STF-6 Storage Virtualizations.pdf

Copyright © 2007 EMC Corporation. Do not Copy - All Rights Reserved.

EMC Storage Virtualization Foundations - 1

© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

EMC Storage Virtualization FoundationsEMC Storage Virtualization Foundations

Welcome to EMC Storage Virtualization Foundations.

The AUDIO portion of this course is supplemental to the material and is not a replacement for the student notes accompanying this course.

EMC recommends downloading the Student Resource Guide from the Supporting Materials tab, and reading the notes in their entirety.

Copyright © 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

These materials may not be copied without EMC's written consent.

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.

EMC, VMWare, Rainfinity, Invista, and RecoverPoint are trademarks of EMC Corporation.

All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.



© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. EMC Storage Virtualization Foundations - 2

Course ObjectivesUpon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Define a Virtual Infrastructure

List VMWare product differences

Explain the concept and benefits of Storage Virtualization

Identify benefits, features, and advantages of an Invista Solution

Cite basic concepts of File Level Virtualization

Describe Rainfinity features, functions and benefits

Identify key features of a RecoverPoint solution

The objectives for this course are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.




VMware VirtualizationUpon completion of this module, you will be able to:

Define a Virtual Infrastructure

List VMWare product differences

The objectives for this module are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.




Virtualization Technologies

*Formerly ESX Server

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Server virtualization with VMware

Infrastructure 3*

File virtualizationwith EMC Rainfinity

Global File Virtualization

IP networkGlobal NamespaceNAS storage pool

File serversEMC NetApp

Block-storage virtualization

with EMC Invista

Invista

Runs in the storage network

Virtual volumes

Physical storage

Complementing virtualization services are the virtualization technologies – server, file, and block. We all know these EMC virtualization technologies well – VMware, Rainfinity, and Invista. Take the time to learn about these technologies if you’re not familiar with them. There are occasions when one of these technologies will be an obvious recommendation to address a customer problem.



© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. EMC Storage Virtualization Foundations - 5 5

Each application sees its own logical server, independent of physical servers

Virtual Servers

Flexible Infrastructure

Server VirtualizationAPP

OS

APP

OS

APP

OS

APP

OS

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OS

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OS

Each application sees its own logical storage, independent of physical storage

Virtual Storage

Benefits of Virtual ServersRun multiple applications on a single server, increase server utilization, and move applications nondisruptively

Next, let's move on to virtual servers and virtual storage, and consider the benefits to applications from seeing their own logical server and storage resources. These are the two areas in which EMC is focused on delivering virtualization technology.

This slide shows the principle of server virtualization in one graphic. There are three physical servers with six copies of the operating system and applications running on top of them. Each of these operating systems believes it has its own dedicated server.

The result is the ability to run multiple applications on the same server, even if an application believes it must have its own server in order to function correctly, and increases server utilization. And the EMC technology we review even moves applications across servers non-disruptively!




What is a Virtual Infrastructure?Virtual Infrastructure allows dynamic mapping of compute, storage, and network resources to business applications

In traditional data centers, there is a tight relationship among particular computers, disk drives, and network ports and the applications they support. VMware’s Virtual Infrastructure allows us to break those bonds. We can dynamically move resources where they are needed, and move processing where it makes most sense. VMware detaches the operating system and its applications from the hardware they run on.

VMware Infrastructure 3 is a suite of software to optimize and manage the virtual infrastructure.




VMware Products

Server consolidationP2V Assistant

Test/dev, evaluate software, server provisioning VMware Server

Run, share, evaluate pre-built applications and beta software in VMs

VMware PlayerFREE

Virtualization

Desktop securityVMware ACEEnterprise Desktop

Application lifecycle managementVMTN Subscription

Application lifecycle management;

Field OperationsVMware Workstation

Developer

Application lifecycle management;

Datacenter operations

VMware Infrastructure 3 (ESX Server, Virtual SMP, VirtualCenter, VMotion, VMware HA, VMware DRS, and VCB)Datacenter

Use caseProductCategory

This table categorizes various VMware products and identifies the typical use case for each product listed.




VMware Infrastructure 3A software suite for optimizing and managing IT environments through virtualization

Consists of the following software:– ESX Server

Virtual SMP– VirtualCenter

VMotionVMware HA (High Availability)VMware DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler)

– VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)

VMware Infrastructure 3 is a suite of software that provides virtualization, management, resource optimization, application availability and operational capabilities.

VMware Infrastructure 3 consists of the following products:VMware ESX Server: Platform on which virtual machines runVMware Virtual SMP: Multi-processor support (up to 4) for virtual machinesVMware VirtualCenter: Centralized management tool for ESX Servers and virtual machinesVMware VMotion: Migration of virtual machines while they are powered onVMware HA: VirtualCenter’s high availability feature for virtual machinesVMware DRS: VirtualCenter’s feature for dynamic balancing and allocation of resources for virtual machinesVMware Consolidated Backup: Centralized backup software for virtual machines




VMware ESX Server A virtual machine platform that installs on “bare metal”

VMkernel has complete control over hardware resources

Uses a high-performance filesystem, VMFS-3

Supports dynamic allocation of computing resources

Enables VMs to use up to 4 physical processors with Virtual SMP

Virtual MachinePlatform for the Datacenter

VMware ESX Server is the virtual infrastructure platform for datacenter environments. ESX Server uses a bare-metal hypervisor architecture to provide the optimal performance and scalability for server applications running in virtual machines.

With ESX Server, the VMware virtualization layer runs directly on the x86 hardware with AMD or Intel processors, to give the virtual machines the most direct access to the host’s resources. Because the VMware virtualization layer is in complete control of the host’s hardware, it makes it possible to provide fine-grained resource allocations to each virtual machine. Precise amounts of host processor, memory, network I/O and disk I/O resources can be granted to each virtual machine and those allocations can be dynamically adjusted as workloads and service levels change.

The ESX Server virtualization layer is a very thin, special purpose kernel entirely dedicated to execution of virtual machines. It lacks much of the “surface area” found in conventional operating systems like user logins, network stacks and remote access.

ESX Server gives you the flexibility to run it on large x86 servers in a scale-up environment or installed on many smaller servers in a scale-out strategy. ESX Server is designed to run on host systems ranging from dual processor blades to 16-way NUMA servers. Each ESX Server host can run up to 128 virtual processors concurrently and sharing up to 64GB of memory. With Virtual SMP, the ESX Server lets you configure 2- or 4-way virtual machines for larger workloads that require more than one processor.

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ESX Server Architecture

Under ESX Server, applications running within virtual machines access CPU, memory, disk, and their network interfaces without direct access to the underlying hardware. The ESX Server’s virtualization layer intercepts these requests and presents them to the physical hardware.

The service console supports administrative functions for the ESX Server. The service console is based on a modified version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (Update 6). Users of ESX Server who use the command line find that Red Hat Linux experience, or experience with other versions of Unix family operating systems, can be very helpful to them.

The VMkernel always assumes that it is running on top of valid, properly functioning x86 hardware. Hardware failures, such as the death of any physical CPU, can cause ESX Server to fail. If you are concerned about the reliability of your server hardware, the best approach is to cluster virtual machines between ESX Servers.

