Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) Reviews

We use the solution for backup, data protection, and data encryption.

The most valuable features of the solution are recovery point, compression, and deduplication. Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a reliable solution.

The solution's cost, scalability, and licensing model could be improved. Nowadays, competition models offer higher capacity and scalability. The solution's marketing or awareness should be improved. Users need to buy additional Dell software technologies along with the solution, which is an additional cost.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) for more than ten years.

I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.

Around 15 to 20 customers use Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain).

The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.

Around five to seven engineers were involved in the solution's deployment.

The solution’s return on investment is good, and we haven't seen any disaster with the solution.

Users have to pay a capacity-based licensing fee for the solution.

Since the solution's backup text is in encrypted mode, it protects us against ransomware attacks. Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a good solution for enterprise-level customers. However, it is not suitable for small and medium-level business customers. I would recommend the solution to other users because it is stable and reliable.

The solution's performance compared to other data protection products is very good.

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

We use PowerProtect to back up physical servers, virtual servers, file systems, and databases.

PowerProtect is a flexible solution that you can cover various cloud and on-premise environments. 

The downside of PowerProtect's flexibility is that you have so many options. It can be a little confusing. It's like having a car with too many buttons on the dash. You can do so much with it, but it takes some time to learn what everything does. 

I have used PowerProtect for about a year now. 

PowerProtect is a highly stable platform. 

PowerProtect can scale up and scale out pretty well.

I rate Dell support eight out of 10. 

I rate PowerProtect seven out of 10. Setting up PowerProtect is a little complex if you've never done it before. Some aspects aren't obvious because it isn't intuitive.

It's hard for me to rate PowerProtect on pricing because it's a large suite of products, with devices at various price points.  

I rate Dell PowerProtect Data Domain eight out of 10. My only advice is to prepare for a lengthy deployment. 

I'm an architect, so I only use Data Domain to design solutions for clients right now. I'm not using it so much as for management or administration. My clients all like it, and It's an effective storage system.

Data Domain is an excellent repository that's compatible with a lot of different solutions. Even Veeam Backup recommends sending backup to Data Domain. Space optimization is great. Currently, it guarantees 50-to-1 compression of the application in the same device. In all these years, I never had a client who was unsatisfied with Data Domain. It is a solid appliance with VMware integration, instant access to restore and search, and analytics.

Data Domain lacks compatibility with fiber channels and tapes. We can't use it with a tape library. That's an issue in Latin America sometimes because a lot of clients still use tapes for budget reasons. Maybe they have a lot of archives. In North America and Europe, they do a lot of archiving, but they use the cloud more than we do. Sometimes we have to put together a Frankenstein where we connect another server to the tape library and send all the data there. 

I understand why integration with tapes isn't possible because they are designing these applications for the future. In the next decade, all the information will be sent through private and public clouds. It's a great way to send data. It can be software-defined, so you have lots of paths to send information, and it's it's not too slow, so I guess that's why they don't support tapes. When we have challenges with other providers, maybe an internal ID would help.

Also,Dell's backup software comes in a lot of flavors, and there's a bundle that gives you all the functionality. You use this software to do this and another to do that. There isn't a single application that can do everything, and sometimes that makes some struggles.

I got my first Dell certification in Data Domain about six or seven years ago, but I've been working on it for maybe two years. 

We use other products, but it's not a one-to-one comparison with Data Domain because they're software solutions. For example, competitors like Veeam Backup have only one software solution that you can't license to other users. You have to buy the license for Veeam Backup for a socket, but it involves all the the functionalities. Maybe you have to buy a part of the instances for taking the backup for the databases. 

It's a perpetual license, but you pay monthly for support. If you're integrating with the cloud, you have to pay for using the cloud. That's the only recurring cost you have with this tool.

Data Domain is a 10 for me. It's a great storage device.

The main use case for PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is that it serves as a backup at our company. We use it to protect production data as a secondary backup. Additionally, the solution can be used for long-term storage of data that is not required for six months, one year, or longer. This data can be moved from the solution to a cloud or peer-to-peer network. So, as a long-term archiving solution, we can use it. We can use this solution even for the data moved to cloud archiving solutions. For instance, in AWS, there is something known as an S3 bucket, and if we want to move data from Data Domain to an AWS S3 bucket, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud, or Cloud Block Storage, we can move the data.

Deduplication and compression are the best features of the solution, which are popular and very effective.

Looking at Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), there is a need for improvement, especially in terms of protection from cyber resiliency, cyber recovery, or man-in-the-middle attacks. Enhancing the cyber resiliency feature is particularly crucial.

It would be beneficial if the solution had an inbuilt virus scanning feature in the future. Some scanning feature, like a vulnerability scanning feature, is essential for all the data we store inside the solution. So, instead of installing the solution on some third-party vulnerability software like Symantec, if they come up with some inbuilt virus scanner, that would be very helpful.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) for eight to nine years. Also, presently I am still using it. My company has a partnership with Dell.

Stability-wise, I rate this solution an eight out of ten since, from a stability point of view, it is a good product.

About the solution, there is PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition and PowerProtect DD Physical Edition. So, I rate PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition a six out of ten since, scalability-wise, many improvements are needed. I rate PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition as a nine out of ten. Considering my clients as users and my previous company, around 5,000 clients were using this solution.

