View
221
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 1/23
LabValidationReportIBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression
Efficient,Reliable,andEasy-to-useStorageVirtualization
ByVinnyChoinski,SeniorLabAnalystandKerryDolan,LabAnalyst
June2013
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 2/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression2
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................3
Background..............................................................................................................................................................3
IBMSystemStorageSANVolumeController...........................................................................................................4
ESGLabValidation......................................................................................................................................6
GettingStarted........................................................................................................................................................6 Efficiency..................................................................................................................................................................9 Performance..........................................................................................................................................................11 Agility.....................................................................................................................................................................14 Availability..............................................................................................................................................................17
ESGLabValidationHighlights...................................................................................................................20
IssuestoConsider.....................................................................................................................................20
TheBiggerTruth.......................................................................................................................................21
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................22
Alltrademarknamesarepropertyoftheirrespectivecompanies.InformationcontainedinthispublicationhasbeenobtainedbysourcesTheEnterprise
StrategyGroup(ESG)considerstobereliablebutisnotwarrantedbyESG.ThispublicationmaycontainopinionsofESG,whicharesubjecttochangefrom
timetotime.ThispublicationiscopyrightedbyTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.Anyreproductionorredistributionofthispublication,inwholeorin
part,whetherin hard-copyformat,electronically,orotherwiseto personsnot authorizedto receiveit,withoutthe expressconsentof TheEnterprise
StrategyGroup,Inc.,isinviolationofU.S.copyrightlawandwillbesubjecttoanactionforcivildamagesand,ifapplicable,criminalprosecution.Should
youhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactESGClientRelationsat508.482.0188.
ESGLabReports
ThegoalofESGLabreportsistoeducateITprofessionalsaboutdatacentertechnologyproductsfor
companiesofalltypesandsizes.ESGLabreportsarenotmeanttoreplacetheevaluationprocessthatshouldbeconductedbeforemakingpurchasingdecisions,butrathertoprovideinsightintotheseemerging
technologies.Ourobjectiveistogooversomeofthemorevaluablefeature/functionsofproducts,showhow
theycanbeusedtosolverealcustomerproblemsandidentifyanyareasneedingimprovement.ESGLab's
expertthird-partyperspectiveisbasedonourownhands-ontestingaswellasoninterviewswithcustomers
whousetheseproductsinproductionenvironments.ThisESGLabreportwassponsoredbyIBM.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 3/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression3
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Introduction
ThisESGLabValidationisanupdatetoa2008reportonIBMSANVolumeController(SVC),andincludesnew
testingtohighlighttheefficiencyofIBMReal-timeCompression(RTC)andeaseofmanagementwiththenew
graphicaluserinterface(GUI).Additionaltopicsincludeperformance,agility,andhighavailability.
Background
ESGaskedrespondentstoarecentresearchsurveywhattheirmostcommonreasonsforaddingnewstorage
systemswere.Thereasonmostoftencited(by25%ofrespondents)wastheneedforadditionalcapacitywithan
inabilitytoexpandexistingsystems.Othertopreasonsincludedadesiretorefreshtechnology(18%),theneedfor
improvedI/Operformance(11%),andconsolidationofexistingstoragedevices(11%).1
Figure1.MostCommonReasonsforPurchasingandDeployingNewStorageSystems
Source:EnterpriseStrategyGroup,2013.
Whatliesbehindthesemotivations?Theongoinggrowthofdatastorageisakeyfactor.Theabilitytoquickly
launchnewvirtualserversisonecauseofdatagrowth,alongwithbusiness-drivingapplicationsthatgenerate
mountainsofdata.Atthesametime,mobiledevicesareusedtobothcreateandconsumedatacontinuouslyand
everywebactivityortransactiongeneratesdatathatwilllikelybecopiedmultipletimesforanalysis.Additional
pressurecomesfromongoingescalationofend-userperformancedemands,astheeaseandspeedofspinningup
VMsmakesitseemlikeITcandeliveranyserviceinstantly.Finally,ITorganizationsarefacedwithdelivering
servicesquicklybutalsoefficiently,asbudgetsremainconstrained.
Storagevirtualizationcansolvemanyofthesechallengeswhilekeepingcoststoaminimum.Deployingvirtualized
poolsofconsolidatedstoragecapacitycanenablesimplermanagement,betterstorageutilization,andreduced
equipmentandoperationalcosts.Heterogeneousstoragedevicesfrommultiplevendorscanbemanagedand
provisionedtogether,andautomatedtieringcanmovedatabetweenstoragetierstooptimizefastdisksuchas
1Source:ESGResearchReport,2012StorageMarketSurvey ,November2012.
