FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

DELL EMC DATA DOMAIN DD3300 FAQ

This document provides guidance on frequently asked questions for Dell EMC's Data Domain DD3300.

Table of Contents

Dell EMC Data Domain DD3300............................................................................................................................................. 1

Included add-on: Data Domain Boost ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Included add-on: Data Domain Encryption ............................................................................................................................. 4
Included add-on: Data Domain Replicator .............................................................................................................................. 5
Available add-on: Data Domain Cloud Tier ............................................................................................................................ 6
Available add-on: Data Domain Cloud DR ............................................................................................................................. 8

DELL EMC DATA DOMAIN DD3300

Question: What is the DD3300?
Answer: DD3300 is the new small and robust protection storage platform from Dell EMC, which is ideal for both
SMBs and branch / departmental data protection for larger enterprises. This new system is replacing the
DD2200 and takes advantage of Data Domain’s intelligent, variable-length deduplication, which delivers an
average data reduction rate of 10-55x. This results in a dramatic savings in protection storage
requirements, bringing greater scalability and significant WAN bandwidth savings for replication. With Dell
EMC’s advanced data verification and encryption ensuring that data residing on DD3300 remains
protected, the DD3300 also brings Dell EMC’s comprehensive data protection capabilities to the entry
market in a 2U form factor, with wide coverage of both enterprise and homegrown applications.

Question: Who can sell the DD3300?

Answer: The DD3300 is a channel-preferred product, but is available to direct sales.

Question: What are the advantages of DD3300 over the previous entry level Data Domain – the DD2200?
Answer: DD3300 opens up the opportunity to offer existing entry-level, brand and department customers with a tech
refresh from an older Data Domain system. Specifically, this new system deliver Data Domain Cloud Tier
for the first time to entry level Data Domain and offers the following maximum performance and scale
compared to the previous generation system which it replaces – DD2200 (note that performance data
includes Data Domain Boost, and scalability data includes Data Domain Cloud Tier):

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© 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
 Performance and Scalability

1. Total Capacity on Active Tier only

2. Total Capacity with Data Domain Cloud Tier for long-term retention

DD3300 vs DD2200: Tech Refresh Comparison

Performance 1.5x
Scale 5.6x

Question: What are the Cloud Tier capabilities of DD3300?

Answer: Data Domain DD3300 brings support for the Dell EMC’s long-term cloud retention capabilities to the entry
segment for the first time. Data Domain Cloud Tier, is the only protection storage offering that can natively-
tier deduplicated data to the cloud. No separate cloud gateway or virtual appliance is required – which
means that customers do not have to worry about any additional physical footprint or management
overhead. With DD Cloud Tier, twice the capacity of a system’s active tier can be sent to the public, private
or hybrid cloud for long-term retention. This means that DD3300 can manage up to 4.8 PB of logical
capacity with DD Cloud Tier.

Question: What are some of the benefits/advantages of DD3300’s Cloud Tier?

Answer: With the introduction of DD Cloud Tier on DD3300, SMBs, as well as branch and departmental IT
organizations can leverage Data Domain for their long-term cloud retention. Customers will benefit from
automated and efficient data movement, thanks to DD Cloud Tier’s seamless integration and API
extensibility. DD3300 also supports Data Domain Cloud DR (DD CDR), to allow enterprises to copy
backed-up VMs from their on-prem Data Domain and Avamar environments to the public cloud (AWS). DD
CDR can be used orchestrate DR testing to prepare for potential disaster scenarios, failover to cloud in the
event of a disaster and failback of cloud workloads following a disaster scenario.

Question: What are the scalability advantages offered by DD3300?

Answer: DD3300 delivers simple and elegant scalability with support for Data Domain Replicator to provide fast,
network-efficient and encrypted replication from remote offices to a central data center. With its scalable
capacity and 2U form factor, DD3300 is ideal for use in enterprise branch and departmental scenarios. DD
Replicator only transfers deduplicated data over a customer’s network, which eliminates up to 98% of the
bandwidth required compared to standard replication methods. DD3300 can replicate to other Data Domain
systems or to Data Domain Virtual Edition instances (both physical and on the cloud), resulting in a highly
scalable data protection solution that can keep your data protected no matter where it originated. DD3300
is a channel-preferred product, but is available to direct sales.

Question: How is DD3300 priced and configured?

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Answer: Dell EMC is proud to provide enterprise-class protection storage to environments of all sizes, protecting
data wherever it lives and no matter what happens. And we also make it easy to purchase our data
protection solutions in a way that makes the most sense for customers financially. With flexible purchasing,
DD3300 is available in three models: 4 TB, 16 TB and 32 TB, at attractive price-points for the entry-market.
DD3300 provides peace of mind with its ease of upgrades, allowing organizations to expand their system’s
capacity as their needs grow. This same flexibility is provided for Data Domain Cloud Tier – as long-term
cloud retention needs grow, customers can expand their DD Cloud Tier capacity by 1 TB increments.
Customers are empowered to embrace the innovative power of small from Dell EMC however is best for
them. Use that flexibility to deliver customers this efficient, highly performing, and scalable entry-level
system – Data Domain DD3300.

