Dell PowerProtect Data Domain Reviews

We use Dell EMC PowerProtect DD for backing up a target.

The most valuable features of Dell EMC PowerProtect DD are the duplication security and uptime.

Dell EMC PowerProtect DD works well with other solutions, such as NetWorker. It's really easy to pass over to Data Domain and vice versa. 

I have been using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD for approximately 10 years.

The stability of Dell EMC PowerProtect DD cannot be beaten, it is highly stable and reliable.

The scalability of Dell EMC PowerProtect DD is very good.

We have around 2000 employees and all the infrastructure that goes with it. We back up maybe 250 to 300 servers.

I have had excellent support because I am not using overseas support. I try to have support agents in Utah USA, and Canada.

The implementation of Dell EMC PowerProtect is straightforward. However, there are lots of options available. There are three different types of compression. It mainly dupes the data, and it also does local compression on the data domain itself. Once you choose the compression, you then have to decide whether you're going to do an entry backup or a straightforward input, big bucket type of backups, and only have one directory for your data.

When you purchase Dell EMC PowerProtect DD, you always have help from EMC. They will help you get familiar with whatever is new to you. 

When you spend the kind of money for this solution you do receive good support to help you through any issues, it is not complicated.

We have two people that manage the solution, but the two people are more to cover sickness, training, vacation time, et cetera. A single person can do the maintenance.

The price of Dell EMC PowerProtect DD could improve, it is expensive.

My advice to others is to ensure they understand the solution well so that when they do implement it, it is done correctly for the business. Lots of different companies use it in different ways. I was with EMC for 10 years and I have spent the last 15 years supporting EMC customers, every implementation is unique because everybody has different ways of doing things. They don't always follow best practices, they will follow their business best practice rather than the vendor's best practice. They want a different thing out of a backup environment.

If my business said that they were going to change to a different backup product, I'd be looking for another job because I wouldn't trust my data with anything else.

I rate Dell EMC PowerProtect DD a ten out of ten.

We use Dell EMC PowerProtect DD for deduplication, data protection, and data recovery. We use many different versions, including the newest versions.

The most valuable feature is the inline data deduplication.

I have been using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD for approximately 13 years.

I have used the solution all the way from when it was called Data Domain to when EMC bought it, to when Dell bought EMC, and now it is called Power Protect. 

Dell EMC PowerProtect DD is highly stable and reliable. I have not had a time when the system did not work and in an emergency this is critical.

The solution is simple to scale.

We have at least a dozen clients that use Dell EMC PowerProtect DD, and they like how it works

The Dell support is excellent, they have a lot of knowledge and can work us through our issues quickly.

The initial setup is straightforward and is very easy to migrate to the next generation of solutions.

The solution requires one or two supporting staff and is low maintenance.

I would rate the ROI a five out of five.

The solution is expensive. However, if you pay less you receive less, it is cost-effective.

I would recommend this solution to others and it is a good choice.

I rate Dell EMC PowerProtect DD a ten out of ten.

The primary use case of our customers is to do backup for their data.

One of the most valuable features is that it looks for the deduplication, which can reduce the amount of the data.

One improvement to the solution would be in the integration with backup software. They still have hardware different from the software.

We have been working with Data Domain for around 10 years.

The stability and performance of the solution is good.

Data Domain is suitable large enterprises. Because it's scalable, the solution is targeted toward medium to large enterprises.

The technical support is good. It's better than others, but if they are not familiar with the problem, they have to take their time. But in general, they are good.

I have a team that takes care of the deployment. They say it's easy but it takes some time, in terms of policies and integrating with infrastructures the customer already has. These are the challenges but it's easy to use.

A medium project takes around seven days to implement and integrate. A large project, 200 terabytes or 300 terabytes of data, will take around 15 days to 20 days to integrate with all the servers and backup software.

The solution comes with three years warranty and support from the vendor, but we have a lot of users with electrical outages, or unexpected errors happen. So we replace the hardware in terms of the hard disk or the controller, or we do maintenance in terms of upgrading the firmware on all of it.

The solution was cheap; now it's becoming more expensive. For example, if you buy it for 10 terabytes, you have to buy 10 terabyte also of software for it. It's called the capacity software. It increased our prices.

I've compared Data Domain to NetBackup Appliance. The pros for Data Domain are the starting capacity and the scalability, but the pro for the NetBackup Appliance is it's being integrated with their backup solution, which is NetBackup software. In terms of the integration with the software and the ability to have it, if you have a problem with your backup, you can restore it on the same machine. So, it's better in terms of NetBackup. 

