Virtual San: the "New" Storage Meme for Server Environment

Virtual SAN:The “New” Storage Meme for Virtual Server Environments

Starwind Software’s Complementary TechnologyFor Realizing the Virtual SAN Vision

Welcome and Introduction

• Software-defined storage (SDS) architectures has different meanings, depending on who you ask

• But, most views are beginning coalesce around three “centers of gravity”…

HypervisorDedicated

HypervisorAgnostic

VirtualizedServices

VirtualizedServices & Capacity

VMware Virtual SAN: The Latest in a Line of Storage Experiments

• 2010: vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) introduced in vSphere 4 – 9 non-standard primitives enabling unapproved SCSI commands to offload storage chores from inefficient ESX servers

• 2011: “Enhanced” and Reissued in vSphere 5, expanding support for thin provisioning and NAS

• 2011: VMware vSphere Storage Appliance – neither a SAN nor NAS, but a repository for VMDK

• 2014: Virtual SAN

VirtualServers

NAS/iSCSI

FC/SASSANs

More Than Just a Semantic Debate

• VMware argues that the Virtual SAN should be an part of a uniform hypervisor software stack to ensure tightly integrated control and dependable interoperability of storage resources in a minimum 3-node cluster

DAS DASDAS

Virtual SAN Virtual SAN Virtual SAN

Direct AttachedStorage



NO

DES

• Dependency on a single vendor

• High cost and lack of alternatives

• Not necessarily best of breed

• May not fit reality of data center

Hypervisor-Dedicated Virtual SAN:A Two-Edged Sword

Strengths Weaknesses

• Coherent management

• Simplified resource/service allocation

• Greater efficiency in mirroring and replication

• Greater availability and fault tolerance

Micro Issues Also Important

• What storage elements are supported?

• What interconnects are supported?

• Does the solution use storage resources efficiently?

• Does the solution feature all of the services that my workload needs?

• How readily can I monitor status and performance?

• Is cost of ownership in line with budget?

Important to Read Between The Lines

DAS DASDAS





NO

DES

What About Hypervisor-Agnostic SDS?

DAS DASDAS




NO

DES

HypervisorAgnostic

DAS DASDAS





NO

DES

Storage as an Application, Not a Hypervisor Function

DAS DASDAS




NO

DES

HypervisorAgnostic

Credit Where Due

• Hypervisor-agnostic “storage as an application” architecture actually dates back to 2009

• StarWind Software has bragging rights…

At a Macro Level

VMware

• Single hypervisor support

• Creates storage environment only for VMware data

• Expensive to deploy: unfriendly to smaller users, ROBOs

• Optimized for disk storage

StarWind SW

• Support for multiple hypervisors

• Creates block and file storage environment that can be shared between different hypervisors

• Significantly lower cost

• Flash-friendly

At a Micro Level

• StarWind Virtual SAN enables hardware diversity– SAS and SATA disk may be used

– PCIe and NVM flash devices can be used

• StarWind uses flash more efficiently

• StarWind offers robust data reduction functionality

Management Remains Key

• How difficult is the architecture to deploy?

• How difficult is the architecture to scale?

• How is it monitored for status and health?

• How difficult is it to troubleshoot?

Without Further Ado..

• Let’s talk to the folks who invented the Virtual SAN

– Get the fine points of the StarWind approach

– Explore the way that StarWind integrates with the hypervisor stack

– Learn why it is better to be “complementary” than competitive with the leading hypervisor vendor…

Let’s Talk to StarWind Software

Jon ToigoManaging Partner

Toigo Partners InternationalChairman, Data Management Institute

Max KolomyeytsevProduct Manager

StarWind Software

StarWind Software Background

• Founded: 2003

• Users: 30,000+, including Fortune 500

• Headquarters: Wakefield, MA, USA

• Office Locations: 2 - North America and Europe

• Channel Partners: 270+

• Technology Partners: Microsoft, VMware, HP, IBM, Dell

StarWind Software Virtual SAN

StarWind Software Virtual SAN

• We compliment VMware Server Virtualization₋ vSphere Virtual SAN requires three hosts; we require only two₋ vSphere Virtual SAN needs Flash storage and switches; we work fine with

disk and direct cabling₋ Better fit for small footprint virtualization

Complimentary not Competitive

• High speed RAM caching

• In-Line data and cache deduplication

• Data log structuring

Additional capabilities

• Acting as a gateway for existing storage arrays

• Replicating between different vendor hardware

Data Management?

Cost Comparison• Not just about acquisition price

– Configuration potentially less expensive

• We support different components

• Less restrictive, might be able to repurpose gear you already own

– We use flash more efficiently, preserving life

– Efficient scaling and management

Money matters whenIT budgets are beingsqueezed to the bone.

Q&A

Jon ToigoManaging Partner

Toigo Partners InternationalChairman, Data Management Institute

Max KolomyeytsevProduct Manager

StarWind Software

Thank you• Download

– StarWind Virtual SAN 30-Day Trial here:

– www.starwind.com/starwind-virtual-san/

• Contact us– Headquarters: 301 Edgewater Place, Wakefield, MA

01880

– USA/Canada: 1-617-449-7717

– EMEA and Asia: +44-207-193-67-27

– [email protected]

– [email protected]