Dell NetWorker Reviews

We use it to record sites in the system.

The extensive information provided on tool properties has been very useful, specifically the information on databases.

The user interface of this solution could be improved. It is not user friendly and is difficult to understand for new users. New users struggle to understand the logic.

I have used this solution for five years. 

This is a stable solution. 

It is really scalable but the scaling process is not that easy. You have to find the documentation to support setting it up for scale.

The customer service and support is good, but at times I have wanted more involvement from the people that are giving support. 

Neutral

The initial set up is easy, but when you do it for the first time you will need videos and some information to support the process. Once you do it once, you can do it really quickly the next time.

We have a lot of clients who use NetWorker. Especially in government and big companies, they rely on the NetWorker to do their backups. Two or three people are needed for deployment. 

In order to use this solution, you need to rely on communication and information on how to do a proper setup. At the beginning, you have to understand how the process works to configure the devices data needs to be stored.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

We use NetWorker to provide disaster recovery and availability for Unix servers like IBM Power Machines and enterprise database solutions like Oracle and Db2.

The most valuable feature is NetWorker's integration with the data domain that transfers the data directly into the Dell appliance, so the data doesn't need to pass through the network. NetWorker acts like a pipe, allowing the data to flow directly from the database or the VMware environment to the data domain. 

When you're working with VMware, you need to use vProxy machines. You have to install the vProxy for every host in the VMware environment.

Also, if the customer needs to integrate or add additional products, it will be integrated with the NetWorker and data domain, the recovery point for VMware, because it covers the gap between the backup windows. You can take snapshots every few minutes depending on the size of the VM to cover the gap between the backup windows. You can restore from any point in time for the backup.

I've been using NetWorker for almost a year now.

NetWorker is stable if you follow Dell EMC's recommended best practices. For example, in the VMware environment, you need to install a vProxy machine for every host. If you don't set it up correctly, it will not be stable. 

NetWorker is highly scalable because Dell uses the vProxy. You can scale as much as you want because you already do the load balancing through the VM proxy. You can install a hundred servers with no problem because the data is transferred from VMware to the appliance, through the disk, or through the tape. While the vProxy makes the installation more complicated, it can scale as much as you want.

I rate Dell EMC NetWorker eight out of 10. To people who plan to implement NetWorker, I suggest a high availability architecture, with a  minimum of two NetWorker appliances to replicate each other, and you need to have a vProxy machine for each host in a VMware environment. If you have a tape library, you need a dedicated tape-out server.

We have a Hyper-V installation, with a mixed Linux environment.

We have an on-premises deployment.

Configuration for Hyper-V needs to be improved. Our original configuration did not work because of an issue that differed between versions.

We are able to do direct backups, but analyzing the logs is not straightforward. There are a lot of things that have to be done from the client-side in order to locate and identify errors. This should be made easier.

This solution should support part-loaded data.

I would like to see support for the enactment of errors, where the error should be very clear-mannered, on board, with NMC control only. When some backups fail, we investigate all of the possibilities and sometimes have to enter the admin from the client-side. We then have to render the log and investigate that. If it is a Microsoft issue, for example, then we will contact Microsoft. This entire process needs to be enhanced.

As long as all of the requirements are met, this is a very stable solution. It is used for our daily operations.

Scalability of this solution is very good. We have approximately four hundred employees using this solution.

Technical support for this solution is very good. They are nice people and whenever we need support, they turn up and investigate. Within an hour they will start an investigation.

The initial setup is a little bit complex, but it is very good. In terms of configuration, you have a basic administrator account. If you are going to be configuring Hyper-V or another technology then you have to have an admin account for those, as well. Without a proper administrator account, you will not be able to perform backup and restore functions.

There are also other things to consider, such as the network port and user compatibility. Hyper-V has issues to consider with respect to configuring the backup.

My advice to anybody who is researching this solution is to first check to make sure that your environment is stable, and compatible with this product. Even before doing a POC, the environment needs to be considered. Once any incompatibilities have been ruled out then a POC should be done, where everything needs to be tested.

This product can be complex and difficult to understand, but once you have some experience it is very good.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

DD Boost integration for capacity reduction and backup window.

This product has provide our backup and recovery capabilities for Service Restoration and Disaster Recovery for more than a decade. We have evolved with the product over the years and it continues to meet our requirements.

Automate/role-based Virtual Machine protection and automated DR recovery capabilities.

Initial install was in 2001 with Legato 6.4. We just completed the latest upgrade to EMC Networker 9.1.

All x.0 versions that we have deployed have had issues which get worked out in the subsequent releases. We generally never deploy the x.0 version and wait instead for the x.1 SP 1 release.

Early on, we had limitations in the number of servers as a single DataZone could manage when pushed up to deploy multiple DataZones. Those numbers have significantly increased but for large environments, this could still be a limit. The number of connections that the solution uses with the VMware Hypervisor can cause issues with vCenter's performance, but that is more a limitation with VMware than EMC NetWorker.

