Dell NetWorker Reviews

We are using Dell EMC NetWorker for backup and restore purposes.

The support for legacy products is very good.

The components for container support such as Docker and Kubernetes need improvement. They are lacking.

Stability needs improvement. Also, scalability could be better.

I would like to see better support for the container systems, and we would like to see more support for image backups instead of pure file backups. Image backups are faster.

I have been using this solution for more than 15 years.

We are not using the latest version, we are one major version behind.

We have had some issues with stability, but we can't say for certain that it is an issue with the client's environment, or if it's an issue with the server.

It's a scalable solution.

We have approximately 5,000 clients per backup server, and we have six servers.

We have not contacted technical support. We have only had a few issues that we were able to resolve.

For newer software, EMC has expressed that they will not be supporting NetWorker for much longer. It is my understanding that they will continue for the next two years only. 

We are looking for new technology, and we are in the middle of an RFI.

I would not recommend Dell EMC NetWorker, as the product will end in a few years.

I would rate Dell EMC NetWorker a seven out of ten.

We have a Hyper-V installation, with a mixed Linux environment.

We have an on-premises deployment.

Configuration for Hyper-V needs to be improved. Our original configuration did not work because of an issue that differed between versions.

We are able to do direct backups, but analyzing the logs is not straightforward. There are a lot of things that have to be done from the client-side in order to locate and identify errors. This should be made easier.

This solution should support part-loaded data.

I would like to see support for the enactment of errors, where the error should be very clear-mannered, on board, with NMC control only. When some backups fail, we investigate all of the possibilities and sometimes have to enter the admin from the client-side. We then have to render the log and investigate that. If it is a Microsoft issue, for example, then we will contact Microsoft. This entire process needs to be enhanced.

As long as all of the requirements are met, this is a very stable solution. It is used for our daily operations.

Scalability of this solution is very good. We have approximately four hundred employees using this solution.

Technical support for this solution is very good. They are nice people and whenever we need support, they turn up and investigate. Within an hour they will start an investigation.

The initial setup is a little bit complex, but it is very good. In terms of configuration, you have a basic administrator account. If you are going to be configuring Hyper-V or another technology then you have to have an admin account for those, as well. Without a proper administrator account, you will not be able to perform backup and restore functions.

There are also other things to consider, such as the network port and user compatibility. Hyper-V has issues to consider with respect to configuring the backup.

My advice to anybody who is researching this solution is to first check to make sure that your environment is stable, and compatible with this product. Even before doing a POC, the environment needs to be considered. Once any incompatibilities have been ruled out then a POC should be done, where everything needs to be tested.

This product can be complex and difficult to understand, but once you have some experience it is very good.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

Our primary use case is for our critical servers. We have servers across Unix and Linux environments. We back up our critical servers daily, some are scheduled and some are done manually. 

It has deduplication capabilities, where you have two similar data sets. This helps to speed up backup processes because it takes a shorter amount of time to do a backup because it has the deduplication feature already. Though, you have to buy this deduplication software separately from the license.

The security features need backup and encryption. It would be nice if they added this feature. I would also like to be able to decrypt when restoring the security features. Hackers can sense these vulnerabilities today, and we need to have our enterprise prepared. 

Overall, it isn't intuitive enough. It is a bit complex and not evolving with the technology. 

The stability is 80 percent out of 100. It hardly goes down. When there are issues, we can check the logs and see how to resolve it. We have never had the whole system fail. 

It is pretty scalable. This is not an issue. 

The response time of the tech support is swift. The support is fantastic.

The initial setup was straightforward. The configuration was not difficult. We used user guides which helped us with best practices. 

When choosing a solution, I always consider:

• Support
• Availability of parts
• The technology of the solution.

We are a solution provider and this is one of the products that we implement for our customers.

When we initially implemented this product, it was used for virtual machines that were running SAP. It is used for virtual machine backup, database backup, Exchange backup, and file-level backup.

The interface is user-friendly and can be used by the end-users.

It is a little buggy at times, which is the only thing that I dislike about this product. If they could clear up this issue then it would be great because, for the most part, this is a very effective product from my perspective.

I would like to see more integration with third-party products, including both tape and disk products. I want to be able to perform backups not only from Dell EMC. Having this wide level of support would be very much appreciated.

It could be easier to deploy.

This is a scalable product.

The response time in my region is a little bit slow. It will take 12 hours, or even 24 hours depending on your problem. In the past, the response time was much better. I can recall when they responded within 10 minutes, which was very fast.

Now, only premium users, or enterprise-class users, receive a fast response.

Improving the response time for regular customers would be very helpful.

I have used several versions of this solution.

The initial setup for a new deployment can be a bit complex but with experience, it's very smooth. It takes perhaps 20 minutes to install.

Our technical team can handle deployment and maintenance.

Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages.

In summary, this is a good product and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

This solution had multiple options like configure management, user data, and server and enterprise data. The solution is simple to understand. Some products only use storage media, but Dell NetWorker has multiple options.

