CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

Which storage technology is MOST likely to minimize storage utilization when migrating a file server with duplicate files?

1. Tokenization

2. Thin provisioning

3. Deduplication

4. Compression

The correct answer is: Deduplication

The correct answer is the technology that focuses specifically on identifying and eliminating redundant data. Deduplication works by scanning through the data sets and finding duplicate files or blocks of data. Instead of storing multiple copies of the same file, it retains a single instance and references it whenever that file is accessed. This significantly reduces the amount of storage space required, especially in environments where similar files are common. For instance, in a file server migration scenario, organizations often struggle with reduced storage efficiency due to copies of the same documents being stored. By employing deduplication, space can be conserved since the system only keeps one copy and reduces the overall storage utilization effectively. Other technologies mentioned serve different purposes. Tokenization replaces sensitive data with unique identifiers (tokens) without necessarily minimizing storage utilization. Thin provisioning allows for over-allocation of storage resources but doesn’t specifically target duplication. Compression reduces the size of files but may still store duplicate files unless deduplication is applied first. Therefore, while all these technologies contribute to different aspects of storage efficiency, deduplication is the most effective method for tackling the issue of duplicate files in this context.