SANsymphony-V is a storage vir-

tualisation product that provides

hosts with virtual access to stora-

ge capacity quickly and easily.

The solution works through Fib-

re-Channel- and iSCSI SAN con-

nectivity and can manage and vir-

tualize almost every type of stora-

ge (SATA, SAS, SSD, etc.).

SANsymphony-V synchronously

mirrors and asynchronously repli-

cates storage systems across di-

stances and offers snapshots as

well as continuous data protecti-

on (CDP) and thin-provisioning.

In general, SANsymphony-V

acts like a "hypervisor for stora-

ge" and performs similar benefits

across storage devices as pro-

ducts like VMware vSphere or

Microsoft Hyper-V do for server

hardware.

The current product version, R8,

of DataCore’s SANsymphony-V

comes with a new interface that

allows administrators to carry

out all storage management tasks

quickly and easily. In this test we

will install the software in our

test lab, provision storage capaci-

ty via iSCSI to a Windows host,

set up a synchronously mirrored

configuration of two redundant

DataCore servers (nodes), activa-

te continuous data protection

(CDP) and replicate asynchro-

nously to a third DataCore node.

In addition, we will reverse the re-

plication direction so that the vir-

tualisation solution restores data

from our third disaster recovery

node into the mirrored group of

nodes. In the end, we will go

through SANsymphony-V’s new

management tools and take a clo-

ser look at its features.

Test environment

SANsymphony-V requires two

or more CPUs with at least 2,0

GHz processors, 4 GByte RAM,

20 GB free hard disk drive

(HDD) space and a network port

for communication and manage-

ment. In addition it is necessary

to have two or more additional

ports for iSCSI and/or two Fibre-

Channel ports on each node. The

software runs on top of the Win-

dows Server 2008 R2 operating

system with .NET 3.5.1. The soft-

Product Review: DataCore SANsymphony-V R8

and challenging IT environments

Dr. Götz Güttich

With SANsymphony-V, DataCore offers a comprehensive software platform to provision,

share, migrate, replicate, expand, reconfigure and upgrade storage without delay or

downtime. IAIT took a closer look at the newest version.

1

Storage virtualization for sophisticated

ware can be installed on physical

or virtual machines.

In our test we set up three Win-

dows Server 2008 R2 systems

with dual-core CPUs, 4 GB

RAM and 60 GB HDD space.

Two of the systems were equip-

ped with three network cards for

the remote management, the syn-

chronous mirror connection and

the iSCSI SAN connection to the

hosts.

The third computer that served

as a replication target only nee-

ded two network connections as

it does not need ports for synchro-

nous mirroring. The 3 built-in

HDDs per server were used as fol-

lows: (1) for the operating sys-

tem, (1) to act as the storage pool

and (1) as a buffer for the asyn-

chronous replication. When addi-

tional capacity is needed, exter-

nal disk systems can be added as

well to the pool.

In our network configuration the

management and iSCSI connecti-

ons operated in the same subnet,

as we wanted to access the virtu-

al storage pool from all compu-

ters in our LAN. In a production

environment it would probably

make more sense to set up a sepa-

rate sub network for the SAN.

The synchronous mirror connecti-

on between the two SANsym-

phony-V nodes was set up as a

separate network. Before setting

up SANsymphony-V R8 in an

iSCSI environment it is import-

ant to install a Microsoft-Hotfix

under http:// support. microsoft.

com/kb/979711/en-us, on each no-

de. In the test we also used a Win-

dows Server 2008 system as a

host.

Installation

Note: In general, SANsymphony-

V is installed and configured by

DataCore-authorized solution pro-

viders, leaving the IT staff to per-

form day-to-day operations.

For the installation of SANsym-

phony-V R8 on a server, you sim-

ply select the set-up routine and

complete the installation wizard.

The wizard basically wants to

know which components it

should install; afterwards the set-

up runs automatically (it is only

necessary to agree to several dri-

ver installations). After success-

ful installation, the software asks

for a "DcsAdmin" account pass-

word for the Super-user account,

and completes installation with a

restart.

The SANsymphony-V installati-

on package consists of two com-

ponents: "Management console"

and "Server". The management

console can operate on any stan-

dard Windows system so adminis-

trators have the option to manage

the system from any remote Win-

dows computer (server or PC) wi-

thin their network.

