Dell Avamar Reviews

Our clients primarily use Dell Avamar for VMware backup and critical bottleneck backup. We have also created disaster recovery between two locations.

The most valuable feature is the instant recovery capability. Additionally, its deduplication feature, especially when integrated with Dell Data Domain, offers excellent deduplication and compression capabilities. It is unique globally in providing such superior deduplication and compression.

While Dell Avamar is a good product, the pricing is very high. The cost could be reduced to make it more accessible.

We have been using Dell Avamar for the last ten years for multiple customers.

The stability of Dell Avamar is rated nine out of ten.

Dell Avamar offers very good scalability. We have already enhanced it based on its scalability options.

The technical support from Dell is very poor, especially in terms of response time. However, when their technical person is online, the quality of service and technical knowledge are very good.

Neutral

CommVault was unable to better communicate with the Linux platform, whereas Dell Avamar is very friendly with the Linux platform.

The initial setup process is simple and not a big challenge.

The cost is very significant, and it could be lower.

CommVault

I always recommend Dell Avamar to our enterprise customers because the product is costly, and enterprise customers can afford it. On a scale of one to ten, I rate the solution a nine.

On-premises

We use the Dell Avamar solution to backup endpoints, including desktops and laptops. We also use it to back up virtual servers using Dell Avamar. With this server, we take backups of all the employees' desktops and laptops. We haven't encountered any backup and restore problems with Avamar. If we will need any support, we will get it from Dell.

We have divided our infrastructure into two categories: server infrastructure and endpoints. We create endpoint backups in Avamar while the server backups are stored in the cloud.

The Dell Avamar tool is easy to configure and highly reliable for backup. It requires little maintenance, not like Commvault. Commvault has a very tough UI and requires much more team effort to configure and install on both the server and client ends. Avamar is a simple and straightforward backup system. The backup performance is also good. There is no resource pressure on the clients during backup. The duplication feature is precious for reducing backup time.

The UI is quite old. We've been using this UI since last year, and they haven't changed it. It would be better to update the UI periodically and create attractive dashboards from an administrative point of view.

I have been using Dell Avamar for 7 to 8 years.

The product is stable. We haven't encountered any recovery issues either.

The solution's scalability is excellent because the new box has a complete set of hard disks. Dell Avamar provides a single license to increase the hard disk capacity, making it easy to scale. We have around 1500 endpoints and are using two instances of IDPA to back up all these desktops and laptops. Whenever we require data, we retrieve it from the Avamar box. It's a good and reliable system for backup and restore.

Whenever we require support, we get it promptly and properly.

Positive

Previously, I also used Commvault alongside Avamar. Commvault is very challenging to configure. It is resource-intensive, whether as software or an appliance. Unlike Dell, they don't offer their own OEM box but rely on other servers. If clients purchase their servers and storage, Commvault only provides the software for installation on those systems.

Furthermore, Commvault blames server or operating system quality issues, adding to the complexity. I encountered numerous problems with Commvault. Avamar is more satisfactory since all support responsibilities fall under Dell, simplifying the process compared to dealing with multiple vendors. This centralized support from Dell has been reliable over the past seven to eight years.

The initial setup is easy. We’ve been using it long, so it's not too complicated. It takes no more than eight working hours to initially deploy the solution, at least for installing servers.

New users may need some support from the OEM side. They won't be able to install it themselves. They will require support to set up the server independently for the first time. After that, it's smooth sailing.

In Italy, we gathered all the requirements for the hybrid-based network card, bandwidth, and switch points. After that, we prepared a questionnaire with their support partner for the number of IP addresses in the LAN, which is around 20-22, and DNS records in the DNS servers. There were multiple things required to set up this deployment. After the initial installation of the servers and configuration, we began deploying the policies for the data sets, retention periods, and grouping for backup schedules. These configurations are one-time activities.

The ROI of Dell Avamar is good. Nowadays, ransomware and other malicious activities are increasing. Therefore, investing in a backup solution for your data is crucial. Your data must remain secure during destructive events, and you can easily retrieve it. We have encountered situations where a server or machine has gone down, and we have successfully recovered the data using Dell Avamar. Thus, We are delighted with its effectiveness. Furthermore, it is not expensive for us.