Needaddional
capacityandwecan’t
expandexisng
system(s),25%
Technologyrefresh,18%
NeedimprovedI/O
performance,11%
Consolidaonof
exisngstorage
devices,11%
Needimproved
reliability,9%
Supportanew
applicaon/workload,
9%
Needimproved
throughput
performance,8%
Needimproved
availability,4%
Needaddionalfeature/funconality,
4% Don’tknow,1%
Ingeneral,whenyourorganizaonpurchasesanddeploysnewstoragesystems,what
wouldyousayisthemostcommonreasonwhyyouhaveaddedthosenewsystems?
(Percentofrespondents,N=418)
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 4/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression4
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
solid-statedisk(SSD)whilestreamliningcosts.Storagevirtualizationcanimproveefficiency,ensureagility,andstill
deliverhighperformancealongwithafullrangeofdataserviceslikeinstantcopies,easymigration,andreplication.
Itisnotablethatearlyadoptersofintelligentstoragenetworksolutionssuchasstoragevirtualizationreported
achievingsavingsaboveandbeyondwhatwasexpected .AsFigure2shows,reclaimingandreusingexistingstorage
generatedthemostsignificantsavings(afterall,thestorageyoualreadyownissurelytheleastexpensive),but
softwareandadministrativesavingsalsoexceededexpectations.2
Figure2.StorageVirtualizationEarlyAdopterSavings
IBMSystemStorageSANVolumeController
IBM’sSANVolumeControllerisanintegratedhardwareandsoftwaresolutionthatprovidesasinglepointofmanagementforheterogeneousstorageresourcesfromIBMandothervendors.ByvirtualizingstoragebehindSVC
controllers,ITcanmakeoptimaluseofstorageresourcesforefficiencyandflexibility,whileinsulatinghostsand
applicationsfromdisruptionduringstoragetasks.
RedundantpairsofSVCcontrollersformanI/Ogroupandaredeployedforhighavailability.BasedontheIBM
Systemxservertechnology,SVCcontrollersincludesix-coreXeonprocessors,24GBofcache,portsfor8GbpsFibre
Channel,1and10GbpsiSCSI,and(optionally)10GbpsiSCSI/FCoE.Performanceandbandwidthcanbeincreasedby
addingI/Ogroupstothecluster.ClusterscanscaletosupportfourI/Ogroupsandupto4,096hostservers,8,192
volumes,and32PBofvirtualizedstoragecapacity.
SVCincludesnumerousadvancedfeaturesthatdeliverefficient,flexibledataservices.Theseinclude:
• Real-timeCompression .IBMReal-timeCompressionenablesmoreeffectivestoragecapacityofupto5Xbycompressingactive,primarydata;savingonfloorspace,power,andcooling;andminimizinghardware
costs.
• Next-generationGUI .IBM’snewandwell-receivedstorageGUInowcoversXIV,StorwizeV7000,Storwize
V7000Unified,andSVCimplementations,providingaconsistentinterfaceforconfigurationand
management,evenforvirtualizedstorage.Plug-instoMSSystemCenterOperationsManagerandVMware
vCenterensureefficientmanagementintheseenvironments.
2Source:ESGResearchReport,TheFutureofNetwork-basedStorageIntelligence ,September2004.
11%
9%
13%
24%
16%
19%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
HardwareSavings SowareSavings AdminSavings
GeneralMarketExpectedSavings EarlyAdopterActualSavings
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 5/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression5
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
• Flashsolid-statedisksupport.SVCsupportsupto12.8TBofFlashpercontrollersystem,andFlashin
virtualizeddisksystems.Thetightintegrationenablesnon-disruptivedatamovement,replication,and
consolidatedmanagementofFlashcapacity.
• Automatedtiering.IBMSystemStorageEasyTierautomaticallyidentifieshighlyactivedataandmovesitto
Flash(orotherdisk)tomaximizeperformance.
• Thinprovisioning.Thisfeatureenablesautomatedprovisioningforgreaterproductivityandminimal
disruption.• Dynamicdatamigration.SVCenablesnon-disruptivedatamovementbetweenstoragesystemswhile
maintainingdataaccess.
• Replication.SVC’sadvancedreplicationservicesoperateconsistentlyregardlessofstoragetype,eliminating
thelike-to-likeboxlimitationoftraditionalarrays.SVCalsosupportsIBMFlashCopyoperations,enabling
almostinstantcopiesofactivedataforbackup,testanddev,andparallelprocessing.
• Mirroring.Synchronousmetromirroringandasynchronousglobalmirroringensureapplicationavailability
incaseofafailureordisruption;SVCautomaticallyusestheavailablecopyforproductionoperations.