There is also the option to install

the management console to-

gether with the server component

in one system. For convenience

in our test we installed the mana-

gement console and the server

component on one node and only

the server component on the two

other systems. The administrati-

on of the whole system was then

operated through node one.

Initial configuration

After the restart, SANsymphony-

V was running on all systems

and we started the administration

console to connect the DataCore

nodes with the local host. For

that, we defined "localhost" as

target and used the "Use-default-

credentials" for it. Afterwards the

console connected our "DcsAd-

min" account to the server.

After login, the administrator is

presented with the central mana-

gement tool that very much

looks and feels like a Microsoft

Office application and especially

reminds us of Outlook 2010. At

the top of the screen a ribbon of-

fers quick access to context-rele-

vant commands. On the left side,

tree charts indicate DataCore ser-

vers and the hosts that can access

the virtual storage (similar to fol-

ders in the Outlook Inbox) so

they can be accessed quickly.

Similar to newer Windows versi-

ons, after the first login, SAN-

symphony-V welcomes the user

with a "getting-started Page",

which runs through the necessary

steps to put the storage virtualisa-

tion solution into operation. Wor-

king down through the list re-

sults in a synchronously-mirro-

red DataCore server group with

at least one host that accesses a

virtual disk. Every step on this

opening page can be recalled and

repeated, so it plays an important

role during the daily operations.

In detail, the Getting started page

involves seven workflow steps.

The first step entails setting up of

additional user accounts to ac-

cess the management tools. SAN-

symphony-V differentiates bet-

ween "Owner" and "Reader"

user-rights, allowing you to defi-

ne users with read only access

who cannot modify the storage

2

The login at the management console

with host name or IP-Address

virtualization configuration. By

the way, when creating the user

accounts, the corresponding Win-

dow accounts have to be already

in place on the local workgroup

or domain.

When the administrator account

configuration finished, we connec-

ted to the second DataCore ser-

ver for the mirroring. This step is

therefore only necessary when a

mirrored configuration is needed,

e.g. our third system for replicati-

on did not require this step. To

add the mirror connection it is

enough to enter the server name

or the corresponding IP-address.

The mirror configuration requi-

res an existing Fibre-Channel or

iSCSI connection between the Da-

taCore servers.

Now we need to define the port

roles for the DataCore server

connections (for node 1 and the

mirror, which have been introdu-

ced into the system so far). That

configuration wizard offers an

overview on existing connecti-

ons and their designated functi-

ons. In this list, administrators

define the task of the single net-

work interface and choose from

mirror-port, management-port,

frontend or backend roles. In our

test environment we defined a wi-

reless LAN-connection as mana-

gement-port, the iSCSI-connec-

tion as frontend and the iSCSI-in-

itiator as mirror.

In the next step we use "Register

a Host" to connect a separate Win-

dows-Server-2008 machine to a

virtual disk. For that it was ne-

cessary to specify its operating

system (supported host operating

systems are listed later in detail).

At this stage one can activate Mul-

tipath or ALUA (Asymmetric Lo-

gical Unit Access) paths. In order

to make the host access work, so-

me smaller configuration steps

are needed on the host as well.

Our next step is to create the first

disk pool. This consists of the

physical hard drives that are used

by SANsymphony-V to generate

dynamic virtual disks for the

hosts. In our example we used

the internal disks of the DataCo-

re servers. Though independent

from each other, the HDD disk-

pools on each site should be com-

parable in size and capacity.

As soon as the disk pool was defi-

ned, a virtual disk can be created.

In our mirrored DataCore server

group the disks can be generated

either as "mirrored" or as "non-

mirrored" volumes. Mirrored

disks are highly available over

multiple paths. At this point it is

also possible to activate the Con-

tinuous-Data-Protection (CDP)

function for the virtual disk. The

latter allows the administrator to

generate Rollback-points in a ti-

me line which represents the data

on a virtual disk at a certain

point of time in the past.

In that way, CDP allows you to

correct unwanted changes made

to data in the past. In a producti-

on environment it is possible to

allocate the rollback point as ano-

ther virtual volume to the hosts.

At this point during our tests, we

created a virtual disk with syn-

chronous mirroring and CDP for

later use.

The last step on the Getting Star-

ted page takes on the task of pro-

visioning the virtual disk to the

host. In the test we selected our

defined host and assigned the

created virtual disk to it. With

that step the initial configuration

of two mirrored DataCore ser-

vers with a useable virtual disk

was finalized.

