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Backup & Disaster Recovery · head to head

Restic vs Dell EMC NetWorker

Restic logo

Restic

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Fast, secure, and efficient backup program

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Dell EMC NetWorker logo

Dell EMC NetWorker

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Unified data protection for the enterprise

From
$80/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Restic has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Restic cold storage is not natively supported; restoring from S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive is only available as an experimental feature behind a feature flag; Dell EMC NetWorker the Internet Archive's capture of Dell's NetWorker page on 9 December 2023 confirmed the product is sold only through direct enterprise sales engagement, with no price figure published on the page.
  • They diverge on capability: Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Dell EMC NetWorker covers ProtectPoint integration.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Restic and Dell EMC NetWorker actually diverge.

Attributes where Restic and Dell EMC NetWorker differ
AttributeResticDell EMC NetWorker
Starting priceFree$80/month
Pricing modelfreesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Mac, LinuxWindows, Linux, Web
Founded20141984

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Backup & Disaster Recovery).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Restic

  • Content-defined chunking
  • Cryptographic verification
  • Deduplication
  • Encryption
  • Multiple backends
  • Snapshot management
  • AWS S3
  • Azure

Only in Dell EMC NetWorker

  • ProtectPoint integration
  • Instant access
  • Cloud tiering
  • Federated deduplication
  • Block-based backup
  • Virtual synthetic full
  • VMware
  • Hyper-V

Both cover

  • Windows support
  • Linux support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Restic

  • Encrypted deduplicated backups to S3, B2, SFTP and local disk from the command linenot Dell EMC NetWorker
  • Scripted server backups with snapshot retention policiesnot Dell EMC NetWorker

Dell EMC NetWorker

  • Data protectionnot Restic
  • Disaster recoverynot Restic
  • Business continuitynot Restic
  • Ransomware protectionnot Restic
  • Compliancenot Restic

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Restic

  • Cold storage is not natively supported; restoring from S3 Glacier and S3 Glacier Deep Archive is only available as an experimental feature behind a feature flag
  • A Windows file whose name contains a character Windows treats as invalid cannot be read by restic and has to be renamed
  • Antivirus real-time protection degrades performance on Windows unless the restic binary is added to an exclusions list
  • On large repositories the built-in five minute stuck-request timeout fires during file listing and has to be raised manually with --stuck-request-timeout

Dell EMC NetWorker

  • The Internet Archive's capture of Dell's NetWorker page on 9 December 2023 confirmed the product is sold only through direct enterprise sales engagement, with no price figure published on the page.

Pricing, plan by plan

Restic

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Content-defined chunking
    • Encryption
    • Multiple backends

Dell EMC NetWorker

$80/month
  • NetWorker$80/month
    • ProtectPoint
    • Instant access
    • Cloud tiering

Which should you pick?

Choose Restic if

  • You need content-defined chunking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, Linux.
  • You also want cryptographic verification.
Restic review

Choose Dell EMC NetWorker if

  • You need protectpoint integration.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Web.
  • You also want instant access.
Dell EMC NetWorker review

Questions people ask

Is Restic or Dell EMC NetWorker better?
Neither clearly leads. Restic starts at Free and Dell EMC NetWorker at $80/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Restic or Dell EMC NetWorker?
Restic has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Restic and $80/month for Dell EMC NetWorker.
Does Restic or Dell EMC NetWorker run on more platforms?
Restic runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. Dell EMC NetWorker runs on Windows, Linux, Web.
Can I use Restic for free?
Yes. Restic has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Dell EMC NetWorker starts at $80/month.
What is Restic best used for?
Restic is most often used for encrypted deduplicated backups to s3, b2, sftp and local disk from the command line, scripted server backups with snapshot retention policies. Of those, encrypted deduplicated backups to s3, b2, sftp and local disk from the command line and scripted server backups with snapshot retention policies are not what Dell EMC NetWorker is typically brought in for.
What can Restic do that Dell EMC NetWorker cannot?
Restic covers Content-defined chunking, Cryptographic verification, Deduplication, Encryption. Dell EMC NetWorker covers ProtectPoint integration, Instant access, Cloud tiering, Federated deduplication. Both handle Windows support, Linux support.
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