Dell Avamar Reviews

We are system integrators who are selling backup solutions, and Dell EMC Avamar is one of the products that we implement for our clients.

I had come across it for backing up laptops and VMware but previously, I have had clients using it to backup system machines like AIX, Solaris, and others. Slowly, people are moving away from those.

Using Avamar for VM backup is pretty good, but we've used it for other purposes as well.

It works quickly and is very stable.

The screen design is a bit back-dated.

The reports are not very presentable.

The price of this product should be lower.

We have been working with Dell EMC Avamar for a few years.

This is a very stable product.

Avamar is quite scalable.

With respect to technical support, sometimes you get a good technician or a good engineer, and you can get the problem resolved pretty fast. If on the other hand, you get someone with a very heavy accent then you can speak for three hours and not understand what the other is trying to say.

We work with quite a number of backup products including Veritas NetBackup, Veritas Backup Exec, Dell EMC Networker, Dell EMC Avamar, and Rubrick.

The choice of product that I recommend depends on the situation and what the customer is saying. If they are not happy with one then I can suggest others that are good, too.

If my customer is already using an existing product then I will not recommend that they switch unless there are serious problems. If there is some heavy restructuring, for instance, because a previous person knew the environment very well, it will be difficult to take over. It is best if they have something very simple to manage.

In general, it is not easy to switch from one backup platform to another because of incompatibility.

My advice for anybody who is implementing Dell EMC Avamar is that it's always good to have a plan first. You want to know exactly what you have on-hand that you need to back up.

Overall, this is a good product. The stability and backup speed are very good but the GUI and reports are not something that a new user can get used to.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

In our company, we handle five different types of data from VME, Windows, SQL and other sources. The complete backup of forty lead machines is implemented daily using Dell Avamar in our organization. 

A huge storage space needs to be bought with Dell Avamar, even when it's unnecessary for an organization. The upgrades of the solution are highly time-consuming; it takes 10 to 12 hours to upgrade Dell Avamar or Dell IDPA. The aforementioned upgrade arrives once a year, but it takes an entire day in our company.

I have been using Dell Avamar for ten years. 

The product offers satisfying stability. The disc failures with the solution are usually replaced within the next way with Archwap discs, and it doesn't affect the stored data. 

The solution can be easily scaled. When your solution is running out of space, you need to apply for a new license and it can be obtained in multiples of 12 TB options. Only one professional in our company uses the solution to manage the IDPA backups. 

Our company has availed tech support, they are quite helpful and efficient. The maximum turnaround time I have witnessed, depending on the issue, is two days; otherwise, the support team sorts my issues in minimal time. I would rate the tech support an eight out of ten. 

Positive

The solution isn't easy to deploy. Dell IDPA comes with numerous tools demanding several configuration requirements. Storage and index manager are inputted in separate VMs. There are multiple components during the initial deployment of Dell Avamar, but client migration and workflow onboarding can be implemented in a straightforward process. Agents need to be stored and new connections have to be found as part of Dell Avamar's deployment. 

The initial setup of Dell Avamar took about three months in our organization. The aforementioned long duration was due to the need to deploy the solution separately for backups and DR purposes and also for arranging network logistics. I deployed the solution with assistance from a Dell partner. 

It's an expensive tool. 

In my experience, Dell solutions are more user-friendly than Commvault. The deployment and management of Dell products are a lot easier than Commvault. There are a lot of complexities in Commvault, but the solution has multiple great features, including troubleshooting. 

The solution's ease of use simplifies the disaster recovery processes in our company. Once implemented, Dell Avamar performs as a complete solution. The advanced DR backup from varying locations is easy to recall using Dell Avamar.  

The backups are performed by the solution with superior stability. The product is easy to manage as frequent troubleshooting is not required and reliable backups are procured. 

The interface of the tool was quite bland previously; it was a Java console, but recently, it got upgraded to a WIP console. The WIP console is easy to comprehend and navigate in Dell Avamar. The product is more expensive when purchased as a stand-alone solution, but with Dell IDPA, the cost is reduced significantly as a suite of tools. With the IDPA bundle, a user pays for only the features used. Dell Avamar requires pre-purchase of the entire storage.

