Poll Archives

January 25, 2018November 26, 2023

Data Infrastructure Resource Links cloud data protection tradecraft trends

Data Infrastructure Resource Links Server Storage I/O Network

By Greg Schulz – www.storageioblog.com April 28, 2018

Various data infrastructure resource links.

The following are a collection of server storageioblog data infrastructure resource links.

Where to learn more

Additional learning experiences along with common questions (and answers), as well as tips can be found in Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials book.

What This All Means

Check out the above links to data infrastructure resource links.

Ok, nuff said, for now.

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.

March 7, 2015March 7, 2022

Top vblog voting V2.015 (Its IT award season, cast your votes)

Storage I/O trends

It’s that time of the year again for award season:

The motion picture association Academy awards (e.g. the Oscars)
The Grammys and other entertainment awards
As well as Eric Siebert (aka @ericsiebert) vsphere-land.com top vblog

Vsphere-land.com top vblog

Eric has run for several years now an annual top VMware, Virtualization, Storage and related blogs voting now taking place until March 16th 2015 (click on the image below). You will find a nice mix of new school, old school and a few current or future school theme blogs represented with some being more VMware specific. However there are also many blogs at the vpad site that have a cloud, virtual, server, storage, networking, software defined, development and other related themes.

top vblog voting
Click on the above image to cast your vote for favorite:

Ten blogs (e.g. select up to ten and then rank 1 through 10)
Storage blog
Scripting blog
VDI blog
New Blogger
Independent Blogger (e.g. non-vendor)
News/Information Web site
Podcast

Call to action, take a moment to cast your vote

My StorageIOblog.com has been on the vLaunchPad site for several years now as well as having syndicated content that also appears via some of the other venues listed there.

In addition to my StorageIOblog and podcast, you will also find many of my fellow VMware vExperts among others at the vLaunchpad site so check them out as well.

What this means

This is a people’s choice process (yes it is a popularity process of sorts as well) however also a way of rewarding or thanking those who take time to create and share content with you and others. If you take time to read various blogs, listen to podcasts as well as consume other content, please take a few moments and cast your vote here (thank you in advance) which I hope includes StorageIOblog.com as part of the top ten, as well as being nominated in the Storage, Podcast and Independent blogger categories.

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

August 31, 2014November 26, 2023

August 2014 Server and StorageIO Update newsletter

Welcome to the August 2014 edition of the StorageIO Update (newsletter) containing trends perspectives on cloud, virtualization, software defined and data infrastructure topics. This past week I along with around 22,000 others attended VMworld 2014 in San Francisco. For those of you in Europe, VMworld Barcelona is October 14-16 2014 with registration and more information found here. Watch for more post VMworld coverage in upcoming newsletters, articles, posts along with other industry trend topics. Enjoy this edition of the StorageIO Update newsletter and look forward to catching up with you live or online while out and about this fall.

Greg Schulz @StorageIO

August 2014 Industry trend and perspectives

StorageIO Industry Trends 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

StorageIO 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.

FCIA Fibre Channel Industry Association

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 post
StorageIO audio podcasts are also available via
and at StorageIO.tv

StorageIOblog posts and perspectives

StorageIOblog post

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).

VMware VSAN example

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

Server and StorageIO seminars, conferences, web cats, events, 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.

Sep 25 2014	MSP CMG	Server and StorageIO SSD industry trends perspectives and tips	TBA 9:30AM CT
Sep 18 2014	InfoWorld	Hybrid Storage In Government	Webinar 2:30PM ET
Sep 18 2014		Converged Storage and Storage Convergence	Webinar 9AM PT
Sep 17 2014		Data Center Convergence	Webinar 1PM PT
Sep 16 2014		Critical Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery	Webinar Noon PT
Sep 16 2014	Starwind Software	Software Defined Storage and Virtual SAN for Microsoft environments	Webinar 1PM CT
Sep 16 2014	Dell BackupU	Exploring the Data Protection Toolbox – Data and Application Replication	Google+ 9AM PT
Sep 2 2014	Dell BackupU	Exploring the Data Protection Toolbox – Data and Application Replication	Online Webinar 11AM PT

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

Server and StorageIO seminars, conferences, web cats, events, activities

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.

Storage Acceleration

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.
Meanwhile over at Search Storage I have a piece covering What is the difference between a storage snapshot and a clone? and at Search Cloud Storage some tips about What’s most important to know about my cloud privacy policy?. Also with Software Defined in the news and a popular industry topic, I have a piece over at Enterprise Storage Forum looking at Has Software Defined Jumped the Shark? Check out these and others on the StorageIO tips and articles page.

StorageIO Update Newsletter Archives

Click 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)
twitter @storageio

August 24, 2014June 13, 2021

VMware VVOLs and storage I/O fundementals (Part 2)

VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals (Part II)

Note that this is a three part series with the first piece here (e.g. Are VMware VVOL’s in your virtual server and storage I/O future?), the second piece here (e.g.VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals Part 1) and the third piece here (e.g. VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals Part 2).

Picking up from where we left off in the first part of the VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals, lets take a closer look at VVOL’s.

First however lets be clear that while VMware uses terms including object and object storage in the context of VVOL’s, its not the same as some other object storage solutions. Learn more about object storage here at www.objectstoragecenter.com

Are VVOL’s accessed like other object storage (e.g. S3)?

No, VVOL’s are accessed via the VMware software and associated API’s that are supported by various storage providers. VVOL’s are not LUN’s like regular block (e.g. DAS or SAN) storage that use SAS, iSCSI, FC, FCoE, IBA/SRP, nor are they NAS volumes like NFS mount points. Likewise VVOL’s are not accessed using any of the various object storage access methods mentioned above (e.g. AWS S3, Rest, CDMI, etc) instead they are an application specific implementation. For some of you this approach of an applications specific or unique storage access method may be new, perhaps revolutionary, otoh, some of you might be having a DejaVu moment right about now.

VVOL is not a LUN in the context of what you may know and like (or hate, even if you have never worked with them), likewise it is not a NAS volume like you know (or have heard of), neither are they objects in the context of what you might have seen or heard such as S3 among others.

Keep in mind that what makes up a VMware virtual machine are the VMK, VMDK and some other files (shown in the figure below), and if enough information is known about where those blocks of data are or can be found, they can be worked upon. Also keep in mind that at least near-term, block is the lowest common denominator that all file systems and object repositories get built-up.

VMware ESXi basic storage I/O
VMware ESXi storage I/O, IOPS and data store basics

Here is the thing, while VVOL’s will be accessible via a block interface such as iSCSI, FC or FCoE or for that matter, over Ethernet based IP using NFS. Think of these storage interfaces and access mechanisms as the general transport for how vSphere ESXi will communicate with the storage system (e.g. their data path) under vCenter management.

What is happening inside the storage system that will be presented back to ESXi will be different than a normal SCSI LUN contents and only understood by VMware hypervisor. ESXi will still tell the storage system what it wants to do including moving blocks of data. The storage system however will have more insight and awareness into the context of what those blocks of data mean. This is how the storage systems will be able to more closely integrate snapshots, replication, cloning and other functions by having awareness into which data to move, as opposed to moving or working with an entire LUN where a VMDK may live. Keep in mind that the storage system will still function as it normally would, just think of VVOL as another or new personality and access mechanism used for VMware to communicate and manage storage.

VMware VVOL basics
VMware VVOL concepts (in general) with VMDK being pushed down into the storage system

Think in terms of the iSCSI (or FC or something else) for block or NFS for NAS as being the addressing mechanism to communicate between ESXi and the storage array, except instead of traditional SCSI LUN access and mapping, more work and insight is pushed down into the array. Also keep in mind that with a LUN, it is simply an address from what to use Logical Block Numbers or Logical Block Addresses. In the case of a storage array, it in turn manages placement of data on SSD or HDDs in turn using blocks aka LBA/LBN’s In other words, a host that does not speak VVOL would get an error if trying to use a LUN or target on a storage system that is a VVOL, that’s assuming it is not masked or hidden ;).

What’s the Storage Provider (SP)

The Storage Provider aka SP is created by the, well, the provider of the storage system or appliance leveraging a VMware API (hint, sign up for the beta and there is an SDK). Simply put, the SP is a two-way communication mechanism leveraging VASA for reporting information, configuration and other insight up to VMware ESXi hypervisor, vCenter and other management tools. In addition the storage provider receives VASA configuration information from VMware about how to configure the storage system (e.g. storage containers). Keep in mind that the SP is the out of band management interface between the storage system supporting and presenting VVOL’s and VMware hypervisors.

What’s the Storage Container (SC)

This is a storage pool created on the storage array or appliance (e.g. VMware vCenter works with array and storage provider (SP) to create) in place of using a normal LUN. With a SP and PE, the storage container becomes visible to ESXi hosts, VVOL’s can be created in the storage container until it runs out of space. Also note that the storage container takes on the storage profile assigned to it which are inherited by the VVOLs in it. This is in place of presenting LUN’s to ESXi that you can then create VMFS data stores (or use as raw) and then carve storage to VMs.

Protocol endpoint (PE)

The PE provides visibility for the VMware hypervisor to see and access VMDK’s and other objects (e.g. .vmx, swap, etc) stored in VVOL’s. The protocol endpoint (PE) manages or directs I/O received from the VM enabling scaling across many virtual volumes leveraging multipathing of the PE (inherited by the VVOL’s.). Note that for storage I/O operations, the PE is simply a pass thru mechanism and does not store the VMDK or other contents. If using iSCSI, FC, FCoE or other SAN interface, then the PE works on a LUN basis (again not actually storing data), and if using NAS NFS, then with a mount point. Key point is that the PE gets out-of-the-way.

VVOL Poll

What are you VVOL plans, view results and cast your vote here

Wrap up (for now)

There certainly are many more details to VVOL’s. that you can get a preview of in the beta, a well as via various demos, webinars, VMworld sessions as more becomes public. However for now, hope you found this quick overview on VVOL’s. of use, since VVOL’s. at the time of this writing are not yet released, you will need to wait for more detailed info, or join the beta or poke around the web (for now). Also if you have not seen the first part overview to this piece, check it out here as I give some more links to get you started to learn more about VVOL’s.

Keep an eye on and learn more about VVOL’s. at VMworld 2014 as well as in various other venues.

IMHO VVOL’s. are or will be in your future, however the question will be is there going to be a back to the future moment for some of you with VVOL’s.?

What VVOL questions, comments and concerns are in your future and on your mind?

