Creating a Storage Policy Copy with Deduplication

You can create a storage policy copy with deduplication an efficient method to store data that identifies and eliminates duplicate blocks of data during backups.

You can create a storage policy copy with deduplication by using the sp_copycreation.xml configuration file, which contains parameters that define the storage policy copy. For more information, see Creating a Deduplication Enabled Storage Policy Copy.

Before You Begin

Before creating a storage policy copy with deduplication, consider the guidelines available in the Deduplication Building Block Guide.

Procedure

1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Policies>Storage Policies.

2. Right-click the appropriate storage policy and then click All Tasks >Create New Copy.

3. On the General tab of the Copy Properties dialog box, specify the following settings:

   1. In the Copy Name box, type a name for the copy.

   2. From the Library list, select the name of a library.

   3. From the MediaAgent list, select the name of a MediaAgent.

   4. Select the Enable Deduplication check box.

      The Deduplication tab becomes available.

      Note: You can enable deduplication only during the storage policy creation.

4. On the Deduplication tab, specify the following deduplication settings:

   1. Under DDB Access Path, click Configure.

   2. In the Number of Partitions box, enter the number of partitions for the DDB.

   3. Under the MediaAgent And Partition Path column, click Choose Path.

   4. In the Partition Path dialog box, enter the following and then click OK.

      • MediaAgent name

      • Path to host the DDB

      • Drive to host the snapshot created using VSS Copy-on-Write (COW) method

        Important:

      • The VSS COW volume box is available only when no DDB subclient exists on a selected DDB MediaAgent and for version 11 MediaAgents.

      • If you changed the Windows shadow copy storage association to a different drive, the snapshot created during DDB backup is stored on that drive.

      • If you want to change the VSS COW volume location after storage policy creation, you can modify it on the DDB subclient. For more information, see Modifying the Properties of the Deduplication Database Subclient.

      • DDB network interface name for each partition MediaAgent

        By default, no data network interface pair is configured.

        We recommend that you configure a dedicated Network Interface Card (NIC) on each partition MediaAgent and set up data interface pair (DIP) between the data path and partition MediaAgents:

      • To increase the speed of the communication between the MediaAgents

      • To improve data protection job throughput

      • To avoid network bottlenecks

        If you have a NIC configured on a partition MediaAgent, specify the network interface name or IP address for the DDB Network Interface.

        Important:

      • Push the firewall configuration on the DDB MediaAgent after adding a data interface pair and creating a storage policy copy. For more information, see Data Interface Pairs - Overview

      • If DIP is configured between two MediaAgents and if no interface pair is specified during storage policy creation, the existing DIP is used between two MediaAgents.

      • No more than one DIP should be created between two clients. If another interface is created, the clients will use only the newer defined interface pair.

      • If DIP is configured and the library setup with the DDB storage policy has the Automatically add data paths for new Drivepools configured, then on adding a new MediaAgent a DIP will automatically be configured.

   5. Click OK.

5. On the Retention tab, select the appropriate retention rules for a storage policy copy.

   Tip: To improve signature cache set the number of days on the synchronous copy to more than the time between the repeated Auxiliary Copy jobs of the same data.

6. Click OK.

7. In the Auxiliary Copy Schedule dialog box, click OK to accept the default schedule.

Notes:

• On V11 installs, secondary copies are automatically associated with the System Created Autocopy schedule policy.

  The system created automatic copy schedule repeatedly runs the auxiliary copy job everyday, at 30 minute time intervals.

• For setups that are upgraded from the previous version, in the Auxiliary Copy Schedule dialog box, click OK to accept the default schedules.

• The copy is automatically associated to a pre-existing schedule of the storage policy, if the schedule was created with the All Copies option enabled. See System Created Automatic Auxiliary Copy Schedule Policy for more information.