Tiered Storage Consolidation

stora g e subsystems f rom different vendors added as needed over an extended p eriod o f time 4which, takin g into account both stora g e resources and the necessary dedicated staff, is typically n ot only time-consumin g to mana g e and di ff icult to scale, b ut expensive as we ll. S tora g e consolidation provides a simple, cost-e ff ective way to meet growing requirements for data sharing, hi g h per f ormance, and hi g h availability by centralizin g storage resources among numerous app l ication servers. Stora g e consolidation makes up a si g nificant part of g en- eral IT consolidation: IDC p redicts that b y 2009, more than 18 percent of a US $ 24.7 billion worldwide IT con- solidation market will represent spendin g on stora g e co n sol i dat i o n .<br><br> 1 The potential benefits of storage consoli- dation include enhanced stora g e utilization, increased avai l a b i l ity, centra l ize d management, an d re d uce d total cost o f ownership, in addition to streamlined data BY KATIE C URTIN-ME S TR E Tiered Storage Consolidation Using Dell/EM C C X3 Ultra S cale S eries Arrays and EM C S oftwar e Tiered storage consolidation can provide an efficient, cost-effective way to manage growing data volumes while helping simplify data management, increase storage utilization and availability, and enhance backup, recovery, and archiving processes. This article discusses implementing tiered consolidation using Dell/EMC CX3 UltraScale " series storage arrays and EMC ® Navisphere ® Quality of Service Manager software. Related Categories: Dell/EMC storage EMC Fibre Channel Storage area network (SAN) Storage consolidation Visit www.dell.com/powersolutions for the complete category index.<br><br> c Worldwide IT Consolidation Market Opportunity, d by IDC, Doc #201996, June 2006. STORAGE www. d e ll .com /p owerso l ut i on s Re p rinted from D ell Power Solutions, February 2007.<br><br> Copyright © 2007 Dell Inc. All rights reserve d . DELL POWER SOLUTIONS 53 p rotection processes throu g h reduced backup and recovery windows an d en h ance d d isaster recovery .<br><br> A lthou g h consolidation can improve the way enterprises store, p rotect, an d access d ata, treating a ll d ata equa ll y can resu l t in su b opti - mal performance: as more and more applications reside on the same array, associating the most widely used in f ormation with the best - p erforming hardware can become difficult, preventing enterprises f rom takin g advanta g e o f the potential bene f its o f stora g e con - sol i dat i o n . T iere d storage provi d es a way to imp l ement storage consolidation that hel p s avoid these p roblems. C onsolidatin g with tiered stora g e a nd quality-of-service tool s S hrinkin g bud g ets and increasin g data volumes can combine to p ressure IT organizations to maximize storage resources in an efficient, cost-effective environment.<br><br> Implementin g tiered stora g e means maintainin g stora g e devices o f varyin g per f ormance and cost c h aracteristics wit h in t h e same or mu l tip l e storage systems, and t yp icall y re p resents the f irst ste p toward com p rehensive stor - age consolidation. This setup gives administrators the flexibility t o e ff iciently utilize resources by ali g nin g hardware levels with i n f ormation value 4 f or example, by reserving high-per f ormance disk drives and advanced software functionality for critical appli - cations to hel p maximize the p er f ormance and availabilit y o f th ose app l ications. If p ro p erl y im p lemented, a tiered architecture can not onl y i mprove service levels for critical data, but also reduce overall costs by avoidin g the use o f the most expensive and hi g hest-per f ormance systems for noncritical data.<br><br> Different categories of data are assigned t o di ff erent types o f stora g e media, with cate g ories based on criteria such as level of protection needed, performance requirements, and f requency o f use. In a three-tier system, f or example, tier 1 data m ight include critical, recently accessed, or highly sensitive f iles and b e stored on the most expensive, hi g hest-quality, fastest-performin g m edia in the environment. Tier 2 data might include f inancial, seldom-used, or moderately sensitive files and be stored on media that is both less expensive and lower-per f ormin g than the tier 1 m e d ia, w h i l e tier 3 d ata mig h t inc l u d e event- d riven, rare l y use d , or nonsensitive f iles and be stored on media that is less ex p ensive and lower-performing than the tier 2 media .