Course Session 306012 Intro Storage Networks

8/9/2019 Course Session 306012 Intro Storage Networks

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ntroduction to storage networksFlexible and redundant storage can solve many network problems, and storage area networks (SANs)

rovide the solution. In this class, you'll learn the range of current storage issues and settings and

dentify areas that provide tangible returns for an investment in storage networks. Along the way, you'llearn about SAN disks, host bus adapters, switches and management tools.

Lessons

Is a storage area network right for your organization?1.

In this first lesson, you'll learn the role of storage network solutions in adapting

your organization's network from a patchwork quilt of single-purpose servers to

an interwoven fabric of storage resources.

Exploring virtual storage2.

In this lesson, you learn what virtual storage is and discover its benefits. You

also learn how using an all-in-one solution can help you get started quickly and

easily and review migration and upgrade paths for moving your data.Understanding SAN disk solutions3.

In this lesson, you'll delve into the technologies behind SANs. You'll learn about

data protection with redundant drives and data backup, as well as performance

implications in designing a SAN.

Discovering SAN controllers, cables and connectors4.

SANs are made up of two main components: storage devices, in the form of

disk and tape drives, and networking components, which include adapters,

cables and switches. In this lesson, you learn about the networking components

of a SAN.

Exploring topologies and switches5.

This lesson focuses on ways to interconnect storage network components.

You'll learn about topologies and the role of switches and the services theyprovide. You'll also delve into more detail on the switches that tie a SAN

together.

Managing and administering SAN software6.

SAN systems require management to keep them running smoothly. This lesson

covers using management software, zones, policy-based tools and LUN

masking to ensure your SAN is secure and functioning efficiently.

s a storage area network right for your organization?n this first lesson, you'll learn the role of storage network solutions in adapting your organization's network from

patchwork quilt of single-purpose servers to an interwoven fabric of storage resources.

Welcome to Introduction to storage area networks

Welcome to Introduction to storage networks. Storage of your organization's

ata is critical to its business operations. Every day, users access, modify and

hare data that enables the organization to function. However, data storage

an quickly become unmanageable when storage capacity must increase to

ccommodate the vast quantities of information created daily and stored for

months or years. This class explains how to investigate your organization's

torage needs and evaluate storage technologies to determine which best fits

our requirements.

This class is geared toward IT personnel who are responsible for network

storage planning for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs).

One solution to meeting data storage needs is using a storage area network


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SAN)a centrally consolidated, virtual disk storage system that's separate

rom network traffic and shared by servers.

What you'll learn

The lessons in this class are designed to build on one another and give you

ractical information to help you make informed decisions when planning your

etwork storage. Here's what the lessons cover:

Lesson 1: Is a storage area network right for your organization? covers

options in storage technologies, explains how SANs can benefit your

organization and gives you an overview of assessing your current and future

storage needs.

Lesson 2: Exploring virtual storage answers the question "What is virtual

storage?" You delve into the components and capabilities of the SAN

infrastructure, including virtualizing and migrating your data.

Lesson 3: Understanding SAN disk solutions explains how you can use SAN

disk components to set up virtual storage solutions while considering

performance and redundancy factors.

Lesson 4: Discovering SAN controllers, cables and connectors covers the

network componentscontrollers, cables and connection technologiesthat

enable SANs to move data from disk to server.

Lesson 5: Exploring topologies and switches describes the SAN switchprotocol for interconnecting servers and disk arrays, which provides the

expansion and management capabilities that make a SAN infrastructure

such a huge advantage for your organization.

Lesson 6: Managing and administering SAN software covers storage area

network management and describes techniques for administering your SAN,

such as using device zones and SAN utilities.

Each lesson includes an assignment to help you to apply the concepts to your

rganization as well as a short quiz to check your comprehension of the topics.

Along the way, you can interact with other students and the instructor on the

message board. The message board is a great tool for reinforcing the concepts

ou've learned and applying them to your organization.

Get involved on the message board! You can exchange ideas, share your

xpertise and offer feedback to help you get more from this class.

After completing this class, you'll have a wealth of information available to

nderstand how a SAN can provide your organization with the data storage and

management tools it needs to efficiently provision cost-effective storage

esources.

Now that you have an overview of what this class offers, it's time to get started

with your first lesson.

Traditional data storage options

The amount of data an organization must store isn't always related to the

rganization's size and data storage needs can change rapidly. For example,

when an organization adds new products or services, often its client database

rows faster than planned.

Just because your organization is small doesn't mean your data storage

requirements are small.

