Sudipta's research on data deduplication advanced the frontier from backup to primary data, persuaded Microsoft to develop deduplication technology in-house instead of acquiring it from outside, and was incorporated into the new primary data deduplication feature in Windows Server 2012 and I/O deduplication for virtualized storage in Windows Server 2012 R2. Primary data deduplication was rated among the top new features in Windows Server 2012 by customers, analysts, and digerati. This technology provided early thought leadership in the primary storage market where data deduplication is table stakes today, with major storage offerings building upon and extending ideas that Windows Server pioneered.