ThesefunctionsspeedDRwithVMwarevCenterSiteRecoveryManager.
SVCstoragevirtualizationcomplementsservervirtualization,ensuringthatstorageserviceskeepupwiththe
advancedfunctionalityofserverVMs.SVCsupportforautomatedprovisioning,vMotion,VMwarevStorageAPIs,
andreplicationtodissimilarremoteinfrastructuresensurethattheflexibility,mobility,andcostsavingbenefitsofservervirtualizationareduplicatedonthestorageside.Thesefeaturesalsoprovidethehighlyavailable
infrastructuresrequiredforclouddeployments.
Figure3providesanoverviewofSVCfunctionality.TheleftsideshowsSVC’swiderangeofsupportedvirtualand
physicalhosts,includingWindows,Linux,AIX,andvirtualservers.InthemiddleisapairofSVCengines,providing
redundancyforhighavailability,whichiscentrallymanagedusingtheIBMstorageGUI.UsingtheSAN,theseSVC
enginesconnecthoststovirtualizedpoolsofstoragefromIBM,otherhigh-endstoragevendors,andcommodity
storage.SVCenablesevencommoditystoragetoinheritadvancedfunctionalityforhigh-enddataservices.
Figure3.IBMSANVolumeController
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 6/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression6
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
ESGLabValidation
ESGLabperformedhands-onevaluationandtestingoftheIBMSANVolumeControllerwithReal-timeCompression
solutionatanIBMfacilityinGaithersburg,Maryland,andconductedaremotetestingsessionwiththeRTC
developmentteambasedinIsrael.TestingwasdesignedtodemonstratehowRTCimprovesSVCstorageefficiency
byusingcompressiononalargerangeofactivedatasets,andtheease-of-useimprovementsbroughttothe
solutionbythenewGUImodeledonIBMXIVstoragesystem.Alsoofinterestwasareviewofthestrong
virtualizationandavailabilityfeaturesinherentinthesolution.
GettingStarted
ThissectionexploreshowthenewuserinterfaceimproveseaseofmanagementandconfigurationoftheSVC
storagesolution.Itfocusesonintuitiveworkflowvisualsandeasy-to-navigatewizardsavailableintheinterfacethat
simplifystoragevirtualizationadministration.
ESGLabTesting
ESGLabbeganitsvalidationtestingbylaunchingandnavigatingthenewSVCgraphicaluserinterface.Asshownin
Figure4,theLabselectedtheoverviewpagefromtheinterfacetodisplayaneasy-to-followviewofthe
provisioningworkflowfromthearraytothehost.Theoverviewpagealsoprovidesanat-a-glancesummaryofthecurrentconfigurationofthesolution.
Figure4.NewSVCGraphicalUserInterface
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 7/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression7
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Next,theLabusedthepoolconfigurationwizardwithintheuserinterfacetocreateapoolofdiskonwhichvolumes
wouldsubsequentlybeconfigured.AsshowninFigure5,thecreatepool wizardallowsdifferentbuilt-iniconstobe
selectedtovisuallyrepresentthepool.Onceapooliscreatedthisway,theiconwillbeusedtorepresentthatpool
inotherviewsthroughouttheinterface,makingiteasytoidentifypoolsbystorageattributes.
Figure5.CreateSSDPoolWizard
Inthiscase,theLabchosetocreateasolid-statediskpoolcall ESG_LAB_POOLwiththebuilt-iniconthatrepresents
SSDdevices.Thisiconselectionallowstheadministratortoquicklyunderstandtheattributes(e.g.,SSDvs.HDD)of
thepoolwhenselectingitasatargetforcreatinganewvolume.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 8/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression8
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Finally,ESGLabselectedtheactualMDiskforthepoolcreationfromalistofavailabledevices.AsshowninFigure6,
theLabselectedfour200GBdevicesfromtheIBMFlashSystem810storagedevices.Thisstepisoptional,as
selectioncanbedoneautomaticallybytheconfigurationwizard.Providingthisstepgivestheadministratorthe
abilitytomoregranularlydefinethesizeandattributesofastoragepool.
Figure6.MDiskSelectionOption
WhyThisMatters
Server virtualization and continuously growing data volumes present numerous challenges, among them the
difficultyinmonitoringandmanagementacrossacomplexandheterogeneousinfrastructure.Withoutanend-to-
end view, it is difficult to properly manage and provision resources to ensure optimal data services while
minimizingcosts.
ESGLabhasevaluatedtheIBMstorageGUIonseveraloccasions,fortheXIV,V7000,andnowSVCplatforms.The
Lab continues to be impressed with its clarity and simplicity. The interface makes it easy to understand the
topologyandrelationships andmakes themanagementofadvancedfunctions intuitive andfast. Theworkflow
offersaclearviewofcomponentsthatcanbeconfiguredandmanagedwithjustamouseclick,whichESGLab
discoveredwhilecreatingpoolsandvolumesofvariouscomponents.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 9/23
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 10/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression10
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Figure8.VMwarevSpherewithIBMStorageTabView
Table1.CompressionSavingsDetails
DataType
Volume
Capacity
UsedSpace
Non-Compressed
UsedSpace
Compressed
Compression
Savings
LinuxOracle 1TB 1TB 173GB 82%
VMwareWindowsVM 100GB 13.6GB 6.4GB 52.8%
WindowsPhysical 100GB 14GB 7.2GB 48.8%
WhattheNumbersMean
• Compressionsavingsrangedfrom48.8%to82%dependingonthedatatype.
• OracledataonLinuxachievedthegreatestcapacitysavingsat82%.
WhyThisMatters
Ever-expandingdatavolumesdriveupthecostsofstorage,datamanagement,backup,andarchiving.Theseinturn
driveup the costsof data center operations, floor space, power, and cooling. Any opportunity to reduce the
amountofstoreddataisachancetosavemoney,streamlineoperations,andincreaseagility.Therearenumerous
solutionsdesignedtoreducedatavolumesduringthebackupprocess,buttheseoffernohelptothechallengesof
growingproductionstorage.
SVCcomesequippedwith IBMReal-timeCompression,a datareductiontechnologydesignedforusewithactive
primarydata,suchase-mailanddatabases.Dataiscompressedduringthewriteprocess,eliminatingtheextra
storageneededbypost-process data reduction solutions. ESGLab validated theease of creating a compressed
volumebyselectingapreseticon,whichhasbeenaddedasanoptiontoothervolumepresets,andpresentedthat
volumeto varioushosts.ESGLabvalidatedReal-timeCompressionsavingsof 48.8%to82%forLinux,Windows,
andVMwarevolumes.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 11/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression11
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Performance
TheperformancesectionofthisreportfocusesonhowusingRTCwithanactivedatasetimpactsoverallapplication
performance.Here,ESGLabreviewedperformancemetricsofanOLTPworkloadrunningonanOracledatabase
withandwithoutRTCenabledforthedatabasevolumes.TheLabalsoconfirmedthecapacitysavingsachievedby
enablingRTCforthesameOracledatabasevolumes.
ESGLabTesting
ESGLabbeganperformancetestingbyvalidatingthestorageconfigurationoftheOracle11gdatabasevolumes.As
showninFigure9,four1TBvolumeswerecreatedtosupporttwosimilardatabaseinstances.Twoofthevolumes
werecompressedandtwovolumeswerenot.Figure9showsthatthecompressedvolumesreducedtheamountof
usedspaceconsumedbythedatabasefrom1TBtoapproximately173GB,orapproximately82%.
Figure9.OracleOLTPVolumeDetail
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 12/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression12
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Next,theLabobservedandcomparedtheperformanceresultsofanOLTPworkloadrunningonthenon-
compressedvolumestothatoftheworkloadrunningonthecompressedvolumes.TheOLTPworkloadsimulateda
groupofusersexecutingtransactionsagainstthetestdatabases.Thesimulationconsistedofamixofconcurrent
transactionsincluding:enteringanddeliveringorders,checkingorderstatus,andmonitoringinventorylevels.
Figure10.CompressedandNon-CompressedPerformanceMetrics
AsshowninFigure10,ESGLabusedthemonitoringcapabilitiesavailableintheSVCuserinterfacetoreviewsystem
performancedetailsasthesimulatedOLTPworkloadwasrunagainstthenon-compressedandcompressed
volumes.Theleftsideofthefiguredisplaysperformancemetricsforthenon-compressedvolumewhiletheright
sideofthefiguredisplaysmetricsforthecompressedvolume.TheperformancemetricsincludeSVCcontrollerCPU
utilization,networkutilization,VolumeIOPSandresponsetimes,andMDiskIOPSandresponsetimes.Azoomed-in
viewoftheMDiskIOPSandresponsetime(bottomleftandright)isshownforboththenon-compressedand
compressedvolumes.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 13/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression13
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Figure11.CompressedandNon-CompressedOLTPResponseTimes
Table2.PerformanceDetails
Configuration
Transactions
perminute
Average
ResponseTime
(Seconds)
NewOrder
Response
Time(Sec)
Payment
Response
Time(Sec)
OrderStatus
Response
Time
Delivery
Response
Time
StockLevel
Response
Time
Non-Compressed 11,335 .50 .45 .23 .13 1.05 3.91
Compressed 11,265 .30 .26 .18 .06 .54 2.15
WhattheNumbersMean• Transactionsperminutewerealmostequalbetweenthenon-compressedandcompressedDBvolumes.
