I have a Windows server with deduplication activated on an NTFS data disk, and I'm planning to delete several terabytes of data located in the "E:ToBeDeleted" folder. I believe the disk will remain deduplicated even after this operation. From what I understand, once I delete the data, the free space won't be freed up immediately. I can either wait for the automatic garbage collection to kick in or manually initiate it using the command "Start-DedupJob -Type GarbageCollection -Volume E: -Full". Is that really all there is to it?
2 Answers
Which deduplication setup are you using?!?
When I did this last time, I actually found the scheduled task for garbage collection and ran it manually. So yeah, if you want that space back right away, you can either wait for the automated process or just kick it off yourself to free up the space immediately.
Thanks for asking! I'm using the standard Windows Deduplication that comes with Server 2016.