Over the years, it’s been up and down. For this latest version, I would suggest that it’s average, with not a large number of EMC specialists understanding how all the latest features in the product are supposed to work.

In a larger environment with multiple servers types and network security zones, it’s a complex installation to ensure stability with performance.

Don’t install the newest x.0 version of the product. Make sure you understand you own requirements and expectations of data protection in terms of Service Restoration and Disaster Recovery to ensure you are implementing the solution appropriately to meet those requirements.

The GUI is the best feature. It's very good and easy to use.

It is very easy to manage and easy to configure the backup.

We are having some issues with some of the features. For example, the reporting, or the display of current licensing on the portal need improvement.

The reporting is not to our satisfaction and our main area of concern. It doesn't provide any form of analysis.

There is a delay in the offering from Dell.

Support is definitely an area of concern because of the time it takes to resolve our issues. We should not have to wait long periods of time to have issues resolved. When a complaint is logged the issue should be resolved within a reasonable amount of time.

I have been using Dell EMC NetWorker for 20 years.

We are currently working with version 19.0.

Version 19 has been stable, but there were several versions in between that had some issues, such as versions five, eight, and nine. In addition to the stability issues, there were some concerns with the performance.

Scalability for us is limited because we are using this solution for system backup. and not beyond that. We don't have any cloud, and we do not have any snapshot; it is simply a file system backup.

We have not yet explored scalability. Our requirement is a very basic one.

We have contacted technical support for the issues that we are facing with some of the features and their response to us was that they are faced with some delays in resolving these issues. This is the reason that we are exploring other backup solutions.

We have several cases that are pending and have been for a very long time.

Support from Dell needs improvement. We are not getting the type of response that we were expecting from Dell.

The responses we have received from Dell have not been encouraging.

The initial setup is not an issue, it can be installed easily.

We have a total of 35 servers, that were installed individually.

The licensing model can be traditional licensing or capacity-based licensing. We have traditional licensing rather than capacity-based because of our long history.

We are currently evaluating other products as we would like to replace Dell EMC NetWorker with another backup software. We would like to carry out some PoCs to see which is the best. Feature-wise, we would like to know which is the best on the market.

We are also evaluating other products to see which features this solution is lacking.

I would recommend this solution, but if asked specifically about the support then I would not recommend this solution's support.

As far as performance is concerned, and the working functionality point of view, definitely it is a good solution.

We have also used this solution for the last 20 years. Definitely, there is a level of comfort.

However, as of late, maybe when Dell had taken over from EMC, we have noticed there is an issue as far as support is concerned. We are not getting good support, which is what we are supposed to get from them, especially since we have been long-standing customers of EMC NetWorker. Regardless of what we were supposed to get, we are not getting it.

I would rate Dell EMC NetWorker a seven out of ten.

It's easy to configure and manage.

In our organization, we are working with Networker on other sites, so we can share our knowledge and experience.

We pretend to start image backups from VMware, but we are also working with Xen and RHEV, and this product doesn't support those platforms.

I´ve worked on it for over 10 years, since v6.

No issues encountered.

Just in version 7.x.x, where they changed all graphical interface and had some stability issues.

When I used to work in a consultant office, we had to split one backup server into three to support the amount of clients. This customer had a lot of backup server instability.

It is great; EMC support is one of the best.

It is great, a good level of knowledgement and escalation.

I used to work with TSM as well, but Networker is easier to deploy.

There are some features that other software, like Avamar, does better, and that EMC could incorporate into Networker.

Ensure you have good architecture job before implementation. At our organization, we are scheduling all our backups from the same business line to ensure it's all done at the same time, to ensure all backups are scheduled at the same time.

NetWorker sometimes has issues with the backup not starting and with connecting to the Oracle servers.

I've been using NetWorker for around three months.

Dell's technical support are quite helpful with straightforward issues, though they can be slow. However, they don't have the deep knowledge to solve complex issues, so our time is wasted.

The initial setup was a little complex, but engineers should find it ok.

I would not recommend NetWorker to other users and would rate it seven out of ten.

Our primary use case for the solution is for backup and recovery in all environments, such as physical and virtual ones.

The solution offers compatibility with many types of database systems. It is one of the largest backup solutions. Additionally, it gives important information about data domain systems with deduplication. 

I have been using the solution for approximately three years. 

The solution is stable.

We have more the five customers using Dell EMC NetWorker.

The technical support was slightly impolite in my experience.

The deployment of the solution is easy when integrated with the data domain systems. Additionally, the documentation is available and it is simple to follow. It took approximately one week to deploy it. 

The implementation of the solution took approximately one week and we used two engineers. 

The pricing of the solution is not the cheapest compared to other similar solutions. The Networker is available as a component of the Dell EMC Data Protection Suite package and it should have the ability to be purchased separately. 

The solution requires a perpetual license. We can upgrade the solution without the need to be renewed at an additional cost. 

I would recommend the solution to others, especially due to the data domain system, as the target of the backup.

I rate Dell EMC NetWorker a nine out of ten.