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

August 24, 2014March 8, 2022

VMware VVOLs storage I/O fundementals (Part 1)

VMware VVOL’s storage I/O fundamentals (Part I)

Some of you may already be participating in the VMware beta of VVOL involving one of the initial storage vendors also in the beta program.

Ok, now let’s go a bit deeper, however if you want some good music to listen to while reading this, check out @BruceRave GoDeepMusic.Net and shows here.

Taking a step back, digging deeper into Storage I/O and VVOL’s fundamentals

Instead of a VM host accessing its virtual disk (aka VMDK) which is stored in a VMFS formatted data store (part of ESXi hypervisor) built on top of a SCSI LUN (e.g. SAS, SATA, iSCSI, Fibre Channel aka FC, FCoE aka FC over Ethernet, IBA/SRP, etc) or an NFS file system presented by a storage system (or appliance), VVOL’s push more functionality and visibility down into the storage system. VVOL’s shift more intelligence and work from the hypervisor down into the storage system. Instead of a storage system simply presenting a SCSI LUN or NFS mount point and having limited (coarse) to no visibility into how the underlying storage bits, bytes as well as blocks are being used, storage systems gain more awareness.

Keep in mind that even files and objects still get ultimately mapped to pages and blocks aka sectors even on nand flash-based SSD’s. However also keep an eye on some new technology such as the Seagate Kinetic drive that instead of responding to SCSI block based commands, leverage object API’s and associated software on servers. Read more about these emerging trends here and here at objectstoragecenter.com.

With a normal SCSI LUN the underlying storage system has no knowledge of how the upper level operating system, hypervisor, file system or application such as a database (doing raw IO) is allocating the pages or blocks of memory aka storage. It is up to the upper level storage and data management tools to map from objects and files to the corresponding extents, pages and logical block address (LBA) understood by the storage system. In the case of a NAS solution, there is a layer of abstractions placed over the underlying block storage handling file management and the associated file to LBA mapping activity.

Storage I/O basics
Storage I/O and IOP basics and addressing: LBA’s and LBN’s

Getting back to VVOL, instead of simply presenting a LUN which is essentially a linear range of LBA’s (think of a big table or array) that the hypervisor then manages data placement and access, the storage system now gains insight into what LBA’s correspond to various entities such as a VMDK or VMX, log, clone, swap or other VMware objects. With this more insight, storage systems can now do native and more granular functions such as clone, replication, snapshot among others as opposed to simply working on a coarse LUN basis. The similar concepts extend over to NAS NFS based access. Granted, there are more to VVOL’s including ability to get the underlying storage system more closely integrated with the virtual machine, hypervisor and associated management including supported service manage and classes or categories of service across performance, availability, capacity, economics.

What about VVOL, VAAI and VASA?

VVOL’s are building from earlier VMware initiatives including VAAI and VASA. With VAAI, VMware hypervisor’s can off-load common functions to storage systems that support features such as copy, clone, zero copy among others like how a computer can off-load graphics processing to a graphics card if present.

VASA however provides a means for visibility, insight and awareness between the hypervisor and its associated management (e.g. vCenter etc) as well as the storage system. This includes storage systems being able to communicate and publish to VMware its capabilities for storage space capacity, availability, performance and configuration among other things.

With VVOL’s VASA gets leveraged for unidirectional (e.g. two-way) communication where VMware hypervisor and management tools can tell the storage system of things, configuration, activities to do among others. Hence why VASA is important to have in your VMware CASA.

What’s this object storage stuff?

VVOL’s are a form of object storage access in that they differ from traditional block (LUN’s) and files (NAS volumes/mount points). However, keep in mind that not all object storage are the same as there are object storage access and architectures.

Object Storage basics, generalities and block file relationships

Avoid making the mistake of when you hear object storage that means ANSI T10 (the folks that manage the SCSI command specifications) Object Storage Device (OSD) or something else. There are many different types of underlying object storage architectures some with block and file as well as object access front ends. Likewise there are many different types of object access that sit on top of object architectures as well as traditional storage system.

Object storage I/O
An example of how some object storage gets accessed (not VMware specific)

Also keep in mind that there are many different types of object access mechanism including HTTP Rest based, S3 (e.g. a common industry defacto standard based on Amazon Simple Storage Service), SNIA CDMI, SOAP, Torrent, XAM, JSON, XML, DICOM, IL7 just to name a few, not to mention various programmatic bindings or application specific implementations and API’s. Read more about object storage architectures, access and related topics, themes and trends at www.objecstoragecenter.com

Lets take a break here and when you are ready, click here to read the third piece in this series VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals Part 2.

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

August 24, 2014June 13, 2021

Are VMware VVOLs in your virtual server and storage I/O future?

Are VMware VVOL’s in your virtual server and storage I/O future?

Note that this is a three part series with the first piece here (e.g. Are VMware VVOL’s in your virtual server and storage I/O future?), the second piece here (e.g. VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals Part 1) and the third piece here (e.g. VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals Part 2).

With VMworld 2014 just around the corner, for some of you the question is not if Virtual Volumes (VVOL’s) are in your future, rather when, where, how and with what.

What this means is that for some hands on beta testing is already occurring or will be soon, while for others that might be around the corner or down the road.

Some of you may already be participating in the VMware beta of VVOL involving one of the first storage vendors also in the beta program.

On the other hand, some of you may not be in VMware centric environments and thus VVOL’s may not yet be in your vocabulary.

How do you know if VVOL are in your future if you don’t know what they are?

First, to be clear, as of the time this was written VMware VVOL’s are not released and only in beta as well as having been covered in earlier VMworld’s. Consequently what you are going to read here is based on what VVOL material has already been made public in various venues including earlier VMworld’s and VMware blogs among other places.

The quick synopsis of VMware VVOL’s overview:

Higher level of abstraction of storage vs. traditional SCSI LUN’s or NAS NFS mount points

Tighter level of integration and awareness between VMware hypervisors and storage systems

Simplified management for storage and virtualization administrators

Removing complexity to support increased scaling

Enable automation and service managed storage aka software defined storage management

VVOL considerations and your future

As mentioned, as of this writing, VVOL’s are still a future item granted they exist in beta.

For those of you in VMware environments, now is the time to add VVOL to your vocabulary which might mean simply taking the time to read a piece like this, or digging deeper into the theories of operations, configuration, usage, hints and tips, tutorials along with vendor specific implementations.

Explore your options, and ask yourself, do you want VVOL or do you need it

What support does your current vendor(s) have for VVOL or what is their statement of direction (SOD) which you might have to get from them under NDA.

This means that there will be some first vendors with some of their products supporting VVOL’s with more vendors and products following (hence watch for many statements of direction announcements).

Speaking of vendors, watch for a growing list of vendors to announce their current or plans for supporting VVOL’s, not to mention watch some of them jump up and down like Donkey in Shrek saying "oh oh pick me pick me".

When you ask a vendor if they support VVOL’s, move beyond the simple yes or no, ask which of their specific products, it is a block (e.g. iSCSI) or NAS file (e.g. NFS) based and other caveats or configuration options.

Watch for more information about VVOL’s in the weeks and months to come both from VMware along with from their storage provider partners.

How will VVOL impact your organizations best practices, policies, workflow’s including who does what, along with associated responsibilities.

Where to learn more

Check out the companion piece to this that takes a closer look at storage I/O and VMware VVOL fundamentals here and here.

Also check out this good VMware blog via Cormac Hogan (@CormacJHogan) that includes a video demo, granted its from 2012, however some of this stuff actually does take time and thus this is very timely. Speaking of VMware, Duncan Epping (aka @DuncanYB) at his Yellow-Bricks site has some good posts to check out as well with links to others including this here. Also check out the various VVOL related sessions at VMworld as well as the many existing, and soon to be many more blogs, articles and videos you can find via Google. And if you need a refresher, Why VASA is important to have in your VMware CASA.

Of course keep an eye here or whichever venue you happen to read this for future follow-up and companion posts, and if you have not done so, sign up for the beta here as there are lots of good material including SDKs, configuration guides and more.

VVOL Poll

What are you VVOL plans, view results and cast your vote here

Wrap up (for now)

Hope you found this quick overview on VVOL’s of use, since VVOL’s at the time of this writing are not yet released, you will need to wait for more detailed info, or join the beta or poke around the web (for now).

Keep an eye on and learn more about VVOL’s at VMworld 2014 as well as in various other venues.

IMHO VVOL’s are or will be in your future, however the question will be is there going to be a back to the future moment for some of you with VVOL’s?

Also what VVOL questions, comments and concerns are in your future and on your mind?

And remember to check out the second part to this series 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

May 31, 2014November 26, 2023

April and May 2014 Server and StorageIO Update newsletter

Server and StorageIO Update newsletter – April and May 2014

Welcome to the April and May 2014 edition of the StorageIO Update (newsletter) containing trends perspectives on cloud, virtualization and data infrastructure topics.

The good news is that while spring is running late (as is this newsletter ;) here in the Stillwater MN area as well as other parts of the world, both are finally here. To say that a lot has been going on and things busy would be an understatement, however that is probably also the situation with you as well. So what has been going on during April and May 2014?

Industry and Technology Updates

Sony and Fujifilm (with their partner IBM) are trading marketing and proof of concept (POC) lab material in the efforts to show tape is still alive for data storage. Sony announced a month or so ago that it was moving the bar to 185TB per tape (without dedupe). Not to be out done, Fujifilm announced in late May that they in conjunction with IBM have a POC for a 154 TB LTO in the works.

Greg Schulz on break

On the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) front, Seagate released a new 6TB device that they claim to be fast. I asked Seagate to send me one of the drives to see how fast it really is vs. their claims. While I have not completed all tests yet, what I can tell you is that the 6TB 3.5" 12Gbps SAS 7.2K RPM drive is like an american football linebacker or fullback. Its big, bulky, high-capacity, resilient with 10 to the 15 bit error rate (higher than normal high-capacity HDD’s) and fast.

Sure the 6TB HDD is not in the speed race of a quick SSD or SSHD or 15K, however I was surprised at just how fast it is for its space capacity. Watch for a follow-up review in the not so distant future and if a WD 6TB drive were to show up on my door step can give some perspectives on that as well.

As for SSD, they are following the trend paths of tape and HDD’s of increasing in space capacity, coming down in price and improving on resiliency. While I see HDD and even tape surviving for some time, granted in different roles, I’m also a firm believer that flash SSD in some form are in your future. The question is how much, when, where, with what and from whom. Needless to say there is plenty of SSD related hardware and software activity occurring in the StorageIO labs ;).