The product’s pricing is a bit high.

The solution is very easy to maintain. Whenever we receive any alarms from the Avamar box, we report them to Dell, and the support person helps us resolve the issues.

I recommend this solution, especially for your endpoints' data. Backing up servers, in addition to endpoints, is crucial. Nowadays, it's important to back up your servers on the cloud. This solution is very effective for your endpoints.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The main use of Dell Avamar is as a backup and storage solution. 

Its deduplication technologies are the best in the market, currently. It helps organizations to reduce the storage requirements by eliminating redundant data.

One issue that can be highlighted is the migration challenge. If there is a need to move the data from one backup solution to another, it might be difficult since there is no option for a straightforward migration.

In this company, I've been using this solution for more than five years, but I have previous experience with it as well.

The stability is good. 

It offers scalability for both medium and large enterprises as it is able to handle growing data volumes. I would rate it eight out of ten. 

The initial setup and configuration is a bit complex and it may require vendor support and technical expertise.

I would recommend this solution as a good choice for medium to enterprise-level companies. It might not be beneficial to smaller businesses due to its high cost.

It is a great fit for enterprise-level businesses that are operating with large volumes of data. Compared to other solutions, it provides the best value for the cost.

Overall, I am highly satisfied with Dell Avamar. I would rate it nine out of ten.

Hybrid Cloud

We're a managed services provider, and we've developed a custom version of Avamar. It is intended to be a product for single customers, but we transformed it into a multi-tenant platform. 

Avamar is a hybrid solution. We can deploy Avamar as a direct-to-cloud service, or we can deploy agents onto customers' endpoints at their branches, and they can then back up straight into our mobile attendant platform and update centers. We also offer customers on-premise appliances.

Avamar has long been the best in its class, but that's changing as new solutions emerge. However, Dell has traditionally been a leader in deduplication and compression. Avamar enabled us to shift data from on-premise local appliances to data centers and multi-tenant infrastructure. That's a powerful feature. because customers can back up to the cloud without upgrading o high-capacity links or congesting their backups. 

Another valuable feature is Avamar's support for endpoints and workstations. Businesses want to back up their company laptops, and they can't get that functionality from many solutions. Avamar can provide clients a multi-tenant portal, which isn't something other solutions can do. 

Continuing our long-term relationship with Dell, we will likely switch to Dell PowerProtect, but cybersecurity is one area of improvement for Avamar. Dell should add some more components to its Cyber Recovery vault. 

Avamar is still competitive because of the way we have deployed it, but we need to diversify and shift away from specific technologies. In addition to hypervisors, virtual machines, and bare metal servers, our customers need protection for Microsoft 365, SaaS, and the public cloud, so we need other technologies in the business to cater to those customers' needs. 

Those are the enhancements we would want from the Avamar platform, but that's not likely to happen. Dell has PowerProtect and Apex backup services. There are other Dell solutions that we'll use to fulfill our customers' requirements.

We have used Avamar for more than a decade. 

I rate Dell Avamar nine out of 10 for stability. It's a stable and highly resilient platform. 

Avamar wouldn't be as scalable the way it is traditionally deployed, but we are using it as a multi-tenant platform, ensuring that capacity is always available. The platform is fairly elastic for us. Typically, you would deploy infrastructure for the customer and allocate storage, so your ability to increase that storage would be limited by infrastructure procurement and deployment within a data center. It isn't a cloud-native or software-based solution. It doesn't have out-of-the-box scalability. 

We regularly contact Dell for remote technical support and to replace hardware in our data centers or customer sites. We're Dell Titanium partners, so we get top-tier support. 

I am not directly involved in deployment, but we've used Avamar for so long that it's likely effortless for our engineers to deploy it. The infrastructure is already there. 

We don't have dedicated engineers for the Avamar platform, but we have a team of 15 to 20 administrators who manage and maintain our backup technologies.

