Backup Exec 2012 and the Deduplication Option Part I
Modern Data Management and Protection Challenges
Customers of all types and sizes are seeking new and innovative ways to overcome challenges associated with data growth and storage management. While these challenges are not necessarily new, they continue to become more complex and more difficult to overcome due to the following:
- Pace of data growth has accelerated
- Location of data has become more dispersed
- Linkages between data sets have become more complex
Data and storage management challenges are compounded by the need for companies to protect critical data assets against disaster through backup and recovery solutions. In order to maintain backups of critical data assets, additional secondary storage resources are required. This additional layer of backup storage must be implemented wherever backups occur, including central data centers and remote offices.
Storage Efficiencies through Data Deduplication
Backup Exec 2012 includes advanced data deduplication technology that allows companies to dramatically reduce the amount of storage required for backups, and to more efficiently centralize backup data from multiple sites for assured disaster recovery. These data deduplication capabilities are available in the Backup Exec 2012 Deduplication Option.
Backup Exec 2012 Data Deduplication Technology
The data deduplication technology within Backup Exec 2012 breaks down streams of backup data into “blocks.” Each data block is identified as either unique or non-unique, and a tracking database is used to ensure that only a single copy of a data block is saved to storage by that Backup Exec server. For subsequent backups, the tracking database identifies which blocks have been protected and only stores the blocks that are new or unique. For example, if five different client systems are sending backup data to a Backup Exec server and a data block is found in backup streams from all five of those client systems, only a single copy of the data block is actually stored by the Backup Exec server. This process of reducing redundant data blocks that are saved to backup storage leads to significant reduction in storage space needed for backups.
Figure 1: Deduplication Process
The deduplication technology within Backup Exec is applied across all backups managed by a deduplication-enabled Backup Exec server.
Deduplication Methods within Backup Exec 2012
The Backup Exec 2012 Deduplication Option gives administrators the flexibility to choose when and where deduplication calculations take place. Three deduplication methods are supported by Backup Exec 2012. These are as follows:
Client-side Deduplication
The client-side deduplication method is a software-driven process. Deduplication takes place at the source or protected client, and backup data is sent over the network in deduplicated form to the Backup Exec server. Only unique blocks of backup data are sent to the backup server and saved to backup storage; non-unique blocks are skipped.
Backup Exec Server-side Deduplication
The Backup Exec server-side deduplication method is also a software-driven process. Deduplication takes place after backup data has arrived at the Backup Exec server and just before data is stored to disk (also known as inline deduplication). Only unique blocks of backup data are stored; non-unique blocks are skipped.
Appliance Deduplication
The appliance deduplication method is a hardware-driven process. Deduplication takes place on the deduplication appliance (can be in-line or post-process deduplication, for example, ExaGrid or Quantum). 3rd-party deduplication devices handle all aspects of deduplication.
Administrators can mix and match deduplication methods to fit their unique needs. For example, a single Backup Exec server enabled for deduplication can simultaneously use client-side deduplication for some jobs, Backup Exec server-side deduplication for others, and appliance deduplication for yet another set of jobs.
Figure 2: Deduplication Methods
The different deduplication methods supported by Backup Exec 2012 have various configurations for which they are best suited. The benefits of each method, as well as the configurations for which each method is best suited, will be detailed in the following weeks.
Making Backup Easier with Intelligent Backup
Have you ever seen pictures of the control room in a power generation plant? It’s an entire wall of dials, knobs, and gauges, all telling you important bits of information about the system. That’s great – and probably necessary! – if your only job was to manage that power plant. But as an IT professional, you have lots of daily jobs; some of you manage Exchange, SQL Server, firewalls, security, storage, servers, you name it. Backup and recovery might be only one of the many jobs you do on a daily basis. And here at Symantec, we don’t want your backup application to be like that power plant – we want you to be
able to sit down, do what you need to do, and get on with your day.
Backup Exec has an entirely new user interface. You’re going to like it – it’s simpler, more intuitive, and much easier to navigate. We’ve also taken a lot of time to keep all those great features you are used to in previous versions of Backup
Exec – so this interface is going to appeal to the new Backup Exec user and the seasoned professional. At-a-glance status is easily available in Backup Exec 2012, both from servers you are protecting and from the storage you are using to store your backups. The latest version of Backup Exec is just a cleaner, more intuitive way to manage your backup and recovery environment.