• Averageandindividualtransactionresponsetimesimprovedwhenusingthecompressedvolumes.
• Therewasan82%reductioninconsumedstoragecapacityobservedwhenusingcompressedvolumes.
• SVCvolumelevelIOPSwereapproximatelythesameforcompressedandnon-compressedvolumes.
• Compressionimprovedback-endstorageefficiencybyreducingMDiskI/Oactivity.
WhyThisMatters
DeliveringexpectedapplicationperformanceisoneofIT’sprimarygoalsand,asaresult,administratorsmustuse
cautionwhen implementing infrastructure changes. Historically, data compressionalgorithms caused toomuch
performance degradation to be usedwith primary storage. IBMdeveloped compression algorithms that couldoperate in real time, but these algorithms originally supported file-based data only. Bringing Real-time
Compressiontoblockworkloadsvastlyexpandstheuniverseofapplicationsthatcanreapitsbenefits.
ESG Lab compared the performanceof compressed and non-compressed volumes using anOLTP test harness
designed to simulate heavy transaction processing workloads. The Lab validated that once the volume was
compressed, thenumber ofOLTP transactionsremainedalmost identical (a differenceof <1%) while response
timesimproved.In thefinalanalysis,therewasvirtuallynoperformancetrade-offforcompressingprimarydata
volumes.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Average
OrderStatus
Payment
NewOrder
Delivery
StockLevel
OLTPResponseTimesinSeconds
(lessisbeer)
Non-CompressedVolumes CompressedVolumes
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 14/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression14
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Agility
Agilityiscentraltostoragevirtualization.Byabstractingthephysicalstoragefromtheapplicationsitsupports,
storagevirtualizationenablesITtomanipulatephysicalresourcesinthebackgroundtooptimizecostandcapacity
withoutdisruptingproductionoperations.Totestagility,ESGLabusedSVCtonon-disruptivelymigrateavolume
betweenarrays.
ESGLabTesting
ESGLabtestedagilitybyselectingoneofthevolumespreviouslycreatedonaFlashSystem810poolinthetest
environment.TheLabthenchoseapoolonadifferentstoragearrayasthemigrationtarget.AsshowninFigure12,
thetargetvolumecontainedfilesystemtestdatamountedas /home/esgontheLinuxtesthost.Toconfirmthe
abilitytonon-disruptivelymigratedata,ESGLabrananumberofcommonuseroperationswhilethemigrationwas
inprogress.Theseoperationsincludedcreatingafile,deletingafile,modifyingafile,andcopyingfilesand
directories.
Figure12.VolumeMigration
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 15/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression15
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
ESGLabusedthebuilt-inGUIautomationtoconfigureandrunthemigrations.AsshowninFigure13,theLab
selectedtheWIN2008_IMAGE_COMPRESSED volumeasthemigrationsource.Withthevolumeselected,theLab
wasabletosimplyright-clickintheinterfacetodisplaytheactionsthatcouldbeperformedonthevolume.The
rightsideofFigure13showsazoomed-inviewoftheavailableactions,frommappingthevolumetoahostthrough
simplydisplayingthevolumeproperties.Thebluehighlightedareainthezoomed-inviewshowsthattheLabhad
selectedtheoptiontomigratethevolumetoanotherpool.
Figure13.VolumeMappingandMigrationOptions
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 16/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression16
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Finally,theLabselectedthetargetpoolforthevolumemigration.AsshowninFigure14andhighlightedinyellow,
the XIV_POOLwasselectedasthemigrationtarget.Themigrationwasinitiatedandthevolumewasmovednon-
disruptivelyfromapoolontheFlashSystem810toapoolontheXIVstoragesystem.Itshouldbenotedthatthe
migrationprocesscanbeusedtomovedatafromnon-compressedvolumestocompressedvolumesandviceversa.
Figure14.MigratingaVolumeCopy
WhyThisMatters
Servervirtualizationseparatesapplicationworkloadsfromdedicatedhardware,enablingorganizationstobemore
flexible.Workloadscanbemovedasneeded,fortaskssuchascapacityreclamation,loadbalancing,datamigration,andhardwarerefresh,butalsotomaintainproductionoperationsincaseofafailureoroutage.Butmovingserver
VMsaccomplisheslittleifthestoragedoesn’thavethesamecapabilities.Thenewrealityofthevirtualizedand
cloud-focusedITlandscapeisthatcompanyandend-userexpectationsnecessitatethatkindofagility.
