Storage Area Network (SAN)

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 Outline

Direct Access Storage (DAS)

Network Attached Storage (NAS)
Storage Area Network (SAN)
Fiber Channel Switch

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The SNIA storage model
A layered view

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Three Basic Forms of Network Storage

Direct access storage (DAS)

Network attached storage (NAS)
Storage area network (SAN)

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DAS NAS FC-SAN

clients

servers
FC
Switch

storage
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SCSI Distribution Architecture

SCSI is a client/server architecture.

The client is called the initiator and issues request to
the server. The client is I/O subsystem under the typical
OS control.
The server is called the target, which is the SCSI
controller inside the storage device. It receives, process,
and responds to the requests from the initiator.
SCSI commands support block I/O, transferring large
amount of data in blocks.
Client request
(Initiator) Storage Device
response (Target)

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SCSI Client/Server Architecture

Server
Client (Storage
(Host) Device)

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Redundant Array of Independent Disks
(RAID)
A group of hard disks is called a disk array
RAID combines a disk array into a single virtual device
called RAID drive
Provide fault tolerance for shared data and applications
Different implementations: Level 0-5
Characteristics:
Storage Capacity
Speed: Fast Read and/or Fast Write
Resilience in the face of device failure

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RAID Types
RAID 0
Stripe with no parity (see next slide for figure)
RAID 1
Mirror two or more disks
RAID 0+1 (or 1+0)
Stripe and Mirrors
RAID 3
Synchronous, Subdivided Block Access; Dedicated
Parity Drive
RAID 5
Like RAID 4, but parity striped across multiple drives

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RAID 0 RAID 1

Disk Striping (no redundancy)

Disk Mirror
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 RAID 0+1
(or 1+0)

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RAID 3 RAID 5

Disk striping with Dedicated Parity Drive Disk striping with Distributed Parity Data

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Striping (parity) data is duplicate.
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 Network Attached Storage (NAS)
NAS is adedicated storage device, and it operates
in a client/server mode.
NAS is connected to the file server via LAN.
Protocol: NFS (or CIFS) over an IP Network
Network File System (NFS) UNIX/Linux
Common Internet File System (CIFS) Windows Remote file
system (drives) mounted on the local system (drives)
SAMBA: SMB on Linux (Making Linux a Windows File Server)
Advantage: no distance limitation
Disadvantage: Speed and Latency
Weakness: Security

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 Network Attached Storage (NAS)

Specialized storage device or group of storage devices providing

centralized fault-tolerant data storage for a network

Clients

Servers Storage Devices

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Storage Area Network (SAN)

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a specialized,

dedicated high speed network joining servers
and storage, including disks, disk arrays, tapes,
etc.
Storage (data store) is separated from the
processors (and separated processing).
High capacity, high availability, high scalability,
ease of configuration, ease of reconfiguration.
Fiber Channel is the de facto SAN networking
architecture, although other network standards
could be used.
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SAN Benefits
Storage consolidation
Data sharing
Non-disruptive scalability for growth
Improved backup and recovery
High performance
High availability server clustering
Data integrity
Disaster tolerance
Ease of data migration
Cost-effectives (total cost of ownership)

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NAS vs. SAN ?

Traditionally:
NAS is used for low-volume access to a large amount
of storage by many users
SAN is the solution for terabytes (1012) of storage and
multiple, simultaneous access to files, such as
streaming audio/video.
The lines are becoming blurred between the two
technologies now, and while the SAN-versus-NAS
debate continues, the fact is that both technologies
complement each another.

