Dell PowerProtect Data Domain Virtual Edition for AWS

I have implemented a couple of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  at the premises and we have integrated that appliance with Veeam backup solutions only.

Apart from that, I already worked on Avamar  which was earlier part of EMC.

The cost is high now due to things such as SSD  and memory prices being high in the current time. Earlier it was good and it would have been the best fit in the customer budget. So due to international price increases for the memory and the SSDs, it is currently a little bit costlier than the earlier one. But it doesn't matter. If we have an enterprise customer and their data is critical for them, then I think the price being high or low doesn't matter.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  has a protocol which is a very good protocol. With the help of that particular OST protocol, we can take the backup in a very fast manner over the FC. That appliance is very good in comparison to HP StoreOnce . We can restore the data in a very minimal time because the data is transferring over the FC protocol, which is 32Gbps. I always recommend it to others who have huge data and they are continuously taking the backup onto external devices.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain data backup transfer throughput and deduplication are exceptional because it works on the variable blocks. When we are using variable blocks, we can take the backup in a very fast manner and then we can save the storage space due to the deduplication functionality. The deduplication is very good, with a 20:1 ratio of deduplication, which is not available in other solutions such as HP.

The benefit of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is that we are storing the data in a very small footprint. Huge data can be stored in a very small storage capacity because the deduplication and the compression ratio is very good. This is the beauty. We do not need to spend more money, and then we can achieve cost saving at the drive level.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is a perfect solution. I don't think we have to make any improvement to it. It is completely perfect for the enterprise-class customers. It is not meant for the smaller customer. When the data size is huge, it is always good for them to store the data in the terabyte or petabyte form.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain can be integrated with other third-party backup software. We can integrate it with Commvault, we can integrate it with Veritas, we can integrate it with Veeam backup solutions, or Dell's own solution as well. It is a very good solution to integrate with others.

It is reducing the backup window since the backup transfer rate is very high, so we can complete the backup in very minimal time. The data is always transferring in a very fast manner over the iSCSI, FC protocol, iSCSI protocol, NFS protocol, or CIFS protocol as well. It depends on the customer environment. It can be easily fitted in their environment and then transfer the data for a shorter period of retention and a longer period of retention.

The data reduction policy is supposed to be 20:1. It is supposed to have a very good deduplication and compression ratio.

I think we have to involve the immutability functionality within the system so that we can use these storage boxes for the immutable purpose to store the data for a longer period of retention and to protect from ransomware attacks.

I'm working on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain since approximately eight years.

I think because it is a secondary storage, the downtime doesn't matter, because it is always available. It is a backup appliance only. Critical workload is not running on it. The critical workload always runs on the primary data storage, which is basically PowerMax  or PowerStore . If it is not available, then it is a backup solution. Whenever it is available, then we can restore the data. I have not faced any challenges in the past with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain such as shutting down or stopping.

We can easily scale. We just have to get the capacity-based license for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain from Dell, and then we have to add disks to the physical appliance. If the physical appliance disk is full in that array, then we have to add another array and then put the disk within that particular array system. It is very easy to scale up to petabytes.

It is fantastic. We just have to raise a ticket, and immediately, we can get the response from them. There is no challenge with that.

For Dell PowerProtect Data Domain support, I will assign a nine for the support. Sometimes, earlier there was an issue where we had to call to the A&T and then we had to connect to Dell. Nowadays, we can connect directly to the Dell team and in a very minimal time, we can get the support from them.

I worked on PowerStore  as well.

It is not complex. It is very easy. Nothing is tough in doing the setup of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. Basically, we just have to access the Dell PowerProtect Data Domain appliance through the URL, then we can integrate it with any backup solution. It is not a complex solution.

We are getting the complete ROI. As I mentioned earlier, with the help of deduplication and compression, we have to invest less money than with other competitors. If the number of days or the footprints of the data are less than others, then obviously we can get the best ROI in that kind of situation.

This is very good and it can be integrated with any third-party backup solution. I always recommend going with it if the customer is an enterprise customer or it is basically a big SMB. I always recommend going with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain and then you can keep the last retention on to tape devices or some others for the longer period of retention. But initially, we have to keep the backup on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. I always recommend that to others.

The pros are much more than the competitors. There is another competitor that is ExaGrid. The cost of the ExaGrid is a little bit lower than Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. That is the con. They have to reduce the cost. But when you talk about the deduplication and compression ratio, then obviously Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is at the highest level. We can get the highest level of deduplication and compression and then reduce the footprint. If we reduce the physical footprint, we can save money and we can save energy. These are basically the pros of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. Apart from that, when we have to compare it with StoreOnce, then again, it can be integrated with other protocols apart from Catalyst. Catalyst is the main core protocol which is basically part of HP StoreOnce . Dell PowerProtect Data Domain can be more feasible to run with any other OEM backup solutions.

