Deduplication solutions are not all created equal,

why data domain?

The Business Value of Data Domain

Why you should take the time

• Reduce backup & recovery risks (Eliminate the security risks of
to read this paper
using physical tapes for backups with encryption options for data-
in-place and data-in-flight.)
• Speed up your backups (Achieve up to 68 TB/hr, 1.5 times faster
than the closest competitor.)
• Save valuable floor space (Protect 50 PB of logical backups in
the footprint of just 2 floor tiles.)
• Eliminate the application impact of backups (Achieve the
performance of snapshots and the functionality of full backups
• Increase backup & recovery service levels (Maximize success
with revolutionary primary storage array integration.)
rates via improved performance and reliability.)

• Reduce backup costs (Reduce or eliminate tape infrastructure

• Facilitate Chargeback & Capacity Planning (Physical capacity
power, cooling, tape media, and backup application licensing
measurement provides the mechanism for chargebacks, trending,
costs.)
capacity planning, and migration planning.)

• Improve disaster recovery (Replace tape-based DR with

• Increase flexibility (Consolidate backup & archive data and easily
bandwidth efficient replication improving performance & reliability
adapt to changing requirements over time.)
with simplified DR testing.)

• Simplify your purchase decision (Be confident in your purchase

• Ensure data recoverability (Dell EMC Data Domain Data
decision by selecting the clear leader in the market with years of
Invulnerability Architecture is the industry’s best protection for
proven technology innovation and leadership.)
data integrity, which is critical for your storage of last resort.)

• Simplify backup & recovery operations (Eliminate tape

cartridges and with systems that scale up to 3 PB usable you’ll
have less storage devices to manage.)
Table of Contents
Executive summary�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Deduplication systems are not all created equal���������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Table stakes or a cut above ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Leaders vs. Followers�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Introduction������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 4
Audience���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Why data domain? technology differentiation & leadership���������������������������������������� 4
Data domain data invulnerability architecture ������������������������������������������������������������������ 4
Benefits of data domain data invulnerability architecture���������������������������������������������������� 5
Data domain stream informed segment layout (sislTM)������������������������������������������������������ 5
Benefits of SISL �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5
Dell EMC data domain boostTM software �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5
Benefits of data domain boost������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 6
Variable-length segmentation���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7
Benefits of variable-length segmentation ���������������������������������������������������������������������������7
Inline vs. Post process deduplication ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������7
Benefits of data domain inline deduplication�����������������������������������������������������������������������7
Massive scalability �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7
Benefits of data domain scalability�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7
Data domain for disaster recovery������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 8
Benefits of data domain for disaster recovery�������������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Physical capacity measurement���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Benefits of data domain physical capacity measurement���������������������������������������������������� 8
Secure multi-tenancy�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Benefits of secure multi-tenancy �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Oracle optimized deduplication������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 8
Benefits of oracle optimized deduplication ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 9
Protectpoint: the performance of snapshots with functionality of backups�������������������� 9
Benefits of data domain with protectpoint ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 9
Flexibility���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 9
Benefits of data domain system flexibility������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10

2
Consolidation platform for backup and archive ��������������������������������������������������������������� 10
Benefits of data domain as a consolidation platform ��������������������������������������������������������� 10
Hardened security������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10
Benefits of data domain hardened security������������������������������������������������������������������������ 11
Data domain virtual edition������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 11
Benefits of data domain virtual edition������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 11
Data domain high availability option���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11
Benefits of data domain high availability option������������������������������������������������������������������ 11
DD Boost solution integration�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11
Conclusion������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12

3
Executive summary Introduction
This paper focuses on Data Domain technology leadership
Deduplication systems are not all created equal and differentiation and why it matters to you. The purpose
There is a common misconception that all deduplication of this paper is to explore the technical and financial reasons
systems are created the same and many organizations why Data Domain systems are ideal for backup and archiving
are now doing their homework prior to making a purchase in your environment.
decision. There are certain key things to look for when you are
researching a deduplication storage solution and that is the Audience
subject of this paper. Data Domain, powered by Intel® Xeon® This paper is intended for Dell EMC customers, Dell EMC sales,
processors, is uniquely positioned to deliver you tremendous Dell EMC systems engineers, Dell EMC partners and anyone else
business value with these important capabilities. who is interested in learning more about Data Domain system’s
differentiating technology and all the unique advantages that it
Table stakes or a cut above can provide for your backup and archive data.
All deduplication solutions can reduce your storage and
network requirements. However, how efficiently they do it, how
Why data domain, powered by intel® xeon®
fast they do it and whether your critical data can actually be
reliably recovered vary greatly. Solutions that are “a cut above” processors: technology differentiation &
are the ones that don’t simply focus on deduplication storage
leadership
savings, but also provide you the scale, performance and
efficient replication you require and prioritize protecting the
Data domain data invulnerability architecture
integrity of your data above all else.
Ensuring data integrity should be priority one for the platform
protecting your backup and archive data because they are
Leaders vs. Followers
the storage of last resort. When you try to recover data from
Dell EMC continues to lead purpose-built backup appliances
this platform, it is likely the only place that data exists. When
with 61.4% total market share – 6x more than the closest
considering backup and archive solutions, none of the other
competitor – according to IDC. And with over 70,561
features and capabilities matter if the data cannot be recovered
Data Domain systems now deployed, we believe the more
when it’s really needed. No single protection mechanism can
you know about Data Domain technology, the more you will
provide protection for all the different ways your data can be
want to join this group.
lost. The Data Invulnerability Architecture includes 4 different
protection mechanisms that together provide the industry’s best
protection for data integrity and recovery.

