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Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs Unitrends 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data ...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (1st), Disk Based Backup Systems (1st)
Unitrends
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (40th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) and Unitrends aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is designed for Deduplication Software and holds a mindshare of 28.1%, down 29.7% compared to last year.
Unitrends, on the other hand, focuses on Backup and Recovery, holds 0.5% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Deduplication Software
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Faisal_Zia - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers efficient data management with robust features and reliable performance
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) can be improved in terms of price. While Dell is providing a proper device, other solutions, such as Symantec, can replicate their data through any NAS storage. Although their deduplication and compression might not be as effective, they can still accomplish the task. Medium-level and SME-level businesses can easily utilize this feature, but Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a relatively expensive solution to propose to customers.
Todd Guthrie - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution can be used to back up servers and Hyper-V cluster nodes, but its support is super expensive
I wouldn't rate Unitrends a ten out of ten because we had some hard drive failures in the appliance. Typically, when you have OneDrive, you can get it replaced. For some particular reason, the situation caused the entire system to crash. We had to reinstall the CentOS operating system on it, and we lost all our backups. They said there was no way to retain it, and it was pretty devastating and concerning that a drive failure would cause the loss of all the data on the appliance. It was extremely disappointing, and we had to start from scratch after three years worth of backup data. I rate Unitrends a nine out of ten for stability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features that I have found most valuable with Dell EMC PowerProtect DD are its deduplication feature and its DD Boost protocol for fast transfer, which is amazing."
"When utilizing Dell PowerProtect DD for backup systems, Data Domain offers fast performance with low latency, providing high throughput for quicker backups compared to other vendors."
"The most valuable features are the deduplication and compression and the Data Domain Boost."
"Dell PowerProtect DD is a stable solution."
"The hardware can operate in high temperatures, in case of any disaster."
"I like the different features. We work closely with Dell on different products and features, which is why we use them all."
"The stability is excellent."
"Data Domain is an excellent repository that's compatible with a lot of different solutions. Even Veeam Backup recommends sending backup to Data Domain. Space optimization is great. Currently, it guarantees 50-to-1 compression of the application in the same device. In all these years, I never had a client who was unsatisfied with Data Domain. It is a solid appliance with VMware integration, instant access to restore and search, and analytics."
"The backup feature and recovery option are good because they allow the instant recovery of Hyper-V nodes and files."
"VM backup is much faster and more reliable, as I can test my backups with Data Copy Access jobs."
"It is an easy system to use. The support, if needed, is always willing to help."
"It is a quick and easy way to organize my backups and to keep track of them."
"The most valuable feature of Unitrends for me is the automated feedback"
"I am impressed with the tool's reporting and UniView features."
"I like the fact that you can recover the VMs inside the appliance. For example, they're basically running this appliance on a Linux-based distribution, and they're spinning off KVM virtual machines inside."
"They have great support."
 

Cons

"Installation and deployment for this product need improvement. These processes need to made easier. Currently, it's not an easy installation for customers. This product needs to be installed by professionals."
"The product lacks some security features that would make it more stand-alone and integrated."
"We have some problems with backing up on the Power Platform. PowerServer is an IBM product, and it forces us to back up over LAN, which is not suitable for us."
"Dell PowerProtect DD could improve by having better integration with other backup solutions."
"The price of the product is high."
"When you use Data Domain, you have to have at least 20% free space so it can work properly. Sometimes we struggle with that, because we wanted to use all the free space, but then Data Domain becomes really slow. I understand that 20% is needed to process all the data, and doing the duplication and compression and all that, but it would be a big improvement if they did not require that 20%, because it is just too much to have available."
"PowerProtect DD should improve the hypervisor support on the DD system."
"EMC is very expensive for small customers."
"Techs don't see to be well-versed in troubleshooting issues that arise and tickets stay opened for weeks for resolution."
"It seems like Unitrends moved away from enterprise customer engagement and moved more towards the managed service provider market."
"Probably the biggest issue I've had is actually paying for the unit, and part of that problem is that they use a third party for the billing."
"The amount of updates which are being released. Updates should be limited to two or three a year, focusing more on quality instead of a rushed bug release."
"There are a few quirks where the GUI, agent, and back-end are not precisely meshed."
"Making the seeding process more accessible and easier to understand. Also, make more of the undocumented best practices easier to find."
"​​Follow up for the DRaaS service setup. I'm still waiting to schedule a DRaaS test after upgrading several months ago."
"There's a lot that can be made better. For example, it could be more scalable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive. However, if you pay less you receive less, it is cost-effective."
"The price is on the high side."
"The approximate license cost for Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is around 5,00,000."
"In Naira it was twenty-five or twenty-seven million (approximately $75,000 USD) for the implementation and maintenance cost for three years."
"I can't remember what the license costs are. They might be paid monthly or every two months."
"We usually buy products at the end year, and the license is included."
"It is expensive, but the performance and deduplication cover for the cost."
"Dell PowerProtect DD's pricing is expensive, and there is no option for perpetual licensing."
"I would rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten. The licensing is yearly and it depends on the customers."
"When we renew the Unitrends maintenance contract and update it to the latest version, the cost would be $5,000 per year. There are no hidden costs. They've been transparent with the costs."
"With respect to cost, my advice is to get what you need."
"You should be aware how much the monthly costs are to use, what the initial costs for hardware are, and what the options to expand are, if needed."
"Make sure you do the homework to size the solution properly. Buy the Enterprise Plus licensing if you can afford it."
"Their licensing depended on the number of CPUs you had."
"When you purchase initially, get into the program which gives replacement hardware for free when you renew your support agreement."
"Initial pricing is competitive. Renewal pricing is steep, so make sure to project costs for the lifetime of the appliance(s)."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Retailer
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
10%
Non Profit
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)?
The typical use case for Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is for backup purposes; it is disk-based backup, which provides fast backup capabilities. Additionally, data can be replicated from site ...
What do you like most about Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)?
The product, a disk backup solution, improves our data application tasks. We used tape libraries with Dev drives in legacy architectures, resulting in slow backups compared to modern drives like NV...
What do you like most about Unitrends?
The most valuable feature of Unitrends for me is the automated feedback
What needs improvement with Unitrends?
In terms of improvement, the UI, especially in the recovery section, is unclear about which repository it uses—I had to hover over to find that information. Figuring out the scripting part wasn't s...
What is your primary use case for Unitrends?
I use Unitrends to back up my VMware virtual machines and files, ensuring redundancy for both disks and protection against ransomware. I have implemented an air gap strategy by keeping some backups...
 

Also Known As

DataDomain, Dell EMC Data Domain, PowerProtect Data Domain
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The US Army, City of Houston, Lloyds TSB, TiVo, Teck, Ingram Entertainment, The New York Mets
NHL Players Association, Salvation Army, Sligro Food Group, Mason General Hospital, Tec Group, Saldab IT, Baker Tilly, Clinton Savings Bank, Ennit Magna Bank, Manukau Institute of Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NetApp and others in Deduplication Software. Updated: August 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.