EMC Doubles Performance of Midrange Data Domain Systems

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As Intel’s processors get faster, so does the performance of EMC’s Data Domain disk-based deduplication appliances. EMC (NYSE:EMC) today unveiled a range of upgrades for its backup systems, including a new Data Domain system, a deduplication expansion option for the EMC Disk Library for Mainframes and increased capacity points for the Disk Library series.

The new DD670 rides the CPU curve by combining the Nehalem-based Intel Xeon Processor 5500 Series with the Data Domain SISL (Stream-Informed Segment Layout) architecture to double backup performance over previous midrange Data Domain appliances.

“Whenever Intel comes out with a new processor we can leverage the SISL architecture to get faster. We can process backups faster within a given window and that means we can support more capacity on the back end,” said Shane Jackson, senior director of product marketing for EMC’s Backup Recovery Systems Division. “Competing products need to add more disk drives to get faster when the whole point of deduplication is to reduce the number of drives you need.”

The DD670 offers up to 5.4TB/hour of aggregate inline deduplication throughput and supports up to 76TB of raw capacity or up to 2.7PB of logical capacity with 50x data reduction.

According to Jackson, a single DD670 system can support replication fan-in from up to 90 remote offices using smaller Data Domain appliances such as the DD140 or DD610, for disaster recovery.

The base model includes 12TB of disk in a 2-rack mount chassis and supports expansion shelves with either 1TB or 2TB SATA.

The performance of the DD670 is made possible through the use of the recently announced DD Boost software, which offloads the Data Domain target device by transferring segmentation and fingerprinting onto the backup server, freeing up bandwidth for the Data Domain appliance.

EMC claims Boost can cut the backup load by as much as 40 percent, which equates to 80 to 99 percent less backup LAN bandwidth and a 50 percent faster Data Domain box.

The DD670 supports NFS, CIFS, Symantec OpenStorage (OST) or EMC Data Domain Boost over 1Gbps or 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and/or VTL over Fibre Channel. An 8Gbps Fibre Channel connectivity option is also available for the DD670 and DD880.

Pricing for the DD670 starts at $110,000. Licensing or DD Boost on the DD670 is $15,000.

Disk Library Updates

EMC also announced a deduplication storage expansion option for its Disk Library for Mainframe (DLm) system and the EMC Disk Library 5000 series.

The Deduplication Storage Expansion option for the DLm960 is essentially the addition of the DD880 system – EMC’s highest-end controller system – to the DLm960. Jackson said the option allows users to retain more data on disk for longer periods when compared to tape-based backups.

The DLm960 with the Deduplication Storage Expansion option scales from two-to-six Virtual Tape Engines (VTEs) supporting up to 12 FICON connections and front-end ingest performance over 4.3TB/hour. The DLm960 combines low-cost SATA drives, RAID 6 protection, hot-standby disks, tape emulation and hardware compression.

Jackson said the DD880 could provide an additional petabyte of logical storage capacity in a single cabinet bringing the maximum capacity of the DLm960 to almost 3.5PBs of logical capacity.

In addition, EMC has refreshed its Disk Library family with the debut of the DL5000 series. The DL5000 libraries scale in capacity from 8TB up to 1.4PB of usable storage for a maximum logical capacity of 2.8PB (with an average compression ratio of 2:1).

The two models in the DL5000 series, the DL5100 and DL5200, consist of one and two Disk Library engines, respectively, and are based on the Intel Xeon Processor 5500 Series.

The Disk Library engine includes new hardware compression cards and three 8Gbps Fibre Channel ports. The dual engine DL5200 offers active engine failover for continuous operation should a single engine fail.

Pricing for the DL5200 starts at $390,000. The DL5100 starts at $204,000.

The EMC Data Domain DD670, expansion shelves with 2TB drives, and the Deduplication Storage Expansion option for DLm960 will be available in the third quarter of 2010. The DL5100 and DL5200 virtual tape libraries are available now.

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Kevin Komiega
Kevin Komiega
Kevin Komiega is an Enterprise Storage Forum contributor.

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