Server StorageIO Data Infrastructure Insights and Analysis
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Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
Recently I was invited to be a guest on the podcast Data Protection Gumbo hosted by Demetrius Malbrough (@dmalbrough).
Data Protection Gumbo Podcast Description |
Data Protection Gumbo Also available on
Keep in mind that a fundamental role of Information Technology (IT) is to protect, preserve and serve business or organizations information assets including applications, configuration settings and data for use when or where needed.
Our conversation covers various aspects of data protection which has a focus of protect preserve and serve information, applications and data across different environments and customer segments. While we discuss enterprise and small medium business (SMB) data protection, we also talk about trends from Mobile to the cloud among many others tools, technologies and techniques.
Learn more about data protection and related trends, tools and technologies via the following links:
Data Protection Gumbo Also available on
Data protection is a broad topic that spans from logical and physical security to high availability (HA), disaster recovery (DR), business continuance (BC), business resiliency (BR), archiving (including life beyond compliance) along with various tools, technologies, techniques. Keeping with the theme of protect preserve and serve, data protection to be modernized needs to become and be seen as a business asset or enabler vs. an after thought or cost over-head topic. Also, keep in mind that only you can prevent data loss, are your restores ready for when you need them?
Check out Demetrius Data Protection Gumbo podcast, also check out his Linkedin Backup & Recovery Professionals group. Speaking of data protection, check out the www.storageioblog.com/data-protection-diaries-main/ page for more coverage of backup/restore, HA, BC, DR, archiving and restated themes.
Ok, nuff said, for now..
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently among other enhancements announced new Simple Storage Service (S3) cross-region replication of objects from a bucket (e.g. container) in one region to a bucket in another region. AWS also recently enhanced Elastic Block Storage (EBS) increasing maximum performance and size of Provisioned IOPS (SSD) and General Purpose (SSD) volumes. EBS enhancements included ability to store up to 16 TBytes of data in a single volume and do 20,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS). Read more about EBS and other recent AWS server, storage I/O and application enhancements here.
The challenge is being able to move data (e.g. objects) stored in AWS buckets in one region to another in a safe, secure, timely, automated, cost-effective way.
Even though AWS has a global name-space, buckets and their objects (e.g. files, data, videos, images, bit and byte streams) are stored in a specific region designated by the customer or user (AWS S3, EBS, EC2, Glacier, Regions and Availability Zone primer can be found here).
The following diagram shows the challenge and how to copy or replicate objects in an S3 bucket in one region to a destination bucket in a different region. While objects can be copied or replicated without S3 cross-region replication, that involves essentially reading your objects pulling that data out via the internet and then writing to another place. The catch is that this can add extra costs, take time, consume network bandwidth and need extra tools (Cloudberry, Cyberduck, S3fuse, S3motion, S3browser, S3 tools (not AWS) and a long list of others).
Highlights of AWS S3 Cross-region replication include:
To activate, you simply enable versioning on a bucket, enable cross-region replication, indicate source bucket (or prefix of objects in bucket), specify destination region and target bucket name (or create one), then create or select an IAM (Identify Access Management) role and objects should be replicated.
There are several regions around the world and up until today AWS customers could copy, sync or replicate S3 bucket contents between AWS regions manually (or via automation) using various tools such as Cloudberry, Cyberduck, S3browser and S3motion to name just a few as well as via various gateways and other technologies. Some of those tools and technologies are open-source or free, some are freemium and some are premium for a few that also vary by interface (some with GUI, others with CLI or APIs) including ability to mount an S3 bucket as a local network drive and use tools to sync or copy.
However a catch with the above mentioned tools (among others) and approaches is that to replicate your data (e.g. objects in a bucket) can involve other AWS S3 fees. For example reading data (e.g. a GET which has a fee) from one AWS region and then copying out to the internet has fees. Likewise when copying data into another AWS S3 region (e.g. a PUT which are free) there is also the cost of storage at the destination.
For my first hands on (first look) experience with AWS cross-region replication today I enabled a bucket in the US Standard region (e.g. Northern Virginia) and created a new target destination bucket in the EU Ireland. Setup and configuration was very quick, literally just a few minutes with most of the time spent reading the text on the new AWS S3 dashboard properties configuration displays.
I selected an existing test bucket to replicate and noticed that nothing had replicated over to the other bucket until I realized that new objects would be replicated. Once some new objects were added to the source bucket within a matter of moments (e.g. few minutes) they appeared across the pond in my EU Ireland bucket. When I deleted those replicated objects from my EU Ireland bucket and switched back to my view of the source bucket in the US, those new objects were already deleted from the source. Yes, just like regular mirroring or replication, pay attention to how you have things configured (e.g. synchronized vs. contribute vs. echo of changes etc.).
While I was not able to do a solid quantifiable performance test, simply based on some quick copies and my network speed moving via S3 cross-region replication was faster than using something like s3motion with my server in the middle.
It also appears from some initial testing today that a benefit of AWS S3 cross-region replication (besides being bundled and part of AWS) is that some fees to pull data out of AWS and transfer out via the internet can be avoided.
Here are some links to learn more about AWS S3 and related topics
For those who are looking for a way to streamline replicating data (e.g. objects) from an AWS bucket in one region with a bucket in a different region you now have a new option. There are potential cost savings if that is your goal along with performance benefits in addition to using what ever might be working in your environment. Replicating objects provides a way of expanding your business continuance (BC), business resiliency (BR) and disaster recovery (DR) involving S3 across regions as well as a means for content cache or distribution among other possible uses.
Overall, I like this ability for moving S3 objects within AWS, however I will continue to use other tools such as S3motion and s3sfs for moving data in and out of AWS as well as among other public cloud serves and local resources.
Ok, nuff said, for now..
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
Updated 2/14/2018
Over at BizTech Magazine I have a new article 4 Ways to Performance Test Your New HDD or SSD that provides a quick guide to verifying or learning what the speed characteristic of your new storage device are capable of.
An out-take from the article used by BizTech as a "tease" is:
| These four steps will help you evaluate new storage drives. And … psst … we included the metrics that matter. |
The four basic steps in the article are:
View additional NAS, NVMe, SSD, NVM, SCM, Data Infrastructure and HDD related topics via the following links.
Additional learning experiences along with common questions (and answers), as well as tips can be found in Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials book.
To some the above (read the full article here) may seem like common sense tips and things everybody should know otoh there are many people who are new to servers storage I/O networking hardware software cloud virtual along with various applications, not to mention different tools.
Thus the above is a refresher for some (e.g. Dejavu) while for others it might be new and revolutionary or simply helpful. Interested in HDD’s, SSD’s as well as other server storage I/O performance along with benchmarking tools, techniques and trends check out the collection of links here (Server and Storage I/O Benchmarking and Performance Resources).
Ok, nuff said, for now.