Purpose Built Backup Appliances

2015 Open Systems + Mainframe Revenue

EMC
Symantec
IBM
EMC HPE
61.4% Barracuda
Others
2015 Total Market

$ 3.3B
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Purpose Built Backup Appliance Tracker -Q2 2016

4
 • End-to-end verification. The best way to know if the data you are data integrity should give you confidence to trust Data Domain
storing is good is to check it after it’s been written and compare systems to protect your data better than anyone else.
it against the checksum of the data that was sent. This is done
inline when the backup is running so any detected errors can be Data domain stream informed segment layout (sislTM)
corrected immediately without having to restart the backup job. The foundation for Data Domain’s industry leading performance
is the Stream-Informed Segment Layout (SISL) scaling
• Fault avoidance and containment. One of the most common architecture. SISL enables Data Domain systems to perform
ways that data gets corrupted is when new data is appended to 99% of the deduplication processing in CPU and RAM, which
it, sometimes overwriting previous data. Data Domain systems, gives it fantastic performance even with inefficient protocols
powered by Intel® Xeon® processors, avoid this possibility by never like CIFS and NFS. SISL means Data Domain systems do not
appending new data to existing data. The system also includes rely on increasing the number of disks to increase performance
NVRAM, which protects against data loss in the event of a power and therefore are not spindle-bound like other deduplication
failure before all data can be written to disk. platforms. This is why Data Domain systems have dramatic
increases in performance with each successive generation of
• Fault detection & healing. Once you have stored your data Intel processors – every time Intel processors get faster, Data
correctly, how do you ensure that it stays correct? Over time, bits Domain systems get faster
can flip or become unreadable and disk drives can fail. On all Data
Domain systems, an ongoing background process automatically Benefits of SISL
detects and corrects errors on the fly before they become a There are 2 important benefits from SISL – faster backups and
problem. In addition, RAID 6 protects against a double drive failure investment protection. Most importantly, since Data Domain
or someone removing the wrong drive in the event of a drive failure. systems are the fastest in the industry, they will help you meet
Data Domain systems include a global hot spare drive in every shelf. tight backup windows in the face of exploding data growth.
These hot spare drives will automatically take the place of a failed Secondly, because Data Domain systems performance
drive and a support call is initiated back to Dell EMC to replace the increases with Intel performance, it follows Moore’s Law.
failed drive. This means that future Data Domain systems will continue
to realize dramatic improvements in speed and scalability as
• File system recoverability. Even with all of the above protection, future CPUs are used in new Data Domain systems. As new
there is always the possibility of a catastrophic failure. For many technology is introduced, many of our systems enable you
deduplication systems, these types of failures mean partial or total to replace the controller with a next generation model while
data loss or may take a week or more to recover from. Since data leaving all the backup data in-place. This investment
integrity is the number 1 design priority, Data Domain system uses a protection ensures you can dramatically improve backup
self-describing metadata, so we can completely re-build a system in performance and scalability without disrupting operations.
less than 24 hours in the event of this worst-case scenario.
Dell EMC data domain boostTM software
Benefits of data domain data Dell EMC Data Domain Boost software distributes parts of the
invulnerability architecture deduplication process to the backup server(s) or application
With the Data Invulnerability Architecture, you can reliably client(s), leaving the Data Domain system, powered by Intel®
recover your critical data and trust that the data will be exactly Xeon® processors, to focus its energy on determining what is
as you expect it. No other vendor provides this same level of unique and writing the new data to disk. With DD Boost, only
attention to data integrity. Data Domain systems check the the unique data has to travel from the backup server or client
data saved to the data that was sent, which ensures your data to the Data Domain system. DD Boost also gives the backup
is stored correctly. In addition, the system takes precautions application control over replication. The larger the backup shop
not to trash existing data by never appending new data to the more significant this distribution is. A backup shop with five
previous data, which ensures your data doesn’t get overwritten. or more backup servers, for example, would have five backup
Data Domain systems also protect against data loss due server resources each doing some of the deduplication effort
to power failures or dual disk drive failures or bit flips with with DD Boost. Without DD Boost, the entire deduplication
background data scrubbing and on-the-fly error correction, effort is being performed by the Data Domain system and
which ensure your data stays recoverable and correct. And all the data must travel from the client to the Data Domain
finally, unlike most vendors, Data Domain systems leverage system. With some backup applications, the deduplication can
self-describing metadata, so the system can rebuild from be distributed all the way down to the client and in these cases,
scratch in a reasonable timeframe, to ensure you’re up and the distribution benefit isn’t five (backup servers) to 1, but
running as quickly as possible. This commitment to ensuring could be hundreds or thousands (clients) to 1.

