Dell EMC Data Domain
DeveloperDell EMC (2016 - 2019)
EMC Corporation (2009-2016)
Data Domain (2004 - 2009)
TypeData-management Storage server
Release date2004; 19 years ago (2004) (as Data Domain DD series)
2009; 14 years ago (2009) (as EMC Data Domain)
Discontinued2019
CPUx86
SuccessorDell EMC PowerProtect
Websitedelltechnologies.com/.../data-protection/data-domain-series/data-domain-dd6300-data-backup-appliance

Dell EMC Data Domain was Dell EMC’s data deduplication storage system. Development began with the founding of Data Domain, and continued since that company’s acquisition by EMC Corporation (and EMC’s later merger with Dell to form Dell EMC).

History

The technology started in a separate company, which was then acquired and re-branded twice.

Data Domain Corporation

Data Domain Corporation
TypeSubsidiary of EMC Corporation
Industrydeduplication
Founded2001
FounderKai Li, Brian Biles
FateAcquired by EMC Corporation in 2009
SuccessorDell EMC Data Domain
HeadquartersSanta Clara, California
Key people
Kai Li, Brian Biles
ProductsData Duplication
OwnerDell EMC
Websitewww.emc.com/datadomain

The Data Domain Corporation was founded by Kai Li, Ben Zhu, and Brian Biles in 2001 as a company specializing in target-based data deduplication products for disk-based backup.[1][2][3] Hugo Patterson joined as chief architect 3 months after initial funding. The company started operations in a series of venture capital offices around Palo Alto, California, pre-funding at U.S. Venture Partners, where Zhu was an entrepreneur in residence (EIR), then at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), where Li was an EIR, and post-funding at Greylock Partners. NEA and Greylock provided Series A funding in 2002.[4]

The first product revenue was realized in the beginning of 2004.[5]

Funding, IPO and Acquisition

NEA and Greylock led the company’s $9.3 million Series A funding round in 2002. Sutter Hill Ventures led its $17 million Series B funding round in 2003, joined again by NEA and Greylock. Through 2005, the three companies invested a total of $40 million in Data Domain.[6]

The company had their initial public offering on June 27, 2007, with a total market capitalization of $776.5 million, above its forecast range despite years of losses.[7] This put the stock price at $15 per share, above the forecasted range of $11.50 to $13.50. The company’s market capitalization was $776.5 million at the time of the IPO.[7] It was listed on Nasdaq with symbol DDUP.

EMC Data Domain

In May 2009, NetApp announced it would acquire Data Domain for about $1.5 billion.[5] In June 2009, EMC Corporation announced their intention to acquire Data Domain Corp for $2.4 billion, outbidding the previous offer. In July, the two companies agreed to the acquisition.[8][9][10] Post-acquisition, Data Domain would operate as a brand and line of products under EMC, known as EMC Data Domain.[11]

Former CEO Frank Slootman published a book about his experiences in 2011.[12]

Since acquiring Data Domain, EMC integrated the Data Domain platform with its Data Protection Suite software and expanded software enhancements. According to a 2013 analysis sponsored by EMC, Data Domain reduced loss of user productivity from backup, restore, and retrieval operations.[11]

Dell EMC Data Domain

In 2016, EMC merged with Dell to become Dell EMC, which continued the Data Domain brand until 2019.[13][14] During this period, the brand was named Dell EMC Data Domain.[15] On September 24, 2019, Dell EMC announced via blog post that Data Domain products will be branded as PowerProtect DD products going forward.[16]

Technologies

The goal of the Data Domain technology was to eliminate logistical concerns of using backup or archival tape libraries, by implementing a suitable disk-based substitute for backup tapes.[4] It did this by inventing a fast implementation of lossless data compression, optimized for streaming workloads, which compares incoming large data segments against all others in its store. This provided significant speed advantages compared to tape.[17] Originally categorized as "capacity optimization" by industry analysts, it became more widely known as inline "data deduplication."[18] Also, unlike most non-archival computer storage products, Data Domain went to technical lengths to ensure data longevity (vs. system longevity).[19]

Unlike most of Data Domain's early competition, it was first packaged as a file-system appliance; this made it more predictable than a software product and simpler to manage than a virtual tape library system.[17] This product package included the storage hardware itself, as well as a specialized proprietary OS and file system.[20]

Alongside the standalone appliances, Data Domain also created a method to unify multiple of their appliances into a larger data storage system called a DDX Array. A DDX Array is a singular rack-mounted storage system, consisting of multiple individual Data Domain storage appliances acting as "controllers". This system's data storage capacity could be further expanded by connecting to and controlling "integrated or third party external storage". DDX Arrays provided increased throughput (scaling with the number of appliances used as controllers) into a single storage source, and greater overall storage capacity, when compared to an individual Data Domain appliance.[21]

Products and Services

The first Data Domain system, the DD200 in 2004, had a 1.25 TB addressable capacity and was able to accept data at a rate of 40 MB/sec.[5] Because its implementation put most of the system stress on CPU/RAM, rather than disk I/O, it was able to improve at the rate of Intel technology.[20]

In May 2008, Data Domain Corporation announced the DD690, which used quad-core CPUs and could accept data at a rate of 166 MB/sec. This singular rack-mounted appliance could be combined with other DD690s to form a "DDX Array".[22]

By 2018, Dell EMC would produce the DD9800, which had an addressable capacity of up to 50 PB (depending on configuration), and could accept data at a rate of 8611 MB/sec.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Data Domain, an EMC company." Data Domain.
  2. ^ "The Entrepreneur Questionnaire: Brian Biles, Co-Founder of Data Domain". greylockvc.com. March 11, 2011. Archived from the original on August 26, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  3. ^ "Brian D. Biles". Executive data. Bloomberg. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Data Domain Founder, Kai Li, on EMC Acquisition and the Future of Data Storage". Xconomy. Xconomy, Inc. July 9, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Stephen Lawson (May 20, 2009). "NetApp to acquire Data Domain for $1.5 billion". Computerworld. IDG. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  6. ^ "Breaking Down The VC Investment Returns Of Data Domain". Wall Street Journal. 2009-07-10.
  7. ^ a b "Data Domain IPO prices above forecast range". Press release. Reuters. June 27, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  8. ^ "EMC Tops NetApp's Bid for Data Domain". Dealbook. The New York Times Company. June 1, 2009. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "Data Domain boosts de-duplication performance". InfoStor. ITBusinessEdge. 2008-06-01.
  10. ^ "Dell EMC Debuts Software-Only Version Of Data Domain". CRN. The Channel Co. 2016-10-19.
  11. ^ a b Randy Perry; Ashish Nadkarni (July 2013). "The ROI of Consolidating Backup and Archive Data" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  12. ^ Frank Slootman (2011). Tape Sucks: Inside Data Domain, a Silicon Valley Growth Story. Together Editing. ISBN 9780615484068.
  13. ^ Chris Mellor (February 5, 2018). "Dell soups up low-end Data Domain deduper: Refreshes SMB-sized deduping backup-to-disk box". The Register. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  14. ^ Chris Mellor (February 6, 2019). "Dell stamps on the gas for backup devices with speed and cloud boost". The Register. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Spring, Cindy (February 13, 2018). "New Dell EMC Data Domain DD3300: Big Opportunities to Address Commercial and ROBO Needs". dell.com. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  16. ^ Phalen, Beth (September 24, 2019). "Introducing Dell EMC PowerProtect DD Series Appliances, the Next Generation of Data Domain, Setting a New Bar for Data Protection in a Modern Digital Economy". dell.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  17. ^ a b "EMC Data Domain De-duplication 2011". Wikibon. 2011-01-25.
  18. ^ "EMC pushes Data Domain for backup and archiving". SearchDataBackup. TechTarget. 2013-04-16. Archived from the original on 2017-11-25.
  19. ^ "Archiving & Compliance". datadomain.com. Data Domain. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Zhu, Benjamin; Li, Kai; Patterson, Hugo (2008-02-29). Avoiding the Disk Bottleneck in the Data Domain Deduplication File System (PDF). 6th USENIX Conference on File and Storage Technologies, FAST 2008. San Jose, California, USA. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2023-01-22.((cite conference)): CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  21. ^ "Data Domain DDX Array Series". datadomain.com. Data Domain. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  22. ^ Komiega, Kevin (June 1, 2008). "Data Domain Boosts De-Duplication Performance". infostor.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  23. ^ DELL EMC DATA DOMAIN OPERATING SYSTEM (PDF), Dell.com: Dell, 2018, p. 3, archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2023, retrieved January 22, 2023

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