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Dell Avamar vs Oracle Data Guard comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

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

Dell Avamar
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (3rd)
Oracle Data Guard
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
16th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell Avamar is 3.4%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Data Guard is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Rahul Sarangdhar - PeerSpot reviewer
Works excellently for on-prem backup but not the best for Azure backups
Avamar is not the best tool when it comes to taking Azure backups. Like Commvault, if Avamar can support VM-level backups for the cloud, that would make it a bit better. There is another Dell EMC tool called NetWorker, which is a bit centralized tool. If you deploy a storage node locally, you can use the same UI tool for central management, but in the case of Avamar, it needs to be deployed individually on a site, irrespective of whether it's small or big. So, if I have 10 sites, I have to manage 10 Avamar. That's a bit of a headache. The Dell EMC solution professionals who connect with the clients should suggest NetWorker to clients with multiple sites rather than Avamar. That's because NetWorker gives more centralized control, but they keep recommending Avamar, which isn't the best practice. There are no free or cheaper training plans. Unless your company is a partner with Dell, you don't get the student guide training, etc. Their administrator guide does not have all the information required for a new person. It doesn't cover the basics. The student guide is good, but it's not free. If you are a partner, only then it's free. Otherwise, there is a cost of $2,000 to $3,000. For people who are new to Avamar, there should be some resources to enable them to study on their own at least 50% of the basics. If I want to study Commvault, I get so many documents and resources to study, but in the case of Dell EMC products, there aren't any free resources. Only if you're a partner, the resources are available for you to learn. The user manuals and administrator guides are just for deployment. They aren't good for learning the basics for a fresher.
IfeoluwaOshinowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Makes data protection and network management much easier
The initial setup is straightforward, provided you know the source, target, data version and format. You need to consider all those things. First and foremost, when deploying Oracle Data Guard, the number one priority is to ensure all parameters are correctly set. Two primary methods exist: using backups or recovering from services if the network is reliable. If the network is robust, backups from the source to the target may not be necessary. You must ensure that NIS names are correctly configured on both sides and that the failover and switchover processes are tested successfully from both production and standby environments. Once these steps are completed, the deployment process becomes straightforward. There's no need to copy the entire parameter file; only specific configurations, such as the SID or file structure, must be adjusted if necessary. Ensuring proper DNS name resolution, SID configurations, parameter settings, and understanding whether to convert the Data Guard are essential. Once these aspects are identified, the deployment process becomes more straightforward. I have implemented numerous Data Guard setups. Setting up Oracle Data Guard is performed within the Oracle CRS. Challenges may arise in establishing connectivity between the standby and production databases, necessitating troubleshooting. Apart from that, once configured within CRS, the setup is complete. The challenge with Oracle Data Guard is that it often takes some time for us to identify whether the issues stem from the disk or the network. If we report issues to the network or storage teams from the database end, we may not perceive any apparent problems, which can lead to confusion. We can convince the storage teams to investigate further until we delve into the disk I/O Guard and determine if specific disks operate at total capacity. When disks are operating at total capacity, it can significantly impact application processes. These difficulties in pinpointing the source of issues contribute to the challenges of maintaining and managing Oracle Data Guard.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a very complete product."
"We used Dell Avamar for backup and recovery of a virtual environment."
"The entire system operates seamlessly, with minimal hands-on involvement, allowing us to focus on monitoring rather than constant adjustments or deployments, as seen in larger, more dynamic environments."
"The product is very powerful and offers very good performance."
"The most valuable feature for me is the backup functionality."
"Scheduling is valuable. It does a good job of backing up, and it does a good job of restoring. Nobody has got a problem with that. The agents are well supported."
"The most valuable feature is the virtual backup."
"We love the instant recovery functionality. It's very useful."
"The solution is really very stable. One good thing about it, compared to other products, is that you can just run it and forget about it. Unless you come across some interruptions in the network, it works like a charm."
"The solution can scale as needed."
"Data Guard also improved because customers with an active Data Guard license want to reduce the I/O in a production environment. Some application complaints to it for Oracle reporting purposes. It has a production environment that needs to be enhanced."
"You can see how the logs are applied, check the apply time, and how far behind the standby is at any given time."
"Oracle Data Guard has a nice feature called the DataGuard snapshot to open the solution in the read-write mode and make some changes to the database."
"If you have a problem with your primary site and can't access your primary database, you can continue working with the database that you have as standby on the other site, by changing its role to primary."
"The solution has been stable so far."
"Oracle Data Guard is a free solution. When you apply for Enterprise Manager, it comes for free with the solution."
 