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SAN Topologies

Fibre Channel based networks support three types of

topologies:
Point-to-point
Loop (arbitrated) shared media
Switched

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Switched FC SAN

Fibre Channel-switches function in a manner similar to

traditional network switches to provide increased
bandwidth, scalable performance, an increased number
of devices, and, in some cases, increased redundancy.
Fibre Channel-switches vary in the number of ports and
media types they support.
Multiple switches can be connected to form a switch
fabric capable of supporting a large number of host
servers and storage subsystems

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FC Switched SAN

Servers

Fiber Channel
Switch
Clients Fiber Ch
Stores
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3PAR Hardware Overview

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3PAR
3PAR InServ Storage Servers
Scalability

F200 F400 T400 T800

Controller Nodes 2 24 24 28
3PAR Gen3 ASIC Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fibre Channel Host Ports 0 12 0 24 0 64 0 128
Optional iSCSI Host Ports 08 0 16 0 16 0 32
Built-in Remote Copy Ports 2 24 24 28
GBs Control Cache 8 8-16 8-16 8-32
GBs Data Cache 12 12-24 24-48 24-96
Disk Drives 16 - 192 16 - 384 16 640 16 1,280
Drive Types 146GB, 300GB, 400GB 146GB, 300GB, 146GB, 300GB, 146GB, 300GB,
FC and/or 1TB NL 400GB FC and/or 400GB FC and/or 400GB FC and/or
1TB NL 750GB, 1TB NL 750GB, 1TB NL
Max Capacity 125TB 250TB 300TB 600TB
Throughput/ 1,300 (MB/s) / 2,600 (MB/s) / 3,200 (MB/s) / 6,400 (MB/s) /
IOPS (from disk) 46,800 93,600 156,000 312,000
SPC-1 Benchmark SPC-1 TBD 224,990
Results
SPC-1 IOPS

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3PAR InSpire architecture: Cabinet

Redundant Power Cabinet

Supplies (Drive Cage)
Standard 19 rack footprint
40 EIA units
Built-in cable management
No Need to reserve for expansion
Drive Chassis (4U)

Redundant Power
Drive Magazine Supplies

Backplane

Controller Node
Redundant Batteries
(4U)
Redundant PDUs

Service Processor

Cabinet

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3PAR F-Class Architecture Basics

Same underlined architecture as the T-

Class tailored for the midrange
Cache coherent & massively load
balanced
Mixed workload & Fast RAID
Thin Built In

Same advanced 3PAR software as in

the T-Class
InForm OS
Thin Provisioning & Virtual Copy
Dynamic Optimization
Virtual Domains
Remote Copy (connect to other InServ
models)

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25
3PAR InServ F-Class Storage Server Specifications

F-Class Controllers (Rearview)

Integrated Integrated
4U Power Power
Supply & Supply &
Battery Battery

Optional Built-in GigE port for

Adapter Remote Copy
Slots Built-in Fibre Channel
(4Gb/s) ports

F-Class Drive Chassis (frontview)

HDD HDD HDD HDD
HDD HDD HDD HDD
3U
HDD HDD HDD HDD
HDD HDD HDD HDD

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3PAR InServ F-Class Storage Server Specifications

One Xeon Quad-Core 2.33GHz CPU per node

F-Class Controllers (Rearview)
One 3PAR Gen3 ASIC per node
4GB Control & 6GB Data Cache per node
Built-in I/O ports per node
Integrated Integrated
4U 4 FC (4Gb/s) ports (host or backend
Power Power
Supply & Supply & connectivity)
Battery Battery Gigabit Ethernet port for Remote Copy
Optional I/O adapter slots per node
Up to 2 slots per node (or up to 4 more
FC and/or iSCSI ports per node
Optional Built-in GigE port for 4U Form Factor
Adapter Remote Copy Cabinet Options: 2M Cabinet or 3rd party rack
Slots Built-in Fibre Channel
mountable
(4Gb/s) ports

F-Class Drive Chassis (frontview)

HDD HDD HDD HDD 4Gb/sec internally switched FC Drive Chassis
HDD HDD HDD HDD 16 drives in 3U
3U Up to 384 drives across 24 Drive Chassis
HDD HDD HDD HDD
HDD HDD HDD HDD
Mixable FC and Nearline drives
Cabinet Options: 2M Cabinet or 3rd party rack
mountable

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27
Serving Information. Simply.

