Backup Exec 2012 and Optimized Deduplication Configuration Questions

[js_newc]

We are currently running an environment of a CASO server at our corporate office and MMS's at our remote locations.  We are working on getting optimized deduplication running so that we can duplicate the backup sets from the remote MMS's to our CASO server over our WAN.  A couple of questions I have regarding this configuration:

1. The "Private cloud server" setting (located on the "Settings" screen under the Storage tab in the console) for the CASO and each MMS.  If the MMS are running optimized deduplication back to the CASO, should this setting be enabled on the CASO?  What does enabling this setting actually?  I have read through the Backup Exec 2012 Private Cloud Services Planning and Deployment Guide several times and it doesn't really explain what enabling that setting actually does.

2. That guide also mentions creating the following registry key:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Backup Exec for Windows\Backup Exec\Engine\Misc\DisablePDI2PDISetCopy

It says to do this "If you want to run incremental Exchange GRT duplicate backup jobs to the cloud, set the following registry value to 1 when the installation is complete. Changing the registry value disables the deduplication disk storage device's GRT-to-GRT duplicate copy capability on the Backup Exec server."

Is this the only case in which you should set this value (if you just want to run incremental Exchange GRT)?  The reason I ask is that I also located the following support article http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH172807  that states this value should be set to improve performance of optimized deduplication for GRT sets over a WAN, but since the article date is prior to BE 2012, I assume this is for BE 2010.  Is this still true for BE 2012 and if so, is this required/recommended and should it be set on both the CASO and all MMS?

3. Does optimized deduplication over a WAN work well with backups run using the Hyper-V agent, or is it better to run the backups of the VM's individually using the Windows agents?  I wasn’t sure if optimized deduplication was able to evaluate the contents of the VM’s in the Hyper-V backup and only get changed blocks instead of always duplicating the whole VM VHD file.

Any input on these questions would be appreciated.

Thanks

[js_newc]

Does anyone have any advice/input on my questions?  Could someone from Symantec please respond?

Thanks

[VJware]

1: This is what the private cloud setting does ~

Enables a managed service provider to locate a Backup Exec server in its data center, and then configure it for a CASO environment with other Backup Exec servers that are located across the WAN at the managed service provider's customer locations. As an alternative to shipping tapes off-site for storage, backups can be run and stored locally, and then copied to the cloud server's deduplication disk storage device. Additionally, this feature can be used by customers with widely distributed networks who want to use Backup Exec servers in remote offices for local backups, and then copy the backup sets to a Backup Exec server that is located in a central data center. This option is part of the Cloud Services for Backup Exec feature.

2: The same statement applies to Backup Exec 2012 as well. Here is the guide for BE 2012 http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH172464

3: BE 2012 has a better stream handler for Hyper-V & it keeps a track of the changed blocks...It works better than previous versions, although I am not really sure if it compares well with RAWS.

[js_newc]

Thanks for the response, but I still have questions:

1. As I mentioned in the posting, I read that section in the Cloud Services Guide many times over, but this is a generic statement and does not state what technically changes in the program when that setting is enabled.  In our environment where we have MMS's at our remote plants and a CASO at our corporate office and wanting to use optimized deduplication from the MMS's to the CASO, should we have this setting enabled on our CASO?  We currently do not have that setting enabled and the few jobs we have setup so far for duplication from the MMS to CASO appear to be working correctly.  So again, what technically happens or changes with the application when that setting is enabled?

2.  We are running Full and Differental Exchange. So should that registry setting only be applied if we are running Incremental Exchange GRT duplicate jobs to the CASO as stated in the 2012 Cloud Services Guide?  Or, should it be set as an overall performance enhancement for optimized GRT deduplication over a WAN as stated by  http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH172807 (does TECH172807 still apply to 2012)?

Thanks

[EliasA · Accepted solution]

Answers to your questions:

1. For this configuration the Private Cloud setting should be set on only the CAS server at the corporate office. The Private Cloud setting affects the CASO job delegation to ensure that backup, verify, and duplicate jobs get delegated to media servers that are in local proximity to the subject deduplication devices. For example, the verify for a backup set that is duplicated from a remote site to the corporate site should be verified by the cloud (CAS in your case) media server, rather than sending that verify data back over the WAN to the remote site media server to be verified.

2. The registry setting should be applied only if you are copying Exchange GRT incremental or differential backups, otherwise it should not be applied.

[js_newc]

Elias,

Thank you for your response. 

[js_newc]

Elias,

Another question regarding the DisablePDI2PDISetCopy registry setting - Is it required if we are duplicating Exchange GRT Full?  Also, if we are duplicating Exchange GRT incremental or differential, should that registry setting be applied to the CASO, the MMS's or both?

Thanks

[EliasA]

Sorry for the delayed reply. Answers:
The registry setting is not required if they are only copying full Exchange backups. It is only required if you are copying incremental or differential Exchange GRT backups.

If they are copying incremental or differential Exchange GRT backups then the registry value should be set on both the CAS and MMS.