MODULE 4 STORAGE

EFFICIENCY

PARTICIPANT GUIDE

PARTICIPANT GUIDE
 Module 4 Storage Efficiency

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Table of Contents

Data Reduction ........................................................................................................... 5

General Data Reduction Overview ....................................................................................... 6
Data Reduction Overview in Dell Unity XT ........................................................................... 7
Considerations ..................................................................................................................... 8
Data Reduction Theory of Operation .................................................................................... 9
Data Reduction - Deduplication.......................................................................................... 10
Data Reduction - Advanced Deduplication ......................................................................... 12
Read Operation ................................................................................................................. 14
Enable Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication on Supported Storage Resources ... 15
Verify Pool Flash Capacity Utilization ................................................................................. 18
Identify Data Reduction Savings in Storage Resources ..................................................... 19
Configuring Data Reduction on an Existing Storage Resource........................................... 21
Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Consistency Groups ............................ 23
Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication Using Local LUN Move ............................... 24
Expand an All-Flash Pool with Data Reduction Enabled Storage Resources ..................... 26
Considerations About Expansion of Dynamic Pools with Data Reduction Enabled
Resources.......................................................................................................................... 31
Identify Flash Tier Free Space Considerations................................................................... 32
Flash Tier Free Space Considerations - Metadata Relocation ........................................... 33
Viewing Storage Resource Properties - LUN ..................................................................... 35
Understanding Savings Reporting ...................................................................................... 36
Storage Resource Level - Block ......................................................................................... 37
Data Reduction Savings - Pool Level ................................................................................. 40
Data Reduction Savings - System Level ............................................................................ 41
Calculating Data Reduction Savings .................................................................................. 42
Data Reduction Savings - Savings Ratio ............................................................................ 43
Data Reduction Savings - Saving Percentage.................................................................... 44
Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Replication........................................... 45
Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Native File and Block Import ................ 47

FAST VP .................................................................................................................... 48

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 FAST VP Overview ............................................................................................................ 49
Tiering Policies .................................................................................................................. 51
Supported RAID Types and Drive Configurations .............................................................. 53
FAST VP Management ...................................................................................................... 54

Thin Clones .............................................................................................................. 57

Thin Clones Overview ........................................................................................................ 58
Thin Clone Capabilities ...................................................................................................... 59
Recommended Uses for Thin Clones................................................................................. 61
Technical Comparison – Snapshots and Thin Clones ........................................................ 62
Theory of Operations: Create Thin Clones ......................................................................... 63
Theory of Operations: Refresh Thin Clones - 1 of 2 ........................................................... 64
Theory of Operations: Refresh Thin Clones - 2 of 2 ........................................................... 65
Theory of Operations: Refresh Base LUN .......................................................................... 66
Thin Clone Considerations ................................................................................................. 67
LUN Refresh Operation - 1 of 2.......................................................................................... 68
LUN Refresh Operation - 2 of 2.......................................................................................... 69
Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Snapshots and Thin Clones ................. 70

File System Quotas .................................................................................................. 71

File System Quotas overview ............................................................................................. 72
File System Quotas Configuration ...................................................................................... 73
Quota Usage...................................................................................................................... 75
Quota Limit ........................................................................................................................ 76
Storage Efficiency Key Points ............................................................................................ 79
Appendix: Supported Configurations for Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication ..... 81

Appendix ................................................................................................. 83

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Data Reduction

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General Data Reduction Overview

In general, Data Reduction reduces the amount of physical storage that is required
to save a dataset. Data Reduction helps reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
of a Dell Unity XT storage system.

Data Reduction is achieved using the following methods:

• Deduplication uses algorithms to analyze, perform pattern detection, and
attempts to store only a single instance of a data pattern.
• Zero Detection logically detects and discards consecutive zeros, saves only
one instance, and uses pointers.
• Compression encodes data using fewer bits than the original representation.
• Advanced Deduplication deduplicates data blocks within a given storage
resource that do not contain internally-defined data patterns.

When Data Reduction is selected on Dell Unity XT systems, it enables

Deduplication, Zero Detection, and Compression.

Advanced Deduplication requires Data Reduction to be enabled on the resource

but can be enabled or disabled independently of the Data Reduction setting.

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Data Reduction Overview in Dell Unity XT

Thin LUNs Thin File Systems

Thin LUNs within Consistency Groups Thin VMware VMFS and NFS Datastores

Data Reduction Algorithm

All-Flash and Hybrid Storage

Resources

Dell Unity XT Data Reduction:

• Is licensed with all physical Dell Unity XT systems at no additional cost.
• Is easy to manage and is intelligently controlled by the storage system.
• Is configured through Unisphere, Unisphere CLI, or REST API.
• Is supported on All-Flash and Hybrid pools.
• Is supported on Thin LUNs, Thin LUNs within a Consistency Group, Thin File
Systems, and Thin VMware VMFS and NFS Datastores.
• Provides Data Reduction savings on Snapshots and Thin Clones.
• Is not available on the Dell UnityVSA.

Data Reduction can also be enabled on Block and File storage resources
participating in replication sessions. The source and destination storage resources
in a replication session are independent. Data Reduction with or without the
Advanced Deduplication option can be enabled or disabled separately on the
source and destination resource.

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Considerations

• Hybrid pools created on Unity XT model systems support Data Reduction with
and without Advanced Deduplication enabled on Traditional or Dynamic pools.
• To support Data Reduction, the pool must contain a flash tier and the total
usable capacity of the flash tier must meet or exceed 10% of the total pool
capacity.
− Data Reduction can be enabled on an existing resource if the flash capacity
requirement is met.
• The Advanced Deduplication switch is available only on:

− Dynamic or Traditional pools in Unity XT 380F, 480F, 680F, and 880F

systems
− Dynamic pools in Unity All-Flash 450F, 550F, and 650F systems.
− All-Flash and Hybrid pools in Unity Hybrid 380, 480, 680, and 880 systems.

Go to: The About Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication

section of the Dell Unity XT Family Configuring Pools documentation.
For a deeper dive, review the Dell Unity XT: Data Reduction
whitepaper.

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Data Reduction Theory of Operation

For Data Reduction enabled storage resources, the Data Reduction process occurs
during the System Cache proactive cleaning operations or when System Cache is
flushing cache pages to the drives within a Pool. The data in this scenario may be
new to the storage resource, or the data may be an update to existing blocks of
data currently residing on disk.

In either case, the Data Reduction algorithm occurs before the data is written to the
drives within the Pool. During the Data Reduction process, multiple blocks are
aggregated together and sent through the algorithm. After determining if savings
can be achieved or data must be written to disk, space within the Pool is allocated
if needed, and the data is written to the drives.

