PowerProtect Database Application Agent 19.13 Installation and Administration Guide

DD Boost distributed segment processing

There are two modes of operation for sending backup data to a DD system through DD Boost, one with distributed segment processing (DSP) enabled and the other with DSP disabled. The operation mode is set on the DD system.

When DSP is enabled, the deduplication process is distributed between the DD Boost library and the DD system. Parts of the deduplication process are run on the database or application host so that the DD Boost library sends only unique data to the DD system over the network.

Distributed segment processing provides the following benefits:

• Throughput is potentially greater because the DD Boost library sends only unique data instead of all the data to the DD system. The throughput improvements depend on the level of redundancy in the data being backed up, the overall workload on the database server, and the database server capability. In general, greater throughput is attained with higher redundancy, greater database server workload, and greater database server capability.
• The network bandwidth requirements are significantly reduced because only the unique data is sent to the DD system over the network.
• Recovery from failed backups can be potentially much faster. If a large backup fails in the middle or toward the end and a user restarts the backup, the data that was already sent to the DD system does not need to be resent. The backup completes more quickly on retry.

When distributed segment processing is enabled, the DD Boost library, which is part of the product, performs the following tasks:

1. Segments the data.
2. Computes IDs for the data segments.
3. Checks with the DD system for duplicate segments.
4. Compresses unique segments that are not found on the DD system.
5. Sends the compressed data to the DD system, which writes the unique data to disk.

The local compression algorithm that is used by the DD Boost library must be configured on the DD system. The DDOS Administration Guide provides more information about local compression and its configuration.

When distributed segment processing is disabled, the DD Boost library sends the data directly to the DD system over the network. The DD system then segments, deduplicates, and compresses the data before writing the data to the disk.