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DD Boost vs IBM ProtectTIER comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

DD Boost
Ranking in Deduplication Software
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM ProtectTIER
Ranking in Deduplication Software
13th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (63rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Deduplication Software category, the mindshare of DD Boost is 3.8%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 2.7%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Deduplication Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
DD Boost3.8%
IBM ProtectTIER2.7%
Other93.5%
Deduplication Software
 

Featured Reviews

Daniel Dumitru - PeerSpot reviewer
Inginer de system IT Senior at ENGIE
Speedy data backup with significant space savings and efficient deduplication
DD Boost has been very beneficial in enhancing our data backup processes. We perform backups with less time, and it allows for efficient on-premises recovery and restoration. We use it in conjunction with the Veeam suite. Overall, it has helped us make a big impact by allowing us to have more restore points and optimizing our storage efficiency with faster backups compared to tape backups.
AG
Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a short-term backup, archive, and cataloging for 20,000 people in our organization
The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time. I have a 24 hour cycle, so it doesn't get completed in 24 hours with the large amount of data. With Veritas NetBackup, I can take 20 terabytes of backup in a day.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution is very easy to manage. That's its most valuable feature."
"Dell EMC Data Domain Boost has helped to reduce maintenance time and protect our data."
"The solution is very easy to manage and gives great backup performance."
"The most valuable features of DD Boost include its speed, deduplication, and space savings."
"Data Domain Boost is really efficient and compared to other products I found the efficiency of Data Domain Boost to be superior."
"Data Domain is valuable, especially for restoring data, as for normal data the restore from Data Domain is very efficient and fast."
"The product is necessary in order to communicate with both Data Domain and NetWorker devices."
"The most valuable feature is the support for plug-ins."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"The most valuable feature is the incremental backup."
"The solution is highly stable."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."
"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable. I've walked into the server room when it was at 60 degrees Celcius, and it was still running fine."
 

Cons

"The multi-tier functionality can be improved, but it is quite good. They could improve replication and perhaps support additional sharing network protocols. I would also like to see better implementation of NFS Version 3, but it is already implemented and quite usable as it is."
"There are some limitations where you cannot use it as a shared server or as a file server, it is limited for the only backup."
"If you are using it with Recovery Manager, there are certain limitations. If those limitations are addressed, productivity will improve."
"My customer was interested in ransomware protection. Currently, Dell offers the Cyber Vault solution, which is separate from Data Domain. Ideally, ransomware protection would be integrated directly within DD Boost, without requiring an additional out-of-the-box solution. This feature is currently available with HPE's Zerto and Huawei's Ocean Protect with third-party products like PradoNet. While Cyber Vault exists as a separate solution from Data Domain, having some standard protection for immutable backups into DD Boost would be a valuable addition and make it more competitive with other vendors."
"The experience of restoring VMware or Veeam Backup is difficult, when the backup you are using is a solution for backup, which is already having a deduplication. When you try to restore from Data Domain, it doesn't work perfectly, because Data Domain is already having a deduplication as well."
"Integration could be better."
"In terms of Data Domain, the restored items should be converted from the Rockwell SQL end. That is the one thing which puts me off being a Data Domain administrator."
"The pricing for this solution is also expensive, so you have to look carefully at its pricing."
"The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time."
"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to conduct a proof of concept first because everybody's needs are different, and this product is not suitable for every kind of backup."
"I would like the possibility to back up the infrastructure and then replicate it upon on restart, without having to orchestrate the starting of the VM."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is competitive when compared to other vendors."
"The solution is very good because it is easy to use and it speeds up the backup and lowers the requirement for the storage rate. It is capable of encryption, compression, and deduplication and it is fast for sending all of the data over the network because it sends only the change blocks from the client to the DD server."
"The solution is expensive."
"The hardware platform is cost intense, so for small and mid-range, this product is not the best choice."
"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The price of the product is on a higher scale, meaning not everybody can afford it."
"We scale this product by adding licenses, which are related to capacity."
"Dell EMC Data Domain Boost is an expensive product. There are extra costs for support because every year, you have to renew your SLA for support, and the cost is always increasing."
"You don't have to pay additional costs."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
"This solution is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DD Boost?
It's complicated for me because when we buy, we buy a package, so I don't have the DD price. Every Data Domain we buy comes with Boost technology, with the DDoS feature. I don't know the price of D...
What needs improvement with DD Boost?
DD Boost can improve by providing some sort of API to track the progress or the number of remaining data transfers. For instance, in other Dell products such as storage, SRDF replication protocol i...
What is your primary use case for DD Boost?
I am handling the storage part, not the compute part. Through storage, I have Dell PowerMax 2000, Dell Unity, Data Domain, and Dell SAN switches. Additionally, I have two boxes from IBM FlashSystem...
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
Find out what your peers are saying about DD Boost vs. IBM ProtectTIER and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.