We're using it in our company. We primarily use the solution as a backup.
Pre-Sales Manager at ACS
Easy to install with good performance and good backup functionality
Pros and Cons
- "It's stable and offers good performance."
- "Avamar cannot back up Nutanix as a virtual solution."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The backup functionality with Data Domain is good.
Overall, it works quite well.
It's very easy to install the solution.
The product is scalable.
It's stable and offers good performance.
What needs improvement?
It cannot replicate the backup, it can only do the backup. If you want to replicate you need RecoveryPoint.
Avamar cannot back up Nutanix as a virtual solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for one year.
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.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. The performance is good. It's good for vSAN. We haven't dealt with bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have found the solution can scale well. If you need to expand it, it's not a problem.
All of our production is backed up with Avamar.
After we buy Nutanix and an Azure Stack, since we are a service provider and in the future, we will make our service catalog on the Azure Stack and Nutanix Cloud.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is pretty good. We are pleased with their level of support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also work with Veeam and NetBackup.
With Veeam, the advantage is you can back up and replicate with the same product, and it is compatible with all virtual solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. We buy the service from Dell.
I was not a part of the deployment as I am a pre-sale manager. I do not handle the setup process directly and cannot speak to how long it takes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost is lower than Veeam, however, how much it actually costs depends on the customer and the use case.
I'm not sure of the exact licensing costs.
What other advice do I have?
We were a partner and resellers. In my last job, I was a preferred partner.
I'm not sure which version we're using. I'm not the backup administrator.
We will stay with Avamar for this platform, however, maybe we will look into Nutanix, and that's why we are searching for another solution. Avamar cannot back up Nutanix as a virtual solution.
I'd warn potential users that it's not the best solution if you have other products other than VMware in your production. If you are just using VMware, it's a very good option.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten as it doesn't work well with every solution, only VMware.
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
DGM Data Centre at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Scales according to budget, and is easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "More integration would be helpful, as well as the addition of more applications."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for our desktops and laptops end-users. We have a network in place for server backup and archive.
What is most valuable?
I have not yet explored this solution in its entirety. Maybe six months down the line, I will be able to tell you about this solution with more confidence.
I believe it is a good backup and recovery solution based on our limited experience in the short period we have been using it.
It is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
More integration would be helpful, as well as the addition of more applications.
The technical support should be improved. They could be more responsive in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with Dell EMC Avamar for six months.
I assume we're using the most recent version because it was just installed by our implementation team.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In order to make an opinion, we must compare the performance to established benchmarks. We are still working on it, and we're still evolving.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is determined by the number of licenses purchased. Only a few have been accepted.
We have approximately, 100 users, but we have plans to expand very soon.
We may have some remote offices set up, in the near future.
How are customer service and support?
We experienced a problem with the network backup installation, so we called technical support. One of the backups failed continuously.
We were not exactly satisfied with the turnaround time. It was an issue that was unique for them to resolve, but we were not able to assistance instantly.
The support could be better.
How was the initial setup?
When you consider the hardware involved, the initial setup was not straightforward.
In the beginning, there were a lot of trials and errors to suit our exact requirements. Our installation was the standard that most normally have.
What about the implementation team?
This solution was not installed by us. We agreed that the implementation team would complete the installations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing fees are paid annually.
I am not sure if the fees are comparable; I would like to compare them to other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
We have Data Domain and network backup software.
I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.
I would rate Dell EMC Avamar, an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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.
System Administrator at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Quick incremental backups, good replication and stability, but it is expensive and the mechanism to pull data to tapes is messy
Pros and Cons
- "Quick incremental backups and product replication are the two highlights of the product. Once you capture a full backup, incrementals are pretty quick. It is fairly efficient from that perspective."
- "If you need to pull data out of it to offload to tapes, that's messy. You have a mechanism for it, but it is painful."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is for remote office or branch office type protection.
We don't have a current instance. It is pretty old. We have tried desperately to decommission Avamar.
What is most valuable?
Quick incremental backups and product replication are the two highlights of the product. Once you capture a full backup, incrementals are pretty quick. It is fairly efficient from that perspective.
What needs improvement?
It is expensive. It is more about cost than it is about anything else.
If you need to pull data out of it to offload to tapes, that's messy. You have a mechanism for it, but it is painful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Once you're in the product, and the product is running, it does a really good job.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is node-based, so you can add nodes as you need. It is pretty scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The people who supported it did a very good job. If it gets messed up, it is not easy to fix, but on a day-to-day basis, it just runs like a tank of gas.
