Commvault Complete Data Protection vs Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 5, 2022

We performed a comparison between Commvault and Dell PowerProtect DD based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Commvault users say deployment is difficult unless you have prior knowledge. Dell PowerProtect DD users share mixed reviews on deployment.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability, compression, and deduplication capabilities.

    Commvault users like the solution’s integration capabilities, encryption to protect from ransomware, and its compression and duplication features. Users mention they would like to see the console improved and that the solution’s data backup for Office 365 platform needs to be better.

    PowerProtect DD users say the solution is scalable, has strong data integrity protection, and good monitoring and reporting features. Several PowerProtect DD users mention that they would like better cloud integrations.
  • Pricing: Users of both solutions say the pricing is expensive.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions are happy with the technical support.
  • ROI: Users of both solutions report an ROI.

Comparison Results: The two solutions are very comparable and received similar user ratings in all categories.

To learn more, read our detailed Backup and Recovery Software Report (Updated: May 2023).
706,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Real-time synchronization is a good feature.""The most valuable feature is Commvault's coverage. It has wide coverage to back up every data center environment. The product can back up OpenStack, OpenShift, and competitive solutions don't have this feature. Commvault can handle backing up any virtual workload or enterprise application.""We switched to Commvault because we were looking to centralize management. This reduced IT administrator time as well as providing stability and reliability for data backups in a single console.""I can collect the target data, then we connect it to Commvault. There is not another system that can connect to our target database or target storage. This is very important for us, because there is the threat of malware right now. This can protect not only the product, but also the backup data from outside threats.""We specialize in Commvault and IntelliSnap. Commvault covers all our customers' backup needs in one system, and they have complete control over their Snapshot backups. Snapshots are important to our customers because of the size of their data sets.""Commvault is very simple to use and it is automated.""The backup and restore capabilities are key. The most useful things to us about Commvault, in general, is the breadth of the applications that it can protect as well as the features inside of it, like deduplication and encryption. When people get their data encrypted, Commvault has a way to tell if somebody is being attacked through a cybersecurity threat because their data changes. So, Commvault has what they call honeypot files out there to look to see if anybody is changing these files. Only Commvault knows which files those are, so nobody should be messing with those files. If it changes, then it will alert you to say, "Oh, I potentially have somebody messing with my files." It will alert you to something going on in your environment that probably shouldn't be happening. We deploy that with all our customers so they have this capability as well.""What is most valuable to me are the search features, where you can search through large backup data sets and find what you're looking for. Our data sets are so big that we're over the petabyte mark. To find a specific file for a specific user out of 10,000 users is a challenge... If we can glean from them a general description of where it might be, the search feature comes in very handy to actually locate it and restore it for them."

More Commvault Complete Data Protection Pros →

"Stable and scalable suite of solutions with deduplication, apart from data protection, storage, and backup.""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.""The technology has been very useful. There are lots of features on offer.""We have found the product to be scalable.""PowerProtect is a flexible solution that you can cover various cloud and on-premise environments.""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.""It's very competitive in terms of the price and technology. Also, the development team continuously makes updates. The data reduction feature is very useful.""Our clients like the wide range of features that are available within this single solution."

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Cons
"They need to improve when it comes to large, video file archiving. They're good, but they have not met my expectations as a customer in this area.""The deployment process should be simplified because it is not something that just anybody can do.""This is not a very high standard product.""Commvault's price is quite high.""Commvault Complete Data Protection meets market standards, but an area for improvement is its licensing model. It would be good if it could use the subscription-based model rather than the traditional licensing model.""There are two ways to use it and I prefer the web-based one over the app. I wish they were a little bit more matched in what they offer because the features aren't as available in the web-based interface as they are in the app.""The initial setup was complicated.""Setup is complex."

More Commvault Complete Data Protection Cons →

"We would like faster instant recovery.""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.""It can probably have integration with other OEMs. It should also have more features for ransomware protection.""Installation and deployment for this product need improvement. These processes need to made easier. Currently, it's not an easy installation for customers. This product needs to be installed by professionals.""Technical support needs improvement.""They still have hardware different from the software.""The licensing is not cost-effective, and the pricing could be better.""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."

More Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing has improved. It is simplified compared to the way that it was a few years ago. It is fairly straightforward and pretty easy to articulate to customers, which is handy."
  • "One of the most interesting aspects is that the licensing model can be modified. We're paying for our licensing by the client, as opposed to the size of the footprint of the backup, which decreased our cost by about 20 percent."
  • "It is a bit more than other products, but when you consider the time savings, it is saving money."
  • "Commvault's license fee is per server-based."
  • "You have to pay for the licenses and the hardware you need for the Commvault environment. If you don't have all the hardware, you have to buy it, which can cost a few million. In the end, it's vital to protect our data, so the price isn't an issue."
  • "Compared with other backup technologies, Commvault is a bit more costly, but we are satisfied with the support, the services, and the features that we get with Commvault."
  • "It is quite expensive when compared to other applications in the market. Its license is completely based on workload capacity. If I buy a license for 100 terabytes, I can back up anything. I can back up any platform, technology, or application, which is an advantage. Previously, we had to buy an agent for a particular application, and the cost was different for each agent. Now, the cost is completely based on the storage capacity. The license for one terabyte can cost around $1,700 for backing up anything from your environment."
  • "The cost for Commvault is very expensive, even support is very expensive. The full cost of the solution is 50,000 INR per year, which includes 20 VM backups, server data backup, and 200 desktop and laptop agent licenses."
  • More Commvault Complete Data Protection Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It could be more competitively priced. Its licensing was for five years. Obviously, the support will get renewed at some stage, but that's it."
  • "The price is on the high side."
  • "Becoming more expensive."
  • "The solution is expensive. However, if you pay less you receive less, it is cost-effective."
  • "Pricing for this product could still be improved, though several years ago, its price was very high. When buying an IDPA product such as Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), you don't have to buy anything else, because you'll have an integrated solution: a data domain appliance plus software."
  • "The price of Dell EMC PowerProtect DD could improve, it is expensive."
  • "The price of the backup appliance is slightly expensive. Compared to other vendors, the pricing will be slightly higher."
  • "If we do not move to the cloud solution and stay with our on-premise version we will miss some new features."
  • More Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Well both are comprehensive backup solutions. comm-vault has management One UI, Built-in security features, ransomware detection, immutability, data isolation, and recovery. while Net-backup has… more »
    Top Answer:The convenience of backing up and restoring simultaneously is very valuable.
    Top Answer:There are many different licenses, so you pay for what you need. There are various aspects you can add on, like extra speed, or something just for reading data. There are licenses to do replication as… more »
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    Also Known As
    Commvault
    DataDomain, Dell EMC Data Domain, PowerProtect Data Domain
    Learn More
    Dell Technologies
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    Overview

    Commvault Complete Data Protection is a backup and recovery solution for disaster recovery, data protection, and multi-environment management. It supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments and can back up various platforms, including databases, applications, and operating systems. 

    Its valuable features include search capabilities, a user-friendly interface, broad workload coverage, deduplication and encryption support, cybersecurity threat detection, multi-cloud integration, and ransomware protection. Commvault has helped organizations with backup cost reduction and backup administration efficiency.

    Commvault Complete Data Protection Features:

    With Commvault, users can easily back up, restore, archive, replicate, transfer, and search data. Commvault offers its customers:

    • Data protection and security: Commvault protects and rapidly recovers data from ransomware attacks and other security breaches.
    • Data transformation: Commvault effectively moves and repurposes data across environments, enabling flexible data usage for management, testing, and other IT needs.
    • Data insights: Commvault provides its users with insights that can be used to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize and automate IT processes. Data insights can be applied to data protection to mitigate security breaches.
    • Manageable data environment: Commvault Command Center offers a dashboard for management of the entire data environment. Users can identify data for protection, monitor backups and restorations, and view analytics. Saved configurations and procedures reduce the load on IT staff.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Commvault stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of the major ones are its backup, recovery, and data protection features as well as its centralized management.

    Sheron B. a systems engineer at PAREXEL International Corporation writes, “I like that you have complete hooks into and total control of your data. The data is well-protected. It doesn't age off until it's copied. That's a big feature right there. When you reach the end of your retention, it does not expire until the secondary copy is completed. That allows you to hold onto data that otherwise would have aged off by retention. I like that feature. It's hard to just delete or lose data using the Commvault platform.

    PeerSpot users note the effectiveness of Commvault. An engineer at a tech services company writes, "When it comes to recovery, Commvault is undeniably one of the best technologies out there. It's got all the different granularity levels that a business requires to get your information back to production. For example, we have their commission discovery, individual items recovery, mailbox recovery, databases, and different tables. Some databases can be recovered individually. This level of granularity enables us to get the most value out of the product."

    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 demands. The DD series consists of the DD9900, DD9400, DD6900, DD6400, DD3300, and a software-defined option, PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition (DDVE).

    DD series empowers organizations to protect, manage and recover data at scale across their entire diverse ecosystems. DD series provides broad ecosystem support, efficiency, powerful data protection, cloud-enabled capabilities, and the cyber resiliency that our customers demand.