Gs
Greg Schulz – Microsoft MVP Cloud and Data Center Management, VMware vExpert 2010-2017 (vSAN and vCloud). Author of Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials (CRC Press), as well as Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press), Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier) and twitter @storageio. Courteous comments are welcome for consideration. First published on https://storageioblog.com any reproduction in whole, in part, with changes to content, without source attribution under title or without permission is forbidden.
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO. All Rights Reserved. StorageIO is a registered Trade Mark (TM) of Server StorageIO.
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Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
This is the first of a series of posts and links to resources on server storage I/O performance and benchmarking (view more and follow-up posts here).
The best I/O is the I/O that you do not have to do, the second best is the one with the least impact as well as low overhead.
Drew Robb (@robbdrew) has a Data Storage Benchmarking Guide article over at Enterprise Storage Forum that provides a good framework and summary quick guide to server storage I/O benchmarking.
Via Drew: Data storage benchmarking can be quite esoteric in that vast complexity awaits anyone attempting to get to the heart of a particular benchmark. Case in point: The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) has developed the Emerald benchmark to measure power consumption. This invaluable benchmark has a vast amount of supporting literature. That so much could be written about one benchmark test tells you just how technical a subject this is. And in SNIA’s defense, it is creating a Quick Reference Guide for Emerald (coming soon). But rather than getting into the nitty-gritty nuances of the tests, the purpose of this article is to provide a high-level overview of a few basic storage benchmarks, what value they might have and where you can find out more. Read more here including some of my comments, tips and recommendations. |
Drew’s provides a good summary and overview in his article which is a great opener for this first post in a series on server storage I/O benchmarking and related resources.
You can think of this series (along with Drew’s article) as server storage I/O benchmarking fundamentals (e.g. 101) for smarties (e.g. non-dummies ;) ).
Note that even if you are not a server, storage or I/O expert, you can still be considered a smarty vs. a dummy if you found the need or interest to read as well as learn more about benchmarking, metrics that matter, tools, technology and related topics.
There are different reasons for benchmarking, such as, you might be asked or want to know how many IOPs per disk, Solid State Device (SSD), device or storage system such as for a 15K RPM (revolutions per minute) 146GB SAS Hard Disk Drive (HDD). Sure you can go to a manufactures website and look at the speeds and feeds (technical performance numbers) however are those metrics applicable to your environments applications or workload?
You might get higher IOPs with smaller IO size on sequential reads vs. random writes which will also depend on what the HDD is attached to. For example are you going to attach the HDD to a storage system or appliance with RAID and caching? Are you going to attach the HDD to a PCIe RAID card or will it be part of a server or storage system. Or are you simply going to put the HDD into a server or workstation and use as a drive without any RAID or performance acceleration.
What this all means is understanding what it is that you want to benchmark test to learn what the system, solution, service or specific device can do under different workload conditions.
Some benchmark and related topics include
Example of a step test results with various workers and workload
The following are related links to read more about server (cloud, virtual and physical) storage I/O benchmarking tools, technologies and techniques.
Drew Robb’s benchmarking quick reference guide
Server storage I/O benchmarking tools, technologies and techniques resource page
Server and Storage I/O Benchmarking 101 for Smarties.
Microsoft Diskspd download and Microsoft Diskspd overview (via Technet)
I/O, I/O how well do you know about good or bad server and storage I/Os?
Server and Storage I/O Benchmark Tools: Microsoft Diskspd (Part I and Part II)
We have just scratched the surface when it comes to benchmarking cloud, virtual and physical server storage I/O and networking hardware, software along with associated tools, techniques and technologies. However hopefully this and the links for more reading mentioned above give a basis for connecting the dots of what you already know or enable learning more about workloads, synthetic generation and real-world workloads, benchmarks and associated topics. Needless to say there are many more things that we will cover in future posts (e.g. keep an eye on and bookmark the server storage I/O benchmark tools and resources page here).
Ok, nuff said, for now…
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
This is part-one of a two-part post pertaining Microsoft Diskspd.that is also part of a broader series focused on server storage I/O benchmarking, performance, capacity planning, tools and related technologies. You can view part-two of this post here, along with companion links here.
Many people use Iometer for creating synthetic (artificial) workloads to support benchmarking for testing, validation and other activities. While Iometer with its GUI is relatively easy to use and available across many operating system (OS) environments, the tool also has its limits. One of the bigger limits for Iometer is that it has become dated with little to no new development for a long time, while other tools including some new ones continue to evolve in functionality, along with extensibility. Some of these tools have optional GUI for easy of use or configuration, while others simple have extensive scripting and command parameter capabilities. Many tools are supported across different OS including physical, virtual and cloud, while others such as Microsoft Diskspd are OS specific.
Instead of focusing on Iometer and other tools as well as benchmarking techniques (we cover those elsewhere), lets focus on Microsoft Diskspd.
Microsoft Diskspd is a synthetic workload generation (e.g. benchmark) tool that runs on various Windows systems as an alternative to Iometer, vdbench, iozone, iorate, fio, sqlio among other tools. Diskspd is a command line tool which means it can easily be scripted to do reads and writes of various I/O size including random as well as sequential activity. Server and storage I/O can be buffered file system as well non-buffered across different types of storage and interfaces. Various performance and CPU usage information is provided to gauge the impact on a system when doing a given number of IOP’s, amount of bandwidth along with response time latency.
Microsoft Diskspd creates synthetic benchmark workload activity with ability to define various options to simulate different application characteristics. This includes specifying read and writes, random, sequential, IO size along with number of threads to simulate concurrent activity. Diskspd can be used for testing or validating server and storage I/O systems along with associated software, tools and components. In addition to being able to specify different workloads, Diskspd can also be told which processors to use (e.g. CPU affinity), buffering or non-buffered IO among other things.
Physical and virtual storage including hard disk drive (HDD), solid state devices (SSD), solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) in various systems or solutions. Storage can be physical as well as partitions or file systems. As with any workload tool when doing writes, exercise caution to prevent accidental deletion or destruction of your data.
Diskspd provides output in text as well as XML formats. See an example of Diskspd output further down in this post.
You can download your free copy of Diskspd from the Microsoft site here.
The download and installation are quick and easy, just remember to select the proper version for your Windows system and type of processor.
Another tip is to remember to set path environment variables point to where you put the Diskspd image.
Also stating what should be obvious, don’t forget that if you are going to be doing any benchmark or workload generation activity on a system where the potential for a data to be over-written or deleted, make sure you have a good backup and tested restore before you begin, if something goes wrong.
If you are not familiar with server storage I/O performance benchmarking or using various workload generation tools (e.g. benchmark tools), Drew Robb (@robbdrew) has a Data Storage Benchmarking Guide article over at Enterprise Storage Forum that provides a good framework and summary quick guide to server storage I/O benchmarking.
Via Drew: Data storage benchmarking can be quite esoteric in that vast complexity awaits anyone attempting to get to the heart of a particular benchmark. Case in point: The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) has developed the Emerald benchmark to measure power consumption. This invaluable benchmark has a vast amount of supporting literature. That so much could be written about one benchmark test tells you just how technical a subject this is. And in SNIA’s defense, it is creating a Quick Reference Guide for Emerald (coming soon). But rather than getting into the nitty-gritty nuances of the tests, the purpose of this article is to provide a high-level overview of a few basic storage benchmarks, what value they might have and where you can find out more. Read more here including some of my comments, tips and recommendations. |
In addition to Drew’s benchmarking quick reference guide, along with the server storage I/O benchmarking tools, technologies and techniques resource page (Server and Storage I/O Benchmarking 101 for Smarties.
Tip: When you run Microsoft Diskspd it will create a file or data set on the device or volume being tested that it will do its I/O to, make sure that you have enough disk space for what will be tested (e.g. if you are going to test 1TB you need to have more than 1TB of disk space free for use). Another tip is to speed up the initializing (e.g. when Diskspd creates the file that I/Os will be done to) run as administrator.
Tip: In case you forgot, a couple of other useful Microsoft tools (besides Perfmon) for working with and displaying server storage I/O devices including disks (HDD and SSDs) are the commands "wmic diskdrive list [brief]" and "diskpart". With diskpart exercise caution as it can get you in trouble just as fast as it can get you out of trouble.
You can view the Diskspd commands after installing the tool and from a Windows command prompt type:
C:\Users\Username> Diskspd
The above command will display Diskspd help and information about the commands as follows.
Usage: diskspd [options] target1 [ target2 [ target3 …] ]
version 2.0.12 (2014/09/17)Available targets:
file_path
#: Available options:
| -? | display usage information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| -a#[,#[…]] | advanced CPU affinity – affinitize threads to CPUs provided after -a in a round-robin manner within current KGroup (CPU count starts with 0); the same CPU can be listed more than once and the number of CPUs can be different than the number of files or threads (cannot be used with -n) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| -ag | group affinity – affinitize threads in a round-robin manner across KGroups | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
-b| block size in bytes/KB/MB/GB [default=64K] | -B | base file offset in bytes/KB/MB/GB/blocks [default=0] (offset from the beginning of the file) | -c | create files of the given size. Size can be stated in bytes/KB/MB/GB/blocks | -C | cool down time – duration of the test after measurements finished [default=0s]. | -D | Print IOPS standard deviations. The deviations are calculated for samples of duration | -d | duration (in seconds) to run test [default=10s] | -f | file size – this parameter can be used to use only the part of the file/disk/partition for example to test only the first sectors of disk | -fr | open file with the FILE_FLAG_RANDOM_ACCESS hint | -fs | open file with the FILE_FLAG_SEQUENTIAL_SCAN hint | -F | total number of threads (cannot be used with -t) | -g | throughput per thread is throttled to given bytes per millisecond note that this can not be specified when using completion routines | -h | disable both software and hardware caching | -i | number of IOs (burst size) before thinking. must be specified with -j | -j | time to think in ms before issuing a burst of IOs (burst size). must be specified with -i | -I | Set IO priority to | -l | Use large pages for IO buffers | -L | measure latency statistics | -n | disable affinity (cannot be used with -a) | -o | number of overlapped I/O requests per file per thread (1=synchronous I/O, unless more than 1 thread is specified with -F) [default=2] | -p | start async (overlapped) I/O operations with the same offset (makes sense only with -o2 or grater) | -P | enable printing a progress dot after each | -r | random I/O aligned to | -R | output format. Default is text. | -s | stride size (offset between starting positions of subsequent I/O operations) | -S | disable OS caching | -t | number of threads per file (cannot be used with -F) | -T | stride between I/O operations performed on the same file by different threads [default=0] (starting offset = base file offset + (thread number * | -v | verbose mode | -w | percentage of write requests (-w and -w0 are equivalent). absence of this switch indicates 100% reads IMPORTANT: Your data will be destroyed without a warning | -W | warm up time – duration of the test before measurements start [default=5s]. | -x | use completion routines instead of I/O Completion Ports | -X | use an XML file for configuring the workload. Cannot be used with other parameters. | -z | set random seed [default=0 if parameter not provided, GetTickCount() if value not provided] | |
| | Write buffers command options. By default, the write buffers are filled with a repeating pattern (0, 1, 2, …, 255, 0, 1, …) | ||
| -Z | zero buffers used for write tests | ||
-Z| use a global | -Z | use a global | |
| Synchronization command options | |||||||||
| -ys | signals event| -yf | signals event | -yr | waits on event | -yp | allows to stop the run when event | -ye | sets event | |
| Event Tracing command options | |
| -ep | use paged memory for NT Kernel Logger (by default it uses non-paged memory) |
| -eq | use perf timer |
| -es | use system timer (default) |
| -ec | use cycle count |
| -ePROCESS | process start & end |
| -eTHREAD | thread start & end |
| -eIMAGE_LOAD | image load |
| -eDISK_IO | physical disk IO |
| -eMEMORY_PAGE_FAULTS | all page faults |
| -eMEMORY_HARD_FAULTS | hard faults only |
| -eNETWORK | TCP/IP, UDP/IP send & receive |
| -eREGISTRY | registry calls |
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The following are related links to read more about servver (cloud, virtual and physical) storage I/O benchmarking tools, technologies and techniques.
resource page
Server and Storage I/O Benchmarking 101 for Smarties.
Microsoft Diskspd download and Microsoft Diskspd overview (via Technet)
I/O, I/O how well do you know about good or bad server and storage I/Os?
Server and Storage I/O Benchmark Tools: Microsoft Diskspd (Part I and Part II)
This wraps up part-one of this two-part post taking a look at Microsoft Diskspd benchmark and workload generation tool. In part-two (here) of this post series we take a closer look including a test drive using Microsoft Diskspd.
Ok, nuff said (for now)
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
This is part-two of a two-part post pertaining Microsoft Diskspd.that is also part of a broader series focused on server storage I/O benchmarking, performance, capacity planning, tools and related technologies. You can view part-one of this post here, along with companion links here.
Talking about tools and technologies is one thing, installing as well as trying them is the next step for gaining experience so how about some quick hands-on time with Microsoft Diskspd (download your copy here).
The following commands all specify an I/O size of 8Kbytes doing I/O to a 45GByte file called diskspd.dat located on the F: drive. Note that a 45GByte file is on the small size for general performance testing, however it was used for simplicity in this example. Ideally a larger target storage area (file, partition, device) would be used, otoh, if your application uses a small storage device or volume, then tune accordingly.
In this test, the F: drive is an iSCSI RAID protected volume, however you could use other storage interfaces supported by Windows including other block DAS or SAN (e.g. SATA, SAS, USB, iSCSI, FC, FCoE, etc) as well as NAS. Also common to the following commands is using 16 threads and 32 outstanding I/Os to simulate concurrent activity of many users, or application processing threads.
