Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) Reviews

We use model number 6800. The operating system is 7.4.

I find the data to be most valuable. 

The price is on the high side.

I would like to see integration with public cloud.

We have been using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) for almost ten years. 

The solution is, thus far, stable. 

The solution is scalable. 

The technical support is okay. It's not bad.

I did not work with other solutions prior to using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain).

The initial setup was handled solely by the Dell EMC, so it was okay and not that complex. 

The price is a bit steep. 

We pay for the support every three years. 

I am an end user.

I feel the solution works fine for us. 

There are around four or five people working with this solution in our company.

My advice to others looking into implementing this solution is that they acquire the requisite knowledge. It is important to be properly trained in how to use it. 

I rate Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) as an eight out of ten. 

The backup is very secure. The deduplication using EMC is very good. We are able to make systems and handle random cloning. EMC is a very stable solution for making backups.

The solution needs to improve its platform, especially backup features like DB2 and other system backups. 

They should reduce the CPC cost to customers. The product is becoming very expensive.

In the next release, EMC should support stable level listings at restoration and stable space level in the database. Sometimes if I want to take the stable level restoration, EMC is not available. Only this one part is lacking in the current version. 

The solution is very stable.

The solution is easy to scale. We have nine people on it and they are all system admins. We are planning to increase usage and to increase the license.

Technical support is excellent. I would rate it eight out of ten.

We previously used HP Data Protector. The HP Data Protector backup was not secure. We used to do a backup, but at the time of restoration, it would give us some issues on the restored data.  We were not able to access and stream data on HP. EMC is much easier in terms of restoring the backup properly. 

The initial setup is very easy. Any person can handle the initial setup of the solution.

I handled the implementation myself.

I would recommend the solution. I'd rate them nine out of ten.

We use Dell PowerProtect DD for all financial cloud and banking systems to back up critical workloads. It serves as a Data Domain product to back up their environment. Additionally, we offer a two-minute backup, which refers to the capability of the Data Domain. This requires using data protection tools, including Networker and PowerProtect Data Manager. Networker serves as traditional backup routers.

When utilizing Dell PowerProtect DD for backup systems, Data Domain offers fast performance with low latency, providing high throughput for quicker backups compared to other vendors. Additionally, the network component is suitable for backing up Dell infrastructure, particularly for managing MA workloads efficiently. Restoring data through the backup process is straightforward, especially for users with experience using the DPS software.

The Dell PowerProtect DD architecture offers several significant features. One is DD Boost, which is utilized at both the source and destination sites for application processing. By employing DD Boost, the backup process is offloaded to the server side, efficiently utilizing network resources. 

Additionally, the Data Domain incorporates a Global Deduplication feature. This feature allows Data Domain to deduplicate all data streams simultaneously, enabling more efficient utilization of backup space within the Data Domain system.

The solution's pricing could be cheaper.

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

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable. 300 users are using this solution.

Dell PowerProtect DD's features and functionalities vary depending on the segment. Its advantages include cost-effectiveness, reduced footprint, and efficient management of backup services.

There are two types of licenses available for Data Domain. One is the capacity license, based on the amount of data stored. For instance, you would need a capacity license if you require one terabyte of storage in Data Domain. Additionally, if you need performance and optimization features, you would require a database license, a subset of the capacity license. Harmony licenses are also necessary for certain functionalities.

Data domain has two features. We also implement many customer tracking. We like a sum of customer tests, compliance, and regulations due to government systems and cybersecurity, and the retention length is a very useful solution.

I recommend the features for all customers.

According to benchmarks and customer feedback,  Data Domain is highly regarded for its excellent throughput and performance compared to other vendors. Customers have reported that Data Domain handles backup and restore processes exceptionally well, demonstrating quick response times and efficient performance.

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

What I like about Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is that it is a performance technology.

One of the features I find very interesting in this product is deduplication.

I also find it valuable that it's very easy to communicate with just one vendor if you're using this product. Normally, with other security systems, CAP systems, etc., you have to use the server, some hardware, and some software. The server could be from one vendor, while the software could be from another vendor. When a problem arises, this means you have to communicate with more than one vendor, but with Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), this is not the case. The only competitor I know that manufactures a similar product with this feature of one vendor communication is Symantec.

Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is not a product that's easy to install by customers. There are a lot of products, e.g. entry-level storages that can be easily installed by customers themselves, but this product and other IDPA solutions need to be installed by professionals.

Customers who buy Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) should not worry about its installation and deployment. It should be installed directly by Dell, or by a Dell partner for free, but the price of this product must include installation, so installation will no longer be a problem.

Installation and deployment for this product need to be improved. These processes need to become easier. The user interface could also be improved, but I did see that Dell now provides a number of products with very nice interface. We used to have Dell PowerEdge VRTX, but it reached its end-of-life (EOL). It was a small blade server with a small storage that's working, but it was equipped with a friendly interface for customer installation. Dell EMC and some other vendors should also sell entry-level to mid-range products that are more user-friendly, and make them out of the box products.

It's been a few years since we started selling Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain). Normally, we sell Dell EMC backup systems, but we started to sell IDPA products last year, but the Data Domains we've started selling years ago. We're still working with this solution.

I find this solution stable.

Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a scalable product.

The installation of this product is not easy, though it's easier to install than IDP and DP units. If you have knowledge on this product, then installing it will be easy.

We deployed this solution in-house. We have two certified staff for data protection products. We have also have two certified staff for data storages, and more people certified for other products, e.g. desktops, servers, etc.

Buying Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), our clients don't have to pay for extra licenses. They can just buy any backup solution. For example, they can buy Dell EMC Avamar, or they can buy Symantec, Convault, etc.

When buying IDPA products, you don't have to buy anything, because you'll have an integrated solution: a data domain appliance plus software, the software being Dell EMC software which is a big package of software that allows you to do everything.

When buying Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), you can just buy a very cool backup software with deduplication, and that's all. It's very perfect, very nice. You can buy the backup software, e.g. Dell EMC, Convault, Symantec, etc.

Pricing for this product could still be improved, though several years ago, its price was very high. When there are more competitors, though, the price becomes more attractive both for the customer and partner. Now we can get more discounts for projects. The price for this product will decrease, because more and more companies now produce integrated devices, e.g. deduplication is not a very new technology, but it was a feature that was limited to several market leaders.

My company MiroMIX United is a Ukranian company, and we are the platinum partner of Dell EMC. The majority of our solutions are based on Dell EMC products. We sell HP servers, but not too many, just 5%. We sell Cisco equipment, but we prefer selling Dell EMC networking products. We're partners of Cisco Systems, but we try to sell more Dell EMC products, because we know Dell EMC products best.

We sell Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) which is an integrated data protection appliance (IDPA). We have not sold many, e.g. just 10 or 15.

Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a promising product. It's very competitive. Last year, this product was sold and utilized into the most powerful banks here in Ukraine, but not by my company. My company sold these products to departments and segments in the government, though we were able to sell several Data Domains to a bank, but it was not a project worth millions of dollars. Our competitors were able to sell this product for millions of dollars. It's a very interesting, promising, and competitive product.

This solution is very promising and competitive, and we would like to sell more, but it's difficult. We can't predict how it will fare against the competition, for example: HP. At the moment, we have a POC in one bank here in Ukraine. It is a Hungarian bank, an OTP Bank, but it has a branch here in Ukraine. In the near future, there will be an official tender procedure announcement, but at the moment, they are testing Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), while also testing the backup solution from HP. It would be very interesting to hear their conclusions, but at the moment, we don't have the results.

We have 15 clients who are using this solution. It would be great to expand our presence in this market. We have a service center certified by Dell, with 10 people working in it, and all of them are certified in various products, e.g. desktops, laptops, servers, data storages, and Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain).

We've been working with Dell for many years. Our company was founded 22 years ago, and during this period, we've been working with service and warranty, and the independent service in Ukraine is based on four service centers for private companies, with one of the service center being ours. In previous years, e.g. in the early 2000s, we had to keep spare parts at our stock room. We used to do this, but 10 years ago, Dell changed the strategy of service in Ukraine and they arranged the spare parts hubs located in all the regional centers.