ESX 3 is supported on Intel (Xeon and above) and AMD Opteron (32-bit mode) processors. ESX 3 offers experimental support for a number of 64-bit guest operating systems. Refer to the Systems Compatibility Guide for a complete list.

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VMware VirtualCenter Create and manage inventory of hosts and virtual machines

Provision virtual machines from templates

Migrate running VMs across hosts (VMotion)

Balance virtual machine workloads across hosts (VMware DRS)

Manage virtual machines for high availability and disaster recovery (VMware HA)

VMware VirtualCenter is VMware’s tool for managing your virtual infrastructure. VirtualCenter gives you a “single pane of glass” view of your entire virtual infrastructure, spanning all ESX Servers and virtual machines hosted on those servers.

Provisioning new server virtual machines with VirtualCenter is a quick operation and VirtualCenterlets you create a library of standardized virtual machine templates so your newly provisioned systems always conform to your datacenter requirements.

VirtualCenter delivers a feature called VMotion that lets you migrate running virtual machines between servers so you can perform hardware maintenance and shift servers with minimal downtime. Other VirtualCenter features include VMware DRS, which helps you balance virtual machine workloads across hosts, and VMware HA, which helps you manage virtual machines for high availability and disaster recovery.

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VirtualCenter Components

The VirtualCenter environment consists of the following software components:VirtualCenter Server: Service used to centrally administer ESX Servers, it directs actions to be taken on the virtual machines and the ESX ServersVMware License Server: Server-based licensing for VirtualCenter and ESX Server functionalityVI Client: GUI-based interface for configuring and managing ESX Servers and virtual machinesWeb Access: Web-based interface for managing virtual machinesVirtualCenter database: Main repository of VirtualCenter information, including configuration and performance dataVirtualCenter Agents: Processes that run on the ESX Servers, used to receive tasks initiated by VirtualCenter




ESX Server 3.0 and VC 2.0 Architecture

The VI Client and Web Client are the user interfaces used to access the VirtualCenter Server or ESX Server directly. The Web Client provides a browser-based interface for managing VMs. Web Client requires that Web Access run on the VirtualCenter Server, or ESX Server, or both.

Two services exist on the ESX Server that are responsible to coordinate and launch tasks received from VirtualCenter or client interfaces. The VirtualCenter Server sends task requests to the VirtualCenteragent, vpxa, which then forwards them to hostd. hostd is a background process that launches the task to be performed.

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Module SummaryKey points covered in this module:

Virtual Infrastructure allows dynamic mapping of compute, storage, and network resources to business applications

VMware ESX Server is the virtual infrastructure platform for datacenter environments

VMware VirtualCenter is VMware’s tool for managing your virtual infrastructure

These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them




Rainfinity OverviewUpon completion of this module, you will be able to:

Describe basic concepts of File Level Virtualization

Identify and describe Rainfinity features and functions

Explain the operation of Rainfinity Virtualization

List the benefits of a Rainfinity solution





File-Level Virtualization Basics

After File-Level Virtualization

Break dependencies between end-user access and data locationStorage utilization is optimizedNon-disruptive migrations

NAS devices/platforms

IP network


IP network

Every NAS device is an independent entity physically and logically Underutilized storage resources Downtime caused by data migrations

Before File-Level Virtualization

EMC Rainfinity Global File Virtualization virtualizes NAS environments, making them simple to manage. It does this by dynamically moving information without disruption to clients or applications.

Rainfinity Global File Virtualization achieves this through its unique network file-virtualization capabilities – an out-of-band file system virtualization that enables non-disruptive data movement in multi-vendor NAS environments.




Virtualization: One Big Virtual Box Consolidation of Data– First approach… Small file servers consolidate into a large file server– Next approach …Purchase a larger file server, and add to it– Current approach…Virtualize

Virtualization– Increases data mobility by providing location independence of file

systems from the users and applications that utilize them– This provides a layer of transparency to users

Consolidation of Data– Allows customers to have more boxes– Looks like One Big Virtual Box

An old way to solve the file virtualization problem was to consolidate smaller file servers into a single large file server. Another approach was to use an even larger file server - one that was easier to manage and maintain. However, at some level of scale, it's impossible or doesn't make sense to keep finding a bigger box. Of course, it is possible to perform lots of acrobatics on the client side using auto-mounters, name servers and load balancers. But as system size mushroomed, those solutions ultimately proved unwieldy and impossible to maintain.

That's when the current batch of file virtualization tools became attractive. They allow customers to have more boxes, but make it look like it's just one big box. That simplifies life for storage users.

What virtualization does is increase data mobility by providing location independence of file systems and files from the applications and people who use them.




Rainfinity Rainfinity is a dedicated hardware/software solution that manages file-oriented (NFS/CIFS) storage access

Provides transparent data mobility

Enables file storage virtualization using industry standard protocols and mechanisms in a heterogeneous environment

GFV is the abstraction of file-based storage over an IP network– Physical storage location is transparent to users and applications– File-based storage systems are seen as a logical pool of resources– Provides constant access to data while moving NFS/CIFS data

Rainfinity supports the management of file-oriented data and their servers. File-oriented data is data that is accessed by CIFS or NFS. Rainfinity is a dedicated hardware/software platform solution.

Rainfinity allows clients to access data it is managing, and is done transparently to the user. Virtualization is an abstraction of the logical and physical paths to data. The client is unaware where the data physically resides. The management of the namespace can be accomplished by industry standard mechanisms such as a Distributed File System (DFS) in a Windows environment, and NIS/Automount and LDAP in a UNIX environment. Rainfinity does not create its own namespace; it integrates with these existing industry namespaces.

Rainfinity GFV provides for constant access to data. This means file-sharing data can be moved from one file server to another while clients are reading and writing to that data.

GFV provides a layer of transparency to users and applications. With Rainfinity, data is mirrored and appears as a single source to users and applications. Namespace transparency maps the logical name to the physical location after it has been moved so users and applications are redirected to the new location without reconfiguring the physical path names. GFV simplifies storage management by bringing location transparency to users and applications accessing storage.




EMC Rainfinity Global File Virtualization

NAS and CAS environments simple to manageEasier to move information and resources without disruption

Networked Storage Virtualization for NAS, CAS and File Servers

Global Namespace


IP network

NAS storage pool

File serversEMC

Celerra

NetAppFAS

Rainfinity Global File

VirtualizationEMC

Centera

EMC Rainfinity Global File Virtualization delivers these benefits by virtualizing NAS environments, making them simple to manage, and dynamically moving information without disruption to clients or applications.

Rainfinity Global File Virtualization achieves this through its unique network file-virtualization capabilities, which are delivered through a 2U rack mountable appliance.




