The most valuable feature of Avamar would have to be the way it works over needing very little bandwidth to move data across a WAN or LAN.
Product Owner at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Good technical support and needs little bandwidth but requires better orchestration
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Avamar would have to be the way it works over needing very little bandwidth to move data across a WAN or LAN."
- "The interface has room for improvement. It's not ideal right now."
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
The interface has room for improvement. It's not ideal right now.
The product needs to have compatibility with more advanced systems such as Oracle ASM files.
The automation and orchestration features need work. Other products like Vain, for example, lend themselves to better automation and orchestration.
If you want to set up integration with a cloud environment, for example, it's very difficult to do that. Avamar doesn't work very well in the cloud environment.
The solution requires better ease of use and compatibility. It would be ideal if it could work with Oracle on an ISM environment.
There needs to be better iintegration into the public cloud environments.
It would be better if the cost of the product was less.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about ten years now. It's been at least a decade at this point. I've worked with it in various companies as well.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support, from my experience with the vendor, has been good. We're satisfied with the level of service Dell offers. They seem to be knowledgeable and responsive.
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Dell Avamar
December 2025
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Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I personally have a lot of experience in the space. For example, I've worked with Looker, NetWorker, Commvault, and other competitive technologies, including Dell's own NetWorker.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is okay. It's a little complex, however, overall, it's not too bad to implement.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the product could be lower. It's actually probably one of the more expensive products, at least in the enterprise-class. Other technologies are cheaper, and other vendors are adding more features. Therefore, it's falling behind a bit in what other vendors are doing. They need to catch up.
What other advice do I have?
I'm just a customer and don't have a professional relationship with Dell.
Whether or not, I'd advise a new user to implement this product depends on their environment. It's very good. It's a very well distributed environment and it's probably the best product on the market. However, most companies today are engaging in leveraging the cloud, and in that case, my advice to them is to look at other technologies.
On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate it a seven. If it offered better orchestration and cloud capabilities, for example, it would push it up to a nine. A cost reduction in their pricing model would push it up there as well.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Deputy General Manager ( Practice Head Data Protection and Migration) at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Great duplication and backup speed made a huge difference to us but it is expensive
Pros and Cons
- "Duplication and the speed of backup are great."
- "It's an expensive solution."
What is our primary use case?
I recently stopped using this product because my work moved away from operations and I'm now a patents director, so I generally do the designing. My client was looking for backups and for an application along with a desktop backup. We are partners with Dell and I'm the deputy general manager of the company.
What is most valuable?
The best feature is the duplication and the speed of backup, which really made the difference for us.
What needs improvement?
Everyone is now talking about hyperscalers like AWS, Azure and Google, so I guess Data Domain and others are coming in a native format, but the pricing is really expensive compared to the rest of the competitors' software. Beam and maybe Commvault are providing cheaper solutions compared to Avamar and Data Domain on software hyperscalers. They should really move to cloud and reduce the price. It's not a portal service, so we have to buy the devices along with it. That was the problem we kept facing in the market.
Nowadays every backup solution has more features compared to this, but I can't think of anything that needs improving in Avamar because it's already an enterprise tool.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used this solution for the past three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is good.
How are customer service and technical support?
Dell EMC is pretty good in terms of customer support. We use our own team for maintenance.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In the case of Commvault, you should have a drive or your DVD engine, key machines which you have to start because you need to have the ability for the machine. That is the only difference I've seen between Avamar and Commvault. Commvault seems to have the upper hand because of the computation and duplication services. That said, Avamar is used mainly for enterprise and Commvault is good for SMB and smaller customers.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was a bit complicated, it's not a simple setup. There are a lot of challenging networks to deploy. It's not related to the software, it's more from a customer network point of view. The deployment took me about one or two days, not more than that.
What other advice do I have?
If you're enterprise, you are definitely going to use Avamar because it can save a lot of space because of its duplication feature, which is great. Just the backup speed is tremendous compared to other backup solutions. If you're enterprise and having issues with set up, then I'd definitely recommend Avamar.
I would rate this solution a seven out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Buyer's Guide
Dell Avamar
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Dell Avamar. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Manager Private Cloud Solutions at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Easily backs up remote sites' data and not much bandwidth is required from its side
Pros and Cons
- "Avamar's source side deduplication is very strong, it can easily back up remote sites' data, and not much bandwidth is required on the Avamar side."
- "EMC has discontinued their Avamar hardware version. They only advertise the Avamar virtual edition."
What is our primary use case?
Our company has more than 5,000 employees, and we use the Avamar solution for the protection of our rear environment, we are protecting 1,500+ VMs using this solution.
How has it helped my organization?