5
Introduced in DD OS 6.0, the DD Boost file system plug-in spans the entire backup path all the way from the client
(BoostFS) is a standard filesystem interface that installed on to the Data Domain system.
the Linux operating system of your favorite application server.
On the client, the filesystem operations conducted on the In addition to increased performance, there’s another
BoostFS mount point use the Boost protocol to transfer data advantage of distributing the deduplication process that may
to and from the Data Domain system. As a result, files and not be so intuitive. Specifically, DD Boost actually reduces
directories created on the mount point are actually stored in CPU utilization on the backup server or client even though
the storage-unit on the Data Domain system. it’s executing parts of the deduplication process. As it turns
out, the CPU cycles required to execute these parts of the
By directly accessing the mount point provided by BoostFS on deduplication process are actually less than what it takes to
the client, a third-party data protection application that doesn’t push full backups over the network. Aha, now that’s pretty
have the specific DD Boost API integration can still realize the cool, huh? With DD Boost, backups run faster, you use less
benefits (e.g. de-duplication, dynamic interface group, TLS bandwidth and you reduce the workload for your backup server
encryption) provided by the DD Boost SDK through the DD or client. Wow! But wait, there’s more.
Boost File System Plug-In, or BoostFS. On the client, users/
programs/scripts can access the mount point in the same way DD Boost also means you don’t have to manage thousands
they access a local directory. of physical or virtual tape cartridges greatly simplifying your
day to day production and disaster recovery operations and
Benefits of data domain boost reducing the time, effort and costs associated with handling
DD Boost speeds up backups by 50% without changing and managing tape cartridges.
your existing backup servers and infrastructure. Doesn’t that
sound great … speed up your backups using the same exact Even with deduplication, managing replication can be difficult
hardware? A single controller DD9800 has performance that is and DR testing can be cumbersome. DD Boost with managed
1.5 times faster than the closest competitor achieving backup file replication changes this by providing the backup application
speeds up to 68 TB/hr! visibility and control over Data Domain replication. This gives
the backup application total catalog awareness of all local
With DD Boost, only unique data has to be sent from the copies and any copies that have been replicated to other sites
backup server or client to the Data Domain system. This and increased confidence in your disaster recoverability.
means up to 99% less data has to be moved across the
network - even for full backups - allowing more efficient use Finally, DD Boost also enables automatic load balancing of the
of your existing resources. For applications that DD Boost can backup workload across all the available paths to maximize
be leveraged at the client (Dell EMC NetWorkerTM, Dell EMC performance and efficiency. In addition, DD Boost provides
AvamarTM, Oracle RMAN, NetVault), this bandwidth reduction automatic path failover, which improves the reliability of your

Without DD Boost Deduplication Occurs Inline

LAN LAN
or SAN or SAN

Application Backup Server

Data Domain system

With DD Boost Deduplication Distributed to App Server

LAN LAN
or SAN or SAN
DD Boost

Application Backup Server

Data Domain system

6
backups and eliminates the need to manage mount points. afterwards as a separate process.
This also ensures your backups continue to run even
if you lose a path resulting in higher backup completion Benefits of data domain inline deduplication
success percentages and less effort spent on re-running Inline deduplication means Data Domain systems do not have
failed backup jobs. to include additional storage capacity as a landing zone for
backup data so that it can be deduplicated later. This means
DD Boost for Enterprise Applications also gives application less storage, less cost and less footprint in your data center.
owners the control and visibility that they’ve always wanted After all, isn’t a smaller storage footprint one of the main
in addition to all the other DD Boost benefits. reasons for deduplication?

