The one and the big question that you’ll get asked about Data Protection Manager is "how big must the storage volumes be to do backup to disk?". Microsoft has released a sizing tool to help.
“DPMvolumeSizing gathers data for DPM volume sizing purposes and applies DPM sizing rules to obtain DPM replica and recovery point volume requirements. Scripts collect and save information in a format tuned to easily import into an Excel workbook containing DPM sizing formulas for DPM-supported workloads. The User Guide (DPMv2VolSizeTool.doc) details how to import data and use the worksheets in the DPMVolumeSizing.xlsx workbook. This tool is validated to work for Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Virtual Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services workloads.
Feature Bullet Summary:
- Collects information on data sources to protect from a list of servers
- Appends or overwrites collected information as desired
- Facilitates importing collected information in Excel workbook
- Applies DPM 2007 sizing rules for storage pool volumes
- Totals DPM 2007 storage pool needs based on imported information"