Send initial full backups to the storage server

If you intend to use load balancing servers or client deduplication, use the storage server for the initial full backups of the clients. Then, send subsequent backups through the load balancing servers or use client deduplication for the backups. Doing so provides information about the total deduplication load. You can then allocate jobs to best balance the load among your hosts.

Deduplication uses the same fingerprint list regardless of which host performs the deduplication. So you can deduplicate data on the storage server first, and then subsequent backups by another host use the same fingerprint list. If the deduplication plug-in can identify the last full backup for the client and the policy combination, it retrieves the fingerprint list from the server. The list is placed in the fingerprint cache for the new backup.

See About MSDP fingerprinting.

Veritas also recommends that you implement load balancing servers and client deduplication gradually. Therefore, it may be beneficial to use the storage server for backups while you implement deduplication on other hosts.