Through the new DD Boost file system plug-in (BoostFS), DD Massive scalability
Boost is now immediately available for new workloads that Data Domain systems, powered by Intel® Xeon® processors,
were previously unavailable and can take advantage of DD offer tremendous scalability with up to 1 PB usable capacity
Boost benefits. BoostFS can be deployed in minutes, reducing in the active tier of a single DD9800 system that fits in the
backup windows and storage capacity. Applications using footprint of just 2 floor tiles and can protect up to 1 billion
NFS to move data to/from Data Domain can easily switch to small files. The DD9800 can protect up to 50 PB of logical
BoostFS and improve backup performance. backup data all in a single deduplication pool. Systems can
start with as little as a few disks and scale up to 24 shelves for
Variable-length segmentation the active tier. Data Domain systems scale seamlessly without
Data Domain systems, powered by Intel® Xeon® processors, disrupting operations by simply adding additional shelves
use variable-length segmentation to break up data streams on-the-fly while the system is running. Leveraging the DD
for optimal deduplication rates. Specifically, as a Data Domain Cloud Tier option, a second tier of storage can be added to
system ingests data, it intelligently breaks up the stream based some models for long-term backup retention, which provides
on the natural structure of the data. Then, the system will further scalability up to 3 PB of total usable capacity or up to
determine if each segment is unique before compressing and 150 PB of total logical storage.
storing it. By doing this, the system usually finds the same
logical segment break points that it found previously, which Mid-range and high-end Data Domain systems can leverage
results in identifying more duplicate segments enabling higher the DS60 dense shelf option, which can provide up to 190TB
deduplication ratios. In comparison, vendors who use fixed of usable capacity in only 5U of rack space! Better yet, all Data
length deduplication are less likely to find duplicate segments Domain systems come with a shelf migration capability that
as their segmentation is based on a predetermined size. Some enables older drive/lower density shelves to be replaced with
vendors will even try to trick you and call it “variable” when it newer drive/higher density shelves while the system continues
really means you can select which “fixed” length value running with minimal performance impact.
you want to use.
Benefits of data domain scalability
Benefits of variable-length segmentation Massive scalability means you will have fewer devices to
Given the same real world data set, variable-length manage, require less infrastructure and achieve higher
deduplication will always produce higher deduplication ratios. deduplication ratios because there can be more data within
The significance of this cannot be overstated. Variable-length a single deduplication pool. Other vendors offer smaller
segmentation equates to higher deduplication ratios, which scalability that may require you to deploy many systems,
means you need less storage to protect your data. In addition, meaning multiple deduplication pools and more complexity,
this also enables more effective scalability within a single pool, which results in a lower overall deduplication efficiency. With
which means you’ll have fewer devices to manage. Finally, the Data Domain systems, shelves can be added while the system
higher deduplication ratios that variable-length deduplication is running providing additional scale without disruption. This
enables means you will have less data to replicate and therefore massive scalability enables Data Domain systems to provide
require less WAN bandwidth and less storage at your DR site. the capacity required for efficient consolidation for backup and
All this adds up to significantly less complexity & cost! archive data. Data Domain Cloud Tier and extended retention
options also allows you to eliminate the problems, risks and
Inline vs. Post process deduplication expenses associated with using physical tape for long term
Data Domain systems perform deduplication inline, as the backup retention.
backup stream comes into the system and only stores unique
elements on disk. Unlike post-process deduplication, they do The DS60 dense shelf option provides maximum data center
not have to store data on disk first and then deduplicate it footprint cost efficiency. The shelf migration utility simplifies