Vendors and revenue earnings, is there storage slowdown?

In other industry news and activity, vendor quarterly earnings are out and there is mixed information (see this recent post of if there is an information recession). IBM is one of those who have announced lowered storage related revenues as NetApp had mixed results (as did other vendors). In addition IBM is officially saying they are finally dropping the NetApp (FAS/ONTAP) based N series (was originally reported a week or so ago via Bloomberg). Note that IBM will continue to OEM NetApp E series (e.g. Engenio based). Some of you might remember (or do a Google search) that IBM indicated a few years back that it was De emphasizing the N series or moving away from it. Perhaps this time they really mean it while NetApp could move to embrace those VAR’s and IBM business partners to sell NetApp vs. IBM branded versions of the product. Here are some more perspectives appearing in SearchStorage. Watch for more about NetApp in a future follow-up post.

In some other industry news, you might remember back in the February StorageIO update newsletter there was mention of Avago buying LSI. Now Avago is selling the flash business of LSI to Seagate for about $450M USD in the ongoing flash dance for cache and cash.

Staying busy is a good thing

What have I been doing during April and May 2014 to stay busy besides getting ready for spring and summer fun including in and around the water?

Attended NAB 2014 in Las Vegas where it is not just about archiving pertaining to data storage
Presented backup, restore, BC, DR and archiving including a keynote at the SNIA DSI conference
Was back in Las Vegas to attend EMCworld, I have some updates in the works from that event
Presented several BrightTalk Webinars (see events below) with more coming up in June
Release of new ITP white paper and StorageIO lab proof points with more in the works
More videos and pod casts, technology reviews including servers among other things
Participated including keynote at a vendor neutral archiving event in Europe
Providing industry commentary in different venues (see below) along with some writing
Not to mention various client consulting projects
Remember, work hard play hard, play hard and work hard!

Whats in the works?

Several projects and things are in the works that will show themselves in the coming weeks or months if not sooner. Some of which are more proof points coming out of the StorageIO labs involving software defined, converged, cloud, virtual, SSD, data protection and more.

Speaking of Software Defined, join me for a free BrightTalk Webinar on June 12 on the many faces and facets of virtualization and software defined storage. Learn more about that event here as well as in the activities section down below.

Watch for more StorageIO posts, commentary, perspectives, presentations, webinars, tips and events on information and data infrastructure topics, themes and trends. Data Infrastructure topics include among others cloud, virtual, legacy server, storage I/O networking, data protection, hardware and software.

Enjoy this edition of the StorageIO Update newsletter and look forward to catching up with you live or online while out and about this spring.

Ok, nuff said (for now)

Cheers gs

April and May 2014 Industry trend and perspectives

Tips, commentary, articles and blog posts

StorageIO Industry Trends and Perspectives

StorageIO comments and perspectives in the news

StorageIO in the news

SearchStorage: Comments on IBM dropping N series, NetApp is still OEM to IBM
InfoStor: Comments on Software Defined Storage: 10 Things You Need to Know
SearchDataBackup: Comments about buying guides for enterprise Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
SearchDataBackup: Conversation about data protection modernization
InfoStor: Comments on cloud storage, 10 things you need to know
InfoStor: Comments on Data Archiving: Life Beyond Compliance
NetworkComputing: Comments on Sorting Through Storage Industry Hype
StateTech: Comments on Secure Erasing HDDs and SSDs including planning in advance
SNIA: Comments on CDMI Cloud Management Conformance Testing
EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments on Hybrid Cloud Storage Tips
NetworkComputing: Comments on Sorting Through Storage Industry Hype

StorageIO tips and articles appearing in various venues

StorageIO tips and articles

Via InformationSecurityBuzz: Dark Territories MH370 Do You Know Where Your Information Is? We still dont know 100% where the missing Malaysian airlines flight 370 is which amplifies the fact that there are still dar territories or gaps in coverage in this large world. Likewise there are gaps in coverage in many IT environments yet tools and technologies are available to gain better situational awareness and insight.

Via The Virtualization Practice: This piece looks at the EMC ViPR V1.1 and SRM V3.0 (Software Defined Storage Management) announcements from earlier this year, along with links to earlier announcement and technology analysis. Note that EMC announced May 5, 2014 ViPR 2.0 along with their new Elastic Cloud Storage Appliance (ECS) among other enhancements at EMC World. Additional perspectives on ViPR 2.0, Elastic Cloud Storage Appliance and EMCworld announcement summary analysis can be found here in this video (with text) that I did (produced via TechTarget) while at EMCworld 2014. Watch for more coverage of ViPR 2.0 and other related new as well as updated items from EMCworld 2014 in upcoming posts, articles and commentary.

Via InfoStor: Data Archiving: Life Beyond Compliance. Today many people think or assume based on what they hear that Archiving is only for regulatory archiving. Meanwhile some of you may remember a time before the regulatory compliance era of the early 2000s when Archiving was used as a general purpose tool, technology and solution to many IT data management storage challenges. This piece I did over at InfoStor looks at Data Archiving: Life Beyond Compliance and how Archiving is also a key technology that are part of Data Footprint Reduction (DFR) that also includes compression, dedupe, thin provisioning amount other techniques and tools. Here is a related Email Archiving piece (beyond compliance) from over at StateTech along with Practical tips in a piece over at VMware Communities.

StorageIO video and audio pod casts

StorageIOblog post
Video conversation with Rob Emsley of EMC and me discussing data protection modernization moving beyond the product pitch!(Via TechTarget SearchDataBackup). In this conversation Rob and me talk about various aspects of data protection modernization including finding and fixing problems at the source, accidental architectures, using new (and old) things in new ways, rethinking data protection. However the conversation is a discussion about the topics, issues, trends, what can be done as opposed to a product pitch infomercial. Check out this video blog (vblog) of Rob and me via TechTarget SearchDataBackup, then weigh in with your comments.

audio SNIA DSI David Dale
Audio Podcast: Data Storage Innovation Conversation with SNIA Wayne Adams and David Dale
In this episode, SNIA Chairman Emeritus Wayne Adams and current Chairman David Dale join me in a conversation from the Data Storage Innovation (DSI) 2014 conference event. DSI is a new event produced by SNIA targeted for IT professionals involved with data storage related topics, themes, technologies and tools spanning hardware, software, cloud, virtual and physical. In this conversation, we talk about the new DSI event, the diversity of new attendees who are attending their first SNIA event, along with other updates. Some of these updates include what is new with the SNIA Cloud Data Management Initiative (CDMI), Non Volatile Memory (think flash and SSD), SMIS, education and more. Listen in to our conversation in this podcast here as we cover cloud, convergence, software defined and more about data storage.

audio cash coleman cleardb
Audio Podcast: Catching up with Cash Coleman talking ClearDB, cloud database and Johnny Cash
In this episode from the SNIA DSI 2014 event I am joined by Cashton Coleman (@Cash_Coleman). Cashton (Cash) is a Software architect, product mason, family bonder, life builder, idea founder along with Founder & CEO of SuccessBricks, Inc., makers of ClearDB. ClearDB is a provider of MySQL database software tools for cloud and physical environments. We talk about ClearDB, what they do and whom they do it with including deployments in cloud’s as well as onsite. For example if you are using some of the Microsoft Azure cloud services using MySQL, you may already be using this technology. However, there is more to the story and discussion including how Cash got his name, how to speed up databases for little and big data among other topics. Check out ClearDB and listen in to the conversation with Cash podcast here.

audio
Audio Podcast: Matt Vogt talks VMware vCOP in his first ever podcast
In this episode from the Computex Rethink your Datacenter for 2017 planning and strategy event I am joined by Matt Vogt (@MattVogt). Matt is a Principal Architect with Computex Technology Solutions as well as certified VMware specialist and fellow vExpert. We talk about the role of automation for performance and capacity optimization along with how VMware vCop plays an important role. Listen in to learn more about how to gain insight and situational awareness to make informed decisions for your data infrastructure environment with Matt. Check out Matt’s blog here at blog.mattvogt.net and listen in to the podcast here.

StorageIO audio podcasts are also available via
and at StorageIO.tv

StorageIOblog posts and perspectives

StorageIOblog post

Is there an information or data recession, are you using less storage (with polls)

Lenovo TS140 Server and Storage IO Review Part I here and Part II here

Nand flash SSD server storage I/O conversations: See more SSD stories here

Data Protection Diaries: March 31 World Backup Day is Restore Data Test, read more here

March 2014 StorageIO Update Newsletter: Click here to read more

StorageIO White Papers, Solution Briefs and StorageIO Lab reports

New White Paper: Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD)
Enterprise SSHD and Flash SSD – Better Together – Part of an Enterprise Tiered Storage Strategy The question to ask yourself is not if flash Solid State Device (SSD) technologies are in your future. Instead the questions are when, where, using what, how to configure and related themes. SSD including traditional DRAM and NAND flash-based technologies are like real estate where location matters; however, there are different types of properties to meet various needs.

This means leveraging different types of NAND flash SSD technologies in different locations in a complementary and cooperative aka hybrid way. In this StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective thought leadership white paper we look at how enterprise class Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD) and how they address current and next generation tiered storage for virtual, cloud, traditional Little and Big Data infrastructure environments. This includes providing proof points running various workloads including Database TPC-B, TPC-E and Microsoft Exchange in the StorageIO Labscomparing SSHD, SSD and different HDDs. Read more in this StorageIO Industry Trends and Perspective (ITP) white paper compliments of Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD. Read the companion blog post here that includes more proof points for large file transfer performance.

Remember to check out our objectstoragecenter.com page where you will find a growing collection of information and links on cloud and object storage themes, technologies and trends from various sources.

If you are interested in data protection including Backup/Restore, BC, DR, BR and Archiving along with associated technologies, tools, techniques and trends visit our storageioblog.com/data-protection-diaries-main/ page. For those who follow SSD and related technologies, we have organized a series of items at storageio.com/ssd.

StorageIO events and activities

Server and StorageIO seminars, conferences, web cats, events, activities

The StorageIO calendar continues to evolve, here are some recent and upcoming activities including live in-person seminars, conferences, keynote and speaking activities as well as on-line webinars, twitter chats, Google+ hangouts among others.