Data Reduction Algorithm

All-Flash and Hybrid Flash Pool

Storage Resources

Data Reduction process

Process:
1. System write cache sends data to the Data Reduction algorithm during
proactive cleaning or flushing.
2. Data Reduction logic determines any savings.
3. Space is allocated in the storage resource for the dataset if needed, and the
data is sent to the disk.

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Data Reduction - Deduplication

Data is sent to the Data Reduction algorithm during proactive cleaning or flushing
of write path data.

In the example, an 8 KB block enters the Data Reduction algorithm and Advanced
Deduplication is disabled.
• The 8 KB block is first passed through the deduplication algorithm. Within this
algorithm, the system determines if the block consists entirely of zeros, or
matches a known pattern within the system.
• If a pattern is detected, the private space metadata of the storage resource is
updated to include information about the pattern, along with information about
how to re-create the data block if it is accessed in the future.
• Also, when deduplication finds a pattern match, the remainder of the Data
Reduction feature is skipped for those blocks which saves system resources.
None of the 8 KB block of data is written to the Pool at this time.
• If a block was allocated previously, then the block can be freed for reuse. When
a read for the block of data is received, the metadata is reviewed, and the block
will be re-created and sent to the host.
• If a pattern is not found, the data is passed through the Compression Algorithm.
If savings are achieved, space is allocated on the Pool to accommodate the
data.
• If the data is an overwrite, it may be written to the original location if it is the
same size as before.

The example displays the behavior of the Data Reduction algorithm when
Advanced Deduplication is disabled.

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Deduplication algorithm
looks for zeros and
8 KB block common patterns Update private space
Pattern Detected metadata to include pattern
reference

End

Pattern not found

Compression algorithm

Data Reduction - Enabled

Advanced Deduplication - Disabled

Data Reduction algorithm behavior when Advanced Deduplication is disabled

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Data Reduction - Advanced Deduplication

If an 8 KB block is not deduplicated by the zero and common pattern deduplication

algorithm, the data is passed into the Advanced Deduplication algorithm.

Each 8 KB block receives a fingerprint, which is compared to the fingerprints for the
storage resource. If a matching fingerprint is found, deduplication occurs. The
private space within the resource is updated to include a reference to the block of
data residing on disk. No data is written to disk at this time.

Storage resource savings are compounded as deduplication can reference

compressed blocks on disk. If a match is not found, the data is passed to the
compression algorithm. Advanced Deduplication only compares and detects
duplicate data that is found within a single storage resource, such as a LUN or File
System.

The fingerprint cache is a component of the Advanced Deduplication algorithm.

The fingerprint cache is a region in system memory that is reserved for storing
fingerprints for each storage resource with Advanced Deduplication enabled. There
is one fingerprint cache per storage processor, and it contains the fingerprints for
storage resources residing on that SP.

Deduplication algorithm

Pattern not found

Fingerprint Calculation

Compare
Fingerprint Compare
Match

Fingerprint
Update private space
No Match
Cache
to include data
resource
Compression algorithm
Update

End

Data Reduction algorithm behavior when Advanced Deduplication is enabled

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Through machine learning and statistics, the fingerprint cache determines which
fingerprints to keep, and which ones to replace with new fingerprints. The
fingerprint cache algorithm learns which resources have high deduplication rates
and allows those resources to consume more fingerprint locations.
• If no fingerprint match is detected, the blocks enter the compression algorithm.
• If savings can be achieved, space is allocated within the Pool which matches
the compressed size of the data, the data is compressed, and the data is written
to the Pool. When Advanced Deduplication is enabled, the fingerprint for the
block of data is also stored with the compressed data on disk.
• The fingerprint cache is then updated to include the fingerprint for the new data.

Compression does not compress data if no savings can be achieved. In this

instance, the original block of data will be written to the Pool. Waiting to allocate
space within the resource until after the compression algorithm is complete helps to
not over-allocate space within the storage resource.

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Read Operation

The example shows the process for a host Read operation.

Host request a read to an LBA on a storage

resource

Where is the data located?

Cache or Pool?
Data in Cache in original form? =
Yes send to the host

Data not in Cache but on the

Pool = Normal read
Data Reduction Algorithm

Copy data into system cache

All-Flash and Hybrid Flash Pool

Storage Resources

Read operation with Data Reduction enabled

Important: Logical Block Addressing (LBA) specifies the location of

blocks of data that are stored on a storage resource.

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Enable Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication on

Supported Storage Resources

Hybrid Flash Pools

Data Reduction can be enabled on resources that are built from hybrid flash pools
within the Dell Unity XT 380, 480, 680 and 880 systems.

The properties page of a multi-tiered pool that includes SAS Flash 3 and SAS drives

Flash Capacity

To support Data Reduction, the proportion of flash capacity on the pool must be
equal to or exceed 10% of the total capacity of the pool.

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This Flash Percent (%) value allows enabling data reduction for resources that are built from the
pool

Storage Resource

Enabling Data Reduction is only possible if the pool flash percent value
requirements are met.
• For pools with a lower flash capacity, the feature is unavailable and a message
is displayed. Go here to see an example.
• Advanced Deduplication is also supported for the data reduction enabled
resources.

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Both Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication can be enabled for a LUN built from Pool 0

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Verify Pool Flash Capacity Utilization

The proportion of flash capacity utilization can also be verified from the Details
pane of a selected pool.

Pools page with selected pool showing the flash capacity utilization on the details pane

In the example, Pool 1 is selected and the details pane shows that the pool has
57% of flash capacity utilization.

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Identify Data Reduction Savings in Storage Resources

List of Storage Resources

Add the Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication columns to the resources
page, to verify which resources have the features enabled.

LUNs page showing the Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication columns

In the example, all the LUNs created on the dynamic pool Pool 0 are configured
with data reduction and advanced deduplication.

Storage Resource Properties

To monitor the Data Reduction Savings, select the storage resource and open the
properties page. The savings are reported in GBs, percent savings, and as a ratio
on the General tab.

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LUN properties showing the Data Reduction Savings on the General tab

In the example, the properties of LUN-1 show a data reduction savings of 38.5 GB.
The percentage that is saved and ratio reflect the savings on the storage resource.

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Configuring Data Reduction on an Existing Storage Resource

Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication on a LUN can be enabled or disabled

at any time. As noted earlier, Advanced Deduplication setting is only available once
Data Reduction is enabled and the configuration supports it.

