Lenovo TS140 Server and Storage I/O Review

Storage I/O trends

Lenovo TS140 Server and Storage I/O Review

This is a review that looks at my recent hands on experiences in using a TS140 (Model MT-M 70A4 – 001RUS) pedestal (aka tower) server that the Lenovo folks sent to me to use for a month or so. The TS140 is one of the servers that Lenovo had prior to its acquisition of IBM x86 server business that you can read about here.

The Lenovo TS140 Experience

Lets start with the overall experience which was very easy and good. This includes going from initial answering some questions to get the process moving, agreeing to keep the equipment safe, secure, insured as well as not damaging anything (this was not a tear down and rip it apart into pieces trial).

Part of the process also involved answering some configuration related questions and shortly there after a large box from Lenovo arrived. Turns out it was a box (server hardware) inside of a Lenovo box, that was inside a slightly larger unmarked shipping box (see larger box in the background).

TS140 Evaluation Arrives

TS140 shipment undergoing initial security screen scan and sniff (all was ok)

TS140 with Windows 2012
TS140 with Keyboard and Mouse (Monitor not included)

One of the reasons I have a photo of the TS140 on a desk is that I initially put it in an office environment as Lenovo claimed it would be quiet enough to do so. I was not surprised and indeed the TS140 is quiet enough to be used where you would normally find a workstation or mini-tower. By being so quiet the TS140 is a good fit for environments that need a small or starter server that has to go into an office environment as opposed to a server or networking room. For those who are into mounting servers, there is the option for placing the TS140 on its side into a cabinet or rack.

Windows 2012 on TS140
TS140 with Windows Server 2012 Essentials

TS140 as tested

TS140 Selfie of whats inside
TS140 "Selfie" with 4 x 4GB DDR3 DIMM (16GB) and PCIe slots (empty)

16GB RAM (4 x 4GB DDR3 UDIMM, larger DIMMs are supported)
Windows Server 2012 Essentials
Intel Xeon E3-1225 v3 @3.2 Ghz quad (C226 chipset and TPM 1.2) vPRO/VT/EP capable
Intel GbE 1217-LM Network connection
280 watt power supply
Keyboard and mouse (no monitor)
Two 7.2K SATA HDDs (WD) configured as RAID 1 (100GB Lun)
Slot 1 PCIe G3 x16
Slot 2 PCIe G2 x1
Slot 3 PCIe G2 x16 (x4 electrical signal)
Slot 4 PCI (legacy)
Onboard 6GB SATA RAID 0/1/10/5
Onboard SATSA 3.0 (6Gbps) connectors (0-4), USB 3.0 and USB 2.0

Read more about what I did with the Lenovo TS140 in part II of my review along with what I liked, did not like and general comments here.

Ok, nuff said (for now)

Cheers
Gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

Part II: What I did with Lenovo TS140 in my Server and Storage I/O Review

Storage I/O trends

Part II: Lenovo TS140 Server and Storage I/O Review


This is the second of a two-part post series on my recent experiences with a Lenovo TS140 Server, you can read part I here.

What Did I do with the TS140

After initial check out in an office type environment, I moved the TS140 into the lab area where it joined other servers to be used for various things.

Some of those activities included using the Windows Server 2012 Essentials along with associated admin activities. Also, I also installed VMware ESXi 5.5 and ran into a few surprises. One of those was that I needed to apply an update to VMware drivers to support the onboard Intel NIC, as well as enable VT and EP modes for virtualization to assist via the BIOS. The biggest surprise was that I discovered I could not install VMware onto an internal drive attached via one of the internal SATA ports which turns out to be a BIOS firmware issue.

Lenovo confirmed this when I brought it to their attention, and the workaround is to use USB to install VMware onto a USB flash SSD thumb drive, or other USB attached drive or to use external storage via an adapter. As of this time Lenovo is aware of the VMware issue, however, no date for new BIOS or firmware is available. Speaking of BIOS, I did notice that there was some newer BIOS and firmware available (FBKT70AUS December 2013) than what was installed (FB48A August of 2013). So I went ahead and did this upgrade which was a smooth, quick and easy process. The process included going to the Lenovo site (see resource links below), selecting the applicable download, and then installing it following the directions.

Since I was going to install various PCIe SAS adapters into the TS140 attached to external SAS and SATA storage, this was not a big issue, more of an inconvenience Likewise for using storage mounted internally the workaround is to use an SAS or SATA adapter with internal ports (or cable). Speaking of USB workarounds, have a HDD, HHDD, SSHD or SSD that is a SATA device and need to attach it to USB, then get one of these cables. Note that there are USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 cables (see below) available so choose wisely.

USB to SATA adapter cable

In addition to running various VMware-based workloads with different guest VMs.

I also ran FUTREMARK PCmark (btw, if you do not have this in your server storage I/O toolbox it should be) to gauge the systems performance. As mentioned the TS140 is quiet. However, it also has good performance depending on what processor you select. Note that while the TS140 has a list price as of the time of this post under $400 USD, that will change depending on which processor, amount of memory, software and other options you choose.

Futuremark PCMark
PCmark

PCmark testResults
Composite score2274
Compute11530
System Storage2429
Secondary Storage2428
Productivity1682
Lightweight2137

PCmark results are shown above for the Windows Server 2012 system (non-virtualized) configured as shipped and received from Lenovo.

