Indexing: Planning
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 |
- Assumes standard retention of up to 90 days. Larger retention will affect FET managed by this configuration, the backend capacity remains the same.
- 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.