    The DD Operating System (DDOS) is the brilliance that drives the DD series. DDOS contributes the agility, security, and reliability that pushes DD series to deliver high-speed, scalable, and standard-setting protection storage for backup, archive, and disaster recovery. DDOS integrates seamlessly with many existing infrastructures, permitting ease-of-use with leading backup and archiving applications, and provides superior performance in conjunction with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager and Data Protection Suite. When you decide to purchase a new DD series appliance you can easily consume DDOS as a subscription providing greater flexibility for deployment while minimizing your overall upfront costs.

    DD series does a great job to minimize the threat of data loss and adds to the value of protected data while meeting ever-increasing demands of SLAs and increasing ROI. DDOS drives DD series to deliver up to 38% faster backups and up to 45% faster restores at significantly higher compression levels.

    DD series supports high availability within the single rack. Additionally, DD series can greatly reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) by minimizing downtime in the unlikely event of a hardware failure. DD series delivers amazing high-speed networking connectivity with support for 25GbE and 100GbE network adapters.

    Benefits of Dell PowerProtect DD

    Fast, secure, efficient data protection:

    • Provide 1.5PB usable capacity in a single rack
    • Allow for Up to 3PB capacity for long-term retention
    • Logical capacity is increased by up to 30% per TB when compared to the previous generation
    • Allow for instant access and instant restore of up to 64VMs and 100k IOPS
    • High-speed network connectivity – 10GbE, 25GbE and 100GbE
    • Seamless fast integration and outstanding performance with PowerProtect Data Manager and Data Protection Suite
    • Supports many of the leading enterprise backup and archive applications

    Industry-leading multi-cloud protection:

    • Provides software-defined protection storage on-premises and in-cloud with PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition (DDVE).
    • DDVE scales up to 256TB in-cloud (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and others).
    • Greatly improves in-cloud restore performance by as much as 10x when compared to previous versions.
    • Cloud Tier delivers super simple and value-added long-term retention to public, private, or hybrid clouds
    • Cost-efficient disaster recovery to the cloud

    Operational simplicity:

    • Enhanced DD System Manager supports a complete chassis view
    • Significantly lower administrative costs
    • Grants a single point of management for all DD series by PowerProtect DD Management Center
    • Deploy Smart Scale for PowerProtect appliances directly from PowerProtect DD Management Center. Smart Scale helps drive down management complexities while increasing storage efficiencies. 

    Reviews from Real Users

    One user, who is an enterprise IT architect at a tech service company, says that “Dell PowerProtect DD is highly stable and reliable. I have not had a time when the system did not work and in an emergency this is critical.” He rates the ROI it has brought his company a five out of five.

    A pre-sales and technical manager at a tech services company says that "The features that I have found most valuable with Dell PowerProtect DD are its deduplication feature and its DD Boost protocol for fast transfer, which is amazing."

    Chris C., lead infrastructure architect at ThinkON, relates that Dell PowerProtect DD “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.”

    Offer
    Learn more about Commvault Complete Data Protection
    Learn more about Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain)
    Sample Customers
    Aberdeenshire Council, Acxiom, BAM Group Ireland, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, CI Investments, Clifford Chance, American Municipal Power, American Pacific Mortgage, AstraZeneca, Dongbu Steel, Denver Health, Dow Jones, Emirates Steel, Penn State Health, Prime Healthcare, Sonic Healthcare, Sony Network Communications, TiVO, UCONN Health, The Weitz Company
    The US Army, City of Houston, Lloyds TSB, TiVo, Teck, Ingram Entertainment, The New York Mets
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Government12%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Government9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Insurance Company20%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Energy/Utilities Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business35%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise47%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise64%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business37%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise42%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise63%
    Buyer's Guide
    Backup and Recovery Software
    May 2023
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    Commvault Complete Data Protection is ranked 3rd in Backup and Recovery Software with 40 reviews while Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is ranked 1st in Deduplication Software with 30 reviews. Commvault Complete Data Protection is rated 8.4, while Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Commvault Complete Data Protection writes "Can easily restore data in a disaster recovery scenario". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) writes "Stable and easy to scale suite of deduplication, backup, data protection, and storage solutions". Commvault Complete Data Protection is most compared with Veeam Backup & Replication, Rubrik, Azure Backup, Metallic and Veritas Backup Exec, whereas Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is most compared with HPE StoreOnce, Veeam Backup & Replication, Rubrik, ExaGrid EX Series and Dell PowerProtect Data Manager.

    We monitor all Backup and Recovery Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.