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Tactics in Optimizing

Virtual Machine
Disk IOPS
The Essentials Series

Greg Shields

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

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TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

IntroductiontoRealtimePublishers.................................................................................................................i
Article1:PoorPracticesthatHinderVMDiskIOPS..................................................................................1
PoorPractice#1:OverextendingSANtoServerConnections........................................................2
PoorPractice#2:UsingPoorlyPerformingDisksinHighLoadSituations..............................2
PoorPractice#3:CreatingVMswiththeWrongDiskFormat........................................................3
PoorPractice#4:DiskMisalignment..........................................................................................................3
PoorPractice#5:NeglectingSpindleCount............................................................................................3
PoorPractice#6:ExcessiveSnapshotting................................................................................................4
Fragmentation:TheHiddenDragonIOPS...............................................................................................4
Article2:TheImpactofFragmentationonVMDiskIOPS......................................................................5
FragmentationinVirtualEnvironments:ItOnlyGetsWorse..........................................................5
DoesntWindowsCompensateforThis?...................................................................................................7
Article3:DefiningRequirementsforaVMDiskOptimizationSolution..........................................8
Requirement#1:FragmentationPrevention..........................................................................................8
Requirement#2:VirtualEnvironmentOrchestrationofActivities..............................................9
Requirement#3:FreeSpaceOptimization..............................................................................................9
Requirement#4:SupportforSpecialDiskTypes..............................................................................10
VMDiskOptimization:OftenForgotten,AlwaysNecessary..........................................................10

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TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

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TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Article1:PoorPracticesthatHinderVM
DiskIOPS
SpendtimeinenoughITshops,andyoulleventuallydiscoverthatthesamemistakesare
madeeverywhere.AtleastthatsthefeelingIgetwhenponderingallthevirtual
environmentsIveseeninmyconsultingtravels.Fromlargetosmall,simplistictohighly
advanced,youdbesurprisedhowoftenthesamepoorpracticesareincorporatedinto
peoplesdesigns.
Mostinterestingaboutthosemistakes,particularlyinthecaseofvirtualmachine(VM)
performance,ishowunnoticedtheyoftengo.ITshopswithheavydutyhardware
experiencetheclassicsignsofpoorperformanceandoftendontevenrealizeit.Others
mightrealizeperformanceisnttoparbutfocustroubleshootingattentionsonentirelythe
wrongthings,suchasresourceslikeprocessingandmemorythatcomprisevirtual
environments,incorrectconfigurations,oromittingkeytechnologiesthelackofwhich
createsbigproblemsdowntheroad.
YourstoragerepresentsoneofthoseoftforgottenareaswherepoorVMperformancecan
comefrom.Toooften,storageitselfisthoughtofonlyintermsofcapacity:Ihavefifteen
terabytesofstorageIcanprovisiontovirtualmachines.Yettodaysstorageandthe
demandsweputonitrequiresasecondmetricthatsjustasimportant:performance.
Input/OutputOperationsperSecond(IOPS)isacommonmeasurementforquantifying
storageperformance.Ingeneralterms,aunitofIOPSrepresentshowmanythingsa
storagedevicecanaccomplishinagivenunitoftime.Thosethingsmightbereadingfroma
diskorwritingtoit,deletingdatafromit,orperformingstoragemaintenancetasks.
TheamountofIOPSyouhavetoworkwithyoursupplyisgreatlydrivenbyyourdesign.
Incorporatefasterdisks,morestorageprocessors,orawiderconnectionbandwidth,and
youllseeIOPSgoup.Itisalsodrivenbythecollectionofdecisionsyouvemadein
configuringhostsandVMs.Overloadyourconnections,asktoomuchofyourdiskspindles,
orconfigureVMsinwaysthatrequiremorethannecessarystorageattention,andyoull
quicklyfindthatIOPSsuffers.AndwhenIOPSsuffers,sodoyourVMs.
Inmytravels,Iveseenplentyofpoorstoragepractices.Theyrelaidintoplacebywell
meaningadministratorswhosimplyforgetthatstorageperformanceisasimportantas
storagecapacity.Letmeshareafewofmyfavoritestoriesfromthosetravels.Inthetelling,
hopefullyyoulllearntoavoidcommonpoorpracticesthathinderVMdiskIOPS.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

