Deduplication and VDI Improvements

Windows Server 2012 R2 leverages technologies introduced in Windows Server 2012, including data deduplication, Server Message Block (SMB) 3.0, and Storage Spaces, to reduce storage costs for Remote Desktop Services (RDS) sessions or a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Although eliminating duplicate data makes a Windows-based VDI more feasible economically, other limitations, such as limited RemoteFX support, mean that organizations using VDI to support “bring your own” scenarios may find offerings from partners such as Citrix better, as these solutions support client devices running OSs such as Windows XP and Vista and some non-Microsoft platforms Microsoft doesn’t support.

Windows Server Data Deduplication

Data deduplication, introduced in Windows Server 2012, reduces the amount of space needed to store files by taking an inactive file, breaking it into pieces called chunks, placing the compressed chunks in a specialized chunk store, and using pointers from the metadata in the file to the needed chunks in the data store. Duplicate chunks in the chunk store can then be eliminated; a reparse pointer works with a specialized filter driver to create a link between the file’s metadata (name and other attributes) and the data chunks in the chunk store needed to rebuild the files. (For an illustration, see “Data Deduplication Overview“.)