Configuring Deduplication - Commvault Command Center

Deduplication Configuration Overview

When configuring storage, you can enable deduplication with a simple click. The deduplicated storage can then be selected in a plan, which means that all subclient protected by this plan will see their datasets stored in the same storage and deduplicated against each other. When enabling deduplication, the location for the deduplication database partition (DDB) must be defined. If more than one MediaAgent is sharing the storage unit (Network-attached storage or cloud), multiple partitions (up to four) can be created, providing scalability. 

Deduplication can be enabled for primary storage as well as secondary storage. When enabling deduplication on a secondary copy, the data transfer leverages deduplication by sending only the new blocks. All existing blocks are simply dropped from the source, avoiding unnecessary transmission of data.

Deduplicated disk/cloud storage overview

Deduplicated Storage Types

Deduplication can be enabled for different storage types in Commvault^® software. The available types are as follows:

• Disk / Cloud - Disk or cloud storage used as a Commvault^® storage. It also creates the deduplication database (DDB) hosting the signatures and pointers of deduplicated data.
• HyperScale – HyperScale storage deduplicated storage is used with the Commvault^® software scale-out feature that uses commodity compute and storage.

 For more information on HyperScale storage, please refer to Commvault^® online documentation at http://documentation.commvault.com/commvault/v11/article?p=features/hyper_converged_storage_pool/c_hyper_converged_storage_pool.htm

Configure Deduplication for Storage

Configuring deduplication for disk or cloud storage is achieved from the Commvault Command Center^TM, under the Storage section. Enabling deduplication is only available during the storage initial configuration and cannot be turned on at a later time. On top of the storage configuration, it is also important to collect information on the location of the deduplication database (DDB). It should be a dedicated set of disks, preferably SSD, located on the same MediaAgent to which the storage is configured.