PoorPractice#1:OverextendingSANtoServerConnections
OneofmyfavoritepoorperformancestoriesbeginsduringthedaysoftheGreat
HypervisorWar.Backthen,acommonconversationamongvirtualadministratorswasthe
debatebetweenMicrosoftHyperVandVMwareESXashypervisorofchoice.Duringthat
time,eachsidefounditselfseekingreasonsfortheirsidessuperiorityovertheother.It
wasaraucoustimeinourindustryspast.
Backthen,Ivisitedaclientsdatacentertohelpthemtrackdownaperformancedifference
betweenVMsintheirVMwareESXenvironmentandthoseatopcomparableHyperV
hardware.Spendingadaytracingthesimilaritiesbetweenthetwoconfigurations,Iwas
baffledaboutwhytheirHyperVVMswereanorderofmagnitudeslowerthanthoseatop
ESX.
ItwasntuntillateinthedaywhenIrealizedthedifferenceonesoslightintheclients
eyesthattheyneglectedtobringitupuntildaysend.Duringtheircomparison,thisclient
wasalsointroducingthemselvestothenetworkimplicationsofiSCSISANstorage.Their
previousexperienceinTCP/IPnetworkinghadthemconcernedprimarilyabout
connectivity.Thefocusonthatconcernhadthemforgettingcompletelytheimpactof
throughput.
TurnsouttheirHyperVserversinBuildingAwereinfactconnectedtostorageinBuilding
B,traversingasinglefibrepairandsharingthebandwidthwiththatentirebuildings
regularnetworktraffic.TheirHyperVVMsdemandforIOPSfarexceededtheirstorage
connectionsavailablesupply.
Aneasyfix,butthemoralofthatdayistoalwaysrememberstoragenetworkingrequires
morefromanetworkthantraditionalnetworking.Segregatingtrafficwhereappropriate
andmonitoringutilizationiscriticaltopreventinganIOPSbottleneck.

PoorPractice#2:UsingPoorlyPerformingDisksinHighLoad
Situations
Anotherclient,thisoneahospital,foundthemselvesdevelopinganinterestin
virtualization.Likeallhospitals,storageofpatientrecordsmandatedearlyon(atthetime)
powerfulSANequipment.Abusinessthatembracedtechnologysleadingedge,this
hospitalspreviousgenerationSANwasgivenasecondlifeinhostingVMsthedayits
replacementarrived.
WhenIarrivedtotroubleshoottheensuingperformanceissues,Iremindedthemthatnot
allSANsarebuiltalikenorwillallSANsperformalike.Nomatterhowmanyprocessors
ordisksyouprovisiontovirtualhosts,VMswontperformwellatoppreviousgeneration
SATAdrivesthatlacktheIOPSvirtualizationrequires.Theresolutionhere:Dumptheold
SANandacquireonewithanIOPSsupplythatexceedsVMdemands.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

PoorPractice#3:CreatingVMswiththeWrongDiskFormat
VirtualplatformslikeVMwarevSpheresearlyversionsdidntsupportthinprovisioned
disks.Thiswasforareason:Althoughrequiringtheuseofthickdisksaddedcostsin
wasteddiskspace,thosediskswereguaranteedtooperatewithbestperformance.It
wasntuntilmuchlaterthatwasteconservingthinprovisioningwaseventuallymade
available.
Yetsavingonspacewiththinprovisioneddisksdoesntcomewithoutacost.Thatcostis
paidwithaslightperformanceloss,particularlywhendisksareexpandedtoaddspace.
Theperformancedifferencebetweenthickandthingrowssmallerwitheachnewvirtual
platformversion,butsomedifferencestillremainstoday.
Evenmoreinsidiousarelinkeddiskclones,whichbeginonediskslifebasedonthe
configurationofanother.Thoughlinkedclonesmaygarnerevengreaterspacesavings,they
dosobypayingataxonperformance.Forcingdiskactivitytoexistacrosswhatarenow
twodisksinsteadofonemeansaddingtoaVMsIOPSdemand.

PoorPractice#4:DiskMisalignment
Aphysicaldiskisbrokenintoblocksofdata,asisavirtualdisk.Ablockrepresentsthe
smallestunitofdatathatcanbereadfromorwrittentoavirtualorphysicaldisk.Blocks
canbelinearlyreadfromadisk,notunlikeaneedlefollowinggroovesonarecord.
Sometimes,though,avirtualdisksblocksarentlaiddowninalignmentwiththoseofits
physicalhost.Instead,theyreoffsetbyjustabit,sittingaVMsblocknowatoptwophysical
blocks.Whenthishappens,readingfromorwritingtothatvirtualdiskrequiresextraeffort
acrossthosetwophysicalblocks.
Withtherightsoftware,misaligneddisksarebecominglessofaproblemintodaysvirtual
platforms.Notpayingattentiontothem,however,meanstheirextraeffortbecomesa
sourceofreducedIOPS.Worseyet,theyredifficulttotrackdownandevenmoredifficultto
fixwithnativetoolsalone.Payparticularattentiontotheapproachesusedbyyour
softwareandstoragedeviceorsufferthepainofdoubleeffortateveryreadandwrite.