I rate Dell Avamar seven out of 10. It's fantastic for on-prem infrastructure workloads, but it doesn't cover the SaaS, Microsoft 365 and the public cloud infrastructure that many customers are using. While we benefit a lot from Avamar as a managed service provider because of our unique deployment, I would recommend Dell PowerProtect for most use cases today.

Our clients have found Avamar to be effective for their backup and disaster recovery needs. It serves as a comprehensive data protection suite, meeting the requirements of all virtualization platforms.

Dell Avamar has significantly streamlined our data deduplication and backup processes across the board. When it comes to reliable backup solutions, we occasionally integrate Data Domain and Isilon, including Isilon RCS, into our backup strategy alongside Avamar.

Integrating and managing Avamar with other systems in our IT environment is highly straightforward.

The deduplication technology has significantly improved our storage efficiency, thanks to its embedded nature. It's a combination of hardware and software features working hand in hand, complementing each other. This synergy, based on deduplication and data compression, often results in impressive ratios, such as a 32:1 reduction in data footprint within the tenant domain.

All the features in the system are highly valuable.

The only missing component is the option for bare-metal backup. Performance can sometimes be affected when tools are utilized for tasks like backup or deep archiving.

I have been using it for approximately ten years.

As a distributor and solution architect, scalability is crucial. We carefully assess and size our solutions, aiming to outpace competitors by addressing all potential challenges. Our solutions are meticulously designed to be intelligent and innovative, staying ahead of the competition.

It is renowned for its technical support, prioritizing direct engagement with customers rather than focusing solely on sales and marketing. Their support is known for being responsive and effective.

In our distribution model, we offer a range of solutions from IBM, Veeam, Veritas, and Dell, tailoring our recommendations to the specific needs of each client. Whether it's hardware, software, or support services, we prioritize post-sale support to ensure customer satisfaction. Our focus is on delivering comprehensive support services that encompass all aspects of the customer experience. Veritas is a solid product, but it tends to be on the higher end of the cost spectrum compared to Dell.

The deployment process is remarkably easy, thanks to the tools provided by Dell EMC. The Solve Desktop guides us through each step, offering scripts and facilitating feedback, ensuring smooth execution. Whether it's a third-party backup appliance or a backup appliance, setup can be completed within five to ten minutes. However, concerns arise with policy scheduling, integration, and customization for applications and databases, which may require additional time. The time required for the entire deployment process, including installation and configuration, typically ranges from two to three days in complex environments. This duration can vary depending on the number of certified individuals with experience in the specific tool, database, or third-party product integration. The expertise and understanding of the engineer implementing the solution play a significant role, as it's more about the person's knowledge and skills rather than the product itself. A single engineer is capable of handling the implementation. Maintenance is straightforward, and I haven't encountered any glitches in the past.

Dell's pricing structure is not overly expensive. It operates on a frame-based license system, primarily utilizing front-end capacity or CPU-based models. Currently, there are no core-based licensing options available.

There are three key pillars to consider when making recommendations: price, product reliability and performance, and support. Price comparisons are crucial in today's global market, while product features and performance also play a significant role. However, the most crucial factor is support. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

My primary use case is backend storage for our VMs. We are fully virtualized, using VMware for our virtualization layer, and we use multiple VMs for our applications, so we have multiple workloads for the education school information systems. Then we have our ERP and HR systems, and our infrastructure monitoring the networking solutions, and so on. All these VMs are backed up using Avamar.

By bringing in Avamar and keeping the repository on the data domain, we got a very high DDU and high compression and reduction in data size.

The most valuable features are data deduplication and compression, backup and replication, and instant backup, which allows us to restore our data at any given point in time.

There are two areas for improvement I would suggest. First, some integrations are not in place, such as the email alerts, which are not compatible with Office 365 SMTP gateway. Secondly, Avamar has no APS for monitoring or alerting.

I've been using this solution for three years.

Avamar is very stable - we've hardly seen any issues with it. We have had some problems with the virtualization layer but not with the product itself.

It's very scalable. We did face some issues with using multiple applications, but we added a couple of proxies, and it's gone very well since then.

Dell's support is excellent - if any issues occur, we open the case, and the maintenance gets done. The only problem is that sometimes they can be slow to respond.

