Tag: SSD

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Server Storage I/O Benchmark Performance Resource Tools

Server Storage I/O Benchmarking Performance Resource Tools

server storage I/O trends

Updated 1/23/2018

Server storage I/O benchmark performance resource tools, various articles and tips. These include tools for legacy, virtual, cloud and software defined environments.

benchmark performance resource tools server storage I/O performance

The best server and storage I/O (input/output operation) is the one that you do not have to do, the second best is the one with the least impact.

server storage I/O locality of reference

This is where the idea of locality of reference (e.g. how close is the data to where your application is running) comes into play which is implemented via tiered memory, storage and caching shown in the figure above.

Cloud virtual software defined storage I/O

Server storage I/O performance applies to cloud, virtual, software defined and legacy environments

What this has to do with server storage I/O (and networking) performance benchmarking is keeping the idea of locality of reference, context and the application workload in perspective regardless of if cloud, virtual, software defined or legacy physical environments.

StorageIOblog: I/O, I/O how well do you know about good or bad server and storage I/Os?
StorageIOblog: Server and Storage I/O benchmarking 101 for smarties
StorageIOblog: Which Enterprise HDDs to use for a Content Server Platform (7 part series with using benchmark tools)
StorageIO.com: Enmotus FuzeDrive MicroTiering lab test using various tools
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
ComputerWeekly: Storage performance metrics: How suppliers spin performance specifications

Via StorageIO Podcast: Kevin Closson discusses SLOB Server CPU I/O Database Performance benchmarks
Via @KevinClosson: SLOB Use Cases By Industry Vendors. Learn SLOB, Speak The Experts’ Language
Via BeyondTheBlocks (Reduxio): 8 Useful Tools for Storage I/O Benchmarking
Via CCSIObench: Cold-cache Sequential I/O Benchmark
Doridmen.com: Transcend SSD360S Review with tips on using ATTO and Crystal benchmark tools
CISJournal: Benchmarking the Performance of Microsoft Hyper-V server, VMware ESXi and Xen Hypervisors (PDF)
Microsoft TechNet:Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V large-scale VM performance for in-memory transaction processing
InfoStor: What’s The Best Storage Benchmark?
StorageIOblog: How to test your HDD, SSD or all flash array (AFA) storage fundamentals
Via ATTO: Atto V3.05 free storage test tool available
Via StorageIOblog: Big Files and Lots of Little File Processing and Benchmarking with Vdbench

Via StorageIO.com: Which Enterprise Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) to use with a Content Server Platform (White Paper)
Via VMware Blogs: A Free Storage Performance Testing Tool For Hyperconverged
Microsoft Technet: Test Storage Spaces Performance Using Synthetic Workloads in Windows Server
Microsoft Technet: Microsoft Windows Server Storage Spaces – Designing for Performance
BizTech: 4 Ways to Performance-Test Your New HDD or SSD
EnterpriseStorageForum: Data Storage Benchmarking Guide
StorageSearch.com: How fast can your SSD run backwards?
OpenStack: How to calculate IOPS for Cinder Storage ?
StorageAcceleration: Tips for Measuring Your Storage Acceleration

server storage I/O STI and SUT

Spiceworks: Determining HDD SSD SSHD IOP Performance
Spiceworks: Calculating IOPS from Perfmon data
Spiceworks: profiling IOPs

vdbench server storage I/O benchmark
Vdbench example via StorageIOblog.com

StorageIOblog: What does server storage I/O scaling mean to you?
StorageIOblog: What is the best kind of IO? The one you do not have to do
Testmyworkload.com: Collect and report various OS workloads
Whoishostingthis: Various SQL resources
StorageAcceleration: What, When, Why & How to Accelerate Storage
Filesystems.org: Various tools and links
StorageIOblog: Can we get a side of context with them IOPS and other storage metrics?

