Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2022-10-31T17:37:36Z
Oct 31, 2022
Nothing comes to mind in terms of improvement. It serves its purpose. That said, if they could develop higher algorithms to make it more efficient, that would be great. Usually, with the backup, the issue is how fast it can do it. As network speeds improve, the solution improves. It has to keep up with the available network speeds, however. For example, a 100-gigabit ethernet. They need to keep up with the advancements in network speeds, and ethernet speeds. If they keep up, instead of taking five hours to back up your daily workload, you may do it in three hours. It can be complex to implement.
We'd always prefer if there was even more competitive pricing since they are very close in price to Quantum. However, the pricing isn't too bad. The initial setup is complex. The installation process should be easier so you can install the solution without having specialized techs.
Pre-Sales and Technical Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
2020-12-31T08:23:00Z
Dec 31, 2020
In terms of what could be improved, when you use Data Domain, you have to have at least 15% to 20% of free space so it can work properly. I understand that space is needed to process all the data, but it would be a big improvement if we could use that space too.
@reviewer1473288 I may understand that in case you are run out of your storage and if you want your system work properly, you have to pay for expand storage or cloud storage from vendor. I ask if the EMC PowerProtectDD have the function to overwrite the old backup or they continuously write until there is no space left?
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
Technical Specialist at Pouyan Pardazesh Tehran Co
Reseller
2022-04-06T10:48:08Z
Apr 6, 2022
We do not have any specific issues. Nothing has gone wrong. The price of the product is high. We'd like for it to be less expensive. The initial setup is a little hard to understand.
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.
Professional Services - Data Protection Consultant at S&T Romania
Consultant
2020-12-04T18:32:56Z
Dec 4, 2020
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.
In terms of backup software, NetWorker is a very, very good. However, it is very complex. If you want to export on a NetWorker deployment, usually you need to add more plug-ins. If you install Titanium, through the vCenter, you can directly backup all virtualized data. Using Titanium, you can backup Oracle data through the main directly or on the data lake. First-time integrations are difficult in NetWorker. NetWorker software needs to be simplified. It's very complex. The technical support has gotten worse as of late. They could work to make it much better. One feature which IBM has, and which I am unable to see in Data Domain (or on their optimum roadmap) is the utility-based backup solutions. There are no utility-based Data Domain models.
System Engineer for Business Solution Department at PT. Mastersystem Infotama
Real User
2020-07-26T08:18:00Z
Jul 26, 2020
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.
Oracle Application DBA at Social Insurance Organizaton
Real User
2019-09-08T09:50:00Z
Sep 8, 2019
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.
General Manager responsible for IT Infrastructure and Operations at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2019-09-08T09:50:00Z
Sep 8, 2019
Spanning the time I worked with EMC Data Domain, I had no issues that suggested to me that it needed improvement. It was working fine, and anything I wanted to do with Data Domain, I could do it. So I had no idea that it might have needed improvement. That is just thinking from a technical perspective as a user. It did what it needed to do for backup. In hindsight, I am aware that there is a feature that does not exist in Data Domain related to the security of the product and the data. A friend who works in another organization had a problem when his organization was infected with ransomware. The ransomware locked up the data in the Data Domain and disrupted the data system asking for something in return or it would delete all the data. The ransom was not submitted and the hack successfully deleted all the data. This is a big concern and no small issue where data is critical. So I believe security measures are not strict enough in Data Domain. I would like to see something in place for better security. In addition to this — which is related to security as well — there are regulations from the central bank that mandates that we need to keep backup copies that are not connected to the network. They must be completely isolated from the network. Data Domain does not have any arrangements to satisfy this requirement. For compliance, we need to use a secondary solution. The only other issue is that the prices seem high in comparison to other products and they should consider restructuring their pricing plans.
IT Coordinator at a insurance company with 1-10 employees
Real User
2019-09-08T09:50:00Z
Sep 8, 2019
The pricing could be better but it's still not too expensive. We haven't used the solution for long enough to really know what might be useful in a new release. We haven't used the full functionality yet and I'm not sure if all the functions are working as expected. We are using it, but it's not fully implemented.