Rainfinity Hardware GFV-4Customized Linux operating system

– Version 2.6 kernel

64 bit hardware (processor)– Single or clustered unit– 4GB SDRAM DIMM for single

configuration

– 12 GB SDRAM DIMM for enterprise configurations

CPU:– Dual Intel Xeon Processors 3.6 GHz

or higher

L2 Cache: – 1 MB (GFV-4)

Keyboard/Mouse: – PS/2 (GFV-4)

GFV-5Customized Linux operating system

– Version 2.6 kernel

64 bit hardware (processor)– Single or clustered unit– CIFS license

4 GB single rank registered 667-MHz SDRAM DIMM

– CIFS, NFS or Enterprise license16GB dual rank registered 667-MHz

SDRAM DIMM

CPU:– Dual Intel Xeon Processors 3.0 GHz

or higher

L2 Cache: – 4 MB (GFV-5)

Keyboard/Mouse: – USB (GFV-5)

GFV 4:All versions of the Rainfinity software requires a 64 bit processor.It ships as a stand-alone unit or can be clustered for high availability. Rainfinity uses a customized operating system based on the Linux 2.6 kernel. The Rainfinity appliance is based on HP ProLiant DL380 G4 hardware. 2U rack-mount form actor with sliding rails. SmartArray 6i storage controller buffers all writes to disk so that in event of a critical full-system failure, important state is saved even during abrupt disk or power failure.

GFV 5 only:

The Global File Virtualization appliance chassis is based on Intel processor-based hardware.

The appliance includes dual Intel Xeon processors, 4MB of L2 cache and a 1333 MHz front-side bus.

The memory available is either 4GB or 16GB. The 4GB (8 x 512MB) single rank registered 667-MHz SDRAM DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) is available with the standard configuration CIFS license only. The 16GB (8 x 2GB) dual rank registered 667-MHz SDRAM DIMM is available with CIFS, NFS and the Enterprise configuration license.

Hot swappable fans are included.




Front of ApplianceGFV- 4

GFV- 5

Front of Appliance GFV-4

The following describes the front of appliance:

a) CDROM: CDROM drive for doing full CD system upgrades

b) & c): Disk: Two hot-swappable SCSI 146.8GB hard drives, configured for RAID-1 disk mirroring with SmartArray 6i SCSI controller

Front of Appliance GFV-5

Shown here is a front view of the appliance. The CD-ROM drive is used for full CD system upgrades. Two hot-swappable SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) 146.8 GB hard drives, configured for RAID-1 disk mirroring with a hardware RAID controller are shown.




Rainfinity SoftwareShips with 3 Separate Cd’s:– Rainfinity code– Windows Proxy Service

Required to move CIFS Data– SID Translator

Moves local groups from source to destination server

Minimal setup– Network Config …

IP address, Netmask, Default Gateway IP, DNS, Hostname– Date/time

Date, Time, NTP time services, Time Zone

Rainfinity ships with three disks, the Rainfinity Code, Windows Proxy Service, and an SID Translator.

The Windows Proxy service is required to move CIFS data. Windows servers require that some operations be performed by native Windows clients. Rainfinity connects to a computer running the Windows Proxy and uses it to perform statistic collection and administration tasks.

Rainfinity is able to translate Security IDs (SIDs) in the security properties of the files and directories involved in a CIFS transaction. The capability may be used to assist data migration projects in which the data’s group or user association changes from the source to the destination. For example, when the Access Control List (ACL) is defined in terms of local groups on the source file server. When the data is migrated to the destination server, the ACL should be defined in terms of corresponding local groups on the destination server. The rules governing such translation are defined in the SID translation tables.

The first step is initial Rainfinity setup. This includes, at a minimum: logging in and setting the date/time, port configuration, and basic network settings.

When a Rainfinity appliance ships to a customer location, the software has been installed and tested. In some cases, it might be necessary to reconfigure or re-install the system to customer specifications.

Upon first time login, the rssetup script receives the login request and acts as an interactive menu-based interface for the user.




Automount

NIS LDAP

DFSADRainfinity

Appliance

Protecting Critical Files: Global File Virtualization - 1

DFSAD

Automount

NIS LDAP

Namespace

Global NamespaceManager

Admin

Data MobilityRainfinity is triggered

1

Redirection Global namespace updated

2

Event Log

RainfinityAppliance

This is a representation of a NAS environment. The heterogeneous back-end file servers and NAS devices are represented below – Rainfinity operates at the protocol level, CIFS and NFS, so a broad range of support is available.The namespace is represented in the top left. This shows that clients are accessing data through a logical view the namespace provides the underlying physical location to the logical map. Rainfinity supports industry standard namespaces such as DFS and Automount. Rainfinity can also work with custom login scripts.The IP Client network is shown here connecting clients to the Network Attached Storage. Rainfinity installs by plugging into the network switch. There are no changes required to client mount points. Rainfinity installs in the network but is not in the data path. When you install Rainfinity you set up a separate VLAN in the network. Clients continue to access storage with no disruption.When there is some data relocation that needs to take place for cost or optimization reasons the ports associated with the involved file servers are associated with the Rainfinity VLAN. Rainfinity is now in the data path for these file servers and can ensure client access to the data even though it is being dynamically relocated. Rainfinity treats a data relocation as a transaction and has rollback capability and pause restart whether a directory, volume or file system is being relocated. Any updates during the transaction are synchronized across both the original source and new destination. If Rainfinity were to be moved from the network in the middle of a transaction, there is no data integrity risk. All updates are reflected on the source. The clients are still mounting the source. You can plug Rainfinity back in and the transaction resumes.Once the data relocation is complete, Rainfinity now updates the global namespace (DFS for Windows, Automount for Unix, or login scripts or homegrown namespace solution). The namespace in turn updates the clients. Rainfinity leverages the industry standard approaches such as Microsoft DFS so there is no need for additional agents to be deployed on all clients.The new authority copy of the data is at the new location. The original source reflects a point in time copy at the end of the transaction and reflects any updates made up and to that point. Updating client mappings takes time however, so Rainfinityremains in the data path and redirects client access to the new location. Overtime the number of sessions to redirect decreases as new sessions are mounting directly to the new location.




Automount

NIS LDAP

DFSAD


RainfinityAppliance

Namespace

Admin

Data MobilityRainfinity is triggered

1

Redirection Global namespace updated

2

3 Transaction CompleteWithout downtime

Event Log

RainfinityAppliance

When all of the client sessions have been remapped to the new location Rainfinity completes the transaction and the NAS devices move out of the Rainfinity VLAN. Rainfinity is now out of the data path.

Rainfinity has an autocomplete feature that provides a policy to control transaction completion. This can be based on percentage of client remapping.. You can set up tiers of users and have different policies for each. Key operation clients or apps have to be 100% remapped for instance while other department users can have lower percentages Rainfinity can also terminate client sessions to perform a remap/remount based on idle time thresholds.

Rainfinity virtualizes an environment 100% of the time with the namespace providing a logical abstraction layer. The Rainfinity appliances selectively virtualizes traffic on the wire based onparticular optimization or relocation events that need to take place.

Questions that might come up:

Can Rainfinity handle simultaneous transactions? Yes, you can define multiple transactions. Rainfinityonly does 1 active move transaction at a time and these are queued, but Rainfinity can perform the redirection simultaneously for multiple transactions




Automount

NIS LDAP

DFSAD


Namespace

Admin

Policy based File ArchivingRainfinity archives files

4

End-user RetrievalAccess stub file, retrieves file

5

Event Log

File ManagementRainfinityAppliance

The last animation regarding the migration process is displayed here; please take a moment to review.