What I liked

Unbelievably quiet which may not seem like a big deal, however, if you are looking to deploy a server or system into a small office workspace, this becomes an important considerations. Otoh, if you are a power user and want a robust server that can be installed into a home media entertainment system, well, this might be a nice to have consideration ;).

Something else that I liked is that the TS140 with the E3-1220 v3 family of processor supports PCIe G3 adapters which are useful if you are going to be using 10GbE cards or 12Gbs SAS and faster cards to move lots of data, support more IOPs or reduce response time latency.

In addition, while only 4 DIMM slots is not very much, its more than what some other similar focused systems have, plus with large capacity DIMMs, you can still get a nice system, or two, or three or four for a cluster at a good price or value (Hmm, VSAN anybody?). Also while not a big item, the TS140 did not require ordering an HDD or SSD if you are not also ordering software the system for a diskless system and have your own.

Speaking of IO slots, naturally I’m interested in Server Storage I/O so having multiple slots is a must have, along with the processor that is quad core (pretty much standard these days) along with VT and EP for supporting VMware (these were disabled in the BIOS. However, that was an easy fix).

Then there is the price as of this posting starting at $379 USD which is a bare bones system (e.g. minimal memory, basic processor, no software) whose price increases as you add more items. What I like about this price is that it has the PCIe G3 slot as well as other PCIe G2 slots for expansion meaning I can install 12Gbps (or 6Gbps) SAS storage I/O adapters, or other PCIe cards including SSD, RAID, 10GbE CNA or other cards to meet various needs including software defined storage.

What I did not like

I would like to have had at least six vs. four DIMM slots, however keeping in mind the price point of where this system is positioned, not to mention what you could do with it thinking outside of the box, I’m fine with only 4 x DIMM. Space for more internal storage would be nice, however, if that is what you need, then there are the larger Lenovo models to look at. By the way, thinking outside of the box, could you do something like a Hadoop, OpenStack, Object Storage, VMware VSAN or other cluster with these in addition to using as a Windows Server?

Yup.

Granted you won’t have as much internal storage, as the TS140 only has two fixed drive slots (for more storage there is the model TD340 among others).

However it is not that difficult to add more (not Lenovo endorsed) by adding a StarTech enclosure like I did with my other systems (see here). Oh and those extra PCIe slots, that’s where a 12Gbs (or 6Gbps) adapter comes into play while leaving room for GbE cards and PCIe SSD cards. Btw not sure what to do with that PCIe x1 slot, that’s a good place for a dual GbE NIC to add more networking ports or an SATA adapter for attaching to larger capacity slower drives.

StarTech 2.5" SAS and SATA drive enclosure on Amazon.com
StarTech 2.5″ SAS SATA drive enclosure via Amazon.com

If VMware is not a requirement, and you need a good entry level server for a large SOHO or small SMB environment, or, if you are looking to add a flexible server to a lab or for other things the TS140 is good (see disclosure below) and quiet.

Otoh as mentioned, there is a current issue with the BIOS/firmware with the TS140 involving VMware (tried ESXi 5 & 5.5).

However I did find a workaround which is that the current TS140 BIOS/Firmware does work with VMware if you install onto a USB drive, and then use external SAS, SATA or other accessible storage which is how I ended up using it.

Lenovo TS140 resources include

  • TS140 Lenovo ordering website
  • TS140 Data and Spec Sheet (PDF here)
  • Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 Manual (PDF here)
  • Intel E3-1200 v3 processors capabilities (Web page here)
  • Lenovo Drivers and Software (Web page here)
  • Lenovo BIOS and Drivers (Web page here)
  • Enabling Virtualization Technology (VT) in TS140 BIOS (Press F1) (Read here)
  • Enabling Intel NIC (82579LM) GbE with VMware (Link to user forum and a blog site here)
  • My experience from a couple years ago dealing with Lenovo support for a laptop issue
  • Summary

    Disclosure: Lenovo loaned the TS140 to me for just under two months including covering shipping costs at no charge (to them or to me) hence this is not a sponsored post or review. On the other hand I have placed an order for a new TS140 similar to the one tested that I bought on-line from Lenovo.

    This new TS140 server that I bought joins the Dell Inspiron I added late last year (read more about that here) as well as other HP and Dell systems.

    Overall I give the Lenovo TS140 an provisional "A" which would be a solid "A" once the BIOS/firmware issue mentioned above is resolved for VMware. Otoh, if you are not concerned about using the TS140 for VMware (or can do a work around), then consider it as an "A".

    As mentioned above, I liked it so much I actually bought one to add to my collection.

    Ok, nuff said (for now)

    Cheers
    Gs

    Greg Schulz – Microsoft MVP Cloud and Data Center Management, vSAN and VMware vExpert. 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.

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2023 Server StorageIO(R) and UnlimitedIO All Rights Reserved

    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.