Overall, whenever we integrate Data Domain with NetBackup software, it's been good.

I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. It's a good product that we recommend.

The cost is quite good if you look at the product. 

It should provide everything that an enterprise needs. 

It can back up all the workloads on-prem, off-prem, and mainly the VM infrastructure. You should be able to replicate to another site. 

The reporting and monitoring features that it provides are great. 

It offers security with the software.

The stability is excellent.

The solution scales well.

The new niche players are currently very good, but some things that they lack. As an example, NetApp Filer. There is no real partnership between different vendor platforms such as EMC or NetApp. They don't really talk that much. There needs to be better ease of use with like APIs and automation and things of that nature. Some vendors are more API friendly, some vendors are not. Being API friendly will help.

EMC is just coming out with their global deduplication future with virtual addition and things like that. Which is still in the works.

They need to make migration easier. 

The solution is very stable. there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. There is not any other storage, deduplication storage appliance, that will match Data Domain. That is pretty much as stable a product as we have seen.

The solution can scale well.

Overall, technical support has been pretty good. However, the support recently, the support that is coming in from India, is not as good as what we used to get before. In the past year, we have seen a significant drop in call response.

When we installed the solution, pretty much the software all was new. It was Legato earlier and then it was using Networker version eight everywhere else. When we started deploying it, we started with version nine. We pretty much started with the latest versions of the software. There were some growing pains, however, we were able to step up the enrollment and it was good in the end. Beyond a few issues right at the outset, it was a good experience. 

The cost is quite reasonable. 

Earlier, when we started deploying, we had to use a single DDBoost user for each EMP. I don't know our storage unit, however, now, with the latest release, we can use multiple users. That is one good reason why people should start using this solution, as there is one DDBoost user per entry. That way, it is easier to migrate or move across, for example, during your tech refresh. When they offer some kind of a load balancing feature in front of Data Domain it will be a good thing. We know that they always have it in the roadmap, however, we have never seen that come through.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

We use model number 6800. The operating system is 7.4.

I find the data to be most valuable. 

The price is on the high side.

I would like to see integration with public cloud.

We have been using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) for almost ten years. 

The solution is, thus far, stable. 

The solution is scalable. 

The technical support is okay. It's not bad.

I did not work with other solutions prior to using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain).

The initial setup was handled solely by the Dell EMC, so it was okay and not that complex. 

The price is a bit steep. 

We pay for the support every three years. 

I am an end user.

I feel the solution works fine for us. 

There are around four or five people working with this solution in our company.

My advice to others looking into implementing this solution is that they acquire the requisite knowledge. It is important to be properly trained in how to use it. 

I rate Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) as an eight out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for storage.

The solution integrates well with our VM.

I like the hardware and the software together.

Based on what we have achieved in our environments on the bank's telecom, it's the best product. We have it installed with Dell EMC protection suite, NetWorker, but also with VM. There are many cases where we integrated with IBM TSM as a VTL. 

The best point is the duplication encryption and disaster recovery replication. The network replication's software has network verification where the product can not offer it. We use nothing for Data Domain replication. And when we use NetWorker, we use prone console application. With VM, also we use replication under the Data Domain application instead of copying the data from the VM.

The solution is very scalable.

The product offers excellent security.

The price could be improved. 

Technically speaking, the solution is okay. It's not perfect. We have to remember that it's a backup appliance. A storage appliance is not primary service. Let's say in a standard configuration you have only one controller, you don't have high visibility. We have installations on higher-visibility on one environment when one bank says, "We want a controller, doesn't matter how much it costs." We explain that something that is not the main storage is not production. " It's not primary storage, however, it can be used for different environments. Let's say to use it as the NFS or VMware deployment. 

Dell is improving the product all of the time, actually. There were a lot of improvements from version 7.3 to 7.4 for example. 

I've worked with the solution on and off since 2009 and I've watched it evolved from a small backup appliance to what it is now. They've done very well with it. 

I've been working with the solution since at least 2009.

In terms of stability, it depends on who is using it. When our customers use it via IP, now, almost everybody has 10G. When they use the application, they have at least one gigabit for the application. Data Domain is capable of using smaller bandwidth and therefore I haven't had any complaints regarding how it's working. The main problem is not the backup, its costs vary. 