How was the initial setup?
They were all set up when I got here.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is expensive. Its cost is the main thing.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to compare costs to other solutions and also look at the virtual appliance version of it.
I would rate Dell EMC Avamar a six out of 10.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Cloud Engineer at PT. Sigma Cipta Caraka (Telkomsigma)
Good stability, deduplication, and support, but should have less hardware dependency and better reporting and price
Pros and Cons
- "Its stability and deduplication capabilities are most valuable."
- "Avamar is dependent on the hardware. It can't be implemented with ordinary storage. It can only be implemented with an EMC product. We want to have a backup solution that allows us to use independent storage and other hardware. It would be good if they can simplify its technology and make it possible to implement it with another storage. This is probably not possible because Avamar is an EMC product, and EMC would like to sell its own products."
What is our primary use case?
We use it as a backup and restore solution for our customers. For replication, we use the Data Domain application. We replicate from our primary site to the DR site.
What is most valuable?
Its stability and deduplication capabilities are most valuable.
What needs improvement?
Avamar is dependent on the hardware. It can't be implemented with ordinary storage. It can only be implemented with an EMC product. We want to have a backup solution that allows us to use independent storage and other hardware. It would be good if they can simplify its technology and make it possible to implement it with another storage. This is probably not possible because Avamar is an EMC product, and EMC would like to sell its own products.
It should be simplified because currently if we want to upgrade Avamar, it requires us to assemble too many EMC products. For upgrade, we have to ensure compatibility with Data Domain, proxy, and firmware for storage. There are many dependencies and many steps that we have to take if we want to upgrade the services, which is a weakness of Avamar.
It should also have support for reporting. We have too many reporting challenges. We cannot get information from the console about how big is the data of customer A, customer B, and customer C. EMC should think about providing reporting for the backup solution. Our customers use the basic reporting, but inside our infrastructure, we should be able to see and then analyze the data consumption by different customers. We should also be able to split information and see data consumption within our organization. Such analytical reporting will help us in planning our usage for the future, such as for the next two years. It will be useful for customers and service providers.
Its price should be reduced, and it should have a flexible and pay-per-use licensing.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution since 2017.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have had their tech support until now. There is no problem with their tech support. They provide good support.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Its price should be reduced. It would be good if you could pay as per usage, and there is a subscription model like VMware. There should be some flexibility because sometimes, the customer only uses the backup for one month or three months. Currently, I have to pay whether I use it or not. Its licensing should be flexible and based on consumption.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Currently, we are evaluating Veeam to see if it is possible to switch to Veeam. Veeam has an issue of deduplication failure. With Avamar, we use Data Domain, and the deduplication ratio is 26 or 25 times, whereas, with Veeam, the ratio is only half. We are thinking of using Avamar for archive backup and using Veeam for short retention.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Dell EMC Avamar a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Infrastructure Solutions Specialist at Fiber Nisr
Very effective virtualization system and end point protection
Pros and Cons
- "Effective in protecting the virtualization system and end points."
- "Interfaces need to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Our company is Dell EMCs largest partner in Egypt and the Middle East. We have a titanium partnership with them and I'm the senior infrastructure solutions specialist.
What is most valuable?
Avamar is a very effective product when it comes to protecting the virtualization system and end points. Data Protection Suite has three recovery and backup protection solutions and Avamar is one of them. It's a very effective product and can be used for replication and high-end enterprise applications. The solution doesn't require a specific backup admin in the environment, every application admin will perform their own backup and data protection process. It's very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
I believe they need to improve the interfaces. Without official training it's harder to deliver the marketing and the reviews over shared media.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a very stable and easy to use program.
How are customer service and technical support?
Dell offers us good technical support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Data Protection Suite has Avamar as one of its components and comes with a license that covers a limited number of virtual machines, capacity, and end points. It's not sold as a separate product. I believe $1000 may cover a single socket and covers the whole data center including the endpoint, the replication, the CD and data protection. It's very cost effective and affordable when compared to other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I need to rate the Data Protection Suite as a whole, given that Avamar is no longer sold as a separate product.
I rate the whole solution a nine out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
System Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
EMC Avamar has lots of Ying but not so much Yang
First off let me say that Avamar is a great product and hopefully this won’t sound like a rant. I started working with Avamar last year and quickly saw the value in this product which provides enterprise class data protection (backups) to disk. The architecture I went with consisted of large centralized grids, multiple datastore nodes with a utility node, which would be hosted in regional datacenters with remote locations having smaller configurations of either a single datastore node or small grid setup. So at a high level remote sites would backup locally then replicate to a grid in one of the regional datacenters. The local backups in the datacenter would replicate to another datacenter as well. This way there is redundancy for site and datacenter backups while providing a way to do local restores.