    • 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 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

    • 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 SSDsStorage I/O trends
    • 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 PlanStorage I/O ssd news
    • 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 TMSStorage I/O trends
    • 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

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    Data Protection Diaries: March 31 World Backup Day is Restore Data Test Time

    Storage I/O trends

    World Backup Day Generating Awareness About Data Protection

    This World Backup Day piece is part of my ongoing Data Protection Diaries series of posts (www.dataprotecitondiaries.com) about trends, strategies, tools and best practices spanning applications, archiving, backup/restore, business continuance (BC), business resiliency (BR), cloud, data footprint reduction (DFR), security, servers, storage and virtualization among other related topic themes.

    data protection threat risk scenarios
    Different threat risks and reasons to protect your digital assets (data)

    March 31 is World Backup Day which means you should make sure that your data and digital assets (photos, videos, music or audio, scanned items) along with other digital documents are protected. Keep in mind that various reasons for protecting, preserving and serving your data regardless of if you are a consumer with needs to protect your home and personal information, or a large business, institution or government agency.

    Why World Backup Day and Data Protection Focus

    By being protected this means making sure that there are copies of your documents, data, files, software tools, settings, configurations and other digital assets. These copies can be in different locations (home, office, on-site, off-site, in the cloud) as well as for various points in time or recovery point objective (RPO) such as monthly, weekly, daily, hourly and so forth.

    Having different copies for various times (e.g. your protection interval) gives you the ability to go back to a specific time to recover or restore lost, stolen, damaged, infected, erased, or accidentally over-written data. Having multiple copies is also a safeguard incase either the data, files, objects or items being backed up or protected are bad, or the copy is damaged, lost or stolen.

    Restore Test Time

    While the focus of world backup data is to make sure that you are backing up or protecting your data and digital assets, it is also about making sure what you think is being protected is actually occurring. It is also a time to make sure what you think is occurring or know is being done can actually be used when needed (restore, recover, rebuild, reload, rollback among other things that start with R). This means testing that you can find the files, folders, volumes, objects or data items that were protected, use those copies or backups to restore to a different place (you don’t want to create a disaster by over-writing your good data).

    In addition to making sure that the data can be restored to a different place, go one more step to verify that the data can actually be used which means has it be decrypted or unlocked, have the security or other rights and access settings along with meta data been applied. While that might seem obvious it is often the obvious that will bite you and cause problems, hence take some time to test that all is working, not to mention get some practice doing restores.

    Data Protection and Backup 3 2 1 Rule and Guide

    Recently I did a piece based on my own experiences with data protection including Backup as well as Restore over at Spiceworks called My copies were corrupted: The 3-2-1 rule. For those not familiar, or as a reminder 3 2 1 means have more than three copies or better yet, versions stored on at least two different devices, systems, drives, media or mediums in at least one different location from the primary or main copy.

    Following is an excerpt from the My copies were corrupted: The 3-2-1 rule piece:

    Not long ago I had a situation where something happened to an XML file that I needed. I discovered it was corrupted, and I needed to do a quick restore.

    “No worries,” I thought, “I’ll simply copy the most recent version that I had saved to my file server.” No such luck. That file had been just copied and was damaged.

    “OK, no worries,” I thought. “That’s why I have a periodic backup copy.” It turns out that had worked flawlessly. Except there was a catch — it had backed up the damaged file. This meant that any and all other copies of the file were also damaged as far back as to when the problem occurred.

    Read the full piece here.

    Backup and Data Protection Walking the Talk

    Yes I eat my own dog food meaning that I practice what I talk about (e.g. walking the talk) leveraging not just a  3 2 1 approach, actually more of a 4 3 2 1 hybrid which means different protection internals, various retention’s and frequencies, not all data gets treated the same, using local disk, removable disk to go off-site as well as cloud. I also test candidly more often by accident using the local, removable and cloud copies when I accidentally delete something, or save the wrong version.

    Some of my data and applications are protected throughout the day, others on set schedules that vary from hours to days to weeks to months or more. Yes, some of my data such as large videos or other items that are static do not change, so why backup them up or protect every day, week or month? I also align the type of protection, frequency, retention to meet different threat risks, as well as encrypt data. Part of actually testing and using the restores or recoveries is also determining what certificates or settings are missing, as well as where opportunities exist or needed to enhance data protection.

    Closing comments (for now)

    Take some time to learn more about data protection including how you can improve or modernize while rethinking what to protect, when, where, why how and with what.

    In addition to having copies from different points in time and extra copies in various locations, also make sure that they are secured or encrypted AND make sure to protect your encryption keys. After all, try to find a digital locksmith to unlock your data who is not working for a government agency when you need to get access to your data ;)…

    Learn more about data protection including Backup/Restore at www.storageioblog.com/data-protection-diaries-main/ where there are a collection of related posts and presentations including:

    Also check out the collection of technology and vendor / product neutral data protection and backup/restore content at BackupU (disclosure: sponsored by Dell Data Protection Software) that includes various webinars and Google+ hangout sessions that I have been involved with.

    Watch for more data protection conversations about related trends, themes, technologies, techniques perspectives in my ongoing data protection diaries discussions as well as read more about Backup and other related items at www.storageioblog.com/data-protection-diaries-main/.

    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)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    Matt Vogt of Computex talks VMware vCOPs in his first ever podcast

    Storage I/O trends

    Matt Vogt of Computex talks VMware vCOPs in his first ever podcast

    audio

    In this episode from the Computex Rethink your Datacenter for 2017 planning and strategy event I am joined by Matt Vogt (@MattVogt).

