Access Gateway

a “Virtual Server/SAN connect”

Ing. Thomas Mitrovits

Mail: thomas.mitrovits@brocade.com
Mobile: +43 676 844013200

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

Oktober 2007
Evolution of the Data Center
Brocade Platforms Provide The Foundation & Services

Homogenous Enhanced The Data Center Fabric

“SAN Islands” Storage Network
Virtual SANs
Enterprise
Apps Multi-tiered
Applications
SAN 1

Security Virtual Servers

SAN 2
Routing
Data
Extension File Services Mobility
with FCIP HA
SAN 3 Application
Scalability Storage Recovery
Mgmt tiers

SAN 4

1995-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010

Early SANs- Isolated SAN Consolidation File & Block Merges
Brocade’s Data Center Fabric
Converged Fabric For The Data Center
File Based Data Traditional Block Data
Remote
Users & Data Center
Office Consolidation
Applications
Management Servers

Volume

FAN DCF SAN

Information Storage
Management Consolidation

Business
ContinuityFilers
Brocade’s Next-Generation Data Center Fabric
Delivering Essential Services in the Fabric

• Extending our Connectivity Leadership Traditional Block Storage

• Highest performance (8G FC, 10GE)
Servers
• Multi-Protocol (FC, FICON, iSCSI)
• Scale and Virtual Fabric Partitioning Branch
Low Cost
• Distance Extension (FC, FCIP) Corporate
• Policy-based Routing & QoS
IP

• Redefining Fabric Services

DCF Campus

• Application-aware Data Mobility (DMM)

• Application-aware Business Continuity
(Snapshot, Replication, Continuous Data Volume
Protection (CDP)) HPC

• Application Aware Server Management

Data Recovery
• Security (access control, encryption) Site

• Performance, Fault, Change, Distance

• Today less than 15% of Servers are SAN attached

• 7-10 million servers being refreshed this year

• Server Virtualization is here, leverage it

• Within the next 3-5 years 85% of servers are SAN/NAS

 Bladed Servers and SANs in Action
Reduce Cost, Complexity, Space, Power, OpEx

Becomes

Setup Items Setup Items

70 Servers 5 Blade Chassis
140 HBA ports
10 Embedded Switch Modules
10 Standalone 16-port switches
2 Standalone 16-port switches
160 Optical SFPs in switches
48 Optical SFPs in switches
160 Fiber cables
24 Fiber cables
8Gbit/sec ISL Trunk (2x 4Gb)
 Embedded Switches – The Challenges
Scalability: How to scale SAN with numerous switch modules?
• Small port-count switches add to the complexity of a SAN
– More domains introduce the potential for scalability issues
– More elements to manage

Who manages the integrated switch?

• Server administrator? Storage administrator?

How to increase fault isolation?

• Minimize server and switch module fault events affecting SAN fabric

Fabric connections made easier

• Connect to multiple fabrics simultaneously
• Connect to switches from different vendors
Access Gateway Benefits
Clearer Management Responsibilities
ServerLand Responsibilities:
Server • Servers, BladeCenters and Applications
Land • Relatively narrow constituency
• SLAs tied to workload

StorageLand Responsibilities:
• SAN fabric and storage
• Providing LUNs to the server admins
• Maintain very high SLAs tied to infrastructure
• Satisfying numerous apps and functional areas

StorageLand Headaches:
• Numerous low port count switch modules in
Storage embedded switches
Land • Complicates the SAN
• Server admins that “touch” SAN fabric
 N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)

Single Virtual Machine

Linux Instance
Linux Instance

Linux Instance

Linux Instance

Linux Instance

Linux Instance
Shared HBA
NPIV was initially or I/O channel
targeted for Mainframe
Environments

Brocade Switch

January 2007 Brocade Access Gateway Technical/OEM 9

Overview
Access Gateway mode
Connecting Server Blades to SANs
Solves Interoperability &
Brocade FC SAN Switch in Scalability challenges
Access Gateway mode
connects server blades to
fabrics through NPIV edge
switches

Functionality comes in FOS

5.2.1b updated on existing
switch hardware
NPIV capable switches
•Brocade FOS 5.1 &>
•Cisco OS 3.0 & >
•McDATA OS 9.0 &>
Access Gateway Technology Overview

Blade Server Chassis

• External ports appear to fabric as N-
port devices

Blade N
Blade 5

Blade 6

Blade 7
Blade 1

Blade 2

Blade 3

Blade 4
• Hides server HBA (internal) ports
• Does not take up a domain

Improve Manageability
Access Gateway in • Mgt of AG = mgt of n-port devices
Blade Chassis • Separates Server Admin privileges
N-port N-port

F-port F-port Improve Fault-isolation

• Reduces RSCN traffic/fabric config
• Zoning is enforced by the fabric
• N-port failover capability
Fabric 1 Fabric 2
Multi-vendor interoperability
• Multi-fabric capable (future)
 N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)

Blade Chassis

Serverblade

Serverblade
Serverblade

Serverblade

Serverblade
Serverblade

HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA

AcessGateway
NPIV was initially
targeted for Mainframe
Environments

SAN Switch
NPIV – Multiple Connections/Single Link

WWN0

Single NPIV Switch Connection

WWN1 Single
Switch
FDisc instead of Flogi F-Port
WWN2

WWN3
 Access Gateway Isolates the SAN from
Disruptions in Serverland

Server maintenance has minimal effect on the SAN

• Disconnecting an NPIV cable doesn’t disrupt the fabric in
the same way disconnecting an ISL would
• Most RSCNs in the AG are not propagated to the
Fabric
– Most, if not all, switch-to-switch management traffic is
eliminated between the edge switch and the AG.
• Blade management upgrades may affect the
embedded switch (But not the SAN)
 Transparent Fail-over

OS Instance
Via F-Port Trunking
Virtual Machine

OS Instance
OS Instance
OS Instance
OS Instance
Virtual Machine

OS Instance
Dynamic Workload Management

OS Instance
Access gateway

Edge Switch
OS Instance
OS Instance
Virtual Machine

OS Instance
OS Instance
OS Instance
OS Instance
Virtual Machine

OS Instance
OS Instance
OS Instance
 Access Gateway Characteristics
Multi-fabric capable
• Interoperable via NPIV-enabled N-port
• The Access Gateway can be connected to multiple fabrics via any NPIV-enabled
port

Manageable
• Nothing to manage in-band
• All management is via a special version of Web Tools, the CLI or through the
management provided by the embedded switch vendor

Highly Scalable
• No domain solves the scalability problem of a large number of low port-count
switches. Scalable to very high port counts with Directors in the core

Acts more as a device, not a switch.

• Reduces RSCN traffic – virtually no inter-switch RSCNs
• No direct connectivity to storage
• Reduces fabric rebuilds
 NPIV Enables Increased Virtualized Server
Consolidation Benefits
Reduces the apparent cost of Fibre Channel HBAs
• Depends on the consolidation ratio – at 10:1 the cost of an HBA is shared across
10 VMs/Applications
• Traditionally the cost of HBAs have been the major impediment to putting Wintel
servers into a SAN
• No iSCSI equivalent to NPIV

Compelling Business Case (ROI)

• Less rack space, energy consumption and required cooling when compared to 1U
servers for bladed servers
• Embedded switches reduce cable costs, SFPs and fabric edge port requirements
• Access Gateway eliminates the scalability issues
• Less platforms to manage

The situation only improves as the processing capacity of the bladed servers increase
Thank You!

Thomas Mitrovits
thomas.mitrovits@brocade.com
+43 676 844013200