Documentation V11 SP6
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Indexing: Planning

Table of Contents

Index Hardware Requirements

Whenever installing or reconfiguring a MediaAgent, verify that the volume hosting the Index Directory has sufficient disk space. This table gives the hardware that will in most cases be adequate.

Components Extra Large Large Medium Small Extra Small
Backend Size[1][2] Up to 200 TB Up to 150 TB Up to 60 TB Up to 30 TB Up to 15 TB
CPU/RAM 16 CPU cores, 128 GB RAM 12 CPU cores, 64 GB RAM 8 CPU cores, 32 GB RAM (or 12 vCPUs/48 GB) 4 CPU cores, 24 GB RAM (or 6 vCPUs/32 GB) 2 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM (or 4 vCPUs/24 GB)
OS or Software Disk 400 GB SSD class disk 400 GB usable disk; minimum four spindles of 15K RPM or higher, or SSD-class disk 400 GB usable disk; minimum of four 15K RPM spindles 400 GB usable disk, minimum of two 15K RPM spindles 400 GB usable disk, minimum of two 15K RPM spindles
Index Cache Disk 2 TB usable with 800+ IOPS[2] 1.2 TB usable with 800+ IOPS 500 GB usable, 400+ random IOPS 200 GB usable, 200+ random IOPs 200 GB usable, 200+ random IOPs
  1. Assumes standard retention of up to 90 days. Larger retention will affect FET managed by this configuration, the backend capacity remains the same.
  2. Recommendation for unstructured data types like files, VMs and granular messages. Structured data types like application, databases and so on need significantly less index cache.

For full details on MediaAgent sizing, see the CommCell Sizing for MediaAgent pages, beginning at Hardware Specifications for MediaAgent.

Use of SSD Disk

Placing your index data on a solid-state drive (SSD) may provide better indexing performance. Performance-critical agents and cases include:

  • Exchange Mailbox (Classic) Agent
  • Virtual Server agents
  • NAS filers running NDMP backups
  • Backing up large file servers
  • SharePoint agents
  • Any other case requiring maximum performance

Primary Tape Backup

If your data protection environment uses tape for its primary backups, consider implementing Secondary Index Server to reduce the need for off-site tape recalls.