<br><br> Understanding Fibre C hannel and i SCS I storage area network s Stora g e area networks (SANs) provide a widespread method for storing and managing enterprise data. Advantages o f SANs can include high performance, the ability to interconnect storage devices with associated servers, and support f or disk mirrorin g , backup and restore, d ata arc h iving an d retrieva l , d ata migration b etween storage devices, and other advanced stora g e f unctionality . T wo widely used standards for storage connection in a SAN environment are Fibre Channel ( FC ) and Internet SCSI ( iSCSI ) .<br><br> The F C standard, designed f or connecting servers to shared storage sys- tems, represents a mature stora g e technolo g y that can provide hi g h p er f ormance and availability and o ff ers both widespread existing d ep l oyment an d massive growt h potentia l . T h e maximum h ost throu g hput and bandwidth is typically much higher for hosts connected throu g h FC than for those connected throu g h iSCSI . Th e iSCSI stan d ar d 4an I P- based sta n da r d f o r link- ing data storage devices o v e r a n et w o rk a n d t r a n s f e r- rin g data by carryin g SCSI comman d s 4is extreme l y f lexible, enablin g data trans- m ission over LANs, wi d e area networks ( WANs ) , or t h e Internet as we ll as location-independent data storage and retrieval.<br><br> It typica ll y costs l ess t h an FC: accor d in g to t h e Sa g eza Group, iSCSI t yp icall y costs between 18 p ercent and 40 p ercent less than a comparable FC configuration, depending on the hardware and nu m be r of co nn ected se rv e r s. 2 For midsize enterprises, FC is typically appropriate for deci- sion support systems, backup-to-disk operations, and streamin g Figure 1. Survey responses on top storage-related challenge s 2 c EM C Ener g izes i SCS I Deployment for Windows S ervers, d by the S a g eza G roup, February 14, 2005, www.emc.com/analyst/pdf/ S N2-14-05_i SCS I.pdf .<br><br> If properly implemented, a tiered architecture can not only improve service levels for critical data, but also reduce overall costs by avoiding the use of the most expensive and highest-performance systems for noncritical data. 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Respondents (percent) Backup Business continuity/ disaster recovery Security Long-term archiving Server or storage consolidation Compliance Source: Survey of IT managers conducted by EMC Corporation. Question: Which of the following are your company 9s top three storage-related challenges in your IT environment?<br><br> Base: Total respondents=759 STORAGE DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re p rinted from Dell Power Solutions, F ebruary 2007. Copyright © 2007 Dell Inc. All rights reserve d .<br><br> F e b ruar y 2007 5 4 media applications, while iSCSI is typically appropriate for e-mail a nd online transaction processin g ( OLTP ) applications. For lar g e enterprises with demanding requirements, FC can o ff er the per f or- mance necessary for key applications, while iSCSI can complement FC de p lo y ments and hel p cost-e ff ectivel y consolidate a pp lications not using FC. Organizations of all sizes are becoming aware of the bene f its that iSCSI can deliver at a much lower cost than FC: a survey of IT professionals conducted by EMC Corporation revealed t hat 11 p ercent o f midsize enter p rises had de p lo y ed iSCSI and 5 0 percent were eva l uating it or p l anne d to eva l uate or d ep l oy it i n the next 18 months, while 21 percent o f lar g e enterprises had d ep l oye d iSCSI an d 59 percent were eva l uating it or p l anne d to evaluate or deploy it in the next 18 months .