Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) can be improved in terms of price. While Dell is providing a proper device, other solutions, such as Symantec, can replicate their data through any NAS storage. Although their deduplication and compression might not be as effective, they can still accomplish the task.

Medium-level and SME-level businesses can easily utilize this feature, but Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is a relatively expensive solution to propose to customers.

The model 3330 may need improvement. Then we have another model, 6300. In my opinion, the 6300 model is better. It is suitable for more customers since it is small, cost-effective, and a good start for any customer to know about Data Domain and DBS solutions.

If I were a manager for this infrastructure, I would look into load balancing for cost, maintenance after sale, and improving Dell PowerProtect DD. It is important to consider features you need or don’t need.

I was looking for a virtual edition, and that is now available. Many customers struggle to find a solution for ransomware protection, but we can set up an enterprise recovery vault for that purpose. These features are now part of Dell's overall offering. The solution has matured, and while I don't criticize technology, most of our technical and business requirements are met with the Data Domain storage solution.

We can meet customer requirements easily with Data Domain. Some feedback has been received from our operations team. There’s always room for improvement. For instance, there may be suggestions regarding enhancements to the reporting dashboard

Improvement is needed in terms of telemetry and high availability as the high availability feature is only present in the higher models of Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain). The entry-level and medium-level models, such as the 6000 and 4400, lack this feature. 

Moreover, integration with cybersecurity measures can be enhanced, particularly with ransomware protection.

Sometimes, we face support issues. We have to change the solution's password regularly. If we lose the admin password, Dell always asks for separate charges. This should also be included in the support contract.

The solution should include integrations with third-party solutions. We can introduce raw volumes to the VMware virtualized environment or assign some volumes to physical servers. If it is not available, it should be there.

Local support is necessary because while some aspects are well-handled, others require attention. At times, working without support can be more cost-effective.

The Data Domain solution appliance is quite expensive. It is on the higher side, but technically or functionally, there is no issue.

The tool's pricing could be cheaper. 

DD doesn't have Intel's air gap technology. Regarding the cyber technology area, we have to purchase another data domain to use CyberSense or other software packages, and that's a complex process. On ExaGrid, they do have a built-in air gap, so it's more secure. That's the only part DD has to improve.

PowerProtect DD should improve the hypervisor support on the DD system. The system needs better integration with VMware to ensure full protection of the backup systems without leaving them vulnerable.

There are multiple Chinese products hitting the market as a competitor tool against Dell PowerProtect DD, which doesn't have a great feature set but is available at an attractive and negotiable price. Recently, Huawei launched a backup solution that is being used in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but the vendor didn't sell it elsewhere. The aforementioned solution is providing tough competition to Dell PowerProtect DD. 

Dell previously had smaller models of Dell PowerProtect DD, which were called DD3300, if the vendor is able to launch a similar mid-range product for customers with an average budget, they will be able to compete better. 

The market is moving towards AI, and NVIDIA has been successful in growing and capturing the market. In Dell PowerProtect DD, there should also be AI features in the future. The vendor is coming up with new intelligence processors. Dell PowerProtect DD must store the data, but through AI, it should know how to retrieve and use it. AI features need to be introduced in Dell PowerProtect DD to capture the upcoming market. Customers of Dell PowerProtect DD know how to store the data but are aware of the applications or use of such data. 

Nothing comes to mind in terms of improvement. It serves its purpose. That said, if they could develop higher algorithms to make it more efficient, that would be great. 

Usually, with the backup, the issue is how fast it can do it. As network speeds improve, the solution improves. It has to keep up with the available network speeds, however. For example, a 100-gigabit ethernet. They need to keep up with the advancements in network speeds, and ethernet speeds. If they keep up, instead of taking five hours to back up your daily workload, you may do it in three hours.

It can be complex to implement.

Dell PowerProtect DD does not have integration with the cloud and virtualization software.

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is expensive. Also, it has a sort of a big physical footprint that data domains have, and that's part of the problem. If we move one of the DR locations to the new project into a data center or Cylance facility, the footprint of the data domain is quite expensive, as well as the unit being expensive. That is the reason why I am looking at options in that area.