June 12, 2014		The Many Facets of Virtual Storage and Software Defined Storage Virtualization	Webinar 9AM PT
June 11, 2014		The Changing Face and Landscape of Enterprise Storage	Webinar 9AM PT
May 14, 2014		Keynote – Healthcare Vendor Neutral Archiving Symposium	Nijkerk Netherlands
May 5-7, 2014		EMC World	Las Vegas
April 23, 2014	SNIA DSI Event	Keynote: Enabling Data Infrastructure Return On Innovation – The Other ROI	backup, restore, BC, DR and archiving
April 22, 2014	SNIA DSI Event	The Cloud Hybrid “Homerun” – Life Beyond The Hype	backup, restore, BC, DR and archiving
April 16, 2014		Open Source and Cloud Storage – Enabling business, or a technology enabler?	Webinar 9AM PT
April 9, 2014		Storage Decision Making for Fast, Big and Very Big Data Environments	Webinar 9AM PT

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, 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.

StorageIO Update Newsletter Archives

Click here to view previous 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)
twitter @storageio

May 31, 2014March 8, 2022

Is there an information or data recession? Are you using less storage? (With Polls)

StorageIO industry trends

Is there an information recession where you are creating, processing, moving or saving less data?

Are you using less data storage than in the past either locally online, offline or remote including via clouds?

IMHO there is no such thing as a data or information recession, granted storage is being used more effectively by some, while economic pressures or competition enables your budgets to be stretched further. Likewise people and data are living longer and getting larger.

In conversations with IT professionals particular the real customers (e.g. not vendors, VAR’s, analysts, blogalysts, consultants or media) I routinely hear from people that they continue to have the need to store more information, however they’re data storage usage and acquisition patterns are changing. For some this means using what they have more effectively leveraging data footprint reduction (DFR) which includes (archiving, compression, dedupe, thin provision, changing how and when data is protected). This also means using different types of storage from flash SSD to HDD to SSHD to tape summit resources as well as cloud in different ways spanning block, file and object storage local and remote.

A common question that comes up particular around vendor earnings announcement times is if the data storage industry is in decline with some vendors experience poor results?

Look beyond vendor revenue metrics

As a back ground reading, you might want to check out this post here (IT and storage economics 101, supply and demand) which candidly should be common sense.

If all you looked at were a vendors revenues or margin numbers as an indicator of how well such as the data storage industry (includes traditional, legacy as well as cloud) you would not be getting the picture.

What needs to be factored into the picture is how much storage is being shipped (from components such as drives to systems and appliances) as well as delivered by service providers.

Looking at storage systems vendors from a revenue earnings perspective you would get mixed indicators depending on who you include, not to mention on how those vendors report break of revenues by product, or amount units shipped. For example looking at public vendors EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, NetApp, Nimble and Oracle (among others) as well as the private ones (if you can see the data) such as Dell, Pure, Simplivity, Solidfire, Tintri results in different analysis. Some are doing better than others on revenues and margins, however try to get clarity on number of units or systems shipped (for actual revenue vs. loaners (planting seeds for future revenue or trials) or demos).

Then look at the service providers such as AWS, Centurlylink, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft Rackspace or Verizon (among others) you should see growth, however clarity about how much they are actually generating on revenues plus margin for storage specific vs. broad general buckets can be tricky.

Now look at the component suppliers such as Seagate and Western Digital (WD) for HDDs and SSHDs who also provide flash SSD drives and other technology. Also look at the other flash component suppliers such as Avago/LSI whose flash business is being bought by Seagate, FusionIO, SANdisk, Samsung, Micron and Intel among others (this does not include the systems vendors who OEM those or other products to build systems or appliances). These and other component suppliers can give another indicator as to the health of the industry both from revenue and margin, as well as footprint (e.g. how many devices are being shipped). For example the legacy and startup storage systems and appliance vendors may have soft or lower revenue numbers, however are they shipping the same or less product? Likewise the cloud or service providers may be showing more revenues and product being acquired however at what margin?

What this all means?

Growing amounts of information?

Look at revenue numbers in the proper context as well as in the bigger picture.

If the same number of component devices (e.g. processors, HDD, SSD, SSHD, memory, etc) are being shipped or more, that is an indicator of continued or increased demand. Likewise if there is more competition and options for IT organizations there will be price competition between vendors as well as service providers.

All of this means that while IT organizations budgets stay stretched, their available dollars or euros should be able to buy (or rent) them more storage space capacity.

Likewise using various data and storage management techniques including DFR, the available space capacity can be stretched further.

So this then begs the question of if the management of storage is important, why are we not hearing vendors talking about software defined storage management vs. chasing each other to out software define storage each other?

Ah, that’s for a different post ;).

So what say you?

Are you using less storage?

Do you have less data being created?

Are you using storage and your available budget more effectively?

Please take a few minutes and cast your vote (and see the results).

Sorry I have no Amex or Amazon gift cards or other things to offer you as a giveaway for participating as nobody is secretly sponsoring this poll or post, it’s simply sharing and conveying information for you and others to see and gain insight from.

Do you think that there is an information or data recession?

How about are you using or buying more storage, could there be a data storage recession?

Some more reading links

IT and storage economics 101, supply and demand
Green IT deferral blamed on economic recession might be result of green gap
Industry trend: People plus data are aging and living longer
Is There a Data and I/O Activity Recession?
Supporting IT growth demand during economic uncertain times
The Human Face of Big Data, a Book Review
Garbage data in, garbage information out, big data or big garbage?
Little data, big data and very big data (VBD) or big BS?

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

March 30, 2014November 26, 2023

Nand flash SSD NVM SCM server storage I/O memory conversations

Updated 8/31/19
Server Storage I/O storageioblog SDDC SDDI Data Infrastructure trends

The SSD Place NVM, SCM, PMEM, Flash, Optane, 3D XPoint, MRAM, NVMe Server, Storage, I/O Topics

Now and then somebody asks me if I’m familiar with flash or nand flash Solid State Devices (SSD) along with other non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies and trends including NVM Express (NVMe).

Having been involved with various types of SSD technology, products and solutions since the late 80s initially as a customer in IT (including as a lunch customer for DEC’s ESE20 SSD’s), then later as a vendor selling SSD solutions, as well as an analyst and advisory consultant cover the technologies, I tell the person asking, well, yes, of course.

That gave me the idea as well as to help me keep track of some of the content and make it easy to find by putting it here in this post (which will be updated now and then).

Thus this is a collection of articles, tips, posts, presentations, blog posts and other content on SSD including nand flash drives, PCIe cards, DIMMs, NVM Express (NVMe), hybrid and other storage solutions along with related themes.

Also if you can’t find it here, you can always do a Google search like this or this to find some more material (some of which is on this page).

HDD, SSHD, HHDD and HDD

Flash SSD Articles, posts and presentations

The following are some of my tips, articles, blog posts, presentations and other content on SSD. Keep in mind that the question should not be if SSD are in your future, rather when, where, with what, from whom and how much. Also keep in mind that a bit of SSD as storage or cache in the right place can go a long way, while a lot of SSD will give you a benefit however also cost a lot of cash.

PCIe Server I/O Fundamentals
If NVMe is the answer, what are the questions?
NVMe Wont Replace Flash By Itself
Via Computerweekly – NVMe discussion: PCIe card vs U.2 and M.2
Server storage I/O benchmark tools, workload scripts and examples (Part I) and (Part II)

Via GizModo: Comments on Intel Optane 800P NVMe M.2 SSD
Via InfoStor: 8 Big Enterprise SSD Trends to Expect in 2017
Why NVMe Should Be in Your Data Center – Preparing for Tomorrow’s Data Center Today (StorageIO Guest Post Via Micron.com)
Via SearchStoragae: Comments on Top 10 Tips on Solid State Storage Adoption Strategy
Via J Metz’s Blog – Vendor neutral bibliography of material by subject matter for NVMe

Via InfoStor – SSD Trends, Tips and Topics
StorageIOblog: Get in the NVMe SSD game (if you are not already)
Via J Metz’s Blog – Vendor neutral learning NVMe A Program of Study
Via StorageIOblog: VMware vSAN v6.6
Via StorageIOblog: Cisco announces 32Gb FC and NVMe fabrics

Via Pure Storage: Announces new NVMe storage
Via Micron Blog (Guest Post by Greg Schulz): What’s next for NVMe and your Data Center – Preparing for Tomorrow Today
Via ChannelProSMB: Comments on NVMe (and SSD) and server storage I/O
EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments Top 10 Enterprise SSD Market Trends
SearchSolidStateStorage: Comments on How to add solid-state storage to your enterprise data storage systems

Microsoft TechNet: Understand the cache in Storage Spaces Direct
Microsoft Technet: Don’t do it: consumer-grade solid-state drives (SSD) in Storage Spaces Direct
Why Micron NVMe SSDs (Via Micron.com)
New Path to Storage I/O Performance and Resiliency With NVMe (Via Micron.com)
How NVMe Will Revolutionize Server and Storage I/O(Via Micron.com)

How to Prepare for the NVMe Server Storage I/O Wave (Via Micron.com)
Why NVMe Should Be in Your Data Center (Via Micron.com)
NVMe U2 (8639) vs. M2 interfaces (Via Gamersnexus)
Enmotus FuzeDrive MicroTiering (StorageIO Lab Report)
EMC DSSD D5 Rack Scale Direct Attached Shared SSD All Flash Array Part I (Via StorageIOBlog)

Part II – EMC DSSD D5 Direct Attached Shared AFA (Via StorageIOBlog)
NAND, DRAM, SAS/SCSI & SATA/AHCI: Not Dead, Yet! (Via EnterpriseStorageForum)
Non Volatile Memory (NVM), NVMe, Flash Memory Summit and SSD updates (Via StorageIOblog)
Microsoft and Intel showcase Storage Spaces Direct with NVM Express at IDF ’15 (Via TechNet)
MNVM Express solutions (Via SuperMicro)

Gaining Server Storage I/O Insight into Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (Via StorageIOblog)
PMC-Sierra Scales Storage with PCIe, NVMe (Via EEtimes)
RoCE updates among other items (Via InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA) December Newsletter)
NVMe: The Golden Ticket for Faster Flash Storage? (Via EnterpriseStorageForum)
What should I consider when using SSD cloud? (Via SearchCloudStorage)

MSP CMG, Sept. 2014 Presentation (Flash back to reality – Myths and Realities – Flash and SSD Industry trends perspectives plus benchmarking tips)– PDF
Selecting Storage: Start With Requirements (Via NetworkComputing)
PMC Announces Flashtec NVMe SSD NVMe2106, NVMe2032 Controllers With LDPC (Via TomsITpro)
Exclusive: If Intel and Micron’s “Xpoint” is 3D Phase Change Memory, Boy Did They Patent It (Via Dailytech)
Intel & Micron 3D XPoint memory — is it just CBRAM hyped up? Curation of various posts (Via Computerworld)

