STORAGE ARCHITECTURE/ MASTER: Where FC is Headed Dragon Slayer Consulting Marc Staimer, President...

STORAGE ARCHITECTURE/MASTER:

Where FC is Headed

Dragon Slayer ConsultingMarc Staimer, President & CDS marcstaimer@earthlink.net 20 September 2004

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 2

Dragon Slayer background

7 yrs sales

7 yrs sales mgt

10 yrs mktg & bus dev

• Storage & SANs

• 6 years consulting

Launched or participated

• 20 products

Paid Consulting• > 70 vendors

Unpaid Consulting• > 200 end users

Known Industry Expert• Speak ~ 5 events/yr

• Write ~ 3 trade articles/yr

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 3

AgendaConventional wisdom

FC health

Market stratification

Down-market = > simplicity & < cost

Up-market = > scalability & > storage services

The need for speed

Increasing intelligence

Summary

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 4

Conventional wisdom

FC SANs have a very high value proposition

• >500% ROI/year

Studies from: Merrill Lynch, DSC, McKinsey, KPMG

• Storage consolidation

AND FC SANs have a history of

• > Cost

• > Complexity

• > Specialized knowledge

• > Difficult problematic change management

• > Difficult problematic scalability

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 5

Market perception

FC SAN market growth has stalled

FC SAN pain has opened opportunity for GigE/iSCSI

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 6

0/0

50% 50%

1 2

Does conventional wisdom match your perception?

1. Yes

2. No

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 7

FC health: Alive & wellContrary to reports of its demise

Fibre Channel market is growing rapidly• HBAs, switches, & arrays = > double digit growth

Unit CAGRs all > 40%

< Prices

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 8

FC market stratification

Market Product

HBA: High-end Servers Multi-port: > memory/logins/function

HBA: Mid-range Servers 1 or 2 ports: std

HBA: Volume Servers 1 port: < memory < logins < function

HBA: Blade Servers Multi-port: std

Switch: Enterprise Chassis (Previously known as Director):

up to 512 pts w/Personality Modules

Switch: Mid-tier 16-48 fixed ports

Switch: Embedded 8-20 fixed ports

Switch: Entry-level 8-12 fixed ports

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 9

HBA port growth by server class

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

WW FC HBA Ports by Server Class

High-end Servers (>$250 K) Mid-range Servers ($25K to $250K)

Volume Servers (<$25K) Blade Servers

Source: IDC 2004

CAGR = 41.6%

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 10

HBA total revenue

Source: IDC 2004

WW FC HBA Revenue

$0.00

$200.00

$400.00

$600.00

$800.00

$1,000.00

$1,200.00

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

(000,0

00)

Total HBA Revenue

CAGR = 6.8%

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 11

Data connotations

Prices are declining…on a steep curve• Partially from threat of iSCSI

• Partially from competition

• Mix of HBAs shifting to lower cost markets

Volume servers & embedded blade servers

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 12

Declining end user HBA ASP/portFC HBA End User ASP per Port by Segment

$0

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008High-end Servers (>$250 K) Mid-range Servers ($25K to $250K)Volume Servers (<$25K) Blade Servers

Source: Dragon Slayer Consulting

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 13

0/0

50% 50%

1 2

Have you seen a significant drop in FC HBA prices?

1. Yes

2. No

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 14

FC switch polarization

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000

(000)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

WW FC Switch Ports by Segment

Chassis Switches 16 to 32 port switches 8 to 12 port switches Blade Server embedded switches

CAGR = 40.8%

Source: IDC 2004

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 15

Declining FC switch pricing

$0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500

($M)

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

WW FC Switch Factory Revenue by Segment

Chassis Switches 16 to 32 port switches 8 to 12 port switches Blade Server embedded switches

CAGR = 16.6%

Source: IDC 2004

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 16

Switch data connotations

Prices are declining…on a steep curve• Market polarization

Low end: entry level & embedded

High end: chassis switching

• Top end & bottom line maintained

By software value add

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 17

Declining end user switch ASP/port

FC Switch End User ASP per Port by Segment

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Chassis Switches 16 to 32 port switches8 to 12 port switches Blade Server embedded switches

Source: Dragon Slayer Consulting

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 18

0/0

50% 50%

1 2

Have you seen a significant drop in FC switch prices?

