Current Trends in Storage Architecture

1
Current Trends in Storage Architecture

• Rob Peglar
• Corporate Architect
• XIOtech Corporation, a Seagate Company

2
Agenda

• Enterprise Storage Directions
• Current Storage Trends
• SAN over WAN using IP
• SAN over WAN using DWDM
• SNIA examples of emerging technologies
• REDI SAN-Links D/R example

• Virtualization
• Building Enterprise Agility Effective Storage
  Management
• The Right Storage Design

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SAN What is it?

• It is a high speed network, with both LAN and
  channel characteristics, that establishes a
  connection between filesystems (servers) and
  storage elements
• It can be though of as an extended storage bus,
  interconnected using similar technologies as LANs
  and WANs, e.g. repeaters, hubs, bridges,
  switches, converters, extenders
• SAN interfaces are typically Fibre Channel rather
  than Ethernet or ATM FC is the best cloud
  there is for storage

4
Why use SAN?

• Reduce total cost of ownership
• 24x7 operations require efficient control of
  management of resources centralized SAN model
  capitalizes on costly human resources
• Gain competitive advantage
• Consolidations, acquisitions and mergers are
  counter-productive if system efficiencies cannot
  be achieved
• Improve server and network efficiency
• Separate client-server (packet I/O) activities
  from server-storage (block I/O) activities to
  optimize bandwidth utilization

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Extraction, movement and loading of data between
environments
Near-line or off-line data storage on less
time-sensitive media
Moving data from one storage system to another
Creation of copies of data to protect against
human error, machine failure, or catastrophic
event
Open and legacy access to common physical storage
resources
Nearly instantaneous recovery from failure by
re-mapping LUN, utilizing mirror Vdisk image
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Technology Innovations

• gt 1 Gb/sec medias Fibre Channel/Ethernet
• Denser/faster disk e.g. 146GB/10K, 240 or 450
  GB/7200, 73GB/15K, 18 and 36 GB/20K, U-640, 1280
• Denser/faster tape e.g. gt 15MB/s heads, gt150 GB
  uncompressed media
• Virtual subsystems, virtual appliances (middle
  layer), virtual switches, virtual HBAs,
• Way Out There holographic storage,
  heat-assisted magnetic recording, multiple TB on
  a spindle, massive parallel subsystems (N x N)

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Enterprise Storage Directions

• Fibre Channel is mature and is the incumbent SAN
  media
• Installed base growing faster than expected 70
  of enterprises have implemented FC to date
• InfiniBand will also be used as interconnect to
  FC SANs from high-end servers IP from low,
  mid-range
• Storage Area Networks are widespread
• Windows XP and future MS releases integrated
• Unix OSes layered (3rd party)

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Enterprise Storage Directions

• Network Attached Storage
• NAS devices getting attention, good with Unix
  servers, but lack full capability provided with
  SAN by Windows 2000 or XP file servers (e.g. CIFS
  support for Exchange and SQL Server)
• Microsoft working with the SNIA on Device
  Resource Management and CIMOM
• IETF Drafts exist for iSCSI, FCIP iFCP
• Clustering
• Well-established solutions for Unix upcoming
  Linux
• Windows 2000 DC and XP bring expanded
  implementations of clustering four-node and
  multi-node support
• Clustering experience gives the coming SAN
  improvements (e.g. FC-SW-2) better positioning
  for current and future HW support

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Current Storage Trends

• Virtualization abstraction of detail
• 2Gig Fibre Channel HBAs/devices
• Path failover in fabric mesh topologies
• 100 fabric connectivity for both hosts and
  devices
• No more FC-AL except inside the storage cabinet
• Storage Clustering for five-nines HA
• 3rd party copy for server-less backup/restore

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SAN over WAN using IP

• Why?
• You know and understand IP
• Requires minimal training
• Maximizes use of your existing IP infrastructure
• Utilizes common switches and network management
  tools
• Mature IP standards and tools for QoS Security
  (802.3ad Link Aggregation, IPsec, etc)