Another common parameter used in the following was -r for random, 7200 seconds (e.g. two hour) test duration time, display latency ( -L ) disable hardware and software cache ( -h), forcing cpu affinity (-a0,1,2,3). Since the test ran on a server with four cores I wanted to see if I could use those for helping to keep the threads and storage busy. What varies in the commands below is the percentage of reads vs. writes, as well as the results output file. Some of the workload below also had the -S option specified to disable OS I/O buffering (to view how buffering helps when enabled or disabled). Depending on the goal, or type of test, validation, or workload being run, I would choose to set some of these parameters differently.
diskspd -c45g -b8K -t16 -o32 -r -d7200 -h -w0 -L -a0,1,2,3 F:\diskspd.dat >> SIOWS2012R203_Eiscsi_145_noh_write000.txt
diskspd -c45g -b8K -t16 -o32 -r -d7200 -h -w50 -L -a0,1,2,3 F:\diskspd.dat >> SIOWS2012R203_Eiscsi_145_noh_write050.txt
diskspd -c45g -b8K -t16 -o32 -r -d7200 -h -w100 -L -a0,1,2,3 F:\diskspd.dat >> SIOWS2012R203_Eiscsi_145_noh_write100.txt
diskspd -c45g -b8K -t16 -o32 -r -d7200 -h -S -w0 -L -a0,1,2,3 F:\diskspd.dat >> SIOWS2012R203_Eiscsi_145_noSh_test_write000.txt
diskspd -c45g -b8K -t16 -o32 -r -d7200 -h -S -w50 -L -a0,1,2,3 F:\diskspd.dat >> SIOWS2012R203_Eiscsi_145_noSh_write050.txt
diskspd -c45g -b8K -t16 -o32 -r -d7200 -h -S -w100 -L -a0,1,2,3 F:\diskspd.dat >> SIOWS2012R203_Eiscsi_145_noSh_write100.txt
The following is the output from the above workload command.
Note that as with any benchmark, workload test or simulation your results will vary. In the above the server, storage and I/O system were not tuned as the focus was on working with the tool, determining its capabilities. Thus do not focus on the performance results per say, rather what you can do with Diskspd as a tool to try different things. Btw, fwiw, in the above example in addition to using an iSCSI target, the Windows 2012 R2 server was a guest on a VMware ESXi 5.5 system.
The following are related links to read more about server (cloud, virtual and physical) storage I/O benchmarking tools, technologies and techniques.
Drew Robb’s benchmarking quick reference guide
Server storage I/O benchmarking tools, technologies and techniques resource page
Server and Storage I/O Benchmarking 101 for Smarties.
Microsoft Diskspd download and Microsoft Diskspd overview (via Technet)
I/O, I/O how well do you know about good or bad server and storage I/Os?
Server and Storage I/O Benchmark Tools: Microsoft Diskspd (Part I and Part II)
Reporting including CPU usage (you can’t do server and storage I/O without CPU) along with IOP’s (activity), bandwidth (throughout or amount of data being moved), per thread and total results along with optional reporting. While a GUI would be nice particular for beginners, I’m used to setting up scripts for different workloads so having an extensive options for setting up different workloads is welcome. Being associated with a specific OS (e.g. Windows) the CPU affinity and buffer management controls will be handy for some projects.
Diskspd has the flexibility to use different storage interfaces and types of storage including files or partitions should be taken for granted, however with some tools don’t take things for granted. I like the flexibility to easily specify various IO sizes including large 1MByte, 10MByte, 20MByte, 100MByte and 500MByte to simulate application workloads that do large sequential (or random) activity. I tried some IO sizes (e.g. specified by -b parameter larger than 500MB however, I received various errors including "Could not allocate a buffer bytes for target" which means that Diskspd can do IO sizes smaller than that. While not able to do IO sizes larger than 500MB, this is actually impressive. Several other tools I have used or with have IO size limits down around 10MByte which makes it difficult for creating workloads that do large IOP’s (note this is the IOP size, not the number of IOP’s).
Oh, something else that should be obvious however will state it, Diskspd is free unlike some industry de-facto standard tools or workload generators that need a fee to get and use.
For some users a GUI or configuration wizard would make the tool easier to get started with, on the other hand (oth), I tend to use the command capabilities of tools. Would also be nice to specify ranges as part of a single command such as stepping through an IO size range (e.g. 4K, 8K, 16K, 1MB, 10MB) as well as read write percentages along with varying random sequential mixes. Granted this can easily be done by having a series of commands, however I have become spoiled by using other tools such as vdbench.
Overall I like Diskspd and have added it to my Server Storage I/O workload and benchmark tool-box
Keep in mind that the best benchmark or workload generation technology tool will be your own application(s) configured to run as close as possible to production activity levels.
However when that is not possible, the an alternative is to use tools that have the flexibility to be configured as close as possible to your application(s) workload characteristics. This means that the focus should not be as much on the tool, as opposed to how flexible is a tool to work for you, granted the tool needs to be robust.
Having said that, Microsoft Diskspd is a good and extensible tool for benchmarking, simulation, validation and comparisons, however it will only be as good as the parameters and configuration you set it up to use.
Check out Microsoft Diskspd and add it to your benchmark and server storage I/O tool-box like I have done.
Ok, nuff said (for now)
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
Green IT is about enabling efficient, effective and productive information services delivery. There is a growing green gap between green hype messaging or green washing and IT pain point issues including limits on availability or rising costs of power, cooling, floor-space as well as e-waste and environmental health and safety (PCFE). To close the gap will involve addressing green messaging and rhetoric closer to where IT organizations pain points are and where budget dollars exists that can address PCFE and other green related issues as a by-product. The green gap will also be narrowed as awareness of broader green related topics coincide with IT data center pain points, in other words, alignment of messaging with IT issues that have or will have budget dollars allocated towards them to sustain business and economic growth via IT resource usage efficiency. Read more here.
There are many aspects to "Green" Information Technology including servers, storage, networks and associated management tools and techniques. The reasons and focus of "Green IT" including "Green Data Storage ", "Green Computing" and related focus areas are varied to discuss diverse needs, issues and requirements including among others:
While much of the IT industry focuses on CO2 emissions footprints, data management software and electrical power consumption, cooling and ventilation of IT data centers is an area of focus associated with "Green IT" as well as a means to discuss more effective use of electrical energy that can yield rapid results for many environments. Large tier-1 vendors including HP and IBM among others who have an IT and data center wide focus have services designed to do quick assessments as well as detailed analysis and re-organization of IT data center physical facilities to improve air flow and power consumption for more effective cooling of IT technologies including servers, storage, networks and other equipment.
Similar to your own residence, basic steps to improve your cooling effectiveness can lead to use of less energy to cut your budget impact, or, enable you to do more with what you already have with your cooling capacity to support growth, acquisitions and or consolidation initiatives. Vendors are also looking at means and alternatives for cooling IT equipment ranging from computer assisted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software analysis of data center cooling and ventilation to refrigerated cooling racks some leveraging water or inert liquid cooling.
