High-Performing, Reliable, Flexible, Scalable --- and not for the faint of heart!
December 18, 2020
High-Performing, Reliable, Flexible, Scalable --- and not for the faint of heart!
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Overall Satisfaction with Dell EMC Networker
Teknicor uses [Dell EMC] Networker to protect our customer data. Our customers range in size from SMB to Enterprise. It is a powerful, versatile, and reliable data protection solution, especially when used in conjunction with DataDomain.
- Seamlessly integrates with DataDomain
- Seamlessly integrates with vmWare for extremely fast VM backups
- Provides agent-based integration for a very wide array of applications-aware backups, including but not limited to: Microsoft SQL/Exchange/Sharepoint, Meditech, Oracle, DB2, Informix, SAP
- Integrates with a wide family of NAS solutions for NDMP backups
- [Dell EMC] Networker is a not a backup software that is not for the faint of heart. It is challenging to understand, implement, and troubleshoot. Many of the errors are nondescript and undocumented, and have left many a seasoned administrator in the dust. If Networker is not implemented by an experienced professional, it will cause nothing but grief for the customer. However, if it is properly implemented and maintained, it will provide reliable, robust, flexible, and scalable data protection.
- It really needs to transition away from Java ASAP. The HTML5 GUI is decent but still a far cry away from being ready to replace the Java interface from a functionality perspective. The Java UI is probably the weakest and most frustrating aspect of Networker, because it is clunky, resource intensive, unreliable, and just a plain eye-sore.
- Networker support will either be a lifesaver or will dig you an early grave, depending on who takes your call. There are Networker SMEs at Dell that have been in the business for decades. If you're lucky enough to reach one, they will provide some of the best support you'll ever come across. Of course, your odds of getting to one of those people is slim, and you'll like end up getting connected to a L1 technician that just learned how to spell Networker. I know because I used to be one of those L1 technicians, and it usually just makes the customer want to find the closest bridge.
- It has kept our customers protected and confident in our services, especially in the current ransomware climate
- As a Managed Services Provider, it has helped us reduce the man-hours involved in managing backups for many different customer environments
Our trust in DataDomain as a premier deduplication technology naturally leads to [Dell EMC] Networker being the appropriate backup application to integrate with. Networker provides the most favorable dedup with DataDomain when compared to other backup technologies, and provides the highest combination of protection flexibility and performance that most other applications cannot provide. For example, Veeam provides excellent VM backup capability, but is unable to protect Meditech. If you go down the list of backup applications, you'll find that Networker is unique in what it is able to protect and in its backup performance.
Do you think Dell Networker delivers good value for the price?
Not sure
Are you happy with Dell Networker's feature set?
Yes
Did Dell Networker live up to sales and marketing promises?
I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process
Did implementation of Dell Networker go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Dell Networker again?
Yes