Giants Draft Storage System to Keep an Eye on the Game - ' Page 3 ' (
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The key ingredient making this data center work? The superefficient data deduplication process, which boils down each data file into digital 4K to 12K blocks, compresses them and doesnt allow any of them to be replicated unnecessarily. The result is a more efficient data center that can store more data more quickly.
"We also use the Data Domain storage server for staging and nightly backups, so we can do our off-site backup [at] and vaulting of data over to our Scottsdale facility," Woolley said. "This eliminates the need to take tapes home or store tapes anywhere."
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At the moment, the Giants are using only about 30 percent of their storage capacity (20TB of a possible 65TB overall), thanks largely to the Data Domain deduplication feature in the system. The system, as they see it, is now complete; however, they do anticipate buying another storage server later this year to keep plenty of overhead raw storage capacity.
Deduplication replicates the unique segments of data that need to be stored, which doesnt allow unnecessary bits of information to build up and slow down the system.
"None of the other systems we looked at could do replication over a single T-1 line," Woolley said. "They said, Well, youre going to need a DS3 or something else. ... It just got so expensive so quick."
The deduplication efficiency of the Data Domain-Nexsan system results in a lean stream of data that requires only that one line each evening for the nightly backup to Scottsdale. Thanks to its high-performance system architecture, the Data Domain system delivers 6.4TB per hour of throughput.
"From a bandwidth perspective, it was cost-prohibitive to have installed one of those other VTL [virtual tape library] solutions," Schlough said.
After all, a baseball club—like any other business—has to watch carefully where its capital is invested -- and its all not on the field. ´
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