Rainfinity ApplicationsCapacity Management

Performance Management

Tiered Storage Management

Global Namespace Management

Migration and Consolidation

Synchronous Replication

Rainfinity Platform

File Management

Rainfinity application software provides the functionality of the system. The first three applications listed here drive storage optimization by visualizing usage trends and exceptions. The Global Namespace Management application manages existing namespaces in the environment. The other applications move data between storage devices. The next few slides highlight the major features of Rainfinity, although there is so much more.




Rainfinity: In Band and Out of BandRainfinity combines the advantages of both architectures:– Rainfinity product stays out-of-band until needed for data mobility

No scaling problems in-band appliances haveNo performance penalty of in-band appliancesWorks with industry standard mechanisms like DFS and Automounter

– When a file must be moved, File Server goes in-band to prevent the user disruption typical of out-of-band devices

Monitors sessions and connectionsProxies as neededKeeps source and destination in synch as long as neededTracks client access to source and destination

Rainfinity is designed to be installed between file servers and clients on the network. To achieve this, Rainfinity functions as an Ethernet switch.

This functionality as a Layer 2 switch enables Rainfinity to see and process traffic between clients and file servers with minimal modification to your existing networking. Rainfinity is aware of file-sharing protocols. It is this application-layer intelligence that allows Rainfinity to move data without interrupting client access.

When Rainfinity is doing a move, the two file involved in the move must be on the private side (or server-segment). In this case, Rainfinity is said to be in-band servers, and those file servers are also referred to as in-band.

When Rainfinity is not doing a move or redirecting access to certain file servers, those file servers may be moved to the public (or client-side) LAN segment. In this case, Rainfinity is said to be out-of-band for these file servers, and those file servers are also referred to as out-of-band.




Tiered Storage Management OverviewTiered storage management allows for the efficient placement of data based on capacity, performance, and price, and service-level- agreementsPrimary Storage: Production data repository that makes up the primary top tier of storage in terms of performance and availabilitySecondary Storage: Tier or tiers where, based on policy, designated files are stored. It has a lower cost and performance profile than primary storage.Policy Engine: Intelligence that classifies and migrates files based on pre-established policy

Rainfinity GFV Cluster

Secondary Storage

RFM

Primary Storage

NAS Clients

Policy Engine

Tiered storage management, or file archival, allows for the efficient placement of data based on capacity and service-level agreements. File placement can increase efficiency by intelligently placing data in optimal tiers of performance and price, thereby lowering the overall average cost of storage. Enterprises can use lower cost storage, such as ATA drives or tape, to store less critical data at a fraction of the cost of high performance storage. Intelligent software is required to make file placement practical and feasible, and that automatically classifies and migrates data based on policy.

Policy engines, or intelligent software running on a separate server, migrate data from one storage tier to another based upon configured policies. These policies can be based upon the size of the data, the length of time since the last access, or by particular file extension type. One of the primary features announced with Rainfinity GFV version 7.0 is Rainfinity File Management, or RFM. RFM provides the policy engine functionality and currently supports NetApp to Centera archival and retrieval.




Advantages of the Rainfinity Global File Virtualization Architecture

Supports heterogeneous, multi-vendor environments

No client or server software required

Operates transparently to clients and applications

Leverages industry-standard namespace

Fixes issues in heterogeneous environments– Identifies and rebalances poor utilization and performance– Offers seamless migration during code upgrades– Dynamically moves data between platforms

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Rainfinity Global File Virtualization leverages industry-standard Global Namespaces with a scalable, transparent file-protocol switching capability. There are many advantages to this approach: it limits risk and performance concerns, but also leverages the continuing investments being made by large vendors and Standards bodies, whether your namespace is Microsoft DFS or Automount. Rainfinity Global File Virtualization can also work with existing environments in which a standard namespace is not deployed, such as login scripts or “homegrown”.

Rainfinity Global File Virtualization is a solution that provides complete transparency…not just transparency of file access - transparency to the environment. This solution does not require mount-point changes or the deployment of agents on clients or servers.

Virtualization should leverage the investments you’ve already made in your storage-infrastructure and management tools. Check for Standards support and vendor certifications, and make sure your existing management tools and data-protection policies are not adversely impacted.




Why Rainfinity Global File Virtualization?Built for the enterprise:– Most scalable– Safest– Easiest to deploy

Industry standards-based

Enterprise service and support– EMC’s world class technical

service organization and 24 X 7 global hardware and software support

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If you’re looking to streamline the operations of your file-server and NAS environments, RainfinityGlobal File Virtualization delivers:

Optimized utilization of storage resourcesAccelerated storage consolidationSimplified managementIncreased protection of critical files

It does this by simplifying capacity management through non-disruptive data movement and namespace-management updates, maintaining a virtual file system of your physical file-serving and NAS resources.





Virtualization is the newest approach in solving the consolidation of many servers into one

Rainfinity is a dedicated hardware/software solution that manages file-oriented (NFS/CIFS) storage access

Both GFV-4 and GFV-5 includes mirrored 146.8 GB drives. Both have slight differences for hardware and processing power

Rainfinity combines applications that monitor and move data between storage devices

GFV streamlines operations of your file-server and NAS environments through non-disruptive data movement, and leveraging the customers existing environment

These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.




Invista OverviewUpon completion of this module, you will be able to:

Understand the concept and benefits of storage virtualization

Identify the benefits, features, and advantages of an Invista Solution

List the hardware and software components of Invista and how they work together to achieve storage virtualization





EMC InvistaNetwork-based Storage Virtualization

Performance architecture– Leverages next-generation “intelligent” SAN

switches for high performance– Designed to work in enterprise-class

environments

Provides advanced functionality– Dynamic volume mobility– Network-based volume management– Heterogeneous point-in-time copies (clones)

Enterprise management– EMC ControlCenter Integration– EMC Replication Manager Integration

Supports heterogeneous environments– Works with EMC and third-party storage Physical storage

Runs in the storage

network

Virtual volumes

Virtual initiators

InvistaControl Path

ClusterData PathController

Data PathController

Invista is a SAN-based storage-virtualization solution. Its architecture leverages new intelligent SAN-switch hardware from EMC’s Connectrix partners that enables new levels of scalability andfunctionality.

Unlike other storage-virtualization products, Invista is not appliance-based. This enables it to deliver consistent, scalable performance across a heterogeneous storage environment, even using highly random-I/O applications. Because Invista uses the processing capabilities of intelligent switches, it eliminates the latency and bandwidth issues associated with an “in-band” appliance approach. By using purpose-built switches with port-level processing, this “split-path” architecture delivers wire-speed performance with negligible latency.

EMC’s unique network-based approach to storage virtualization enables certain key functionalities, such as the ability to move active applications to different tiers of storage non-disruptively, and the ability to leverage clones across a heterogeneous storage environment. These functions work uniformly across qualified hosts and heterogeneous storage arrays.

In addition to integrating discovery and monitoring functions for virtual volumes into EMC ControlCenter, Invista can also be easily managed from a graphical user interface (GUI) or a command-line interface (CLI).




Invista’s Advanced Software FunctionalityDynamic Volume Mobility– Move and change primary

volumes while application remains online

Network-based Volume Management– Pool storage and manage

volumes at the network level

Heterogeneous Point-in-Time Copies– Create local copies of data

for testing and repurposing across multiple types of storage

The next-generation hardware, combined with powerful Invista software, enables some unique capabilities such as Dynamic Volume Mobility, Network-based Volume Management, and the ability to create heterogeneous point-in-time copies.

Dynamic Volume Mobility allows Administrators to move primary volumes between heterogeneous storage arrays while the application remains online. This enabler of information lifecycle management allows you to move applications non-disruptively to the appropriate storage tier, based on application requirements and service levels.

Network-based volume management is the basis for what many people think of as “virtualization.”Invista enables you to create and configure virtual volumes from a heterogeneous storage pool and present them out to hosts. It makes sense for the network to be the control point for this - abstracting and aggregating the back-end storage, configuring it, and making it available to all of the connected hosts.

Invista also gives you the ability to create clones of virtual volumes. This allows you to extend the use of clones to areas where their use may have previously been impossible, due to compatibility issues. For example, you can now create a clone from a high-tier, primary storage array and extend it to a lower-tier, lower-cost storage array. This provides another local-replication option in your tiered storage environment.




Key Invista BenefitsSupport for EMC and third-party arrays– Leverages existing investments in storage capacity and resources

Delivers Information Lifecycle Management– Enables data movement across multiple storage tiers

Reduces complexity– Single interface for managing all tiers of storage

Increases operational efficiency by simplifying:– Movement of data to optimize performance– Provisioning of storage among multiple vendor arrays

Invista provides support for EMC and third-party arrays, which allows an enterprise to leverage its existing investments in storage capacity and resources.

Invista also supports Information Lifecycle Management by enabling data movement across multiple storage tiers, and reduces management complexity by establishing a single interface for managing all tiers of storage.

Finally, it increases operational efficiency by simplifying the movement of data to optimize performance and the provisioning of storage among multiple vendor arrays.




Invista Hardware Components

Layer 2SAN

Heterogeneous Storage Arrays

InvistaInstance

Layer 2SAN

DPCData Path Controller

(Intelligent Switch)

Ethernet switchAllied Telesys

Control Path Cluster (CPC)

CPC

IP NetworkProduction Hosts

In this illustration, the components of an Invista instance are detailed. Note that the illustration is a simplified representative of the Invista components - it does not show redundant components needed for fault tolerance that are mandatory in Invista production configurations.

Invista includes these major components: the Control Path Cluster (CPC), Data Path Controller (DPC), and an Ethernet switch.

The Control Path Cluster does not contain user data. Instead, it stores the Invista configuration parameters and performs management functions for an Invista instance. These functions include configuring and managing virtual storage.

The Data Path Controller accepts data and control requests from hosts to perform on the virtual storage. It is the component that maps data read and write operations between the hosts (front end) and storage arrays (back-end). The DPC gets its configuration from the CPC.

The Ethernet switch connects the CPC and DPC, and configuration and control information is passed between the CPC and DPC via the Ethernet connections.




Theory of Operation: CPCThe CPC stores information about the physical and virtual storage, including:– Storage Elements dedicated to Invista– Imported Storage Elements and associated storage elements– Virtual Volumes and associated imported storage elements– Virtual Frames and which hosts and virtual volumes belong to them– Clone Groups and which storage volumes belong to them

The CPC downloads information to the DPC

The (CPC) stores the following configuration meta data about the Invista instance.

The storage element (back-end array volumes) information. These volumes have been assigned to the Invista instance. The back-end volumes must be allocated exclusively for Invista usage by the administrator of the storage arrays.

The imported storage element information. Imported storage elements are simply storage elements that have been “imported” into the Invista instance. This identifies storage array capacity that Invista intends to use for creating virtual volumes.

The Virtual Volumes information. This includes the virtual volume name, storage volume identification (ID), and the imported storage element used to create the virtual volume.

The Virtual Frame information. A Virtual Frame identifies one or more virtual volumes and the host allowed to access them.

The Clone Group information, including a data (source) volume and clone (copy) volumes.

The CPC downloads the appropriate information to the DPC.




Theory of Operation: DPCReceives part of its configuration from the CPC

Examines all incoming/outgoing FC frames– Read/write frames are mapped to the appropriate virtual target or

initiator and FC port– Control frames are passed between the requesting host and the

CPC

Serves as a:– Virtual target for hosts– Virtual initiator for storage arrays

The Data Path Controller (DPC) resides in the intelligent switch component of Invista. It receives part of its configuration from the CPC.

The DPC is the center of all traffic in Invista. Each FC frame generated by hosts and storage arrays is examined and forwarded to the appropriate device.

To the host, the DPC is a virtual target. To a storage array, the DPC is a virtual initiator.




Separation of Data and Control Path Operations

Data Frame- Read- Write

Control Frame- Inquiry - Read Capacity- Report LUNs- Test Unit Ready- Request Sense- Reservation- Group Reservation- Persistent Reservation- Format- Verify- Rezero Unit

Array

Control Operations

Data PathController

(DPC)

Parse andRedirect frames

I/O Streams

ProcessedI/O Stream

Control Path Cluster(CPC)

Invista Virtualization Services

SAL (Switch Abstraction Layer)

SAL-Agent

When a command arrives at the DPC, there are two places where processing occurs.

The data path processors are the port-level ASICs that handle the incoming I/O from the host and do the remapping to the back-end storage. In typical operations, 95%+ of I/O will be handled by the DPC’s. Whatever can’t be handled by the DPC’s is termed an exception. An exception might be a SCSI inquiry about the device, or an I/O for which the DPC doesn’t have mapping information. These exceptions are handled by the Control Path Cluster.

The CPC is also where the storage application actually runs. When the system starts up, the CPC loads the mapping tables for the virtual volumes into the DPC’s.




Invista Logical Topology

Virtual Targets

Virtual Initiators

Virtual Volumes

DPC Hosts

The logical view of Invista is displayed here.

Virtual Targets are abstract entities created by designating specific ports on the switch to be used as front-end ports. On each port designated as front-end, a Virtual Target is created that becomes visible in the NameServer on the switch. Each Virtual Target will have a unique World Wide Port Name (WWPN). Invista uses virtual targets to map Virtual Volumes to logical devices on the back-end arrays. Each Virtual Volume presented to a host is mapped to a logical device on a back-end array.

Virtual initiators are also abstract entities created when the intelligent switch is imported.




Layer 2 SAN(A/B Fabric)

High-Availability ConfigurationMirrored SAN– 2 separate SANs, dual-HBA hosts– Supports nondisruptive code

upgrade to virtualization components

– Provides HA for switch configurations through fault isolation

– Invista LUNs can be exposed on both fabrics

CPC uses 2 Control Path Nodes– Active/Active cluster– LUN ownership model follows CP

nodes

Multiple DPCs– Failover LUNs across DPCs– Support for switch upgrades

(hardware and firmware)

Storage Arrays

Hosts

InvistaCore

Layer 2 SAN(A/B Fabric)

CPC DPCDPC

In this illustration, each host has two HBA’s. Each HBA is cabled into a unique front-end layer two fabric. Each layer two fabric is cabled into a separate DPC. The DPC shares the same CPC for redundancy and the ability to share volume mapping in case a component of one of the paths is out of order. Each DPC is cabled into a layer 2 backend SAN, which is cabled into one port in the backend arrays.

