Data Deduplication in Windows Server 2012

There is a new and really handy feature in Windows Server 2012 called Data Deduplication. The feature is discussed in detail on the Technet page here – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831602.aspx

Basically, Data Deduplication will find and remove duplication on the server without compromising data fidelity or integrity. This feature was used in the Essentials line of SBS 2011, Windows Home Server 2011, and Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, within the Client Backup feature. This feature allowed multiple backups of similar client PCs to be stored on the server with minimal disk storage footprint. Now, this feature is available for WS2012, and will provide a lot of benefits, particularly in optimising disk storage space and improving bandwidth across networks.

This feature is associated with the File and Storage Services Role, which is installed on all standard installs. Interestingly, this feature is not installed by default with the role, and must be enabled manually by running the Add Roles and Features wizard.

  1. From the Server Manager Dashboard, run the Add Roles and Features wizard.

  2. Click Next on the next 3 screens.

  3. Expand File and Storage Services and tick Data Deduplication, then click Next.

  4. Click Next on the next screen, then click Install on the confirmation screen. Note that you will not need to restart the server to install this feature.

  5. Close the wizard when the installation is complete.

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