Various metrics exists and others are evolving for measuring, estimating, reporting, analyzing and discussing IT Data Center infrastructure resource topics including servers, storage, networks, facilities and associated software management tools from a power, cooling and green environmental standpoint. The importance of metrics is to focus on the larger impact of a piece of IT equipment that includes its cost and energy consumption that factors in cooling and other hosting or site environmental costs. Naturally energy costs and CO2 (carbon offsets) will vary by geography and region along with type of electrical power being used (Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Wind, Thermo, Solar, etc) and other factors that should be kept in perspective as part of the big picture.
Consequently your view and needs or interests around "Green" IT may be from an electrical power conservation perspective to maximize your power consumption or to adapt to a given power footprint or ceiling. Your focus around "Green" Data Centers and Green Storage may be from a carbon savings standpoint or proper disposition of old and retired IT equipment or from a data center cooling standpoint. Another area of focus may be that you are looking to cut your data footprint to align with your power, cooling and green footprint while enhancing application and data service delivery to your customers.
The following are useful links to related efficient, effective, productive, flexible, scalable and resilient IT data center along with server storage I/O networking hardware and software that supports cloud and virtual green data centers.
Various IT industry vendor and service provider links
Green and Virtual Data Center: Productive Economical Efficient Effective Flexible
Green and Virtual Data Center links
Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD?
Closing the Green Gap
Energy efficient technology sales depend on the pitch
The result of a green and virtual data center is that of a flexible, agile, resilient, scalable information factory that is also economical, productive, efficient, productive as well as sustainable.
Ok, nuff said (for now)
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
A Green and Virtual IT Data Center (e.g. an information factory) means an environment comprising:
Green and Virtual Data Center Resources
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Productive Efficient Effective Economical Flexible Agile and SustainableGreen hype and green washing may be on the endangered species list and going away, however, green IT for servers, storage, networks, facilities as well as related software and management techniques that address energy efficiency including power and cooling along with e-waste, environmental health and safety related issues are topics that wont be going away anytime soon. There is a growing green gap between green hype messaging or green washing and IT pain point issues including limits on availability or rising costs of power, cooling, floor-space as well as e-waste and environmental health and safety (PCFE). To close the gap will involve addressing green messaging and rhetoric closer to where IT organizations pain points are and where budget dollars exists that can address PCFE and other green related issues as a by-product. The green gap will also be narrowed as awareness of broader green related topics coincide with IT data center pain points, in other words, alignment of messaging with IT issues that have or will have budget dollars allocated towards them to sustain business and economic growth via IT resource usage efficiency. Read more here. |
The following are useful links to related efficient, effective, productive, flexible, scalable and resilient IT data center along with server storage I/O networking hardware and software that supports cloud and virtual green data centers.
Various IT industry vendor and service provider links
Green and Virtual Data Center Primer
Green and Virtual Data Center links
Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD?
Closing the Green Gap
Energy efficient technology sales depend on the pitch
EPA Energy Star for Data Center Storage Update
EPA Energy Star for data center storage draft 3 specification
Green IT Confusion Continues, Opportunities Missed!
Green IT deferral blamed on economic recession might be result of green gap
How much SSD do you need vs. want?
How to reduce your Data Footprint impact (Podcast)
Industry trend: People plus data are aging and living longer
In the data center or information factory, not everything is the same
More storage and IO metrics that matter
Optimizing storage capacity and performance to reduce your data footprint
Performance metrics: Evaluating your data storage efficiency
PUE, Are you Managing Power, Energy or Productivity?
Saving Money with Green Data Storage Technology
Saving Money with Green IT: Time To Invest In Information Factories
Shifting from energy avoidance to energy efficiency
SNIA Green Storage Knowledge Center
Speaking of speeding up business with SSD storage
SSD and Green IT moving beyond green washing
Storage Efficiency and Optimization: The Other Green
Supporting IT growth demand during economic uncertain times
The Green and Virtual Data Center Book (CRC Press, Intel Recommended Reading)
The new Green IT: Efficient, Effective, Smart and Productive
The other Green Storage: Efficiency and Optimization
What is the best kind of IO? The one you do not have to do
Watch for more links and resources to be added soon.
The result of a green and virtual data center is that of a flexible, agile, resilient, scalable information factory that is also economical, productive, efficient, productive as well as sustainable.
Ok, nuff said (for now)
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
Updated 10/25/2017
Green hype and green washing may be on the endangered species list and going away, however, green IT for servers, storage, networks, facilities as well as related software and management techniques that address energy efficiency including power and cooling along with e-waste, environmental health and safety related issues are topics that wont be going away anytime soon.
There is a growing green gap between green hype messaging or green washing and IT pain point issues including limits on availability or rising costs of power, cooling, floor-space as well as e-waste and environmental health and safety (PCFE).
To close the gap will involve addressing green messaging and rhetoric closer to where IT organizations pain points are and where budget dollars exists that can address PCFE and other green related issues as a by-product. The green gap will also be narrowed as awareness of broader green related topics coincide with IT data center pain points, in other words, alignment of messaging with IT issues that have or will have budget dollars allocated towards them to sustain business and economic growth via IT resource usage efficiency. Read more here.
The following are useful links to related efficient, effective, productive, flexible, scalable and resilient IT data center along with server storage I/O networking hardware and software that supports cloud and virtual green data centers.
Various IT industry vendors and other links
Via StorageIOblog – Happy Earth Day 2016 Eliminating Digital and Data e-Waste
Green and Virtual Data Center Primer
Green and Virtual Data Center: Productive Economical Efficient Effective Flexible
Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD?
Closing the Green Gap
Energy efficient technology sales depend on the pitch
EPA Energy Star for Data Center Storage Update
EPA Energy Star for data center storage draft 3 specification
Green IT Confusion Continues, Opportunities Missed!
Green IT deferral blamed on economic recession might be result of green gap
How much SSD do you need vs. want?
How to reduce your Data Footprint impact (Podcast)
Industry trend: People plus data are aging and living longer
In the data center or information factory, not everything is the same
More storage and IO metrics that matter
Optimizing storage capacity and performance to reduce your data footprint
Performance metrics: Evaluating your data storage efficiency
PUE, Are you Managing Power, Energy or Productivity?