    Introducing Matt Vogt

    Matt is a Principal Architect with Computex Technology Solutions as well as certified VMware specialist and fellow vExpert.

    audio

    Not only is this the first appearance by Matt on the StorageIO Podcasts, it is also his first time as a guest on any podcast so I’m honored to host his global debut podcast appearance here.

    We talk about the role of automation for performance and capacity optimization along with how VMware vCOPs 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 pod cast here.

    Also available via 

    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)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    March 2014 StorageIO Update Newsletter : Cisco Cloud, VMware VSAN and More

    Industry Trends Perspectives: Cisco Cloud and VMware VSAN

    Welcome to the March 2014 edition of the StorageIO Update (newsletter) containing trends perspectives on cloud, virtualization and data infrastructure topics. Technically it is now spring here in North America and to say that we have had abnormal cold weather would be an understatement. However it is March with April just around the corner meaning plenty to do including several upcoming events (see below).

    Clouds and Cisco

    Some recent industry activity has included Cisco announcing its Cloud intentions (e.g. more than simply selling servers and networking hardware). So far the Cisco Cloud move appears to be more about hybrid and partner ecosystem including channels vs. going toes to toe with an Amazon Web Service (AWS). Cisco appears to playing the hybrid theme of being a technology supplier as well as provider or partner. Thus, it looks like for the near term the Cisco cloud target is not as much AWS as the likes of an IBM who recently added Softlayer or an HP.

    Greg Schulz Storage I/OGreg Schulz on break

    This will also be interesting to watch where along with how other Cisco partners such as EMC, Microsoft, NetApp, VCE and VMware participate. Keep in mind that some of these and other Cisco partners also have their own public, private and hybrid cloud initiatives, services along with being a supplier to each other.

    VMware VSAN Software Defined Storage

    Another industry activity involving servers storage I/O networking hardware software and virtualization (aka software defined) was the general announcement (GA) by VMware of Virtual SAN (VSAN). VMware VSAN went into public beta shortly after VMworld 2013 timeframe when many of us downloaded, installed and did various types of testing with it.

    For those not familiar with VSAN, it is added licensed software functionality for VMware that creates a cluster to host Virtual Machines (VMs) along with its own shared resilient storage solution (e.g. Software Defined Storage). How VSAN works is to use PCIe, SAS, SATA dedicated direct attached storage (DAS) including that are local to the VMware host server (physical machine or PM). The VMware host PMs support DAS Hard Disk Drives (HDD), Solid State Devices (SSD) including PCIe cards, drives or DIMMs, along with Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD). This local DAS storage is served and shared among the nodes (up to 32 host or PMs) per VSAN cluster balancing performance, availability (and resiliency) along with space capacity to host VM objects. Note that VM objects include VMDKs (e.g. virtual disks) and are not to be confused with the other type of object storage or access such as CDMI/SWIFT/S3/HTTP/REST.

    VMs (and those managing them) see in the VSAN cluster dats that are familiar with other VMware implementations including storage policies and other tools. Here is a link to a great piece by Patrick Schulz a data infrastructure systems engineer in Germany (no relation, at least not that I know of yet) where he shares his experiences with VSAN implementation.

    storage I/O vsan
    Generic VSAN example

    Instead of using an external iSCSI, Fibre Channel (FC) or FC over Ethernet (FCoE) shared SAN or NAS storage system / appliance to create the storage repository, local DAS is leveraged in groups spread across the hosts in the VSAN cluster (up to 32 nodes ). VSAN requires a percentage of SSD for each storage group on the host cluster nodes that a part is used for caching data which is persistently stored on HDD based media.

    VSAN software is licensed by the number of active sockets (not the cores) in the host servers (PM) that are in the cluster or by number of VDI users (guest VMs). For example if there are four servers two with one socket and two with dual sockets there would be six socket licenses. MSRP License cost per processor socket is $2,495 USD which also assumes core VMware licenses already exist. There are also a per guest VM license of $50 per VDI instance, as well as other optional license models and bundles with different features or upgrades.

    What is different with VSAN vs. other VMware clusters is that a) the storage is only accessible to VMs that are in the VSAN cluster (unless a VM exports and serves to others via NFS, iSCSI, etc which is a different conversation for another day). Another difference is that today VSAN leverage storage inside of servers or direct attached as opposed to using iSCSI, FC, FCoE SAN or NAS storage systems.

    Btw, the current maximum LUN, volume or target storage device size is 4TB so if you were thinking of taking a SAS attached storage system and creating a bunch of small LUNs, you might want to review that from a cost perspective, or at least for today.

    There is much more to VSAN including how it works, what it can and can not do, who it is for and whom should not use for different app’s, however IMHO besides lower-end, SMB, workgroup, departmental, VMware centric environments, the number one scenario today is VDI along with where converged solutions such as those from Nutanix, Simplivity and Tintri among others are playing.

    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.

    Check out our backup, restore, BC, DR and archiving (Under the resources section on StorageIO.com) for extra content.