Apart from the pricing, there is also room for improvement in the speed of recovery. With the data domains, there is a limit to how much data I can recover and the visibility from a cyber perspective. The discovery at the time when your malware impact may have occurred is quite tricky to pinpoint what, where, and when it is potentially damaged. So, the recovery is harder to define because you don't want to recover more encrypted stuff. For example, there is a piece of work associated with that, which with ease, Rubrik can do quite well.

In addition, there is also some room for improvement with technical support.

I would also like it to be a little bit smaller. It is quite a large footprint. Also, a better interface would be good.

Dell PowerProtect DD should come out with its own system so we do not have to use Data Domain. For example, something similar to what Symantec has done.

The downside of PowerProtect's flexibility is that you have so many options. It can be a little confusing. It's like having a car with too many buttons on the dash. You can do so much with it, but it takes some time to learn what everything does. 

Support is essential, for clients using servers and storage. We have a backup solution, so if a company requires data backup, we can help. An improvement would be the ability to back up some of the databases or legacy applications used by IBM. 

The solution's cost, scalability, and licensing model could be improved. Nowadays, competition models offer higher capacity and scalability. The solution's marketing or awareness should be improved. Users need to buy additional Dell software technologies along with the solution, which is an additional cost.

We encountered data loss during the configuration process. We were not able to restore the information later. This particular area needs improvement.

The tool's DD Boost is expensive. 

Looking at Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain), there is a need for improvement, especially in terms of protection from cyber resiliency, cyber recovery, or man-in-the-middle attacks. Enhancing the cyber resiliency feature is particularly crucial.

It would be beneficial if the solution had an inbuilt virus scanning feature in the future. Some scanning feature, like a vulnerability scanning feature, is essential for all the data we store inside the solution. So, instead of installing the solution on some third-party vulnerability software like Symantec, if they come up with some inbuilt virus scanner, that would be very helpful.

The only problem is that it's more expensive than any other vendors available in the market. Overall, the product has a very large portfolio, and even the support level is great, but the challenge is the cost.

I would like to see a direct cloud backup solution. I should be able to directly take a backup into the cloud instead of having another product in between PowerProtect. It should be flexible enough to support the cloud.

We are unsatisfied with the EMC network because Data Domain only works for backups. The system is connected through backup software, which operates over the Internet. This setup limits Data Domain's functionality in terms of backups.

It is designed primarily for archiving and backup purposes. You can utilize it, but it depends on the EMC network. The software configured with Data Domain system may concern you. Data Domain is configured with the EMC network, but the EMC network is not easy to use and is not a very good product.

We would like to see the price of this solution brought down to be comparable with similar products currently on the market.

I prefer the HP solution.

Technical support needs improvement.

I still need to try all the features and functions. As a reseller, it's important I understand it and I have only used it for a few weeks. It helps if you have in-depth knowledge in order to use it correctly.

Scaling can be better.

We'd always prefer if there was even more competitive pricing since they are very close in price to Quantum. However, the pricing isn't too bad.

The initial setup is complex. The installation process should be easier so you can install the solution without having specialized techs. 

We would like faster instant recovery.

Data Domain lacks compatibility with fiber channels and tapes. We can't use it with a tape library. That's an issue in Latin America sometimes because a lot of clients still use tapes for budget reasons. Maybe they have a lot of archives. In North America and Europe, they do a lot of archiving, but they use the cloud more than we do. Sometimes we have to put together a Frankenstein where we connect another server to the tape library and send all the data there. 

I understand why integration with tapes isn't possible because they are designing these applications for the future. In the next decade, all the information will be sent through private and public clouds. It's a great way to send data. It can be software-defined, so you have lots of paths to send information, and it's it's not too slow, so I guess that's why they don't support tapes. When we have challenges with other providers, maybe an internal ID would help.

Also,Dell's backup software comes in a lot of flavors, and there's a bundle that gives you all the functionality. You use this software to do this and another to do that. There isn't a single application that can do everything, and sometimes that makes some struggles.

The usage of this solution is a bit difficult to develop processes, and it takes a long time to market permits.

The software from Dell that can be used to operate Data Domain needs to have enhancements made to the user interface. It is too complex.

Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) is not a product that's easy to install by customers. There are a lot of products, e.g. entry-level storages that can be easily installed by customers themselves, but this product and other IDPA solutions need to be installed by professionals.

Customers who buy Dell EMC PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) should not worry about its installation and deployment. It should be installed directly by Dell, or by a Dell partner for free, but the price of this product must include installation, so installation will no longer be a problem.

Installation and deployment for this product need to be improved. These processes need to become easier. The user interface could also be improved, but I did see that Dell now provides a number of products with very nice interface. We used to have Dell PowerEdge VRTX, but it reached its end-of-life (EOL). It was a small blade server with a small storage that's working, but it was equipped with a friendly interface for customer installation. Dell EMC and some other vendors should also sell entry-level to mid-range products that are more user-friendly, and make them out of the box products.

One improvement to the solution would be in the integration with backup software. They still have hardware different from the software.

The new niche players are currently very good, but some things that they lack. As an example, NetApp Filer. There is no real partnership between different vendor platforms such as EMC or NetApp. They don't really talk that much. There needs to be better ease of use with like APIs and automation and things of that nature. Some vendors are more API friendly, some vendors are not. Being API friendly will help.

EMC is just coming out with their global deduplication future with virtual addition and things like that. Which is still in the works.

They need to make migration easier. 

The price is on the high side.

I would like to see integration with public cloud.

Dell PowerProtect DD could improve by having better integration with other backup solutions.

I cannot speak to the exact areas that need improvement at this time. 

The pricing could be lower. 

It can probably have integration with other OEMs. It should also have more features for ransomware protection.

It could be more competitively priced.

The price could be improved. 

Technically speaking, the solution is okay. It's not perfect. We have to remember that it's a backup appliance. A storage appliance is not primary service. Let's say in a standard configuration you have only one controller, you don't have high visibility. We have installations on higher-visibility on one environment when one bank says, "We want a controller, doesn't matter how much it costs." We explain that something that is not the main storage is not production. " It's not primary storage, however, it can be used for different environments. Let's say to use it as the NFS or VMware deployment. 

Dell is improving the product all of the time, actually. There were a lot of improvements from version 7.3 to 7.4 for example. 

I've worked with the solution on and off since 2009 and I've watched it evolved from a small backup appliance to what it is now. They've done very well with it. 

In terms of backup software, NetWorker is a very, very good. However, it is very complex. If you want to export on a NetWorker deployment, usually you need to add more plug-ins. If you install Titanium, through the vCenter, you can directly backup all virtualized data. Using Titanium, you can backup Oracle data through the main directly or on the data lake.

First-time integrations are difficult in NetWorker. NetWorker software needs to be simplified. It's very complex. 

The technical support has gotten worse as of late. They could work to make it much better.

One feature which IBM has, and which I am unable to see in Data Domain (or on their optimum roadmap) is the utility-based backup solutions. There are no utility-based Data Domain models. 

I would like to see better integration and support for backing up to cloud providers such as Alibaba Cloud.

In the next release, they need some monitoring, not only of the backup but monitoring of the firmware and the applications.

Spanning the time I worked with EMC Data Domain, I had no issues that suggested to me that it needed improvement. It was working fine, and anything I wanted to do with Data Domain, I could do it. So I had no idea that it might have needed improvement. That is just thinking from a technical perspective as a user. It did what it needed to do for backup.

In hindsight, I am aware that there is a feature that does not exist in Data Domain related to the security of the product and the data. A friend who works in another organization had a problem when his organization was infected with ransomware. The ransomware locked up the data in the Data Domain and disrupted the data system asking for something in return or it would delete all the data. The ransom was not submitted and the hack successfully deleted all the data. This is a big concern and no small issue where data is critical.

So I believe security measures are not strict enough in Data Domain. I would like to see something in place for better security.

In addition to this — which is related to security as well — there are regulations from the central bank that mandates that we need to keep backup copies that are not connected to the network. They must be completely isolated from the network. Data Domain does not have any arrangements to satisfy this requirement. For compliance, we need to use a secondary solution.

