Storage Team Leader at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Very fast with good dashboards and has the potential for discounted pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is very straightforward."
  • "The solution doesn't scale. If you hit your capacity, you need to buy a new device."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use the solution for the backup capabilities. I'm using about 100 terabytes daily.

What is most valuable?

The solution has very good dashboards.

The solution offers very good daily and weekly updated on the deduplication and the compression ratio.

The solution is very fast.

The initial setup is very straightforward.

What needs improvement?

The deduplication is very bad on this solution. After 85% the utilization gets very bad.

The solution doesn't scale. If you hit your capacity, you need to buy a new device.

Technical support has fallen in quality. It used to be much better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Data Domain for about 12 years and Data Boost for about six years.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability has been very good. It doesn't crash or freeze. We haven't had bugs or glitches. It's been good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution doesn't scale. If you need to expand anything, you will need to buy a new model. You can't just scale up an existing model. If, after a year or two, you need to scale up, then you need to look at new boxes.

We have about 2,500 people in the company, however, just one special team actually uses the solution.

How are customer service and support?

We've had some issues with technical support. I've found that they used to be quite good, however, they've gone downhill in terms of the service they provide. We aren't 100% satisfied with the level of support on offer.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't complex at all. We have a pretty standard setup and it was relatively straightforward. Setting up the solution shouldn't come with any issues for most companies.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have licenses that last five years. After that, we may get new devices.

We tend to get a big discount with our licensing once we choose to upgrade. The pricing is not bad.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with Dell.

I would recommend the solution to other organizations.

I'd advise companies to take care to think about capacity, as you can't really resize anything. If you decide to upgrade, it may be smart to ask them about discounts. It can save you money and give you a good deal.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten. We've been mostly happy with the product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Michael Schwarzer - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at INT/box GmbH
Real User
Top 5
Good management interfaces and has good functionality
Pros and Cons
  • "The functionality is very good. DD Boost and DD entry replication are used in almost all backup concepts. Those are the most used features."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution mostly on-premises.

What is most valuable?

The functionality is very good. DD Boost and DD entry replication are used in almost all backup concepts. Those are the most used features.

What needs improvement?

The management interfaces are quite good at the moment. 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 a better implementation of NFS Version 3, but it is already implemented and quite usable as it is.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've had experience with Data Domain for the last eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable to use.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability depends on the licensing model, but it is quite good.

Usually, my direct customer is an enterprise, but we also have customers in the small and mid-range sectors. The hardware platform is cost intense, so for small and mid-range, this product is not the best choice.

How are customer service and technical support?

The support for the DDB is about eight out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. You need to have experience in handling storage platforms, but from that point of view it's quite straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this product. I would rate it as nine of ten, overall.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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AhmedAlwahashi - PeerSpot reviewer
GTM Intelligent Infrastructure Data Center Manager at Dimension Data Middle East at Dimension Data Middle East
Real User
Top 20
Excellent deduplication and compression features
Pros and Cons
  • "DD Boost's best features are deduplication and compression."
  • "DD Boost's technical support could be better."

What is most valuable?

DD Boost's best features are deduplication and compression.

What needs improvement?

An area for improvement is DD Boost's technical support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using DD Boost for more than five years.

How are customer service and support?

DD Boost's technical support could be better.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate DD Boost ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
Backup & Storage Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Extremely stable, very easy to scale, and very good deduplication compression ratio
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is quite scalable. An organization shouldn't have any problem expanding if they use this solution."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution as an SQL backup. We also use the DD Boost protocol.

What is most valuable?

The extreme stability of the solution, as well as the deduplication compression ratio, are the most valuable aspects for our organization.

What needs improvement?

There is nothing that's very difficult about this product right now. However, the GUI can use some improvement. When I compare Cohesity and Data Domain, I think Cohesity is more user friendly. 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. I should have the authority to restore whatever comes to my end. I should get that capability as an admin. Being an admin, I need to be able to restore the things from my end rather than waiting.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution at our company for three and a half years so far. However, I personally have had experience working with the product for the last 15 or 16 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We find the solution to be extremely stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

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

Our company extensively uses this solution. We did have issues with upgrading and we had to call back the Dell EMC team to assist.