Avamar easily showed it’s power in reducing backup windows and reducing the amount of data put on LAN/WAN with source side deduplication for backups and replication. Even the first system backed up benefited from the deduplication and transferred roughly 80% of it’s data across the wire. Avamar backs up the data once so the first time pass will have a greater hit but all subsequent backups are incremental or blocks that are not already on the datastore. The more data in Avamar, the better the deduplication. This also helps reduce the amount of storage needed to store backups which could effectively yield a higher amount of data being protected than whats actually being stored on disk. Avamar also has a image proxy appliance for backing up virtual machines in vSphere which were easy to setup to start backing virtual machines agent-less. Not only is there an appliance that can be used to backup virtual machines there is also the Avamar Virtual Edition. This is an appliance that gets you all the features and functionality in an easy to deploy virtual machine where you have to supply the storage. It only supports a limited storage capacity and there is no supported grid setup but it works really well for those smaller locations.
Now, I talked about some of the goodness of Avamar but there is a flip side. When I say “Avamar has lots of Ying but not so much Yang” I’m simply stating that Avamar has a lot going for it with a solid set of core features and functionality but it’s lacking in some key areas. One of those areas is in the ease of configuration. EMC support actually has to do a lot of the setup and configuration. This can be a good thing but something as simple as the Active Directory integration setup could be a long drown out setup with EMC logged in at the command line. Replication setup is also something that needs improvement because you can only setup a single replication cron job from either the Enterprise Manager or the Avamar Administrator java application. That brings up another area of improvement and in my opinion the most important thing which is the management of Avamar.
There are two separate management consoles that can be used to do certain things Avamar like managing clients or checking backups. This can leave the consumer confused as to which tool should be used for what. The enterprise manager is web based and the avamar administrator is a java application and they both seem to be a bit disjointed and unfinished. The avamar administrator is not too bad and once you get where everything is you can be productive but you can lose yourself in all the windows which can be opened at one time that all look somewhat the same. I can go on with some of the small things like having to click the “show sub-domain groups”, why not make this a default' I use a Mac and the java application looks different. Not so much that I can’t find my way around but some of the elements don’t work the same. So a user interface change is needed in my opinion to add more functionality for configuring things without needing EMC support or going to the command line. And this change should also bring a more clean look and feel with a single pane with easy transitions from one area to the next. Plain and simple just make the management as powerful as the core features and functionality so that Avamar can have balance.
Well, maybe I did rant just a little but there more good to say than bad with Avamar when it comes to protecting data, reducing LAN/WAN traffic, reducing backup windows, etc.
EMC Avamar has lots of Ying but not so much Yang originally appeared on theHyperadvisor by Antone Heyward
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avamar VMware Virtual Machine Protection Pt.1
I wanted to give some insight into how Avamar protects VMware virtual machines. I have been using Avamar 6.0.x and most of the management and configuration from a Mac. Since the operating systems running on the Avamar servers and proxies are linux, having a terminal comes in handy. Plus the management using Avamar Administrator uses Java so it can be used on Windows, Mac or Linux. If your on a Windows system the Avamar Administrator console is a bit more attractive but offers the same functionality. The management of Avamar needs a bit of work and from the grape vine I hear the next release, which is coming soon, will fix a lot of the issues I’ve complained about in my previous post. Either way data protection and recovery with Avamar is pretty solid once you have all the pieces setup and ready but if your looking for easy, look elsewhere. PHD Virtual Backup fits the bill for easy but it only covers VM backups where Avamar can do both physical and virtual.
First, let me give a short tour of the components we’ll need to protect a VMware vSphere environment with Avamar. This only includes the components for data protect or recovery and assumes you already have the VMware vSphere environment configured with vCenter, ESX hosts, with shared storage.
As far as the Avamar Servers and Avamar Virtual Edition (AVE) are concerned you only need one or the other for a single location. They are the backend that stores all the backup data. The Avamar VM Proxy is used to do image level backups and the Windows File-Level VM Proxy is used to do file-level restores from the image backups. This removes the need for backup agents in the virtual machines. This is how the environment layout would look.
I found the documentation very good and easy to follow but here are the basic step you’ll have to do in order to backup and restore VMware virtual machines.