    StorageIO Industry Trends and PerspectivesIndustry trends tips, commentary, articles and blog posts
    What is being seen, heard and talked about while out and about

    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 in the newsRecent StorageIO comments and perspectives in the news

    SearchSolidStateStorage: Comments on automated storage tiering and flash
    EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments on Cloud-Storage Mergers and Acquisitions
    SearchDataBackup: Comments on near-CDP nudging true CDP from landscape
    EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments on Ways to Avoid Cloud Storage Pricing Surprises
    SearchDataBackup: Q&A: Snapshot, replication ‘great approach’ for data protection
    SearchDataBackup: Comments on LTFS-enabled products

    StorageIO tips and articles Recent StorageIO tips and articles in various venues

    InformationSecurityBuzz: Dark Territories – Do You Know Where Your Information Is?
    InformationSecurityBuzz: Rings Of Security For Data Protection Or For Appearance?
    SearchSolidStateStorage: Q&A on automated storage tiering and flash
    SpiceWorks: My copies were corrupted: The 3-2-1 data protection rule

    StorageIOblog postRecent StorageIOblog posts and perspectives

  • Missing MH370 reminds us, do you know where your digital assets are? Click to read more
  • Old School, New School, Current and Back to School – Click to read and view poll
  • USENIX FAST (File and Storage Technologies) 2014 Proceedings – Click to read more
  • Spring 2014 StorageIO Events and Activities Update Click to view
  • Review – iVMcontrol iPhone VMware management, iTool or iToy? Click to read more
  • February 2014 Server StorageIO Update Newsletter
  • 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.

    Server and StorageIO seminars, conferences, web cats, events, activities StorageIO activities (out and about)

    Seminars, symposium, conferences, webinars
    Live in person and recorded recent and upcoming events

    The StorageIO calendar continues to evolve, here are some recent and upcoming activities.

    129/78/148/103/1527/350/242/91 = 650

    June 12, 2014The Many Facets of Virtual Storage and Software Defined Storage VirtualizationWebinar
    9AM PT
    June 11, 2014The Changing Face and Landscape of Enterprise StorageWebinar
    9AM PT
    May 16, 2014 What you need to know about virtualization (Demystifying Virtualization)Nijkerk Holland
    May 15, 2014 Data Infrastructure Industry Trends: What’s New and TrendingNijkerk Holland
    May 14, 2014 To be announcedNijkerk Holland
    May 13, 2014 Data Movement and Migration: Storage Decision Making ConsiderationsNijkerk Holland
    May 12, 2014 Rethinking Business Resiliency: From Disaster Recovery to Business ContinuanceNijkerk Holland
    May 5-7, 2014EMC WorldLas Vegas
    April 22-23, 2014SNIA DSI Event

    Presenting – The “Cloud” Hybrid Home Run
    Life beyond they Hype

    Santa Clara CA
    April 16, 2014Open Source and Cloud Storage – Enabling business, or a technology enabler?Webinar
    9AM PT
    April 9, 2014Storage Decision Making for Fast, Big and Very Big Data EnvironmentsWebinar
    9AM PT
    April 8, 2014NABNational Association Broadcasters (e.g. Very Big Fast data Event)Las Vegas
    March 27, 2014
    Keynote: The 2017 Datacenter – PREPARING FOR THE 2017 DATACENTER SESSIONSEdina
    8:00AM
    Register Here

    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.

    Thank you to the current StorageIoblog.com site sponsor advertisers

    Druva (End Point Data Protection)
    Unitrends (Enterprise backup solution and management tools)
    Veeam (VMware and Hyper-V virtual server backup and data protection tools).

    Contact StorageIO to learn about sponsorship and other partnership opportunities.

    Click here to view earlier StorageIO Update newsletters (HTML and PDF versions). Subscribe to this newsletter (and pass it along) and click here to subscribe to this news letter. 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

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    iVMcontrol iPhone VMware management, iTool or iToy?

    Storage I/O trends

    iVMcontrol iPhone VMware management, iTool or iToy?

    A few months back I was looking for a simple easy to use yet robust tool for accessing and managing my VMware environment from my iPhone. The reason being is that I don’t always like to carry a laptop or tablet around, not to mention neither fits in a pocket very well. Needless to say there are many options for accessing VMware products and implementations that run on tablets including iPads as well as laptops among others.

    Why do I need iVMcontrol

    I wanted something that I could quickly access and check on a VM guest, start or stop things, gain status updates if or when needed from my iPhone. Also keeping in mind that this would be a tool that would not be used constantly throughout the day, maybe at best one or twice a week, hence needed to be affordable as well. At $9.99 USD the tool I found and selected (iVMcontrol) was not for free, however I have gotten that value out of the tool already in just a few months of having it.

    As mentioned, the tool is iVMcontrol which you can get from the iTunes store (here’s the link).

    Storage I/O IVM on iPhone
    View of iVMcontrol from iPhone

    Granted iVMcomtrol is not the same as other app’s for full-sized tablets or laptops, however for an iPhone it’s not bad! In fact other than a few nuances namely using a virtual mouse, it’s pretty good for what I use it for.

    That’s the key is that while I use the vSphere client or vCenter Browser for real activities, iVMcontrol served a different purpose. That purpose is for example if I just need to check on something or do basic functions without having to get the laptop out or something else.  Even in the lab if I’m making a change or need to start or stop things and forget the laptop in another room, no worries simply use the iPhone.