So how can an organization keep up with the need for more storage? These

re the traditional storage technologies that have been used to solve this

roblem:

HP SAN product &

solution portfolio
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Direct attached storage

Network attached storage

The following sections discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each

echnology. To see them summarized and compared with SAN technology in

n at-a-glance table, refer to the section on SANs later in this lesson.

Direct attached storage

Any storage that's physically connected to a single host machine can beonsidered a direct attached storage (DAS) system. The hard disk in a desktop

omputer or server is a simple example. DAS technology is fast because the

torage system is dedicated to one host.

DAS systems can be made up of internal or external drives, which are an

conomical way to add storage. Internal drives include several technologies

uch as small computer storage interface (SCSI), parallel ATA (PATA) which is

ften times referred to as integrated drive electronics (IDE) and serial ATA

SATA). External drives typically use the same physical hardware as the

nternal drives, but add electronics to enable them to be used through an

xternal interface. Examples of these interfaces include universal serial bus

USB), FireWire and external serial ATA (eSATA).

Although these drives are economical, they're limited to providing storage for

he system to which they're attached. Therefore, expansion is more difficult

han with other storage solutions. An alternativenetwork attached

torageenables any server on the network to use storage.

Network attached storage

Servers have a way of multiplying in an organization. You might add one for

mail and another as a shared application server for several departments.

Before you know it, you have many servers handling important tasks, and each

ne requires separate storage. If you continue using a DAS system, your

rganization might end up purchasing a lot more storage than it needs. Forthis

eason, shared storage technology can be of value.

A storage system that shares network bandwidth with standard server and user

raffic is called network attached storage (NAS). Devices called NAS

ppliances share data over the network without adding multipurpose server

oftware, which can be expensive and difficult to maintain. NAS systems are

asy to operate and maintain and allow modest expansion. The hardware is

sually affordable and provides some management functions along with theharing capability.

NAS systems are subject to limitations of the underlying network's speed in

ccessing data. For example, a Fast Ethernet local area network (LAN) has a

heoretical data transfer speed of 12.5 Mbps (megabytes per second). The

ctual speed of accessing data drops, however, when NAS appliances are

sing the network's bandwidth. Factor in network bandwidth for activities such

s web surfing, printing and email and the available data rate for storage

ecreases even more.

What can an organization do to expand its storage so that it can be shared byervers yet have enough speed to be effective? SANs were developed for just

his purpose, as you learn in the next section.

Realizing the benefits of a SAN
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As mentioned, many networks are set up on a one-application, one-server

asis with separate servers for each organizational function or department.

With separate storage for each server, sharing data and resources is difficult

nd can slow network performance. As you add more servers, management

an become time consuming, too.

n a SAN system, all those separate storage disks are grouped and

onsolidated in an array. Servers can then access the array as though it were a

ocal storage device. This setup also provides a separate network that's used

nly for transferring data between storage systems and servers. This network isptimized for fast data transfer at speeds of 2 to 10 Gbps (gigabits per second).

SANs are made up of several components, such as disk arrays and

switches, as you'll learn in Lessons 2 and 3.

SAN components connect servers and storage in what's known as a SAN

abric. Figure 1-1 shows a typical SAN fabric.

No doubt, the term "fabric" was coined because storage and servers are

interconnected with strands of fiber optic cables. These fibers are then

woven into a fabric of connectivity.

Figure 1-1: A SAN fabric is made up of many interconnected fiber optic strands.

Enlarge image

In many computer networks, workstations and servers have a singleconnection to the network, but a SAN fabric has multiple connections.

Redundant connectivity reduces downtime for users, which is important to

nsuring high availability for data and network resources. A SAN's separate,

entralized setup also reduces downtime and offers the following benefits:

Reduces the space required for a one-application, one-server setup

Eases the burden of management tasks, including backups and recovery

Reduces the incremental costs associated with adding storage

Increases the visibility into planning for storage growth as an organization

Improves security by separating storage processes from normal network

traffic

An important concept of SANs is the "virtualization" of data storage. Because

torage is centralized as a virtual pool of resources, you can allocate storage to

ervers as needed quickly and easily. With recent regulations mandating that

ome industries, such as health care, retain data for longer periods, many

rganizations are facing rapidly expanding storage requirements. Virtual disk

HP Storage software

portfolio
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torage makes handling this "storage explosion" easier.

To understand the benefits a SAN can have for your organization, comparing

he strengths and weaknesses of DAS and NAS systems with SAN technology

s helpful. Table 1-1 compares the basic features of each technology.

