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it_user93819 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager of Engineering at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Since deduplication is performed at the source, backup times and network bandwidth are significantly reduced

“Are you backing up C:\myfiles? We just accidentally deleted the folder.”
“I know it’s not in our original saveset, but any chance you have a backup of xyx?”

Sound familiar? If you are a backup administrator, I know you have heard variations of the requests above. Traditionally, new systems get deployed and the owners give a specific saveset to the backup administrators. Then when a restore is requested, it never fails that the request will be outside of the original saveset.

I have experienced these scenarios numerous times with traditional full/incremental backup products. The more you backup, the more storage you consume and that means longer backup windows. When I first started in my current position, we were backing up 100 servers with specific savesets. At that time, we had over 500 production servers. As you can imagine, this was a nightmare scenario waiting to happen. We were only able to fulfill about 75% of our restore requests. Not because the savesets where corrupt, but because we weren’t backing up what was requested for restore.

Fortunately, we were able to invest in a new purpose-built deduplicated backup appliance. (EMC Avamar, but there are other products on the market). Avamar is a disk based global deduplication backup appliance. Deduplication is performed at the source and target. Since deduplication is performed at the source, backup times and network bandwidth are significantly reduced using the Avamar solution. Migrating from BackupExec to Avamar was an easy process, but understanding the benefits of deduplicated backup took some time. When we first migrated, we were using the same traditional philosophy: Specific savesets for specific servers. As time went on, we realized that each time we added a new saveset the increase in storage utilization on the deduplication appliance was less than minimal. We decided to start adding more servers, and increasing the scope of our saveset. Within 6 months, we were backing up full file system savesets on 1200 servers.

When we started this migration, we were convinced our environment was different. We were convinced our change rate was too high. We were convinced that backing up everything, every day was too much data. We were wrong, and I’m glad we were.

Typical deduplication rates stated by EMC Avamar Team:

  • File Systems: Initial = 70%, Ongoing = 99.7%
  • Databases: Initial = 30%, Ongoing = 90-95%

Deduplication rates that we experienced (average):

  • File Systems: Initial = 75%, Ongoing = 99.9%
  • Databases: Initial = 20%, Ongoing = 85%

We are currently backing up 1300 servers nightly with savesets totaling 350 terabytes, and our daily change rate is approximately 1 terabyte. Since moving to this new policy we have experienced the following benefits:

  • Restore fulfillment is 100%
  • No discussion on what to backup. Everything is backed up.

Deduplicated backup is a backup administrators dream. Less storage consumption, shorter backup windows, higher restore fulfillment rates, and the ability to sleep at night.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1565502 - PeerSpot reviewer
SAN Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Simple to configure but bare-metal restores could be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "It's simple to configure."
  • "The bare-metal restores could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for backups and restoring.

The solution can be deployed on cloud or on-premises.

What is most valuable?

It's simple to configure.

What needs improvement?

The bare-metal restores could be improved. The scalability could also be improved, but Avamar is going to be phased out soon.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this solution for 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability as eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability as six out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support from India is pretty poor. When technical support is from China, it's alright.

How was the initial setup?

Setup is complex.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution as five out of ten. I wouldn't recommend it to others.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Dell Avamar
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Dell Avamar. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Stanislaw Jagielski - PeerSpot reviewer
Trainer, Storage Consultant at Oxon
Real User
Top 10
Good documentation, a nice interface, and very reasonably priced
Pros and Cons
  • "I have found the product to be scalable."
  • "The solution, in the future, should offer support for mobile."

What is most valuable?

The solution offers good storage.

The product is very stable.

I have found the product to be scalable. 

The pricing of the solution is pretty good and not too expensive. 

The interface is great.

The documentation on offer is very helpful and thorough. 

What needs improvement?

Overall, the solution is good right now. I can't think of where I have seen any missing features. 

The solution, in the future, should offer support for mobile. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for more than 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability, in general, has been great. There are no bugs or glitches. It does not crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the product is good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so. 

How are customer service and support?

I don't directly use the support services on offer. If I have questions, I tend to direct that to the developers, and not Dell.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I'm also familiar with Dell DataDomian, which I also work with. 

How was the initial setup?

As long as you follow the implementation directions, it's not too bad. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

While I didn't directly purchase it myself and was not involved in the licensing process, it's my understanding that the cost is reasonable and the pricing is good.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a freelancer and an EMC instructor.

I'm not an expert in the solution, however, for me, it's been a very positive experience. 

I'd advise potential new users to pay attention to the details and to follow the implementation instructions. If you do that, you'll be fine.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1702752 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Account Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
A stable and highly scalable solution with great tech support and limitless licensing and hardware capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "We are talking about a complete end-to-end solution which comes with its own hardware storage to back up the data on tape-less."
  • "The solution should improve its tape-connectivity features."

What is our primary use case?

The solution can be used for the backing up of all environments, including those which are virtual and involve databases and applications. 

What is most valuable?

We are talking about a complete end-to-end solution which comes with its own hardware storage to back up the data on tape-less. It should be on desk and desks solution, which comes with Power Protect and is called data domain. It offers a very small footprint for long term, backup retention, in the realm of 55 times a single duplication ratio. This means that if a person backs up something on one, he will have one petabyte of storage, which can store up to five petabyte of backup copies. This combination makes Dell EMC one of the most perfect solutions available. 

What needs improvement?

Avamar does not offer the tape-out, meaning that what a person backs up can only be kept on a disc based appliance, one which is supplied by Avamar. The tape lacks connectivity, which means that if a customer wishes to take tape-out, Avamar is not a fit. He must look for a networker which offers up to tape. The solution should improve its tape-connectivity features. 