7
operations over time, maintains overall Data Domain system Data Domain fastcopy provides for quicker and easier DR
investments and maximizes data protection availability. testing without impacting production replication from the
primary site. Fastcopy uses almost no additional storage
Data domain for disaster recovery capacity in the Data Domain system at the DR site because it
With tape-based disaster recovery, there are many risks and uses metadata pointers to existing deduplicated data. When
recovery dangers including damaged tape media, lost tape DR testing is complete, that fastcopy snapshot can be safely
media, tape drive hardware failures, tape storage recovery and easily deleted.
delays and frequently a limitation on the number and speed
of tape drives available at the recovery site. While most Physical capacity measurement
disk based storage platforms offer replication, without Data Domain systems, powered by Intel® Xeon® processors,
deduplication, those alternatives are not practical or can provide reports on physical capacity used by files, MTree,
cost effective for disaster recovery. or by Tenant to facilitate chargeback billing, capacity planning,
migration planning and provide insight into top Data Domain
Data Domain systems with Data Domain Replicator software protection storage consumers. These reports can be run
are designed to improve disaster recovery supporting on-demand or batch.
one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, many-to-many and
cascaded replication topologies. Data Domain’s efficient inline Benefits of data domain physical capacity
variable length deduplication becomes the enabling technology measurement
for a cost effective “tapeless” disaster recovery approach. Data Domain physical capacity measurement provides an easy
Specifically, with Data Domain Replicator, Data Domain way for Enterprise Customers or Service Providers to measure
systems only replicate unique data to the remote site and consumption of Data Domain physical capacity usage providing
begin replication while backups are still in process. a chargeback methodology and capacity usage information
which can be used for capacity planning or migration planning.
Data Domain systems also make regular DR testing easier and
faster through a unique snapshot capability called fastcopy. Secure multi-tenancy
Fastcopy is a metadata read/write snapshot that can be For large enterprise customers and for service providers, Data
created in less than 5 minutes to be used for DR testing. Domain systems provide secure multi-tenancy capabilities for
secure data isolation, management and reporting by internal
Benefits of data domain for disaster recovery business units or departments, or individual customers.
The first and most obvious benefit of Data Domain Replicator is
the opportunity to replace physical tape and all the associated Benefits of secure multi-tenancy
headaches and risks. There are no physical tapes to recall and Secure multi-tenancy provides the ability to share a physical
wait for. There are no physical tapes to get damaged. There are Data Domain system while providing logical data isolation by
no physical tapes that can get lost. You won’t destroy backup tenants and administrative management and reporting isolation
tapes with faulty tape drives. All of this means you will have by tenant. This improves overall cost efficiency by enabling
a more reliable and cost effective infrastructure for disaster greater storage consolidation, simplifies on-going management
recovery. Your recovery will also not be limited by a small and provides the basis for chargeback for protection storage.
number of physical tape drives at the DR site or the wasted
time of loading, mounting and positioning each data cartridge Oracle optimized deduplication
before data can actually be read. Deduplication efficiency depends on backup streams looking
very much the same from day-to-day. This is a result of typically
Data Domain Replicator ensures network-efficient replication starting backups at the same point and going in the same order
of only unique data to one or more target sites providing the each time. Data Domain uses the most efficient variable length
fastest time-to-DR readiness. This means that your replication segmentation approach to determine logical places to segment
bandwidth costs will be minimal and your time to data access the incoming backup stream. The result of starting at the same
for disaster recovery is fast and reliable. place, going in the same order and efficient variable length
segmentation is achieving high deduplication ratios up to 30:1
If you are using Data Domain with CIFS, NFS, or DD Boost, with typical enterprise data and retention periods.
you won’t even have virtual tape cartridges to worry about.
Even better, with DD Boost and managed file replication, your In the physical tape backup world, multiplexing is very common.
backup catalog will already be fully aware of all replicated Multiplexing means sending multiple backup streams to a single
copies available at your DR site. target device mixing the backup data in order to keep the tape
buffer full for the physical tape drive so that it functions as fast