1. Yes

2. No

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 19

Perception versus current reality

High complexity?

Specialized knowledge?

Difficult problematic change mgt pain?

Difficult problematic scalability pain?

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 20

Complexity

History = High

Current = Very low

• Wizards for

Setup

Zoning

Management

Diagnostics

Troubleshooting

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 21

FC complexity conclusion

Configuration & mgt intuitive

Limited specialized knowledge req’ts

Not as significant of an issue

• Depends of the vendor

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 22

Change managementdifficult & problematic?

Historically: yes

• Lot of coordination

Servers, storage, SAN, cables & facilities

• Re-architecting

Switch ports have to be reallocated for ISLs

Zones, cabling, and LUN masking must be redone

• Followed up with shakedown & troubleshooting

Sometimes requiring back out of the change

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 23

Change mgtrequirements?

Market requirements include

• Automation

• Negative impact minimization

• Audit trail

• Change simulation, planning, & validation

• Correlation of LUN maps, zones, pathing policies

• Work plans for all of the departments involved

• Simple, “brain dead” trouble shooting

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 24

Newly available auto change mgt SW

Plan changes

Predicts impact

Implements change

Validates change

Logs change history

Correlates

• Storage & SAN changes

• LUNs

• Zones

• Pathing Policies

Vendors include

• Onaro

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 25

FC change mgt conclusion

Automated software is available

• It eliminates change management pain

Change mgt doesn’t have to be:

• Problematic nor difficult I will use auto change mgt SWI will use auto change mgt SWI will use auto change mgt SWI will use auto change mgt SWI will use auto change mgt SW

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 26

FC SAN scalability:Difficult & problematic?

Historically a definitive yes:

• Fabric disruption propagation

• Large fabrics increase latency More intra-fabric switch ASIC hops

• Databases bloat

• QoS has been nominal

• Change mgt problems exacerbate as fabrics grow

• Troubleshooting can take a very long time

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 27

Fabric disruption propagationFabric disruptions anywhere…

• …propagate throughout the fabric everywhere

• RSCNs Zone changes, add switches or HBAs

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 28

Traditional approaches have led to Urban sprawl, a.k.a SAN Islands

IT is dynamic

• Most organizations do not plan well

Minimizes disruption effects of change

• Doesn’t eliminate disruptions

This becomes…

…this

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 29

Issues with SAN Islands

Limits SAN benefits

• Storage consolidation limited by island

• Management touches expand

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 30

Large fabrics = > Inter-switch ASIC hops

Hop number affects latency

• Latency is cumulative

• Affects end user response times

Users demand predictability

• Mesh and/or SAN islands = unpredictable Locality = predictability again

• Core-edge = predictable

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 31

SAN database bloatAs fabrics get larger

• FSPF databases get larger…and slower

• Name services get larger…and slower

• SAN performance degrades

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 32

Lack of effective QoS

Reduced application throughput• Manual SAN tuning

• Very difficult for larger SANs

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 33

Manual change mgt = > $OpEx

Larger SANs mean

• > complexity

• > % for human error

• > time troubleshooting

• < less uptime

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 34

Lengthy troubleshooting

Increases $OpEx

• Reduces SAN flexibility, growth & changes

• Increased application downtime

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 35

0/0

20% 20% 20%

10% 10% 10% 10%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Which is your worst SAN scaling pain?

1. Fabric disruptions

2. Large fabric latency

3. Database bloat

4. QoS

5. Change management

6. Storage, SANs, policies correlation

7. Troubleshooting

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 36

SAN scaling pain is being eliminated

HBA RSCN switch suppression

Automated change mgt software

SAN Masking-a.k.a. SAN routing

Chassis switch segmentation

Switch-based QoS

SAM

Troubleshooting tools

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 37

HBA RSCN switch suppressionStops unimportant HBA RSCN disruptions

• From disrupting other HBAs

• Significantly < zoning requirements

Vendors include

• QLogic

• McDATARSCNRSCN

RSCNRSCNRSCNRSCN

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 38

SAN routing, a.k.a. SAN masking Analogous to LUN masking

Routes specific data

• Between SAN islands

• Visibility between specific WWNs

Eliminates disruptions

• Between SAN islands

Increases SAN scalability

• > switches from 239 to 57,121

Simplifies management

• Both ongoing & change mgt.

