Implement Data Deduplication

  • 5 minutes

When you've identified volumes suitable for Data Deduplication, you can proceed with its implementation.

Implement Data Deduplication

After completing your planning, use the following steps to deploy Data Deduplication to a server in your environment:

  1. Install Data Deduplication Windows Server role service by using Windows Admin Center, Server Manager, or the Add-WindowsFeature Windows PowerShell cmdlet with the -Name FS-Data-Deduplication parameter.

  2. Enable Data Deduplication by using Windows Admin Center, Server Manager, or the Enable-DedupVolume Windows PowerShell cmdlet with the –Volume *VolumeLetter* –UsageType *StorageType* parameters. The StorageType placeholder represents the primary type of workload for the volume. The supported values include:

    • Hyper-V. A volume hosting Hyper-V storage.
    • Backup. A volume hosting virtualized backup servers.
    • Default. A general-purpose volume.

Configure Data Deduplication

The default deduplication settings are usually sufficient for most environments. However, you might need to alter the default settings in the following scenarios:

  • Incoming data is static or expected to be read-only, and you want to process files on the volume sooner.
  • You have directories that you don't want to deduplicate. Add a directory to the exclusion list.
  • You have file types that you don't want to deduplicate. Add a file type to the exclusion list.
  • The server has different off-peak hours than the default setting, and you want to change the Garbage Collection and Scrubbing schedules.

Note

You can use the Windows PowerShell cmdlet Set-DedupVolume to customize deduplication settings.