Dell PowerProtect Data Domain Reviews

Efficient De-duplication, highly efficient replication, Data Domain BOOST for enabling a level of 'Source-Side’ De-duplication.

For many clients it has provided a Backup & Archive tier of storage separate from primary storage systems, replicated so as to eliminating the need for tape and has enabled organisations to achieve backups within backup windows and provide an appropriate place to tier and archive inactive data too whilst ensuring it is protected, secure and recoverable.

Tighter integration with certain storage arrays or software for even more seamless data tiering perhaps, however the system is quite hard to fault as it ‘just works’.

I have used Data Domain for over 4 Years, designing, implementing and integrating it as part of a solution for many clients with diverse needs of all scales.

Watch out for getting the sysadmin default password wrong more than 5 times, it will lock you out and requires a hard reset which has to be done via serial connection and is time consuming. My best advice is to create at least another admin account immediately at deployment time with a simple password as a ‘backdoor’ and then remove this account once configuration is complete.

No, the product (both hardware and software) is very stable and robust.

In some of the entry level models (DD2200, 2500) you have to be aware of the scalability limitations and ensure you purchase a large enough controller if you foresee growth and scaling beyond its recommended operating parameters as typically the controllers cannot be upgraded in place or without data migration. It is important to get a qualified EMC storage professional to size and design the solution for your purposes up front. However, the DD2500 can scale to 3 x Expansion Shelves (130TB Raw) and the larger models can scale well beyond this up to multi-petabyte scale so typically there are no real scalability issues. You have a LOT of backup and archive data if you fill one of the large systems, however proper planning and design should prevent this ever occurring in the first place.

EMC Support provides a high quality service, however I have encountered very few technical issues with this particular product. When a customer did have an issue due to their backup product filling the Data Domain system (backup application mis-configuration issue) EMC Support worked tirelessly to resolve the issue with a high quality and faultless approach.

I have seen other software based and hardware based De-duplication storage products, so far none has lived up to the efficiency, scalability and integrity of Data Domain.

Very simple, just follow the prompts for the ‘config system’ command from the CLI. The only issue is with the new generation systems initial configuration is via Serial connection, there is no VGA port or pre-configured IP address, however after initial configuration all is very straightforward.

I have implemented this solution for clients working for a Partner/Integrator many many times, I have also designed solutions with Data Domain for EMC… therefore I cannot answer this question without being biased. However the Data Domain system is relatively concise and not monolithic to configure in a short space of time, typically the more time will be spent tweaking and tuning backup applications to write to it in the most efficient manner.

Fantastic product that really is the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of backup/archive/bulk storage products, so usable and can save significant $ and can save many headaches with data management, the more you store on it the better De-duplication and greater ROI you get. If you archive inactive data to this product you can reduce primary storage (SAN/NAS) use by an average of 70%.

Very easy to setup and Data Replication for off-site storage of data.

Data restores and recoveries are so much faster and easier that before, we never have to wait to recall a tape from off-site storage; More Disaster Recovery options allows us to have a better DR process; We were able to remove all TAPEs from our environment.

Based on how we use the product, it does everything we need it to do.

We have been using the Data Domain product since 2008.

We encountered no issues during deployment. Their technical support is great and the product is very simple to manage.

Stability of the Data Domain has never been an issue. They have been rock solid since we have used them. One time we had one of our Data Domains down for 4 days because of a hardware issue. Once the Data Domain was repaired and came back on-line the system picked up right where it left off. It automatically started to replicate all of the data between its replication partner and re-synced the data without any actions on my part.

When we had to add more storage to the Data Domain, adding another shelf of storage was very easy and non-disruptive. When you reach the capacity limit of the model you are using, then you will need to upgrade to another model with more capacity. But moving the backups to point to the new Data Domain is very easy.

Customer Service: Data Domains customer support is very good. We have always received prompt responses to anything we have needed.Technical Support: Their technical support is top notch. They are very responsive and the support personnel are very knowledgeable. The Call Home support for their product usually has already opened a support case for us before I know there is a problem.

The setup is very easy. We had it up and running the same day it was installed.

We had the vendor work with us to install and setup the systems. Their level of expertise was very good. If the person I was working with did not know something he was able to get with his team and resolve anything quickly.

With any duplication product, the initial cost is not cheap. But, once the Data Domain was setup, it just runs. I have very little to no day-to-day maintenance tasks other that monitoring for alerts, which it sends an email to notify me if anything has alerted.

For our Technology Refresh we looked at three different vendors, Data Domain, ExaGrid, and Quantum.

Make sure you setup the Data Domains to use Active Directory authentication. When you are replicating your data to a replication pair, this will make using the replicated data easier to access from the off-site location. If you do not use AD and setup the same account on all of your Data Domains, then you will be using a local account on each Data Domain. The permissions on each side of the replication are for a different user SID even if the users are the same name. So when you try to access the replicated data with the same named local account, since the SID is different, you do not have access to the data without making the local account an “Administrator” on the Data Domain which is not a good idea.