Sorry this is coming a little late.
Actually, since you're just starting out with it now, I think you don't have much to worry about. The issues I encountered all had to do with the previous firmware code (1.4) on the device. With that fw, data is first written to the DXi in its native format and then deduped to a reserved area. This requires that you have enough storage space to accommodate both the native size of your backup data as well as an extra storage area where the native data is then deduped to!
At some point, I started having "media write" issues which numbered in hundreds per full backup due to the fact that the deduplication process was reading the native data faster than it was being written. It took quite a while for Quantum to build a fix which reduced the number rather than completely eliminate.
I also have an issue with doing direct copy - duplication of data from the DXi to tape - via NDMP - without the involvement of a media server. Whenever I initiate this process, I end up with a downed drive after the first batch of data has been copied, so I have not been using direct copy and have had to put up with overloading the LAN to cut data to tapes.
But, to be fair to Quantum, this has been determined to be caused by the Cisco SME switch to which both the ATL and the DXi are connected. It seems like there's an SME/Netbackup/DXi conflict issue, and Cisco are currently working on a fix.
Anyway, if you had asked me just a couple of weeks ago whether I would recommend this product or buy again, my answer would have been "NO!". This is because as of that time, I was upset with how long it was taking Quatum to discover the root cause of the issue and resolve it. On a few occasions, they suggested a patch and claimed that it would "definitely fix the issues" only for us to be right back where we were or for things to even get worse. But now, I understand their predicament since everything is now clearer to all involved.
So, my conclusion is that it is a great product with very impressive ingest rate and deduplication performances. I get dedupe ratios of 11:1 and 20:1 respectively on the two that I currently manage.
Also, Quantum support was responded in a timely manner and the company spared no resources/expense in trying to fix the issues, although, it did take them a long while to get the root cause, which I was originally disappointed with.
All in all, you should be fine if you're getting one with fw 2.x and do not have a Cisco SME/TSM/ATL conflict issue.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Jimmy Adepeju.
________________________________
From: Richard Rhodes <rrhodes < at > FIRSTENERGYCORP.COM>
To: ADSM-L < at > VM.MARIST.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 3:36 PM
Subject: Re: Quantum DXI Dedup appliance experiences
While a TSM environment would be best, any experiences would be
appreciated.
Since you have NetBackup I would assume you are using the DXi via OST.
We are in a vendor evaluation process, so I'm hunting for
thoughts/comments
on others experiences. With TSM we would/will use any dedup box via
NAS/NFS primarily
(file device pools), and possibly VTL down the road.
So I basically fishing for information, whether specific to TSM or just
general comments.
Have you had problems with the box?
Has Quantum supplied good support?
Would you purchase one again?
If you have experience with DD, how does it compare?
Thanks!
Rick
From: showersofblessings <tayo70s < at > YAHOO.COM>
To: ADSM-L < at > VM.MARIST.EDU
Date: 12/20/2011 02:41 PM
Subject: Re: Quantum DXI Dedup appliance experiences
Sent by: "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L < at > VM.MARIST.EDU>
Hello Rick,
Are you looking for information specific to TSM environment only? I have
currently two DXi 8500 in a Symantec Netbackup environment.
Do let me know.
Thank you,
Jimmy Adepeju
________________________________
From: Richard Rhodes <rrhodes < at > FIRSTENERGYCORP.COM>
To: ADSM-L < at > VM.MARIST.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 2:08 PM
Subject: Quantum DXI Dedup appliance experiences
Hello Everyone,
I would be interested in any thoughts/comments/experiences of anyone who
might be using a Quantum DXI dedup appliance. Things like your vendor
experience, how hard it is to setup and maintain, good/bad experiences,
etc, etc.
Thanks
Rick
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