    Sure using a tablet would be easier, however I usually don’t care a tablet in my pocket.

    How often do I use iVMcontrol?

    Depends however usually a couple of times a week depending on what I’m doing.

    For example if I need to quickly check on a guest VM, start or stop something, or general status check iVMcontrol has come in handy.

    Storage I/O IVM main screen
    Various VMware hosts (PM’s) in a VMware datacenter

    Storage I/O IVM main screen
    Various Guest VMs on VMware host (PM)

    iVM VMware storage I/O space
    VMware host storage space capacity usage

    Storage I/O IVM main screen
    Managing a guest VM

    iVM Windows guest
    Accessing Windows Guest VM via iVMcontrol

    iVM Windows guest storage I/O activity
    Checking on Windows Guest Storage I/O activity

    As you can see the screen is small, sure you can zoom in thus good for checking in on activity, or doing basic things. However for more involved activity, that’s where a tablet or regular computer comes into play accessing the VM guests, or VMware using the vSphere Client or vCenter web client type tools.

    Is iVMcontrol an iTool or iToy?

    IMHO its a tool, granted its also a fun toy.

    Is a tool such as iVMcontrol a necessity or a nice to have for when I need to use it to check on something quick.

    That depends on what you need vs. wants.

    For me, it is a convince tool to have when I need it, however just because I have it does not mean I have to use it all the time.

    Ok, nuff said (for now)

    Cheers Gs

    Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    Spring 2014 StorageIO Events and Activities Update

    Storage I/O trends

    Cloud Virtual Server Storage I/O and Networking events

    Speaking of Old School, New School, Current and Future School, here are some upcoming events including live in-person as well as virtual or online StorageIO activities. The following calendar also includes a series of one-day workshop sessions that are part of a week of seminars to be held in Nijkerk Netherlands being Organized by Brouwer Storage Consultancy (learn more here).

    The current calendar which continues to be updated includes a mix of webinars (playback are available), and live events covering data infrastructure topics from cloud, virtual, physical and software defined across servers, storage I/O networking, SSD, performance, object storage and data protection among other related themes.

    June 19, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    Evolving from Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (BC) to Business Resiliency (BR)Webinar
    9AM PT
    June 12, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    The Many Facets of Virtual Storage and Software Defined Storage Virtualization9AM PTWebinar
    June 11, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    The Changing Face and Landscape of Enterprise Storage9AM PTWebinar
    May 16, 2014 What you need to know about virtualization (Demystifying Virtualization)Nijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    May 15, 2014 Data Infrastructure Industry Trends: What’s New and TrendingNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    May 14, 2014 To be announcedNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    May 13, 2014 Data Movement and Migration: Storage Decision Making ConsiderationsNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    May 12, 2014 Rethinking Business Resiliency: From Disaster Recovery to Business ContinuanceNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    May 5-7, 2014EMC WorldLas Vegas
    April 22-23, 2014SNIA DSI EventTBASanta Clara CA
    April 16, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    Open Source and Cloud Storage – Enabling business, or a technology enabler?9AM PT
    Webinar
    April 9, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    Storage Decision Making for Fast, Big and Very Big Data Environments9AM PT
    Webinar
    April 8, 2014NABNational Association Broadcasters (e.g. Very Big Fast data Event)Las Vegas NV
    March 27, 2014
    Keynote: The 2017 Datacenter – PREPARING FOR THE 2017 DATACENTER SESSIONSEdina MN
    8:00AM CT
    Register Here
    March 19, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    Business Resiliency (BR), Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) Management9AM PT
    Webinar
    March 19, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    Data Center Monitoring – Metrics that Matter for Effective Management7AM PT
    Webinar
    March 12, 2014
    Server and StorageIO BrightTalk Channel
    Hybrid Clouds – Bridging the Gap between public and private environments11AM PT
    Webinar

    View other recent and past activities along with new additions at the StorageIO.com/events page. Also check out recent commentary in the news here as well as tips and articles here.

    Ok, nuff said (for now)

    Cheers Gs

    Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    USENIX FAST (File and Storage Technologies) 2014 Conference Proceedings

    Storage I/O trends

    USENIX FAST (File and Storage Technologies) 2014 Conference Proceedings

    In case you missed it, the 12th annual USENIX conference on File and Storage Technologies (FAST) was recently held in Santa Clara, CA.

    USENIX FAST 2014

    Big Data, Little Data, Fast SSD and Erasure Code Data

    If like me you are interested in FAST related technologies, trends, tools and related research, check out the conference PDF proceedings here.

    You can also go here to the USENIX FAST site to view additional information about the sessions along with other download material.

    The PDF format proceedings contain over 320 pages of content including some good white papers and information covering RAID and Erasure code, Big Data and Little Data, Cloud and Virtualization, Flash, DRAM, SSD, Filesystem performance, metrics, measurement and related software along with plenty of file system related material.

    USENIX FAST 2014 Proceedings Index

    USENIX FAST 2014 Proceedings Index part 3

    Heads up though, these are not your usual vendor high-level marketing white papers rather what you would expect from a technical conference such as FAST as you can see in the above index with abstracts.