How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do (Part I)?
How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware? (Part II)
I/O Performance Issues and Impacts on Time-Sensitive Applications (Via CMG)
Via EnterpriseStorageForum: 5 Hot Storage Technologies to Watch
Via EnterpriseStorageForum: 10-Year Review of Data Storage

Via EnterpriseStorageForum: Where All-Flash Storage Makes No Sense
Via EnterpriseStorageForum: Top Tips for Enterprise SSD Form Factor Selection and Deployment
Who Will Be Top Of Storage World?
Intel announces new processors
Server Storage I/O CI, HCI overview

Data Infrastructure Tradecraft Overview
SSD, flash and NVM Trends
Top Tips for Enterprise SSD Form Factor Selection and Deployment
StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective White Paper: Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD) aka Turbo Drives
Via EnterpriseStorageForum: Software-Defined Storage Tips
Via EnterpriseStorageForum: What SSD form factor is best

Via InfoStor: SSD Trends, Tips and Topics
Via StorageIOlab (ITCentralStation): Intel NVMe 750 SSD review
Via Microsoft Technet: Don’t do it: consumer-grade solid-state drives (SSD) in Storage Spaces Direct
EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments Top 10 Enterprise SSD Market Trends
SearchSolidStateStorage: Comments on How to add solid-state storage to your enterprise data storage systems
StorageIOblog: Some server storage I/O benchmark tools, workload scripts and examples (Part I) and (Part II)

StorageIOblog: Get in the NVMe SSD game (if you are not already)
Doridmen.com: Transcend SSD360S Review with tips on using ATTO and Crystal benchmark tools
Webinar and Blog: 12Gb SAS SSD Enabling Server Storage I/O Performance and Effectiveness Webinar
Enmotus FuzeDrive MicroTiering (StorageIO Lab Report
Microsoft TechNet: Understand the cache in Storage Spaces Direct

Via StorageIOlab (ITCentralStation): Intel NVMe 750 SSD review
Via Microsoft Technet: Don’t do it: consumer-grade solid-state drives (SSD) in Storage Spaces Direct
EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments Top 10 Enterprise SSD Market Trends
SearchSolidStateStorage: Comments on How to add solid-state storage to your enterprise data storage systems
StorageIOblog: Some server storage I/O benchmark tools, workload scripts and examples (Part I) and (Part II)

StorageIOblog: Get in the NVMe SSD game (if you are not already)
Doridmen.com: Transcend SSD360S Review with tips on using ATTO and Crystal benchmark tools
Webinar and Blog: 12Gb SAS SSD Enabling Server Storage I/O Performance and Effectiveness Webinar
Via Micron Blog (Guest Post by Greg Schulz): What’s next for NVMe and your Data Center – Preparing for Tomorrow Today
AFA over NVMe Fabric (Via Zstor)
Enmotus FuzeDrive MicroTiering (StorageIO Lab Report)

Microsoft TechNet: Understand the cache in Storage Spaces Direct

Via CustomPCreview: Samsung SM961 PCIe NVMe SSD Shows Up for Pre-Order
StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective White Paper: Seagate 1200 Enterprise SSD (12Gbps SAS) with proof points (e.g. Lab test results)
Companion: Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD StorgeIO lab review (blog post part I and Part II)
NewEggBusiness: Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD StorgeIO lab review Are NVMe m.2 drives ready for the limelight?
Google (Research White Paper): Disks for Data Centers (vs. just SSD)
CMU (PDF White Paper): A Large-Scale Study of Flash Memory Failures in the Field
Via ZDnet: Google doubles Cloud Compute local SSD capacity: Now it’s 3TB per VM
EMC DSSD D5 Rack Scale Direct Attached Shared SSD All Flash Array Part I (Via StorageIOBlog)
Part II – EMC DSSD D5 Direct Attached Shared AFA (Via StorageIOBlog)
NAND, DRAM, SAS/SCSI & SATA/AHCI: Not Dead, Yet! (Via EnterpriseStorageForum)
Here’s why Western Digital is buying SanDisk (Via ComputerWorld)
HP, SanDisk partner to bring storage-class memory to market (Via ComputerWorld)
Non Volatile Memory (NVM), NVMe, Flash Memory Summit and SSD updates (Via StorageIOblog)
Microsoft and Intel showcase Storage Spaces Direct with NVM Express at IDF ’15 (Via TechNet)
PMC-Sierra Scales Storage with PCIe, NVMe (Via EEtimes)
Seagate Grows Its Nytro Enterprise Flash Storage Line (Via InfoStor)
New SAS Solid State Drive First Product From Seagate Micron Alliance (Via Seagate)
Wow, Samsung’s New 16 Terabyte SSD Is the World’s Largest Hard Drive (Via Gizmodo)
Samsung ups the SSD ante with faster, higher capacity drives (Via ITworld)
PMC Announces Flashtec NVMe SSD NVMe2106, NVMe2032 Controllers With LDPC (Via TomsITpro)
New SATA SSD powers elastic cloud agility for CSPs (Via Cbronline)
Toshiba Solid-State Drive Family Features PCIe Technology (Via Eweek)
SanDisk aims CloudSpeed Ultra SSD at cloud providers (Via ITwire)
Everspin & Aupera reveal all-MRAM Storage Module in M.2 Form Factor (Via BusinessWire)
Intel, Micron Launch “Bulk-Switching” ReRAM (Via EEtimes)
Exclusive: If Intel and Micron’s “Xpoint” is 3D Phase Change Memory, Boy Did They Patent It (Via Dailytech)
Intel & Micron 3D XPoint memory — is it just CBRAM hyped up? Curation of various posts (Via Computerworld)
NVMe: The Golden Ticket for Faster Flash Storage? (Via EnterpriseStorageForum)

server I/O hirearchy

What should I consider when using SSD cloud? (Via SearchCloudStorage)
MSP CMG, September 2014 Presentation (Flash back to reality – Myths and Realities Flash and SSD Industry trends perspectives plus benchmarking tips) – PDF
Selecting Storage: Start With Requirements (Via NetworkComputing)
Spot The Newest & Best Server Trends (Via Processor)
Market ripe for embedded flash storage as prices drop (Via Powermore (Dell))
2015 Tech Preview: SSD and SMBs (Via ChannelProNetworks )
How to test your HDD, SSD or all flash array (AFA) storage fundamentals (Via StorageIOBlog)
Processor: Comments on What Abandoned Data Is Costing Your Company
Processor: Comments on Match Application Needs & Infrastructure Capabilities
Processor: Comments on Explore The Argument For Flash-Based Storage
Processor: Comments on Understand The True Cost Of Acquiring More Storage
Processor: Comments on What Resilient & Highly Available Mean
Processor: Explore The Argument For Flash-Based Storage
SearchCloudStorage What should I consider when using SSD cloud?
StorageSearch.com: (not to be confused with TechTarget, good site with lots of SSD related content)
StorageSearch.com: What kind of SSD world… 2015?
StorageSearch.com: Various links about SSD
FlashStorage.com: (Various flash links curated by Tegile and analyst firm Actual Tech Media [Scott D. Lowe])
StorageSearch.com: How fast can your SSD run backwards?
Seagate has shipped over 10 Million storage HHDD’s (SSHDs), is that a lot?
Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD?
Can we get a side of context with them IOPS and other storage metrics?
Cisco buys Whiptail continuing the SSD storage I/O flash cash cache dash
EMC VFCache respinning SSD and intelligent caching (Part I)
Flash Data Storage: Myth vs. Reality (Via InfoStor)
Have SSDs been unsuccessful with storage arrays (with poll)?
How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do (Part I)?
How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware? (Part II)
I/O Performance Issues and Impacts on Time-Sensitive Applications (Via CMG)

server storage i/o memory hirearchy

IBM buys flash solid state device (SSD) industry veteran TMS
Is SSD dead? No, however some vendors might be
Is SSD Only for Performance?
NetApp EF540, something familiar, something new
Researchers and marketers don’t agree on future of nand flash SSD
Server and Storage IO Memory: DRAM and nand flash
Some of my experiences with Hybrid Hard Disk Drive (HHDD) series of posts based on what I use in my laptops and others systems including Seagate Momentus XT here, here, here, and here (along with Samsung SSD 512GB 840 that I upgraded from a 256GB 830).
What, When, Why & How to Accelerate Storage (Via Storage Acceleration)
Tips for Measuring Your Storage Acceleration (Via Storage Acceleration)
Speaking of speeding up business with SSD storage
Speaking of SSDs (with poll) With Poll, Cast Your Vote Here

Spiceworks SSD and related conversation here and here, profiling IOPs here, and SSD endurance here.
SSD is in your future, How, when, with what and where you will be using it (PDF Presentation)
SSD for Virtual (and Physical) Environments: Part I Spinning up to speed on SSD (Via TheVirtualizationPractice), Part II, The call to duty, SSD endurance, Part III What SSD is best for you?, and Part IV what’s best for your needs.
IT and storage economics 101, supply and demand
SSD, flash and DRAM, DejaVu or something new?
The Many Faces of Solid State Devices/Disks (SSD)
The Nand Flash Cache SSD Cash Dance (Via InfoStor)
The Right Storage Option Is Important for Big Data Success (Via FedTech)

server storage i/o nand flash ssd options

Viking SATADIMM: Nand flash SATA SSD in DDR3 DIMM slot?
WD buys nand flash SSD storage I/O cache vendor Virident (Via VMware Communities)
What is the best kind of IO? The one you do not have to do
When and Where to Use NAND Flash SSD for Virtual Servers (Via TheVirtualizationPractice)
Why SSD based arrays and storage appliances can be a good idea (Part I)
Why SSD based arrays and storage appliances can be a good idea (Part II)
Q&A on Access data more efficiently with automated storage tiering and flash (Via SearchSolidStateStorage)
InfoStor: Flash Data Storage: Myth vs. Reality (Via InfoStor)
Enterprise Storage Forum: Not Just a Flash in the Pan (Via EnterpriseStorageForum)

SSD Storage I/O and related technologies comments in the news

The following are some of my commentary and industry trend perspectives that appear in various global venues.