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SAN over WAN using DWDM

• Why?
• Extends native FC to 80Km
• Enables cost effective use of leased or private
  fiber
• Integrates Fibre Channel traffic with legacy
  services
• ESCON, FDDI
• Integrates Storage traffic with LAN services
• 100Mb Ethernet, 1Gb Ethernet, upcoming 10Gb
  Ethernet

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SNIA Example SAN over WAN
Remote Disk with Veritas Volume Manager over IP
NT Server
IP
Brocade
Brocade
McData 2
McData 1
CNT OSD
CNT OSD
ATTO FibreBridge
XIOtech
NT Server
SpectraLogic Tape Library
CommVault Galaxy Tape Backup
XIOtech
XIOtech
Optera
Optera
Qlogic SANbox
Qlogic SANbox
Dark Fiber
SpectraLogic Tape Library
NT Server
Crossroads 7100
Crossroads 7100
Remote Tape with Legato Networker
ATM
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REDI SAN Links Replicator WAN (Multi-hop)
W2K
NetWare
Solaris
Backup Server
RSLR copies data from Source to Remote Copy
Volume (RCV)
Tape Library
Brocade Switch/Fabric
Brocade Switch/Fabric
WAN/MAN
PROCESS
Data

• Establish Mirror to RCV1
• Quiesce the application
• Break the mirror (5 seconds)
• Activate the application
• REDI Copy to RCV2
• Backup RCV2 to tape
• (Automate with AutoScript)

RCV2
RCV1

MAGNITUDE
MAGNITUDE
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VirtualizationAnd Other Fun Topics
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Virtualization What does it really mean?

• SNIA Taxonomy Definitions
• Block Virtualization The act of applying
  virtualization to one or more block-based storage
  services for the purpose of providing a new block
  service to clients. Some examples of block
  virtualization are disk aggregation. (Most
  vendors fall under this definition)
• Storage Sub-System Virtualization The
  implementation of virtualization in a storage
  subsystem such as a disk array.
• Storage Virtualization The act of abstracting,
  hiding or isolating the internal function of a
  storage (sub) system or service from
  applications, host computers or general network
  resources for the purpose or enabling
  application, server, and network independent
  management of storage or data.

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Storage Sub-System Virtualization

• Storage element abstraction make storage easy
  to add, remove, discover, manage, and secure
  reduce operating costs by reducing administration
  downtime
• Storage should follow the computation model we
  have virtual primary memory, why not virtual
  storage?
• Hide physical device detail from the OS
• Mixing Matching any drive size or drive speed,
  within the same enclosure on same SCSI bus or
  FC_AL, without reducing capability to the lowest
  common denominator.

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Advantages of Storage Virtualization

• Decrease time spent to manage real storage by
  orders of Magnitude (e.g. copy, swap, mirror, d/b
  re-org, defrag, change protection level, change
  stripe size)
• Eliminate server downtime needed to perform
  traditional storage management (add/change/delete/
  reconfigure LUNs)
• Add servers online to storage add storage online
  to servers no downtime
• Manage space, not drives

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The Right Storage Design

• Real-time Configuration Flexibility and
  Scalability
• Space management versus drive management
• Add drives while online, allowing instant access
  to storage
• Virtual drives are carved from pool amongst
  any/all spindles
• Assign storage to heterogeneous servers,
  OS-independent
• Assign servers in topology-independent
  connections online
• Add physical space or reconfigure virtual drives
  while online
• Connect new servers while online
• Change data protection schemes while online
• Mix and match drive sizes and speeds
• Online upgrade to new physical technology

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So How Does The Future Look?

• Applications make direct API calls to manipulate
  storage
• Networks provide independent transport
• Storage subsystems have visible APIs
• Break the relationship between the OS, filesystem
  and the underlying devices
• Attribute-based storage, not storage-based
  attributes
• Virtual Everything

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Q A

• THANK YOU