The only other issue is that the prices seem high in comparison to other products and they should consider restructuring their pricing plans.

There are several things that can be improved with this product even though it is not bad. 

The biggest concern for us is the licensing model. In terms of feature capability, there are too many separate modular features that require licensing. I would like to see a Data Domain license for one cost that contains what we need to utilize the product to its full capability. I don't like the idea of having to worry about buying another license to do something else and add functionality. So I am suggesting that it would be good if they made the product more integrated and adaptable.

If I choose not to use only EMC products, it should allow me to make whatever integration I choose to do with ease. It is not so easy to do this.

The technical support after the initial deployment and having the service account manager on site was not so good. They should have better means of support while you are using the product to encourage success with the product and that you remain a customer. 

With very minimal cost implications, we would want to have a real-time online backup solution.

It would be perfect to see EMC include real-time online backup option to significantly reduce RPO, if possible 0. Currently, backup is scheduled at intervals.

One other important feature to add to Networker is bare metal restore.

The processing capabilities I believe could be improved, however, we have an older unit DD670 and newer units may have already improved upon this.

It could be more secure.

The price is expensive, so that could be improved. The interface and dashboards could also be improved.

We have some problems with backing up on the Power Platform. PowerServer is an IBM product, and it forces us to back up over LAN, which is not suitable for us.

It needs some added features to back up the AIX OS or the old applications running on AIX OS.

I have seen documentation from other products saying that they protect against ransomware and I haven't seen this in Data Domain. I don't know if it is a good idea to have it in the appliance, but I would like to see some kind of integration with the ransomware in the next release.

The size and scale of the product are limited and could be improved.

In terms of what could be improved, when you use Data Domain, you have to have at least 15% to 20% of free space so it can work properly. I understand that space is needed to process all the data, but it would be a big improvement if we could use that space too.

Its management can be improved.

The solution needs to improve its platform, especially backup features like DB2 and other system backups. 

They should reduce the CPC cost to customers. The product is becoming very expensive.

In the next release, EMC should support stable level listings at restoration and stable space level in the database. Sometimes if I want to take the stable level restoration, EMC is not available. Only this one part is lacking in the current version. 

The pricing could be better but it's still not too expensive. We haven't used the solution for long enough to really know what might be useful in a new release. We haven't used the full functionality yet and I'm not sure if all the functions are working as expected. We are using it, but it's not fully implemented.

The firmware upgrades could be simplified. I'm in the process of struggling to upgrade right now.

The dashboard could be more interactive.

We have had deduplication and replication issues. When we used another backup software we noticed that it didn't have the same issues. 

Our customers would like to enhanced deduplication and compression features with Veeam software. 

The solution needs a better cloud version. We need a solution that has a better understanding of the cloud.

The pricing model needs to be improved.

The solution could adjust the size of the discs. The processor or the cache on the Data Domain could be better.

The pricing should be adjusted. Customers continuously talk about the price. They know it is a good solution and they really need the type of storage the solution offers, but it costs somewhere around $100,000 and up for enterprises. It's not cheap, but it's very important for data vendors. My customers are banks and petroleum sectors, so they need the backup and archiving systems. They can't leave a data center without it, even if the cost is high.

I would like them to improve on the short backup window as it would make my organization even more efficient.

1 - Adding tapes to the VTL is a complex task.

2 - If DB backups could be somewhat compressed it would just be the dream product.

DDBoost function is not compatible with IBM TSM. Since DDBoost is one of Data Domain key options  (it enhance its performance up to the double), it wil be great if in the next future Tivoli Storage Manager can support it!

From a technical point of view, all EMC products have to improve the troubleshoot feature like, log should be in human readable format.

None that I see yet.

Haven’t thought about it because its deliver all the time.

Smarter & better deduplication, CLI shell should have more options for managing this product.

Tighter integration with certain storage arrays or software for even more seamless data tiering perhaps, however the system is quite hard to fault as it ‘just works’.

We do not have any specific issues. Nothing has gone wrong.

The price of the product is high. We'd like for it to be less expensive. 

The initial setup is a little hard to understand. 

The solution's pricing could be cheaper.

The price could be a little cheaper than it is now.