To enable and disable Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication on an existing

storage resource (LUN in the example), review the properties of the LUN from the
Block page. Depending if Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication are
disabled or enabled on the storage resource, the respective boxes are either
cleared or checked.

Advanced Deduplication can be enabled or disabled independently from the Data

Reduction setting.
• When enabled on an existing LUN, all existing data is left in its current state and
only incoming data is subject to Data Reduction. Existing data is subject to Data
Reduction upon a rewrite of new data.
• If disabling Data Reduction, data is left in its current state on the disk until the
data is overwritten or migrated.

To remove Data Reduction savings for block resources, use the Move operation.
For file resources, since there is no Move operation, users can use host-based
migration or replication. For example, you can asynchronously replicate a file
system to another file system within the same pool using UEMCLI commands.

Data Reduction stops for new writes when sufficient resources are not available
and resumes automatically after enough resources are available.

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Enable DR by
selecting the box. the
Advanced
Deduplication box now
becomes available for
selection

No DR on the LUN

Configuring Data Reduction on an Existing Storage Resource

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Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Consistency

Groups

To review which Consistency Groups contain Data Reduction enabled LUNs, select
the Consistency Group tab, which is found on the Block page.

Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Consistency Groups

On this page, columns that are named Data Reduction and Advanced
Deduplication can be added to the current view.
• Click the Gear Icon and select Data Reduction or Advanced Deduplication
under Column.
• The Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication columns have three potential
entries, No, Yes, and Mixed.

− No is displayed if none of the LUNs within the Consistency Group has the
option enabled.
− Yes is displayed if all LUNs within the Consistency Group have the option
enabled.
− Mixed is displayed when the Consistency Group has some LUNs with Data
Reduction enabled and other LUNs with Data Reduction disabled.

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Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication Using Local LUN

Move

Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication Using Local LUN Move

The Local LUN Move feature, also known as Move, provides native support for
moving LUNs and VMFS Datastores online between pools or within the same pool.
This ability allows for manual control over load balancing and rebalancing of data
between pools.

Local LUN Move leverages Transparent Data Transfer (TDX) technology, a multi-
threaded, data copy engine. Local LUN Move can also be leveraged to migrate a
Block resource's data to or from a resource with Data Reduction or Advanced
Deduplication enabled.

If Advanced Deduplication is supported and enabled, the data also passes through
the Advanced Deduplication algorithm. This allows space savings to be achieved
during the migration.

When migrating to a resource with Data Reduction disabled, all space savings that
are achieved on the source are removed during the migration.

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The example shows DR_AD_LUN-2 with no Data Reduction or Advanced

Deduplication set, is being moved to a pool to pass the existing data on the LUN
through the Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication algorithms.

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Expand an All-Flash Pool with Data Reduction Enabled

Storage Resources

Launch Wizard

Dell Unity XT supports the expansion and conversion of an All-Flash pool to a

Hybrid pool.

To add drives from different tiers to an All-Flash pool (with Data Reduction enabled
resources), select the pool and Expand Pool.

Details pane of a dynamic pool showing the Flash Percent, and number of storage resources built
from it

In the example, the All-Flash pool Pool 2 has four LUNs with Data Reduction and
Advanced Deduplication enabled.

Select Tiers

Select the storage tiers with available drives to expand the pool, and optionally
change the hot spare capacity for new added tiers.

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Expand Pool wizard with the selected tiers

The Performance and Capacity tiers are selected. The Extreme Performance
tier cannot be selected since there are no unused drives.

Select Drives

Select the amount of storage from each tier to add to the All-Flash pool. The
number of drives must comply with the RAID width plus the hot spare capacity that
is defined for the tier.

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Expand Pool wizard selection of drives from selected tiers

In the example, six SAS drives comply with the RAID 5 (4+1) plus one hot spare
requirement. Seven NL-SAS drives comply with the RAID 6 (4+2) plus one hot
spare requirement.

If the expansion does not cause an increase in the spare space the pool requires,
the new free space is made available for use. When extra drives increase the spare
space requirement, a portion of the space being added is reserved. The reserved
space is equal to the size of one or two drives per 32.

Summary

Verify the proposed configuration with the expanded drives. Select Finish to start
the expansion process.

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Expand Pool wizard summary

In the example, the expansion process adds 13 drives to the All-Flash pool and
converts it to a multi-tiered pool.

Pool Expanded

Verify the pool conversion on the details pane. The number of tiers and drives
increased. Observe that the flash percent supports the Data Reduction.

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Details pane of a selected pool showing the Flash Percent, number of tiers and drives

In the example, the expansion included two new tiers and added 13 new drives to
the pool. The flash percent is over 10% which ensures that Data Reduction is
supported.

If the pool contains Data Reduction enabled resources and the resulting flash
percent would be below 10%, the expansion would not be allowed.

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Considerations About Expansion of Dynamic Pools with Data

Reduction Enabled Resources

If the additional capacity drops the Flash Percent value below 10%, the expansion
of a dynamic pool with Data Reduction enabled resources is blocked.
• To support Data Reduction, the proportion of flash capacity must be equal to or
exceed 10% of the total capacity of the pool.
• If the requirement is not met, the wizard displays a warning message when
trying to advance to the next step.

Advance to the next

step is not allowed.

Expand Pool wizard with warning message

In the example, the Flash Percent capacity utilization of Pool 0 is 19%, and the
addition of 14 NL-SAS drives reduces the value below the 10% requirement.

To conclude the expansion, select a number of drives that keep the flash percent
capacity utilization within the Data Reduction requirements.

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Identify Flash Tier Free Space Considerations

Each resource that is created on the system uses metadata.

• The Data Reduction algorithm creates additional metadata on a resource for
tracking purposes.
• Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication generates metadata with
additional space consumption.

In Hybrid pools, the metadata has priority over user data for placement on the
fastest drives.
• Algorithms ensure that metadata go to the tier that provides the fastest access.
Usually this is the Extreme Performance (SAS Flash) tier.
• If necessary, user data is moved to the next available tier (Performance or
Capacity), to give space to metadata created on the pool.

The system monitors how much metadata is created as the resources grow, and
the pool space is consumed.
• The system automatically estimates how much metadata can be created based
on the free capacity.

− The estimate considers the amount of metadata that is generated, the pool
usable capacity, and the free space within each tier.

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Flash Tier Free Space Considerations - Metadata Relocation

FAST VP tries to relocate user data out of the Flash tier to free space for metadata.

FAST VP tab showing the relocation of data blocks

In extreme cases, when FAST VP cannot evacuate enough space, performance

issues may be seen. When the amount of metadata on the pool exceeds the
capacity of the Flash tier, the metadata is placed on the next available tier. The
metadata is moved to spinning media.