We are using Dell PowerEdge server, which is a rack-based server, that is 760 and 760xs, and some servers are 660 and 660xs as well.

I work with the physical Dell PowerProtect Data Domain boxes. There are multiple versions. It is available in the VE format, which is a virtual format. Another one is the physical appliance. For the testing purpose or for the POC, we can use the VE version. If the data size is not huge, then again, we can use the VE version, which is a virtualized appliance. If the data size is heavy, then we have to always recommend going with the Dell PowerProtect Data Domain physical appliance only.

I would rate this product a ten out of ten.

The central purpose for which my clients are using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is for backup. Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is used for backup purposes in case any issues occur.

What stands out to me is that if we have a backup, we don't need to lose data. If production is gone or if something is accidentally deleted, we can recover that from the backup.

For storage, I am using Dell EMC Unity , Isilon, and XtremIO . I am also going to be certified for the Azure  cloud.

Most functionality is valuable with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. The data in the backup is easy to handle. It is not complex to implement or deploy. We also get very good support from the support team. Regarding functionality, I don't think we require any improvement in terms of features. I'm trying to deploy new things on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain and Unity, and once it gets successful, I will definitely let you know about it.

In general, for improvement purposes, I can say that the features are not easy to understand to customers with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. These features must be explained in an easier way. In Dell PowerProtect Data Domain or in Unity, we can use cloud snapshots for recovery purposes or we can use cascade replications. We need to implement these things in the storage and backup.

I have used the solution for around six years.

Since it's an operating system, I cannot say that it's 100% stable, but it is good regarding Dell PowerProtect Data Domain around eighty to ninety percent of the time.

It is scalable.

From the support point of view, sometimes the support team gets stuck somewhere, but the support team is always available at that time. We can't predict everything, but I can say the support team is available 24/7. Getting support from the Dell support team is quite helpful to us.

I would rate the support between eight to nine.

I've been using an HP product for around two months only, and I love that product. It was Alletra, I think. It's been quite a long time since I used it, from the previous year.

The installation process is very easy.

On-premises is where I usually deploy it for my clients.

The costs are quite affordable as per the company or market standard.

HP has more features compared to these other products. They have chunks of data in one GB, but here it is in KB or MB. HP is much faster than others.

I have close to 20 years of experience, combining my seven years with FalconStor and my 11 years with Cox. Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is a backup solution we have used from day one. When I worked for Cox, I was hired from DealerTrack in 2014, and Cox Enterprises, which owns many different brands, acquired DealerTrack. Cox had NetBackup running and Dell PowerProtect Data Domain . They decided to retire NetBackup and use Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, making it the enterprise backup solution for all AutoTrader, Kelly Blue Book, and other properties.

We back up over 20,000 servers in the backup window successfully and on a continuous basis. This was based primarily on a virtual environment, specifically VMware.

We migrated from Avamar  to PPDM, and I feel Dell can improve the migration process. I do not know how many customers they have, but we faced challenges migrating from Avamar  to PPDM.

Network-wise, implementing the solution and expanding on our DealerTrack presented several challenges. When we migrated DealerTrack from New Jersey data centers to Atlanta, we were set up in a network bubble. Once we received the green light to expand to other business units, adding more network capabilities proved challenging.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is more efficient than NetBackup for our backup needs. The best features are the storage efficiencies with deduplication and compression capabilities; they are the best in deduplication and compression. We save significantly more money with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain than with NetBackup, which is one of the main reasons we switched to Dell PowerProtect Data Domain.

Recovery features in Dell PowerProtect Data Domain are outstanding. The restore capabilities and backup capabilities are considerably faster. The speed of backups is clearly evident, and in terms of efficiency, Dell PowerProtect Data Domain significantly improves our organization's data backup efficiency with outstanding storage efficiencies. Upper management cares about the budget and expanded on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain because of the storage efficiencies.

The main benefits of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain are the fast backups, fast restores, and storage efficiencies.

I did not have the all-flash Dell PowerProtect Data Domain solution. We did have flash; however, I do not remember exactly how much flash we had, but that was key to our fast restores.

We have not yet entered the cloud, but we tested it and had presentations regarding it. The cloud capabilities were impressive, but we are not in the cloud yet.

I think they did a great job with PPDM from what I have seen. Their licensing matrix is confusing and is a feature they need to improve. We have challenges with that as well from our account managers at Dell, especially regarding notifications of nearly reaching capacity on our licensing. This was also a concern during the migration from Avamar to PPDM since we had considerable duplication. We worked closely with Dell themselves regarding the migration and the licensing.

