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BackupExecNewb's avatar
BackupExecNewb
Level 4
10 years ago

Backup Exec Deduplication - Seeding and 1st Backups

Hi,

I have a number of sites that I want to use the BE2014 dedup option for my backups.  The remote sites have 2TB plus of data.  It will take forever to back this up over the wire.  Symantec had recommended running up a media server at the remote site, backing up the data to a dedup volume, and then move the BE server and dedup volume to the local site and run a duplicaiton job.

Has anyone had any expeience with this?  Ideally I'd like to use a VM to act as the temp remote site media server.  However, storage will still be an issue, as I don't have enough local storage to present to the ESXI host.  USB drives are not supported for dedup volumes, so all I can think of is a cheap NAS box running iSCSI.  Ideally, I'd want something that would be easy to transport around. 

Also I imagine I'll need CASO in order to duplicate the dedup volumes between media servers.  This isn't available with the trial version of BE is it?

Most importanrly, I'd also like to verify if this method is carried out, that the subsequent 1st full backup from the remote site to the duplicated dedup volume will in fact run quickly, as the data should now be seeded.

I'd love to hear from anyone that has had some real world experience with this.  I would hate to ship it out, set it up, only to find out that it doesn't work.

 

Thanks

2014
Backup and Recovery
Backup Exec
Deduplication Option
Windows Server (2003-2008)
  • pkh's avatar
    pkh
    10 years ago

    No.  Not sending data across the wire may not reduce the duration of the backup significantly and while the job is running, you risk job failure.  Doing a local backup reduces the chance of failure due to poor link quality.

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  • BackupExecNewb's avatar
    BackupExecNewb
    Level 4
    10 years ago

    Thanks - useful information.

    I have the remote site data close to hand though via dfsr replication.  I can seed with that, but it is still taking a considerable amount of time to perform the 1st full remote site backup.  I get maybe 600GB in and the job fell over with an error code E008488.  Was told this could be several things but likely a network glitch. I can't afford to wait 2 days into my first backup for it to fail and then I have to start again.

    I guess what I'm really trying to find out if the method outlined above in the TN would speed up that intial backup from the remote site, or if there's anything can do to adress that 1st remote site backup after the data is seeded.

  • CraigV's avatar
    CraigV
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    ...by seeding your first backup to local storage and then transporting to your central site, you're going to save your bandwidth. It should go through, but don't forget that your first backup is always going to be your longest. Just because you're using dedupe doesn't mean it's fast from the get-go.

    Subsequent backups will be faster as more redundant data is found and less is backed up.

    Thanks!

  • pkh's avatar
    pkh
    Moderator
    10 years ago
    Are you going to setup a media server with dedup at each of the remote sites? If you are thinking of using your central site to backup your remote sites, think again. I doubt you have the bandwidth
  • BackupExecNewb's avatar
    BackupExecNewb
    Level 4
    10 years ago

    Totally understand. I just thought it would go faster when the data isseeded.  I did a 1st backup of remote site data with just 1GB of seeded data and it took 6 minutes on a 20 Mbps link. Given those calculations, I estimate 7.3 days to do 2TB.  I can live with that, but not if it fails 2 days in and I have to start again.  I don't even want to think about how long it will take to backup the 2TB site with the 6Mbps link.

    Perhaps this is where optimised duplication beats just seeding and backing up??

  • BackupExecNewb's avatar
    BackupExecNewb
    Level 4
    10 years ago

    No I'm wanting to use BE dedup exclusively to back up the remote sites from one server at the data center. (when the data is seeded).   That's what the technical white paper says the dedup option can do; to use client side deduplicaiton to reduce the amount of data sent over the wire.

  • CraigV's avatar
    CraigV
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    ...mmm, thought that you had storage on the local site and wanted to do optimised dedupe...which is what would be better suited for this setup.

    Thanks!

  • CraigV's avatar
    CraigV
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    ...then backing up across the WAN is the only other option. Also, seeding in this case should do the trick.

    If you can test this, then do so before committing to it.

    Thanks!

  • BackupExecNewb's avatar
    BackupExecNewb
    Level 4
    10 years ago

    OK - just to confirm:

    There's no difference between seeding and running the first backup and optimized dedup for seeding and then the first backup?  Either way, the remote server will still take the same amount of time to backup, as it's got to go through to know that the data s already there?