PoorPractice#5:NeglectingSpindleCount
Anotherofmyfavoritestorieshighlightstheperilinfocusingoncapacitytotheexclusion
ofperformance.Thistaledealswithanotherclientdelvingintodesktopvirtualization.The
skillsrequiredforsuccesshereareverymuchthesupersetofthoseforsimpleserver
virtualization.Therearejustsomanyextraactivitiesrequiredtoassureagoodexperience
whenusersareprovisionedvirtualdesktops.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Duringthedesignphase,thisclientgottooexcitedaboutrecentimprovementsinstorage
capacity.Theirexcitementisunderstandablywarranted,ifmisguided.Withvirtual
desktopsoftenincurringhugestoragecostsoverthetraditionalmodel,biggerdisksusually
meansmallerdollarspergigabyte.Yetcompressingmoredataintothesameformfactor
alsocompressesmoredataontothesamenumberofdiskspindles.InsufficientIOPSsupply
isthenaturalresult,asvirtualdesktopusersviefordataaccessanddiskthrashingensues.
Diskthrashingwillbeaproblemwithdesktopvirtualization(or,reallyanyworkload)
whenenoughspindlesarentbroughttobear.Thisclientlearnedthehardwaythatdense
storagecanalsobeslowstoragewhenplacedundertooheavyaload.

PoorPractice#6:ExcessiveSnapshotting
OneofvirtualizationsearlypromiseswasthecareerprotectiondeviceVMsnapshotscould
provide.Yourememberthisstoryline,Areyouabouttoinstallapatch,orchangea
configurationthatcouldcreateaproblem?JustsnapshottheVMfirstandyouvegotan
instanttimemachine!
Snapshotsstillprovidethisfunctionalitytoday;however,snapshotswereneverintended
asalongtermstoragemechanism.Repeatthisstatementtoyourself.
Onereasonfortheirshorttermnaturecentersaroundthesameproblemsdiscussed
earlierwithlinkedclones.Creatingasnapshotautomaticallycreatesanotherlocation
acrosswhichdatamustbemanaged.Thatdoublingofdatalocationsaddstostorageeffort,
eventuallyreducingperformance.Layeringmultiplesnapshotsatopeachotherreducesit
evenfurther.Reduceunnecessarystorageeffortbyeliminatingsnapshots.Usethem
sparingly,andonlyforshorttermneeds.

Fragmentation:TheHiddenDragonIOPS
TheresafinalIOPSimpactthatanyreviewofpoorpracticescantconcludewithout.This
hiddendragrelatestotheextraeffortplacedonstoragewhenvolumesbecome
fragmented.Fragmentedvolumes,asanyWindowsadministratorshouldknow,shatter
individualfilesandfoldersintohundreds(oreventhousands)oftinypieces,eachofwhich
requiresattentionandreintegrationduringeverydiskaccess.
ThataddedattentionimpactsIOPS,andcansignificantlyreduceVMperformance.Infact,
theextraattentionfragmentationrequiresleadsdirectlyintothisseriesnextarticle,which
discussesspecificallytheimpactfragmentationcanhaveonVMIOPS.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Article2:TheImpactofFragmentationon
VMDiskIOPS
Virtualizationsearlyyearsfoundmanyanadministratorfocusingattentiononprocessor
utilizationasprimarybottleneck.Insufficientprocessingpower,wethoughtbackthen,
createsashortfallcondition.Thatshortfalltranslatesdirectlytopoorperformance.
Thoseassumptionswerentnecessarilyincorrect.Lackingprocessingpower,youwill
experienceperformanceissues.Today,however,werealizethatdiskI/Ohasafargreater
impactthaneverbeforerealized.YouprobablyknowthatVMperformancesufferswhen
hardwaredoesntsupplyenoughdiskIOPS,orwhenVMsdemandtoomuch.Butwereyou
awarethatVMandvirtualenvironmentconfigurationscanhaveanimpactaswell?One
criticallyimportantfacetoftheoverallconfigurationstorycentersarounddisk
fragmentationsimpactsonIOPS.