8
as it can. Multiplexing is typically enabled by a setting leverage ProtectPoint from native utilities that they are already
in the backup application. familiar with. Dell EMC NetWorker has been integrated with
ProtectPoint providing the NetWorker backup administrator
It is also very common to backup Oracle databases using visibility into all ProtectPoint data protection activity. In addition,
multiple channels in order to improve overall backup ProtectPoint also supports file system backups for Microsoft
performance. When the Oracle filesperset value is set greater Windows as well as Unix and Linux.
than 1, multiple channels are used. This is, in fact, another way
to multiplex backups. Benefits of data domain with protectpoint
Because ProtectPoint leverages change block tracking
Unfortunately the multiplexing methods mentioned above have technology, only the data that has changed gets sent
a negative impact on deduplication efficiency because it varies to the Data Domain system, which greatly reduces the
the backup stream from day-to-day. When the backup data amount of data that needs to be moved. Because the data
is mixed into a common stream, even though they may start movement is directly from the primary storage array to
in the same place, the data won’t be in the same order every the Data Domain system, ProtectPoint also eliminates the
day. The result is significantly less deduplication efficiency. application performance impact of traditional backups,
This is true for any vendor’s deduplication solution. For this which enables more cost effective retention and allows for
reason, the standard deduplication best practice is to turn off faster and more frequent full backups with less cost and
multiplexing and set Oracle filesperset = 1. Until now, you have complexity. ProtectPoint provides the performance benefits
been forced to choose between high performance and high of snapshots with the functionality benefits of full backups.
deduplication efficiency. With Data Domain Oracle optimized This is particularly valuable for the protection of very large
deduplication technology, you can use multiplexing and still datasets. ProtectPoint’s database integration provides all
achieve high deduplication efficiency for Data Domain systems these advantages using tools that are already familiar to the
dedicated to Oracle DB backups. application owners. And finally, for NetWorker customers,
ProtectPoint integration provides corporate backup
Benefits of oracle optimized deduplication administrators visibility & awareness of all ProtectPoint activity.
Data Domain’s Oracle optimized deduplication technology
means you no longer have to choose between maximizing Flexibility
speed or maximizing deduplication efficiency, you can have Most of us don’t like to be locked into one way of doing things
both at the same time for systems dedicated to Oracle DB when we purchase a solution. Data Domain systems provide
backups. Multiple Oracle channels maximize database investment protection with the flexibility to grow with you as
backup performance. Higher deduplication ratios mean your backup requirements change over time. All Data Domain
less storage used, less bandwidth used and in the end, systems include 1Gig Ethernet ports that allow you to quickly
less cost and complexity. and simply perform backups with CIFS, NFS as a NAS target.
You also have the option of adding one or more dual port 8GB
Protectpoint: the performance of snapshots or 16GB Fibre Channel HBAs to connect your Data Domain
with functionality of backups system into an existing FC infrastructure and in many situations
How do you take industry leading protection storage and make will be able to leverage DD Boost and eliminate the need to
it even better? Dell EMC has integrated its best of breed manage tape cartridges. Data Domain systems also support
primary storage with its best of breed Data Domain protection NPIV FC port virtualization. You also have the option to add
storage creating a revolutionary new backup solution called one or more quad port 1 Gig or dual/quad port 10 Gig Ethernet
ProtectPoint. Unlike traditional backup, ProtectPoint will NICs into your Data Domain system to support additional
only pause the application to mark the point in time for an bandwidth over Ethernet.
application consistent backup and then the application can
quickly return to normal operations. ProtectPoint sends data In addition, you can perform backups over Fibre Channel and
directly from the primary storage array to the Data Domain Ethernet at the same time. All data in the Data Domain system
system over Fibre Channel. Leveraging change block tracking is part of the same deduplication pool regardless of how the
technology, only the data that has changed since the last full data gets into the system. You can also use Data Domain as
backup is sent directly from the primary storage array to the the target from multiple backup and/or archiving applications
Data Domain system, powered by Intel® Xeon® processors. at the same time and set logical quotas for each workload. In
addition, many models have a cost effective controller upgrade
ProtectPoint is integrated with Oracle RMAN including option leaving your existing storage and backup data in place.
support for RAC, SAP with Oracle using BR Tools and IBM
DB2 for open systems using IBM Data Studio. This gives Data Domain supports all the leading Open Systems backup
Oracle, SAP and IBM database administrators the ability to applications including Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC

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NetWorker and can also be used with IBM i systems and IBM file, email, SharePoint and database archiving applications,
zSeries mainframe systems. Data Domain systems provide efficient archive storage
through deduplication.
The Data Domain Cloud Tier option supports native Data
Domain long term backup retention to private or public clouds Data Domain Retention Lock Governance edition provides file
level locking capability. The Data Domain Operating System
Benefits of data domain system flexibility includes data shredding capability. Data Domain Retention Lock
Data Domain’s flexible connectivity means you can easily drop Compliance edition, provides secure data retention for file and
a system into an existing infrastructure with almost no change email archive data that meets US and International standards
to your existing backup processes and be up and running in including SEC 17a-4(f).
no time. Then, you can add functionality over time as your
requirements and environment changes. For example, to With DD Retention Lock, all Data Domain systems can
minimize change, you might start out by installing a new Data simultaneously support governance and compliance archive
Domain system using DD VTL software over Fibre Channel. data sets. This enables you to set different retention periods for
Later, you could install a multi-port Ethernet NIC and eliminate different classes (governance and compliance) of archive data.
using tape cartridges, or a multi-port Fiber Channel HBA card
and with DD Boost you can eliminate using tape cartridges. In addition, Data Domain systems also offers Data Domain
And NPIV FC port virtualization support provides maximum FC Cloud Tier or Data Domain Extended Retention software
connectivity and efficiency ensuring Data Domain can easily be options that can eliminate using problematic physical tape
inserted into all environments with maximum FC throughput. for long-term backup retention. DD Cloud Tier enables up to
150 PB of logical capacity in a single system for long-term
You can also share a Data Domain system between multiple backup retention. This software option is available for new or
backup and archiving applications at the same time. This is existing DD860, DD990, DD4200, DD4500, DD7200, DD9500,
ideal if you have multiple different backup applications DD6800, DD9300 and DD9800 systems. The Data Domain
(possibly due to acquisitions) and you want to migrate from one Cloud Tier option allows customers to send deduplicated long
backup application to another over time without disruption. term backup retention data to a public or private cloud object
In addition, by consolidating backup and archive data on a storage target.
single system, you can eliminate silos of storage and a lower
TCO. Data Domain systems also provide investment protection Benefits of data domain as a consolidation platform
by supporting your non-Dell EMC backup applications today, Data Domain systems are ideal for consolidating backup
with the option to upgrade later to Dell EMC Avamar or Dell and archive data to reduce overall TCO by eliminating silos
EMC NetWorker for optimal performance and end-to-end of storage. This enables both workloads to benefit from the
integration. deduplication storage and replication efficiencies and means
you’ll only have one device to manage.
And finally, many Data Domain systems allow non-destructive
upgrades by replacing the controller with a newer model In addition, DD Cloud Tier and DD Extended Retention provide
and keeping all existing backup data in place on your existing cost effective alternatives to physical tape for long-term
storage shelves. Since no data migration is required, this can backup retention eliminating the risks and costs of handling,
be a cost effective way to upgrade your performance and storing and managing thousands of tape cartridges. DD Cloud
scalability while leveraging your initial investment in storage Tier offers native deduplicated long term retention to private
shelves. or public clouds. The minimal day-to-day attention that Data
Domain requires makes it a perfect consolidation platform.
Data Domain’s Cloud Tier option for native long term backup
retention lets customers choose whether to leverage public Hardened security
cloud object storage for long term deduplicated backup Data Domain systems have a number of important security
retention or send it to their own private cloud target such as features that protect data being stored and replicated. Role
Dell EMC Elastic Cloud Storage Based Access Control provides access to Data Domain
resources based on what the individual needs to do. These
Consolidation platform for backup and archive roles include administrator, backup operator, user, data access
Data Domain systems, powered by Intel® Xeon® processors, and Security Officer.
are not only industry leading purpose-built backup appliances,
but are also an ideal platform for archive data. Data Domain Data Domain Replicator enables safe and network-efficient
systems support many leading archive applications such replication by encrypting all or a portion of the data to be
as Dell EMC SourceOne, Symantec Enterprise Vault and replicated. Data is deduplicated as it is being written to
IBM InfoSphere Optim Archive. By integrating with these the Data Domain system and DD Replicator preserves this