flash ssd and hdd

BrightTalk Webinar: Data Center Monitoring – Metrics that Matter for Effective Management
StorageIOblog: Enterprise SSHD and Flash SSD Part of an Enterprise Tiered Storage Strategy
StorageIOblog: Has SSD put Hard Disk Drives (HDD’s) On Endangered Species List?

server storage I/O bottlenecks and I/O blender

Microsoft TechNet: Measuring Disk Latency with Windows Performance Monitor (Perfmon)
Via Scalegrid.io: How to benchmark MongoDB with YCSB? (Perfmon)
Microsoft MSDN: List of Perfmon counters for sql server
Microsoft TechNet: Taking Your Server’s Pulse
StorageIOblog: Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?
CMG: I/O Performance Issues and Impacts on Time-Sensitive Applications

flash ssd and hdd

Virtualization Practice: IO IO it is off to Storage and IO metrics we go
InfoStor: Is HP Short Stroking for Performance and Capacity Gains?
StorageIOblog: Is Computer Data Storage Complex? It Depends
StorageIOblog: More storage and IO metrics that matter
StorageIOblog: Moving Beyond the Benchmark Brouhaha
Yellow-Bricks: VSAN VDI Benchmarking and Beta refresh!

server storage I/O benchmark example

YellowBricks: VSAN performance: many SAS low capacity VS some SATA high capacity?
YellowBricsk: VSAN VDI Benchmarking and Beta refresh!
StorageIOblog: Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD StorgeIO lab review
StorageIOblog: Part II: Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD StorgeIO lab review
StorageIOblog: Server Storage I/O Network Benchmark Winter Olympic Games

flash ssd and hdd

VMware VDImark aka View Planner (also here, here and here) as well as VMmark here
StorageIOblog: SPC and Storage Benchmarking Games
StorageIOblog: Speaking of speeding up business with SSD storage
StorageIOblog: SSD and Storage System Performance

Hadoop server storage I/O performance
Various Server Storage I/O tools in a hadoop environment

Michael-noll.com: Benchmarking and Stress Testing an Hadoop Cluster With TeraSort, TestDFSIO
Virtualization Practice: SSD options for Virtual (and Physical) Environments Part I: Spinning up to speed on SSD
StorageIOblog: Storage and IO metrics that matter
InfoStor: Storage Metrics and Measurements That Matter: Getting Started
SilvertonConsulting: Storage throughput vs. IO response time and why it matters
Splunk: The percentage of Read / Write utilization to get to 800 IOPS?

flash ssd and hdd
Various server storage I/O benchmarking tools

Spiceworks: What is the best IO IOPs testing tool out there
StorageIOblog: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do?
StorageIOblog: Some Windows Server Storage I/O related commands
Openmaniak: Iperf overview and Iperf.fr: Iperf overview
StorageIOblog: Server and Storage I/O Benchmark Tools: Microsoft Diskspd (Part I and Part II)
Quest: SQL Server Perfmon Poster (PDF)
Server and Storage I/O Networking Performance Management (webinar)
Data Center Monitoring – Metrics that Matter for Effective Management (webinar)
Flash back to reality – Flash SSD Myths and Realities (Industry trends & benchmarking tips), (MSP CMG presentation)
DBAstackexchange: How can I determine how many IOPs I need for my AWS RDS database?
ITToolbox: Benchmarking the Performance of SANs

server storage IO labs

StorageIOblog: Dell Inspiron 660 i660, Virtual Server Diamond in the rough (Server review)
StorageIOblog: Part II: Lenovo TS140 Server and Storage I/O Review (Server review)
StorageIOblog: DIY converged server software defined storage on a budget using Lenovo TS140
StorageIOblog: Server storage I/O Intel NUC nick knack notes First impressions (Server review)
StorageIOblog & ITKE: Storage performance needs availability, availability needs performance
StorageIOblog: Why SSD based arrays and storage appliances can be a good idea (Part I)
StorageIOblog: Revisiting RAID storage remains relevant and resources

Interested in cloud and object storage visit our objectstoragecenter.com page, for flash SSD checkout storageio.com/ssd page, along with data protection, RAID, various industry links and more here.