Storage

feature

DAS NAS SAN

Storage

capacity

Limited to ports on

the local server

Not limited Not limited

Speed of

accessing

storage

Fast Somewhat slow Very fast

Ease of

adding

storage

Might require

shutting down

servers to add

storage

Easy Easy

Redundant

connectivity

No No Yes

Centralized

management

No No Yes

Ease ofexpansion

Limited to host'sphysical ports

Allows modestexpansion

Quick and easy

Suited for

databases

Yes No Yes

Suited for file

storage

Yes Yes Yes

Cost Inexpensive Moderately

expensive

Moderately expensive

Distance

between

server and

storage

Must be close

(under 6 feet)

Up to hundreds of

miles

Up to hundreds of miles

Backups Each volume

copied separately

from server to tape

Each volume

copied separately

from server to tape

Can back up multiple

volumes without server

interaction

Table 1-1: Comparing storage technologies.

Because SAN technology offers different advantages from an NAS or DAS

ystem, you might want to create a hybrid system incorporating each of these

echnologies. For example, a developer's server that's used to test new

hanges to a production application may need to be a very low cost

mplementation with little consideration for performance. This type of servermay use very low cost DAS to support a small testing database. Production

ervers supporting the same application will no doubt support more users and

equire the performance and scalability that a SAN provides. To help you make

hat decision, assess the importance of the following factors as you compare

he features in Table 1-1:

Performance

Availability

Scalability

Cost

As you can see, SANs offer a fast, flexible method for connecting consolidated

torage to the servers in your organization. By efficiently allocating storageesources as they're needed, your organization will save both time and money

y reducing the overspending on unmanaged DAS or NAS storage resources.

As you delve into the technical details of SANs in upcoming lessons, these

enefits will be even more apparent.

Now that you've seen what SANs can offer your organization, continue reading


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o learn how to assess your current environment to determine whether a SAN

olution is right for you.

Taking inventory and assessing your storage needs

To understand how your organization can benefit from using SAN technology,

ou need to take inventory of the storage you currently use and get a handle on

our projected future needs. Getting an accurate view of your organization's

verall storage picture can be daunting, especially if each department has its

wn standalone storage. If your organization has been adding storage over aong period for different functionsan email server one year and a database

erver the next year, for examplethis task can be even more challenging.

Although taking an inventory of this type of "server sprawl" setup can be time

onsuming, the results can help you present a compelling case for using a

SAN. For example, scattering storage all over the network inevitably means

uplication of IT management efforts. Upper management usually responds

avorably to the potential for a good return on an investment (ROI) in SANs if

ou can show a reduction in the overhead of having several IT staff performing

he same management tasks.

Although advantages such as redundant connectivity and more efficient

backups are clear benefits of SAN vs. DAS and NAS to those working

directly with the network, upper management might not view these

advantages with the same weight as factors offering a clear-cut ROI, such

as allowing the staff to do more in less time and efficiently allocating

storage using centralized management tools.

The assignment for this lesson explains in more detail how to create an

nventory of your current storage requirements. In general, you want to collect

nformation such as the following:

Storage devices, including type (DAS or NAS, for example), capacity and

location

Host machines

Connection devices, such as switches and bridges

Any distance considerationsfor example, LANs in branch offices

Applications, including performance and availability requirements

n addition, review your past growth in storage requirements to estimate how

much your storage capacity needs might increase in the next year. The goal is

o make sure your storage solution can handle future expansion without

nnecessary downtime and management headaches as well as to keep the

osts from spiraling out of control.

n upcoming lessons, you delve into the nuts and bolts of SAN technology and

earn more about disk drives, SAN switches and network cards, external

abling and software management tools.

Moving on

n this lesson, you reviewed traditional data storage options and learned that

SANs combine flexibility with high-speed connectivity and consolidate your

rganization's storage in a centralized virtual storage pool.

n Lesson 2, you learn more about SAN features and options for building a

igh-performance SAN to increase your data storage sensibly. Before you

move on, complete the assignment and take the quiz for this lesson. In

ddition, visit the message board to introduce yourself, ask any questions you

ave and find out what your instructor and fellow students are up to. See you

NAS file and printsolution storage servers
http://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=102993&placementId=644&lessonId=28188&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fdisk_storage%2Fstorage_servers%2Findex.html%3Fjumpid%3Dre_R295_prodexp%2Flcmaps%2Fservers%2Fproliant_storage_servershttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=102993&placementId=644&lessonId=28188&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fdisk_storage%2Fstorage_servers%2Findex.html%3Fjumpid%3Dre_R295_prodexp%2Flcmaps%2Fservers%2Fproliant_storage_servershttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=102993&placementId=644&lessonId=28188&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fdisk_storage%2Fstorage_servers%2Findex.html%3Fjumpid%3Dre_R295_prodexp%2Flcmaps%2Fservers%2Fproliant_storage_servershttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=102993&placementId=644&lessonId=28188&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fdisk_storage%2Fstorage_servers%2Findex.html%3Fjumpid%3Dre_R295_prodexp%2Flcmaps%2Fservers%2Fproliant_storage_servers


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here!