10
deduplication, thereby reducing the network utilization. Capacity can easily be moved between virtual systems
and/or locations and can be purchased in 1 TB increments
The Data Domain Encryption software option provides allowing you to grow capacity as the business demands it. This
the industry’s first encryption of data-at-rest on provides customers with tremendous deployment flexibility.
deduplication storage, enabling organizations to enhance DD VE enables customers to gain the benefits of the world’s
the security of their data. Data Domain systems have most trusted protection storage with the agility, flexibility and
local key management capability. efficiency of a software-defined solution.

Benefits of data domain hardened security Data domain high availability option
Role Based Access Control provides security protection by The Data Domain High Availability option (HA) ensures the
limiting action that can be taken by users either intentionally or operational continuity of backup, archive and recovery of
unintentionally based on what their role is. data to minimize downtime for users and processes. The HA
option is available for the DD9800, DD9500, DD9300 and the
Optional encryption of data-at-rest provides an extra layer of DD6800 systems. The active/passive configuration attaches
data security, if required, for data that sits on the Data Domain two Data Domain controllers to a shared storage pool, with one
system. Optional encryption of data-in-flight is available to handling data ingestion and the other on standby. The high
protect data being replicated from one Data Domain system availability interlink card mirrors the state of the active node
to another while preserving the deduplication bandwidth and NVRAM content between controllers. During unplanned
efficiencies of Data Domain Replicator. system downtime such as a sudden hardware failure, failover
activates. Backup jobs will pause on the active controller
Data Domain includes basic encryption key management and failover to the standby node, where they can resume
capabilities and optional integration with RSA Data Protection operations in just minutes. HA on the Data Domain system
Manager, which can manage encryption keys for Data Domain fails over automatically for DD Boost and NFS protocols,
and other systems. This integration option with RSA gives allowing users to effortlessly maximize uptime in the face of an
customers the ability to manage all their encryption keys unexpected interruption.
through a single mechanism.
With the HA option, Data Domain users gain the ability to
Data domain virtual edition upgrade the Data Domain Operating System (DD OS) without
Data Domain Virtual Edition (DD VE) leverages the power having to take a system offline. When the process is initiated,
of the Data Domain Operating System to deliver first the standby controller will be upgraded while the active is
software-defined protection storage. DD VE is fast and simple still operating. Once the first upgrade is completed, operations
to download, deploy and configure and can be up and running will failover to the updated controller and the upgrade will begin
in minutes. DD VE runs in VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 and 6.0 on the second system.
and supports VMware vSphere High Availability and
Fault Tolerance to meet the availability needs of Benefits of data domain high availability option
customers. It also supports VMware Distributed Resource The Data Domain High Availability option enables users to
Scheduler (DRS), allowing VMware to balance workloads achieve greater operational resiliency in the face of unexpected
for optimal performance. DD VE also runs in Microsoft failures, with failover enabled between two Data Domain
Hyper-V. DD VE provides customers with the benefits of the controllers. Enterprise customers facing increasing demands
world’s most trusted protection storage and the simplicity, for business continuity will rest easier with a second Data
flexibility and efficiency of a software-defined solution. Domain controller on standby at all times. The primary benefits
of high availability are:
DD VE maintains the core Data Domain features that • Dramatically minimize downtime: get back up and running in
differentiate it as the industry-leading protection storage. minutes with HA, enabling business continuity in the face of sudden
This includes high-speed, variable length deduplication for a hardware failures
10 – 30x reduction in storage requirements, unparalleled data • Faster system upgrades: upgrade controllers without having to take
integrity to ensure reliable recovery and seamless integration a system offline
with leading backup and archiving applications. DD VE also
comes with DD Boost, which speeds backups by up to
DD Boost solution integration
50%, DD Encryption for enhanced security of data and DD
Dell EMC continues to innovate and leverage Data Domain with
Replicator, which enables network efficient replication for
DD Boost in many ways to benefit our customers. Integration
faster time-to-DR readiness.
with leading backup and enterprise applications continues to
grow with ever increasing opportunities for customers to take
Benefits of data domain virtual edition
advantage of this powerful technology.
A single DD VE instance can scale from .5 TB to 96 TBs.