Summing up, we can say that the

Getting Started page with its wi-

zards guide an administrator with

some storage experience quickly

and systematically through the in-

itial configuration. With many

useful commands, e.g. for registe-

ring new hosts or users, it also re-

mains an important central tool

in on-going operations.

Note: A short cut known as

Quick Serve Virtual Disks is also

available. In one click, it takes

care of all the necessary steps to

serve a mirrored, high-perfor-

mance, cached, virtual disk with

thin provisioning to a host.

3

The Getting Started Page

Host Configuration

In order to connect the virtual

disk via iSCSI and make it acces-

sible from the host like a local

hard-drive, it is necessary to start

the standard Microsoft iSCSI-In-

itiator on the host. Then the admi-

nistrator chooses the search tab,

selects “Add Portal” and adds

the IP addresses of the DataCore

servers. In the "target" tab they

are assigned to the available

hosts. If multi-path support is re-

quired which is generally recom-

mended for high availability, the

DataCore Multipath I/O-driver

(MPIO) also has to be installed

on the host with an easy setup rou-

tine.

As soon as it is installed, the “Vo-

lumes” tab in the MPIO console

provides the information about ac-

tive and passive connections for

each virtual disks. If an active Da-

taCore server fails or is taken out-

of-service (in the test we just de-

activated it through the configura-

tion interface), the second Data-

Core server changes automatical-

ly to the active mode, which can

be tracked in the MPIO-console

on the host. When the offline Da-

taCore server is returned to ser-

vice, it takes over the primary

host connection for that virtual

disk. The SANsymphony-V mana-

gement interface also allows the

configuration of the preferred

path within the mirrored group.

The MPIO console provides addi-

tional interesting information to

the user. "Adapters/ iSCSI Initia-

tor" shows the existing connecti-

ons to each DataCore server.

"DataCore Storage Servers" on

the other hand provides the de-

tails about the number of paths

and volumes connected to the Da-

taCore servers and active or passi-

ve paths. As soon as the

iSCSI-configuration on the hosts

is finalized, virtual disks can be

connected or disconnected on the

fly.

In summary, we came away

with the impression that the allo-

cation of storage to a host with

the SANsymphony-V configurati-

on tools is fast and easy and the

deployment of the software is no

problem for a storage administra-

tor.

Setting up asynchronous repli-

cation to a third server

To set up a disaster recovery con-

figuration on a third DataCore ser-

ver, the administrator has to

define a buffer disk to hold the

delta writes that have not yet be-

en transferred to the remote Data-

Core server. If the replication is

meant to operate bi-directionally,

the same should be done on the re-

mote DataCore server.

Before the buffer HDDs can be in-

tegrated into the SANsymphony-

V system, they have to be format-

ted and named. To define the buf-

fer, the administrator right clicks

the respective DataCore server

entry in the tree structure of the

management pane and selects

"view details" where he/she can

insert the buffer drive in the tab

"properties".

After that is done, it is sufficient

to right click on the existing ser-

ver-group in the SANsymphony-

V configuration tool and choose

the command "Partner with repli-

cation group". Here it is necessa-

ry to insert the server-name or IP

addresses and define the credenti-

als with which the management

console can login on the local

and distant servers, e.g. with our

DscAdmin account. The final

step is to choose the virtual disks

for replication. Here administra-

tors have to keep in mind that the

number and size of the target and

the source virtual disks have to

be identical. After those few

steps the replication is set up.

The direction of the replication

can be reversed at any time

through an operation in the "Rep-

lication" tab of each virtual disk.

This is also were checkpoints for

actions like Snapshot updates are

set. These can be mounted from

the host like any other virtual vo-

lume. In our test environment we

did not see any difficulties du-

ring the setup and configuration

of the replication.

4

The information page about the disk pools also includes graphic resource dis-

plays

Feature scope of the configurati-

on tool

At this point we take a closer

look at additional features availa-

ble from SANsymphony-V and

the new GUI. As mentioned ear-

lier, the management tool with

the ribbon and the tree-descripti-

on on the left hand side looks si-

milar to Microsoft Outlook 2010,

while the Getting Started page re-

minds us of the "Initial-configura-

tion tasks" in current Windows

Server versions. The commands

in the ribbon or command bar de-

pend on the menu context, depen-

ding on whether it is the con-

figuration of virtual disks, hosts

or DataCore servers.

