PowerProtect DD Series vs. Arcserve ShadowProtect

We have huge data coming in from different sources and also from multiple organizations in our Data centres. This data had multiple copies of the same data and was huge in size therefore, we wanted to have a solution in place which can help us with a good amount of deduplication at the deepest possible level to make sure that our ecosystem does not have multiple copies of the same data and is also efficient at the same time. Having said this, we wanted this solution to be secure and reliable since it had to be exposed to a huge critical set of data in the market. To add, backup and restoration was something that we were also keen on evaluating so that once we have efficient data within our system, the time it takes to backup and restoration also reduces. And all this was justified by this solution when we signed up with them. From the pricing perspective and the implementation side, the solution needs improvement to make it more efficient and user-friendly.

Incentivized

In situations where business continuity needs are high, ShadowProtect backups provide the ability to keep operations running with very minimal downtime, even in situations like crypto-locked data. If a backup server is set up in an environment to resume a live server from backup, this is even more helpful. In situations where clients don't care as much about quickly recovering their data, they can go without a solution like this.

Incentivized

• It writes backups quickly. DDBoost add-on is very useful as well for improving backup speeds.
• DD is very efficient in its use of capacity. It dedupes and compresses very well.
• It spans to large capacity amounts.

Incentivized

• You can virtualize your backups using Virtualbox, a free program that works on any PC.
• Backups are versatile, and you can back up to any location you'd like.
• Alerting can be set up for failed backups.

Incentivized

• It can be expensive to implement, especially when used in conjunction with other applications/hardware such as Avamar.
• The TCO can be high, especially when it needs its storage expanded.
• Recovery speeds can be slow (compared to other solutions) for when recovery is time sensitive.

Incentivized

• The replication offsite can have issues over time. It takes manual involvement to keep it working right.
• SPX remote management isn't easy out of the box.

Incentivized

DD has performed flawlessly for almost 10 years as our backup/recovery storage with offsite replication. Given its track record and great support from EMC, we're unlikely to look elsewhere any time soon.

Incentivized

Customer support has had some ups and downs here. We've had several issues with EMC support before and during the acquisition by Dell, but in the last 18 months support has been top notch. Quick and knowledgeable help is but a chat away, or they will call you back so you don't have to wait on hold. The team supporting us is responsive and is quick to assist with any request or issue.

Incentivized

We don’t need support often, but when we do, the support has been strong. Sometimes it is hard to determine how to access support for the exact issue we are having. There are a decent forum and online ticketing system. Support for the cloud center seems to be provided only by phone, though.

Incentivized

We selected Data Domain due to its integration with our backup software. The Data Domain works well for what we need it to do.

Incentivized

Speed, we rely on Shadowprotect to provide us with fast backups and also backups that are smaller in size compared to the other products.

Incentivized

• We were able to immediately discontinue our remote tape storage and TBU maintenance.
• Reduced backup footprint in the data center.
• It is costly to expand so buy it with a purpose.

Incentivized

• We have been with Shadowprotect for 5 years and are now only moving off of them due to limited functionality and Shadowprotect doubling our billing.
• The product now requires a lot more babysitting so I have one person just stuck managing backups, which is not a fulfilling job and hard to keep someone in that seat.
• While Shadowprotect has been fantastic for years, it is time for us to move on to something that makes financial sense and requires less labour.
• Storagecraft Cloud is fairly expensive compared to competitors.

Incentivized