<br><br> 3 A ddin g q ualit y -of-service tool s Althou g h tiered stora g e consolidation can be an e ff ective cost- savings met h o d , a conso l i d ate d environment can b e comp l ex 4 a nd implementin g and mana g in g it while meetin g numerous per- formance goals in a multi-application environment can be both l abor-intensive and expensive without the necessary so f tware f unc- t ionalit y . Enter p rises t yp icall y must either add dedicated sta ff or r ededicate staff from critical tasks, and because of these and other cost-related drawbacks, some enterprises may overprovision storage r esources, preventing them from taking advantage of the potential savin g s bene f its o f stora g e consolidation. Fortunately, some stora g e consolidation implementations can simplify and automate quality - o f -service ( QoS ) mana g ement, helpin g protect the enterprise value of consolidated storage .<br><br> QoS tools enable administrators to easily, reliably, and e ff i- ciently deliver high service levels f or critical applications by a utomating the dynamic process of allocating system resources. Administrators can monitor per f ormance, then set service-level r equirements and per f ormance targets f or speci f ic applications w ithin an array, effectively increasin g the information 9s enterprise v alue and helping ensure a ppropriate service l eve l s. T he y can also set limits on l ower-priority app l ications a nd schedule p olicies to r un at different intervals.<br><br> Di ffe r e n t too l s a ll o w d i f - f erent levels o f control; more g ranular control over classi f ying I/O requests t ypica ll y increases a d min - i strators 9 abilit y to o p timize a pplication performance. QoS tools can not onl y h elp improve performance, but a l so e n ab l e ad mini st r a - t ors to d etermine t h e cause of performance problems w hen the y occur. In a com - plex storage environment, application performance problems can be re f lexively blamed on stora g e with little or no evidence.<br><br> An effective QoS tool can isolate the root cause of the problem and h elp determine whether the stora g e system was actually the cause, a llowing administrators to accurately and effectively address prob- l ems as they occur and resolve them quickly. I m p lementing f lexible tiered storage w ith the Dell / EMC CX3 series and EMC softwar e FC an d iSCSI eac h h ave t h eir own a d vanta g es an d d isa d vanta g es, a nd neither can meet all the requirements o f every stora g e environ- ment on its own. In t h e past, enterprises p l anning to conso l i d ate stora g e have had to choose between the hi g h-capacity per f ormance of FC and the cost-effectiveness and ease of use of iSCSI, and those w antin g to add iSCSI capabilities needed to add a separate system t o their environments.<br><br> Un f ortunately, the costs o f doing so typi- cally outwei g hed the benefits, leadin g some enterprises to avoid consolidating lower-tier applications altogether and leaving many a pp l ications on server-resi d ent stora g e . The Dell/EMC CX3 UltraScale series o f stora g e arrays, however, supports b ot h stan d ar d s: a ll CX3 mo d e l s support FC, an d t h e CX3-20 a nd CX3-40 support both FC and iSCSI. Deployin g these stora g e a rrays enables enterprises to create efficient, cost-effective storage environments; take advanta g e o f the potential bene f its o f tiered Fi g ure 2.<br><br> S tora g e consolidation with a Dell/EM C C X3 series stora g e array providin g F ibre C hannel and i SCS I connectivity Dell/EMC CX3-20 or CX3-40 storage array Ethernet iSCSI SAN FC SAN 3 S urve y of IT p rofessionals at 1,318 enter p rises worldwide conducted b y EM C C or p oration from Januar y to March 2006 . An effective quality-of-service tool can isolate the root cause of the problem and help determine whether the storage system was actually the cause, allowing administrators to accurately and effectively address problems as they occur and resolve them quickly. STORAGE DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re p rinted from Dell Power Solutions, F ebruary 2007.<br><br> Copyright © 2007 Dell Inc. All rights reserve d . F e b ruar y 2007 56 storage consolidation, including high per f ormance, availability, and scalability; and meet a wide range of service-level requirements.<br><br> The CX3-20 and CX3-40 p rovide the f lexibilit y to de p lo y FC and iSCSI in one system, a ll owing enterprises to conso l i d ate mu l tip l e app l ication t iers into a sin g le cost-e ff ective stora g e system ( see Fi g ure 2 ) . For examp l e, enterprises cou ld use t h e CX3-20 array 9s FC connectiv- i ty f or decision-support and backup-to-disk applications, and the a rray 9s iSCSI connectivity to help consolidate storage f or departmen- t al servers runnin g small OLTP applications and other information both inside and outside the data center. The scalabilit y o f the CX3-20 a nd CX3-40 arrays also provides flexibility for enterprises deploying FC that ma y also need to su pp ort iSCSI in the f uture .