Dell PowerProtect Data Domain Virtual Edition for AWS

The use cases for clients include one for Cyber Recovery and another one for backup.

From my experience as an integrator, I can say the biggest advantage of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is the simplicity in terms of management and also the deduplication when it comes to data compression.

The deduplication feature does impact storage efficiency, as the customer was able to gain more space.

In terms of disadvantages, the only thing that can be improved is the number of years they keep the data domain. The number of years for the data to expire or for the support on the domain needs to be addressed. Additionally, they cannot reuse the disk shelf again, so a new disk shelf must be purchased. They should make it possible to reuse some disk shelves.

What could be better is the ability to reuse the existing shelf instead of buying another shelf if you want to upgrade. There is one implementation we are doing now where the customer has to buy another shelf for the upgrade, and the existing shelf must be removed from the rack.

My experience with the hardware solution, backup, and security is about 10 years.

The backup and recovery performance in terms of speed and reliability is quite good depending on the type of network being used. The customer has never complained that there is an issue with the backup or recovery, so the performance is quite satisfactory.

In terms of scalability, you need to populate the empty slot on the shelf. The scalability is quite impressive.

Regarding customer support, it is very helpful. The support is quite great from the customer perspective as well. They act proactively when it comes to support.

If I were to rate support from zero to 10 points, I would rate it a 10.

The experience with installation is easy and not that complicated.

I can see time saving from the product. The customer perspective is totally different, so it depends on the customer. I cannot quantify it to 10 percent as it depends on the individual customer.

Regarding the price of the product, it is very expensive.

I looked at similar products to Dell PowerProtect Data Domain , but for now, there is no similar product that I am certain of. The only one I can say is somewhat closer to it is Hyper-Scale.

Despite the high cost, I see value here for the customer, and if not, the customer would not be buying it. They are seeing the value for the money, but it is very expensive.

Analytics and monitoring features in Dell PowerProtect Data Domain would be a great addition. I cannot say for now if they could add new features in the future or if new capabilities could be added.

I would rate this review a 10 overall.

My main use case for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is as a data backup target.

The features of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain that I like the most are the immutability, speed, and deduplication, which saves us a lot of money on storage costs.

The impact that Dell PowerProtect Data Domain has made on my organization is more efficient backups, a 99.9 percent backup success rate, and no data recovery issues in the last twenty years.

To improve Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, I would suggest making it cheaper.

I would like to see the ability to use more back end data ports as a new feature.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain since it first came out.

I would rate customer service technical support an eight out of ten because sometimes there is a language barrier when talking to offshore support.

Prior to adopting Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, I was not using any other solutions to address the issues.

I do not deal with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain; I simply inform my manager, and he signs the check.

The other solutions I considered before selecting Dell PowerProtect Data Domain were Rubrik, Veeam, and Cohesity.

It would be beneficial to make support easier to access.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  serves as a backup repository for my customers, where I began implementation with Avamar , using Data Domain as the repository, and integrated it with the ECS platform for cloud archiving. However, I have not performed file solutions to back up or attach directly to clients' PCs, as all backups end up on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain .

Most use cases for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain as a backup repository are in VMware backup environments, where I integrate it with IDPA, Avamar , and Veeam by installing proxies inside the VMware environment and performing all backup restoration tests and processes as needed. Although I have only performed replication once, in some cases I have installed agents inside Windows servers or customer PCs to perform agent backup or file backups.

Regarding my main use case with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, I have not encountered any issues, though I would perform a replication scenario if the opportunity arose. Unfortunately, our customers in LatAm are not large enough for such projects, as their architectures typically involve active-passive or active-active setups for servers and storage, but not for backup solutions, which presents a challenge in educating customers on the need for proper disaster recovery or business continuity architectures.

What I value most about Dell PowerProtect Data Domain are its deduplication features, as the amount of information that can be stored is quite impressive. I also appreciate the DD Boost  protocol for its enhancements and integration with other platforms, and I recall a provider using that protocol to improve the transportation layer, along with the data-at-rest encryption that protects all information inside Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. Primarily, the standout feature is the DD Boost  protocol.

The DD Boost protocol improves my workflow with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain by using a native communication protocol, which allows for faster information transfer without protocol translations. Its integration with Dell's other products like Avamar is beneficial, and the openness of DD Boost enables compatibility with other vendors, making it important for customers with large information volumes to store efficiently and perform both backups and restorations with ease.

The impact of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain on my organization has been significant, particularly because its integration with Avamar and Veeam allows for instant recovery where the disk of VMs runs on Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, facilitating an easier restoration or recovery process since I can simply perform a vMotion to recover the VM.

I cannot quantify the exact time saved, but I have two scenarios with customers needing to restore large VMs. The ability to restore these in a few minutes is a remarkable improvement compared to the hours typically required for the whole restore process.

The significance of having fast backup and recovery solutions with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain for my organization revolves around business continuity, focusing on how quickly I can help customers get back on track.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is currently well-developed, and at this moment, I cannot think of any improvements needed.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain for approximately eight years, implementing backup solutions and installing it as a repository for backups, including integrations with Veeam.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is stable; however, stability does depend on the customer's infrastructure and network setup. In terms of support, implementation, and maintenance, it is very predictable and easy to maintain in a positive sense.

The scalability of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is impressive, as you can add expansion shelves that significantly increase capacity.