The data has to get duplicated in blocks and sent across the network. It's optimized in such a way where when you bring back the data there is a process that will take place in the memory or the system in order together that data and compose the file. Then it will take it back to the network to where it will need to be stored. We have a fiber cable, so we are okay. We don't have a problem with this. However, smaller bandwidths may face issues.

The scalability of the solution is excellent.

We can start from many minimal configurations for SMB customers and we can scale it out for big a environment, for example, for different bank clients. It's suitable for all environments. It works well with other solutions as well, such as VM or TSM. 

Any company can work with it and any company can expand it to fit their needs.

Dell works with partners in order to provide technical support, and as partners, we often troubleshoot for our clients. We are sent alerts the moment a ticket is opened and so we are able to see if there are problems happening right away. When it comes to hardware, we'll be able to see what parts get dispatched and we can follow everything. From a hardware perspective, support works very well and is very transparent. 

From a software perspective, that's handled by a different team. If we have problems we can't fix we can apply for help to the software team. They can release patches and can inform us if an upgrade is mandatory in order to fix an issue. They are also very helpful and responsive.

Overall, I would say we are quite pleased with the level of service we receive from Dell. 

The initial setup is not complex. It's very straightforward. If you have a serial port opened up, and you configure the management port fees, first on the licensing, then it's really straightforward. However, if you have a different configuration, it may be a bit more challenging. Even so, it's not that complicated. It's 90% straightforward. If somebody is not comfortable with the console, they can use a web interface and it's fine. 

Dell Avamar is a very good product. We've used it in the past when it was, let's say, one of the first solutions. I believe they offer duplication. Whenever Avamar came on the market, it was a revolutionary application. Right now, however, due to other software solutions not only for Dell EMC but for Avamar, it makes everything very good and also very bad from the sales point of view. 

With aggressive marketing of products, clients may request the wrong product. Avamar isn't well-positioned in Romania right now. Data Domain is better. When clients ask for certain other products, we try to steer them to Data Domain. 

Depending on the customer's needs, Dell can fit into all environments. If you want to have a very good backup appliance, then choose Data Domain because it will fit in almost everywhere. I don't think I know of another solution in which somebody can have a backup project or data protection where this product will not fit. 

Technically speaking, I cannot make a comparison with other products, as this solution can fit almost everywhere.

I recommend better sizing to the client. That's important. Customers need to take into consideration their needs very, very well so they don't end up with too small of a product. It's better to go a bit bigger if it will fit the budget. Of course, the technical requirements need to be addressed. Data Domain integrates well with other products. It's something to consider.

Overall, I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

The Data Domain serves as our primary backup device used with Veeam. It is used for all service backups and restores.

This allows our organization to send more data to this device compared to others. It also allows us a fast recovery of files or Virtual Machines if needed being on-premise.

I would rate it at 5/5 as the deduplication and compression of the device for backups are outstanding. We have about 55TB of total space in the Data Domain which we send Veeam backups to, and we have sent over 200TB to the array.

The Deduplication and Compression are the most valuable as they allow us to back up a lot more data to the device knowing it will compress it well.

The processing capabilities I believe could be improved, however, we have an older unit DD670 and newer units may have already improved upon this.

I have been using the solution for more than five years.

We had no issues with stability.

No issues were encountered as we added a second shelf of disks without bringing the head unit down.

Customer Service:

Customer service for this unit is top notch and they are fast to get back to you with a Support issue.

Technical Support:

Technical Support is also top notch and are quick to respond to queries or tickets.

Positive

I was not involved in the initial setup of the array.

It was implemented through a vendor as well as in-house personnel.

It has been very good especially with the expansion shelf added.

Review the newer versions of the device and evaluate them if possible. You will get great benefits for backups.

We use this solution for various workloads for our customers. It is a backup solution for our banking customers' applications, farmer customers' farm assist applications, and manufacturing customers.

The most valuable features are that it is secure, reliable, and has officer support.

We have worked with this solution for about six years and deployed on-premises.

It is a stable solution with no issues.

It is a scalable solution, and we have more than 50 customers using this solution.

We have support within our company but leverage the technical support for backup support when required.

The initial setup was easy and not complex. It took about two to three houses to deploy.

The licensing is not cost-effective, and the pricing could be better. It is a costly solution compared to Veritas, but it has good performance, scalability and assurances.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. I would recommend this solution to other companies.