INCLUDED ADD-ON: DATA DOMAIN BOOST

Question: What is DD Boost?
Answer: DD Boost software advances Data Domain performance and simplicity differentiators over all competitors.
DD Boost provides advanced integration between Data Domain systems and leading backup and
enterprise applications. DD Boost distributes parts of the deduplication process to the backup server or
application client to increase the aggregate throughput to a Data Domain system up to 50 percent.
Using DD Boost, the application server only sends unique data to a Data Domain system. This enables
more backups with existing resources, 20 to 40 percent less overall impact to the server, and 80 to 99
percent less LAN bandwidth consumed. This functionality is transparent to the application and reduces
“time-to-DR readiness.”
In addition, DD Boost simplifies backup administration by offering the ability to manage Data Domain
replication through the application. Finally, DD Boost eliminates the need for Ethernet layer aggregation to
leverage the full capabilities of multiple Ethernet ports.

Question: What are the major features and benefits of DD Boost?

Answer: DD Boost software provides:
• Distributed deduplication, which distributes parts of the deduplication process from the Data Domain
system to the backup or application server, increasing backup application performance by up to 50
percent. In addition, this reduces LAN/SAN bandwidth by up to 99 percent.
• Managed file replication, which allows backup applications to manage Data Domain replication. For
those familiar with Symantec NetBackup OpenStorage, this feature is referred to as “optimized
duplication” and is referred to as “clone-controlled replication” with Dell EMC NetWorker.
• Advanced load balancing and link failover, which provides link aggregation for load balancing and link
failover, which eliminates the need for Ethernet layer aggregation.
• Virtual Synthetic Backups, which support Symantec NetBackup Optimized Synthetic backups to reduce
processing overhead associated with traditional synthetic full backups. Unlike traditional synthetic
backups, Virtual Synthetics synthesizes a full backup from existing data on the Data Domain system
without moving redundant data across the network.

Question: Can I use DD Boost to backup over the WAN to a Data Domain system?
Answer: Yes, DD Boost over WAN is supported with Dell EMC NetWorker and Dell EMC Avamar. DD Boost over
WAN is also supported with Symantec NetBackup for selected network environments via RPQ. EMC sales
should submit an RPQ detailing the overall environment and network characteristics. The RPQ will be
evaluated to determine if the environment can be supported. EMC channel partners should leverage their
local Dell EMC sales team to assist in the RPQ process.

Question: What is the DD Boost File System Plugin?

Answer: In this release, DD Boost has been opened to support a standard file system interface for Linux operating
systems. Through the DD Boost file system plug-in (BoostFS), the benefits of DD Boost are available to

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 protect new workloads such as Platform 3 applications like MongoDB, MySQL and serve new backup
application partners. Currently, BoostFS supports MongoDB, Commvault, IBM TSM, EnterpriseDB, and
MySQL. Plus, BoostFS supports Big Data applications on Hadoop, like Cloudera and HortonWorks.
It’s also important to note that BoostFS now offers an Application Validation Tool on the Data Domain
community page. The BoostFS Application Validation Tool provides backup operators, database admins
and end users with a step-by-step procedure on how to test and measure BoostFS efficiencies for your
application

Question: How does DD Boost File System Plugin work? What are the benefits?
Answer: Through the DD Boost file system plug-in (BoostFS), DD Boost is now immediately available for new
workloads that previously could not be supported. Applications using NFS to move data to/from Data
Domain can easily switch to DD Boost using BoostFS in minutes to reduce backup windows and storage
capacity. BoostFS also provides all the advanced features DD Boost customers are accustomed to with
their enterprise data protection, such as: dynamic interface groups, client encryption and Kerberos
authentication.

Question: What is the BoostFS Application Validation tool?

Answer: Data Domain Boost file system plug-in (BoostFS) provides everything you would expect out of DD Boost:
faster backup, simplified monitoring and management of client activity, and advanced load balancing and
failover. BoostFS is supported everywhere, and for everyone who is using NFS for data protection. The
BoostFS Application Validation Tool provides backup operators, database admins and end users with a
step-by-step procedure on how to test and measure BoostFS efficiencies for your application. If you have
any questions or need help, please contact us on the Data Domain Community page.

INCLUDED ADD-ON: DATA DOMAIN ENCRYPTION

Question: What is DD Encryption software?
Answer: DD Encryption is a software option that provides inline encryption of user data at rest on deduplication
storage, enabling organizations to enhance the security of their user data stored on the Data Domain
system.

Question: How does DD Encryption work?

Answer: DD Encryption seamlessly integrates with the Data Domain high-speed, inline deduplication process and
encrypts data before it is written to disk. Utilizing encryption—with AES-128 or AES-256 algorithms—allows
user data to be protected in case of theft.
Encrypting data at rest satisfies some aspects of internal governance rules and compliance regulations and
also uses RSA® BSAFE FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic libraries
It protects a user’s data against theft of a Data Domain system or loss of the physical storage media during
transit, and eliminates accidental exposure during the replacement of failed drives.
This capability works with all Data Domain protocols and applications (except Data Domain systems using
DD Extended Retention). DD Encryption can also be used with DD Replicator to send encrypted data over
the WAN.