Assignment #1

Your assignment for this lesson is to make an inventory of your organization's current data storage.

This task might sound easy, but even small organizations often have data spread over many storage

evices, such as USB drives, server hard disks and NAS systems. Collect the following information,

triving for as much detail as possible. You might find it helpful to put your information in a

preadsheet for easy reference.

List all storage devices (with make and model) used in your organization. Include each device'sstorage capacity (used space and free space), type of storage (DAS, NAS and so on), type of

connection it supports and location.

List the total number of host machines (workstations, servers and so on). For each host, include the

operating system (OS), type of connection it supports and applications running on it.

List all connection devices, such as switches and bridges, including their type and connection

speed.

List any distance considerations, such as LANs in branch offices that require storage.

List all applications your organization uses with their current storage requirements. Include

performance and availability requirements for users. You might also want to specify traffic patterns

for applications, such as peak periods of use.

Calculate the total amount of storage your organization uses.

After assessing the current state of your storage situation, projecting future storage needs and

nderstanding how a SAN can improve your data management are easier.

Quiz #1Question 1:

How does a SAN differ from an NAS system?

A) SANs use only fiber optics.

B) SAN and NAS are different acronyms for the same thing.

C) Network activity on a SAN is separate from other server and user traffic.

D) Network activity on an NAS system is separate from other server and user traffic.

Question 2:

Which of the following is a compelling advantage you can use to convince upper management that a SAN's

onsolidated storage is the best option?

A) Reducing duplication of IT management's time and efforts

B) Using current network bandwidth for storage processing

C) Reducing space requirements

D) Increasing data backup speed

Question 3:

True or False: An NAS system is faster than a DAS system because it uses the underlying network's data

ransfer rate.

) True

B) False

Question 4:

What advantages can a SAN offer over DAS and NAS solutions? (Check all that apply.)

A) Lowest cost

B) Centralized management

C) Reduced downtime

D) Fast data transfer speeds

Question 5:

Which of the following storage solutions is the most difficult to expand?

A) Storage area networks


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B) Network attached storage

C) Server-based storage

D) Direct attached storage

Exploring virtual storagen this lesson, you learn what virtual storage is and discover its benefits. You also learn how using an all-in-one

olution can help you get started quickly and easily and review migration and upgrade paths for moving your

ata.

Understanding virtual storage

Welcome back! In Lesson 1, you reviewed the storage technologies

rganizations often use, compared them with SAN technology to see the

exibility and efficiency SAN offers. We covered how, when compared with

DAS and NAS technologies, SAN provided:

Unlimited storage provisioning

Superior management of consolidated storage

Higher performance

You also learned the importance of doing a thorough inventory and assessmentf your current and future storage needs. As you work through this lesson,

eep your Lesson 1 assignment handy. You can refer to this inventory of your

urrent storage as you learn about SAN storage capabilities in this lesson.

Storage consolidation

Storage consolidation is a major benefit of using SANs. With consolidation, you

an manage separate drives and drive array storage units as part of a larger

ool. As you learned in Lesson 1, storage technologies are based on the

uilding block of a single physical drive. Adding drives requires some sort of

onnectivity and power to make it possible to use the storage. By consolidatinghese connections within a storage unit, drive connections are made using an

nternal wiring harness that both eliminates clutter, but more importantly, allows

ach drive to be replaced independently should it fail.

Lesson 3 explains the details of how physical drives are connected in a

SAN.

Each physical drive added to a server or storage unit, as shown in Figure 2-1,

equires separate power and connectivity cabling to make it work. As storage

nits are filled with drives, more storage units must be added. Each storagenit also requires some kind of connectivity so that the drives in the unit can

ransfer data to and from systems using that storage.

HP Vmware
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Figure 2-1: Drives are aggregated into storage units.

Building blocks of storage

This growing collection of drives housed in multiple cabinets (storage units) isn't

seful without a way to manage all the raw storage, however. Management is

where the power of SAN technology starts to shine. With SAN technology, the

torage space on each drive is divided logically into storage blocks, as shown

n Figure 2-2, that can be assigned as a larger group spanning multiple physical

rives.

Figure 2-2: Logical storage blocks on a physical drive.

