it is very expensive.
Specialist Senior N2 at Entelgy
The pricing has become higher since July, and the license costs are more expensive compared to the past.
Technical manager at Advanced Computer Technology (ACT)
I don't think it's terribly priced, but Pure Storage is cheaper.
Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Dell PowerVault is fairly within the budget for our operations and for our client's operations.
Senior Enterprise Systems Engineer at Fonicom
If you use a PowerVault with SSD hard disk, it begins to be rather expensive.
System Technician at Lidingö stad
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain provides fast backups, deduplication, cost reduction, and strong security, ensuring reliable and scalable data management.
Dell PowerVault offers budget-friendly, scalable, and reliable storage with seamless integration, ideal for video surveillance and enterprise virtualization.
The most valuable feature of Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is its deduplication capability.
Technical manager at Advanced Computer Technology (ACT)
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is highly consistent, durable, easy to install, scalable, and compatible with any software today.
Head of Sales and Operations at New Horizon Computers
The most beneficial features in the product are compatibility, which is the most valuable function.
Head Of Systems Group at NCCPL
We've even used PowerVault series that we intended to use for five years for almost eight years, and it was still working fine, providing good ROI compared to any other brand.
Associate Vice President - Technical Services Group (TSG) at HGS
What differentiates Dell PowerVault from other storage solutions is the performance combined with the ability to meet significant bandwidth consumption needs.
Moe Infrastructure Data Center at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
This mainly gives us time to react and provides us with peace of mind that if something happens, we can be up and running within a span of approximately 30 minutes.
Senior Enterprise Systems Engineer at Fonicom
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (1st), Disk Based Backup Systems (1st)
Dell PowerVault
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise SAN (2nd), Fibre Channel (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain and Dell PowerVault aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is designed for Deduplication Software and holds a mindshare of 21.4%, down 28.2% compared to last year.
Dell PowerVault, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise SAN, holds 15.3% mindshare, down 29.2% since last year.
Deduplication Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain21.4%
HPE StoreOnce17.2%
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager10.9%
Other50.50000000000001%
Deduplication Software
Enterprise SAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerVault15.3%
Dell PowerStore17.3%
Cisco MDS Series9.0%
Other58.4%
Enterprise SAN
 

Featured Reviews

Branko Cirovic - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Engineer at Comtrade Group
Provides seamless backup integration and long-term reliability for enterprise data protection
The price is quite high; this product is not considered cheap. Additionally, if you use higher availability boxes, they also come at a premium price. However, they provide business continuity, which is the main reason why companies invest in this solution. Tape is slow; when restoring several virtual machines or databases amounting to several terabytes, Dell PowerProtect Data Domain represents the fastest and most reliable solution, ensuring great integration with backup software. If a customer has limited budget constraints, they may opt for cheaper external storage comprised of just a bunch of disks and utilize it for backup, as backup is not a business-critical service. However, I see great value in Dell PowerProtect Data Domain because it is fully automated, features great integration with backup software, and provides good value for money. I would rate software support as a ten, while I would give hardware support a seven. I never give any product a perfect score; I think Dell PowerProtect Data Domain deserves a nine. The only minor problems are the certificate issue and the price. These certificate issues are quite rare and mainly arise when we forget to restart and upgrade the box for several years.
Storage has supported long-term CCTV archiving and improves on-premises application performance
I think it would be good regarding how Dell PowerVault could improve to have, in addition to the excellent support service that exists, some training courses, forums, and a training school for using these tools. Many people specialize only in this kind of equipment, and others have no idea how to configure them or how they work and always end up depending on people who have spent a long time working with these systems and know how to handle them more because of experience than because of information that can be easily obtained about using this equipment. Everything regarding additional aspects that could be improved in Dell PowerVault has already been mentioned.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business37
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise41
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)?
Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is mainly used for backup as a target for backup. Previously, I was working in Veeam, and nowadays, I am working with Commvault. For both backup software options, the ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)?
This is very good and it can be integrated with any third-party backup solution. I always recommend going with it if the customer is an enterprise customer or it is basically a big SMB. I always re...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)?
In my opinion, for the version I am using of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, I am not sure if there is another version that will have the functionality I will discuss. I need them to add the air-gap...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerVault?
I think the price, implementation cost, and licensing of Dell PowerVault is reasonable. Considering the resources it delivers, the security, and the reliability the platform gives us, all the costs...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerVault?
I think it would be good regarding how Dell PowerVault could improve to have, in addition to the excellent support service that exists, some training courses, forums, and a training school for usin...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerVault?
My main use case for Dell PowerVault is primarily for massive storage of the information from our servers. A concrete example of how Dell PowerVault has made large-scale information storage on my s...
 

Also Known As

DataDomain, Dell EMC Data Domain, PowerProtect Data Domain
PowerVault
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The US Army, City of Houston, Lloyds TSB, TiVo, Teck, Ingram Entertainment, The New York Mets
Dayco, FAW Foundry, University of Cambridge, Finder, Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co.
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NetApp and others in Deduplication Software. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.