Data Domain: Cleaning Not Recovering Disk Space

Summary: This article describes how to identify and correct issues that might occur when little or no space has been recovered after performing cleaning the Data Domain.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

SYMPTOMS

  • Low disk space
 

APPLIES TO

  • All Data Domain Models
  • All Software Releases
 

SOLUTION

Use the following steps to isolate the cause for the issue and identify the solution. Perform the steps in order. Do not skip a step.

 

1. Verify that the cleaning process is not running and requires more time to complete. Check Cleaning Status and Schedule: Data Domain: Check Cleaning Status and Schedule.

2. As cleaning schedules can affect space usage, verify that the cleaning schedule has been followed consistently: Data Domain: Scheduling Cleaning on a DDR.

3. Check to see if snapshots that are no longer needed may be contributing to the problem: Data Domain: Checking for Snapshots that are No Longer Needed.

4. After a DD Boost upgrade, snapshots for recovery purposes do not get cleaned for 30 days, but can be expired sooner.

5. CommVault Simpana may leave "expired" tapes taking up resources that cleaning cannot recover: Data Domain: CommVault: Cleaning Does not Recover Space In Expired Tapes.

6. Avamar checkpoints may be taking up space if the Avamar Garbage Collection is not running as recommended (and to completion): Data Domain: Cleaning Not Recovering Disk Space with Avamar

7. Confirm that the Retention Policies are set as expected and data is not kept longer than intended. Correct data retention configuration is critical to disk usage. See Data Domain: Configuring Retention Policies using NetWorker.

Note: If the backup application is not NetWorker, contact the application vendor for instructions).
 

8. In a replicated pair, space cannot be freed until all operations have been sent to the destinations. If one or more replication contexts are experiencing significant lag, one option is to break and resync the replication context: Data Domain: How to Break and Resync Directory Replication.

9. If the Data Domain is part of a replication pair, a replication lag could be the reason the system is running out of space. Verify that the process does not lag: Data Domain: Measuring Replication Throughput.

10. Space taken by expired snapshots in a replication pair may not be released when cleaning is run. See Data Domain: Cleaning Not Recovering Space from Snapshots in Replication Pair for more information.

 

If your problem persists after reviewing this article:

Affected Products

Data Domain

Products

Data Domain
Article Properties
Article Number: 000015007
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 30 May 2025
Version:  11
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