You are here: Advanced Configuration Options > About device configuration

About device configuration

Devices are the target locations for data received from the protected servers, workstations, and virtual environments. By default, systems are configured with a single D2D device labeled D2DBackups. D2DBackups is configured to the maximum backup storage of the system, based on the identity of the system and the distribution of backup storage to instant recovery and legacy vaulting (see Storage allocation and distribution for details).

For Unitrends Backup systems, D2DBackups is deployed with 138GB of storage space. Add backup storage as described in Adding backup storage prior to adding a device.

While storage in D2DBackups is adequate in many cases, you can change the amount of space allocated to this device. As well, additional D2D devices may be added to help better organize backups. The original D2DBackups storage is logically divided into multiple devices. For physical systems, the total amount of space allocated to all devices combined must be within the system license limits.

Some reasons for creating additional D2D devices include:

Separating bare metal backups from file-level backups.
Keeping application backups organized together in a separate area.
Organizing servers based on their sizes.
Separating servers with different retention period requirements.
Placing one client on a separate device so it will run at highest priority (not be queued behind other jobs on one device).
Separating source systems on replication targets. There are additional requirements and considerations when associating a device to a replication source. For details, see (Optional) Add a logical device to associate with a source system.

Though adding devices can provide a level of organization, it also adds a level of complexity. If too many devices exist, balancing space allocation between the devices can lead to purging issues and other problems.

See the following topics for details: