EMC Avamar

EMC Avamar
Name	Avamar
Developer	Dell EMC
Released	2003
Latest release version	(varies)
Operating system	Linux, Windows
Genre	Backup and deduplication software

EMC Avamar EMC Avamar is a backup and deduplication software platform designed for enterprise data protection across distributed environments, virtual machines, and cloud infrastructures. It integrates technologies for source-based deduplication, client-server backup, and tape/cloud archival to support retention policies for organizations such as Bank of America, Walmart, AT&T, Microsoft, and Amazon.com. Avamar has been deployed alongside storage arrays like EMC Isilon, EMC VNX, Dell EMC PowerMax, and virtualization platforms including VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix Hypervisor.

Overview

Avamar originated as a product from an independent company acquired by EMC Corporation and later became part of Dell Technologies following the Dell EMC merger. The platform targets enterprise backup use cases in sectors represented by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and GE Healthcare. Competitors and complementary technologies in the backup market include Commvault, Veritas NetBackup, Veeam Backup & Replication, IBM Spectrum Protect, and Acronis. Avamar has evolved through releases that align with standards set by organizations like The Open Group and integrations that reference protocols from Internet Engineering Task Force discussions.

Architecture and Components

Avamar's architecture combines deduplication engines, storage nodes, and management consoles; typical deployments reference hardware models such as Dell EMC Data Domain and PowerEdge servers used by institutions like Citibank and Deutsche Bank. Core components include the Avamar Grid, backup clients, the Avamar server, and the Avamar Administrator console—parallels can be drawn to system architectures used at Netflix and Spotify for distributed storage. The platform employs protocols and concepts familiar to engineers from Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, and Arista Networks, and integrates with directory and authentication services such as Microsoft Active Directory and OpenLDAP.

Features and Functionality

Key features include source-side deduplication, variable-length hashing, inline compression, and WAN-optimized replication, concepts also leveraged by services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box. Application-aware backups support integrations with Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, SAP HANA, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL, mirroring enterprise data protection strategies used at Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Virtual machine-aware functionality supports VMware vSphere features like snapshots and vMotion awareness, similar to approaches used by VMware Tanzu and cloud providers such as Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure.

Deployment and Integration

Deployments span appliance-based grids, virtual editions, and cloud-integrated architectures compatible with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Integration patterns follow practices used by Accenture, Deloitte, and Capgemini for enterprise IT transformation projects, with connectors and APIs enabling orchestration by automation platforms such as Ansible, Puppet, Chef, and Terraform. Migration and upgrade planning often reference methodologies from ITIL frameworks and compliance considerations similar to those applied by Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst & Young.

Management and Administration

Administration is performed through the Avamar Administrator and Avamar Enterprise Manager consoles, with role-based access paralleling implementations at Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Backup policies, schedule management, and reporting integrate with monitoring solutions from Splunk, Nagios, and SolarWinds, and leverage logging practices compatible with Syslog-based collectors. Operational playbooks often draw on practices recommended by Forrester Research and Gartner for backup lifecycle governance.

Performance and Scalability

Performance characteristics focus on deduplication rates, ingest throughput, and restore time objectives; benchmarking approaches mirror those used by SPEC, TPC, and storage vendors like NetApp. Scalability is achieved via grid expansion and node federation, a design similar to distributed filesystems used by Hadoop, Ceph, and GlusterFS. Large-scale adopters include enterprises with storage footprints comparable to NASA, European Space Agency, and major telecommunications carriers such as Verizon and Vodafone.

Security and Data Protection

Security features include AES encryption at rest and in transit, secure role-based access, and integration with key management systems akin to solutions from Thales Group and Gemalto. Compliance use cases address regulatory regimes like HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR followed by healthcare organizations including Mayo Clinic and financial institutions such as Barclays. Disaster recovery and replication strategies align with architectures employed by Red Cross operations and government agencies like National Institute of Standards and Technology for resilient data protection.

Category:Backup software Category:Data deduplication Category:Enterprise storage