I recommend Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) to other users who want to start using it because it's a very interesting product.

My rating for Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a ten out of ten, when compared to its competitors which are utilized in large accounts.

We primarily use the solution for storage.

The solution integrates well with our VM.

I like the hardware and the software together.

Based on what we have achieved in our environments on the bank's telecom, it's the best product. We have it installed with Dell EMC protection suite, NetWorker, but also with VM. There are many cases where we integrated with IBM TSM as a VTL. 

The best point is the duplication encryption and disaster recovery replication. The network replication's software has network verification where the product can not offer it. We use nothing for Data Domain replication. And when we use NetWorker, we use prone console application. With VM, also we use replication under the Data Domain application instead of copying the data from the VM.

The solution is very scalable.

The product offers excellent security.

The price could be improved. 

Technically speaking, the solution is okay. It's not perfect. We have to remember that it's a backup appliance. A storage appliance is not primary service. Let's say in a standard configuration you have only one controller, you don't have high visibility. We have installations on higher-visibility on one environment when one bank says, "We want a controller, doesn't matter how much it costs." We explain that something that is not the main storage is not production. " It's not primary storage, however, it can be used for different environments. Let's say to use it as the NFS or VMware deployment. 

Dell is improving the product all of the time, actually. There were a lot of improvements from version 7.3 to 7.4 for example. 

I've worked with the solution on and off since 2009 and I've watched it evolved from a small backup appliance to what it is now. They've done very well with it. 

I've been working with the solution since at least 2009.

In terms of stability, it depends on who is using it. When our customers use it via IP, now, almost everybody has 10G. When they use the application, they have at least one gigabit for the application. Data Domain is capable of using smaller bandwidth and therefore I haven't had any complaints regarding how it's working. The main problem is not the backup, its costs vary. 

The data has to get duplicated in blocks and sent across the network. It's optimized in such a way where when you bring back the data there is a process that will take place in the memory or the system in order together that data and compose the file. Then it will take it back to the network to where it will need to be stored. We have a fiber cable, so we are okay. We don't have a problem with this. However, smaller bandwidths may face issues.

The scalability of the solution is excellent.

We can start from many minimal configurations for SMB customers and we can scale it out for big a environment, for example, for different bank clients. It's suitable for all environments. It works well with other solutions as well, such as VM or TSM. 

Any company can work with it and any company can expand it to fit their needs.

Dell works with partners in order to provide technical support, and as partners, we often troubleshoot for our clients. We are sent alerts the moment a ticket is opened and so we are able to see if there are problems happening right away. When it comes to hardware, we'll be able to see what parts get dispatched and we can follow everything. From a hardware perspective, support works very well and is very transparent. 

From a software perspective, that's handled by a different team. If we have problems we can't fix we can apply for help to the software team. They can release patches and can inform us if an upgrade is mandatory in order to fix an issue. They are also very helpful and responsive.

Overall, I would say we are quite pleased with the level of service we receive from Dell. 

The initial setup is not complex. It's very straightforward. If you have a serial port opened up, and you configure the management port fees, first on the licensing, then it's really straightforward. However, if you have a different configuration, it may be a bit more challenging. Even so, it's not that complicated. It's 90% straightforward. If somebody is not comfortable with the console, they can use a web interface and it's fine. 

Dell Avamar is a very good product. We've used it in the past when it was, let's say, one of the first solutions. I believe they offer duplication. Whenever Avamar came on the market, it was a revolutionary application. Right now, however, due to other software solutions not only for Dell EMC but for Avamar, it makes everything very good and also very bad from the sales point of view. 

With aggressive marketing of products, clients may request the wrong product. Avamar isn't well-positioned in Romania right now. Data Domain is better. When clients ask for certain other products, we try to steer them to Data Domain. 

Depending on the customer's needs, Dell can fit into all environments. If you want to have a very good backup appliance, then choose Data Domain because it will fit in almost everywhere. I don't think I know of another solution in which somebody can have a backup project or data protection where this product will not fit. 