Storage I/O ssd news

Comments on using Flash Drives To Boost Performance (Via Processor)
Comments on selecting the Right Type, Amount & Location of Flash Storage (Via Toms It Pro)
Comments Google vs. AWS SSD: Which is the better deal? (Via SearchAWS)
Tech News World: SANdisk SSD comments and perspectives.
Tech News World: Samsung Jumbo SSD drives perspectives
Comments on Why Degaussing Isn’t Always Effective (Via StateTech Magazine)
Processor: SSD (FLASH and RAM)
SearchStorage: FLASH and SSD Storage
Internet News: Steve Wozniak joining SSD startup
Internet News: SANdisk sale to Toshiba
SearchSMBStorage: Comments on SanDisk and wireless storage product
StorageAcceleration: Comments on When VDI Hits a Storage Roadblock and SSD
Statetechmagazine: Boosting performance with SSD
Edtechmagazine: Driving toward SSDs
SearchStorage: Seagate SLC and MLC flash SSD
SearchWindowServer: Making the move to SSD in a SAN/NAS
SearchSolidStateStorage: Comments SSD marketplace
InfoStor: Comments on SSD approaches and opportunities
SearchSMBStorage: Solid State Devices (SSD) benefits
SearchSolidState: Comments on Fusion-IO flash SSD and API’s
SeaarchSolidStateStorage: Comments on SSD industry activity and OCZ bankruptcy
Processor: Comments on Plan Your Storage Future including SSD
Processor: Comments on Incorporate SSDs Into Your Storage Plan
Digistor: Comments on SSD and flash storage
ITbusinessEdge: Comments on flash SSD and hybrid storage environments
SearchStorage: Perspectives on Cisco buying SSD storage vendor Whiptail
StateTechMagazine: Comments on all flash SSD storage arrays
Processor: Comments on choosing SSDs for your data center needs
Searchsolidstatestorage: Comments on how to add solid state devices (SSD) to your storage system
Networkcomputing: Comments on SSD/Hard Disk Hybrids Bridge Storage Divide
Internet Evolution: Comments on IBM buying flash SSD vendor TMS
ITKE: Comments on IBM buying flash SSD vendor TMS
Searchsolidstatestorage: SSD, Green IT and economic benefits
IT World Canada: Cloud computing, dot be scared, look before you leap
SearchStorage: SSD in storage systems
SearchStorage: SAS SSD
SearchSolidStateStorage: Comments on Access data more efficiently with automated storage tiering and flash
InfoStor: Comments on EMC’s Light to Speed: Flash, VNX, and Software-Defined
EnterpriseStorageForum: Cloud Storage Mergers and Acquisitions: What’s Going On?

Check out the Server StorageIO NVM Express (NVMe) focus page aka www.thenvmeplace.com for additional related content. nterested in data protection, check out the data protection diaries series of posts here, or cloud and object storage here, and server storage I/O performance benchmarking here. Also check out the StorageIO events and activities page here, as well as tips and articles here, news commentary here, along out newsletter 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

February 27, 2014December 24, 2020

Old School, New School, Current and Back to School (With Poll)

Storage I/O trends

Old School, New School, Current and Back to School

Are you old school or new school?

If you are new school or old school, then will you be stuck on those school’s of thought or advanced to the current and future schools?

Old School

From the old school folks you will hear things along the lines of that is how we do or did it. Also you might hear things along the lines of lets use what we have as long as we can make it work to fix problems while learning from mistakes. Also from old school you may here things like new school is only focused on the newest latest greatest shiny technology. Not to mention themes such as we have to stick around and clean up and take care of the mess left when new schoolers move to their next focus.

New School

On the other hand from new school you may hear snarky comments about old school either in kidding and jest, as a way to put down to promote self up in status. Some other new school perspectives are focus on the newest technology that can be used wherever with focus on the tool, product or service as opposed to sometimes lack of focus on the problem to address. Another theme can be don’t worry about the future, we will either throw away what we have and get something new, or leave it up to somebody else to take care, after all, the old schoolers are good at doing that.

Current and Future School

Storage I/O trends

Then there are the current and future schoolers that are hybrid, combing the best of old-school leveraging their experiences with openness to explore new things of the new schoolers. The current or future schoolers are a blend of risk-averse yet willing to explore and find new ways to fix problems vs. simply moving, masking or leaving issues behind. The new or current schoolers are keen on learning lessons and mistakes of the past to avoid making them in the future.

Likewise they are also dialed into using both new and old tools, technologies and techniques in new ways vs. simply using new things in old ways. Another characteristics of the new or future schoolers is that they are open and willing to create converged teams to leverage converged technologies. Not only are they dialed into the new technology, trends and techniques, they are also dialed into how to use them for different things, situations and apply to business or other needs as opposed to just a focus on the tech.

This means that they are willing and interested in learning other skills, crafts capabilities vs. creating old or new silos or fiefdoms of technology. These new schoolers could care less who is a cloud, virtual, server, storage, networking, database, applications, backup, security, hardware or software person as they are focused on all of those as data infrastructure professionals.

What this all means

Stay in School and be a student of the game

Some of you might be old school while others are may be new school or what ever is current trendy and cool. However new schoolers to become future or current schoolers can learn from the old schoolers. Likewise the old schoolers can learn a new thing or two as well as help transfer some knowledge experience to the new schoolers to become future schoolers. Granted old schoolers can settle in to their comfort zone while new schoolers can stay out front of the curve and both watch the rise of the new and future schoolers.

Are you old school, new school, current or no school, cast your vote and see results below:

Some more reading:

Who or what is your sphere of influence?
How many degrees separate you and your information?
Technology buying, do you decide on G2 or GQ?
What does gaining industry traction or adoption mean too you?
Industry adoption vs. industry deployment, is there a difference?
Pulling Together a Converged Team
People, Not Tech, Prevent IT Convergence

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

February 6, 2014December 4, 2019

Server Storage I/O Network Benchmark Winter Olympic Games

Storage I/O trends

Server Storage I/O Network Benchmark Winter Olympic Games

It is time for the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi Russia where competitors including some athletes come together in what has become a mix of sporting and entertainment engaging activities.

Games of inches and seconds, performance and skill

Some of these activities including real Olympic game events are heavier on sports appeal, some with artistic and others pure entertainment with a mix of beauty, braun and maybe even a beast or two. Then there are those events that have been around since the last ice age, while others being post global warming era.

Hence some have been around longer than others showing a mix of old, new in terms of the sports, athletes not to mention technology and their outfits.

I mean how about some of the new snow boarding and things on skis being done, can you image if they brought in as a new "X" sport roller derby on the short speed skating track sponsored by Red Bull or Bud light? Wait, that sounds like the Red Bull Crashed Ice event (check this out if not familiar with) think motto cross, hockey, down hill on ice. How about getting some of the south African long distance sprinters to learn how to speed skate, talk about moving some gold metal as in medals back to the african continent! On the other hand, the current powers to be would lodge protest, change the benchmark or rules to stay in power, hmm, sound familiar with IT?

Ok, enough of the fun stuff (for now), let’s get back on track here (catch that pun?).

Metrics that matter, winners and losers

Since these are the Olympics, lets also remember that there still awards for personal and team winners (along with second and third place), after all, if all Olympians were winners, there would be no losers and if no losers, how could there be a winner?

Who or what decides the winners vs. losers involves metrics that matter, something that also applies to servers, storage I/O networking hardware, software and services.

In the case of the Olympics, some of the sports or events are based on speed or how fast (e.g. time) something is done, or how much is accumulated or done in that amount of time while in other events the metrics that matter may be more of a mystery based on judging that maybe subjective.

The technologies to record times, scores, movements and other things that go into scoring have certainly improved, as have the ability for fans to engage and vote their choice, or opposition via social media venues from twitter to face book among others.

What about server storage I/O networking benchmarks

There could easily be an Information Technology (IT) or data infrastructure benchmarking Olympics with events such as faster server (physical, virtual or cloud, personal or consortium team), storage, I/O and networking across hardware, software or services. Of course there would be different approaches favored by the various teams with disputes, protests and other things sometimes seen during Olympic games. One of the challenges however is what would be the metrics that matter particularly to the various marketing groups of each organization or their joint consortium?

Just like with sports, which of the various industry trade groups or consortiums would be the ruling party or voice for a particular event specifying the competition criteria, scoring and other things. What happens when there is a break away group that launches their own competing approach yet when it comes time for the IT benchmarking Olympics, which of the various bodies does the Olympic committee defer to? In case you are not familiar with in sports there are various groups and sub-groups who can decide the participants for various supports perhaps independent of an overall group, sound like IT?

Storage I/O trends

Let the games begin

So then the fun starts, however which of the events are relevant to your needs or interest, sure some are fun or entertaining while others are not practical. Some you can do yourself, while others are just fun to watch, both the thrill of victory and agony of defeat.

This is similar to IT industry benchmarking and specmanship competitions, some of which is more relevant than others, then there are those that are entertaining.

Likewise some benchmarks or workload claims can be reproduced to confirm the results or claims, while others remain more like the results of figure skating judges.

Hence some of the benchmark games are more entertaining, however for those who are not aware or informed, they may turn out to be more misinformation or lead to poor decision-making.

Consequently benchmarks and metrics that matter are those that most closely aging with what your environment is or will be doing.

If your environment is going to be running a particularly simulation or script, than so be it, otoh, look for comparisons that are reflective.

On the other hand, if you can’t find something that is applicable, then look at tools and results that have meaning along with relevance, not to mention that provide clarity and repeatable. Being repeatable means that you can get access to the tools, scripts or scenario (preferably free) to run in your own environment.

There is a long list of benchmarks and workload simulation tools, as well as traces available, some for free, some for fee that apply to components, subsystems or complete application systems from server, storage I/O networking applications and hardware. These include those for Email such as Microsoft Exchange related, SQL databases, , LoginVSI for VDI, VMmark for VMware, Hadoop and HDFS related for big data among many others (see more here).

Apples to Apples vs. Apple pie vs. Orange Jello

Something else that matters are apples to apples vs. apples to oranges or worse, apple pie to orange Jello.

This means knowing or gaining insight into the pieces as we as how they behave under different conditions as well as the entire system for a baseline (e.g normal) vs. abnormal.

Hence its winter server storage I/O networking benchmark games with the first event having been earlier this week with team Brocade taking on Cisco. Here is a link to a post by Tony Bourke (@tbourke) that provides some interesting perspectives and interactions, along with a link here to the Brocade sponsored report done by Evaluator Group.

In this match-up, Team Brocade (with HP servers, Brocade switches and an unnamed 16GFC SSD storage system) take on Team Cisco and their UCS (also an un-named 16GFC SSD system that I wonder if Cisco even knows whose’s it was?). Ironic that it was almost six years to the date that there was a similar winter benchmark wonder event when NetApp submitted an SPC result for EMC (read more about that cold day here).