Question: What is the benefit of DD Encryption?

Answer: Inline encryption provides increased security because data is encrypted before it is stored on disk. With an
inline approach, data never resides in a vulnerable, unencrypted state on the disk subsystem.
The proliferation of publicized data loss, coupled with new governance and compliance regulations, is
driving the need for customers to encrypt their data at rest. DD Encryption software provides a way for
organizations to further protect their backup and archive data from theft

Question: How does DD Encryption software manage encryption keys?

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Answer: Data Domain Encryption software includes an internal key manager to configure and manage key rotation
on a single Data Domain system. This internal key manager offers a cost effective alternative to using
enterprise-wide key management from RSA Data Protection Manager (DPM). This helps meet compliance
requirements with the ability to do local encryption key rotation without requiring investment in the RSA
DPM enterprise key management solution.
In addition, through integration with RSA Data Protection Manager (DPM) delivers external key
management for Data Domain systems and the entire enterprise. RSA DPM delivers a robust, enterprise-
wide encryption key life cycle management solution. It increases security by rotating keys, limiting
exposure if a key is compromised, and also provides key vaulting.

Question: What does the added support for KMIP servers deliver?
Answer: Key Management Interoperability Protocol, or KMIP, can now be utilized to manage data-at-rest encryption
on Data Domain. The KMIP server supported in DD OS 6.1 is SafeNet KeySecure 8.4. Users will be able to
use SafeNet KeySecure 8.4 to manage & rotate encryption keys securely for encrypted data. With the
ability to switch between all supported Key management solutions (SafeNet KeySecure 8.4, Embedded Key
Manager or RSA DPM) per the company’s security policies without affecting the data, our customers will
have even more flexibility to bring the security they desire to their backup environment.

INCLUDED ADD-ON: DATA DOMAIN REPLICATOR

Question: What is DD Replicator?
Answer: Data Domain Replicator is a software option that provides network-efficient, automated, ultra-safe
replication for DR, remote office data protection, and multi-site tape consolidation. Data Domain Replicator
software vaults or asynchronously replicates only the compressed, deduplicated data over the wide area
network (WAN), making network-based replication economically and operationally feasible.

Question: What replication types are supported for the various protocols to ingest data in the Data Domain
system?
Answer: The table below outlines the differences:

Protocol Supported Replication Type

CIFS, NFS, VTL, MTree, Directory, Collection
NDMP
DD Boost Managed file, Collection

Question: What are key features of DD Replicator?

Answer: DD Replicator offers:
• Safe and network-efficient replication by encrypting all or a portion of the data to be replicated. Data is
deduplicated as it is being written to the Data Domain system and DD Replicator preserves this
deduplication, thereby reducing the network utilization.
• Scalable replication throughput—up to 54 TB/hr for logical data enabling the fastest time-to-DR
readiness. DD Replicator is an ideal DR solution for enterprise data centers that require high-
throughput replication mechanisms to move data to an offsite location.
• Flexible replication topologies. The Data Domain systems can be deployed either in one-to-one, one-
to-many, many-to-one, bi-directional, or cascaded modes to meet a wide variety of customer use
cases.
• Compatibility with enterprise applications. Data Domain systems can be used in existing enterprise
deployments.

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 • Significant advantages in RPO, RTO, and time to DR-readiness. In-line deduplication, coupled with
network efficient replication, ensures that the data is available at the DR site for recovery as soon as
possible.

Question: Does DD Replicator offer synthetic backup aware replication?

Answer: Yes, DD Replicator leverages awareness of changed data to automatically enable faster backup for a
variety of backups to provide faster time-to-DR readiness, including:
• DD Boost for Avamar Backups to Data Domain
• DD Boost Virtual Synthetic Backups for NetWorker and NetBackup File System Backups
• Oracle Backups that leverage Oracle incrementally updated backups
With synthetic backup aware replication, the system is able to reduce chatter over the WAN because only
new unique data is verified against the remote system to determine what should be replicated—instead of
checking for the entire backup set. This technology is ideal for high latency environments and reduces
overall time-to-DR readiness.
• Dell EMC Implementation for Data Domain 1-to-6 Shelf System QuickStart service installs, configures,
and implements one Data Domain appliance with one to six external expansion shelves.
• Dell EMC Implementation for Data Domain 7-to-12 Shelf System QuickStart service installs,
configures, and implements one Data Domain appliance with seven to 12 external expansion shelves.
• Dell EMC Implementation for Data Domain 13-to-24 Shelf System QuickStart service installs,
configures, and implements one Data Domain appliance with 13 to 24 external expansion shelves.
• Dell EMC Implementation for Data Domain Virtual Tape Library Add-On QuickStart service installs and
configures one Data Domain Virtual Tape Library on an existing Data Domain system.
• Dell EMC Installation for Data Domain Expansion Shelf QuickStart service installs and configures one
Data Domain expansion storage shelf with a Data Domain appliance.