In this example, only one CPC is needed because high availability is implemented within the CPC.




Invista Sharing an Existing SAN

L 2 SAN

Invista Instance

Fabric BFabric A

A

DPC A DPC B

Heterogeneous Storage Arrays

B C D E

F

The diagram shows how an Invista configuration may look when it is coexisting with a traditional SAN. DPC A and the fabric A switches are cabled together and are managed as one fabric. DPC B and fabric B are configured in the same manner.

In this scenario, a hosts C, D, and E are directly connected to the Invista environments. Hosts A and F are directly attached to the L2 SAN environment.

Host B has one connection to the Invista instance and another to the L2 SAN. Hosts may be connected in this manner for a number of reasons. One, they may not be taking part in the virtualized environment. Or maybe they are being prepared for volume migration to the virtualized environment.

Hosts A, C, D, E and F can be separated from Invista by zoning the HBA to the array port. By not zoning the HBA to a virtual target, it bypasses Invista. However, physical connectivity to the DPC is preserved in case the host is migrated in the future.




Invista Element Manager

In this example, the Storage tree folder has been expanded. Next, the underlying Storage Elements folder is expanded, and then the Imported folder. The tree view displays a list of all imported storage elements and the properties screen displays the properties of all imported storage elements.




Invista’s Advanced Software FunctionalityNetwork-based Volume Management

– Pool storage and manage volumes at the network level

Dynamic Volume Mobility – Move and change primary

volumes while application remains online

Heterogeneous Point-in-Time Copies

– Create local copies of data for testing and repurposing across multiple types of storage

Remote Replication– RecoverPoint & Invista

integration– Remote replication of Invista

volumes

The initial version of Invista includes the advanced software functionality best suited for storage virtualization.

They are network-based volume management, dynamic volume mobility, and heterogeneous point-in-time copies (clones). Each of these applications is controlled using Element Manager or the INVCLI command line.

Remote Replication is achieved by integrating Invista with EMC RecoverPoint.




Volume ManagementSimplify volume presentation and management– Create, delete and change

functionality– Provides front-end LUN masking

and mapping of storage volumes to the host

Centralized volume management and control– Element Manager provides single

interface for volume management

Reduce volume management complexity– Single interface to allocate and

reallocate storage resources

Virtual Volumes

Concatenated volume

Invista provides a robust volume management capability.

This slide shows how the storage elements from the backend arrays (shown in yellow, red, green, and blue) are created.

Several storage elements can be concatenated together to form a single virtual volume that can then be configured to the host. A concatenated volume is shown in the example.

A virtual volume can consist of the entire storage element, as in the case of the red virtual volume, or a virtual volume can be a smaller chunk of the storage element, as shown by the green virtual volume.

Use Element Manager to create, delete, and modify virtual volumes. Element Manager is also used to configure or un-configure virtual volumes to a host.

By using Element Manager, administrators have a one tool that can provide all the capabilities needed to manage the Invista instance.




Heterogeneous Point-in-Time Copies: CloningKey Features– Can clone a virtual volume to another

virtual volume of the same size across heterogeneous array types

– High performance data copy

Use Cases – Heterogeneous backup and recovery – Testing, development, training – Parallel processing, reporting, queries

Integrated management – Replication Manager– EMC Control Center– Microsoft VSS

This slide illustrates how a virtual volume (shown in blue), can be cloned to other virtual volumes of the same size. In this example, there are three clones shown in yellow, red, and green.

Invista permits users to create one or more full copies of a virtual volume. This functionality is performed by Invista, not hosts or arrays, and does not require host CPU cycles. Administrators can use Element Manager console or the Invista CLI to control cloning operations.

Active clones are managed as a “Clone Group”, which consists of a source volume and one or more clone volumes. Clones can be built on volumes that span heterogeneous arrays. Invista cloning has the requirement that the source and clone volumes must be the same size.

Clones created with Invista can be used for backups, restoring data, testing, report creation, etc.




Dynamic Volume MobilityKey Features– Non disruptive high speed movement of

data across homogeneous arrays

Use Cases – Reduce planned application downtime

Roll out application to productionMove legacy applications to lower tiers of storage

– Reduce migration costs Perform lease roll-overs or technology

refreshes faster– Increase ability to meet service levels

Match storage AND host capacity to application performance requirementsIntegral component to Information LifecycleManagement

With Invista, data mobility refers to the high speed non-disruptive movement of data from one virtual volume to another virtual volume. The source and destination arrays must be available to Invista. The move is transparent to the host. There is no requirement to reboot or take other action due to the migration. The host “sees” the same virtual volume before and after the data has been moved, regardless of the storage array containing the data. In this example, the data on the green volume is being moved to the blue volume.

Data mobility is a valuable tool for any situation in which the customer needs to move data without impacting the application. For example, it is useful when the lease expires on a storage array and the data must be retained. In this case, the data can be moved to the new array while the application is running.





Storage virtualization concepts

Invista design and benefits

Major hardware components of Invista

Invista:– Management interfaces– Services (functionality)– Theory of operations– Configuration strategies

These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.




RecoverPointUpon completion of this module, you will be able to:

Identify key features of a RecoverPoint solution

Discuss the logical and physical components of the RecoverPoint solution

Describe the architecture of RecoverPoint for CRR and CDP implementations

Discuss the methods of write splitting used by RecoverPoint





EMC RecoverPointA single, unified solution for all storage arrays

Recover data at a local or remote site to any point in time

Simplified management and reduces cost across your data center

Continuous replication to a remote site without impacting performance and retaining write-order fidelity

Applicationservers

Databaseservers

Messagingservers

File andprint servers

Disk Subsystems

RecoverPointAppliance

TapeLibrary

Local CDP Journals

SAN

The EMC RecoverPoint data protection solution is a comprehensive solution for your entire data center, providing local continuous data protection (CDP) and continuous remote replication (CRR).

RecoverPoint is a single, unified solution to protect and/or replicate data from all your current and future storage arrays. It allows you to recover data at a local or remote site to any point-in-time. It simplifies management, reduces cost across the data center, and ensures continuous replication to a remote site without impacting performance and retaining write-order fidelity.




The RecoverPoint SolutionRecoverPoint is a network-based platform that is outside the primary data path, providing enterprise class performance, scalability and availability

Storage Array Storage Array

Oracle dB Exchange SQL

Source Site

Journal Volume

RecoverpointAppliance

Key: FCIP

Local Recovery

(CDP)

Host/Fabric Write Splitter

Storage Array

Remote Site

JournalVolume


Storage Array

Remote Recovery

CRR

I/O Bookmarking

Target Side Processing

RecoverpointAppliance

The RecoverPoint solution provides heterogeneous, bi-directional, and asynchronous replication across an IP WAN infrastructure. This allows it to be placed into existing or new environments constrained by long distances, high latency, or low bandwidth requirements.