FragmentationinVirtualEnvironments:ItOnlyGetsWorse
Youvesurelyheardthefragmentationstorybefore.FragmentationasanITproblemhas
beenaroundsince,well,IThasbeenaround.Thatsbecausefragmentationisanatural
byproductofnormalfilesystemoperation.Itoccurswhenafileorfolderondiskmustbe
spreadacrossmultiple,noncontiguousareas.Figure1showstheclassicexampleofadisk
atthreeunitsoftime,startingatthetopandmovingdown.
File A
File A

File B

File A

File B

File A

Figure1:FileAmustfragmentasitgrowspastitsavailablespace.
Inthisexample,FileAneedstogrow.Perhapsadditionaldatawasaddedorthefilewas
opened,modified,andthenclosed.FileAcantgrowcontiguously,however,becauseFileB
happenstositintheway.Asaresult,FileAmustfragmentitselftothenextavailablefree
spaceifitistostoreitsnewdata.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Asfilesarereadandwrittenondisk,thisprocessrepeatsitselfliterallytensofthousandsof
timeseveryweek.Filesareconstantlybeingadded,modified,anddeleted,creatingholes
offreespaceacrosstheentiredisk.Adeletedfilesholegetspluggedwithsomeotherfiles
data.Whenholesarentbigenough,newdatafragmentstothenextavailablefreespace.
Theproblemisacascadingone.
Withoutprotectionsinplace,datacanbecomeimmediatelyfragmentedasitiswrittento
disk.Existingdatafragmentsfurtherasitevolves,creatingacascadingproblemwherefiles
requireincrementallymoreefforttoreadandwriteovertime.Figure2showsanotherdisk
representation,wheredatainredhasgrownfragmentedfromwrite,modify,anddelete
operations.Noticetheholesingrey.Theyrethefreespace,theholeswheredatawillend
upnext.

Figure2:Filefragments,representedhereinred,getworseovertime.
Thissituationisobviouslyproblematicwhenexperiencedacrossasinglecomputersystem.
Withoutcompensation,itsimpactwillgrowtoreducestorageperformance,andeventually
becomeabottleneckforthatserversoperations.Nowaddvirtualizationtothemix.This
problemmultiplieswhencomputersystemsareusedtohostothercomputersystems,the
exactconfigurationthatdefinesvirtualization.
AVMsvirtualdiskscanexperiencefragmentationjustlikeanyphysicalserver.Thesame
dynamicsoffilecreation,modification,anddeletionthatcreatefragmentations
performanceimpactonphysicalcomputersfollowthesamebehaviorinsideVMsaswell.
Thissituationisparticularlyinsidiousbecauseitlayersfragmentationatopmore
fragmentation.Figure3showsarepresentationofthismultiplicativeeffect.There,the
virtualhostisexperiencingdiskfragmentation.Itsfilesarewrittenatthesametimethe
virtualdisksofothercomputers,combininghostfragmentationwithVMfragmentation.
Significantperformancelossisoftenaresult,withVMfilesrequiringextraattentionbythe
VMsfilesystemwhichinturnrequiresextraattentionbythehostsfilesystem.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Figure3:FragmentationcanoccuratthehostandinsidetheVMs.