Enlarge image

These storage blocks are managed as a single virtual storage device called a

torage pool. Managing storage as a pool makes it possible to allocate a

ortion of the storage to individual servers that are connected to the

onsolidated storage on the SAN. For example, when a server requires storage

pace, you can assign it as a group of storage blocks that might span many

ifferent physical drives in that storage pool. Virtual storage hides the

nderlying physical infrastructure's complexity so that you can allocate storage

o meet servers' needs more easily.

By abstracting the way a server sees storage from the way drives actually

read and write it, the possibilities for adding, moving and copying storage

become interesting, as you see later in this lesson.

Volume allocation
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As shown in Figure 2-3, physical drives have a number of storage blocks

llocated to provide servers with volumes used to store data. These volumes

re allocated storage blocks based on a server's needs, as shown in Figure 2-

.

Figure 2-3: Storage blocks are allocated to server volumes.

Enlarge image

As you can see in Figure 2-3, not all storage blocks on a drive are allocated to

server volume. The unallocated storage blocks are expansion space that can

e assigned to a volume on another existing server or a new server that's

dded later.

Storage use

Determining storage allocation amounts is still more of an art than a science.

Although you can estimate storage use fairly accurately for current applications,

etermining how new applications, new regulations or business growth canffect storage allocation is often difficult. In your Lesson 1 assignment, you

eviewed the storage allocated to servers in your current environment. You

might have noticed the following trends:

Some servers were using almost all the storage attached to them.

Some servers had a lot of unused storage.

Some servers had more than one type of storage technology (for example,

DAS and NAS).

These trends point out the difficulty of allocating storage efficiently with

raditional storage solutions. That's why many organizations continue

urchasing new storage every year, even though they have quite a bit of

nused storage. For these organizations, SAN's flexibility and efficiency inllocating storage can contribute to a positive ROI.

Allocating storage efficiently in your organization can save tens of thousands of

ollars every year, not just in the cost of purchasing new storage devices, but in

he management and installation time needed to add storage.

Now that you understand the rationale of virtual storage, continue reading to

earn ways you can incorporate this technology into your organization.

Discovering an all-in-one solution

Some organizations, locations may not have employees dedicated to storage

management. Even large organizations might not have IT professionals who

re knowledgeable about using SAN technology. Also, in the past, switching to

SAN technology has meant a sudden costly investment in new hardware and
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oftware. You learn more about management software in Lesson 6, but for

ow, it's helpful to know that solutions are available that enable IT professionals

o manage storage like a expert and make it possible for organizations to move

o a SAN without a huge initial investment.

The task of allocating storage to server volumes from a consolidated storageool can be daunting if you don't have a solution designed to walk you through

he steps and enable you to manage storage easily. Luckily, a few vendors

ave entry-level products called all-in-one solutions that you can use to

apitalize on the benefits of SAN technology.

Look for vendors that offer both all-in-one and enterprise-level storage

solutions. All-in-one products often incorporate the expertise used to

develop the more expensive enterprise-level products in a vendor's line but

at a lower cost and with more simplified management tools.

By using an all-in-one solution that combines hardware and software, you can

o the following more easily:

Consolidate your storage.

Reduce your data center space requirements.

Reduce expenditures on extra storage.

Manage the storage your organization already owns more efficiently.

n addition, most all-in-one solutions have quick-start guides and data migration

tilities so that you can start using new storage solutions in your current

nvironment quickly and easily. After all, you want to migrate your data to a

ew, more manageable storage platform as soon as possible.

Don't dismiss all-in-one SAN products as lightweight alternatives to the "real

hing." Many all-in-one products have more features than your current solution.

Many all-in-one SAN products allow you to integrate your new storage into the

urrent environment by leveraging the infrastructure that exists within your

urrent network. For example, advanced SAN installations require multiple

witches, fiber-optic cabling and training to maintain the new infrastructure. All-

n-one solutions allow you to connect to your existing LAN switching gear with

tandard copper wiring and offer integrated electronics to manage new drives

n the storage unit. We'll cover some of these connection details in Lesson 3 as

we go over the connectivity options that are available when setting up a SAN

ystem.

All-in-one solutions are an easy way to get started with SANs. What do you do,

owever, when you outgrow your all-in-one solution's capacity?

HP All-in-One storage

solution

Understanding migration and upgrade paths

Storage growth is inevitable in organizations. As you've seen in this lesson,

irtual storage allows allocating storage blocks to servers as needed andllocating unused storage to new servers you've added. However, at some

oint, you'll run out of storage. What options do you have?

At some point, your organization will need to add storage, and SAN

technology can make that process easier.