Additionally, it significantly reduces infrastructure operational costs because dedicated bandwidth, expensive Fibre Channel extension gear, and multiple complex solutions for different heterogeneous arrays are no longer absolutely required. Moreover, RecoverPoint provides recovery capabilities at the local or remote site and between different array models and or types.




Data-Replication ChallengesHeterogeneous Environments

Application-consistent recovery

Corruption protection

Application response time

Heterogeneousstorage

Existinginfrastructure

Disaster-recovery testingCommunications

cost

Local site

SANSAN

Oracle Exchange SQLRemote site

SAN

Oracle Exchange SQL

RecoverPoint tackles the challenges noted in this slide with the following features:Integration with existing (heterogeneous) storage arrays, switches, and server environments - no “rip and replace”.Intelligent use of bandwidth and data compression.A policy-driven engine that supports multiple applications with different data-protection requirements.True bi-directional local and remote support, enabling flexible protection and recovery schemes that can be tailored to business processes.




RecoverPoint Bandwidth Reduction TechnologyDelta Differentials

– Maintains write-order fidelity– Tracks and transmits only the changed bytes

Hot Spot Identification– Checks for multiple writes to the same address– Transfers the most recent write only for each block

Algorithmic Compression– EMC RecoverPoint’s advanced compression techniques– Application specific I/O tracking

RecoverPoint offers three types of bandwidth reduction features that offer significant reduction in the WAN bandwidth used across the network. One is Delta Differentials, which only send the changed data across the WAN. The next is Hot Spot identification, which only sends the last write for each block across the WAN. Another is Compression, which takes the reduced data and compresses it before sending across the WAN. The RPA at the remote site then performs the de-compression of the data.




RecoverPoint Family of ProductsRecoverPoint– Integrated replication and data protection solution – Host-based or Fabric-based splitter– Heterogeneous server and storage support

RecoverPoint/SE– Replication or data protection solution for Windows– Host-based Splitter– Support for CLARiiON Arrays only– Can be upgraded to RecoverPoint w/o data loss

RecoverPoint is an out-of-band, block level replication product for a heterogeneous server and storage environment.

RecoverPoint CDP (Continuous Data Protection) provides local synchronous replication between LUNs that reside in one or more arrays at the same site.

RecoverPoint CRR (Continuous Remote Replication) provides remote asynchronous replication between two sites for LUNs that reside in one or more arrays. RecoverPoint CDP and RecoverPoint CRR feature bi-directional replication and an any-point-in-time recovery capability which allows the target LUNs to be rolled-back to a previous point-in-time and used for read/write operations, without effecting the ongoing replication or data protection.

RecoverPoint/SE is a version of RecoverPoint targeted for the Windows-based, CLARiiON-only environments. RecoverPoint/SE CDP supports the local synchronous replication of up to 4TB of data between LUNs that reside inside the same CLARiiON array. RecoverPoint/SE CRR supports the remote asynchronous replication of up to 4TB of data between LUNs that reside in ONE CLARiiON array at one site to ONE CLARiiON array that resides at the other site.




EMC RecoverPoint CDP OverviewContinuous Data Protection

Event Based Recovery

Space-efficient protection



Local Site

Local CDP Journal

RecoverPoint Appliance

RecoverPoint Continuous Data Protection is a licensable solution that provides true CDP with real time data recovery at the local site. It provides the same level of recovery as Continuous Remote Replication - just to a local site.




RecoverPoint Local-Protection Process (CDP)

1. Data is “split” and sent to the RecoverPoint appliance in one of two ways

4. The appliance writes data to the Journal volume, along with timestamp and application-specific bookmarks

5. Write-order-consistent data is distributed to the replica volumes

Production volumes Replica volumes Journal volume

/ A / C/ B r A r Cr B

2a. Host splitter

3. Writes are acknowledged back from the RecoverPoint appliance

2b. Cisco SANTap fabric splitter

This slide describes the data flow from the application host to the production volumes, and how the RecoverPoint appliance accesses the data as part of the CDP process.

An application server issues a write to a LUN that is being protected by RecoverPoint. This write is “split,” then sent to the RecoverPoint appliance in one of two ways. One is through a host splitter, which is installed as a driver on the host. The splitter looks at the destination for the write packet. If it is to a LUN that RecoverPoint is protecting, the splitter will send a copy of the write packet to the RecoverPoint appliance.

The other is through an intelligent fabric switch, such as the Connectrix MDS 9000 with the SSM module running SANTap. The switch will intercept all writes to LUNs being protected by RecoverPoint, and will send a copy of that write to the RecoverPoint appliance.

In either case, the original write travels though its normal path to the production LUN. When the copy of the write is received by the RecoverPoint appliance it is acknowledged back. This acknowledgement is received by the splitter where it is held until the acknowledgement is received back from the production LUN. Once both acknowledgement are received, the acknowledgement is sent back to the host, and I/O continues normally.

Once the appliance has acknowledged the write, it will move the data into the local journal volume, along with a timestamp and any application-, event-, or user-generated bookmarks for the write. Once the data is safely in the journal, it is then distributed to the target volumes, with care taken to ensure that write order is preserved during this distribution.




EMC RecoverPoint CRR OverviewContinuous Remote Replication

– Bi-directional replication across any distance– Application bookmarks for consistent

recovery

WAN Bandwidth Reduction/Compression– Delivers up to 15X bandwidth reduction– Dramatic operational cost savings



Local Site

Local Journal

Appliance

Key: FCIP

Appliance

Storage Array

Remote Site

Remote Journal


Storage Array

Instant Recovery at Remote Site – Small aperture snapshots with fine resolution– Application bookmarks ensure consistent recovery

Target Side Processing– Immediate access to data at any time– Very effective tool for DR, R&D, and QA testing

RecoverPoint Continuous Remote Replication provides heterogeneous bi-directional replication across an IP WAN infrastructure.

It provides WAN Reduction and Compression, which can reduce the amount of bandwidth used by anywhere from 3 to 15 times.

RecoverPoint is the only solution to provide recovery capabilities at the remote site. It uses a small aperture snapshot and the remote Journal to capture application events, and provides consistent recovery at the remote site.

RecoverPoint Continuous Remote Replication allows the use of Target Side Processing. Target Side Processing is a feature that enables immediate access to the replicated volume to any point-in-time. The remote volume can be mounted to any host at the remote site for qualification, testing or remote recovery.




RecoverPoint Remote-Protection Process (CRR)

Local site

/ A / C/ B

2a. Host splitter

2b. Cisco SANTap

7. Data is written to the Journal volume

Remote site Journal volume

r A r Cr B

3. Writes are acknowledged back from the RecoverPoint appliance

5. Data is sequenced, checksummed, compressed, and replicated to the remote RPAs over IP (either asynchronous, or synchronous and bi-directional)

4. Appliance functions• FC-IP

conversion• Replication• Data Reduction & compression • Monitoring and

management

1. Data is “split” and sent to the RecoverPoint appliance in one of two ways

6. Data is received, uncompressed, sequenced, and checksummed

8. Consistent data is distributed to the remote volumes

This slide describes the data flow from the application host to the production volumes, and how the RecoverPoint appliance accesses the data as part of the CRR process.

