Enable client-side deduplication on VSA Windows proxy

Hi ​@Nikos.Kyrm 

For VSA, whether you use push installation or manual installation, you only need to select the Virtual Server package, and Commvault will automatically install all required dependencies. In most cases, this includes the File System Core component,

to enable client side dedup No additional components are required. If you want to verify whether dedup is enabled on the client side while the job is running, you can check using the Job ID. Alternatively, you can review the Backup Job Summary Report. If client side dedup is enabled, you should notice that the data written to the MediaAgent is significantly less than the data read.

If you encounter any errors or need assistance enabling deduplication at the client level, please update the topic and I will be happy to assist you.

Best regards,
Mohammed Ramadan
PS Engineer @ Commvault

Hello Mohammed,

Thanks for your reply!

So, I understand that the default behavior of a Windows VSA, is with client-side deduplication enabled? Is there any setting to enabled / disabled it?

Best regards,
Nikos 

Hi ​@Nikos.Kyrm 
Good Day my friend , 

there is no default option here dude we have two choices: deduplication on the client side or on the MediaAgent side. For your case, I suggest enabling deduplication on the client side (VSA), especially if the MediaAgent is outside the Azure environment. This will save time and network bandwidth because only unique data blocks will be transferred instead of all the data. This is very important if there are WAN connection limits, especially when the MediaAgent is hosted on-premises.

Best regards,
Mohammed Ramadan
PS Engineer @ Commvault

Hi ​@Mohammed Ramadan 

I agree! This is the way to go for me too, enabling deduplication on the client side (Windows VSA).

Could you please provide the required steps to achieve that?
 

Best regards,
Nikos

Hi ​@Nikos.Kyrm 

Please check the doc link below for system requirements
https://documentation.commvault.com/2024e/software/system_requirements_for_azure_vm_access_nodes.html

For hardware requirements, I recommend not using the normal VSA hardware specifications, since it will host the deduplication process. I suggest using the Media Agent Hardware Specifications for Deduplication Mode you can skip the index and DDB disks; just size for CPU and RAM. I also recommend (but it s not mandatory) using Premium SSD or Standard SSD for the VSA VM OS disk
https://documentation.commvault.com/2023e/commcell-console/hardware_specifications_for_deduplication_mode.html 

And good luck If you face any issues just let us know we re happy to help.

Best regards,
Mohammed Ramadan
PS Engineer @ Commvault