Cons

"Technical support should be more knowledgeable."
"The product could offer more integration capabilities."
"Performance can sometimes be affected when tools are utilized for tasks like backup or deep archiving."
"The reporting should be improved, as we currently have to use another tool for that purpose."
"Avamar is not the best tool when it comes to taking Azure backups. Like Commvault, if Avamar can support VM-level backups for the cloud, that would make it a bit better."
"If you don't have DPA, the reporting features are not as user-friendly, so reporting is something that they can improve on."
"It would be helpful if the product offered more integration potential."
"There also needs to be single sign-on support."
"Oracle could be improved by the ability to manage it on the cloud. This on-premises version is secure and reliable, but I'm sure that they will soon provide a cloud solution that will be even better. In one to two years, we will probably move to the cloud—we have already moved to the cloud with Microsoft Exchange, but our databases are still on-premises. I would prefer managing a cloud version of Oracle."
"Sometimes, the technical support team takes time to respond."
"The product could improve its pricing."
"The only difficult part is the cost factor, licensing. Another area of improvement is support."
"For every standby server you have, you must pay a licensing fee, which is the main disadvantage."
"It is a rather complex solution, so it could be more user-friendly."
"A significant improvement for Oracle Data Guard would be enabling the disaster recovery site to handle read and write operations, not just data storage."
"One thing that can be improved is the GUI. It would be good to have a very nice GUI to easily configure and administer, providing different presentations to the database administrator. The feature that can be included is the integration with third-party monitoring systems, that is, monitoring systems from other vendors, not only from Oracle."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's an expensive tool"
"There are licensing costs for Dell EMC Avamar and it is paid annually."
"Dell Avamar is free when we deploy the data protection. When we order data protection, this software is included in the hardware."
"The cost is high."
"The current pricing is generally satisfactory."
"The solution is costly."
"Dell Avamar is a moderately priced solution."
"I'm not sure, but perhaps the pricing could be done better at the moment."
"​Oracle Data Guard is a feature available only in Oracle Database Enterprise Edition, and is available for extra cost."
"If you want to have everything automated and done smoothly, you have to add additional licenses."
"It is not a cheap product, but if you look at the price, features, availability, scalability, and maturity, it is a very good product."
"The cost of the Oracle license will depend on the negotiations with Oracle."
"The licensing cost is significantly high."
"The pricing is on the higher side."
"The cost is expensive."
"This is the best solution if you want something similar that's less expensive than Oracle Grid."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What's the difference between Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC NetWorker?
From the very beginning, Dell EMC NetWorker considers users and those who might potentially become users. In terms of both pricing and setup, this product offers an experience that is significantly...
What do you like most about Dell Avamar?
Easy to configure and highly reliable for backup.
What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?
Ik fluister:VM Host Oracle en DataGuard hebben we per toeval vervangen door Zerto :-) tijdens de Zerto implementatie en VPG werden de Host Data in write-ack Block-Level gerepliceerd. Qua licentie 1...
What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?
It is a very useful administrative IT tool. It saves on costs. I strongly recommend Data Guard. I've been using it for eight years and I would strongly recommend it. I'd rate Oracle Data Guard a se...
What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?
We're Oracle partners. We've worked with databases 11G and 12C. If a company is planning to implement Oracle solutions, I would suggest they also implement Data Guard. I'd rate the solution nine ou...
 

Also Known As

Avamar
Active Data Guard
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dodge County, St Laurence's College, FieldCore (a GE Company), Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Getronics, Lewisville Independent School District, EnvisionRxOptions, Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions
Athenahealth, Discover Financial Services
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Avamar vs. Oracle Data Guard and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.