DoesntWindowsCompensateforThis?
DoesntWindowsoperatewiththisideainmind?Indeeditcan.BuiltdirectlyintoWindows
isadefragmentationfeaturethatwillscheduleregularpassestoreducefragmentation.
ThisfeatureisenabledbydefaultondesktopversionsofWindowssuchasWindows7.Itis
notenabled,however,onserverversionslikeWindowsServer2008R2.
Thisdisabledbydefaultconfigurationshouldbegaquestion:Iffragmentationissucha
problem,whywouldthefeaturethatfixesitbedisabledbydefaultonserverOSs?A
primaryreasoncentersaroundtheresourceloaddefragmentationcreates.Eliminating
fragmentationbyfocusingondefragmentationsometimestaxesserverresourcestoogreatly.
Theextraresourcesrequiredtoevenperformdefragmentationcanthemselvesimpact
serveroperations.
NowmultiplythesenecessaryresourcesacrosseachVMresidingontop.Youcan
immediatelyseehowWindowsnativeapproachmightnotmakesenseforresource
constrainedvirtualenvironments.Ofcourse,allisnotlost.Thisseriesfinalarticleattempts
tofindthatbestfitsolution.Init,youlllearnmoreabouttheholisticrequirementsa
virtualizationfriendlydiskoptimizationmustfulfill.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Article3:DefiningRequirementsforaVM
DiskOptimizationSolution
ThisserieshashighlightedthedesigntacticsforbestoptimizingVMdiskIOPS.Following
theprinciplespresentedinthefirsttwoarticleswillensureyourhardwarebestmeetsthe
demandsofyourVMs.Thisserieshasalsoexploredthespecificissueoffragmentationthat
existsirrespectiveofhowyourdesignisultimatelyconstructed.GettingtomaximumIOPS
forVMsrequiresseekingthatbestdesign.Italsorequiresacarefullookatthe
configurationsyouapplytoVMsandvirtualhostssothattheiractivitiesdontfomentpoor
performance.Fragmentationanditseliminationarecomponentsofthoseconfigurations.
Moreimportantly,however,istherecognitionthatsolutionsfordiskoptimizationmaybea
necessarypartofyouroveralldesign.
Diskoptimization,particularlywithvirtualenvironments,ismorethanjust
defragmentation.Performingdiskoptimizationcorrectlyalsorequiresoptimizingfree
spacethoseproverbialholesinsidedisks.Itrequiresfragmentationprevention,
stoppingtheproblembeforeithappens.Italsodemandsanorchestrationofactivities
acrosshostandcollocatedVMs,ensuringthatoptimizationactivitiesthemselvesdont
becomeanimpactonperformance.Asyoulooktowardsoptionsfordiskoptimization,
considerthefollowingfourimportantrequirementsasyourspecificationsfora
virtualizationfriendlysolution.

Requirement#1:FragmentationPrevention
Defragmentationisbynatureareactivesolutiontoanaturallyoccurringproblem.Thede
indefragmentationhighlightsthefactthatsuchsolutionsmustfirstwaitfortheproblemto
occur.Onlyafterfragmentationhasoccurredcanadefragmentationsolutionbegincleaning
upthemess.
Acentralproblemwiththereactiveapproachliesintheeffortrequiredtoreversethe
damageoncedone.Runadefragmentationpassweekly,andyouvegotaweeksworthof
harmtoundo.JustcleaningupthemessrequiresdiskattentionthatimpactsIOPSsupply.
ThatattentionwillgetinthewayofregularVMoperations.
Unfortunately,timingisnteverythingwiththereactiveapproach.Runithourly,andthe
problemsscopemightgrowsmaller,yettheeffortrequiresmoreregularity.Thosearestill
resourceslost.Thetradeoffbetweentheamountofdamagedoneandtheperiodbetween
resolutioncanneverreallyfindafunctioningbalance.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Theseinefficienciesinbalancingtimeperiodandeffortsuggestthataproactiveapproach
mightbesuperior.Inlaymansterms,aproactiveapproachisakintorunning
defragmentationconstantly,withtheeliminationactivitiesoccurringattheverymoment
dataischanged.Thisfragmentationpreventionapproachreducestheextraeffortplacedon
storagebysimplylayingdowndatacorrectlytheveryfirsttime.Yourselectedoptimization
solutionwillbenefitfrombeingproactive.

Requirement#2:VirtualEnvironmentOrchestrationofActivities
Alas,fragmentationpreventionalonecannoteliminateeveryfragment.Eventhemost
intelligentsoftwaresolutioncanneverknowexactlywhatholeswillbenecessaryat
whichlocationseverytime.Computersaredeterministic,andsometimesusersfind
themselvescreatinglargefilesormakingunexpectedchanges.Althoughfragmentation
preventionbyitselfshouldresolvemanyissues,thereoccasionallycomestheneedfora
smallamountofextraeffortfosteredthroughclassicdefragmentation.
Thatclassicdefragmentationwillalwayshaveanimpactonserveroperations,whether
physicalorvirtual.Rare,however,istheserverthatfindsitselfat100%utilizationallthe
time.RarerstillisthevirtualhostwithVMsdoingthesame.Itstandstoreason,then,thata
secondsolutionrequirementmandatesanintelligentorchestrationofactivitiesacross
virtualhostandcollocatedVMs.
Suchasolutionshouldanalyzeexistingserveractivitiestofindthetimeperiodsofleast
use.ThatsameapproachcananalyzeactivitiesamongallVMsonahost,ensuringthat
optimizationactivitiesinoneVMwontcauseimpactsacrossothers.Physicalresourcesare
finite.Assuch,thebestoptimizationsolutionwillperformitsjobwithaholisticawareness
ofactivitiesacrosseverypartofthevirtualenvironment.