There are several things that can be improved with this product even though it is not bad. The biggest concern for us is the licensing model. In terms of feature capability, there are too many separate modular features that require licensing. I would like to see a Data Domain license for one cost that contains what we need to utilize the product to its full capability. I don't like the idea of having to worry about buying another license to do something else and add functionality. So I am suggesting that it would be good if they made the product more integrated and adaptable. If I choose not to use only EMC products, it should allow me to make whatever integration I choose to do with ease. It is not so easy to do this. The technical support after the initial deployment and having the service account manager on site was not so good. They should have better means of support while you are using the product to encourage success with the product and that you remain a customer.
We have had deduplication and replication issues. When we used another backup software we noticed that it didn't have the same issues. Our customers would like to enhanced deduplication and compression features with Veeam software.
Information Technology Manager at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2019-08-07T06:15:00Z
Aug 7, 2019
With very minimal cost implications, we would want to have a real-time online backup solution. It would be perfect to see EMC include real-time online backup option to significantly reduce RPO, if possible 0. Currently, backup is scheduled at intervals. One other important feature to add to Networker is bare metal restore.
The pricing should be adjusted. Customers continuously talk about the price. They know it is a good solution and they really need the type of storage the solution offers, but it costs somewhere around $100,000 and up for enterprises. It's not cheap, but it's very important for data vendors. My customers are banks and petroleum sectors, so they need the backup and archiving systems. They can't leave a data center without it, even if the cost is high.
Dell EMC Data Domain needs to have better compatibility between NetWorker and the hardware. NetWorker is not as good as the other products which are currently on the market like Backup Exec. NetWorker is not as feature-rich as other products. On the hardware, there is no issue but the need for improvement is always there. They need to improve the NetWorker software.
DD series enables your organization to protect, manage and recover data at scale. As the next generation of Dell Data Domain appliances, DD series sets the bar for efficient data management from edge to core to cloud and includes the ecosystem support and comprehensive data protection that customers have come to appreciate from Data Domain. The DD series offers a super-fast, secure, and an efficient solution that is built for multi-cloud data protection and to keep up with future...
Nothing comes to mind in terms of improvement. It serves its purpose. That said, if they could develop higher algorithms to make it more efficient, that would be great. Usually, with the backup, the issue is how fast it can do it. As network speeds improve, the solution improves. It has to keep up with the available network speeds, however. For example, a 100-gigabit ethernet. They need to keep up with the advancements in network speeds, and ethernet speeds. If they keep up, instead of taking five hours to back up your daily workload, you may do it in three hours. It can be complex to implement.
We'd always prefer if there was even more competitive pricing since they are very close in price to Quantum. However, the pricing isn't too bad. The initial setup is complex. The installation process should be easier so you can install the solution without having specialized techs.
In terms of what could be improved, when you use Data Domain, you have to have at least 15% to 20% of free space so it can work properly. I understand that space is needed to process all the data, but it would be a big improvement if we could use that space too.
@reviewer1473288 I may understand that in case you are run out of your storage and if you want your system work properly, you have to pay for expand storage or cloud storage from vendor. I ask if the EMC PowerProtectDD have the function to overwrite the old backup or they continuously write until there is no space left?
We would like faster instant recovery.
It could be more secure.
The usage of this solution is a bit difficult to develop processes, and it takes a long time to market permits.
We do not have any specific issues. Nothing has gone wrong. The price of the product is high. We'd like for it to be less expensive. The initial setup is a little hard to understand.
The software from Dell that can be used to operate Data Domain needs to have enhancements made to the user interface. It is too complex.
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.
The size and scale of the product are limited and could be improved.
The price is on the high side. I would like to see integration with public cloud.
It can probably have integration with other OEMs. It should also have more features for ransomware protection. It could be more competitively priced.
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.
Its management can be improved.
