VMworld 2013: Next Gen VNX Block Deduplication
This is a quick demonstration of an AWESOME new feature in the new Next-Gen VNX array using the software codenamed "Rockies". The new feature is block deduplication.
On Rockies, block deduplication can easily be enabled for any pooled device (DLU and TLU), and runs as a background process periodically. The dedupe is on an 8K granularity.
While not the first example of primary storage block deduplication, coupled with the VNX FAST Cache and FAST VP and other efficiency technologies makes the EMC VNX Rockies platform dramatically more efficient.
For use cases where a large degree of commonality (VMDKs for server virtualization and VDI are common examples), this can recover 80-90% of the excess capacity as is shown in the demonstration.
Further - there are rich capabilities for controlling deduplication priority and visibility to space savings directly in Unisphere.