An application server issues a write to a LUN that is being protected by RecoverPoint. This write is “split,” then sent to the RecoverPoint appliance exactly the same as is done in a CDP deployment. From this point, the original write travels though its normal path to the production LUN. When the copy of the write is received by the RecoverPoint appliance, it is immediately acknowledged back from the local RecoverPoint appliance, unless synchronous remote replication is in effect. If synchronous replication is in effect, the acknowledgement is delayed until the write has been received at the remote site. Once the acknowledgement is issued, it is processed by the splitter, where it is held until the acknowledgement is received back from the production LUN. Once both acknowledgements are received, it is sent back to the host, and I/O continues normally.

Once the appliance receives the write, it will bundle this write up with others into a package. Redundant blocks are eliminated from the package, and the remaining writes are sequenced and stored with their corresponding timestamp and bookmark information. The package is then compressed, and an checksum is generated for the package.

The package is then scheduled for delivery across the IP network to the remote appliance. Once the package is received there, the remote appliance verifies the checksum to ensure the package was not corrupted in the transmission. The data is then uncompressed and written to the journal volume. Once the data has been written to the journal volume, it is distributed to the remote volumes, ensuring that write-order sequence is preserved.




Host-based Write SplittingRequires RecoverPoint Splitter Driver– Sits before SCSI and Multi-pathing

drivers

Application write goes to host’s designated storage volume

RPSD splits application write, directs to the RPA

Minimal footprint on host

Support Varies per Operating System– Check the Support Matrix

RPA

RPSD

Writes split at host

Splitters are components that split each application write, and send a copy to the Appliance.

Host-based splitters require the RecoverPoint Splitter Driver (RPSD) to be installed on the host. This driver performs the actual I/O splitting from the host, and sends one copy to the RPA and one to the host’s normal storage volume.

The RPSD can be managed with a utility program, which provides functionality such as Umount, mount, Quiesce, and host log data gathering.




SANTap Intelligent Write Splitting

RecoverPoint leverages SANTap services– Part of the Connectrix MDS Storage Services Module

Out-of-band architecture– SANTap redirects I/O – Eliminates need for host splitter

Virtual SAN configurations

Initiators

Target

Initiator target I/O

SAN Copy ofprimary

I/O

Appliance

Not inprimary

data path

Initiator’s VSAN(SANTap)

SANTap

Targets andRecoverPoint VSAN

RecoverPoint supports the Connectrix MDS Storage Services Module (SSM), which is a blade that exists in the MDS-9000 series of intelligent fabric switches. The SSM provides a SANTap service that can be used to intercept and redirect a copy of a write between a given initiator and target.

RecoverPoint uses the SANTap services to eliminate the need for a host splitter on each application server. SANTap monitors the writes to specific LUN targets, and sends a copy of the write to the RecoverPoint appliance for further CDP or CRR processing.




Replication ConceptsReplication Pairs– Contains a replication volume at each site– Associate which replication volumes will replicate between each

other

Consistency Group– Contains all replication pairs used by an application– Replication type (CDP/CRR)– Contains replication policy information

Journal Volume– Tracks data changes, time ordering, and block location– Keeps bookmarks for recovery– Repository for live data updates

A replication pair contains two replication volumes, source and target, that will have data replicated between them. Since a consistency group can maintain consistency of data across multiple volumes, multiple replication pairs can be created to form a single consistency group.

A consistency group requires a minimum of one replication pair per consistency group. Consistency and write order fidelity is maintained across all replication pairs contained in the same consistency group. The consistency group also contains at least one Journal volume on each site to hold consistent point-in-time images for the specific consistency group. All policy information, such as RPO and RTO, is associated with a specific consistency group, allowing for multiple policies to be maintained in the replication environment. Each group also contains the ability to compress the data for a single consistency group beyond the intuitive compression already present in the solution. It also allows for specific bandwidth to be allocated for the consistency group.




Consistency Group Structure

Site 1 CG1 Site 2 CG1

R1

R2

R3 R3’

R2’

R1’

H

ConsistencyGroup

jvol Replication Pair

Replication Pair

Replication Pair

jvol

A Consistency Group is a logical grouping of replication pairs that must be consistent across each other. The need for consistency across these volumes could be due to the volumes being used by the same application. A Consistency Group has at least 1 replication pair, and each site has a Journal volume.

A Consistency Group is also used to determine replication direction and policies on a set of replication volumes. Each consistency group is an independent entity and can have different replication direction and policies than other consistency groups. This allows for synchronous and asynchronous replication, as well as bi-directional replication, to exist in the same environment.




RecoverPoint GUI Management Console

The Management Console is accessible via an Internet browser from a computer that is connected to the appliance management network (the latest Java plug-in is required). To manage a RecoverPoint cluster, open an Internet browser and connect to the RecoverPoint Appliance Management IP address for one of the sites. All configuration and monitoring of the replication environment can be performed through the Management Console.

The system status section provides a basic visual representation of the environment. It groups each part of the replication into “types” instead of displaying each individual component. Each site contains a Host, Switch, Storage and RecoverPoint Appliances. The appliances provide pro-active monitoring of all major connectivity in the replication environment. If an error occurs or connectivity is lost to a specific component, a visual alert indicator is displayed on the representation and the status of the component type on the right of the system status portion displays “Error”.




Journaling for Application-aware RecoveryTime/date– Identifies time image was

saved

Size – Identifies size of image for

recovery

Bookmarks:– System-generated group

bookmarks (e.g. SAP, MSFT Backup…)

– User-generated bookmarks– System-event-generated

bookmarks

Application-specific annotations

Journal Includes Data plus User, System or Application Metadata

The RecoverPoint journal stores all changes to all LUNs in a Consistency Group. It also stores metadata that allows an Administrator to quickly identify the correct image to be used for recovery.

This screenshot is an example of Application Bookmarks, which is a journal window for a remotely replicated Oracle instance that show tagged events and application-based information. The Time/Date and Size are attributes of the saved data. For a value to be in the Bookmark field, a RecoverPoint CLI script must issue a command with a bookmark parameter specified.

The application column is used today only when RecoverPoint decodes the data stream to identify application.

The Journal provides time-stamped recovery points with application-consistent bookmarks. It also correlates system-wide events with potential corruption events. This is very useful when performing root-cause analysis. These application and system bookmarks are automatic, but users can also enter their own.




Module Summary Key points covered in this module:

The EMC RecoverPoint data protection solution provides local continuous data protection (CDP) and continuous remote replication (CRR)

RecoverPoint provides heterogeneous server and storage support

RecoverPoint CRR provides remote asynchronous replication between two sites for LUNs that reside in one or more arrays

These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them




Course SummaryKey points covered in this course:

Virtual Infrastructures

VMWare product differences

Concepts and benefits of Storage Virtualization

Benefits, features, and advantages of an Invista Solution

File Level Virtualization basic concepts

Rainfinity features, functions and benefits

Key features of a RecoverPoint solution

These are the key points covered in this training. Please take a moment to review them.

This concludes the training.

Documents

STF-6 Storage Virtualizations.pdf