We have Avamar Gen4 right now, which is already end-of-life, which is to be replaced this year with a better solution from either EMC or IBM.
We are going to replace the overall data solutions for our enterprise. Already the project is in a negotiation stage with EMC, IBM, and Huawei.
What is most valuable?
Avamar's source-side deduplication is very strong, it can easily back up remote sites' data, and not much bandwidth is required on the Avamar side.
What needs improvement?
EMC has discontinued their Avamar hardware version. They only advertise the Avamar virtual edition. I think it would be hard to deploy Avamar in the future with the virtual edition as we are protecting our large environment. We would not like to protect our environment in the virtual edition of the Avamar. We would like to protect our environment in a physical version of a new data protection suite that EMC offers - a server solution in the physical form.
They should bring back the physical implementation of the Avamar. In addition to that, they should also add the BMR for Linux that includes AIX and Solaris because right now the BMR for AIX and Solaris is not available.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with Dell EMC Avamar for eight years.
I am the administrator. I am personally using the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Right now, although the product is now two years past EOL it's supporting our infrastructure quite well. There were some failures of the hardware which we resolved ourselves. Overall, the product is very solid and it supports all the virtual and physical infrastructure, the databases, and all the stuff. It's quite a solid product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Currently, our model is scalable, but the scalability of Avamar requires physical nodes to be added to the box. EMC has already said that it is the end-of-sales for this product. So they do not provide additional nodes for it. It is possible to scale the product more, but the nodes are not available.
How are customer service and technical support?
I rarely contact Dell EMC technical support.
But when I do, they are very good, very responsive. They get back to you in 10 to 20 minutes and resolve the issue. They are very much a steady provider.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is complex.
For example, we have approximately eight-node clusters of Avamar servers on the primary site and we have five node clusters of Avamar on the other site. Integration was a bit difficult. I am supporting the product myself, without the help of any EMC support, for two years now.
There are some issues because this is an appliance. The administration of Avamar is quite simple but there are underlining things that need to be supported and are quite difficult because this is an appliance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It was approximately $70-80,000 when it was under support, but right now EMC has not been supporting this product for two years.
What other advice do I have?
Because of the EOL issues, I would not recommend to anyone to use this product anymore. They have a newer virtual edition of Avamar. But Avamar is not available on the physical servers, as of now.
I would give Dell EMC Avamar a seven out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Analyst at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
A highly stable solution that can be used for backup and recovery of a virtual environment
Pros and Cons
- "We used Dell Avamar for backup and recovery of a virtual environment."
- "The solution used to freeze sometimes while taking a snapshot backup."
What is most valuable?
We used Dell Avamar for backup and recovery of a virtual environment.
What needs improvement?
The solution used to freeze sometimes while taking a snapshot backup. The team had to do some back-end work to fix those issues.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell Avamar for a long time.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate Dell Avamar an eight out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The solution’s technical support is excellent.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup was easy.
What about the implementation team?
The solution’s deployment took around two to three weeks.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Dell Avamar is a moderately priced solution.
What other advice do I have?
We were using Dell Avamar for banking services and different banking applications. Dell Avamar's user interface impacted our backup operation quite well. I rate Dell Avamar an eight out of ten for its performance for our business size.
Dell Avamar is a good product to use. Since there is competition with other products doing a similar or better job, users should evaluate and compare different solutions.
Overall, I rate Dell Avamar an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
User-friendly, easy to use, and helpful training material
Pros and Cons
- "I found the most valuable features of Dell Avamar are the user-friendly interface and ease to use. Our clients have administrated this software and there is no additional training required."
- "Dell Avamar could improve by adding more backup features."
What is our primary use case?
Dell Avamar is integrated with data protection and data domain. We have integrated it with vCenter and a couple of virtual machines from Dell Avamar to the data protection sources.
What is most valuable?
I found the most valuable features of Dell Avamar are the user-friendly interface and ease to use. Our clients have administrated this software and there is no additional training required.
We ordered training materials for the solution and it has been very helpful for installation, troubleshooting, and upgrading.
What needs improvement?
Dell Avamar could improve by adding more backup features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell Avamar for approximately one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Dell Avamar is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Dell Avamar is good.
How are customer service and support?
There is a Dell EMC partner that we use for support. When we have a problem we create a support case for the Dell EMC support team and they help us promptly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Dell Avamar was easy. We deployed the data protection, we the configuration for the IP address. After the deployment, we only had to configure the vCenter, add vCenter to systems, and configure policies for backup jobs.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Dell Avamar is free when we deploy the data protection. When we order data protection, this software is included in the hardware.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is not difficult to maintain.