There is a significant impact to the performance of the Data Reduction algorithm

with the access of metadata blocks from SAS or NL-SAS drives. The process takes
CPU cycles away from user I/O.

In this situation, the pool status changes to OK, Needs Attention (seen from the
Pools page, and the pool properties General tab). A warning informs the
administrator to increase the amount of flash capacity within the pool to address
the issue.

In the example, the system identifies metadata blocks to move from the
Performance to the Extreme Performance tier.

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Note: The access to metadata blocks that are written on spinning

media is slow in comparison to Flash drives. There is a noticeable
performance difference with the metadata paging into memory.

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Viewing Storage Resource Properties - LUN

To review the status of Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication on each of the
LUNs created on the system, go to the Block page in Unisphere. The page can be
accessed by selecting Block under Storage in the left pane.

The page contains three columns specific for Data Reduction.

• The Data Reduction column, which shows if Data Reduction is enabled or not
on the resource.
• The Advanced Deduplication column, which shows if Advanced Deduplication
is enabled.
• The Data Reduction Savings (GB) column, which shows the amount of
savings in GBs for the resource.

To add these and other columns to the view, click the Gear Icon in the upper right
portion of the LUNs tab and select the columns to add under the Columns option.

View LUN Data Reduction properties on LUNs page

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Understanding Savings Reporting

View Data Reduction saving on Main tab

Data Reduction provides savings information at many different levels within the
system, and in many different formats.
• Savings information is provided at the individual storage resource, pool, and
system levels.
• Savings information is reported in GBs, percent savings, and as a ratio.
• Total GBs saved includes the savings due to Data Reduction on the storage
resource, Advanced Deduplication savings, and savings which are realized on
any Snapshots and Thin Clones taken of the resource.
• The percentage that is saved and the ratio reflect the savings within the storage
resource itself. All savings information is aggregated and then displayed at the
Pool level and System level.

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Storage Resource Level - Block

Space savings information in the three formats is available within the Properties
window of the storage resource.

For LUNs, you must either access the Properties page from the Block page, or on
the LUN tab from within the Consistency Group Properties window.

Shown is the total GBs saved, which includes savings within data used by
Snapshots and Thin Clones of the storage resource. Also shown is the % saved
and the Data Reduction ratio, which both reflect the savings within the storage
resource. File System and VMware VMFS Datastores display the same
parameters.

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View Data Reduction properties on General tab within LUN Properties

Data Reduction savings are shown on the General tab within the LUN Properties
Window.

The storage resource properties terms are described below.

• Size/Capacity – The client visible size of a storage resource
• Allocated – The amount of storage that has been allocated to host data
• Total Pool Space Used – Space that is used by the resource on disk, including
space for Snapshots, Thin Clones, and overhead (metadata)
• Preallocated – Space that is reserved but not yet used by the resource and non-
reclaimed (freeable) space

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• Non-base Space used – Space that is consumed by Snapshots and Thin

Clones
• Data Reduction Savings - The % saved and the Ratio reflect the average space
that is saved across all Data Reduction enabled storage resources

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Data Reduction Savings - Pool Level

Data Reduction information is also aggregated at the Pool level on the Usage tab.

Savings are reported in the three formats, including the GBs saved, % savings, and
ratio.
• The GBs savings reflect the total amount of space saved due to Data Reduction
on storage resources and their Snapshots and Thin Clones.
• The % saved and the Ratio reflect the average space that is saved across all
Data Reduction enabled storage resources.

View Data Reduction Savings on Usage tab of Pool Properties

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Data Reduction Savings - System Level

Data Reduction Savings information is also available at the System Level.

Data Reduction Savings at the system level

System level Data Reduction Savings information is displayed within the System
Efficiency view block that is found on the system Dashboard page. If the view
block is not shown on your system, you can add it by selecting the Main tab,
clicking Customize, and adding the view block.

The system level aggregates all savings across the entire system and displays
them in the three formats available, GBs saved, % saved, and ratio.
• For the GBs saved, this value is the total amount of space saved due to Data
Reduction, along with savings achieved by Snapshots and Thin Clones of Data
Reduction enabled storage resources.
• The % savings and ratio are the average savings that are achieved across all
data reduction enabled storage resources.

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Calculating Data Reduction Savings

Overview

The space reporting updates affect the System, Pool, and Storage Resource
values. Users can use the formulas, displayed here to calculate, and verify the
Data Reduction Savings percentage and ratio for the System, Pools, and Storage
Resources.

The system level aggregates all savings across the entire system and displays
them in the three formats available, GBs saved, % saved, and ratio.
• For the GBs saved, this value is the total amount of space saved due to Data
Reduction, along with savings achieved by Snapshots and Thin Clones of Data
Reduction enabled storage resources.
• The % savings and ratio are the average savings that are achieved across all
Data Reduction enabled storage resources.

Calculating Data Reduction savings

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Data Reduction Savings - Savings Ratio

Example

The example shows the calculation for Data Reduction savings ratio on a LUN.

Total Pool Space Used + Data Reduction Savings

Savings Ratio = :1
Total Pool Space Used

44.7 GB + 45.7 GB
=:1
44.7 GB

90.4
= 2.02:1
44.7 GB

Calculating savings ratio example

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Data Reduction Savings - Saving Percentage

Example

The example displays the formula for calculating the Data Reduction percentage
savings.

Data Reduction Savings

Savings Percentage = *100
Data Reduction Savings + Total Pool Space Used

45.7 GB
*100
45.7 GB +44.7 GB

45.7 GB
*100 = 51%
90.4 GB

Calculating savings percentage example

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Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Replication

Overview

Storage resources using Data Reduction can be replicated using any supported
replication software. Native Synchronous Block Replication or Native
Asynchronous Replication to any supported destination is supported.

All data replicated, local, or remote, is first re-hydrated (deduplicated data is

reconstructed, compressed data is uncompressed), and then replicated to the
destination. This method of replicating Data Reduction enabled storage resources
ensures that all replication topologies are supported as if Data Reduction is not
enabled on the resource.

Replication considerations with Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication

Some considerations when using Replication are listed below.

• Replication is supported on resources which support Data Reduction and/or
Advanced Deduplication.
• If replicating to a destination storage system with no efficiencies applied, the
data is not deduplicated or compressed.

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Data Reduction

• Replication can occur to or from a Dell Unity XT that does not support Data
Reduction.
• Data Reduction can be enabled or disabled on source or destination
independently.

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 Data Reduction

Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Native File

and Block Import

When configuring an Import Session, Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication

are supported on the destination as long as the destination system and Pool
configuration supports it.