I have over 20 years of experience with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. I used Networker for three years.

I do not see any issues with the scalability of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. We can easily add to Dell PowerProtect Data Domain environment. We have done a couple of refreshes, but challenges during refreshes primarily involve the network and ensuring that the HA is working correctly.

Dell's technical support is very good and on par with NetApp support and the rest of the industry, such as Oracle, providing the same type of support. If you open a severity case one, there are similar challenges to getting support. The process involves fixing the problem first, then asking all the questions afterward. This approach is consistent across the board because vendors ask many questions on a severity one case. I would not call unless I have a potential outage and need help understanding the problem we are facing to fix it. When I open a severity one case, it is challenging, not only with Dell but also with Oracle. They want to ask many questions, which should be bypassed because we need to fix the problem. If I have a severity two case, I will answer all the questions because there is no urgency, though there is some urgency to get it fixed, but it is not as critical as an outage.

Once you get the message across and bypass their level one support to get someone in level two or level three involved, it becomes easier. It is always a challenge, and I find Oracle to be the same way when opening a severity one case. They put you through all these questions and processes, and I normally would call, and with NetApp, we always call the account manager to bypass and get someone in level two right away. However, it is difficult to bypass level one when they attempt to diagnose the issue you are having when you already know that you need a level two technician. You do not want to spend so much time explaining to level one, then have them transfer you. The vendor's process can sometimes be painful when going through their process to resolve an issue. One thing that I think needs improvement is the automated response; when you call, you end up talking to a robot. As a customer, I do not want to speak to a robot. It should be an option: do you want to continue with the automated call system or speak to someone right away? If it is not a severity case, I would go with the robot, but if it is urgent, I want to speak to someone right away because a robot is inadequate for that.

I have worked with Dell for many years. When I worked for FalconStor, we used Dell servers and rebranded them to FalconStor. FalconStor is a software company, and we used Dell as the hardware. At one time, we were using Supermicro, but they changed to Dell. My history with Dell goes back many years. Even before when I worked for the New York Stock Exchange for 23 years, I remember when Dell first came out and we started receiving all these Dell servers, desktops, and everything.

We utilized both ourselves and Dell during the deployment. Upper management then decided to use a third party, Ahead. We have been working with Ahead rather than Dell itself; we started with the third party about two years ago. We purchase it through Ahead.

I may have an old metric from when we presented the case to retire NetBackup versus Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. We have expanded on our projections, especially as we are implementing AirGap. We have not fully expanded the air gap yet, and we are still in the testing stages concerning recovery in case of a cybersecurity threat.

The cost these days is definitely increasing as we are expanding on how much we will be utilizing with Dell's DPS  and PPDM.

With very minimal failures, the ratio between successful backups and failed backups was overachieved compared to other backup solutions such as NetBackup. If you are going with high availability, my recommendation for those considering Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is to have a proper networking process and plan in place because networking is crucial for success. I would rate this product a 9 out of 10.

I work as an implementer of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  systems, storage, and backup systems, serving as an administrator and support specialist. I have 15 years of experience implementing Data Domain systems with Dell, HP, and HPA, where all systems handle backup functions. My experience with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  spans 10 years. I serve as an implementer of this software and integrate it with storage and customer client systems. I administrate this console for all operations in Peru. I have implemented this product in Peru, the USA, and Argentina, working both on-site and remotely. I implement, support, and administer Dell PowerProtect Data Domain.

The best features of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain include its ability to protect compressed information in storage, its security, and the new security capabilities for this product, where information is encrypted in storage. It is not possible for attacks from ransomware or hackers to compromise the system. In Peru, this product is very important, and all clients comment on this feature. The product is expensive, but the information is secure. Clients balance this situation, understanding that it represents a price point for this product.

When comparing Dell PowerProtect Data Domain with other products, the deduplication feature stands out as the best feature. The deduplication is very compressed, and this is a necessary feature that requires the best hardware, memory, and processor. This deduplication process is very fast. This is the best option in backup solutions.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain needs to operate effectively in system operations. The product operates in both Linux and Windows environments. It is implemented for disaster recovery in both old and new versions, with upgrades and add-ons available. Patches are necessary, as are migration and administration in Windows environments. Disaster recovery is essential for preserving client information. In the disaster recovery plan, it is necessary to perform updates to execute this plan effectively. Disaster recovery is crucial to save this information for the client. It is a necessary component, and it represents the best plan within this scenario.

I have been using the solution for 10-11 years.

I rate the stability of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain as a ten out of ten. The product is the best product of its kind.

I rate technical support for Dell as an eight out of ten. Support is crucial when restore functions are not working, when a backup fails, or when a client erases information or requires maintenance. I provide support in these cases. The response time for requests is something I currently do not remember precisely, but clients use my contact number, and I connect with them to continue assisting and resolving their problems.