Requirement#3:FreeSpaceOptimization
RecallfromthepreviousarticlesFigure1thatfragmentationhappenswhenavailablefree
spaceisntlargeenoughtosupportafilesexpansionorinwritinganewfile.Whenthe
holeondiskhasntbeenproperlysized,afragmentoccursalongwiththesubsequent
needfordefragmentation.
Athirdsolutionrequirementrecognizesthatfreespaceoptimizationdoesntnecessarily
meancreatinglargeunusedareasatthebackofthedisk.Itmeansintelligentlysizingholes
ondisksothatfilescannaturallyexpandandbeaddedwithoutautomaticallyfragmenting.

TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

Requirement#4:SupportforSpecialDiskTypes
Virtualenvironmentdisksalsohavespecialneedsbeyondthephysical.Virtualdiskscome
inmanyforms,eachofwhichrequiresadditionalattentioniftheyaretobefullyoptimized.
Twooftheseformsmeritspecialattention,aslackingcompensationfortheirbehaviorscan
createperformanceissuesnolessproblematicthanfragmentation.
Thefirstdisktyperequiringattentionisthethinprovisioneddiskdiscussedinthefirst
article.Thinprovisioneddisksaredesignedtostartsmall,onlygrowingwhennewdata
requiresittoexpand.Theyregreatforconservingstoragespace,atleastatfirst.Yetone
problemnotwellunderstoodbymanyadministratorsrelatestowhathappenswhendatais
removedfromthesedisks.Thinprovisioneddisksareindeeddesignedtogrow,buttheyre
notdesignedtoshrinkwhendataremovaloccurs.Lackingasolutionforshrinkingsuch
disks,yourthinprovisioneddiskswillonlykeepgettingbiggerovertime.Thus,thefirst
halfofRequirement#4suggestsseekingadiskoptimizationsolutionthatresolvesthisgap.
Suchasolutionwillcompactvirtualdisksafterdataisremoved,ensuringthelowest
quantityofwastedspaceonexpensiveSANdisks.
Asecondspecialdisktypeisthelinkedclonementionedearlier,sometimesalsocalleda
differencingdisk.Thesespecialdisksarentforeveryapplication,buttheydoprovide
specificbenefitincertaincircumstances.Acommonuseisforhostedvirtualdesktops.
Beingabletoprovisionhostedvirtualdesktopsaslinkedclonesofacentralreference
imageenablestherapiddeploymentofsimilarVMs.
Linkedclonesindeedbegintheirlivesasextremelysmallfiles.Howdifferentreallyaretwo
computersthataresimilarineverythingbutname?Whatsnotwellknownisthatthese
diskscanquicklygrowinsize,sometimesevengrowingtoequalthesizeoftheirparent
disk.Thisrapidsizingoflinkedclonesstemsfrommanyfactors,includingtemporaryfile
storage,creationanddeletionofprofiles,inadditiontofragmentation.Thus,for
environmentsmakinguseofthesespecialdisks,thesecondhalfofRequirement#4advises
seekingadiskoptimizationsolutionthatcompensatesfortherapidsizingbehaviorof
linkedclones.

VMDiskOptimization:OftenForgotten,AlwaysNecessary
Diskoptimizationinvirtualenvironmentsisabsolutelyanecessaryactivity.That
optimizationcomesinmanyforms.Aproperdesigngoesfarinensuringhardwareisready
tosupporttheIOPSdemandofneedyVMs.CorrectlyconfiguringthoseVMsduring
operationsrepresentsanotherfacet.
Incorporatingdiskoptimizationtoolsandtacticscomprisesthethirdandtoooften
forgottenpiecetothisstory.Lackingdiskoptimizationtools,avirtualenvironmentcan
finditselflosingperformanceandyoumightnotevenrealizeit.

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TheEssentialsSeries:TacticsinOptimizingVirtualMachineDiskIOPS

GregShields

ThisEssentialsSerieswasbroughttoyouby:Diskeeper
Diskeepersfamilyofinnovativeproductsarerelieduponbymorethan90%ofFortune
500companiesandmorethan67%ofTheForbesGlobal100,aswellasthousandsof
enterprises,governmentagencies,independentsoftwarevendors(ISVs),original
equipmentmanufacturers(OEMs)andhomeofficesworldwide.Inventorsofthefirst
automaticdefragmentationin1986,Diskeeperpioneeredanewbreakthroughtechnology
in2009thatactuallypreventsfragmentation.

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