The customer support experience I have had with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is quite good, characterized by fast service and a support team that resolves issues in a short time.

In my ten years of experience, I have not used a different solution. We explored alternatives but remained with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain.

I perceive a return on investment from Dell PowerProtect Data Domain in terms of the valuable time saved for every customer, emphasizing that time is indeed valuable.

Pricing, setup cost, and licensing are not my areas of expertise, as I mainly focus on implementation engineering.

Before choosing Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, we did not evaluate other options, as we consistently opt for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain.

I advise those considering Dell PowerProtect Data Domain to try it out, as there are various products on the market, but Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is easy to use, easy to install, and integrates well with the customer's environment, boasting spectacular backup and restore capabilities. I recommend conducting a proof of concept of the product. I have rated this product a ten.

My role in using or managing Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  involves overseeing its implementation and operation. The significance of having fast backup and recovery solutions for my organization when using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is that when you actually need it, it works efficiently. We have the ability to live restore, so we do not have to wait until the restore is fully finished.

The features of Dell PowerProtect Data Domain that I value the most include the simplicity of deployment, which is one key feature, and the data reduction we achieve on our appliances compared to other solutions.

The impact that Dell PowerProtect Data Domain has had on my organization's security is significant as the appliance comes with built-in security features, allowing us to limit access to the appliance, whereas with other solutions, we have to do that ourselves. With the Cyber Recovery Vault, we get an air-gapped solution.

The impact that Dell PowerProtect Data Domain has had on my organization's data backup efficiency is notable, as the data reduction is a major benefit.

I believe Dell PowerProtect Data Domain can be improved, but I do not have specific examples I would want to see in the next release.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain for approximately four to five years.

I rate customer service and technical support at a nine out of ten, as there is always room for improvement, but at this moment, I do not have any major complaints about the support services. They are always able to help us when needed, and the responsiveness of the support team is excellent.

Prior to adopting Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, we were using a build-your-own solution, which was a backup to disk solution where we repurposed a server with disks and used it as a repository for our backup solution.

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing is that at first, it obviously costs more than a simple setup where you bring your own resources. However, after a while, I see the return on investment regarding maintenance and lifecycle management and operating in a day two scenario, which is where the real savings work.

I also rate Dell PowerProtect Data Domain a nine out of ten. My advice for someone considering trying it is to be open to a new solution, give it a try, and see what it actually does. I would rate this solution a nine overall.

I use Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  for direct backups with PPDM, PowerProtect  Data Manager, but the core of my work involves direct API backups from databases.

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain  is one of my favorite products from Dell, so it's difficult for me to answer with just one particular feature. However, the ease of use and ease of management stand out. DDMC makes life easy, and the setup process is straightforward. The ability to monitor live performance as it streams allows me to know exactly if something is wrong with my machine and what commands to run. The graphical user interface is just as good as the CLI. As an old-school CLI user, I love the CLI with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain, and those are my favorite things.

That is an important consideration. We are developing our cyber response by taking best practices from Dell and applying those to Dell PowerProtect Data Domain to ensure they are hardened as much as possible. To be honest, we rely on our resilience and our speed to recover. That is a big key for us, and Dell PowerProtect Data Domain has always held that end of the bargain up for us.

Reporting  is difficult from a graphical user standpoint. Additionally, the REST API capabilities, although they continue to improve, could be enhanced. Developing a better reporting tool specifically for Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is what I would prioritize.

I have been using Dell PowerProtect Data Domain for about 20 years out of my 25-year career. With my current company, I have had Dell PowerProtect Data Domain in place for the 13 years that I have been present there.

The ability to respond to an outage immediately is critical. I want to get the system back up and running, and I know what our performance numbers are with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain. Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is a very consistent product.

The all-flash option is intriguing. I am still somewhat hesitant about the price points on those systems, but given the current state of the industry, it is difficult to consider that at the moment. Data reduction is key when I am evaluating products for backup because I need that efficiency for the number of backups I want to maintain to reduce costs for the company. This is a very big deciding factor for us.

With Dell, I would give a rating of 10. I am part of the DSE program, Designated Support Engineers. I believe that every company should offer a program like that. It is an extension of your team itself, and I have been more than pleased with the support I have received from them.

From a database standpoint, Dell PowerProtect Data Domain has always been my tool of choice. I have explored other options, including Cohesity , Rubrik , VAST , NetApp, and Commvault. I am always evaluating because that is part of my job function. However, I always put those options through a study and consider return on investment at the end of the day.

Cost is always a factor for companies in my position. During an open review of different products, my support team and sales team at Dell were able to work with me to understand what I was looking for and the cost reductions I needed. I believe that everyone won out from this arrangement because Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is now my platform for the next five years. I just refreshed the whole fleet, so I am in good standing. I worked everything out with the sales team, and I am very happy with the outcome.

Management, speed—not only the speed of backup but the speed of recovery, more importantly—security, and automation are all critical factors. There are many more considerations, but those are some of the top five that I really consider.

I would recommend making a list from an evaluation standpoint of what you consider to be your needs and evaluating it thoroughly. From a numbers standpoint, I can tell you that Dell PowerProtect Data Domain will stand out. Let the technology do the talking. When you get started, it is challenging because the sales team will pitch information to you. I suggest testing it yourself, and the numbers will speak for themselves.

The reason I stay with Dell PowerProtect Data Domain is because of these factors, which is why I give this review a rating of 10.