HP SAN product &

solution portfolio
http://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=103004&placementId=4425&lessonId=28189&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fnetworking%2Findex.htmlhttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=103004&placementId=4425&lessonId=28189&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fnetworking%2Findex.htmlhttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=103004&placementId=4425&lessonId=28189&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fnetworking%2Findex.htmlhttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=103004&placementId=4425&lessonId=28188&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Fnetworking%2Findex.htmlhttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=102953&placementId=20158&lessonId=28189&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Faiostorage.html%3Fjumpid%3Dre_R11575_prodexp%2Flcmaps%2Fstorage%2FAiO-storagehttp://h30187.www3.hp.com/outgoing?productId=102953&placementId=20158&lessonId=28189&sponsorId=62&courseSessionId=175504&courseId=7881&eventType=PDC&targetUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fh18006.www1.hp.com%2Fstorage%2Faiostorage.html%3Fjumpid%3Dre_R11575_prodexp%2Flcmaps%2Fstorage%2FAiO-storage


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Adding storage

One option is simply adding more physical drives to your current setup. With a

SAN's block-level allocations, this option is easier than with other storage

echnologies. New drives become part of the virtual storage device, and their

torage blocks can be allocated as needed. When new storage is needed by

xpanding server volumes, it can come from many different drives in the SAN

nfrastructure. To make this process even easier, SAN management software

ontrols how server volumes use storage blocks behind the scenes. SAN

echnology ensures that increasing storage by adding physical drives is done

s efficiently as possible so that you don't purchase more drives than you

ctually need.

Migrating storage

Another option is purchasing a new storage solution and moving your current

ata to it. As with any technology, newer, faster or less expensive storage

olutions that your organization wants to take advantage of will become

vailable, or perhaps your organization has outgrown the capacity of the all-in-

ne solution you started with. When you purchase new SAN hardware, you

eed a way to move data on your current SAN infrastructure to the new

ardware.

This migration can take place seamlessly, depending on how advanced the

oftware is. Because of the abstraction of physical drives and the virtual

torage allocated to server volumes, migrating data from one SAN device to

nother can be done by using block-level copying. Figure 2-4 shows the

oncept of block-level copying. Each block within the storage device is copied

y the SAN, rather than by the server that may be assigned that particular

torage block, to another storage unit. As long as the server and applications

sing data can access the virtual storage device, it doesn't matter where data is

tored physically.

Figure 2-4: Migrating data with block-level copying.

Enlarge image

After storage is copied from one device to another at the block level, the virtual

torage device remaps where data is located so that servers can start to take

dvantage of the new SAN infrastructure immediately. Block-level copying

educes downtime and increases flexibility, particularly for disaster recovery

rocedures, as you'll learn in Lesson 5 when we discuss SAN topologies.

Server volumes are allocated on the virtual storage device, so the

underlying physical drives can be managed without affecting the way the

server sees its data.

With SAN management software, you can view your storage network as a

ingle entity, which makes it easier to configure and monitor storage
http://h30187.www3.hp.com/media/ns/11187/HPSMB_SAN02fg04_large.jpg


13/38

omponents during a data migration.

Moving on

n this lesson, you learned how physical drives are divided logically into storage

locks that are allocated to server volumes. You have also seen how to use

irtual storage to manage adding drives and migrating data without affecting

he servers using that storage. In Lesson 3, you learn more about disk drive

echnology to understand how data is protected and how to improve storage

erformance with fiber optics. Before you move on, complete the assignment

nd take the quiz for this lesson, and then drop by the message board and chat

with your instructor and classmates about what you learned in this lesson.

Assignment #2

For this assignment, assess the following for your current environment:

Determine which servers in your network have the most storage space.1.

List which servers have shown the most increase in storage growth over the2.

past year.

Note the age of all your current storage devices.3.

These assessments will be helpful when you start to evaluate the process of building

our organization's SAN solution.

Quiz #2Question 1:

True or False: Servers connected to a SAN can use only specific physical drives for storage.

) TrueB) False

Question 2:

n a SAN, the storage space on each physical drive is divided into which of the following?

A) Storage pools

B) Storage units

C) Storage drives

D) Storage blocks

Question 3:

True or False: Virtual storage makes it easier to allocate storage dynamically to meet servers' needs because it

ides the underlying physical infrastructure's complexity.

) True

B) False

Question 4:

Migrating data storage with a SAN uses which of the following procedures?

A) Server volume allocation

B) Block-level copying

C) Storage pool copying

D) Virtual migrating

Question 5:

True or False: All-in-one SAN solutions are simply lightweight alternatives to enterprise-level SAN products.

) True

B) False


14/38

Understanding SAN disk solutionsn this lesson, you'll delve into the technologies behind SANs. You'll learn about data protection with redundant

rives and data backup, as well as performance implications in designing a SAN.