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

Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials Book SDDC

What This All Means

Watch for additional links to be added above in addition to those that appear via comments.

Ok, nuff said, for now.

Gs

Greg Schulz – Microsoft MVP Cloud and Data Center Management, VMware vExpert 2010-2017 (vSAN and vCloud). Author of Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials (CRC Press), as well as Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press), Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier) and twitter @storageio. Courteous comments are welcome for consideration. First published on https://storageioblog.com any reproduction in whole, in part, with changes to content, without source attribution under title or without permission is forbidden.

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO. All Rights Reserved. StorageIO is a registered Trade Mark (TM) of Server StorageIO.

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I/O, I/O how well do you know good bad ugly server storage I/O iops?

How well do you know good bad ugly I/O iops?

server storage i/o iops activity data infrastructure trends

Updated 2/10/2018

There are many different types of server storage I/O iops associated with various environments, applications and workloads. Some I/Os activity are iops, others are transactions per second (TPS), files or messages per time (hour, minute, second), gets, puts or other operations. The best IO is one you do not have to do.

What about all the cloud, virtual, software defined and legacy based application that still need to do I/O?

If no IO operation is the best IO, then the second best IO is the one that can be done as close to the application and processor as possible with the best locality of reference.

Also keep in mind that aggregation (e.g. consolidation) can cause aggravation (server storage I/O performance bottlenecks).

aggregation causes aggravation
Example of aggregation (consolidation) causing aggravation (server storage i/o blender bottlenecks)

And the third best?

It’s the one that can be done in less time or at least cost or effect to the requesting application, which means moving further down the memory and storage stack.

solving server storage i/o blender and other bottlenecks
Leveraging flash SSD and cache technologies to find and fix server storage I/O bottlenecks

On the other hand, any IOP regardless of if for block, file or object storage that involves some context is better than those without, particular involving metrics that matter (here, here and here [webinar] )

Server Storage I/O optimization and effectiveness

The problem with IO’s is that they are a basic operations to get data into and out of a computer or processor, so there’s no way to avoid all of them, unless you have a very large budget. Even if you have a large budget that can afford an all flash SSD solution, you may still meet bottlenecks or other barriers.

IO’s require CPU or processor time and memory to set up and then process the results as well as IO and networking resources to move data too their destination or retrieve them from where they are stored. While IO’s cannot be eliminated, their impact can be greatly improved or optimized by, among other techniques, doing fewer of them via caching and by grouping reads or writes (pre-fetch, write-behind).

server storage I/O STI and SUT

Think of it this way: Instead of going on multiple errands, sometimes you can group multiple destinations together making for a shorter, more efficient trip. However, that optimization may also mean your drive will take longer. So, sometimes it makes sense to go on a couple of quick, short, low-latency trips instead of one larger one that takes half a day even as it accomplishes many tasks. Of course, how far you have to go on those trips (i.e., their locality) makes a difference about how many you can do in a given amount of time.

Locality of reference (or proximity)

What is locality of reference?

This refers to how close (i.e., its place) data exists to where it is needed (being referenced) for use. For example, the best locality of reference in a computer would be registers in the processor core, ready to be acted on immediately. This would be followed by levels 1, 2, and 3 (L1, L2, and L3) onboard caches, followed by main memory, or DRAM. After that comes solid-state memory typically NAND flash either on PCIe cards or accessible on a direct attached storage (DAS), SAN, or NAS device. 

server storage I/O locality of reference

Even though a PCIe NAND flash card is close to the processor, there still remains the overhead of traversing the PCIe bus and associated drivers. To help offset that impact, PCIe cards use DRAM as cache or buffers for data along with meta or control information to further optimize and improve locality of reference. In other words, this information is used to help with cache hits, cache use, and cache effectiveness vs. simply boosting cache use.

SSD to the rescue?

What can you do the cut the impact of IO’s?

There are many steps one can take, starting with establishing baseline performance and availability metrics.