We’ve also included a new way to create and manage backup jobs and policies. No longer do you need an advanced degree in Data Protection to set up disk-to-disk-to-tape backups or replicate data between sites – the new Backup Stages feature shows you, in graphical detail, how your backup data will be transferred, when it will be backed up, and where it’s going to be transferred to.
Speaking of backups, how many of you just want to create backups to protect your critical servers and applications without any headaches? How many of you would rather not pore over every detail of application backups? Well, if that sounds like you, Backup Exec has made it much easier for you to set up backup jobs, because we have included some seriously intelligent defaults – based off our own expertise in data protection and by taking the most successful backup configurations from
our customers and partners – and building them into Backup Exec. If you want to get into the nuts and bolts of backup job creation, however, Backup Exec has all the same great features and customizability you have used before – so you have the right tools to get the job done.
With Backup Exec, we’ve also stepped up our “telemetry” program – gathering non-personally identifiable information from our customers and partners who choose to participate in the program. This gives us invaluable intelligence about how backups and restores are working in the field, and we have used that information extensively to make Backup Exec the easiest to use, full-featured data protection application for physical or virtual environments on the market.
Be one of the first to find out what other new ground breaking backup and recovery features are coming soon in Backup Exec.
Visit the Countdown to Better Backup web site here: http://bit.ly/yenx3z
By Aidan Finley … Symantec’s Aidan Finley talks about simplifying intelligent backup: http://bit.ly/vHJXoa #BetterBackup [Video]
Consolidate, Automate and Manage to Contain Costs
Most important in today’s economic climate is IT’s struggle to manage, control, streamline and provide services to the business. With increasing pressure to do more with less (don’t you love that phrase!), IT needs to reduce risk exposure by improving productivity, driving savings and consolidating suppliers through a standard set of management tools that helps exploit IT assets.
Inevitably over the coming months we will see some massive changes in our working environment. Organisations that are forced to reduce overheads or make massive structural changes are at risk of stretching resources just a little too thin. Conversely, organisational consolidations may suffer from exponential growth of email systems, increased numbers of servers or storage hardware to manage, with minimal resources to do so.
Consequentially organisations need to maintain the status quo by rapidly securing their new technology landscape. But whichever it is, the pressure to do more with less will only increase. So, in today’s uncertain climate, how can IT address the key business risks and opportunities, discover cost savings that are achievable by addressing spiralling utility costs, the data centre power shortage, and the evermore heat-generating equipment.
Organisations are faced with making sense of IT that has, for several years, grown out of control with increased resources that are inefficient and underutilised as well as dispersed and constrained by increased workloads and new deliverables or simply lacking in the skills required to maintain business objectives. Organisation therefore need to plan to address possible risks in the future.
IT’s role needs to be reassessed and be more, centralised strategic, innovative, at a lower cost; as well as being less distributed. How? With Backup Exec and Backup Exec System Recovery providing tools such as centralised granular management – saving in time, cost and resources.
Why buy/upgrade now?
· Optimising data protection for physical and virtual servers (VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V) through new Backup Exec Virtual Agents.
· Take advantage of improved server utilisation through streamlined backup of physical and virtual servers from one single backup application
· Reduce complexity heterogeneous of data recovery
· Meet strict recovery point objectives and service level agreements
· Recovery of critical data in seconds with patent‐pending Granular Recovery Technology (GRT)
· Continuous data protection for Exchange, SQL, file servers and desktops and laptops ensures backup jobs are continuously protected allowing businesses to restore data back to virtually any point in time.
· Infrastructure management – single, central console to run inventory, deploy Backup Exec version upgrades and patches
· Microsoft 2008 – Support for the Complete Windows Server 2008 Portfolio. Backup Exec can be managed from within single EBS Admin Console. Enhanced SharePoint Recovery
· Get the benefit of cost containment, enhanced recovery and execution across physical and virtual environments in the growing Windows and Unix/Linux server arena.