    So add the 2014 USENIX FAST Proceedings to your reading list.

    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)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    Its Award Season: Time for 2014 top VMware and virtualization blog voting

    Storage I/O trends

    Its Award Season: Time for 2014 top VMware and virtualization blog voting

    It’s that time of the year again for award season including with the recently wrapped up 2014 Winter Olympic (and benchmarking games), the academy awards and many others. That also means it is time again for the annual top VMware, Virtualization, Storage and related blogs voting now taking place until March 17th over at Eric Siebert (aka @ericsiebert) vsphere-land.com site that then appears on his vLaunchPad site. There is plenty of new school, as well as some old school and a few current or future school theme blogs represented with some being more VMware specific while others are cloud, virtual, server, storage, networking, development or other related themes.

    Click on the above image to cast your vote

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

    Greg Schulz StorageIOblog

    Thus as this is a peoples choice process, I’m asking if you can 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, in addition to being nominated in the Storage, Podcast and Independent blogger categories.

    VMware vExpert

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

    Ok, nuff said (other than thanks for reading)

    Cheers gs

    Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    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

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    February 2014 Server StorageIO Update Newsletter Data Infrastructure Insights


    Welcome to the February 2014 edition of the StorageIO Update (newsletter) containing trends perspectives on cloud, virtualization and data infrastructure topics. Its winter here in North America and specifically in the Stillwater Minnesota to say that there is plenty of snow and cold would be an understatement. However in a few months instead of dealing with -20F or -40F wind chills, it will be 100F head index, thus the saying of if you don’t like the weather, either leave or wait a bit as it will change.

    In case you missed the December 2013 StorageIO holiday greeting which was in place of the normal newsletter you can view that here. In the absence of the regular December and January StorageIO Update newsletters, this is a larger edition to get caught up. However not to worry as there is more content and items in the wings for March.

    2013 wrapped up with a flurry of industry activity including some acquisitions (Avago buying LSI and Seagate acquiring Xyratex among others). Likewise 2014 so far is continuing the momentum living up to the mantra that while there may be economic challenges, there is no such thing as a data or information recession.

    Greg Schulz StorageIO
    Watch for future posts, commentary, perspectives and other information down the road (and in the not so distant future) pertaining to information and data infrastructure topics, themes and trends across cloud, virtual, legacy server, storage, networking, hardware and software. Also check out our backup, restore, BC, DR and archiving (Under the resources section on StorageIO.com) for various presentation, book chapter downloads and other content.

    Enjoy this edition of the StorageIO Update newsletter and keep in mind, at least here in North America spring is just around the corner with summer not to far off either.

    Ok, nuff said (for now)

    Cheers gs

    StorageIO Industry Trends and PerspectivesIndustry trends tips, commentary, articles and blog posts
    What is being seen, heard and talked about while out and about

    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 in the newsRecent StorageIO comments and perspectives in the news

    SearchSMBStorage: Comments on Lenovo EMC Iomega new SMB NAS products
    ChannelProSMB: Comments on what the future holds for HDDs
    NetworkAsia: Comments on WORM disk and tape
    SeaarchSolidStateStorage: Comments on SSD industry activity and OCZ bankruptcy
    EnterpriseStorageForum: Comments on software defined storage
    Ironmountain: Comments on storage efficiency in small businesses
    PC Today: Comments on best practices
    PC Today: Commnets on How to recover lost data
    PC Today: Comments on Virtualization 101, understand context which virtualization is used
    PC Today: Comments on going paperless
    PC Today: Optimize Now – Comments on optimize to improve IT productivity
    Processor: Comments on Know Which Emerging Technologies Could Make An Impact
    Processor: Comments on Backup Problems – What To Do Before & After Issues Arise
    Processor: Comments on Know When & When Not To Replace Servers
    Processor: Comments on Enterprise Backup Solutions Buying Tips
    Processor: Comments on Server Trends, Technologies Reshape The Industry

    StorageIO tips and articles Recent StorageIO tips and articles in various venues

    Information Security Buzz: How Secure Is Your Data Storage?
    SearchStorage: Bridging the gap: Choosing storage-over-distance network technology 
    SearchEnterpriseWAN: Wide area network resiliency best practices 
    StateTech: 5 Tips for Factoring Software into Disaster Recovery Plans
    BizTech: How to Turn Storage Networks into Better Performers
    InfoStor: The Many Variations of RAID Storage

    StorageIOblog postRecent StorageIOblog posts and perspectives

  • Server Storage I/O Network Benchmark Winter Olympic Games – Click to read more
  • Removing complexity and cost to drive return on innovation – Click to read more
  • StorageIO data infrastructure links page updated (1,200+ entries) – Click to read more
  • Welcome to Data Protection Diaries – Visit www.storageioblog.com/data-protection-diaries-main/
  • Data Protection Diaries series – My data protection needs and wants – Click to read more
  • Until focus expands to data protection, backup is staying alive! – Click to read here
  • IT and data center sustainability, the other convergence zone – Click to read more
  • Lenovo buys IBM’s xSeries server business, what about EMC? – Click to read more
  • Securing your information assets and data, what about storage?Click to read more
  • Dell Inspiron 660 i660, Virtual Server Diamond in the rough?Click to read more
  • Book review: Rethinking Enterprise Storage by Marc FarleyClick to read more
  • Some Windows Server Storage I/O related commandsClick to read more
  • IoD, IoT, IoE, IoS, IoP, IoU and IoX are in your futureClick to read more
  • Goodbye 2013, hello 2014, predictions past, present and futureClick to read more
  • Small Medium Business (SMB) IT gains respect, what about SOHO?Click to read more
  • Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays 2013 from StorageIOClick to read more
  • Server virtualization nested and tiered hypervisorsClick to read more
  • 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.