AVAILABLE ADD-ON: DATA DOMAIN CLOUD TIER

Question: What is Data Domain Cloud Tier?
Answer: Data Domain Cloud Tier enables Data Domain to be the only protection storage to natively tier deduplicated
data to the public, private or hybrid cloud.
The highlights of Data Domain Cloud Tier are:
 Native cloud tiering: automated tiering directly from Data Domain to the public, private or hybrid cloud
for long-term retention
 Highly Scalable: store up to 51 PB of logical capacity in the cloud
 Lowers TCO: Send only unique data to cloud storage for reduced storage footprint and network
bandwidth
 Ensure data security: Encrypt and lock data before tiering it to the cloud
 Flexible cloud protection: Support a broad ecosystem of backup applications and move data to a
variety of public and private clouds including Virtustream Storage Cloud and EMC Elastic Cloud
Storage (ECS)

Question: How does Data Domain Cloud Tier send data to the cloud?
Answer: With DD Cloud Tier, Data Domain is now the only protection storage to natively tier deduplicated data to the
cloud. No separate cloud gateway or virtual appliance is required. So, customers do not have to worry
about any additional physical footprint or management overhead. Data is sent directly from the Data

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 Domain system to the cloud with seamless management through Data Domain Management Center where
the data movement policy is managed.

Question: How fast does Data Domain Cloud Tier migrate data to the cloud?
Answer: Specifically, when moving data in a steady state to EMC Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS), Data Domain
systems can migrate up to 4 TB/hr of logical data and Data Domain Virtual Edition can migrate up to 0.59
TB/hr of logical data.

Question: How scalable is DD Cloud Tier?

Answer: DD Cloud Tier can scale up to 2x the max capacity of the active tier, increasing the overall Data Domain
system scalability by up to 3x. For example, the DD3300 scales up to 32 TB of usable capacity on the
active tier, therefore the cloud tier can support up to 64 TB of usable capacity for a total usable capacity of
96 TB. This results in up to 3.2 PB of logical capacity being efficiently protected in the cloud – and a total of
4.8 PB across the local system and cloud.

Question: How does Data Domain Cloud Tier lower overall TCO?
Answer: Data Domain provides the most cost-effective long-term retention in the cloud through industry leading
deduplication efficiency that enables an average of 10 – 55x reduction in storage requirements. When
moving data to the cloud, DD Cloud Tier ensures that only unique data is sent and data lands on the cloud
object storage already deduplicated. Protecting more data in a smaller footprint greatly reduces overall
TCO and as more data is sent, cost savings will continue to increase over time. Plus, when recalling data
from the cloud, only unique data is sent back to Data Domain reducing resource requirements and enabling
faster data retrieval for additional time and cost savings.

Question: How do I know the data being stored in the cloud is secure?
Answer: Security of data in the cloud, particularly the public cloud, is a huge concern for many customers. DD Cloud
Tier supports DD Encryption to ensure data being sent to the cloud remains secure. Customers have the
option to leverage DD Encryption to encrypt all data on the Data Domain system or encrypt just the data
being stored in the cloud tier. In addition, DD Retention Lock provides the ability to do individual file locking
to data being sent to the cloud to meet compliance requirements.

Question: What clouds does Data Domain Cloud Tier support?

Answer: Dell EMC is expanding cloud service provider support for long-term cloud retention. Data Domain Cloud
Tier currently supports native-tiering to Dell EMC Elastic Cloud Storage, Virtustream Storage Cloud,
Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure. With Data Domain Operating System 6.1, support for Federal AWS
Commercial Cloud Services (C2S) & Virtustream Infrequent Access Storage was added to expand DD
Cloud Tier’s cloud ecosystem. Now with DD OS 6.1.1, Dell EMC is further expanding cloud provider
support to include Azure Government cloud. Data Domain Cloud Tier is also now supported with Dell EMC
Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS) geo-replication. Using Data Domain Cloud Tier, customers can now tier data
to the primary ECS site with geo-replication enabled to a secondary site, thus providing reliable access to
cloud data in the event of site failures.

Question: Can non-certified 3rd party backup applications directly restore with DD Cloud Tier?
Answer: With Data Domain Operating System 6.1, direct restores of DD Cloud Tier are now available for non-
certified 3rd party backup applications in addition to the previously certified applications.

Question: What are the new enhancements around DD Cloud Tier & disaster recovery?
Answer: Dell EMC has enhanced DD Cloud Tier for reliable disaster recovery across three critical disaster
scenarios: DD Cloud Tier metadata shelves failure & recovery, Data Domain system & DD Cloud Tier
metadata shelves failure & recovery, and a full site recovery that includes a geo-replicated ECS. With DD
OS 6.1, these DR scenarios are enabled under a variety of replication configurations – including both MFR
and Mtree replication. If a disaster occurs, Dell EMC is able to establish connection back to the cloud,
install new metadata shelves on the Data Domain, and then rebuild the segment index on the new shelves
to gain access to the data in the cloud. This is a support driven engagement.

Question: What scenarios are covered by the DD Cloud Tier DR enhancements?