- Setup the Avamar Server with AvFS
- Deploy and configure Avamar Image Proxy appliance
- Setup vCenter Server in Avamar
- Setup Avamar Image Proxy in Avamar
- Deploy and configure a Windows File-Level Proxy
Notes:
- The Avamar Image Proxy in it’s current 6.0.x version has to be configured to protect either Windows or Linux.
- I have seen the resolve.conf not be configured properly a couple times so you may want to check them if you have issues.
- When adding the Avamar Image Proxy to Avamar don’t forget to select the VMFS datastores it should protect.
- The Avamar Image Proxy can do only one VM at a time so you will have to deploy and configure multiple proxies for parallel processing of VM backups.
- Make sure change block tracking is used which means virtual machine hardware needs to at version 7 or higher.
- Image level backups leverages vStorage APIs for Data Protection which uses snapshots so it’s important to make sure datastores have plenty of free space.
- By default, only a single vCenter Server can be added to the Avamar Server. You can override this if required but I think the max is 10.
Once all the setup is done you can start protecting the VMs for that vCenter Server which you’ll see in the Avamar Administrator as a domain with a Virtual Machines sub domain. Restores are pretty easy from the Avamar Administrator whether it’s for a single file or a full virtual machine. The documentation shows the process for both very well so I will not try to recreate it here. Image based backups with Avamar have been unmatched compared to agent backups. I see more successful backups without the open file errors from agent backups.
Avamar VMware Virtual Machine Protection Pt.1 originally appeared on theHyperadvisor by Antone Heyward
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
System Analyst II at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
A user-friendly solution helpful in backing up various systems but the initial setup was complex
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very user-friendly."
- "The product could be improved by simplifying the components available."
What is our primary use case?
Our use case for this solution is robust and involves backing up various systems.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
The product could be improved by simplifying the components available. Currently, there are many endpoints and GUIs to run.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for approximately three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. Currently, only three employees utilize the solution in our organization, and thousands of clients use it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex. It took about a week to complete the deployment, and we required an engineer to assist.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution costs approximately 20,000 annually.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Business Development Manager at Gignos
Slow support, complicated installation, but reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The stability of Dell EMC Avamar is very good."
- "I have found the support from Dell EMC Avamar to be not as good as Veeam. The time it takes to receive support could be improved. However, once we have the support the agents are knowledgeable and helpful."
What is our primary use case?
Dell EMC Avamar is a backup solution. It has integration with the hardware that Dell has and you can backup many things, such as snapshots.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have using Dell EMC Avamar for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Dell EMC Avamar is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Dell EMC Avamar is scalable.
We have 80% of our clients are using this solution. Most of our clients have Dell hardware and this is why they are using Dell EMC Avamar.
How are customer service and support?
I have found the support from Dell EMC Avamar to be not as good as Veeam. The time it takes to receive support could be improved. However, once we have the support the agents are knowledgeable and helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Veeam previously.
How was the initial setup?
Dell EMC Avamar is a little bit more complicated to set up than the Veeam.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are licensing costs for Dell EMC Avamar and it is paid annually.
What other advice do I have?
I would not recommend this solution to others.
I rate Dell EMC Avamar a five 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:
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell Avamar Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
Popular Comparisons
Veeam Data Platform
Commvault Cloud
Rubrik
Acronis Cyber Protect
Zerto
Veritas NetBackup
Cohesity DataProtect
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager
Azure Backup
Dell NetWorker
Veritas Backup Exec
IBM Spectrum Protect
Arcserve UDP
Microsoft DPM
Veritas NetBackup Appliance
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell Avamar Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Can I get Avamar backup solution alone without data domain storage?
- Archive verses backup
- What's the difference between Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC NetWorker?
- How would you compare Dell NetWorker vs Dell Avamar vs Veeam Backup & Replication?
- Which product would you choose: Dell Avamar or Dell NetWorker?
- When evaluating backup and recovery software, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
- Veeam vs. Dell AppAssure vs. ShadowProtect
- Help! Need an opensource backup solution to work with OVM, Linux, Windows, Sql server, Exchange, Sharepoint. Plus bare metal recovery.
- What will be the best strategy for develop a up to date BCRS?
- CommVault vs. EMC NetWorker vs. Dell vRanger
Good writeup Antone, and I must agree totally that its configuration process is the most convoluted mess that I've ever had the "pleasure" to work with. The product seems to be trying to be all things to all OS's. Ah, well, at least when it works, it works well.