The Brocade FC (using HP servers and somebody’s SSD storage) vs. Cisco FCoE using UCS (and somebody else’s storage) comparison is actually quite entertaining, granted it can also be educational on what to do or not do, focus on or include among others things. The report also raises many questions that seem more wondering why somebody won in an ice figuring skating event vs. the winner of a men’s or women’s hockey game.

Closing thoughts (for now)

So here’s my last point and perspective, let’s have a side of context with them IOPs, TPS, bandwidth and other metrics that matter.

Take metrics and benchmarks with a grain of salt however look for transparency in both how they are produced, information provided and most important, does it matter or is it relevant to your environment or simply entertaining.

Lets see what the next event in the ongoing server storage I/O networking benchmark 2014 winter Olympic games will be.

Some more reading:
SPC and Storage Benchmarking Games
Moving Beyond the Benchmark Brouhaha
More storage and IO metrics that matter
Its US Census time, What about IT Data Centers?
March Metrics and Measuring Social Media (keep in mind that March Madness is just around the corner)
PUE, Are you Managing Power, Energy or Productivity?

How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do?
Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?

You can also take part in the on-going or re-emerging FC vs. FCoE hype and fud events by casting your vote here and see results below.

Note the following poll is from a previous StorageIOblog post (Where has the FCoE hype and FUD gone? (with poll)).

Disclosure: I used to work for Evaluator Group after working for a company called Inrange that competed with, then got absorbed (via CNT and McData) into Brocade who has been a client as has Cisco. I also do performance and functionality testing, audits, validation and proof of concepts services in my own as well as in client labs using various industry standard available tools and techniques. Otoh, not sure that I even need to disclose anything however its easy enough to do so why not ;).

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

January 13, 2014November 3, 2024

Some Windows Server Storage I/O related commands

Storage I/O trends

Some Windows Server Storage I/O related commands

The following are some commands and tools for Microsoft Windows environments that are useful for storage I/O activities (among others).

Finding a Windows physical disk, SSD or storage system device name

So you may know and how to find out the more familiar Windows storage device (Solid State Device – SSD, Hard Disk Drives – HDD among others) names such as A:, B:, C:, D: as what you can view from the Windows Explorer, Computer or Admin tools.

Windows storage devices

However what if you need to find out a physical name for raw (not mounted) and mounted devices for configuration? For example, if you have a tool that wants the physical name for your C: drive that might be \\.\PhysicalDrive0\?

No worries, use the command WMIC DISKDRIVE LIST BRIEF

WIndows physical device name

Need more detail about the devices beyond what is shown above?

Then use WMIC DISKDRIVE LIST or as in the above example, direct the output to a file with the results shown below (scroll to the left or right to see more detail information).

        Availability  BytesPerSector  Capabilities  CapabilityDescriptions                 CompressionMethod  ConfigManagerErrorCode  ConfigManagerUserConfig  DefaultBlockSize  Description  DeviceID            ErrorCleared  ErrorDescription  ErrorMethodology  Index  InstallDate  InterfaceType  LastErrorCode  Manufacturer            MaxBlockSize  MaxMediaSize  MediaLoaded  MediaType              MinBlockSize  Model                                  Name                NeedsCleaning  NumberOfMediaSupported  Partitions  PNPDeviceID                                                  PowerManagementCapabilities  PowerManagementSupported  SCSIBus  SCSILogicalUnit  SCSIPort  SCSITargetId  SectorsPerTrack  Signature   Size           Status  StatusInfo  SystemName  TotalCylinders  TotalHeads  TotalSectors  TotalTracks  TracksPerCylinder  
              512             {3, 4}        {"Random Access", "Supports Writing"}                     0                       FALSE                                      Disk drive   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE2                                                    2                   SCSI                          (Standard disk drives)                              TRUE         Fixed hard disk media                ATA ST3000DM001-1CH1 SCSI Disk Device  \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE2                                         0           SCSI\DISK&VEN_ATA&PROD_ST3000DM001-1CH1\5&3626375C&0&000600                                                         0        0                3         6             63               0           3000590369280  OK                  DBIOTEST    364801          255         5860528065    93024255     255                
              512             {3, 4}        {"Random Access", "Supports Writing"}                     0                       FALSE                                      Disk drive   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE3                                                    3                   SCSI                          (Standard disk drives)                              TRUE         Fixed hard disk media                SEAGATE ST600MP0034 SCSI Disk Device   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE3                                         0           SCSI\DISK&VEN_SEAGATE&PROD_ST600MP0034\5&3626375C&0&000A00                                                          0        0                3         10            63                           600124654080   OK                  DBIOTEST    72961           255         1172118465    18605055     255                
              512             {3, 4}        {"Random Access", "Supports Writing"}                     0                       FALSE                                      Disk drive   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE4                                                    4                   SCSI                          (Standard disk drives)                              TRUE         Fixed hard disk media                SEAGATE ST600MX0004 SCSI Disk Device   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE4                                         0           SCSI\DISK&VEN_SEAGATE&PROD_ST600MX0004\5&3626375C&0&000C00                                                          0        0                3         12            63                           600124654080   OK                  DBIOTEST    72961           255         1172118465    18605055     255                
              512             {3, 4}        {"Random Access", "Supports Writing"}                     0                       FALSE                                      Disk drive   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1                                                    1                   SCSI                          (Standard disk drives)                              TRUE         Fixed hard disk media                SEAGATE ST9300603SS SCSI Disk Device   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1                                         0           SCSI\DISK&VEN_SEAGATE&PROD_ST9300603SS\5&3626375C&0&000400                                                          0        0                3         4             63                           299992412160   OK                  DBIOTEST    36472           255         585922680     9300360      255                
              512             {3, 4}        {"Random Access", "Supports Writing"}                     0                       FALSE                                      Disk drive   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0                                                    0                   SCSI                          (Standard disk drives)                              TRUE         Fixed hard disk media                VMware Virtual disk SCSI Disk Device   \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0                                         2           SCSI\DISK&VEN_VMWARE&PROD_VIRTUAL_DISK\5&1982005&1&000000                                                           0        0                2         0             63               -873641784  64420392960    OK                  DBIOTEST    7832            255         125821080     1997160      255

Remembering (or learning) Xcopy

Some of you might be familiar with Xcopy and if not, it is a handy tool for copying files, folders and directories to local as well as networked storage. Some handy Xcopy command switches include:

/j = use un-buffered IO for large files
/y = suppress prompting
/c = continue if error
/E = copy sub directories
/H = copy hidden files
/Q = quiet mode (don’t list files being copied)

In the following example the content of the Videos folder and its sub-directories (83.5GB) are copied to another destination. Note the Time /T command that is also shown which is useful for timing how long the copy takes (e.g. subtract start-time from end-time and you have elapsed time). In this example 83.5GB are copied from one place to another on the same SSD device and using the results of the Time /T command the elapsed time was about 12 minutes.

Windows SSD TRIM
Xcopy command example

Diskpart, don’t be scared, however be careful

Ever have a Windows storage device or system that failed to boot, or a problem with a partition, volume or other issue?

How about running into a situation where you are not able to format a device that you know and can confirm is ok to erase, yet you get a message that the volume is write protected or read only?

Diskpart is handy, powerful and potentially dangerous tool if you are not careful as you could mistakenly drop a good volume or partition (e.g. the importance of having good backups). However Diskpart can be used to help repair storage devices that have boot problems, or for clearing read only attributes among other tasks. If you are prefer GUI interfaces, many of the Diskpart functions can also be done via Disk Management interface (e.g. Control Panel -> All Control Panel Items -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management ). Note that Diskpart to do certain functions will need to be run as Administrator.

windows diskpart

In the above example the LIST DISK command shows what disks are present (on-line or off-line) which means that you may see devices here that do not show up elsewhere. Also shown is selecting a disk and then listing partitions, selecting a partition and showing attributes. The Attribute command can be used for clearing Read Only modes should a partition become write protected.

Hint, ever have a device that was once had VMware installed on it, then you move it to Windows and try to reformat for use and get a Read Only error? If so, you will want to have a look at Diskpart and the Attribute commands. However BE CAREFULL and pay attention which disk, partition and volumes you are working with as you can easily cause a problem that would result in testing how good your backups are.

Is SATA SSD TRIM Enabled?

If you have a SATA SSD the TRIM command is a form of garbage collection that is supported with Windows 7 (SAS drives use the SCSI UNMAP). Not sure if your system has TRIM enabled? Try the following command as administrator. Note that if you see a result of "0" then TRIM is enabled while a value of "1" means that it is disabled for your system.

Windows SSD TRIM

Want to learn more about TRIM, check out this piece from Intel as well as this Microsoft Windows item.

Having issues with collecting CPU and performance statistics?

Have an issue or problem collecting your system statistics, or when running a benchmark, workload generation tool such as vdbench and getting an "Unable to obtain CPU statistics"?

Try the Lodctr /R command (as administrator), however read this Microsoft Tip first to learn more.

Windows Lodctr /R

Sdelete and drive erase

Like its name implies, if you do not have this tool, you can download it here from Microsoft to not only delete files, folders, as well as write "0" patterns across a disk to secure erase it. You can specify the number of times you want to run the write "0" patterns across a disk to meet your erasure requirements.

There is also another use for Sdelete which is if you need or want to pre-condition a SSD or other device such as for testing, you can run a pre-conditioning pass using Sdelete.

Some command options include -p #n where "n" is the number of times to run, -s recursive to process sub-directories, -z to write "0" or zero out the space on the device, -c for clean, -a to process read-only attributes. Learn more and get your copy of Sdelete from Microsoft here.

Rufus, Seatools, Samsung Disk Magician and Cyberduck

A handy tool available from Seagate (may only work with Seagate and their partner devices) is SeaTools that can give drive information, health and status as well as perform various tests including SMART.

Seagate Seatools example

Different HDD and SSD as well as storage system vendors give tools for configuration, monitoring, management and in some cases data movement with their solutions. Samsung SSD Magician is a tool I have installed for managing my SSDs (830 and 840 Pros) that has features for updating firmware, drive health as well as performance optimization. Other hand tools include the Samsung copy tool based on Clonix as Acronis among other clone or data migration utilities (more on those in a future post).

Samsung SSD Magician

While the Microsoft WIndows USB Tool is handy for dealing with Microsoft ISO, however for creating USB’s with ISO’s such as for installing VMware or Linux on bare metal systems, Rufus is a handy tool to have in the tool-box.