The user only sees relevant mana-

gement choices for the current

task, and the correct configurati-

on details, avoiding endless me-

nu options. Thus each part of the

management tool stays transpa-

rent. In our test we felt that the

management tools are arranged lo-

gically and clearly structured so

that an administrator with some

experience in managing a storage

network should not have any diffi-

culties. We also liked that the ma-

nagement tool presents data in

real-time, not only for the volu-

me size of the replication buffer

or the disk utilization but for all

information presented by the

tool. Thus IT representatives stay

constantly informed about the

state of the storage network.

With regards to the feature set of

the tool, users find on the left

hand side of the screen two tree-

structures that represent the Data-

Core servers and the registered

hosts. Below each node it is possi-

ble to access the subcomponents.

So within the server-groups you

can find the single DataCore ser-

vers, below them the defined vir-

tual pools, below the pools the

allocated virtual disks and so on.

It is therefore easy to navigate

through the storage environment.

As mentioned earlier, the menu

bar offers often-used commands

and are accessed through the rib-

bon. For example, in the "Home"

menu you find the entry for virtu-

al disks that gives information on

the status of the nodes, the conti-

nuous data protection, the connec-

ted hosts and the type of the host

access (e.g. read or write).

From the same location, the admi-

nistration console also offers a "re-

place" option, with which you

can relocate data in order to possi-

bly regulate the workload bet-

ween the disk pools – more

about that later.

The "Disk-Pools" tab shows a

list of the existing disk pools

with connected servers, their si-

ze, their type (e.g. dynamic),

their status, utilization etc. Here

the pools can also be renamed or

deleted or even expanded by ad-

ding physical disks.

The Hosts overview also offers a

list with the status, information

about the operating system and

connections (multipath or not).

Here users also find an option to

assign virtual disks to the hosts,

revoke the assignment and simi-

lar services.

In the User list, the configuration

tool delivers detailed information

about user roles and events. Wi-

zards for the assignment of roles

as well as the registration or dele-

tion of user accounts complete

this screen.

The "System Health" ribbon deli-

vers a list of problems detected

for the specific devices as well as

the current device status. With a

double click on the respective

entry the administrators receive a

more detailed overview.

Under "Performance", adminis-

trators can create graphic over-

views of performance metrics of

the storage network in catego-

ries, instances or counters.

Available categories include ser-

ver, disk pool, mirrors, disk

pools, host iSCSI ports, hosts,

physical disks or server groups,

while the instances contain all or

single components. The counters

provide metrics about read and

write operations, the cache and

similar parameters. If needed, ad-

ministrators can incorporate mul-

tiple counters into the graphic. In

5

Restore points of the Continuous Data Protection are defined via a time line

this case they are presented as dif-

ferently-colored curves.

In addition it is possible to define

times and the scale of the gra-

phics to the meet the user’s uni-

que requirements. In the test, the

performance graphics were quick-

ly defined and the configuration

window was a useful place to im-

mediately discover performance

data on single components or ser-

ver groups.

The task overview enables you

to define tasks that are evoked by

triggers, e.g. Mail-Alerts for utili-

zed drives. There are different

trigger types like "Log Message

Posted", "Monitor State Chan-

ged", "Replication checkpoint"

and others. It is also possible to

combine multiple triggers and car-

ry them all out if anyone of them

gets activated or to start them on-

ly when all trigger conditions are

met.

Among the actions, there are se-

veral options in addition to the

mentioned mail alerts like "Post

Log Message", "Reclaim Space",

"Revert from Snapshot", "Run

Command", "Run Powershell

Script" or "Update Snapshot". In

the test no problems occurred

whilst working with the tasks.

The event log provides a list of

events with the status of the host,

disks and others. The alert list

comprises urgent messages (e.g.

in cases like a lost server connecti-

on, etc.) that require immediate

action from the IT staff.

Beneath the "Home" menu, an

entry called "Common Actions"

resides. Here DataCore servers

can be added, disk pools and virtu-

al disks can be created and alloca-

ted, hosts can be defined, user

accounts generated and remote

connections to server groups can

be set up.

As for hosts, SANsymphony-V

supports "Windows Server 2008"

(also Windows Vista, Windows 7

and Windows Server 2008 R2),

"Other Windows Versions",

"ESX" and "XenServer", "Suse

Linux Enterprise Server 11",

"Other Linux-Versions", "AIX",

"HP-UX", "Solaris" and

"Others".