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Answer: These scenarios are expected to be very rare occurrences. However, it remains important that we can
provide assurance to DD Cloud Tier customers that there is resiliency built into the product.
▪ DD Cloud Tier metadata shelves failure & recovery: Once a connection back to the cloud is
established, Dell EMC can install new metadata shelves on the Data Domain and then rebuild
the segment index on the new shelves to gain access to the data in the cloud.
▪ Data Domain system & DD Cloud Tier metadata shelves failure & recovery: If the Data
Domain system itself fails (so that both the controller & metadata drives fail), we can help
customers recover their data by first recovering the Cloud Tier and then the Active Tier. A new
Data Domain and new metadata shelves are required as the full solution is recovered.
▪ Full site failure & recovery that includes a geo-replicated ECS: If customers have an on-site
ECS replicating to a secondary ECS at a DR site, and the entire primary site goes down, we can
help customers stand up a new Data Domain with new metadata shelves and point the system to
the secondary ECS site.
Thanks to these enhancements, you can assure potential customers that critical long-term retention data
can be reliable recovered under any disaster scenario with Data Domain Cloud Tier.

AVAILABLE ADD-ON: DATA DOMAIN CLOUD DR

Question: What is Data Domain Cloud Disaster Recovery?
Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR (DD CDR) enables customers running Avamar and Data Domain to protect their
environments from an on-prem Data Domain directly to AWS S3 (object storage). During a recovery
process the solution provides a per-VM conversation into AWS AMI, while automatically provision EBS,
network and EC2 volume. After the recovery process is completed, the workloads run natively in AWS.

Question: What are the main benefits of Data Domain Cloud DR?
Answer: Extension of the existing data protection from the customers’ premises to the cloud provides a familiar user
experience, thus requiring minimal education and training, resulting in lower TCO and higher ROI. Using
Data Domain Cloud DR, you can leverage the agility and scale of public cloud for DR, with minimal cloud
footprint (no additional compute is required during routine replication, and minimal compute is required in
case of test or recovery). Cloud DR version 17.3 introduces a unique capability of orchestrating not only the
failover, but also the failback of workloads from AWS back to an on-prem environment.

Question: How do I know that Data Domain Cloud DR is the right solution for me?
Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR is right for you if you seek to protect data stored on Data Domain directly to AWS
S3 using your existing Dell EMC protection environment. If you require a simple disaster recovery and
failback process, but do not want to or cannot create a replica site on your premises. Data Domain Cloud
DR can also be used for tertiary copies of your data, providing a secondary replica site.

Question: How is Data Domain Cloud DR different from Data Domain Cloud Tier?
Answer: Both Data Domain Cloud DR and Data Domain Cloud Tier are features that can be added on to the on-
premises Data Domain offering, to copy data to AWS object store (S3). However, Cloud Tier replication is
used for long term retention, allowing users to access older copies of their data by recovering the data on
their premises. Cloud DR enables access to more recent copies, in case of a disaster, allowing
orchestrated recovery of the data in AWS by rehydrating the data stored in object store (S3) to block
storage (EBS), converting to Amazon compute format (EC2 instances) and bringing up a replica
environment in AWS. Cloud DR also supports orchestrated failback to customer premises of recovered
workloads
The key similarities and differences between Data Domain Cloud DR and Data Domain Cloud Tier are
summarized in the following table:

Data Domain Cloud DR Data Domain Cloud Tier

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 Production On-premises On-premises
Location

Use Case Disaster Recovery Long-Term Retention

Data Location Copy to S3 Move to S3

Point in Time Most Recent Older Copies (as needed)

Recovery Orchestrate instances in AWS Recover data to on-premises

Failback Orchestrate fail back to customer N/A – recovery is at customer premises

premises

Question: I used CloudDR to failover to AWS. How do I failback?

Answer: Starting with Cloud DR version 17.3, customers have a unique capability of an orchestrated flow to failback
from AWS to on-prem. Failback is done through the CDRS GUI. See the high-level description in the
answers below, or the detailed description in the Cloud DR documentation.

Question: What’s new in Cloud DR version 17.3?

Answer: Cloud DR 17.3’s most important new capability is orchestration of failback. In addition, this version offers a
number of new capabilities such as enhanced monitoring and usability improvements.

Question: What are the prerequisites for using Data Domain Cloud DR?
Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR is used with Data Domain and Avamar, and the solution is right for you only if you
have Data Domain or Data Domain Virtual Edition (DDVE) with DDOS version 6.1 and Avamar or Avamar
Virtual Edition (AVE) version 7.5 on your premises. You will also need to set up an AWS account.

Question: What are the components of Data Domain Cloud DR?

Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR is fully integrated with Data Domain / DDVE and Avamar / AVE. The components
of Data Domain Cloud DR include the Cloud DR Add-on (CDRA), a small Virtual Machine which is
deployed on the customer premises, and the Cloud DR Server (CDRS), which is automatically deployed in
AWS by the CDRA as part of a guided deployment process.

Question: Will Data Domain Cloud DR copy data from Data Domain VE and Avamar VE?
Answer: Cloud DR can copy backed-up VMs from on-premises Data Domain or DDVE and Avamar or AVE. Note
that the minimum version for DDVE is 3.1 (using DDOS 6.1).

