The benefits of data deduplication

There are a number of benefits realized by using data deduplication technology. The most compelling one is the increase of effective capacity for storing backup data. This allows for longer retention periods for backup data on disk, resulting in faster data recovery and higher service level agreements. HP disk-based backup systems with built-in data deduplication also reduce space and power requirements for the increased volume of protected data.

Read more about the deduplication benefits in the “HP Dynamic Deduplication—achieving a 50:1 ratio” HP white paper at: http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/4AA2-0212ENW.pdf

Details to know about object-level differencing

Object-level differencing (accelerated deduplication) provides the best performance as the deduplication of backup data is a post-backup process. That is the reason why the backup device (Virtual Tape Library) has to be knowledgeable in terms of backup formats and data types to understand the meta data. HP Accelerated deduplication will support HP Data Protector 6.0 software and specific data types at launch.

Initially by HP Accelerated deduplication supported data types are:

•File system backups

•RAW Disk

•Microsoft Exchange

More data types and future Data Protector software versions will be added to the support matrix over time. The “HP StorageWorks Enterprise Backup Solution (EBS) Hardware/Software Compatibility Matrix” can be found at: http://www.hp.com/go/ebs.

How much space does data deduplication really save?

Two significant factors affecting the deduplication ratio for backups are:

•How long do you retain the data

•How much does data change between backups

Example: 500 GB file server backup

Retention Policy

•1 week, daily incrementals (5)

•6 months, weekly fulls (25)

Data parameters

•Daily change rate = 1% (10% of data in 10% of files)

•No compression

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