3PAR Virtual Volume (VV) Concepts

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3PAR
Objectives:

Understand InForm OS RAID concepts

Understand concepts of InServ Chunklets

Understand InForm OS Logical Disks (LDs)

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InServ Concepts for Volume Management

Section Content covers:

InServ Chunklet/Physical disk

InServ RAID 1
InServ RAID 5
InServ RAID MP (RAID 6)
Virtual Volumes, VLUNS (LUNS)
Logical disks (LDs)

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Physical Disk Chunklets (256 MB)
C = 256 MB Data Chunklet Physical Disk
SC = 256 MB Spare Chunklet

C C

C C C C

Each InServ Physical

disk is initialized with
data chunklets and SC SC SC

spare chunklets.

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3PAR RAID 1 Concepts
RAID 1 is mirrored data

Data is written as paired chunklets

Each chunklet on the RAID set is on a different physical

disk

Setsize = 2
Default size (RAID 1)
C C Usable space = 256
MB

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 3PAR RAID 5 Concepts
RAID 5 uses parity to reconstruct data
RAID 5 uses a setsize of 4 by default
Setsize = 4 (3+1)
C C C p

C C p C
Default size (RAID 5)
C p C C
Usable space = 768 MB
(3*256)

Setsize = 6 (5+1)
C C C c c p
Usable space = 1280 MB
(5*256)

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3PAR RAID 5 Concepts Contd

C C C C C C c c p

Setsize = 9 (8+1)
What is the usable space for this setsize?

Usable space = 2048 MB (8*256)

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 3PAR RAID Multi Parity (MP) Concepts

RAID MP uses parity (double parity can deliver data in

a double disk failure) to reconstruct data and performed
in the ASIC XOR engine

RAID MP only supports two setsizes ( 8 and 16)

The default set size of 8 has the same data to parity

ratio as the default RAID-5 set size of 4 -- 3:1 in both
cases.

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Usage Meaning of -ha cage For RAID MP
The system defines "-ha cage" as "will tolerate the failure of ONE
cage. This means:

Up to two chunklets are allowed to share the same cage.

The default R6 -ha cage set size 8 requires 4 cages per node-
pair, just like the default R5 set size 4.

If 8 cages are available, the layout will use one chunklet per cage.

The same rules apply to -ha mag up to two chunklets are

allowed per mag but the system will place only one chunklet per
mag if possible.

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3PAR Volume Management View

Physical Disks Chunklets Logical disks Virtual Volumes

OLTP

D.W.

The 3PAR InForm OS manages the above automatically 3PAR VM manages

and presents
volumes to server
farms

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3PAR InServ Virtual Volume

The only storage component visible to Hosts

Host Sees
Virtual Virtual
Volume
Volume as a
LUN

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Building a Virtual Volume

Starts with
Physical
Chunklets
drives

Physical Drive
Divided into
Chunklets

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Chunklets: Foundation of Virtual Volume

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Start with a Raid Set as the Building Block

Raid 5 (4+1) Chunklets:

Raid Set Selected from
separate physical
drives
Selected from
separate chassis

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 Logical Disk

A collection of physical disk chunklets (256 MB)

Arranged as rows of RAID sets

Each RAID set is made up of chunklets from different

physical disks

A chunklet can only be assigned to one logical disk

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 InServ Virtual Volume For RAID 5

6 GB VV Virtual Volume
C = 256 MB Chunklet

3072 MB per 3072 MB per

Node/LD Node/LD
Node Node

Logical Logical
Disk Disk
1 C C C P 1 C C C P
2 C C P C 2 C C P C
4 RAID Sets * 768 MB usable
3 C P C C 3 C P C C
data = 3072 MB
P C C C 4 P C C C
4

RAID Set RAID Set

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Default InServ Layout of 2 Node 6 GB Logical Disk

InServ will place chunklets on separate physical disks

InServ will insure physical disks are on separate drive

magazines

InServ will try to have each drive magazine on a separate

drive chassis

InServ will try to make each Logical Disk owned by each

node the same size

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3PAR Virtual Copy

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3PAR
 3PAR Virtual Copy

A snapshot of another Virtual Volume (a base

volume or another Virtual Copy) created using
copy-on-write techniques available only with a
3PAR Virtual Copy license.