Saving Money with Green Data Storage Technology
Saving Money with Green IT: Time To Invest In Information Factories
Shifting from energy avoidance to energy efficiency
SNIA Green Storage Knowledge Center
Speaking of speeding up business with SSD storage
SSD and Green IT moving beyond green washing
Storage Efficiency and Optimization: The Other Green
Supporting IT growth demand during economic uncertain times
The Green and Virtual Data Center Book (CRC Press, Intel Recommended Reading)
The new Green IT: Efficient, Effective, Smart and Productive
The other Green Storage: Efficiency and Optimization
What is the best kind of IO? The one you do not have to do
 | Click here to learn about "The Green and Virtual Data Center" book (CRC Press) for enabling efficient , productive IT data centers. This book covers cloud, virtualization, servers, storage, networks, software, facilities and associated management topics, technologies and techniques including metrics that matter. This book by industry veteran IT advisor and author Greg Schulz is the definitive guide for enabling economic efficiency and productive next generation data center strategies. Read more here and order your copyhere. Also check out Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press) a new book by Greg Schulz. |
White papers, analyst reports and perspectivesBusiness benefits of data footprint reduction (archiving, compression, de-dupe) Data center I/O and performance issues – Server I/O and storage capacity gap Analysis of EPA Report to Congress (Law 109-431) The Many Faces of MAID Storage Technology Achieving Energy Efficiency with FLASH based SSD MAID 2.0: Energy Savings without Performance Compromises Articles, Tips, Blogs, Webcasts and Podcasts AP – SNIA Green Emerald Program and measurements AP – Southern California heat wave strains electrical system Ars Technica – EPA: Power usage in data centers could double by 2011 Ars Technica – Meet the climate savers: Major tech firms launch war on energy-inefficient PCs – Article Askageek.com – Buying an environmental friendly laptop – November 2008 Baseline – Examining Energy Consumption in the Data Center Baseline – Burts Bees: What IT Means When You Go Green Bizcovering – Green architecture for the masses Broadstuff – Are Green 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 Incompatible? Business Week – CEO Guide to Technology Business Week – Computers’ elusive eco factor Business Week – Clean Energy – Its Getting Affordable Byte & Switch – Keeping it Green This Summer – Don’t be "Green washed" Byte & Switch – IBM Sees Green in Energy Certificates Byte & Switch – Users Search for power solutions Byte & Switch – DoE issues Green Storage Warning CBR – The Green Light for Green IT CBR – Big boxes make greener data centers CFO – Power Scourge Channel Insider – A 12 Step Program to Dispose of IT Equipment China.org.cn – China publishes Energy paper CIO – Green Storage Means Money Saved on Power CIO – Data center designers share secrets for going green CIO – Best Place to Build a Data Center in North America CIO Insight – Clever Marketing or the Real Thing? Cleantechnica – Cooling Data Centers Could Prevent Massive Electrical Waste – June 2008 Climatebiz – Carbon Calculators Yield Spectrum of Results: Study CNET News – Linux coders tackle power efficiency CNET News – Research: Old data centers can be nearly as ‘green’ as new ones CNET News – Congress, Greenpeace move on e-wast CNN Money – A Green Collar Recession CNN Money – IBM creates alliance with industry leaders supporting new data center standards Communication News – Utility bills key to greener IT Computerweekly – Business case for green storage Computerweekly – Optimising data centre operations Computerweekly – Green still good for IT, if it saves money Computerweekly – Meeting the Demands for storage Computerworld – Wells Fargo Free Data Center Cooling System Computerworld – Seven ways to get green and save money Computerworld – Build your data center here: The most energy-efficient locations Computerworld – EPA: U.S. needs more power plants to support data centers Computerworld – GreenIT: A marketing ploy or new technology? Computerworld – Gartner Criticizes Green Grid Computerworld – IT Skills no longer sufficient for data center execs. Computerworld – Meet MAID 2.0 and Intelligent Power Management Computerworld – Feds to offer energy ratings on servers and storage Computerworld – Greenpeace still hunting for truly green electronics Computerworld – How to benchmark data center energy costs ComputerworldUK – Datacenters at risk from poor governance ComputerworldUK – Top IT Leaders Back Green Survey ComputerworldMH – Lean and Green CTR – Strategies for enhancing energy efficiency CTR – Economies of Scale – Green Data Warehouse Appliances Datacenterknowledge – Microsoft to build Illinois datacenter Data Center Strategies – Storage The Next Hot Topic Earthtimes – Fujitsu installs hydrogen fuel cell power eChannelline – IBM Goes Green(er) Ecoearth.info – California Moves To Speed Solar, Wind Power Grid Connections Ecogeek – Solar power company figures they can power 90% of America Economist – Cool IT Electronic Design – How many watts in that Gigabyte eMazzanti – Desktop virtualization movement creeping into customer sites ens-Newswire – Western Governors Ask Obama for National Green Energy Plan Environmental Leader – Best Place to Build an Energy Efficient Data Center Environmental Leader – New Guide Helps Advertisers Avoid Greenwash Complaints Enterprise Storage Forum – Power Struggles Take Center Stage at SNW Enterprise Storage Forum – Pace Yourself for Storage Power & Cooling Needs Enterprise Storage Forum – Storage Power and Cooling Issues Heat Up – StorageIO Article Enterprise Storage Forum – Score Savings With A Storage Power Play Enterprise Storage Forum – I/O, I/O, Its off to Virtual Work I Go Enterprise Storage Forum – Not Just a Flash in the Pan – Various SSD options Enterprise Storage Forum – Closing the Green Gap – Article August 2008 EPA Report to Congress and Public Law 109-431 – Reports & links eWeek – Saving Green by being Green eWeek – ‘No Cooling Necessary’ Data Centers Coming? eWeek – How the ‘Down’ Macroeconomy Will Impact the Data Storage Sector ExpressComputer – In defense of Green IT ExpressComputer – What data center crisis Forbes – How to Build a Quick Charging Battery GCN – Sun launches eco data center GreenerComputing – New Code of Conduct to Establish Best Practices in Green Data Centers GreenerComputing – Silicon valley’s green detente GreenerComputing – Majority of companies plan to green their data centers GreenerComputing – Citigroup to spend $232M on Green Data Center GreenerComputing – Chicago and Quincy, WA Top Green Data Center Locations GreenerComputing – Using airside economizers to chill data center cooling bills GreenerComputing – Making the most of asset disposal GreenerComputing – Greenpeace vendor rankings GreenerComputing – Four Steps to Improving Data Center Efficiency without Capital Expenditures GreenerComputing – Enabling a Green and Virtual Data Center Green-PC – Strategic Steps Down the Green Path Greeniewatch – BBC news chiefs attack plans for climate change campaign Greeniewatch – Warmest year predictions and data that has not yet been measured GoverenmentExecutive – Public Private Sectors Differ on "Green" Efforts HPC Wire – How hot is your code Industry Standard – Why green data centers mean partner opportunities InformationWeek – It could be 15 years before we know what is really green InformationWeek – Beyond Server Consolidaiton InformationWeek – Green IT Beyond Virtualization: The Case For Consolidation InfoWorld – Sun celebrates green datacenter innovations InfoWorld – Tech’s own datacenters are their green showrooms InfoWorld – 2007: The Year in Green InfoWorld – Green Grid Announces Tech Forum in Feb 2008 InfoWorld – SPEC seeds future green-server benchmarks InfoWorld – Climate Savers green catalog proves un-ripe InfoWorld – Forester: Eco-minded activity up among IT pros InfoWorld – Green ventures in Silicon Valley, Mass reaped most VC cash in ’07 InfoWorld – Congress misses chance to see green-energy growth InfoWorld – Unisys pushes green envelope with datacenter expansion InfoWorld – No easy green strategy for storage Internet News – Storage Technologies for a Slowing Economy Internet News – Economy will Force IT to Transform ITManagement – Green Computing, Green Revenue itnews – Data centre chiefs dismiss green hype itnews – Australian Green IT regulations could arrive this year IT Pro – SNIA Green storage metrics released