For example, with Dell Avamar, you might need to purchase 36 TB storage when you only require 16 TB. Dell IDPA offers a huge storage device, and payment needs to be made as per the license procured. I have a 96 TB storage solution with Dell IDPA, but I am licensed to use only as much as required; if I am using 12 TB, the cost for only 12 TB needs to be paid. I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

Potential customers should be aware that the solution is initially provided with 96 TB storage and can possibly be scaled further. I haven't faced any downsides or setbacks with the solution; it's quite easy to use.  

As solution providers, we provide solutions to meet the objectives and goals of customers. We provide a general global architecture and the right solution that will solve a customer's problem and meet the goal at the fixed cost. If the customer doesn't mention a specific provider, then to meet the goal, we use the provider that we have to.

It's a good solution.

The management of this solution is a little bit difficult for IT administrators. They have to be trained before going through the system. 

We have been using Dell EMC Avamar for two to three years. 

We haven't worked on the extension or scalability of Dell EMC Avamar. We didn't find it fairly straight forward. When we have to upgrade or scale it, a lot of things don’t fit.

Dell EMC Avamar is hard to manage because of the support. It’s very difficult to get support. Our solution is complex which makes it more difficult to get an answer from them. We have multiple vendors in our environment. Support only looks at their own solution and not the solution as a whole. It would be easier if our whole infrastructure was Dell EMC. It’s very difficult to get help with troubleshooting. When you have an architecturally multiple-vendor solution, like we do, it’s hard to find a solution to the problem. It’s normal that they only focus on the part that corresponds to their company, but I would like for them to look at the environment as a whole.

I did not find the setup to be fairly straightforward. There are a lot of things that don’t fit when we try to upgrade or scale it. We have to break every chain and reduce it from scratch.

It's difficult to manage the Dell EMC Avamar template, so we try to avoid that program. The return process, when there was no space and we had to create some space, was very time-consuming. There are solutions that are simpler than Dell EMC Avamar.

I would rate Dell EMC Avamar a six out of ten. 

From my IT experience, there are much simpler solutions than Dell EMC Avamar for management and recovery. Dell EMC Avamar would not be my first choice.

We recently stopped using this solution but it was being used to back up our servers and client machines.

We were using an on-premises deployment.

It was very simple to deploy the solution to the client that wanted to backup.

It was challenging to back up our Exchange database, which is one of the reasons we did not continue using this solution. It was very tough, and a case of having to contact the Microsoft Partner Network.

Technical support needs to be improved.

We could not integrate this solution with our tape backup.

This is a stable product.

We had about one hundred users on the platform.

I would not rate technical support high for this solution. We had a problem and nobody could be specific about the issue, or what it is that we needed to do in order to resolve it.

Technical support could not resolve the issue that we had in terms of integrating with tape.

We were not able to back up the Exchange database with this solution. In the end, we had to discontinue using it. We switched to EMC Data Domain, and the cost was one of the factors that influenced our decision.

Our in-house team implemented this solution, although I was not part of the process so I do not know the details.

This is a solution that I recommend. It is a good product. It's stable, it is easy to deploy, and the visibility of the backup and restore is good.

If I had my way then we would be using this solution for other applications and we would be running them side-by-side as a comparison. 

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Our primary use case for Dell Avamar is backup and verification.

Dell Avamar has helped our organization by allowing us to do backups. We can tell machines to do backups in the application.

The most valuable feature for me is direct activity.

This solution could improve by introducing daily verifications and another repository.

I have been using this solution for about two years.

I would rate the stability of this solution a seven, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

I would rate the scalability of this solution a five, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

My impression is that their technical support is quite good.

I would rate the initial setup process a five, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

My impression – and that of some other people – is that this solution is expensive.

I would recommend this solution to other people. 

I would rate this solution as a whole an eight, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

Dell EMC Avamar is used for backups and data recovery.

Setup and deployment of Dell EMC Avamar is complex. It requires expert engineers. Making its setup easier is something that could be improved.

Dell EMC Avamar is stable, especially because it's been around for a very long period of time.

We are preparing ourselves for a big project for the Ukrainian Railways, and I found that a lot of railways worldwide, e.g. in the US, England, and other countries in Europe, use Dell EMC Avamar as their backup solution. It is stable.

Dell EMC Avamar is a scalable product.

Technical support for this product is good.

Installing this solution was not easy. It requires engineers with expertise for a successful setup.

Deployment of Dell EMC Avamar is not easy.

We sell Dell EMC Avamar, but we have not sold that many, just several. We've been partners of Dell for a long period of time, so we have the partnership for Dell EMC Avamar, and we can sell it at anytime, but we don't have much expertise on the product. We sell it worldwide and it was not so difficult to sell because it met corporate standards, e.g. for companies in the same level as Ernst & Young, Xerox, Proctor & Gamble, Philips, etc.

We have not been certified to deploy this solution on the Cloud, but we're looking into this.

In general, when you look at the spec sheet for Dell EMC Avamar, it's a very good product.

We're looking forward to trying this product's isolated backup feature.

For the deployment and maintenance of this product, at least two engineers are required. We only have several clients using it, and they received the product from us, but it didn't require installation because the installation was provided remotely by the headquarters.

We sell backup software from Symantec, Dell, and Commvault. Our company doesn't have engineers certified in Dell EMC Avamar, however, because it is a difficult product. There's a lack of customers as well, so we didn't train and we didn't have our engineers certified for it.

Dell EMC Avamar is a product I can recommend to others.

I don't remember exactly the licensing policy for this product. You have to pay for it for three years, then you also have to pay for support after a certain period of time, but I'm unsure.

I'm giving Dell EMC Avamar an eight out of ten, because it's very good, but it's not easy to deploy.

We sell Avamar with Data Domain. Data Domain and Avamar work really well together and their compression ratios are very high compared to Veeam, Commvault, and all the other backup software on the market.

The price is the main thing I'd like to see them change. If they can come down in price, that would be a good thing. It's very cost-competitive in the entry-level range because Veeam pricing is much cheaper than Avamar.

I think they could also move more towards cloud solutions. It already has some cloud tiering, but I think that could be more extensive. They should work with all cloud providers and I think in the future they will be on all cloud platforms.

The stability is really good. We have no complaints. Everybody who has Data Domain with Avamar sticks with it. We have not seen anybody leave once they go in.

Scalability is good. Data is getting expanded rapidly, so it really needs scalability and it was scalable. Of course, it did not support the data explosions that we had because of unstructured stuff and other complications. Now, there's a new product called Data Protector for that, which is scalable as well. It can scale out as well. The only thing with this solution is 60 terabytes is the starting point, which is a good high-end solution. I hope they will come back with an entry-level version for that as well.

Technical support was announced a few months ago and we are still on the learning curve.

The initial setup was very straightforward.

You need to work with a specialist and EMC is a very huge company now. If, however, you go and talk to the right person who knows Avamar and data protection stuff, they can help you price the solution perfectly. That's not something that you should take for granted. There are so many tools available to do a proper sizing.

I would rate Avamar as six out of ten. I would like to give it a seven or eight, but the price is too high. It depends on who wants this solution. For enterprise companies, I can rate it as eight or nine. For entry-level companies, I would say it's a six, or perhaps even lower, like a four, because the price point is very high compared to other companies.

Dell Avamar is integrated with data protection and data domain. We have integrated it with vCenter and a couple of virtual machines from Dell Avamar to the data protection sources.

I found the most valuable features of Dell Avamar are the user-friendly interface and ease to use. Our clients have administrated this software and there is no additional training required.

We ordered training materials for the solution and it has been very helpful for installation, troubleshooting, and upgrading.

Dell Avamar could improve by adding more backup features.

I have been using Dell Avamar for approximately one year.

Dell Avamar is stable.

The scalability of Dell Avamar is good.

There is a Dell EMC partner that we use for support. When we have a problem we create a support case for the Dell EMC support team and they help us promptly.

The initial setup of Dell Avamar was easy. We deployed the data protection, we the configuration for the IP address. After the deployment, we only had to configure the vCenter, add vCenter to systems, and configure policies for backup jobs.

Dell Avamar is free when we deploy the data protection. When we order data protection, this software is included in the hardware.

The solution is not difficult to maintain.

We have integrated all backup solutions into the Dell Avamar system. It's very easy and when we have a problem we always communicate with Dell EMC. 

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Dell Avamar a ten out of ten.