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 Virtual Copy Relationships

Virtual Copy can be read-only or read/write

The rules that enforce relationships between a base

volume and its Virtual Copy revolve around read-only or
read/write

Read-only and read/write (up to 256) Can make as many

R/W VCs per R/O as needed. Base volumes are always
read/write

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 Virtual Copy Relationships Contd

A read-only copy can have up to 256 read/write Virtual

Copys

A read/write Virtual Copy can have many read-only copies

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 Virtual Copy Relationships Contd

The following shows a more complex relationship scenario

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Virtual Copy Copy-on-Write Function (Data Written)

Snapshot Admin (SA) Space Timestamp 5/25/06 14:35

1. Pointer to data
2. P
3. P
Base Volume
1. A
4. P
2. B
New
3. C
Write Data
4. D
D 4. D
4. D Copy-on-write to SD
5. E
6. F
7. G
Snapshot Data (SD) Space
Stores Original Base Volume
changes
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3PAR Dynamic Optimization

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3PAR
Objectives

Explain the benefits of Dynamic Optimization (DO)

Change Volume RAID level
Change Volume Availability level
Change Volume Service level
Reclaim Unused LD Space

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3PAR Dynamic Optimization

An optional InForm OS feature that enables you to

dynamically tune volumes by changing volume
parameters. 3PAR Dynamic Optimization (DO)
requires the use of the InForm CLI and also
requires a 3PAR Dynamic Optimization license

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 3PAR Dynamic Optimization

A Software Solution that offers:

A Single-command for online and non-

disruptive service level optimization

A cost-effective approach to manage a

massive scalable tiered storage array

Flexibility for all stages of the disk-based

data lifecycle

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Dynamic Optimization - Data Service Level Control

System
Resource Radial
RAID Type Application Placement Drive Type

RAID 10 Massive versus Selection of Various sizes

restricted use of: inner versus and speeds of
RAID 50
outer tracks FC or Nearline
(2 to 8+1) drives
on disk
processors platters
ports / loops

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3PAR Dynamic Optimization Benefit For Storage Administration

Allows for a non-disruptive re-layout of Virtual Volumes on

the 3PAR InServ (move volumes to different physical disks
to accommodate new user demands)

Promotes system optimization through improved utilization

of all physical resources for the current configuration
(Take advantage of a H/W upgrade)

Allows for altering of service levels associated to a

Virtual Volume (change RAID levels, set sizes, spare
chunklets)

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Dynamic Optimization Potential Uses

1. Proactively ensure data service levels during expected peak demand

periods (Quarter End, Holiday Shopping Season, High volume trading days)

Unused Buffer Unused Buffer Unused Buffer

App A App B App C App A App B App C App A App B App C

(RAID 5) (RAID 5) (RAID 5) (RAID 10) (RAID 5) (RAID 5) (RAID 5) (RAID 5) (RAID 5)

Normal Period Peak Period Normal Period

2. Meet service level or SLA change orders on demand.

Silver Gold Platinum

Performance, Port
Greater Greater
Resources Revenue Revenue
Spindle, Loop
Resources

RAID 50 (7+1) RAID 50 (3+1) RAID 10

Restricted resources Greater resources Striped massively

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Dynamic Optimization Potential Uses

3. Deliver the required service levels for the lowest possible cost
throughout the data lifecycle
50% 80%
10TB Savings Savings*
Useable

RAID 10 RAID 50 (3+1) RAID 50 (7+1)

147GB FC Drives 300GB FC Drives 500GB ATA-Class Drives

4. Accommodate rapid or unexpected, application growth on demand by

freeing raw capacity
+ 7.5 Useable TBs
Create 7.5 TBs of
useable capacity on
10 Useable TBs 10 Useable TBs demand !

20 Raw TBs, RAID 10 20 Raw TBs, RAID 50

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3PAR Dynamic Optimization at a Customer
Before Dynamic Optimization Free
Used

600
Data layout
500 after a series
400
of capacity
upgrades
Chunklets

300

200

After Dynamic Optimization Free

100 Used
600
0
1 20 39 58 77 96
500
Physical Disks

400
Chunklets

300

Data layout 200

after Dynamic
Optimization 100

(non-disruptive) 0
1 20 39 58 77 96
Physical Disks
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 Thank You
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