11
 Data Domain Boost Ecosystem
Avamar NetWorker vRanger NetVault NetBackup Backup Veeam VDP Data Greenplum RMAN SAP SAP DB2 SQL & HortonWorks Cloudera
Exec Advanced Protector HANA Exchange

Server
App
Backup

DD Boost Supported over LAN

Server

DD Boost Supported over SAN

DD Boost Supported over WAN

For everything else , use the

DD Boost file system plug -in

DD Boost Integration: • Improve protection and enhance recovery of large database

• Dell EMC NetWorker backups by dramatically reducing backup times while reducing
• Dell EMC Avamar application impact.
• VMware vSphere Data Protection • Reduce the strain on your network infrastructure caused by
• Veritas NetBackup backups and defer the cost of possible infrastructure upgrades.
• Veritas Backup Exec • Free up valuable data center floor space by eliminating large
• NetVault physical tape libraries and tape storage.
• vRanger • Achieve higher backup job completion success with less manual
• HP Data Protector intervention.
• Veeam • Reduce your ongoing backup and recovery costs related to power,
• CommVault Simpana cooling, tape management and backup licensing.
• Pivotal Greenplum • Be confident in the recoverability of critical data when you really
need it.
DD Boost for Enterprise Applications: • Optimize Oracle database backups leveraging the speed of multiple
• Oracle RMAN channels while maintaining high deduplication efficiency.
• Microsoft SQL • Have happier Oracle database administrators by giving them
• SAP dramatically faster daily full database backups with full catalog
• SAP HANA visibility and control over their own backups and recovery.
• IBM DB2 • Simplify day-to-day backup operations by eliminating the need to
• Hortonworks Hadoop manage thousands of tape cartridges.
• Cloudera Hadoop • Enhance disaster recovery and improve RTOs by eliminating all
• Mongo DB the problems and risks of a physical tape based recovery with
• MySQL bandwidth efficient and encryption secured replication.
• Reduce the time, effort and costs for annual disaster recovery
Conclusion testing eliminating the need to transport and manage physical tape.
After reading this paper you should have a better understanding how • Enhance cost efficiencies and facilitate chargeback for protection
Dell EMC Data Domain systems, powered by Intel® Xeon® processors, storage by internal business units or customers and Service
can dramatically improve your backup, recovery, archive and long Providers leveraging secure multi-tenancy.
term retention processes. • Empower Hadoop admins to do their own backup and recovery on
Hortonworks and Cloudera’s Hadoop distribution.
To summarize, Dell EMC Data Domain will help you: • Leverage the benefits of DD Boost for third party and Platform
3 applications such as CommVault, MySQL, & MongoDB (e.g.
• Complete your backups quickly and give you some breathing room deduplication, dynamic interface groups, TLS encryption) provided
to handle annual data growth within your backup windows. by the DD Boost SDK through BoostFS.

If you would like to know more about Data Domain technology, please refer to our Data Domain Data Invulnerability Architecture, Data Domain
SISL, Data Domain Replicator, Dell EMC ProtectPoint, and Data Domain Boost for Oracle RMAN white papers. Please join us on The Core blog to
discuss this and other EMC data protection and availability topics. You can also visit the Dell EMC Store to explore Data Domain products.

Copyright © 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
12 Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. Published in the USA 01/17, Business Value White Paper, H11534.7
Dell EMC believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.