ITtoolbox – MAID discussion Linux Power – Saving power with Linux on Intel platforms MSNBC – Microsoft to build data center in Ireland National Post – Green technology at the L.A. Auto Show Network World – Turning the datacenter green Network World – Color Interop Green Network World – Green not helpful word for setting environmental policies NewScientistEnvironment – Computer servers as bad for climate as SUVs Newser – Texas commission approves nation’s largest wind power project New Yorker – Big Foot: In measuring carbon emissions, it’s easy to confuse morality and science NY Times – What the Green Bubble Will Leave Behind PRNewswire – Al Gore and Cisco CEO John Chambers to debate climate change Processor – More than just monitoring Processor – The new data center: What’s hot in Data Center physical infrastructure: Processor – Liquid Cooling in the Data Center Processor – Curbing IT Power Usage Processor – Services To The Rescue – Services Available For Today’s Data Centers Processor – Green Initiatives: Hire A Consultant? Processor – Energy-Saving Initiatives Processor – The EPA’s Low Carbon Campaig Processor – Data Center Power Planning SAN Jose Mercury – Making Data Centers Green SDA-Asia – Green IT still a priority despite Credit Crunch SearchCIO – EPA report gives data centers little guidance SearchCIO – Green IT Strategies Could Lead to hefty ROIs SearchCIO – Green IT In the Data Center: Plenty of Talk, not much Walk SearchCIO – Green IT Overpitched by Vendors, CIOs beware SearchDataCenter – Study ranks cheapest places to build a data center SearchDataCenter – Green technology still ranks low for data center planners SearchDataCenter – Green Data Center: Energy Effiecnty Computing in the 21st Century SearchDataCenter – Green Data Center Advice: Is LEED Feasible SearchDataCenter – Green Data Centers Tackle LEED Certification SearchDataCenter – PG&E invests in data center effieicny SearchDataCenter – A solar powered datacenter SearchSMBStorage – Improve your storage energy efficiency SearchSMBStorage – SMB capacity planning: Focusing on energy conservation SearchSMBStorage – Data footprint reduction for SMBs SearchSMBStorage – MAID & other energy-saving storage technologies for SMBs SearchStorage – How to increase your storage energy efficiency SearchStorage – Is storage now top energy hog in the data center SearchStorage – Storage eZine: Turning Storage Green SearchStorage – The Green Storage Gap SearchStorageChannel – Green Data Storage Projects Silicon.com – The greening of IT: Cooling costs SNIA – SNIA Green Storage Overview SNIA – Green Storage SNW – Beyond Green-wash SNW Spring 2008 Beyond Green-wash State.org – Why Texas Has Its Own Power Grid StorageDecisions – Different Shades of Green Storage Magazine – Storage still lacks energy metrics StorageIOblog – Posts pertaining to Green, power, cooling, floor-space, EHS (PCFE) Storage Search – Various postings, news and topics pertaining to Green IT Technology Times – Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches TechTarget – Data center power efficiency TechTarget – Tip for determining power consumption Techworld – Inside a green data center Techworld – Box reduction – Low hanging green datacenter fruit Techworld – Datacentere used to heat swimming pool Theinquirer – Spansion and Virident flash server farms Theinquirer – Storage firms worry about energy efficiency How green is the valley TheRegister – Data Centre Efficiency, the good, the bad and the way to hot TheRegister – Server makers snub whalesong for serious windmill abuse TheRegister – Green data center threat level: Not Green The Standard – Growing cynicism around going Green ThoughtPut – Energy Central Thoughtput – Power, Cooling, Green Storage and related industry trends Wallstreet Journal – Utilities Amp Up Push To Slash Energy Use Wallstreet Journal – The IT in Green Investing Wallstreet Journal – Tech’s Energy Consumption on the Rise Washingtonpost – Texas approves major new wind power project WhatPC – Green IT: It doesnt have to cost the earth WHIRnews – SingTel building green data center Wind-watch.org – Loss of wind causes Texas power grid emergency WyomingNews – Overcoming Greens Stereotype Yahoo – Washington Senate Unviel Green Job Plan ZDnet – Will supercomputer speeds hit a plateau? Are data centers causing climate change News and Press Releases Business Wire – The Green and Virtual Data Center Enterprise Storage Forum – Intel and HGST (Hitachi) partner on FLASH SSD PCworld – Intel and HP describe Green Strategy DoE – To Invest Approximately $1.3 Billion to Commercialize CCS Technology Yahoo – Shell Opens Los Angeles’ First Combined Hydrogen and Gasoline Station DuPont – DuPont Projects Save Enough Energy to Power 25,000 Homes Gartner – Users Are Becoming Increasingly Confused About the Issues and Solutions Surrounding Green IT Websites and Tools Various power, cooling, emmisions and device configuration tools and calculators Solar Action Alliance web site SNIA Emerald program Carbon Disclosure Project The Chicago Climate Exchange Climate Savers Data Center Decisions Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) EMC – Digital Life Calculator Energy Star Energy Star Data Center Initiatives Greenpeace – Technology ranking website also here GlobalActionPlan KyotoPlanet LBNL High Tech Data centers Millicomputing RoHS & WEE News Storage Performance Council (SPC) SNIA Green Technical Working Group SPEC Transaction Processing Council (TPC) The Green Grid The Raised Floor Terra Pass Carbon Offset Credits – Website with CO2 calculators Energy Information Administration – EIA (US and International Electrical Information) U.S. Department of Energy and related information U.S. DOE Energy Efficient Industrial Programs U.S. EPA server and storage energy topics Zerofootprint – Various "Green" and environmental related links and calculators Vendor Centric and Marketing Website Links and toolsVendors and organizations have different types of calculators some with focus on power, cooling, floor space, carbon offsets or emissions, ROI, TCO and other IT data center infrastructure resource management. Following is an evolving list and by no means definitive even for a particular vendors as different manufactures may have multiple different calculators for different product lines or areas of focus. Brocade – Green website Cisco – Green and Environmental websites here, here and here Dell – Green website EMC – EMC Energy, Power and Cooling Related Website HDS – How to be green – HDS Positioning White Paper HP – HP Green Website IBM – Green Data Center – IBM Positioning White Paper IBM – Green Data Center for Education – IBM Positioning White Paper Intel – What is an Efficient Data Center and how do I measure it? LSI – Green site and white paper NetApp – Press Release and related information Sun – Various articles and links Symantec – Global 2000 Struggle to Adopt "Green" Data Centers – Announcement of Survey results ACTON Adinfa APC Australian Conservation Foundation Avocent BBC Brocade Carbon Credit Calculator UK Carbon Footprint Site Carbon Planet Carbonify CarbonZero Cassatt CO2 Stats Site Copan Dell DirectGov UK Acton Diesel Service & Supply Power Calculator & Converter Eaton Powerware Ecobusinesslinks Ecoscale EMC Power Calculator EMC Web Power Calculator EMC Digital Life Calculator EPA Power Profiler EPA Related Tools EPEAT Google UK Green Footprint Green Grid Calculator HP and more here HVAC Calculator IBM Logicalis Kohler Power (Business and Residential) Micron MSN Carbon Footprint Calculator National Wildlife Foundation NEF UK NetApp Rackwise Platespin Safecom Sterling Planet Sun and more here and here and here Tandberg TechRepublic TerraPass Carbon Offset Credits Thomas Kreen AG Toronto Hydro Calculator 80 Plus Calculator VMware 42u Green Grid PUE DCiE calculator 42u energy calculator Green and Virtual Tools
Green and Virtual Metrics
Disclaimer and notesDisclaimer and note: URL’s submitted for inclusion on this site will be reviewed for consideration and to be in generally accepted good taste in regards to the theme of this site. Best effort has been made to validate and verify the URLs that appear on this page and web site however they are subject to change. The author and/or maintainer’s) of this page and web site make no endorsement to and assume no responsibility for the URLs and their content that are listed on this page. |
The result of a green and virtual data center is that of a flexible, agile, resilient, scalable information factory that is also economical, productive, efficient, productive as well as sustainable.