Meeting your disk space requirements

n Lesson 2, you learned how virtual storage works and how to add to your

xisting storage solution. In this lesson, you see how to plan for your futureata storage needs by using a SAN. Although your organization might be

upporting different platform-specific storage components, such as a NAS and

ape subsystem for Unix and another for Windows, you can consolidate those

ifferent components into a SAN system to help manage data growth.

ooking at the list of servers in your inventory from Lesson 1's assignment, you

might have noticed a pattern of one platform or server type growing faster than

nother. In the consolidated SAN model, you no longer need to evaluate

pecific storage types; instead, you can evaluate overall growth patterns to

etermine your storage management plan.

A major benefit of a SAN is that you don't have to let storage capacity

urchased for one platform sit idle while storage for another platform is running

ut of space. All storage can be allocated to where it's needed in the SAN.

Of course, not all storage can be evaluated with the same priority. For example,

he storage your corporate databases use is probably ranked as more critical

han archives of process documentation. This evaluation leads to some

mportant architectural design implications that you learn about later in this

esson and in Lesson 5 when you explore SAN topologies. Fornow, consider

he following types of storage your organization might have:

DatabasesFile storage

Data backups

Archives

Temporary storage

Even within these broad storage categories, there can be varying levels of

mportance. For example, your organization might value a customer database

more than a database of parking assignments at the main office. Both are

atabases, but they have different levels of importance. You use this

nformation to determine how to allocate storage in a SAN.

To plan a SAN successfully, know your data and understand its importance

to your organization's operations.

While reviewing the types of storage your organization depends on, ask the

ollowing questions to help you determine the options you have:

How can an important database achieve the best performance?

How can archival file storage be cost effectively allocated?

What options are available to prevent data loss if a drive fails?

To answer these questions, you'll need to understand the disk components that

etermine data storage speed and expense, which is the topic of the next

ection.

NAS file and print

solution storage servers

mproving performance with disk components
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As you learned in Lesson 2, the basic building block of SAN storage is physical

rives. Not all drives are the same, however. These factors determine how fast

ata can be read to or written from a drive:

Number of platters and heads

Data density on each platter

Platter rotational speed

Bandwidth of the drive's connection

An increase in any of these factors can improve performance but also increase

osts. Therefore, ranking the importance of your data storage is important tomake sure your storage solution is cost effective. Your organization might

ecide to spend more on fast data storage for critical applications but be

nwilling to spend much for data of lesser importance.

Platters and heads

Each drive contains aluminum or glass platters with a thin magnetic coating

hat stores data. The number of platters in a drive determines the drive's

hysical size, capacity (amount of data it can store) and how much data can be

ransferred in and out. Heads are mechanisms that transfer data to or from the

latters; they're sometimes called "read/write heads." Typically, drives have twoeads for each platterone for each side of the platter.

n drives with more platters, more data can be read with each platter rotation

pass). For example, a drive with two platters has four heads that can read or

write a certain amount of data with each pass. However, a drive with four

latters has eight heads that can read or write twice as much information with

ach pass.

Data might not be read simultaneously with each head, or the next data

might not be positioned where any heads are located, thus requiring thehead to move to another location during subsequent rotations to get to

data.

Data density

The amount of data a platter can store depends on the technology used. As the

hemicals used to create this layer improve and heads can read data in smaller

reas, the amount of data you can store in the same amount of space can

ncrease. Because there are two main physical drive sizes, 3.5 inch and 5 inch,

ncreasing the density of data stored on a platter is essential for getting large-

apacity drives.

Although higher densities allow for larger capacities, the technology might

not always translate to faster performance.

Platter rotational speed

nside each drive, a motor spins the platter, allowing the heads to float over the

latter's surface and read the data on it. As platter speed increases, so does

he drive's power consumption, heat output and noise. This added speededuces the time needed to make an entire rotation, however. If data is read on

ne pass before the head moves to another area to read the next set of data, it

appens more quickly with a faster rotational speed. The following table shows

ifferent uses for platter speeds in rotations per minute (rpm).

Platter rotational Typical use

HP Storage software

portfolio
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speed

7,200 rpm File storage, inexpensive server storage

10,000 rpm Mid-range database storage, streaming video storage

15,000 rpm High-use database storage, high-definition video editing

storage

Table 3-1: Typical uses of platter rotational speeds.

You might think that using the fastest drive available is the best option, but

eep in mind that the faster the platter rotational speed, the more expensive therive is. For a database that doesn't get much use, for example, buying a

5,000 rpm drive isn't cost effective. You'll have more speed than you need,

nd power consumption, heat output and noise will be higher than necessary.