The implementation process could be improved. It requires a skill set to set up. In addition, the product line should support all brands and solutions.

We have been using this solution for about a year, and it is deployed on-premises.

It is a stable solution. It has worked for a couple of years without any troubles or significant issues.

It is scalable after a specific limit. It is suitable for medium-sized enterprises. We have about 1,000 users.

We have used Dell technical support. I rate the technical support team a six out of ten.

Neutral

I rate the pricing a six out of ten, where ten is a good price, and one is a high price. The price could be lower.

I rate the solution a seven out of ten. Veeam Backup is a competitor in the market because it has a lot of utilization. It is easy for people to get a license with them, and they benefit from one solution. Regarding potential future improvements, they should look at IT and compare it to other products because things are becoming streamlined for all the product lines, new storage is readily available, and things are moving to the cloud.

We use Dell EMC NetWorker as our backup application and everything backs up to Dell EMC Data Domain, where we replicate it to another EMC Data Domain. The two solutions work combined to meet our use case. Both solutions are from the same vendor and work very well together.

I started off as a storage engineer and ended up owning Dell EMC Data Domain and Dell EMC NetWorker. I've not used any other backup solutions at this scale. Dell EMC NetWorker does what I need it to do, it's efficient.

The front end of the solution could improve. The user-friendliness is lacking.

I have been using Dell EMC NetWorker for approximately eight years.

We have had limited downtime, the solution is highly reliable.

Dell EMC NetWorker is scalable.

When I need Dell EMC NetWorker support and there's a Dell EMC Data Domain issue, it's really easy to have support for both of them from one location. Support has always been there when we needed them.

We have a team of two that does the management of Dell EMC NetWorker and Dell EMC Data Domain.

I rate Dell EMC NetWorker a ten out of ten.

We use the Dell EMC NetWorker to make backups for our virtual environment. We have about 14 servers and we backup everything using NetWorker.

The backup capabilities and the automatization of the backup - along with the potential to make the back up on a virtual machine - are the solution's most valuable aspects. 

It's not just about making a backup on a file level. It's about backing up the entire machine all at once that's very useful for us.

Technical support could be improved. They shouldn't just serve those who speak English. The technical support should be in the national language of the country they are servicing and not only in English due to the fact that it's sometimes difficult for us to explain all the things that are going wrong in an unfamiliar language. It creates a communication barrier and makes getting problems solved harder.

The solution is not easy to administer unless you are very familiar with the product.

The licensing rules are difficult to navigate and understand.

The administrator's interface should be much easier to navigate.

I've been using the solution for four years.

It would be hard to judge the scalability as we have never tried to expand the solution. However, I suspect it may be challenging as the solution has difficult licensing rules.

Technical support is okay, however, they only offer service in English. If you don't speak English, or English is not your first language, you will have issues with communicating.

Before Dell EMC NetWorker we used to use Novell NetWare and the Novell Network and Backup. We needed to switch due to the fact that Novell is no longer available in Europe.

We didn't handle the implementation ourselves. I wouldn't be able to discuss the procedure or if it ultimately was complex or straightforward.

The reseller took about one month to help us internally understand how to work with the solution. We were grateful for the help as the solution is not easy to administer. 

We have two people who are responsible for the solution and the backups.

Our reseller handled the initial setup on our behalf. They did a good job. We were satisfied with their level of service.

Licensing rules are very complicated in NetWorker. The license depends on, in one version, the value of the backup data, and, in another, the physical workstation. It changes from version to version.

I do not know other solutions very well. I know of Hewlett Packard's backup solution. That said, I only know NetWorker and Avamar. These two products are from Dell. 

We're Dell customers. We don't have a business relationship with the company.

I am the administrator of our Dell EMC NetWorker and I make backups of the servers and also run the solution. We only backup our server. We do not back up a user's workstation. The only backups are made by the administrators.

From my perspective, Dell EMC NetWorker is a good solution to make backups. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. I'd rate it higher if the administrator's interface was easier to navigate.

It's easy to configure and manage.

In our organization, we are working with Networker on other sites, so we can share our knowledge and experience.

We pretend to start image backups from VMware, but we are also working with Xen and RHEV, and this product doesn't support those platforms.

I´ve worked on it for over 10 years, since v6.

No issues encountered.

Just in version 7.x.x, where they changed all graphical interface and had some stability issues.

When I used to work in a consultant office, we had to split one backup server into three to support the amount of clients. This customer had a lot of backup server instability.

It is great; EMC support is one of the best.

It is great, a good level of knowledgement and escalation.

I used to work with TSM as well, but Networker is easier to deploy.

There are some features that other software, like Avamar, does better, and that EMC could incorporate into Networker.

Ensure you have good architecture job before implementation. At our organization, we are scheduling all our backups from the same business line to ensure it's all done at the same time, to ensure all backups are scheduled at the same time.