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Can I configure Data Domain Boost (DD Boost) on Disk Libraries using Dell EMC® Data Domain®?

Note

The following instructions to configure Data Domain Boost (DD Boost) on Disk Libraries using Dell EMC® Data Domain® are deprecated. We recommend that you follow the instructions as mentioned in Data Domain Boost Storage Library.

Yes, Data Domain Boost on Data Domain physical boxes and Data Domain Virtual Edition is supported on Windows and Linux MediaAgents.

General Best Practices when using a Data Domain with Commvault:

  • Enable Commvault deduplication and compression.

    Note

    This provides the benefit of client-side deduplication to reduce network load between clients and MediaAgents, and allows DASH copies and DASH Full backups which reduce the amount of data read-off the Data Domain during these operations. The Data Domain will still further deduplicate any data written to it on the device side.

  • Do not enable encryption on backups in Commvault. This prevents the Data Domain from further deduplicating the data written on the device-side. If you need to use encryption of the data at rest, enable this feature on the Data Domain.

  • Consider using Mtree replication instead of auxiliary copy jobs if the data set is large and needs to be copied between two Data Domain devices. This may be more efficient than performing auxiliary or DASH copies.

Configuration - Linux

Use the following steps to make sure that the device is mounted in the MediaAgent, before configuring the library.

  1. Install the FUSE File system and its dependencies on the MediaAgent.

  2. Install the DD Boost file system RPM on the MediaAgent.

    You can verify the installation from the following location:

    /opt/emc/boostfs

  3. Run the following commands from the following location:

    /opt/emc/boostfs/bin

    Set the lock box between the Data Domain storage unit and MediaAgent using the following command:

    boostfs lockbox set -s Storage-unit -d data-domain-system -u storage-unit-username

    Mount this storage unit on the MediaAgent using the following command:

    boostfs mount -d data-domain-system -s Storage-unit mount-point

  4. Configure a disk library using the above storage unit mount point as the mount path for the library.

Configuration - Windows

Use the following steps to make sure that the device is mounted in the MediaAgent, before configuring the library.

  1. Install the BoostFS on the MediaAgent.

  2. Run the following commands to configure the lock box.

    boostfs lockbox set -u sysadmin -d DD Boost-IP -s Storage-unit -l lock-box-location

    For example:

    C:\Windows\system32>boostfs lockbox set -u sysadmin -d 111.11.11.11 -s MyStorage -l C:\Boostfs\Lockbox\boostfs.lockbox
Enter storage unit user password:
Enter storage unit user password again to confirm:
Lockbox entry set

  3. Run the following command to mount the Storage Unit from EMC.

    boostfs mount -d DD Boost-IP -s Storage-unit -l lock-box-location

    For example:

    C:\Windows\system32>boostfs mount -d 111.11.11.11 -s MyStorage -l C:\Boostfs\Lockbox\boostfs.lockbox

  4. Configure a disk library using the storage unit mount point as the mount path for the library.

Best Practices if using Boost FS

If you are using Boost FS to access the Data Domain library, you should schedule and size the backup jobs and limit device streams such that the MediaAgent does not exceed the maximum connections (256) of Boost FS.

Best Practices if using NFS Shares

If you are using NFS shares to access the Data Domain library, we recommend you to use NFS version 3 (NFSv3) over version 4 (NFSv4).

Note

When using NFSv4, there is a maximum file open limit of 8K.

Converting from NFSv4 to NFSv3

  1. Install Maintenance release (version 11.26.35 or higher) and set the following additional setting on the MediaAgent Client group:

    MediaAgent\NFSCheckLocalLockOptions 0

  2. Stop all services on the MediaAgent.

  3. Unmount the current 4.0 mount on the MediaAgent.

  4. Change the Data Domain export to NFSv3 using Data Domain interface.

  5. Change fstab to use NFSv3 for the mount. Use the local_lock=all option in the mount options.

  6. Run mount -a to mount this entry in the fstab.

  7. Run mount and verify whether output shows the mount with correct options.

  8. Repeat the above steps for all MediaAgents that are configured for the Data Domain library.

  9. Run the following script to set a MediaAgent from the list of all MediaAgents that are configured for the Data Domain library, as the MediaAgent which will run data pruning on that library.

    qoperation execscript -sn setLibraryProperty -si LibName -si EnableSinglePrunerMA -si 1 -si maname

When using Dell EMC Data Domain with DD Boost, we recommend a default deduplication block size of 512 K B for all data type backups. Also ensure that the block size is set to 512 KB on storage pools used for making copies using an Auxiliary Copy operation.

Deduplication block size can be modified using the Block level Deduplication factor option available in the Storage Policy Properties - Advanced tab.

Known Issues

The following issues have been identified:

  • When you backup data to the Data Domain Virtual Edition, the post compression space is reported incorrectly.

  • SE Linux enabled MediaAgents cannot be used with Boost FS due to incompatibilities with the FUSE File system.

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