ESGLabvalidatedthattheSVCstoragevirtualizationenginesfacilitatethesametypeofagilityasvirtualservers.
ESGLabeasilymigrated volumes between IBMFlashSystem andXIV arrays andbetweennon-compressed and
compressed volumes without downtime or disruption. Using the GUI this process was simple, intuitive, and
seamless.TheLabalsoconfirmedthatinanSVCwithRTCsolutionthemigrationprocessisapowerfultoolthatcan
be leveraged to improve ROI by better aligning storage. Non-compressed data can be seamlessly moved to
compressedvolumes,freeingupexistingstorageresourcesforotherapplications.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 17/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression17
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Availability
Availabilityisalwaysanimportantcomponentofanenterprisestoragesolution.Here,ESGLabconfirmedtheability
toconfigureSVCfordifferenthigh-availabilityscenarios.TheLabusedcurrentvalidationtestingresultsaswellas
resultsfromourpreviousSVCvalidationtodemonstratetheseavailabilityfeatures.3
ESGLabTestingSVCappliances,whicharedeployedinpairsforfaulttolerance,providebi-directionalfailover.ESGLabtestedthis
featurebyhavingaWindowsserverplayavideofromafileresidingonanSVC-managedvolume.Asshownin
Figure15,ESGLabshutdownpowertooneSVCengineintheclusterduringvideoplayback.Thevideocontinuedto
playwithoutinterruptionandtheSVCmanagementconsolenotedthefailure.
Figure15.High-availabilitySVCCluster
Next,ESGLabtestedSVC’sabilitytocreatevolumemirrors,remotelyreplicatedcopiesofdatathatcanbeusedfor
highavailabilityanddisasterrecovery.Metromirrorscanbecreatedwithinacampusormetropolitanarea,and
provideasynchronouscopyofthevolumeinrealtime.Thisvolumeisalwayscompletelyinsyncwiththe
productionvolumeandcanbeusedinstantlyifneeded.Globalmirrorscanbecreatedbetweendatacentersin
distantgeographicregions,andprovideasynchronouscopies.Thesevolumecopiesarenotcompletelyuptodate,
butrunslightlybehindtheproductionvolume.Theyenableafastapplicationrestartwithoutthelastfew
transactionsthatgetcaughtduringthesyncprocess.
Figure16showsthemetroandglobalmirrortestconfigurations.ESGLabsimulatedmetroandglobalmirrorsusing
SVCclustersondifferentfloorsofthesamedatacenter.TheLabusedtheSVCconsoletocreateametromirror
betweenlocalIBMstorageandaremoteEMCarray.A20GbpsFibreChanneltrunkandCiscoswitcheswereusedforhigh-speedreplication.TheLabsimulatedanunplannedoutagebyseveringtheFCconnection;usingascript
thatcreatedtime-stampedfiles,theLabverifiedthatallfileswrittentothelocalSVCclusterwerecopiedand
readableontheremotecluster.ESGLabalsoverifiedthattherewasnoimpactonapplicationperformance.
3ThepreviousSVCLabValidationwaspublishedinAugust,2008.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 18/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression18
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Totesttheglobalmirror,ESGLabreplacedthehigh-speedFClinkwithanEmperixWANsimulator,whichsimulated
aDS3linkbetweendatacenters3,000milesapart.AnFCIPconnectionintheswitchesateachlocationwasusedto
connectthesimulatedWAN.TheLabmonitoredthesynchronizationusingtheSVCconsole,andverifiedthatfiles
createdbeforethemirroringoperationwereavailableattheremotesiteoncethemirrorreachedthe“Consistent
Synchronized”state.
Figure16.MetroandGlobalMirrorConfigurations
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 19/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression19
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Finally,ESGLabtestedSVClocalmirroringandresponsetimeduringasimulatedarrayfailure.First,theLab
simulatedwritesfromanonlinetransactiondatabaseapplicationusingatestutilitytogenerateupdateoperations
atarateoffourI/Ospersecond.Next,theLabusedtheSVCconsoletomirroranAIXhomedirectoryacrosstwo
IBMDS8300arrays(seeFigure17).