• Heterogeneous SANs

• Address translation (domain & WWN)

• Eliminates ATL forced fabric merges

• Increases availabilitySAN Fabric C

SAN Fabric BSAN Fabric A

VSA

N 2

VS

AN

1

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 39

SAN routing/masking continuedWorks over FC

• And IP networks

• iFCP and FCIP

Vendors include

• McDATA

Eclipse SAN Router

• Cisco

MDS:VSAN Routing

• Brocade

Multiprotocol Router

• LightSand

8100 SAN Fabric C

SAN Fabric BSAN Fabric A

VSA

N 2

VS

AN

1

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 40

SAN segmentation, a.k.a. Planned communities

Analogous to large storage controller

• Start large & subdivide

One physical fabric

• Many logical ones

Vendors include

• Cisco

MDS:VSANs

• McDATA

I10K: Dynamic Partitioning

• CNT

UMD: Logical Domains

• MaXXan

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 41

New concept:Zero/low cost ISLs

Virtual ISLs

• Connects multiple switch domains across backplane

Cisco, CNT, McDATA, MaXXan

Stackable ISLs

• Utilizes 10Gbps copper ISLs to stack switches

QLogic

Zero/low cost ISLs eliminate

• Recabling & wasted user ports

10GigISLs

2Gigports

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 42

Quality of Service (QoS)SAN throughput allocation

Based on IT priorities

Policy based

Recognizes App performance

• Requirements differ

• OLTP > than data migration, etc.

Vendors include

• Cisco: MDS Intra-switch

• CNT UMD

• McDATA I10K(Q4 04)

QoS

OLTP 100MB/s

Migration 25MB/s

Warehouse 35MB/s

Email 30MB/s

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 43

System Area Management (SAM)

SRM + SAN mgt

• Storage Provisioning

• Block & File

• Heterogeneous

• Policy based mgt

• Policy enforcement tools

• One look & feel

App performance mgt

Optimizes ecosystem

Vendors include• EMC

• Softek

• AppIQ

• HP

• IBM

• Creekpath

• VERITAS

• Storability

• TekTools

• CA

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 44

Easier troubleshooting tools

Simplified

• Problem isolation

• Problem resolution

• Performance issues

Vendors include

• Cisco

SPAN, rSPAN

• McDATA

SANavigator

• CNT

Performance VSN

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 45

How big can SANs grow?Switches

• Currently up to 256 ports

Up to 1024 2H 2004

Fabrics

• Traditional

239 switches

• 239 x 256 = > 61K ports

• Theoretical (new technologies)

239 switch domains

239 switches/domain

256 ports/switch

= > 14M ports

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 46

FC scalability conclusion

Infinitely easier

Multiple solutions

High flexibility

FC SAN scaling no longer has to be:

• Problematic or difficult

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 47

FC speed prognostications4Gbps = Yes• Compatible with 1 & 2Gbps

Optics = slightly >

• ~ same ASP as 2Gbps is today

• Initial products Q4 04 Market migration=2H 05

8Gbps = Yes• Compatible with 2 & 4Gbps

Optics = slightly >

• ~ same ASP as 2Gbps is today

• Initial products Q4 07 Market migration=2H 08

10Gbps = Partially Yes

• 64b/66b encoding

• Primarily ISL

• Not backwards compatible

Optics = Much >

• Available today

4 vendors by Q4 04

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 48

Other FC prognostications

Intelligence creep

• Into FC switches

• Into FC HBAs

• Into FC servers

• Into FC appliances

Market jury still out

• Evolving market

9/20/3004 Where FC is Headed 49

Conclusion

FC SAN value props are well documented

Value increases as:

• Costs decrease significantly

• Pain is decreased or eliminated

FC is the key SAN technology

• For the foreseeable future