Question: Can I use Data Domain Cloud DR with a pre-6.0 Data Domain platform?
Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR can be used with pre-6.0 Data Domain platforms, including DD2200, DD2500,
DD4200, DD4500, DD7200, DD9500, DD9800). The only requirement is DDOS 6.1.

Question: What Data Domain systems are supported?

Answer: Refer to the Compatibility Guide for updated information.

Question: How does copy from an on-premises Data Domain to AWS using Data Domain Cloud DR differ from
copy of an on-premises Data Domain to a cloud-based DDVE?
Answer: Both DDVE and Data Domain Cloud Disaster Recovery can be used to extend to AWS, There are two key
differences between the solution: (a) Data Domain Virtual Edition currently supports replication only to
DDVE running in AWS (and then to AWS Block Storage (EBS)), while Data Domain Cloud DR supports
copy of backed-up VMs to the lower-cost AWS object store (S3); (b) Using Data Domain Cloud DR, you
can orchestrate recovery in AWS and failback to customer premises. DD Cloud DR will automatically
rehydrate the block storage from S3, and bringing up the compute environment.

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Question: What Data Domain features can be used in parallel to CDR?
Answer: Using Data Domain Cloud Disaster Recovery to protect your workloads to the cloud does not interfere with
use of any other DD features, including DD replication, encryption and Cloud Tier.

Question: How does Data Domain Cloud DR scale?

Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR scales by adding additional Cloud DR Add-ons (CDRA), a small Virtual Machine
which is deployed on the customer premises to support copy of backed-up VMs (scale-out).

Question: What workloads are supported by Data Domain Cloud DR?

Answer: The Data Domain Cloud DR solution supports moving VMDK-only backups (any VMware VM, which is
compatible to many AWS-supported operating systems) through Avamar to the AWS S3 storage. The
solution is based on image-level backups, and supports any VMware VM, which is also compatible to AWS-
supported operating systems. As of the publication of this document, the following operating systems have
been certified as supported:
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003
• SP1 R2 Enterprise 32bit
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise, 64bit
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2, Datacenter, 64 bit
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Datacenter 64 bit
• Microsoft Windows 7 32 bit
• Microsoft Windows 8.1
• Microsoft Windows 10
• RedHat 6.6
• RedHat 7.0
• Ubuntu 14.04
• Ubuntu 16.04
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1
• CentOS 7.2
• Debian 8.0.0
• Fedora 21
• Oracle Linux
Refer to the Release Notes for the most current list.

Question: What is the Recovery Time Objective (RTO)?

Answer: The expected RTO is 4-8 hours.

Question: What is the Recovery Point Objective (RPO)?

Answer: The expected RPO is 8 hours (dependent on ad hoc backup prior to failover, and on network connectivity).
RPO is determined according to the cadence of the backup and lag time of the copy to cloud. Network
and environment conditions permitting, Data Domain Cloud DR allows you to achieve an RPO as tight as 8
hours.

Question: Does Data Domain Cloud DR support Long Term Retention (LTR)?
Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR is a Disaster Recovery technology, addressing the need to restore workloads in the
event of a disaster. Other solutions, such as Data Domain Cloud Tier, can be used to address long term
retention needs.

Question: Describe data movement of protection and recovery in detail.

Answer: The customer backs up the VM with Avamar. Data is stored in Data Domain, and is transferred from on-
premises Data Domain into AWS S3 (object storage). The CDRA reads the data, segments it, compresses
and transfers it securely over HTTPS to S3 object storage. Metadata is transferred to AWS RDS, and
stored for later use in recovery. The CDRS performs per-VM conversion into EC2 instances, on demand.

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 The application continues to write and changes are marked by Data Domain. The CDRA retrieves these
changes and transfers them to S3.

Question: Describe data movement of failback in detail.

Answer: The user initiates failback from the CDRS.To failback to a specific on-prem vCenter environment, Cloud DR
creates a restore helper VM on-prem, that has connectivity to AWS and to the on-prem datastores. At
deployment (or later), the user specifies some details that allows such a restore VM to operate – including
network(s) with connectivity to AWS and storage targets. Upon failback, the EBS disks are copied to S3
object storage; then the restore VM copies these objects to the customer’s premises, and constructs a
restored VM. Following the restore, the customer can move the VM to a different location in his on-prem
environment.

Question: How much data can I transfer to the cloud?

Answer: The solution has been qualified to support 120 TB of on prem data that can be copied to the AWS cloud.

Question: What kind of consistency does Data Domain Cloud DR support?

Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR ensures crash consistency.

Question: Are agent-based backups supported?

Answer: Agent-based backups are not supported. Future releases may provide this support.

Question: Is there support for protection and recovery of multiple VMs?

Answer: Protection of VMs to the cloud is done at the VM image level, based on Avamar group configuration, thus
allowing multiple VMs to be protected. In the first release of DD CDR, recovery is performed one VM at a
time, according to the ability of Amazon Web Services platform to convert multiple VMs in parallel. It is
recommended that you ask your Amazon Web Services support team to increase the concurrent number of
VMs that your AWS account can import/export.

