Reducing Backup Storage Requirements with Data Deduplication

At its core, deduplication is a technique aimed at optimizing the use of storage, in particular backup storage, to provide more storage space at a lower overall cost. PHD Virtual Backup performs true source side deduplication of backup data to dramatically reduce the size of backup files and the time required to transport them to the storage target. On average, PHD Virtual’s customers experience deduplication ratios of 25:1, reducing backup storage requirements by 96%.

TrueDedupe™ Technology:

PHD Virtual Backup uses TrueDedupe™ technology to perform true source-side data deduplication, providing real savings on storage capacity while reducing the load on network and storage infrastructure. TrueDedupe™ provides efficiency by storing more backups in a smaller amount of storage space. Since deduplication is built into PHD Virtual Backup, you don’t have to purchase a separate dedicated appliance or expensive storage system to get the benefits of optimized backup storage.

Key Benefits:

• Patent pending TrueDedupe™ Technology deduplicates data across all virtual machines in the backup target
• Reduces required backup storage and saves expensive I/O on backup target. Customers regularly see 25:1 dedupe ratios reducing storage requirements by 96%
• Every backup is a Virtual Full – No more lengthy refresh of fulls
• Restore a Virtual Machine in one step – No more lengthy full/delta restores
• Optimized for backup up over the WAN

Comparing Data Deduplication Approaches

PHD Virtual Backup implements deduplication using the following concepts:

•  Source Side – Deduplication performed at the source on the virtualization host
•  In-line Processing – Deduplication is performed as the virtual machine data is read and processed
•  Block Level – Deduplication is done at the block level, eliminating duplicate data blocks
•  Software Based – Deduplication is performed by the Virtual Backup Appliance VBA™

There are a number of different concepts for implementing deduplication and each has different characteristics and impacts on the infrastructure. Typically deduplication is implemented using one or more of the following approaches:

•     Source Based vs. Target Based
•     Inline-Processing vs. Post-Processing
•     Block Level vs. File Level
•     Software Based vs. Hardware Based

For a comparison of PHD TrueDedupe vs. other deduplication approaches click on the comparison chart below.