Ok, nuff said (for now)
Cheers gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
|
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
|
Ok, nuff said (for now)
Cheers
Gs
Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio
All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved
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August 2014 Industry trend and perspectives
The following is a synopsis of some StorageIOblog posts, articles and comments in different venues on various industry trends, perspectives and related themes about clouds, virtualization, data and storage infrastructure topics among related themes. StorageIO comments and perspectives in the news
Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI) remains a popular industry and IT customer topic, not to mention being one of the favorite themes of Solid State Device (SSD) vendors. SSD component and system solution vendors along with their supporters love VDI as the by-product of aggregation (e.g. consolidation) which applies to VDI is aggravation. Aggravation is the result of increased storage I/O performance (IOP’s, bandwidth, response time) from consolidating the various desktops. It should not be a surprise that some of the biggest fans encouraging organizations to adopt VDI are the SSD vendors. Read some of my comments and perspectives on VDI here at FedTech Magazine. Speaking of virtualizing the data center, software defined data centers (SDDC) along with software defined networking (SDN) and software defined storage (SDS) remain popular including some software defined marketing (SDM). Here are some of my comments and perspectives moving beyond the hype of SDDC.
Recently the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) who works with the T11 standards body of both legacy or classic Fibre Channel (FC) as well as newer FC over Ethernet (FCoE) made some announcements. These announcements including enhancements such as Fibre Channel Back Bone version 6 (FC-BB-6) among others. Both FC and FCoE are alive and doing well, granted one has been around longer (FC) and can be seen at its plateau while the other (FCoE) continues to evolve and grow in adoption. In some ways, FCoE is in a similar role today to where FC was in the late 90s and early 2000s ironically facing some common fud. You can read my comments here as part of a quote in support of the announcement , along with my more industry trend perspectives in this blog post here. Buyers guides are popular with both vendors, VAR’s as well as IT organizations (e.g. customers) following are some of my comments and industry trend perspectives appearing in Enterprise Storage Forum. Here are perspectives on buyers guides for Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS), Unified Data Storage and Object Storage. EMC has come under pressure as mentioned in earlier StorageIO update newsletters to increase its shareholder benefit including spin-off of VMware. Here are some of my comments and perspectives that appeared in CruxialCIO. Read more industry trends perspectives comments on the StorageIO news page. StorageIO video and audio pod casts
StorageIOblog posts and perspectives
Despite being declared dead, traditional or classic Fibre Channel (FC) along with FC over Ethernet (FCoE) continues to evolve with FC-BB-6, read more here. VMworld 2014 took place this past week and included announcements about EVO:Rack and Rail (more on this in a future edition). You can get started learning about EVO:Rack and RAIL at Duncan Epping (aka @DuncanYB) Yellow Bricks site. VMware Virtual SAN (VSAN) is at the heart of EVO which you can read an overview here in this earlier StorageIO update newsletter (March 2014).
Also watch for some extra content that I’m working on including some video podcasts articles and blog posts from my trip to VMworld 2014. However one of the themes in the background of VMworld 2014 is the current beta of VMware vSphere V6 along with Virtual Volumes aka VVOL’s. The following are a couple of my recent posts including primer overview of VVOL’s along with a poll you can cast your vote. Check out Are VMware VVOL’s in your virtual server and storage I/O future? and VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals (Part 1) along with (Part 2). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
StorageIO events and activities The StorageIO calendar continues to evolve including several new events being added for September and well into the fall with more in the works including upcoming Dutch European sessions the week of October 6th in Nijkerk Holland (learn more here). The following are some upcoming September events. These include live in-person seminars, conferences, keynote and speaking activities as well as on-line webinars, twitter chats, Google+ hangouts among others.
Note: Dates, times, venues and subject contents subject to change, refer to events page for current status Click here to view other upcoming along with earlier event activities. Watch for more 2014 events to be added soon to the StorageIO events calendar page. Topics include data protection modernization (backup/restore, HA, BC, DR, archive), data footprint reduction (archive, compression, dedupe), storage optimization, SSD, object storage, server and storage virtualization, software defined, big data, little data, cloud and object storage, performance and management trends among others. Vendors, VAR’s and event organizers, give us a call or send an email to discuss having us involved in your upcoming pod cast, web cast, virtual seminar, conference or other events. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Server and StorageIO Technology Tips and Tools In addition to the industry trends and perspectives comments in the news mentioned above, along with the StorageIO blog posts, the following are some of my recent articles and tips that have appeared in various industry venues.
Over at the new Storage Acceleration site I have a couple of pieces, the first is What, When, Why & How to Accelerate Storage and the other is Tips for Measuring Your Storage Acceleration. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
StorageIO Update Newsletter ArchivesClick here to view earlier StorageIO Update newsletters (HTML and PDF versions) at www.storageio.com/newsletter. Subscribe to this newsletter (and pass it along) by clicking here (Via Secure Campaigner site). View archives of past StorageIO update news letters as well as download PDF versions at: www.storageio.com/newsletter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ok, nuff said (for now) Cheers gs Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier) All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
