About scaling MSDP
You can scale deduplication processing to improve performance by using load balancing servers or client deduplication or both.
If you configure load balancing servers, those servers also perform deduplication. The deduplication storage server still functions as both a deduplication server and as a storage server. NetBackup uses standard load balancing criteria to select a load balancing server for each job. However, deduplication fingerprint calculations are not part of the load balancing criteria.
To completely remove the deduplication storage server from deduplication duties, do the following for every storage unit that uses the deduplication disk pool:
Select
Select all of the load balancing servers but do not select the deduplication storage server.
The deduplication storage server performs storage server tasks only: storing and managing the deduplicated data, file deletion, and optimized duplication.
If you configure client deduplication, the clients deduplicate their own data. Some of the deduplication load is removed from the deduplication storage server and loading balancing servers.
Cohesity recommends the following strategies to scale MSDP:
For the initial full backups of your clients, use the deduplication storage server. For subsequent backups, use load balancing servers.
Enable client-side deduplication gradually.
If a client cannot tolerate the deduplication processing workload, be prepared to move the deduplication processing back to a server.