For now, we have plans on expanding depending on the amount of storage we receive from our Cohesity box. We're still a very small team of three.

We are planning to have it on data center locations as well, but it is still in the planning stage so there are plenty of products that will be brought on later in the data center rooms so we can implement that in my own department.

How are customer service and technical support?

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.

How was the initial setup?

Everything around DSM, an IDM tool, was pretty complex in terms of handling the Rockwell SQL backup. When we migrated over to Data Domain, it's much easier for us to switch and work on that.

It took around six to eight months to make it into the production and do the deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We needed a consultant. They had an SQL background as well. It was kind of 60/40 split in labor. 60% was work from our side. Then we got back to them and they gave us a calling order to assist.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We're always evaluating other options. Right now we're comparing this solution to Cohesity. We've learned, however, that Data Domain is much more scalable than Cohesity, so we are not likely to switch to them.

What other advice do I have?

We don't have a business relationship with EMC. We're just customers.

Data Domain, on a scale out of ten, I would give an eight due to the amount of compression and data retention it offers. It's very stable as an infrastructure for backup, and we can use it as a storage as well.

I'd advise other organizations to do some comparisons with other solutions, however, and especially look into scalability and how that might affect their decisions. They should also do their homework to find out things like how soon it's possible to restore an item.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user801057 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Reliable software for enhancing how backup servers function
Pros and Cons
  • "This product's unique protocol make it superior to competing products and alternate solutions."
  • "Connectivity with the cloud and on-premises needs improved gateways."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use this product for cost savings and saving server capacity.

How has it helped my organization?

Because of how it functions we do not have to make additional investment in hardware and services.

What is most valuable?

Data Domain Boost has a unique protocol. I don't think other vendors have a similar protocol and controls from the products I have had experience with. There are alternative solutions, but Data Domain Boost is really efficient. Compared to these other products, I found the efficiency of Data Domain Boost to be superior.

What needs improvement?

Like any product, it would be good to improve performance and the ease of dealing with operating the system. It needs a more familiar interface to make it easier to use for everyone. Other than that, I don't think so that there are more features that will be necessary and important for every user. To me, all the features are suitable and convenient. If I was looking for something for Dell to add to the product, it would be notifications.

As far as improvement, the stability of the connection could be improved. The tool itself is okay, but not the gateway between the on-prem Data Domain and the cloud. We have to find a workaround or use third party products. So in the next release, I'd like to see a better connection gateway between cloud and on-prem.

Improvement of the pricing would be a welcome change.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using it for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I strongly recommend companies or any organization to go with this product if they expect full features and stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

For now, I am very happy with the scalability. We have around 500 people using the solution and scaling has not been a problem. I once work system admin, now I'm a solution architect. Mainly system admins and architects directly use the platform.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is very special, really. I like it and overall I am very satisfied with the services.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are actually using both Veritas and Data Domain simultaneously. Between these two, Data Domain is more efficient for me and very scalable. There is a limitation to the scalability at some point, but there is a different architecture so it does not really become a problem.

How was the initial setup?

I think the initial setup was straightforward. I cannot say it was very complex but that may depend on your experience and complexity of your network.

What about the implementation team?

I'm doing all parts of the implementation. We are a gold partner with Dell EMC now. Prior to that, we were a reseller.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I think it is important that Dell reconsider the pricing. I don't know what we pay off-hand, but I do know that the pricing is high compared with other competing products.

What other advice do I have?

On a scale from one to ten, where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Dell EMC Data Domain Boost as a ten. I strongly recommend this product for all its capabilities.

I do self-study and read articles about this product to learn about capabilities and solutions even though I am familiar with it. It is good for users to do self-study to get the most out of the product.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
it_user801057 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
An extremely efficient solution with good stability and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "Data Domain Boost has a unique protocol. I don't think with other vendors you get the same efficiency. I work with some the other products, but this solution has amazing efficiency in comparison."
  • "The solution needs a better gateway between the on-premises and cloud deployment models. We have to work around it or find a third party to assist."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use it as a solution for saving costs and capacity.

What is most valuable?

Data Domain Boost has a unique protocol. I don't think with other vendors you get the same efficiency. I work with some the other products but this solution has amazing efficiency in comparison.

What needs improvement?

