Data deduplication is another technology that has gained wide acceptance as a tool to streamline the backup process. Deduplication eliminates duplicate data even when such data is unrelated, greatly reducing the data multiplier effect on data.
For example, if a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation is stored on different file servers multiple times, deduplication ensures that only one copy is stored no matter how many full or incremental backups occur. Organizations may consider specialized appliances to provide backup-to-disk and deduplication functions. However, these appliances add complexity to the data center with more devices to manage and actually add capacity to the environment rather than using what already exists more efficiently.
To be continued...
Read Part 1: A State of Neglect
Read Part 2: Turning Things Around