    Server and StorageIO seminars, conferences, web cats, events, activities StorageIO activities (out and about)

    Seminars, symposium, conferences, webinars
    Live in person and recorded recent and upcoming events

    The StorageIO calendar continues to evolve, here are some recent and upcoming activities.

    March 13, 2014 BrightTalkBusiness Resiliency (BR), Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) ManagementWebinar
    9AM PT
    March 12, 2014 BrightTalkHybrid Clouds – Bridging the Gap between public and private environmentsWebinar
    9AM PT
    February 18, 2014 BrightTalkNetworking with your Servers and Storage – Cloud, virtual and physical environmentsWebinar
    9AM PT
    January 28, 2014 Backup.UData Protection for Hybrid Environments 201Backup.U
    Google+ hangout
    January 23, 2014 DataCenter
    Acceleration
    Building and Managing the Sustainable Datacenter – Driving efficiency, productivity, effectiveness and economicsLive chat
    11AM PT
    January 15, 2014 BrightTalkModernizing Data Protection For Cloud, Virtual and Physical EnvironmentsWebinar
    11AM CT
    January 14, 2014 Backup.UData Protection for Hybrid Environments 101Backup.U
    Online Webinar
    December 12, 2013 Backup.UData Protection for Cloud 201Backup.U
    Google+ hangout
    December 6, 2013
    Code42
    Panelist – Endpoint Data Management
    Protecting the Perimeter of the Internet of Things
    (Replay)
    1PM CT
    Web Based
    December 3, 2013 Backup.UData Protection for Cloud 101Backup.U
    Online Webinar

    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.

    Thank you to the current StorageIoblog.com site sponsor advertisers

    Druva (End Point Data Protection)

    EMC (EMC Community Network)
    Unitrends (Enterprise backup solution and management tools)
    Veeam (VMware and Hyper-V virtual server backup and data protection tools).

    Contact StorageIO to learn about sponsorship and other partnership opportunities.

    Click here to view previous StorageIO Update newsletters (HTML and PDF versions). Subscribe to this newsletter (and pass it along) click here to subscribe to this news letter. View archives of past StorageIO update news letters as well as download PDF versions at: www.storageio.com/newsletter.

    Thank you for reading this edition of the StorageIO Update Newsletter.

    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)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    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

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

    Removing complexity and cost to drive return on innovation the new ROI

    Storage I/O trends

    Removing complexity and cost to drive return on innovation the new ROI

    There is no such thing as an information recession however there the realities of economic challenges in IT data centers also known as information factories.

    Likewise, people and data are living longer with increased dependency on information being available and reliable when needed. Hence the need for data infrastructures that protect, preserve and serve information in a cost-effective productive way.

    Return on innovation, the new ROI, doing more with what you have without compromise
    Driving return on innovation (the new ROI) to support growth

    A common challenge for organizations of all size is how to support business and data growth while working within budget constraints without compromising on customer service expectations. Simply cutting cost at the price of reliability, availability, serviceability or performance is not an option for most environments.

    Driving data center and data infrastructure sustainability

    The solution is to find and remove complexity and thus remove costs. How to carry out the above goal is to leverage various tools and techniques to streamline IT and data infrastructures in creative ways.

    Cloud, virtual and traditional computing building blocks image, servers, storage, networking hardware and software
    Core IT building blocks (servers, storage and networking, hardware and software)

    With data storage along with servers, networks and associated software management tools being the fundamental building blocks for traditional, virtual and cloud environments, it makes sense to apply some focus there.

    How you use different tools and technologies to address various challenges while enabling your organization to be more effective and productive will decide your return on innovation, the new ROI. The new ROI is a companion reflecting qualitative business benefits vs. traditional black and white quantitative spreadsheet numbers based indicators.

    garbage in, garbage out roi tco
    Watch out for Garbage In, Garbage Out ROI and TCO analysis

    Return on innovation reflects how various tools and technologies, joined with different processes, procedures, and best practices and people skills are combined to address a problem or challenge and enable some benefit. An example is deploying storage optimization techniques to support growth by finding and removing complexities, boosting effectiveness (as well as efficiency) without negatively affecting productivity.

    Where financial based ROI looks at a number that may show impacts to customer service, return on innovation highlights the business benefit (e.g. perhaps non-financial) such as getting more work done in same amount of time or keeping customers satisfied.

    Keep in mind, that when you can find and remove complexity, cost savings are the usual benefit vs. finding and moving or masking problems that end up costing more over time.

    Ok, nuff said (for now)

    Cheers
    Gs

    Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
    twitter @storageio

    All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved