Windows Server Backup Deduplication: Top 2 Ways

What is backup deduplication?

Data backup deduplication (dedup) is a technique for eliminating duplicate copies of repetitive data, and successful implementation of this technique can improve storage utilization.

When enabled, Data Deduplication optimizes free space on a volume by examining the data on the volume by looking for duplicated portions on the volume.

Data deduplication is ideal for highly redundant operations like backup, which requires repeatedly copying and storing the same data set multiple times for recovery purposes. As a result, enterprises of all sizes rely on backup and recovery with deduplication for fast, reliable, and cost-effective backup and recovery.

Enable Windows Server deduplication cleanup

Data Deduplication is a new feature that has been added since Windows Server 2012. Windows Server deduplication is a technique for efficiently saving disk usage space in Windows Server systems. Deduplication continues to be enhanced with each release of Windows Server and works at the file level. Now, you can follow the steps provided below to enable Windows Server backup limit number of backups.

▶Install Data Deduplication:

1. In the Add Roles and Feature wizard window, select Server Roles, and then select Data Deduplication from the list. Click Next.

2. Click Install to have this feature enabled on your Server PC.

▶Enable Data Deduplication:

1. Open Server Manager, and select File and Storage Services.

2. Select Volumes from the left side, and choose the volume you wish to make deduplication.

3. Right-click the desired volume and select Configure Data Deduplication.

4. Select the desired Usage Type from the drop-down box and select OK.

5. Now you have managed to set up the Data Deduplication feature on the target Windows Server.

2 easy ways to backup a deduplicated volume

By reading the above, you have now achieved deduplication. Since the space used on the data volume is freed up considerably, it makes backing up that volume much faster. This results in longer retention times, greater efficiency for backup storage targets, and faster recovery operations. 

In this section, you can learn two simple ways to backup the deduplicated volume after the above operations.

Way 1. Backup a deduplicated volume using Windows Server Backup

Windows Server Backup can backup an optimized volume "as is". The following example illustrates how to backup a volume without removing deduplicated data.

1. Open Windows PowerShell, and type the following command to install Windows Server Backup.

Add-WindowsFeature -name Windows-Server-Backup

2. Run the following from a command prompt to backup the E: volume to another volume. (substitute E: with the correct volume names according to your needs.)

wbadmin start backup –include:E: -backuptarget:F: -quiet

3. Now this tool will start to backup the deduplicated volume you selected before.

Way 2. Backup a deduplicated volume with AOMEI Backupper 

There’s also another powerful tool named AOMEI Backupper Server that allows you to backup deduplicated Server backups that you can give a shot. As the best Windows Server file backup software, it owns an easy-to-use interface and requires no technical skills, and following are some of its excellent features you can benefit from.

♨ It allows you to backup System/Disk/Partition/File to various locations, such as local disks, external hard drives, USB flash drives, NAS devices, and network location.
♨ It enables you to create automatic backups for Windows Server with the Schedule Backup feature. For example, you may run OneDrive daily backup.
♨ It owns a Backup Scheme feature, which allows you to Enable Automatic Backup Cleanup to manage destination storage by Windows Server auto deleting old backups, thus your storage space is greatly saved.
♨ It supports all Windows Server operating systems (Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2008/2003, etc.)

You can easily manage the process with the stepwise guide below. Click the button below to download it and have a try.

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Backupper, and select Partition Backup under the Backup tab.

Step 2. Set the deduplicated source partition(s) and the destination path respectively. 

Step 3. Confirm all the items and click Start Backup to complete Windows Server backup deduplication.

 As you can see, the main steps of backing up files are quite easy. You can also set more desired backup settings for your backups.

✬ Backup Scheme: You can select full backup or backup only changed files with incremental or differential backup methods. For cleanup methods, you can Enable Automatic Backup Cleanup by quantity, by time, by space, and by day/week/month. When it is activated, the program will automatically clean up old image files and save your disk space usage.

You can set the value according to which cleanup method you choose, and it will auto delete old backups when the backup version exceeds the value you set, thus saving disk space for you.

✬ Options: You can Enable encryption for backups to protect your backed up files. Email notification, compress, and split backup images to reduce backup image size are also available.

✬ Click Schedule Backup to choose a frequency for the backup task. You can set the backup task to run automatically at fixed intervals such as Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Event triggers/USB plug in.

FAQs about data deduplication

Your turn

That’s all for introduction to Windows Server backup deduplication and how to enable it to save disk space with the provided guide. Meanwhile, if you want a more flexible way to automatically clean Server duplicate backups of files, you can rely on an all-in-one backup software, which is AOMEI Backupper Professional. With its help, you can backup Windows Server to cloud as a data rescue solution.

Moreover, it is the best Server media creator that allows you to create a bootable Server USB and use it to enable Windows Server 2019 Legacy boot. It is worth trying that you won’t regret it!