The solution needs better performance and a more user-friendly operating system.

The solution needs a better gateway between the on-premises and cloud deployment models. We have to work around it or find a third party to assist. 

The pricing is high, compared to the competition.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable for us right now. There is a limitation number on it, but for different architecture.

We have about 500 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very, very good. I'm satisfied with the level of service we receive form them.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I'm currently using two solutions: Veritas and Data Domain. Data Domain is more efficient for me and it's really scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. It was very easy.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented the solution ourselves.

What other advice do I have?

We use the on-premises deployment model.

I strongly recommend any organization to use it. I'm doing self study once a week or on a monthly basis to learn more about the product, so I'm quite familiar with it.

I would rate the solution ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
System Engineer at Seal Software
Real User
Easy to install, improves our customer's backup speed, and reduces storage space
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the support for plug-ins."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

As a cloud-based solution, customers buy cloud applications like Veeam or Backup X6, and they need storage to put data on the cloud. We recommend Data Domain to them and we implement a solution using Data Domain Boost with their backup solution.

I implement and troubleshoot for the customers.

In the last six months, the deployment model we were using is on-premises. I have only deployed on the cloud once, and it's easy for our customers. It's a pleasure to do.

All of my experience is on-premises.

How has it helped my organization?

An example of how this solution can improve an organization would be with one of our customers who has a data exchange server. Every backup takes two or three and a half-hundred gigabytes of storage. 

When the customer was using another backup solution, QNAP, it was taking seven hours to perform a full backup. When we used Data Domain on his environment, we found that the time was reduced to two hours and thirty minutes.

Also, with Data Domain we found that the data was compressed by thirty times. For example, with the other backup solution, the data was three thousand gigabytes, whereas in Data Domain it would be one thousand gigabytes.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the support for plug-ins. For example, when backing up a server through data domain, it can take a long time. However, when you are using Boost, you just install a plug-in on the target server and the backup job is scheduled.

What needs improvement?

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.

We have customers asking for a file server that can be used to share data with their employees, with an organization, or to use it on VMware as a storage unit, but this solution is not suitable.

When we receive requests like this from the customers we recommend building EMC Unity, it's a full package, you can backup, you can share and you can use it as a LAN in your virtualization environment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for ten months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable, but it's expensive.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy. If you work with the manual and follow it step-by-step, it is easy and straightforward.

It takes about forty minutes to install the application and install the Data Domain on-premises in the data center.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost is monthly.

What other advice do I have?

There are good and bad points to having this solution only for backup.

It's good to protect your data from attacks such as ransomware. You only use the storage for backups, so you don't have to share folders.

The main difference between EMC Data Domain and EMC Data Domain Boost is that the Boost is an add-on you install that allows you to transfer the backup job quickly.

After performing a full backup, you would schedule it to run every week, and instead of it doing a full backup of all of the data, Data Domain Boost will back up only the data that has been added or that is different from the original data.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Solution Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Effective duplication, performs well, and simple management
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the performance and the duplication."
  • "The solution could improve by adding more flexibility for the customers here in Thailand. Some of the small capacity models of the solution are not needed by our customers. There should be a more flexible version of the solution."

What is our primary use case?

Our customers use Dell EMC Data Domain Boost to minimize the negative outcomes and protect against ransomware attacks.

How has it helped my organization?

Dell EMC Data Domain Boost has helped to reduce maintenance time and protect our data.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the performance and the duplication.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by adding more flexibility for the customers here in Thailand. Some of the small capacity models of the solution are not needed by our customers. There should be a more flexible version of the solution.

In a feature release, there should be immutable features.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Dell EMC Data Domain Boost for approxiamtely five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Some models of Dell EMC Data Domain Boost are scalable, there are some versions that are not as scalable as others.

We have approximately 10 customers using this solution.

We have system architects and engineers using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

My engineers have had some issues and have contacted support. The speed and the knowledge of the support agent were okay.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used HPE StoreOnce. 

Dell EMC Data Domain Boost has more features than HPE StoreOnce.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is simple to install and manage.

What about the implementation team?

My engineers typically do the implementation in a few hours. I do not have direct knowledge of the process.

We have one system engineer that does the implementation and support of the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Dell EMC Data Domain Boost a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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