Symantec 7 manual Deduplication storage unit recommendations

54Configuring deduplication

Configuring a deduplication storage unit

Table 5-3	Deduplication storage unit properties (continued)
Property	Description
Maximum	The Maximumconcurrentjobs setting specifies the maximum number

concurrent jobs of jobs that NetBackup can send to a disk storage unit at one time. (Default: one job. The job count can range from 0 to 256.) This setting corresponds to the Maximum concurrent write drives setting for a Media Manager storage unit.

NetBackup queues jobs until the storage unit is available. If three backup jobs are scheduled and Maximum concurrent jobs is set to two, NetBackup starts the first two jobs and queues the third job. If a job contains multiple copies, each copy applies toward the Maximum concurrent jobs count.

Maximum concurrent jobs controls the traffic for backup and duplication jobs but not restore jobs. The count applies to all servers in the storage unit, not per server. If you select multiple media servers in the storage unit and 1 for Maximum concurrent jobs, only one job runs at a time.

The number to enter depends on the available disk space and the server's ability to run multiple backup processes.

Warning: A Maximum concurrent jobs setting of 0 disables the storage unit.

Deduplication storage unit recommendations

You can use storage unit properties to control how NetBackup performs.

Increase the Maximum concurrent jobs gradually

Symantec recommends that you increase the Maximum concurrent jobs value gradually. The initial backup jobs (also known as initial seeding) require more CPU and memory than successive jobs. After initial seeding, the storage server can process more jobs concurrently. Gradually increase the jobs value over time.

Testing shows that the upper limit for a storage server with 8GB of memory and 4GB of swap space is 50 concurrent jobs.

Configure a client-to-server ratio

For a favorable client-to-server ratio, you can use one disk pool and configure multiple storage units to separate your backup traffic. Because all storage units use the same disk pool, you do not have to partition the storage.