<br><br> The CX3 series includes the cost-effective CX3-20, the mid- r an g e CX3-40, and the most power f ul o f the CX3 series, the CX3-80. T hese arrays allow enterprises to consolidate j ust a few or hun- dreds o f applications in a cost-e ff ective way, and provide the f lexibility to mix high-per f ormance and cost-e ff ective drives in a t iered stora g e environment to meet different service levels. The CX3 series 9 UltraScale architecture, based on PCI Ex p ress tech- no l o g y, ena bl es h i gh b an d wi d t h an d l ow l atency, supports up to 4 GB/sec throu g hput, and reco g nizes and simultaneously supports devices of mixed speeds.<br><br> Its virtual logical unit technology also enables dynamic mi g ration o f data between multiple stora g e tiers w it h in a CX3 array . Deploying EM C Navisphere Q uality of S ervice Manager EMC Navisphere Quality of Service Mana g er (NQM) software is a QoS tool designed to help enterprises maximize their investment i n De ll /EMC CX3 arrays. It ena bl es enterprises to prioritize app l i- cations and set speci f ic per f ormance tar g ets, which can enhance productivity, help simplify management, and help administrators meet service-level re q uirements.<br><br> NQM includes the following features : " Performance monitoring : NQM monitors in d ivi d ua l a ppl ica- t ion performance and provides lo g ical views of both stora g e arrays and specific applications. These capabilities allow administrators to evaluate arrays to determine actual service - level re q uirements, and p resents a clear p icture o f the p er f or- mance service levels possible in a specific environment. " Performance targets : NQM enables administrators to set t argets for high-priority applications and limit resources for low-priority applications ( see Fi g ure 3 ) .<br><br> It includes a sched - u l er t h at a ll ows t h em to a d just service- l eve l requirements dynamically, g ivin g priority to certain applications durin g specified periods 4for example, giving high priority to an e-mail application durin g the day to improve response time d uring pea k usage, t h en giving h ig h priority to a b ac k up application at ni g ht . " Diagnostics : NQM provides advanced diagnostic capabilities t o help evaluate application performance as it relates to stor - a g e arrays. I f an application experiences per f ormance prob- lems, these features help administrators isolate the root cause and determine whether the problem is related to stora g e .<br><br> C reating efficient, cost-effective enter p rise storage environments M ana g in g and storin g increasin g volumes of information presents many challenges, and tiered storage consolidation is a viable tool for overcoming those challenges. But to take full advantage of its p otential bene f its, enter p rises must de p lo y s y stems with p er f or- mance, price, an d connectivity support appropriate to t h eir storage e nv i r o nm e n ts. The Dell/EMC CX3 series enables enterprises of any size to t ake advanta g e o f the potential bene f its o f tiered stora g e consolida- t ion in a cost-e ff ective wa y , and p rovides f lexible su pp ort f or both Fibre Channel and iSCSI connectivity to allow enterprises to deploy each technology where it is most appropriate.<br><br> The addition o f EMC N avisphere Quality of Service Mana g er provides sophisticated man- ag ement abilities desi g ned to enhance productivity, simpli f y man- a gement, and help meet performance service-level requirements. In combination, the scalability, mana g eability, and cost-e ff ectiveness of this hardware and software can provide an efficient platform for mana g in g in f ormation throu g hout the enterprise. Katie Curtin-Mestre is the director of product marketing for EMC CLARiiON ® storage.<br><br> High priority OL TP L L , P P e-mai l Medium priority We b services Low priority T est and T T d evelopment High Medium Low Application priority Performance Quality of Service Manage r FOR MORE INFORMATION Dell/EMC storage: www.dell.com/emc

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