Technically speaking, I cannot make a comparison with other products, as this solution can fit almost everywhere.

I recommend better sizing to the client. That's important. Customers need to take into consideration their needs very, very well so they don't end up with too small of a product. It's better to go a bit bigger if it will fit the budget. Of course, the technical requirements need to be addressed. Data Domain integrates well with other products. It's something to consider.

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

We are a solution provider and we use the Dell EMC PowerProtect DD to provide service for our clients. It is used to provide backups for VMware environments.

The most valuable feature is the performance because you can back up data really quickly.

I would like to see better integration and support for backing up to cloud providers such as Alibaba Cloud.

In the next release, they need some monitoring, not only of the backup but monitoring of the firmware and the applications.

I have been using this product for one year.

This solution is stable and I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.

It's a scalable product.

I have a team of two that maintains it.

The technical support is okay. We opened a case and the response was good. We did not have any issues.

Previously, we deployed Commvault HyperScale and the Veritas NetBackup Appliance, but the performance is better with Dell EMC PowerProtect DD.

The initial setup was a little bit complex after the initial configuration when we tried to integrate it with the firmware.

It took one week for the deployment, configuration, initializing the backup, and monitoring of the backup for one round.

In summary, this is a good backup product and we are happy with the performance.

I would recommend this product to customers. I think that it has better performance than Commvault HyperScale.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

The Data Domain serves as our primary backup device used with Veeam. It is used for all service backups and restores.

This allows our organization to send more data to this device compared to others. It also allows us a fast recovery of files or Virtual Machines if needed being on-premise.

I would rate it at 5/5 as the deduplication and compression of the device for backups are outstanding. We have about 55TB of total space in the Data Domain which we send Veeam backups to, and we have sent over 200TB to the array.

The Deduplication and Compression are the most valuable as they allow us to back up a lot more data to the device knowing it will compress it well.

The processing capabilities I believe could be improved, however, we have an older unit DD670 and newer units may have already improved upon this.

I have been using the solution for more than five years.

We had no issues with stability.

No issues were encountered as we added a second shelf of disks without bringing the head unit down.

Customer Service:

Customer service for this unit is top notch and they are fast to get back to you with a Support issue.

Technical Support:

Technical Support is also top notch and are quick to respond to queries or tickets.

Positive

I was not involved in the initial setup of the array.

It was implemented through a vendor as well as in-house personnel.

It has been very good especially with the expansion shelf added.

Review the newer versions of the device and evaluate them if possible. You will get great benefits for backups.

We use it mostly combined with software, such as NetWorker, and the Data Domain works as a repository for the information.

The features that I have found most valuable with Dell EMC PowerProtect DD are its deduplication feature and its DD Boost protocol for fast transfer, which is amazing.

I have seen documentation from other products saying that they protect against ransomware and I haven't seen this in Data Domain. I don't know if it is a good idea to have it in the appliance, but I would like to see some kind of integration with the ransomware in the next release.

I have been using Dell EMC PowerProtect DD for about 15, 20 years.

It is working stably. I haven't had any trouble with the implementations I have done.

The backup solutions are from EMC umbrella. I have been using them for more than 20 years. All the implementation I have done for the past nine years+ have combined NetWorker and Data Domain.

In terms of scalability, you can grow it and you can put additional units as needed.

In terms of the number of people required to maintain the solution, that depends on the size of the customer environment. As an example, we have a customer with about 50 physical and virtual servers. They have two Data Domains with an administrator, but it is maintained by only one person.

I haven't dealt with support because I haven't had any problems with the equipment.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It is pretty straightforward to implement - nothing very complicated. Most of the work is in the software part, so it depends on the software solution, not Data Domain particularly.

The software part also depends on the amount of servers we are trying to protect. It also depends on the amount and types of database and applications. That is the complex part of these types of implementations.

My advice to anyone considering this product is that the most important thing is to have a good sizing. If the sizing at the beginning is good, you won't have any trouble with the implementation or using the product. But if you have a bad sizing, it's going to be a headache.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Dell EMC PowerProtect DD a 10.