Rufus ISO to USB tool

Another useful tool that functions as an SSH and FTP utility is Cyberduck that also supports access to Amazon S3 among other cloud services.

There are many other tools for server, storage I/O and other activities on WIndows, not to mention other platforms, however hopefully you find the above useful.

How about it, what’s your favorite Windows server, storage I/O tools and commands?

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

September 28, 2013November 26, 2023

Cloud conversations: Has Nirvanix shutdown caused cloud confidence concerns?

Storage I/O trends

Cloud conversations: Has Nirvanix shutdown caused cloud confidence concerns?

Recently seven plus year old cloud storage startup Nirvanix announced that they were finally shutting down and that customers should move their data.

nirvanix customer message

Nirvanix has also posted an announcement that they have established an agreement with IBM Softlayer (read about that acquisition here) to help customers migrate to those services as well as to those of Amazon Web Services (AWS), (read more about AWS in this primer here), Google and Microsoft Azure.

Cloud customer concerns?

With Nirvanix shutting down there has been plenty of articles, blog posts, twitter tweets and other conversations asking if Clouds are safe.

Btw, here is a link to my ongoing poll where you can cast your vote on what you think about clouds.

IMHO clouds can be safe if used in safe ways which includes knowing and addressing your concerns, not to mention following best practices, some of which pre-date the cloud era, sometimes by a few decades.

Nirvanix Storm Clouds

More on this in a moment, however lets touch base on Nirvanix and why I said they were finally shutting down.

The reason I say finally shutting down is that there were plenty of early warning signs and storm clouds circling Nirvanix for a few years now.

What I mean by this is that in their seven plus years of being in business, there have been more than a few CEO changes, something that is not unheard of.

Likewise there have been some changes to their business model ranging from selling their software as a service to a solution to hosting among others, again, smart startups and establishes organizations will adapt over time.

Nirvanix also invested heavily in marketing, public relations (PR) and analyst relations (AR) to generate buzz along with gaining endorsements as do most startups to get recognition, followings and investors if not real customers on board.

In the case of Nirvanix, the indicator signs mentioned above also included what seemed like a semi-annual if not annual changing of CEOs, marketing and others tying into business model adjustments.

cloud storage

It was only a year or so ago that if you gauged a company health by the PR and AR news or activity and endorsements you would have believed Nirvanix was about to crush Amazon, Rackspace or many others, perhaps some actually did believe that, followed shortly there after by the abrupt departure of their then CEO and marketing team. Thus just as fast as Nirvanix seemed to be the phoenix rising in stardom their aura started to dim again, which could or should have been a warning sign.

This is not to solo out Nirvanix, however given their penchant for marketing and now what appears to some as a sudden collapse or shutdown, they have also become a lightning rod of sort for clouds in general. Given all the hype and fud around clouds when something does happen the distract ors will be quick to jump or pile on to say things like "See, I told you, clouds are bad".

Meanwhile the cloud cheerleaders may go into denial saying there are no problems or issues with clouds, or they may go back into a committee meeting to create a new stack, standard, API set marketing consortium alliance. ;) On the other hand, there are valid concerns with any technology including clouds that in general there are good implementations that can be used the wrong way, or questionable implementations and selections used in what seem like good ways that can go bad.

This is not to say that clouds in general whether as a service, solution or product on a public, private or hybrid bases are any riskier than traditional hardware, software and services. Instead what this should be is a wake up call for people and organizations to review clouds citing their concerns along with revisiting what to do or can be done about them.

Clouds: Being prepared

Ben Woo of Neuralytix posted this question comment to one of the Linked In groups Collateral Considerations If You Were/Are A Nirvanix Customer which I posted some tips and recommendations including:

1) If you have another copy of your data somewhere else (which you should btw), how will your data at Nirvanix be securely erased, and the storage it resides on be safely (and secure) decommissioned?

2) if you do have another copy of your data elsewhere, how current is it, can you bring it up to date from various sources (including update from Nirvanix while they stay online)?

3) Where will you move your data to short or near term, as well as long-term.

4) What changes will you make to your procurement process for cloud services in the future to protect against situations like this happening to you?

5) As part of your plan for putting data into the cloud, refine your strategy for getting it out, moving it to another service or place as well as having an alternate copy somewhere.

Fwiw any data I put into a cloud service there is also another copy somewhere else which even though there is a cost, there is a benefit, The benefit is that ability to decide which to use if needed, as well as having a backup/spare copy.

Storage I/O trends

Cloud Concerns and Confidence

As part of cloud procurement as services or products, the same proper due diligence should occur as if you were buying traditional hardware, software, networking or services. That includes checking out not only the technology, also the companies financial, business records, customer references (both good and not so good or bad ones) to gain confidence. Part of gaining that confidence also involves addressing ahead of time how you will get your data out of or back from that services if needed.

Keep in mind that if your data is very important, are you going to keep it in just one place? For example I have data backed-up as well as archived to cloud providers, however I also have local copies either on-site or off.

Likewise there is data I have local kept at alternate locations including cloud. Sure that is costly, however by not treating all of my data and applications the same, I’m able to balance those costs out, plus use cost advantages of different services as well as on-site to be effective. I may be spending no less on data protection, in fact I’m actually spending a bit more, however I also have more copies and versions of important data and in multiple locations. Data that is not changing often does not get protected as often, however there are multiple copies to meet different needs or threat risks.

Storage I/O trends

Don’t be scared of clouds, be prepared

While some of the other smaller cloud storage vendors will see some new customers, I suspect that near to mid-term, it will be the larger, more established and well funded providers that gain the most from this current situation. Granted some customers are looking for alternatives to the mega cloud providers such as Amazon, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft and Rackspace among others, however there are a long list of others some of which who are not so well-known that should be such as Centurylink/Savvis, Verizon/Terremark, Sungurd, Dimension Data, Peak, Bluehost, Carbonite, Mozy (owned by EMC), Xerox ACS, Evault (owned by Seagate) not to mention a long list of many others.

Something to be aware of as part of doing your due diligence is determining who or what actually powers a particular cloud service. The larger providers such as Rackspace, Amazon, Microsoft, HP among others have their own infrastructure while some of the smaller service providers may in fact use one of the larger (or even smaller) providers as their real back-end. Hence understanding who is behind a particular cloud service is important to help decide the viability and stability of who it is you are subscribed to or working with.

Something that I have said for the past couple of years and a theme of my book Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Taylor & Francis) is do not be scared of clouds, however be ready, do your homework.

This also means having cloud concerns is a good thing, again don’t be scared, however find what those concerns are along with if they are major or minor. From that list you can start to decide how or if they can be worked around, as well as be prepared ahead of time should you either need all of your cloud data back quickly, or should that service become un-available.

Also when it comes to clouds, look beyond lowest cost or for free, likewise if something sounds too good to be true, perhaps it is. Instead look for value or how much do you get per what you spend including confidence in the service, service level agreements (SLA), security, and other items.

Keep in mind, only you can prevent data loss either on-site or in the cloud, granted it is a shared responsibility (With a poll).

Ok, nuff said.

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)

March 29, 2013March 7, 2022

March 2013 Server and StorageIO Update Newsletter

March 2013 News letter

Welcome to the March 2013 edition of the StorageIO Update news letter including a new format and added content.

You can get access to this news letter via various social media venues (some are shown below) in addition to StorageIO web sites and subscriptions.

Click on the following links to view the March 2013 edition as (HTML sent via Email) version, or PDF versions.

Visit the news letter page to view previous editions of the StorageIO Update.

You can subscribe to the news letter by clicking here.

Enjoy this edition of the StorageIO Update news letter, let me know your comments and feedback.

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

Data Infrastructure Resource Links Server Storage I/O Network

Where to learn more

What This All Means

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Top vblog voting V2.015 (Its IT award season, cast your votes)

Vsphere-land.com top vblog

Call to action, take a moment to cast your vote

What this means

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August 2014 Industry trend and perspectives

StorageIO comments and perspectives in the news

StorageIO video and audio pod casts

StorageIOblog posts and perspectives

StorageIO events and activities

Server and StorageIO Technology Tips and Tools

StorageIO Update Newsletter Archives

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VMware VVOL’s and storage I/O fundamentals (Part II)

Are VVOL’s accessed like other object storage (e.g. S3)?

What’s the Storage Provider (SP)

What’s the Storage Container (SC)

Protocol endpoint (PE)

VVOL Poll

Wrap up (for now)

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VMware VVOL’s storage I/O fundamentals (Part I)

Taking a step back, digging deeper into Storage I/O and VVOL’s fundamentals

What about VVOL, VAAI and VASA?

What’s this object storage stuff?

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Are VMware VVOL’s in your virtual server and storage I/O future?

How do you know if VVOL are in your future if you don’t know what they are?

VVOL considerations and your future

Where to learn more

VVOL Poll

Wrap up (for now)

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Server and StorageIO Update newsletter – April and May 2014

Industry and Technology Updates

Vendors and revenue earnings, is there storage slowdown?

Staying busy is a good thing

Whats in the works?

April and May 2014 Industry trend and perspectives

Tips, commentary, articles and blog posts

StorageIO comments and perspectives in the news

StorageIO tips and articles appearing in various venues

StorageIO video and audio pod casts

StorageIOblog posts and perspectives

StorageIO White Papers, Solution Briefs and StorageIO Lab reports

StorageIO events and activities

StorageIO Update Newsletter Archives

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Is there an information or data recession? Are you using less storage? (With Polls)

Look beyond vendor revenue metrics

What this all means?

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The SSD Place NVM, SCM, PMEM, Flash, Optane, 3D XPoint, MRAM, NVMe Server, Storage, I/O Topics

Flash SSD Articles, posts and presentations

SSD Storage I/O and related technologies comments in the news

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Old School, New School, Current and Back to School

Old School

New School

Current and Future School

What this all means

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Server Storage I/O Network Benchmark Winter Olympic Games

Games of inches and seconds, performance and skill

Metrics that matter, winners and losers

What about server storage I/O networking benchmarks

Let the games begin

Apples to Apples vs. Apple pie vs. Orange Jello

Closing thoughts (for now)

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Some Windows Server Storage I/O related commands

Finding a Windows physical disk, SSD or storage system device name

Remembering (or learning) Xcopy

Diskpart, don’t be scared, however be careful

Is SATA SSD TRIM Enabled?

Having issues with collecting CPU and performance statistics?