We have integrated all backup solutions into the Dell Avamar system. It's very easy and when we have a problem we always communicate with Dell EMC.
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Dell Avamar a 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. Integrator
Analista de Sistemas SR at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
User-friendly, good technical support, but functionality issues
Pros and Cons
- "Dell EMC Avamar is easy to work with and is user-friendly."
- "We have had a lot of problems with the Dell EMC Avamar solution. The snapshots are not being erased after backup."
What is our primary use case?
When I was working for a company we used Dell EMC Avamar to backups of the system's data.
What is most valuable?
Dell EMC Avamar is easy to work with and is user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
We have had a lot of problems with the Dell EMC Avamar solution. The snapshots are not being erased after backup.
The solution could improve by having better reports about the errors in the software.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell EMC Avamar for approximately nine years.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Dell EMC Avamar is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used Veritas NetBackup which I found to be a better solution. However, we were using Dell EMC Avamar because of the work circumstances.
How was the initial setup?
The initial implementation was simple.
What about the implementation team?
Dell EMC did the implementation of the solution for us.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated Dell EMC Integrated Data Protection and it has Avamar, Data Domain, and DPA in one solution. It is impressive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Dell EMC Avamar a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
General Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Backup and recovery software which offers good technical support, stability, and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "Stable and scalable backup and recovery software, with good technical support."
- "Setup and deployment of this solution is complex and requires expert engineers."
What is our primary use case?
Dell EMC Avamar is used for backups and data recovery.
What needs improvement?
Setup and deployment of Dell EMC Avamar is complex. It requires expert engineers. Making its setup easier is something that could be improved.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Dell EMC Avamar is stable, especially because it's been around for a very long period of time.
We are preparing ourselves for a big project for the Ukrainian Railways, and I found that a lot of railways worldwide, e.g. in the US, England, and other countries in Europe, use Dell EMC Avamar as their backup solution. It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Dell EMC Avamar is a scalable product.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support for this product is good.
How was the initial setup?
Installing this solution was not easy. It requires engineers with expertise for a successful setup.
What about the implementation team?
Deployment of Dell EMC Avamar is not easy.
What other advice do I have?
We sell Dell EMC Avamar, but we have not sold that many, just several. We've been partners of Dell for a long period of time, so we have the partnership for Dell EMC Avamar, and we can sell it at anytime, but we don't have much expertise on the product. We sell it worldwide and it was not so difficult to sell because it met corporate standards, e.g. for companies in the same level as Ernst & Young, Xerox, Proctor & Gamble, Philips, etc.
We have not been certified to deploy this solution on the Cloud, but we're looking into this.
In general, when you look at the spec sheet for Dell EMC Avamar, it's a very good product.
We're looking forward to trying this product's isolated backup feature.
For the deployment and maintenance of this product, at least two engineers are required. We only have several clients using it, and they received the product from us, but it didn't require installation because the installation was provided remotely by the headquarters.
We sell backup software from Symantec, Dell, and Commvault. Our company doesn't have engineers certified in Dell EMC Avamar, however, because it is a difficult product. There's a lack of customers as well, so we didn't train and we didn't have our engineers certified for it.
Dell EMC Avamar is a product I can recommend to others.
I don't remember exactly the licensing policy for this product. You have to pay for it for three years, then you also have to pay for support after a certain period of time, but I'm unsure.
I'm giving Dell EMC Avamar an eight out of ten, because it's very good, but it's not easy to deploy.
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
Trainer, Storage Consultant at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Good documentation, a nice interface, and very reasonably priced
Pros and Cons
- "I have found the product to be scalable."
- "The solution, in the future, should offer support for mobile."
What is most valuable?
The solution offers good storage.
The product is very stable.
I have found the product to be scalable.
The pricing of the solution is pretty good and not too expensive.
The interface is great.
The documentation on offer is very helpful and thorough.
What needs improvement?
Overall, the solution is good right now. I can't think of where I have seen any missing features.
The solution, in the future, should offer support for mobile.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for more than 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability, in general, has been great. There are no bugs or glitches. It does not crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the product is good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
How are customer service and support?
I don't directly use the support services on offer. If I have questions, I tend to direct that to the developers, and not Dell.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also familiar with Dell DataDomian, which I also work with.
How was the initial setup?
As long as you follow the implementation directions, it's not too bad.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
While I didn't directly purchase it myself and was not involved in the licensing process, it's my understanding that the cost is reasonable and the pricing is good.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a freelancer and an EMC instructor.
I'm not an expert in the solution, however, for me, it's been a very positive experience.
I'd advise potential new users to pay attention to the details and to follow the implementation instructions. If you do that, you'll be fine.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: December 2025
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