Data Deduplication at the Target

Data deduplication at the target

Data deduplication can also occur at the target such as a media server or a storage appliance. With media server deduplication, backup data moves from a client (the system protected) to the backup software's server (the media server). The media server performs the deduplication and sends only the unique data segments to the back-end storage. This leads to savings in back-end storage as well as a reduction in the infrastructure needed to store backup data.

Media server data deduplication is very suitable for use cases such as off-host VM backups, Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) backups and data center work loads such as high-transaction databases that tend to have high data change rates.

Like data deduplication at the media server, deduplication by an appliance is also considered target-side data deduplication. With a disk-based deduplication appliance, backup data moves across a network from a client to a backup server and then to the appliance. The appliance performs deduplication and sends the unique data to its storage source, resulting in an overall reduction in backup storage.

While most backup software products see these appliances as native disk, some vendors have begun to offer solutions with tighter integration between the software and the storage appliance. The additional integration allows organizations to further improve the performance and savings they derive from these appliance. For example, tighter integration can enhance the use of replication, improve the speed of recovery or enhance disaster recovery operations by better integrating with tape devices.