The rest of the entries in the me-

nu bar vary according to the con-

text, and change with the chosen

elements. In summary, we have

come to the conclusion that the

combination of menu-bar/ribbon

is an efficient method for acces-

sing the most important manage-

ment aspects of SANsym-

phony-V.

Further configuration tasks can

be carried out directly at the com-

ponent level in the tree-structure.

In addition to the mentioned com-

mands like connecting to a repli-

cation group, it is also possible

to back up the configuration, defi-

ne the mail server for alerts, start

or stop DataCore servers, activa-

te licenses, etc.

An IT operator can also start and

stop individual DataCore servers.

Within the server nodes informa-

tion section they will find data

about CPU, RAM and the opera-

ting system in use as well as

about the replication buffer, the

cache settings and the storage uti-

lization. In addition, there are

lists of the physical hard drives

available similar to the disk

pools with utilization, virtual

disk with replications status,

snapshots, check points as well

as the CDP. Also, available ports

with type (e.g. iSCSI) and status

(connected or not) can be found

in the lists under the server node

level. The lists are not only wor-

thwhile information for configu-

ration steps, but helpful when

creating disk pools or connecting

virtual disks to a host.

In the display for physical hard

drives, SANsymphony-V offers

user graphics, while the virtual

disk overviews help to define

snapshot and rollback points

through the timeline, check the

replication buffer status or set

checkpoints. Snapshots and CDP

roll back points are then represen-

ted under the virtual disk as a

usable copy.

6

With the performance graphics, authorised employees gain a quick overview

on the performance of their storage components

It is important to mention that

the IT employee can set alert le-

vels for "Attention", "Warning"

and "Critical" within the proper-

ties during the disk pool configu-

ration, both for utilization and

for latency. The alerts also allow

you to monitor the performance

of the disk pools. On that display

you find an allocation map that il-

lustrates the performance of the

pools in graphical form. With the

help of the information shown he-

re, administrators can optimize

and load balance the pool

through the previously mentio-

ned "replace" feature.

Among the entries for the server

ports, the configuration tool deli-

vers information about the adap-

ter type (e.g. Ethernet), chipset

and MAC-Address. The host ent-

ries offer details about the connec-

ted virtual disks and applicable

ports. Here it is also possible to

connect or disconnect virtual

disks. For all sub nodes there is

an event list and performance gra-

phic for the respective com-

ponents available.

Configuration tool for the remo-

te group

If the authorised employee logs

in to the remote replication group

instead of the mirror group then

they have full access to the remo-

te DataCore server with all its as-

sets. There are some interesting

aspects making it possible to mo-

nitor the replication status with re-

maining data, time lag and

related items from the other side

and to reverse the replication di-

rection from the remote server.

Apart from that, the management

tools correspond to those of the

Server group.

Conclusion

With SANsymphony-V R8, Data-

Core offers an extremely effi-

cient central administration tool

for storage virtualisation with syn-

chronous mirroring for high

availability, asynchronous replica-

tion for disaster recovery and fur-

ther important function like

virtual disk pooling, thin provisio-

ning, snapshots for backups and

restores as well as CDP for Conti-

nuous Data Protection.

Despite the comprehensive fea-

ture set, the solution is easy to ad-

minister and monitor, thanks to

the intuitive and well thought-out

configuration tools with real time

updates. According to the ven-

dor, the product is appropriate

for a wide range of storage net-

works ranging from a minimum

size of one terabyte to very large

multi-petabyte, enterprise confi-

gurations. It has the potential to

reduce a lot of the storage admi-

nistrator’s workload in all envi-

ronments and considerably

improves data protection and

availability. That is why we are

able to thoroughly recommend

this DataCore solution without re-

striction. In our SANsymphony-

V testing environment every-

thing worked as expected from

the very beginning.

Götz Güttich owns the Intitute

for analysis of IT-Components in

Korschenbroich, Germany. His

blog can be found at www.iait.eu.

The port overview displays existing network ports with their system status

The MPIO console delivers lots of in-

teresting information about the hosts

7

DataCore

SANsymphony-V R8

Software platform to provision,

share, migrate, replicate, ex-

pand, reconfigure and upgrade

storage without delay or downti-

me.

Advantages:

- Easy management

- Central administration

- Lots of useful functions

- Real time updates

- Sophisticated monitoring

- Great flexibility

Further information:

DataCore Software

www.datacore.com