Given that the same byte pattern may occur dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of times (the match frequency is dependent on the chunk size), the amount of data that must be stored or transferred can be greatly reduced. Whenever a match occurs, the redundant chunk is replaced with a small reference that points to the stored chunk. These chunks are identified and stored during a process of analysis, and compared to other chunks within existing data. The deduplication process requires comparison of data 'chunks' (also known as 'byte patterns') which are unique, contiguous blocks of data. It can also be applied to network data transfers to reduce the number of bytes that must be sent. Successful implementation of the technique can improve storage utilization, which may in turn lower capital expenditure by reducing the overall amount of storage media required to meet storage capacity needs. In computing, data deduplication is a technique for eliminating duplicate copies of repeating data. Data processing technique to eliminate duplicate copies of repeating data