Connectivity bandwidth

esson 1 covered connectivity types for drives (SCSI, ATA, serial ATA and

USB). These connectivity options enable data to be streamed from the drive to

pplications that need it. Some options are faster than others, which allow drive

eads to pump data from the platter continuously. As you might imagine, the

andwidth of these connections can affect data flow if the heads can read moreata than the connection can transfer. If the connectivity cannot stream the

ata as fast as it's read from the drive, the drive will buffer some of the data

emporarily in a small on-board memory chip. However, once the RAM buffer

apacity is reached, the drive will wait to read more data. This increases the

otential delay as the platter spins and the data that would have been read

moves farther out of position until the full rotation finally brings it back around to

he head's position.

Considering your RAID configuration

You've been concentrating on the performance of data streaming from drives,

ut you should also consider how to protect data stored on drives. Component

ailures are inevitable, so planning for these failures is essential. The primary

mechanism for managing data replication in a SAN is a redundant array of

nexpensive drives (RAID) system. The following table describes the available

RAID levels.

RAID

evel

Description

RAID

0

Creates data "stripes" across multiple drives, which makes it possible to

read data more quickly than on a single drive but doesn't protect data if

any drive fails.RAID

1

Creates a mirrored drive set, in which data is written to two duplicate

drives simultaneously. If one drive in the mirrored set fails, the other

drive can still operate and store all the data.

RAID

3

Creates a striped data set similar to RAID 0 but includes an extra drive

containing additional information called parity data. With this feature, if

one drive in the set fails, lost data can be re-created so that the drive set

can continue operating.

RAID

5

Similar to RAID 3, but parity data is striped across the entire group of

drives instead of being stored on one dedicated drive. Therefore, every

drive can manage a portion of the drive set's parity data.

RAID

10

In this combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0, data is striped across a set of

drives and then mirrored to another set of drives. This type of mirroringremoves the extra step of calculating parity data every time data is

written to the drive.

Table 3-2: RAID levels.

HP Tape, disk-based

backup
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A SAN system can usually support every RAID level, so you can configure a

RAID level based on the storage allocated to the server. Some factors that help

ou determine the right RAID level include the following:

Tolerance for delays in writing to the drive

Performance effects during the RAID rebuilding phase

Tolerance for the RAID rebuilding process when a drive fails

Tolerance for writing delays

When data is written to a RAID system, the RAID software (whether on a chip

r in firmware on the controller) must calculate parity data before data is written

o drives in the set. This calculation is usually rapid but still requires time. RAID

works for most applications; however, if the SAN volume using RAID has a lot

f activity, application performance might be affected. In this case, consider

sing RAID 1 (mirroring) to eliminate the overhead of parity calculations. Just

emember that you'll spend twice as much on storage because every drive has

mirrored duplicate drive.

Performance effects during RAID rebuilding

When a drive in the RAID set fails, every operation must undergo a RAID parityalculation to make up for the drive that failed. This process reduces the RAID

ystem's overall read performance. Additionally, when a new drive is installed

o replace the old drive, every byte of data on the volume must be recalculated

nd copied to the new drive. During this operation, the RAID system's

erformance degrades.

Tolerance for RAID rebuilding when a drive fails

Most RAID hardware monitors idle periods to reduce the impact of the

ebuilding process, at the cost of taking longer to rebuild data. During

ebuilding, therefore, data is at risk of a secondary failure. RAID 1 (mirroring)as a similar rebuilding process, but read performance isn't affected as much

ecause there's no need to recalculate parity data. However, managing a

mirrored set requires twice as much storage.

Remember that RAID levels above 0 (simple striping) always require more

drive space to protect your data. This drive space costs more but adds

redundancy to your SAN for data protection.

These factors, weighed against the costs and survivability requirements you

ave for certain types of data, help you determine which RAID level to use. Youave other options for storing backups of your data, however, that don't involve

sing drives. The next section discusses non-disk storage options.

Backing up data with non-disk storage

Storing data on a SAN has an often overlooked advantage. When you store

ata on traditional DAS systems, the server needs to spend cycles reading the

ata to back it up to a local or networked drive. So during backup operations,

he server's performance is reduced, and the load on the local area network

LAN) increases. The time a backup operation takes is called the backupwindow. The more data a server has, the longer the backup window is. As you

ontinue adding storage, the backup window might be longer than the "off

ours" you've allotted for backups (usually nights or weekends). When the

ackup window spills over into normal work hours, the performance of an

rganization's day-to-day operations is affected.

HP Tape and optical

media
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Documents

Course Session 306012 Intro Storage Networks