I would rate the technical support a nine out of ten since they offer good support. They assist with fixing bugs or issues and provide help with troubleshooting.

Positive

I have very good exposure using Dell Avamar, Data Domain (DD), PowerVault, and PowerProtect Data Manager.

The solution's setup process is simple and user-friendly. The solution can be deployed on-premises or hybrid cloud. So, it can be deployed both ways.

In our environment, we have integrated Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) with Dell's backup protection software, HPE Data Protector, and Veeam, a vendor.

On a scale where one represents high price, and ten represents low price, I rate the solution a five, which means that the solution is of medium pricing.

When comparing Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) to its main competitors, such as HPE StoreOnce, it is important to note that the internal features, like deduplication and compression algorithms, are significantly different. Also, the deduplication ratio in Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is more reliable when compared with other vendors like StoreOnce or any other disk-based devices.

I can confidently recommend this solution to those intending to use it. It is a good solution for customers to protect their backup. Overall, I rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Dell PowerProtect DD is mainly being used for the backup repository, such as storing backup data.

The interviewee is "Nilesh Nn" but he passed the phone over to his colleague for the rest of the review at the negative point. I completed it as "Nilesh Nn" but I am not sure if it should qualify.

The most valuable features of Dell PowerProtect DD are reduplication and compression. It provides a lot of data savings for backups. Additionally, the Dell PowerProtect DD solution offers a bundled backup software and storage option. If desired, users can also connect to cloud technology to create an additional copy of their data in the cloud. This solution supports synchronization with various cloud vendors, including Azure and AWS.

Using Dell PowerProtect DD eliminates the need for multiple management consoles and devices to run a backup solution. Traditionally, a backup server is needed to install backup software and connect to a storage unit or tape library to store backup data. However, Dell PowerProtect DD includes the storage option and software, providing a consolidated solution in a single device.

The solution is designed for change. With new updates, it adapts to work with new edge applications, such as Kubernetes containers and can support these applications during the backup process. This means that users do not need to seek out alternative backup solutions for their Kubernetes and container applications in the future.

Dell PowerProtect DD should come out with its own system so we do not have to use Data Domain. For example, something similar to what Symantec has done.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain(DD) for approximately three years. 

The initial setup of  Dell PowerProtect DD is easy. It is engineered with consolidated options in the system making it easy to manage it properly.

I rate Dell PowerProtect DD an eight out of ten.

The data domain is a backup solution.

The compatibility within the Dell PowerProtect DD portfolio makes data management more seamless. This integrated solution improves efficiency in our data center and simplifies operations by relying on a single company for servers and storage.

Support is essential, for clients using servers and storage. We have a backup solution, so if a company requires data backup, we can help. An improvement would be the ability to back up some of the databases or legacy applications used by IBM. 

I have been using Dell PowerProtect DD for two years.

I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.

350 users are using this solution.

Support takes a long time. In Bangladesh, we do not have a dedicated support team available for all products. For situations involving credentials, the first level of support is provided from a database, and additional support comes from either Malaysia or another support hub. This can cause delays.

I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive.

The client uses several servers and storage systems, so Dell PowerProtect DD does not add value in terms of efficiency and data protection. However, since it does not function as a primary storage solution, it could enhance the efficiency of solar technology applications.

Having a backup available in a disaster is crucial and makes recovery much more accessible. This is always a situational requirement; the backup is not utilized if my application or data center does not experience any attacks.

I recommend Dell PowerProtect DD. It's a perfect solution with high efficiency and numerous cost-effective security measures.

Maintenance is handled by the sales support team, and our organization has certified engineers. We strive to make as many features available as possible.

One server engineer is sufficient for initial support. Our team has certified engineers who are distinguished based on requirements and the complexity of support needed.

It is an appliance-based solution, so most of the insurance and volume stages are pre-installed from the factory. We need to activate the license and connect it to the environment where it will be used.

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

I am using Dell PowerProtect DD for data extraction for extract, transform, and load(ETL) processes. This is a tool that receives data from operational platforms, or systems, such as in my factory in insurance, underwriting, claim management or health provisioning, et cetera. It receives the data from the source systems and not from the data warehouse platform by doing transformation or by loading the data or after loading the data. 

The usage of this solution is a bit difficult to develop processes, and it takes a long time to market permits.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect DD for 15 years.

Dell PowerProtect DD is a stable solution.

Dell PowerProtect DD is scalable but there are better tools.

The data engineers are using this platform in my company. There are 15 data engineers, and all of them are using this tool.

We are using technical support from the producers, and it is not good. I'm not happy with the technical support.

I rate the support from Dell PowerProtect DD a two out of five.

The initial setup of Dell PowerProtect DD is complex. Its initial setup is a bit complex because it uses many services on the operating system. Sometimes it is hard to solve the issue while installing the solution on-premises.

I rate the initial setup of Dell PowerProtect DD a three out of five

With the Dell PowerProtect DD, it is not possible to deploy the solution by ourselves. We deployed, and upgraded the solution, it took more than a month because there were problems, and the producer need to solve the issues. This is what took time.

We needed to get help to implement the solution because the producers because it is not easy.

If we do not move to the cloud solution and stay with our on-premise version we will miss some new features.

I rate the price of Dell PowerProtect DD a three out of five.

I rate Dell PowerProtect DD a six 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.