Question: Can Data Domain Cloud DR and Cloud Tier be configured simultaneously?
Answer: As noted above, Data Domain Cloud DR and Data Domain Cloud Tier address different issues (Disaster
Recovery and Long Term Retention, respectively). They can be used in conjunction with each other. Data
Domain Cloud DR takes the latest image as soon as a notification is received from Avamar. Data Domain
Cloud Tier copies images that are at least fourteen days old, so there is no contention between the two.

Question: What is the performance of the Data Domain Cloud DR solution?

Answer: A maximum of twenty concurrent backups can be sent to the cloud per CDRA per region. The average
compression rate before sending data to the cloud is approximately 50%. Additional sizing information is
available through your Account Team, using the Solution Builder in conjunction with the Backup and
Recovery Design Center.

Question: How is data integrity assured?

Answer: Data on the cloud is verified with checksum. Data on the cloud is managed by the CDRS, and is not visible
by Data Domain or Avamar catalog.

Question: What types of encryption are supported?

Answer: Both Data Domain encryption and AWS server-side encryption are supported for data at rest. AWS server-
side encryption is supported for data at rest. Data Domain encryption will not govern or manage the
encryption method in the cloud, but encryption native to AWS can be used.

Question: Is file level recovery supported?

Answer: In the first release of DD CDR, recovery is performed at the VM image level. Future releases may include
support for file-level recovery.

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© 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Question: In which AWS regions can CDRS be deployed?
Answer: CDRS can be deployed in the following AWS regions:
- US East (N. Virginia)
- US East (Ohio)
- US West (Northern California)
- US West (Oregon)
- Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
- Asia Pacific (Seoul)
- Asia Pacific (Sydney)
- Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
- Canada (Central)
- EU (Ireland)
- EU (London)
- EU (Frankfurt)

Question: Can a customer protect VMs to more than one AWS region with Data Domain Cloud DR?
Answer: Yes, you can configure DR to more than one region using Data Domain Cloud DR. Prerequisite to
configuration of this protection is the configuration of several cloud targets, each pointing to a different AWS
region. This is done as part of the deployment process, from the CDRA GUI. Note that additional cloud
targets can also be configured after deployment.Protecting the same VM to different AWS regions is done
from the Avamar GUI, where you can configure a VM in multiple Avamar groups and protecting each of
these groups to a different cloud target. Refer to the Data Domain Cloud Disaster Recovery Installation and
Administration Guide for further information.

Question: Are multiple AWS availability zones supported by Data Domain Cloud DR?
Answer: Protection is done to a specific region in S3, and the data is available to all Availability Zones (AZ) in that
region. Workloads are recoverable to different AZs in a region. During test/failover the customer selects an
AWS subnet they pre-created. A subnet belongs to a single AZ and is where the EC2 instances will be
created for that test/failover operation. Customers that look for a specific multi-AZ topology can configure
their subnets and security groups accordingly (as they would do for anything else they run in AWS).

Question: What support options does DD Cloud DR have?

Answer: As part of the ordering process, you can choose the type of support plan you prefer: Enhanced or Premium.

Question: With what versions of Data Domain and Avamar is Data Domain Cloud DR compatible?
Answer: Refer to the Compatibility Guide for updated information (Note: the guide will be updated at GA). Note that
submission of the qualifier questionnaire with customer environment design to the Backup and Recovery
Design Center (BRDC) at [email protected] is a mandatory prerequisite for ordering the solution.
Qualifiers can be downloaded via the Validate tab on the BRDC landing page: http://brdc.corp.emc.com/.
Partners can download Qualifiers here: https://www.emc.com/auth/rpage/xbu-tools.htm#!Validation_Tools.

Question: Can the customer purchase a Professional Services engagement for Data Domain Cloud DR?
Answer: Professional Services engagement can optionally be purchased from the Data Domain Cloud DR in the
Data Domain ordering path. PS engagement includes deployment, configuration of protection, and
performing a DR test. There are two service offerings available for DD CDR deployments –
• L1 fixed service (PS-BAS-DDCDRB)
• A custom service (PS-CUS-BRS)
A full listing of services is available on the Service Offering Index.

Question: Is Data Domain Cloud Disaster Recovery Customer Installable?

Answer: DD Cloud DR is a Customer Installable “Software only” offering. The customer only downloads one
installation package, the CDRA OVA file, from online support to install both CDRA and CDRS components.

12 |Data Domain FAQ

© 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
 For more information, refer to the DD CDR Installation and Deployment Guide, which can be found on the
Data Domain Cloud DR for Avamar support page.

Question: Is Data Domain Cloud DR customer-installable without Dell EMC Professional Services?
Answer: Deployment of Data Domain Cloud DR is a simple process, involving download of the CDRA OVA and
deployment as a Virtual Appliance on the customer premises. The customer is guided through a simple
interface on the CDRA GUI to connect to the on-premises Data Domain / DDVE and Avamar / AVE, to
provide AWS credentials, and to deploy the CDRS. There is an option to purchase the Professional
Services Offering (PS-BAS-DDCDRB) available in the same ordering path as Data Domain Cloud DR (see
Sales Related Questions section for additional info).

Question: Will there be a Deployment Process for the field?

Answer: A document describing the deployment process is available on the Solution Generator from the Solve
Desktop.

Question: Is the product Customer Upgradable?

Answer: DD CDR is Customer Upgradable, you can upgrade from DDCDR 17.2 to DDCDR 17.3. The process
involves uploading the upgrade package to CDRS, upgrading the CDRS and then upgrading the CDRA(s).
The process is described in detail in user documentation.

Question: Is there an online support-by-product page?

Answer: Yes. The support page name is “Data Domain Cloud DR for Avamar”.

Question: How does a customer open a ticket with Dell EMC Support?
Answer: On DD CDR online support page, open a Service Request for Data Domain Cloud DR. This Service
Request will then be routed to the team who handles the ticket. The escalation path, if required, is to the
DD CDR Engineering Escalation team.

Question: How do a customer know Data Domain Cloud DR is part of the environment?
Answer: Identification can be done by:
• Avamar GUI indication of Data Domain Cloud DR component
• vCenter indication for a CDRA VM

Question: Does Data Domain Cloud DR need to be enabled on Avamar?

Answer: For the DD CDR feature to be available in the Avamar GUI, DD CDR must be enabled on the Avamar
server, by following instructions defined in the Avamar Administration Guide.

Question: How do the customer collect logs from CDRA/CDRS?

Answer: Log collection is described in the Data Domain Cloud Disaster Recovery Installation and Administration
Guide. Logs can be collected from CDRS, or locally from CDRA (e.g. if you there is no connectivity to the
cloud). The customer may be required to email these logs to the support team.

Question: What is the partner strategy?

Answer: DD CDR partner enablement plan is attached to the Avamar partner plan. The level of support is “In and
Out of Radius support partners”.

Question: Will Data Domain Cloud DR support Dial Home?

Answer: Dial Home may be available on a future release.

Question: How is remote support provided?

Answer: Customer support team will be able to access the customer site over VPN, or to initiate a WebEx session
with the customer. ESRS is not supported on the current release.

13 |Data Domain FAQ

© 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
 Question: What customer use cases can Data Domain Cloud DR address?
Answer: The Data Domain Cloud DR is targeted to the following customers, who require protection of their Tier 2
workloads:
- Customers who have an existing Data Domain / DDVE and Avamar / AVE on their premises, but do not
copy the backed-up copies to a replica site.
- Customers who have an existing Data Domain / Data Domain VE and Avamar / Avamar VE on their
premises, and copies the backed-up copies to a replica site, but would like to introduce a tertiary copy of
their data in the public cloud.
- Customers who have an existing Data Domain / DDVE and Avamar / AVE on their premises and are
going through an equipment refresh.
- Customers who are considering purchasing Data Domain / DDVE and Avamar / AVE.

Question: How is the feature ordered and priced?

Answer: Data Domain Cloud DR is ordered in My Quotes through the Data Domain ordering paths (DD and DDVE).
It is priced per actual storage usage (TB) on S3 in AWS.

Question: Do I have to order anything as a prerequisite to Cloud DR?

Answer: The customer needs to have DD and Avamar in his environment, or included as part of the order. There is
no need for any other prerequisites.

Question: Can I order Cloud Tier without Cloud DR? Cloud DR without Cloud Tier? Cloud DR and DD
replication? Can I order a combination of them?
Answer: DD replication, CloudTier and Cloud DR are independent of each other. You can order any combination of
them.

Question: How does licensing work for Data Domain Cloud DR?
Answer: Licensing is compliance-based in the first release. You purchase a license to protect a given usable
capacity (the amount of storage that is used on AWS).

Question: Can the solution be sold anywhere?

Answer: DD CDR can be sold wherever Data Domain and Avamar are sold, with the following exceptions:
- Greater China: Rebranding requirements are not met for these countries
- Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan – security standards are not yet compliant for these countries
- Countries not supported by the AWS regions listed above

Question: How do I size the solution?

Answer: Solution Builder tools will be available to size the solution post-GA. There may be an impact to the existing
Data Domain system, which will be articulated in the Solution Builder tool (when available). Note that use of
the Solution Builder is a mandatory prerequisite to selling the solution, and a qualifier questionnaire must be
filled out regarding all customer designs and must be directed to the Backup & Recovery Design Center
(BRDC), who can be reached at [email protected]. . Qualifiers can be downloaded via the Validate
tab on the BRDC landing page: http://brdc.corp.emc.com/. Partners can download Qualifiers here:
https://www.emc.com/auth/rpage/xbu-tools.htm#!Validation_Tools. Until the Solution Builder is available, a
document describing sizing guidelines can be downloaded from the Data Domain CDR page:
https://inside.dell.com/docs/DOC-249089 .

Question: Can the customer try Data Domain Cloud DR prior to purchasing?
Answer: Your account team can discuss ways for you to try the solution. There is no try-and-buy program for DD
Cloud DR.

14 |Data Domain FAQ

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