In terms of backup software, NetWorker is a very, very good. However, it is very complex. If you want to export on a NetWorker deployment, usually you need to add more plug-ins. If you install Titanium, through the vCenter, you can directly backup all virtualized data. Using Titanium, you can backup Oracle data through the main directly or on the data lake. First-time integrations are difficult in NetWorker. NetWorker software needs to be simplified. It's very complex. The technical support has gotten worse as of late. They could work to make it much better. One feature which IBM has, and which I am unable to see in Data Domain (or on their optimum roadmap) is the utility-based backup solutions. There are no utility-based Data Domain models.
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.
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.
Spanning the time I worked with EMC Data Domain, I had no issues that suggested to me that it needed improvement. It was working fine, and anything I wanted to do with Data Domain, I could do it. So I had no idea that it might have needed improvement. That is just thinking from a technical perspective as a user. It did what it needed to do for backup. In hindsight, I am aware that there is a feature that does not exist in Data Domain related to the security of the product and the data. A friend who works in another organization had a problem when his organization was infected with ransomware. The ransomware locked up the data in the Data Domain and disrupted the data system asking for something in return or it would delete all the data. The ransom was not submitted and the hack successfully deleted all the data. This is a big concern and no small issue where data is critical. So I believe security measures are not strict enough in Data Domain. I would like to see something in place for better security. In addition to this — which is related to security as well — there are regulations from the central bank that mandates that we need to keep backup copies that are not connected to the network. They must be completely isolated from the network. Data Domain does not have any arrangements to satisfy this requirement. For compliance, we need to use a secondary solution. The only other issue is that the prices seem high in comparison to other products and they should consider restructuring their pricing plans.
The pricing could be better but it's still not too expensive. We haven't used the solution for long enough to really know what might be useful in a new release. We haven't used the full functionality yet and I'm not sure if all the functions are working as expected. We are using it, but it's not fully implemented.
There are several things that can be improved with this product even though it is not bad. The biggest concern for us is the licensing model. In terms of feature capability, there are too many separate modular features that require licensing. I would like to see a Data Domain license for one cost that contains what we need to utilize the product to its full capability. I don't like the idea of having to worry about buying another license to do something else and add functionality. So I am suggesting that it would be good if they made the product more integrated and adaptable. If I choose not to use only EMC products, it should allow me to make whatever integration I choose to do with ease. It is not so easy to do this. The technical support after the initial deployment and having the service account manager on site was not so good. They should have better means of support while you are using the product to encourage success with the product and that you remain a customer.
The firmware upgrades could be simplified. I'm in the process of struggling to upgrade right now. The dashboard could be more interactive.
We have had deduplication and replication issues. When we used another backup software we noticed that it didn't have the same issues. Our customers would like to enhanced deduplication and compression features with Veeam software.
With very minimal cost implications, we would want to have a real-time online backup solution. It would be perfect to see EMC include real-time online backup option to significantly reduce RPO, if possible 0. Currently, backup is scheduled at intervals. One other important feature to add to Networker is bare metal restore.
The solution could adjust the size of the discs. The processor or the cache on the Data Domain could be better.
The pricing should be adjusted. Customers continuously talk about the price. They know it is a good solution and they really need the type of storage the solution offers, but it costs somewhere around $100,000 and up for enterprises. It's not cheap, but it's very important for data vendors. My customers are banks and petroleum sectors, so they need the backup and archiving systems. They can't leave a data center without it, even if the cost is high.
The solution needs a better cloud version. We need a solution that has a better understanding of the cloud. The pricing model needs to be improved.
Dell EMC Data Domain needs to have better compatibility between NetWorker and the hardware. NetWorker is not as good as the other products which are currently on the market like Backup Exec. NetWorker is not as feature-rich as other products. On the hardware, there is no issue but the need for improvement is always there. They need to improve the NetWorker software.
The processing capabilities I believe could be improved, however, we have an older unit DD670 and newer units may have already improved upon this.