DD Boost vs IBM ProtectTIER comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the Deduplication Software category. Dell Technologies is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.6, while IBM is ranked #13. Dell Technologies holds a 4.1% mindshare in DS, compared to IBM’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 60% of IBM users who would recommend it.

DD Boost

Read 39 DD Boost reviews

1,452 Views
1,423 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM ProtectTIER

Read 7 IBM ProtectTIER reviews

878 Views
255 Comparison Views

60% willing to recommend

DD Boost

IBM ProtectTIER

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

IBM ProtectTIER and DD Boost are data management and protection solutions. DD Boost holds the advantage in integration capabilities and processing speeds.

Features: IBM ProtectTIER offers data deduplication, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, making it ideal for large-scale environments. It enables automatic workload movement across storage tiers. DD Boost enhances backup and recovery speeds, optimizes data flow, and has superior integration capabilities with multiple backup applications.

Room for Improvement: IBM ProtectTIER could improve in integration flexibility and user interface intuitiveness and reduce the configuration complexity in different environments. DD Boost has room for improvement in providing more competitive pricing options, enhancing initial setup flexibility, and expanding cloud capabilities further.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ProtectTIER offers straightforward deployment but may require more custom configuration. Its support focuses on providing tailored solutions. DD Boost provides a smoother deployment experience with clearer documentation, streamlined processes, and responsive customer service, which aids in quicker problem resolutions.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ProtectTIER offers competitive pricing with a high ROI, especially in scalable solutions. DD Boost, although perceived as having a higher cost, offers value through reduced operational expenses and better performance, providing a more cost-effective long-term investment.

To learn more, read our detailed DD Boost vs. IBM ProtectTIER Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

DD Boost vs. IBM ProtectTIER

December 2025

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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

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM ProtectTIER

Ranking in Deduplication Software

13th

Average Rating

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Backup and Recovery (75th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Deduplication Software category, the mindshare of DD Boost is 4.1%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 1.7%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Deduplication Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
DD Boost	4.1%
IBM ProtectTIER	1.7%
Other	94.2%

Deduplication Software

Featured Reviews

Brijesh Pillai

Regional Manager - Enterprise Sales at Noventiq

Provides robust data protection solutions with room for better pricing options

Dell is a strategic partnership for us as resellers. We rarely focus on PowerProtect Data Manager (PPDM). Every data protection solution vendor offers encryption as part of their solution. This is one of the default standards required for data protection. Regarding Network Efficient Replication on disaster recovery operations, it is definitely effective. Customers get native capability out of the box to do a restoration. Typically, customers look at a secondary copy in the cloud, but primary will be on-premise. While we have a partnership with AWS, we do not buy from the AWS Marketplace. I would recommend this product to medium enterprises to large enterprises. On a scale of 1-10, I rate DD Boost a 7.

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Avdhesh Garg

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Very stable solution."

"DD Boost can stack backups on the servers, optimizing backup storage utilization. All resources are utilized efficiently. Without such optimization, backup processes can lead to bottlenecks or excessive resource utilization, impacting server services."

"This product's unique protocol make it superior to competing products and alternate solutions."

"DD Boost serves as a backup appliance providing data deduplication and synchronization, which accelerates processes."

"The solution is quite scalable. An organization shouldn't have any problem expanding if they use this solution."

"It's stable and reliable."

"Data Domain is valuable, especially to restore data. For normal data, the restore from Data Domain is very efficient and fast."

"DD Boost's best features are deduplication and compression."

More DD Boost pros

"The command-line interface is good."

"The most valuable features are the Self-Service, and the ability to search the data."

"The cataloging is the best feature. It takes millions of frames for the backup. It's incremental, so it takes less time to complete."

"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."

"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."

"The solution is highly stable."

Cons

"The solution could be faster."

"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."

"The main issue I've identified is that when backing up a final backup from the branch server, we don't have deduplication functionality."

"Some competitors may not allow the use of DD Boost with their data management systems. The application process is not determined at the source site but on the estimation side."

"There are limitations when using the VTL protocol in extreme cases."

"Technical support is okay but could be improved. I've sent a lot of complaints their way and I feel like they might be able to respond a bit better."

"One area that requires improvement is the time needed for cleanup processes."

"A disadvantage could be in terms of price points because price points are a hindrance at times when we position it with customers."

More DD Boost cons

"The backup for a large amount of data is slow."

"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."

"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."

"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."

"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution comes with a capacity license and it is a one-time purchase. There are additional costs, such as support."

"The pricing is competitive when compared to other vendors."

"The pricing is definitely competitive and unmatchable. The price of Data Domain is very attractive compared to HPE, StoreOnce, or its current alternative, which is probably more expensive."

"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."

"We scale this product by adding licenses, which are related to capacity."

"The pricing is high compared to the competition and should be reconsidered."

"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."

More DD Boost pricing and cost advice

"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."

"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."

"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

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about DD Boost?

The time taken for backup is very fast.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with DD Boost?

Disadvantages could be in terms of price points because price points are a hindrance at times when we position it with customers. The customer sees it as a complete proposal and will not break it d...

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Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs DD Boost

Compared 20% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs DD Boost

Compared 17% of the time

Veritas NetBackup Appliance vs DD Boost

Compared 14% of the time

BridgeSTOR Microsoft DPM Appliance vs DD Boost

Compared 9% of the time

More DD Boost Competitors

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 22% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 15% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 8% of the time

Barracuda Backup vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM ProtectTIER Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

DD Boost

January 2026

Download DD Boost product report

Buyer's Guide

Deduplication Software

January 2026

Download IBM ProtectTIER product report

Overview

DD Boost software delivers an advanced level of integration with backup applications and data base utilities, enhancing performance and ease of use. Dell also provides a DD Boost File System Plug-In (BoostFS) with DD Boost for even greater application support, which enables all the benefits of DD Boost for applications that use NFS for data protection. Rather than sending all data to the system for deduplication processes, DD Boost enables the backup server or application client to send only unique data segments across the network to the system.

Dell Technologies

IBM TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway is designed to meet the disk-based data protection needs of the enterprise data center while enabling significant infrastructure cost reductions. The solution offers industry-leading inline deduplication performance and scalability up to 1 petabyte (PB) of physical storage capacity per system, and can provide up to 25 PB or more backup storage capacity. Combined with IBM or third-party storage, TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway provides a powerful disk-based repository to improve the performance, retention and availability of backup and archive data in a small footprint for energy and cost efficiency.

IBM

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber

Buyer's Guide

DD Boost vs. IBM ProtectTIER

December 2025

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