When creating an Import Session, if the destination resource supports Data

Reduction, a checkbox is available to enable it on the destination resource. An
option for Advanced Deduplication is also shown for configurations which support
it.

As data is migrated from the source VNX system to the Dell Unity XT system, it
passes through the Data Reduction algorithm as it is written to the Pool.

File Import Native SAN Copy

Text
Text

File Import

SAN Copy Import

Dell EMC Unity XT system Dell EMC Unity XT system

Dell EMC VNX2 Series

Dell EMC VNX2 Series

Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Native File and Block Import

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FAST VP

FAST VP

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 FAST VP

FAST VP Overview

When reviewing the access patterns for data within a system, most access patterns
show a basic trend. Typically, the data is most heavily accessed near the time it
was created, and the activity level decreases as the data ages. This trending is
also seen as the lifecycle of the data. Dell EMC Unity Fully Automated Storage
Tiering for Virtual Pools - FAST VP monitors the data access patterns within pools
on the system.

FAST VP dynamically matches the performance requirements to sets of drives.

Before Pool After

Flash
drives

SAS
drives

NL-SAS
drives

Most active data

Moderately active data

Least active data

FAST VP classifies drives into three categories, called tiers. These tiers are:
• Extreme Performance Tier – Comprised of Flash drives

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FAST VP

• Performance Tier – Comprised of Serial Attached SCSI - SAS drives

• Capacity Tier - Comprised of Near-Line SAS - NL-SAS drives

FAST VP helps to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership - TCO by maintaining

performance and efficiently using the configuration of a pool. Users can create
pools with a mix of Flash, SAS, and NL-SAS drives. Creating mixed pools reduces
the cost of a configuration by reducing drive counts and using larger capacity
drives. Data requiring the highest level of performance is tiered to Flash, while data
with less activity resides on SAS or NL-SAS drives.

Dell EMC Unity has a unified approach to create storage resources on the system.
Block LUNs, file systems, and the VMware datastores can all exist within a single
pool, and can all benefit from using FAST VP. In system configurations with
minimal amounts of Flash, FAST VP uses the Flash drives for active data,
regardless of the resource type. For efficiency, FAST VP uses low cost spinning
drives for less active data. Access patterns for all data within a pool are compared
against each other. The most active data is placed on the highest performing drives
according to the storage resource’s tiering policy. Tiering policies are explained
later in this document.

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Tiering Policies

FAST VP Tiering policies determine how the data relocation takes place within the
storage pool. The available FAST VP policies are displayed here.

The Tier label is used to describe the various categories of media used within a
pool. In a physical system, the tier directly relates to the drive types used within the
pool. The available tiers are Extreme Performance Tier using Flash drives, the
Performance Tier using SAS drives, and the Capacity Tier using NL-SAS drives.

On a Dell EMC UnityVSA system, a storage tier of the virtual drives must be
created manually. The drives should match the underlying characteristics of the
virtual disk.

The table shows the available tiering policies with its description, and the initial tier
placement which corresponds to a selected policy.

Tiering Policy Corresponding Initial Tier Description

Placement

Highest Available Highest Available Tier Initial data placement and

Tier subsequent data
relocations set to the
highest performing tier of
drives with available
space

Auto-Tier Optimized for pool Performance Initial data placement

optimizes the pool
capacity, then relocates
slices to different tiers
based on the activity
levels of the slices

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FAST VP

Start High then Highest Available Tier Initial data placed on

Auto-Tier [Default] slices from the highest tier
with available space, then
relocates data based on
performance statistics and
slice activity

Lowest Available Lowest Available Tier Initial data placement and

Tier subsequent relocations
preferred on the lowest
tier with available space.

There are four Tiering Policies:

• Use the Highest Available Tier policy when quick response times are a
priority.
• The Auto-Tier policy automatically relocates data to the most appropriate tier
based on the activity level of each data slice.
• The Start High, then Auto-Tier is the recommended policy for each newly
created pool. The tier takes advantage of the Highest Available Tier and Auto-
Tier policies.
• Use the Lowest Available Tier policy when cost effectiveness is the highest
priority. With this policy, data is initially placed on the lowest available tier with
capacity.

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 FAST VP

Supported RAID Types and Drive Configurations

Users can select the RAID protection for each one of the tiers being configured
when creating a pool. A single RAID protection is selected for each tier, and after
the RAID configuration is selected, and the pool is created, it cannot be changed.
Only when you expand the pool with a new drive type, you can select a RAID
protection.

This table shows the supported RAID types and drive configurations.

Remember to consider the performance, capacity and protection levels these

configurations provide, when deciding on the RAID configuration to adopt.
• RAID 1/0 is suggested for applications with large amounts of random writes, as
there is no parity write penalty in this RAID type.
• RAID 5 is preferred when cost and performance are a concern.
• RAID 6 provides the maximum level of protection against drive faults of all the
supported RAID types.

When considering a RAID configuration which includes many drives - 12+1, 12+2,
14+2, consider the tradeoffs that the larger drive counts contain. Using larger drive
sizes can lead to longer rebuild times and possible faulted domains.

RAID Type Default Configuration Supported Configurations

RAID 1/0 4+4 1+1*, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4

RAID 5 4+1 4+1, 8+1, 12+1

RAID 6 6+2 4+2, 6+2, 8+2, 10+2, 12+2, 14+2

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FAST VP

FAST VP Management

System Global Settings

The user can change the system-level data relocation configuration using the
Global settings window.

Select the Settings option on the top of the Unisphere page to open the Settings
window.

Users have the option to:

• Manually pause and resume the scheduled data relocations
• Change the data relocation rate
• Disable and re-enable scheduled data relocations
• Modify the data relocation schedule.

Storage Pool

FAST VP relocation at the pool level can be also verified from the pool properties
window.

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In Unisphere, select a pool and click the edit icon to open its properties window.
Then select the FAST VP tab.

Users can view the following information for a pool:

• Pool participation in scheduled data relocations
• Estimated time needed for scheduled data relocations
• Start and end time for the most recent data relocation
• Number and type of disks in each tier
• Amount of data in the pool scheduled to move to higher and lower tiers
• Amount of data in the pool scheduled to be rebalanced within a tier

You also have the option to manually start a data relocation by clicking the Start
Relocation button. To modify the FAST VP settings, click the Manage FAST VP
system settings link in the upper right side of the window.

Block or File Resource

At the storage resource level, the user can change the tiering policy for the data
relocation.

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FAST VP

In Unisphere, select the block or file resource and click the pencil icon to open its
properties window. Then select the FAST VP tab.

From this page, it is possible to edit the tiering policy for the data relocation.

The example shows the properties for LUN_2. The FAST VP page displays the
information of the tiers that are used for data distribution.

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 Thin Clones

Thin Clones

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Thin Clones

Thin Clones Overview

A Thin Clone is a read/write copy of a thin block storage resource that shares
blocks with the parent resource. Thin Clones created from a thin LUN, Consistency
Group, or the VMware VMFS datastore form a hierarchy.

A Base LUN family is the combination of the Base LUN, and all its derivative Thin
Clones and snapshots. The original or production LUN for a set of derivative
snapshots, and Thin Clones is called a Base LUN. The Base LUN family includes
snapshots and Thin Clones based on child snapshots of the storage resource or its
Thin Clones.

Data available on the source snapshot is immediately available to the Thin Clone.
The Thin Clone references the source snapshot for this data. Data resulting from
changes to the Thin Clone after its creation is stored on the Thin Clone.

A snapshot of the LUN, Consistency Group, or VMFS datastore that is used for the
Thin Clone create and refresh operations is called a source snapshot. The original
parent resource is the original parent datastore or Thin Clone for the snapshot on
which the Thin Clone is based.

Thin Clones are created from attached read-only or unattached snapshots with no
auto-deletion policy and no expiration policy set. Thin Clones are supported on all
Dell Unity models including Dell UnityVSA.

In the example, the Base LUN family for LUN1 includes all the snapshots and Thin
Clones that are displayed in the diagram.

LUN 1

RO Thin
Clone 1

Snap 1
Application 1
RO Thin
Clone 2

Snap 2 Snap 3
Application 2

Snap 5
Snap 4

Base LUN Family Snap 6

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Thin Clone Capabilities

A thin clone is displayed in the LUNs page. The page shows the details and
properties for the clone.

You can expand a thin clone by selecting the clone, then selecting the View/Edit
option. If a thin clone is created from a 100 GB Base LUN, the size of the thin clone
can be later expanded.

All data services remain available on the parent resource after the creation of the
thin clone. Changes to the thin clone do not affect the source snapshot, because
the source snapshot is read-only.

With thin clones, users can make space-efficient copies of the production
environment. Thin clones are based on pointer-based technology, which means a
thin clone does not consume much space from the storage pool. The thin clones
share the space with the base resource, rather than allocate a copy of the source
data for itself, which provide benefits to the user.

Users can also apply data services to thin clones. Data services include; host I/O
limits, host access configuration, manual or scheduled snapshots, and replication.
With the thin clone replication, a full clone is created on the target side which is an
independent copy of the source LUN.

A maximum of 16 thin clones per Base LUN can be created. The combination of
snapshots and thin clones cannot exceed 256.

Thin Clone Capabilities

Thin Clone operations Users can create, refresh, view, modify, expand, and
delete a thin clone.

Data Services All data services remain available on the parent

resource after the thin clone creation.

Space Savings Only changed data consumes space.

Data Services Most LUN data services can be applied to thin clones:
host I/O limits, host access configuration,
manual/scheduled snapshots, replication.

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Thin Clones

Maximum number of thin 16 thin clones per Base LUN

clones per Base LUN

Snapshots per LUN 256 snapshot per LUN

Snapshots + Thin Clones 256 snapshots + thin clones per LUN

per LUN

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 Thin Clones

Recommended Uses for Thin Clones

The use of Thin Clones is beneficial for the types of activities that are explained
here.

Thin Clones allow development and test personnel to work with real workloads and
use all data services that are associated with production storage resources without
interfering with production.

For parallel processing applications which span multiple servers the user can use
multiple Thin Clones of a single production dataset to achieve results more quickly.

An administrator can meet defined SLAs by using Thin Clones to maintain hot
backup copies of production systems. If there is corruption of the production
dataset, the user can immediately resume the read/write workload by using the
Thin Clones.

Thin Clones can also be used to build and deploy templates for identical or near-
identical environments.

Recommended Uses for Thin Clones

Development and Work with real workloads and all data services that are
test environments associated with production storage with no effect to
production.

Parallel Processing Parallel processing applications which span multiple servers

can use multiple Thin Clones of a single production dataset
to achieve results more quickly.

Online backup Maintain hot backup copies of production systems; if there is

production data corruption, immediately resume the
read/write workload by using Thin Clones.

System deployments Build and deploy templates for identical or near-identical

environments.

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Thin Clones

Technical Comparison – Snapshots and Thin Clones

Description Snapshots Thin Clones

Space-Efficient Data Yes Yes

Creation Time Instantaneous Instantaneous

Delete Limitations Automatic deletion of Any copy in the tree can be

source snapshot of a Thin deleted. Base LUN cannot
Clone not allowed be deleted.

Topology Snap-of-snap Nested hierarchy of snap

and Thin Clones

Any-Any Refresh From base LUN only Yes, any Thin Clone can
be refreshed from any
snapshot.

Restore Yes, Snap to base LUN Yes, must create a snap

first, then restore primary.

Use Cases Data Protection Test/Dev

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Theory of Operations: Create Thin Clones

The Create operation uses a Base LUN to build the set of derivative snapshots,
and Thin Clones.

In this example, LUN1 is the Base LUN.

1. The first snapshot - Snap1 is created with read-only access. Snap1 is going to
be the source snapshot to create Thin Clone1 [TC1]. The original parent
resource is the original parent datastore or Thin Clone for the snapshot on
which the Thin Clone is based. For Thin Clone1, the original parent is LUN1.
2. To create another Thin Clone, snapshot [Snap2] is created from Thin Clone1
[TC1]. Snap2 is the source snapshot for the creation of Thin Clone2 [TC2].
Observe that for this Thin Clone the original parent is Thin Clone1.
3. To create the third Thin Clone, another snapshot is created. Snap3 is created
from Thin Clone2, and is used as the source snapshot for creating Thin Clone3
[TC3]. Observe that the original parent for this Thin Clone is Thin Clone2.

The creation of snapshots of the production LUN works independently of Thin

Clones and the snapshots of Thin Clones creation.

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Thin Clones

Theory of Operations: Refresh Thin Clones - 1 of 2

Refreshing a Thin Clone updates the Thin Clone’s data with data from a different
source snapshot. The new source snapshot must be related to the base LUN for
the existing Thin Clone. In addition, the snapshot must be read-only, and it must
have expiration policy or automatic deletion disabled.

This example shows that the user is refreshing Thin Clone3 with the contents of
source Snap1.

After the Thin Clone is refreshed, the existing data is removed and replaced with
the Snap1 data. There are no changes to the data services configured in the Thin
Clone, and if the Thin Clone has derivative snapshots they remain unchanged.

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 Thin Clones

Theory of Operations: Refresh Thin Clones - 2 of 2

In this example, the source snapshot of the Thin Clone changes. So instead of
being Snap3, the source snapshot is now Snap1.

Observe that the original parent resource does not change when a Thin Clone is
refreshed to a different source snapshot. The new source snapshot comes from the
same base LUN.

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Thin Clones

Theory of Operations: Refresh Base LUN

Refreshing a Base LUN updates the LUNs data with data from any eligible
snapshot in the Base LUN family including a snapshot of a Thin Clone. The new
source snapshot must be related to the Base LUN family for the existing Thin
Clone. In addition, the snapshot must be read-only, and the retention policy must
be set to no automatic deletion.

This example shows the user refreshing LUN1 with the data from Snap3. When the
LUN is refreshed, the existing data is removed from LUN1 and replaced with the
data from Snap3.

There are no changes to the data services configured on the Thin Clone. If the Thin
Clone has derivative snapshots, the snapshots remain unchanged.

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 Thin Clones

Thin Clone Considerations

Thin Clone Considerations

• Certain properties cannot be changed at the Thin Clone level and are
dependent upon the Base LUN. If a user changes these properties on the Base
LUN, then the changes are reflected on the Thin Clone. These properties are:
− SP ownership
− FAST VP
− Data reduction settings
• Thin Clones are not supported for snapshots of thick LUNs. A Thin Clone is a
read/write copy of a thin block storage resource and cannot be created using
thick LUNs.
• At the time of the Thin Clone creation:
− The source snapshot must be read-only and expiration policy / automatic
deletion must be disabled.
− After the Thin Clone is created, the source snapshot can be deleted.
• A Thin Clone of a Thin Clone cannot be created before an intermediate
snapshot is created.
• A replicated Thin Clone becomes a Full clone on the destination storage
system.
• A production storage resource cannot be deleted if it has associated Thin
Clones.
• Unisphere Move option is not supported for Thin Clones.

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Thin Clones

LUN Refresh Operation - 1 of 2

This page shows the Unisphere LUNs page with the example of a Base LUN and
its respective Thin Clones.

In the example, Base_LUN1 has two Clones that are taken at different times:
• The Base_LUN1 has an allocated percentage of 63.1.
• TC1OriginalData was a clone of the original Base_LUN1 and has an allocation
of 2.1 percent.
• TC2 AddedFiles were taken after adding files to the Base_LUN1.

For the top window, a snapshot that is taken of TC1OriginalData is used to

populate the Base_LUN1 with the original data.

For the bottom window, the Base_LUN1 has been selected and the Refresh option
is used to populate the base LUN.

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 Thin Clones

LUN Refresh Operation - 2 of 2

In the top window, the SnapOriginalData resource has been selected. Note the
Attached and Auto-Delete options must display a No status state.

The bottom window shows that the results after the Base_LUN1 has been updated
with the SnapOriginalData snapshot. The properties of Base_LUN1 show that the
Allocated space is only 2.1% after the refresh.

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Thin Clones

Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication with Snapshots

and Thin Clones

Thin Clones

Dell Unity Snapshots and Thin Clones are fully supported with data reduction and
Advanced Deduplication. Snapshots and Thin Clones also benefit from the space
savings that are achieved on the source storage resource.

Both Snapshots and Thin Clones support deduplicated blocks.

• Snapshot and Thin Clone metadata can reference deduplicated blocks so when
reading from a snapshot which references a deduplicated block, the block is re-
created and sent to the host.
• When a source resource receives a write to a deduplicated block which is
shared with a snapshot or Thin Clone, a normal redirect on write occurs. The
software then determines if a block must be allocated.

When writing to a Snapshot or Thin Clone, the I/O is subject to the same data
efficiency mechanism as the storage resource. Which efficiency algorithms are
applied depends on the Data Reduction and Advanced Deduplication settings of
the parent resource.

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 File System Quotas

File System Quotas

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File System Quotas

File System Quotas overview

• Track file system usage

− Dell EMC Unity storage systems support file system quotas which enable
storage administrators to track and limit usage of a file system. Limiting
usage is not the only application of quotas. The quota tracking capability can
be useful for tracking and reporting usage by simply setting the quota limits
to zero.
• Limits usage
− Quota limits can be designated for users, or a directory tree. Limits are
stored in quota records for each user and quota tree. Limits are also stored
for users within a quota tree.
• Usage determined by Quota Policy
− Quota policies ensure that the file system is configured to use the quota
policy that best suits the client environment. Users have a choice of File Size
[the default], or the Blocks policy. The File Size quota policy calculates the
disk usage based on logical file sizes in 1 KB increments. The block quota
policy calculates the disk usage in file system blocks in 8 KB units.
• Quota limits

− Hard and soft limits set on the amount of disk space allowed for
consumption.

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 File System Quotas

File System Quotas Configuration

Dell EMC recommends that quotas are configured before the storage system
becomes active in a production environment. Quotas can be configured after a file
system is created.

Default quota settings can be configured for an environment where the same set of
limits are applied to many users.

Open the Manage Quota Settings window:

1. Select the file system to edit.
2. Click the pencil icon to edit the selected file system.
3. Select the Quotas tab.
4. Click Manage Quota Settings.

These parameters can be configured from the Manage Quota Settings window:
• Quota policy: File size [default] or Blocks
• Soft limit
• Hard limit
• Grace period

The soft limit is a capacity threshold. When file usage exceeds the threshold, a
countdown timer begins. The timer, or grace period, continues to count down as

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File System Quotas

long as the soft limit is exceeded. However, data can still be written to the file
system. If the soft limit remains exceeded and the grace period expires, no new
data may be added to the particular directory. Users associated with the quota are
also prohibited from writing new data. When the capacity is reduced beneath the
soft limit before the grace period expires, access is allowed to the file system

The grace period can be limited by days, hours and minutes, or unlimited. When
the grace period is unlimited, data can be written to file system until the quota hard
limit is reached.

A hard limit is also set for each quota configured. When the hard limit is reached,
no new data can be added to the file system or directory. The quota must be
increased, or data must be removed from the file system before more data can be
added.

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 File System Quotas

Quota Usage

File system quotas can track and report usage of a file system.

• When the Soft Quota limit is reached

− Storage administrator receives notification of the event

− Grace period is invoked, if the quota policy is set with a defined limit of days,
hours or minutes.
In this example, a user quota was configured on a file system for a particular user.
The Soft Limit is 20 GB, the Grace Period is one day, and the Hard Limit is 25 GB.
The user copies 16 GB of data to the file system. Since the capacity is less than
the user’s quota, the user can still add more files to the file system.