Responsetimewasmonitoredduringthemirrorsynchronizationandduringasimulatedarrayfailurebyusingan
AIXutility.Duringthesynchronization,aresponsetimeoftwomillisecondswasmaintained.Oncethesyncwas
complete,ESGLabdisabledtheSANfabriczoneconnectionononeofthearraystosimulateanarrayfailure.ThetestutilitycontinuedwithoutinterruptionorerrorasSVCfailedovertothemirroredvolume.Duringthefailover,
therewasasmallperformanceimpact,asresponsetimeincreasedto16millisecondsforapproximatelytwo
secondsandthenreturnedtonormal.
Figure17.LocalMirroring
WhyThisMatters
ESG recently asked enterprise and midmarket storage professionals what features were “must haves” when
purchasing storage systems. First on the list, cited by 59% of respondents, was high availability.Whether for
disasters, maintenance, or technology refresh, downtime tolerance is shrinking, particularly formission-critical
applications,andkeepingapplicationsavailablerisesaboveallelse.4
ESGLabvalidatedthatwithredundantSVCengines,losinga controllerhadno impactonproductionoperations,
andrequirednoadministrativeintervention;avideothatwasplayingbeforeacontrollerwasshutdowncontinueduninterrupted duringthefailover. Inaddition, SVC failedover seamlessly tometro,global,and locallymirrored
volumeswithouterrorsorinterruption,andmaintainedexcellentperformanceduringthefailover.
4Source:ESGResearchBrief,DataStorageTechnologyPurchasingTrends ,April2013.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 20/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression20
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
ESGLabValidationHighlights
þ ESGLabwasthrilledtoseethenewXIVmodeledinterfaceavailablefortheSVCsolution.WefindthisGUI
tobeoneofthemostintuitiveandeasytousestorageinterfacesonthemarkettodate.ThenewGUI
helpedmaketheoveralltestingexperienceapleasuretoconduct.Itwaseasytojumpinandconduct
configurationtasksevenafternotseeingtheinterfaceforalmostayear.
þ Wewerealsoimpressedwiththecompressionresults.Weobservedproductiondatacapacitysavingsof
48.8%to82%.
þ TheLabwasabletomaintainclosetoequalperformanceforourOracleOLTPtestenvironmentwhilestill
achieving82%capacitysavingswithReal-timeCompression.
þ Evenwhiledeliveringcompressionsavingsinrealtime,SVCprovidesagilitybyabstractingtheback-end
storage,whichESGLabvalidatedbyseamlesslymigratingdatanon-disruptivelybetweenstoragedevices.
Thismakesitanexcellentsolutionfortechnologyrefreshandnow,withRTC,apowerfultoolforcapacity
reclamation.
þ Thehighavailabilityessentialintoday’sbusinessenvironmentismaintainedusingredundantSVCengines
andmultipledatamirroringfeatures.
IssuestoConsider
þ IfyouareconsideringimplementingRTCinyourcurrentSVCenvironment,deploymentmayrequiresoftwareandpossiblyahardwareupgrade.IBMrecommendsthattheSVCcontrollersrunningRTCbe
upgradedtoahigherperformingmodel,thoughtheycurrentlyhavecustomersrunningRTConstandard
SVCcontrollers.ThesizeoftheSVCenvironmentwillplayanimportantroleintheupgradedecision.
þ Aswithanydatareductiontechnology,“yourmileagewillvary”dependingondatatype.Themore
compressibleyourdatais,themorecapacitysavingsyouwillrealize.ESGLabtestedwithdatasetscommon
tomostenvironmentsandfoundthecompressionsavingstobesignificant,butitisimportantfor
environmentswithhighlyspecializeddatasetstounderstanddatacompressibilitybeforehand.Itshouldbe
notedthatIBMoffersaquickandaccuratehost-basedutilitythatcanbedownloadedandusedtoanalyze
potentialcompressionsavingsonexistingdatasets.5
5ComprestimatorUtility:http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S4001012
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 21/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression21
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
TheBiggerTruth
Tosupporttoday’scomplex,virtualized,globallydistributedbusinessenvironments,applicationsrequiregreater
availability,performance,agility,andmobilitythaneverinthepast.Atthesametime,marketandeconomic
conditionsdemandCAPEXandOPEXreductionsalongtheway.
Somevendorsdevelopand/orpurchaseexcitingnewtechnologiestomeettheseneeds,withhighhopesof
integratingthemtoaddvaluetotheirexistingproductsets,butendupstrugglingandoftenfailingtobringthepiecestogetherintoacohesivewhole.Othervendorsareexpertsatbringingitalltogether,takingthetimeand
puttingintheefforttodoitright.IBMisthelatterkindofcompany.ESGLabhasbeenevaluatingIBMsolutionsfor
manyyears,andthisvalidationdemonstratesonceagainhowIBMhasorganicallypulledtogetherkeytechnologies
thatsolvetheproblemscustomerfacetodayandintegratedthemeffectively.