I previously used Veeam Backup & Replication, but it wasn't very reliable or cost-efficient because there was no deduplication or compression, so we switched to Avamar.

The initial setup was very straightforward and took about a week.

I used a partner involved by the principal vendor, from a company called MDS. They were really professional and were experts on the product.

We have seen huge data reduction and data deduplication and compression, which is very cost-effective and cost-reducing for the company. Overall we've saved around $200,000 when it comes to storage.

Avamar's pricing is quite competitive compared to other vendors. We don't pay any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

We evaluated Veritas and had previously used Veaam, but when we compared overall cost, integration, stability, and agility, we found Avamar was one of the best.

Before choosing any backup solution, run a use case so that you can evaluate the product and have proof of concept. I would rate Avamar as nine out of ten.

On-premises

Centralization is Avamar's biggest advantage. It moves data to a central location from various geographical locations. 

Avamar needs a greater emphasis on storage targets. If it's going to keep pace with the times, it needs more ability to leverage cloud storage.

We've been using Dell EMC Avamar for 10 years or more.

Avamar is stable.

Avamar is scalable.

Dell EMC support used to be outstanding, but lately, they seem to have dropped the focus, I've noticed. In the past year, the support hasn't been quite the same. I think they're focusing more on other products. In my opinion, they're not giving the same level of focus in terms of support and development to the Avamar-type products.

Installing Avamar is complex. It is complicated to install, configure, and get it working in a complex network. However, it's the same with most data protection products. 

Avamar is expensive.

I would rate Avamar five out of 10 because it lacks cloud capabilities. Two years ago, I would've rated it nine, but these days, I give it a five. Avamar is a good product with a lot of potential, but if Dell isn't willing to put more effort into developing it, my advice would be to look elsewhere. Look at Veeam, Rubrik, or other products in the industry. There are products more suitable for enterprises, especially if they're migrating to the cloud. If they're traditional and have their own data center, I would recommend Avamar. Avamar is a stable, good product if you can justify the cost. If they need something that integrates with the cloud, they should look elsewhere.

I'd recommend Veeam, which does a better job of integrating cloud assets with native storage. It isn't locked into its own specific storage, like your data domain or that sort of thing. The configuration is more straightforward, and it's more cost-effective. Still, the primary reason is that Veeam is ahead of Dell products in the cloud space. These days, most organizations are moving to the cloud, and Veeam seems to be ahead of the game in that space. Dell EMC needs to lower Avamar's price and add more features to stay competitive.

On-premises

Dell Avamar is a source-based backup solution. It is the best backup solution for people with laptops and desktops from various offices with a small bandwidth. We also use it for remote office backup tasks.

It is one of the best solutions for backing up Oracle and other servers. Our virtual environment backup experience has been good. One of the best features of the solution is that we can integrate it with Data Domain. We can store backups in Data Domain and replicate the data from one Avamar box to another. If one appliance fails, we can get the data from the other Avamar box. The product provides in-line deduplication at the source level. It is very good. I have used the product on VMware and Hyper-V. The tool integrates well with other solutions.

The recovery is a bit slow. There are some security gaps when we take backups of the client machines through the internet in cloud environments. The gaps must be fixed. If I use the tool to take backups through the internet, I have to open ports. It makes the entire IT environment vulnerable.

I have been using the solution for 11 years.

The stability is good.

I rate the product's scalability a five or six out of ten. I bought a license for 1 TB. The pricing was very high when I wanted to expand it to 2 TB or 3 TB. I had to consider alternate solutions to meet my requirements. The scalability is a challenge because of the price. Our clients are medium and enterprise-level businesses.

The support was very good when Avamar was handled by EMC. Since Dell acquired EMC, the support has been very bad.

Neutral

I rate the ease of setup an eight out of ten. For an experienced person, the deployment takes a few hours.

The solution is expensive. I rate the pricing a six to seven out of ten.

I will recommend the solution to others. The appliance is good. There are hardly any solutions that can match up to Avamar. It has always stood up to the test whenever we have used it. Overall, I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

On-premises