For how long have I used the solution?

As we have been serving as the Dell EMC legacy partners since before Dell took over, our company has been dealing with Avamar since the get go, back in 2014. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is certainly stable and comprises 70 percent of the market share. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is highly scalable. Both the licensing and hardware capabilities are without limit. The storage box can be scaled in petabytes. 

How are customer service and support?

As, generally speaking, Dell EMC is an enterprise solution company, its technical support is always good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup used to be complex, but has since become much easier, more user friendly and faster. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is not expensive for the value one gets. The most expensive thing involves one's data. Should a person's data be compromised, he would be willing to pay a million dollars to retrieve it. This makes the payment of an additional premium for its protection worthwhile. 

The licensing capabilities are limitless. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The main difference between Avamar and Networker involves the tape-out. Generally speaking, our customers have compliance policies to keep the tapes out, which is why we mostly recommend Networker. As such, most of my installations are on Networker, not Avamar. 

What other advice do I have?

I consider the solution to be most comprehensive in all respects. It has an understanding of most of the vendor's applications. 

I rate Dell EMC Avamar as an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1200537 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Backup for end users, computers, servers, and storage paths
Pros and Cons
  • "I think the brand is very good. Support is also very nice for end users and integration with EMC products for businesses."
  • "The interface could be more helpful for people."

What is our primary use case?

We use the on site version.

How has it helped my organization?

I think the brand is very good. Support is also very nice for end-users and integration with EMC products for businesses. Customers choose this EMC product because they also have this brand in their infrastructure.

What is most valuable?

I think the biggest advantage it offers is backup, for end-users as well as computers, not only servers and storage paths. The solution can also backup end users. One of the most important things is also deduplication.

What needs improvement?

The interface could be more helpful for people.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using this solution for about seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It works smoothly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's easy to scale.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would give the technical support nine out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is complex.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm not sure, but perhaps the pricing could be done better at the moment.

What other advice do I have?

I can definitely recommend this product, but I don't have any other advice.

I would rate this product around eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user159876 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Tech Lead with 5,001-10,000 employees
Vendor
​Client side deduplication is a plus but troubleshoot feature could be improved.

Valuable Features

Client side deduplication.

Improvements to My Organization

My Organisation provides Backup as services. DD Avamar used full for shared platform for customers.

Room for Improvement

From a technical point of view, all EMC products have to improve the troubleshoot feature like, log should be in human readable format.

Use of Solution

Past 5 to 6 years.

Deployment Issues

Avamar deployment is not admin friendly and its required to use help from professiona; services.

Stability Issues

Wrong integration always

Scalability Issues

Not yet.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service:

3.5/5

Technical Support:

3/5

Initial Setup

Avamar is bit complex.

Implementation Team

Through vendor team and try to just know how to fix the hardware and plug the networker cable. Rest of the things we have to do remotely .

Other Solutions Considered

For enterprise level backup solution – No .

Other Advice

I recommend EMC products due to their stability .

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user386508 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user386508Associate Principal SW QA Engineer at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Vendor

Have you tried the latest EMC Avamar ?

Product Manger at System Plus
Real User
Stable, scalable, and compresses data
Pros and Cons
  • "I like Dell EMC Avamar's compression of data."
  • "The initial setup is a bit complex and could be simpler."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is backup, but in this case, my customers want to offload the Avamar server on tape.

What is most valuable?

I like Dell EMC Avamar's compression of data.

It's stable and scalable, and I have not had any problems with it.

What needs improvement?

The initial setup could be a bit simpler.

An offload to tape would be a great additional feature. The audit people ask for data to be put somewhere else in another location to have a gap between backup data and tape, but the Avamar solution only backs up on Avamar store.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for about two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable and is the most stable solution I've seen.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable, and I have not had any problems with it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is a bit complex and could be simpler.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is fair.

What other advice do I have?

If the setup is done right, it can be great.

I would rate Dell EMC Avamar at eight on a scale from one to ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1544718 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Quick and straightforward to set up but needs a better interface
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is very stable."
  • "The user interface needs to be improved. It's not as good as it could be."

What is our primary use case?

We use a basic called a DPS. Typically, we are using mostly networkers just to back up most of the workloads, like cellphone audio ware and the connection, et cetera.

What is most valuable?

The solution is very stable.

We've found the solution to be scalable.

The initial installation is pretty straightforward and quick to set up.

What needs improvement?

The user interface needs to be improved. It's not as good as it could be.

There are certain bugs in terms of support. It's too slow. It needs to be more responsive.

We've found the product to be a little costly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been likely using the solution for five years at this point. It's been a while.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable in terms of performance overall.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've found the solution scalable. If a company needs to expand the solution, it can do so with relative ease.

We are mostly using it for the server backups, not for the end-users.

We do plan to continue to use the solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support isn't as good as it could be. They are rather slow to respond. They should work towards getting their support staff to be more responsive to clients when they have queries. We're not overly satisfied with the level of support provided to our organization.

How was the initial setup?

We did not the initial setup to be overly complex. It's pretty straightforward and relatively easy to deploy. The deployment process itself is fast and only takes a few hours.

We only needed a product manager that handled the implementation and can handle any maintenance required.

What about the implementation team?

We did not need the assistance of an integrator or consultant during our implementation process. We handled it ourselves in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is a bit expensive.

What other advice do I have?

We are Avamar partners.

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

I'd recommend the solution to other organizations.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell Avamar Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell Avamar Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.