File System

Soft Limit Hard Limit

(20 GB) (25 GB)

Quota Usage

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File System Quotas

Quota Limit

Soft Limit

When the Soft Quota limit is reached,

• Storage administrator receives notification of the event

• Grace period is invoked

Grace Period
File System (One Day)

Block soft quota crossed

Soft Limit Hard Limit
(20 GB) (25 GB)
Quota Usage

In this example, the user crosses the 20 GB soft limit. The storage administrator
receives an alert in Unisphere stating that the soft quota for this user has been
crossed.

The Grace Period of one day begins to count down. Users are still able to add data
to the file system. Before the expiration of the Grace Period, file system usage
must be less than the soft limit.

Grace Period

When the Grace Period is reached,

• The system issues a warning when the grace period is reached

• Storage administrator receives notification of the event

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 File System Quotas

Grace Period
(One Day)
File System

Soft Limit Hard Limit

Block soft quota crossed and grace period expired (20 GB) (25 GB)

Quota Usage

When the Grace Period is reached and the usage is still over the soft limit, the
system issues a warning. The storage administrator receives a notification of the
event.

The transfer of more data to the file system is interrupted until file system usage is
less than the allowed soft limit.

Hard Limit

When the Hard Limit is reached,

• Error message is sent to client, and user requests are denied

• Storage administrator receives notification of the event

Grace Period
File System (One Day)

Soft Limit
Block hard quota reached / exceeded Hard Limit
(20 GB)
(25 GB)
Quota Usage

If the Grace Period has not expired and data remains being written to the file
system, eventually the Hard Limit is reached.

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File System Quotas

When the hard limit is reached, users can no longer add data to the file system and
the storage administrator receives a notification.

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 File System Quotas

Storage Efficiency Key Points

1. Data Reduction
a. Dell Unity XT Data Reduction provides space savings by using data
deduplication and compression.
b. Data reduction is supported on All Flash pools created on Dell Unity XT
Hybrid Flash systems or Dell Unity XT All Flash systems.
c. Data reduction is supported on thin storage resources: LUNs, LUNs within a
Consistency Group, file systems, and VMware VMFS and NFS datastores.
2. FAST VP
a. Dell Unity Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools (FAST VP)
monitors the data access patterns within heterogeneous pools on the
system.
b. In storage pools with Flash, SAS and NL-SAS, FAST VP uses the Flash
drives for active data, and low cost spinning drives for less active data.
c. There are four tiering policies: Start High then Auto-tier (default), Highest
Available tier, Auto Tier, Lowest Available Tier.
d. RAID levels for each tier can be selected when creating a pool. The
supported RAID levels are RAID 1/0, RAID 5 and RAID 6.
e. Data relocation can be schedule the system level, or manually started at the
storage pool level.
3. Thin Clones
a. A Thin Clone is a read/write copy of a thin block storage resource that
shares blocks with the parent resource.
– The resource is built from a snapshot of thin block storage resources:
LUNs, LUNs member of a Consistency Group, or VMFS datastores.
– Thin Clones can be created from Attached read-only or Unattached
Snapshots with no auto-deletion policy and no expiration policy.
– Thin Clones are supported on all Dell EMC Unity XT models including
Dell EMC UnityVSA.
4. File System Quotas

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File System Quotas

a. Dell Unity XT systems support file system quotas which enable storage
administrators to track and limit usage of a file system.
b. Quota limits can be designated for users, a directory tree, or users within a
quota tree.
c. Quota policy can be configure to determine usage per File Size (the default),
or Blocks.
d. The policies use hard and soft limits set on the amount of disk space
allowed for consumption.

For more information, see the Dell EMC Unity: Data Reduction,
Dell EMC Unity: FAST Technology Overview, Dell EMC Unity:
Snapshots and Thin Clones A Detailed Review, and Dell EMC
Unity: NAS Capabilities on the Dell Technologies Info Hub.

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 File System Quotas

Appendix: Supported Configurations for Data Reduction and

Advanced Deduplication

Dell Unity Technology Supported Pool Supported

OE Type Models

4.3 / 4.4 Data Reduction All Flash Pool 1 300 | 400 | 500 |
600
300F | 400F | 500F
| 600F
350F | 450F | 550F
| 650F

4.5 Data Reduction All Flash Pool 1 300 | 400 | 500 |

600
300F | 400F | 500F
| 600F
350F | 450F | 550F
| 650F

Data Reduction + All Flash Pool 2 450F | 550F | 650F

Advanced Deduplication

5.0 / 5.1 Data Reduction All Flash Pool 1 300 | 400 | 500 |
600
300F | 400F | 500F
| 600F
350F | 450F | 550F
| 650F
380 | 480 | 680 |
880
380F | 480F | 680F
| 880F

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File System Quotas

Data Reduction + All Flash Pool 1 450F | 550F | 650F

Advanced Deduplication 380 | 480 | 680 |
880
380F | 480F | 680F
| 880F

5.2 Data Reduction All Flash Pool 1 300 | 400 | 500 |

600
300F | 400F | 500F
| 600F
350F | 450F | 550F
| 650F
380 | 480 | 680 |
880
380F | 480F | 680F
| 880F

Hybrid Pool 1, 3 380 | 480 | 680 |

880

Data Reduction + All Flash Pool 1 450F | 550F | 650F

Advanced Deduplication 380 | 480 | 680 |
880
380F | 480F | 680F
| 880F

Hybrid Pool 1, 3 380 | 480 | 680 |

880

1 Resource can be created on either a Traditional or a Dynamic Pool (For systems

that support Dynamic Pools).

2 Resource can be created on a Dynamic Pool Only.

3The pool must contain a flash tier, and the total usable capacity of the flash tier
must meet or exceed 10% of the total pool capacity.

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Appendix

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Appendix

Storage Resource on Low Flash Capacity Pool

When the Flash Percent (%) value of a hybrid flash dynamic pool is below 10%,
data reduction is not supported for the storage resources.

In the example, the Flash Percent (%) of Pool 1 does not comply with the data
reduction requirements.

Pool properties General tab showing the Flash Percent (%).

Data Reduction is disabled and unavailable for any storage resource that is created
from the pool. The feature is grayed out, and a message explains the situation.

The example shows that data reduction is not available when creating a LUN on
Pool 1.

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 Appendix

Create LUN wizard with the Data Reduction option unavailable for configuration.

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 Module 4 Storage Efficiency

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