Regarding the pricing for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, it is expensive. For small clients, it is very expensive. Large clients find it not expensive, but it depends on the solution in the environment.

My clients are enterprise businesses. I currently work with Petroperú, which is a major enterprise company. This client uses Veritas NetBackup  and all IBM enterprise products. Another client uses Dell PowerProtect Data Domain with Sanwarm. Additionally, clients like BBVA and Scotiabank use it, along with BCP, which is the best bank in Peru. I administrate and support this product for these organizations.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is deployed in both cloud and on-premises environments. I have clients in both categories.

The cloud providers for Dell PowerProtect  include GCP, and AWS  is also involved in my work. Dell PowerProtect Data Domain's own cloud is also utilized with the same client for information management.

My advice about Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is straightforward: I recommend this product to all clients. It provides the best deduplication, compression, and security. I always recommend it to all clients, and this is the approach I take when working with clients to implement this product.

I am an expert and specialist in customer support, holding roles such as N2 or N3 in Peru. I serve as a specialist senior in backup and infrastructure at Petroperú, the largest company in Peru in the petroleum sector. My experience with the product is that, compared with other systems, it excels, particularly in information security. This has been confirmed by all my clients. There have been no issues with information access, and that has been the best experience for my clients. Additionally, clients have direct contact with me for any support needs regarding verifications or configurations related to administrating the console. I am happy to provide this feedback, and I am satisfied with this product overall. I rate this review as a ten out of ten.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is currently used to protect the environment backup. The major use case in this banking environment is that most of our data is expected to be 100% protected. The use case at the moment is the protection of the data being backed up to the CRS, and we have a special interest in the CyberSense part of it because we understand that if an environment has any issue, the first thing is protecting the destination file and data itself, and CyberSense is able to meet that requirement.

I have a few things that I enjoy the most about Dell PowerProtect Data Domain . One of them is the scalability, especially around the storage, and the other one is the data protection. We personally enjoy the feature of the data protection there with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain.

The aspect we do not enjoy the most about Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is the staging configuration. We have a kind of staging environment that will recover the data in case of any incident or special need. This is actually our own architecture because we have the flexibility to increase the staging environment capacity, but it would be better if the staging environment were a bit bigger. We want a situation where even if there is an issue, we can seamlessly work on the staging environment with all the combating applications that we are running.

We started using it in 2023, and we completed the deployment for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain Cyber Recovery solution.

We have contacted customer support for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, and that is another good part because it makes the entire experience much more seamless. We have a response time of less than 20 minutes, and we get engineers contacting us immediately when we raise a support request. We feel that we are working with people who understand the technology and the historical patterns of this environment, and when we raise a support request, we have no doubt because it seems that we are working with a product engineer. Everyone we have interacted with in the support team is extremely skilled in this line of business, which is an additional bonus for us.

If we were to put the support for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain on a scale from one to ten, we would give them a ten, basically. The reason for giving ten is that we get what we need, and that is the most important thing. We are not running into any issues or complaints. However, we would legitimately give nine because sometimes when we raise a support request that involves Dell PowerProtect Data Domain or the entire Cyber Recovery environment itself, or that has to do with NetWorker , the request is not directly routed to the required team, necessitating movement to the right team, which could be a human error in submitting the support request. But aside from that, as soon as the request is assigned to the right engineer, it is considered done.

The initial deployment was not difficult at all.

The deployment of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain was a seamless experience for certain reasons. This is a kind of collaborative work where the network team needs to be involved, the infrastructure team needs to be available, and the database team needs to be available. The only aspect we had an issue with initially was the structuring of those resources, but immediately after that, the deployment was seamless because we had a site engineer, Muhammad Sohi, directly available on site with us from beginning to end. Even at some point when we needed assistance, he came physically to work with us to ensure that the product met the business requirement, so we can confirm that the deployment was seamless because of the site engineer. Ordinarily, we could not have done it on our own.

We feel that the pricing for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is flexible. We had the option to scale and analyze before finalizing the particular configuration that works for us. At the moment, we feel that the pricing is not much, and the only reason it impacts us so much is the currency conversion, so we think the price is quite flexible and not a disadvantage.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain requires maintenance. We do a kind of continuous maintenance, and we have a local support team that we usually reach out to for assistance. Whenever we need help with maintenance, we always get adequate support. Before consulting Dell directly for an engineer, we have local support residing in our region and city, so if there is any maintenance or assistance needed, they jump on a call with us, and if it requires their physical presence, they come on site to check. We do maintenance, and majorly it is quarterly. We also do some basic maintenance every month. Our overall rating for this solution is 8 out of 10.