IBMSANVolumeControllerhasbeenprovidingstoragevirtualizationforadecadenow.Bypoolingcapacityfrom
differentarraysandvendorsusingredundantengines,SVCletsorganizationsleveragealloftheirstorage
investmentswithgreaterflexibility.Insteadofstandingupseparateinfrastructurestackswithseparatestorage
capacityforgrowingdataanalytics,testanddev,replication,etc.,organizationscanusethestoragetheyalready
haveforthesedifferentpurposes.Theycanalsopurchasestoragewithouthavingtomatchittoaspecificproject,
whichmeansthattheynolongerhavestrandedstoragesittingidle,unabletobesharedoutwhereit’sneeded.SVC
storagevirtualizationlengthenstheusefullifeofstorageassets,enablesconsolidatedmanagementacrossheterogeneousresources,andevenaddsadvancedcapabilitiessuchasthinprovisioning,FlashCopy,andmirroring
toarraysthatwerenotnativelyendowedwiththosefeatures.
ESGLablastevaluatedSVCin2008,andtheimprovementsIBMhasaddedsincethenbringittoawholenewlevel.
Certainimprovementsalongthewaywereexpectedandnecessary,suchassupportforiSCSIandFCoE.Thereally
excitingimprovementsweseewithtoday’sSVCaretheadditionofReal-timeCompressionforprimaryblockdata,
andtheintegrationofwhatESGconsidersthebeststorageGUIonthemarket.IBMReal-timeCompressionwas
originallydeployedforfile-baseddatainNASsystems,andthevaluehasbeenprovenoverandover.BringingReal-
timeCompressiontoblock-basede-mail,database,andotherbusiness-drivingapplicationswithoutslowing
applicationperformanceisanexcitingdevelopmentthatofferstremendouseconomicandoperationalbenefits.
Extendingtheindustry-bestGUInowtoSVCaswellasXIVandV7000,IBMaddsbettervisibilityandeasier
managementtoanincreasinglycomplexenvironment—anothereconomicbenefit.
ESGLabtestingdemonstratedhowSVCmeetsallthekeyrequirementsoftoday’sadvancedinfrastructures.The
newGUIissimpleandintuitive,evenforadvancedfunctions.TheLabdemonstratedReal-timeCompressionsavings
of48%-82%forblock-basedLinux,Windows,andVMwarevolumes,minimizingequipmentandoperationalcosts
forprimarydata.OLTPtestingshowedthatcompressedvolumessufferedvirtuallynoperformancedegradation,
evenfordemandingtransaction-orientedworkloads,andinfacttransactionresponsetimesimprovedwith
compressedvolumes.Finally,ESGLabprovedtheeaseofmigratingworkloadswithSVC(foravailabilityaswellas
capacityreclamation),andalsoprovedthattheredundancyandmirroringfeaturesensurecontinuousapplication
availability,anessentialfeaturefortoday’s“always-on”infrastructure.
IBM’staglineis“Let’sBuildaSmarterPlanet.”ThenewandimprovedSVCfitsrightin,bringingtogetheressential
featuresinastoragevirtualizationenginethatenablescustomerstospendmoretimeontheirbusinessandlessonthesupportinginfrastructure.
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 22/23
LabValidation:IBMSVCwithReal-timeCompression22
©2013byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup,Inc.AllRightsReserved.
Appendix
Table3.ESGLabTestBedDetail
SVC
(2)SANVolumeControllers
Model:EnhancedCG8
CPU:Dual6CoreIntelXeonE56452.4GHz
48GBRAM
SVCVersion:7.1.0.0
Storage
XIVStorageSystem
Model:XIV-gen3
6Nodes
72DiskDrives
SoftwareVersion11.1.1
IBMFlashSystem810
Model:IBMFlashSystem810
10TBeMLCFlash
Firmware:5.6.0-RC23
Servers
(1)IBMIntelServer
Model:x3650
CPU:12coreIntelXeon56803.3GHx
RAM:193GB
Driver:(2)140GB10kSAS
(2)IBMIntelServers
Model:x3550M4
CPU:Dual8coreIntelXeonE5-26802.7GHz
RAM:78GB
Software
Windows WindowsServer2008R2
Linux RedHatRelease6.3
VMware vSphereVersion5.0
Oracle Oracle11.2.0.3
BenchmarkFactory Version6.6.1
7/28/2019 IBM SVC with Real-time Compression
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ibm-svc-with-real-time-compression 23/23
20AsylumStreet|Milford,MA01757|Tel:508.482.0188Fax:508.482.0218|www.esg-global.com
Recommended