The metrics that matter include IOP’s, latency, bandwidth, and availability. Then, leverage metrics to gain insight into your application’s performance.

Understand that IO’s are a fact of applications doing work (storing, retrieving, managing data) no matter whether systems are virtual, physical, or running up in the cloud. But it’s important to understand just what a bad IO is, along with its impact on performance. Try to identify those that are bad, and then find and fix the problem, either with software, application, or database changes. Perhaps you need to throw more software caching tools, hypervisors, or hardware at the problem. Hardware may include faster processors with more DRAM and faster internal busses.

Leveraging local PCIe flash SSD cards for caching or as targets is another option.

You may want to use storage systems or appliances that rely on intelligent caching and storage optimization capabilities to help with performance, availability, and capacity.

Where to gain insight into your server storage I/O environment

There are many tools that you can be used to gain insight into your server storage I/O environment across cloud, virtual, software defined and legacy as well as from different layers (e.g. applications, database, file systems, operating systems, hypervisors, server, storage, I/O networking). Many applications along with databases have either built-in or optional tools from their provider, third-party, or via other sources that can give information about work activity being done. Likewise there are tools to dig down deeper into the various data information infrastructure to see what is happening at the various layers as shown in the following figures.

application storage I/O performance
Gaining application and operating system level performance insight via different tools

windows and linux storage I/O performance
Insight and awareness via operating system tools on Windows and Linux

In the above example, Spotlight on Windows (SoW) which you can download for free from Dell here along with Ubuntu utilities are shown, You could also use other tools to look at server storage I/O performance including Windows Perfmon among others.

vmware server storage I/O
Hypervisor performance using VMware ESXi / vsphere built-in tools

vmware server storage I/O performance
Using Visual ESXtop to dig deeper into virtual server storage I/O performance

vmware server storage i/o cache
Gaining insight into virtual server storage I/O cache performance

Wrap up and summary

There are many approaches to address (e.g. find and fix) vs. simply move or mask data center and server storage I/O bottlenecks. Having insight and awareness into how your environment along with applications is important to know to focus resources. Also keep in mind that a bit of flash SSD or DRAM cache in the applicable place can go along way while a lot of cache will also cost you cash. Even if you cant eliminate I/Os, look for ways to decrease their impact on your applications and systems.

Where To Learn More

View additional NAS, NVMe, SSD, NVM, SCM, Data Infrastructure and HDD related topics via the following links.

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

Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials Book SDDC

What This All Means

>Keep in mind: SSD including flash and DRAM among others are in your future, the question is where, when, with what, how much and whose technology or packaging.

Ok, nuff said, for now.

Gs

Greg Schulz – Microsoft MVP Cloud and Data Center Management, VMware vExpert 2010-2017 (vSAN and vCloud). Author of Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials (CRC Press), as well as Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press), Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier) and twitter @storageio. Courteous comments are welcome for consideration. First published on https://storageioblog.com any reproduction in whole, in part, with changes to content, without source attribution under title or without permission is forbidden.

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO. All Rights Reserved. StorageIO is a registered Trade Mark (TM) of Server StorageIO.

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Server Storage I/O Cables Connectors Chargers & other Geek Gifts

Server Storage I/O Cables Connectors Chargers & other Geek Gifts

server storage I/O trends

This is part one of a two part series for what to get a geek for a gift, read part two here.

It is that time of the year when annual predictions are made for the upcoming year, including those that will be repeated next year or that were also made last year.

It’s also the time of the year to get various projects wrapped up, line up new activities, get the book-keeping things ready for year-end processing and taxes, as well as other things.

It’s also that time of the year to do some budget and project planning including upgrades, replacements, enhancements while balancing an over-subscribed holiday party schedule some of you may have.

Lets not forget getting ready for vacations, perhaps time off from work with some time upgrading your home lab or other projects.

Then there are the gift lists or trying to figure out what to get that difficult to shop for person particular geek’s who may have everything, or want the latest and greatest that others have, or something their peers don’t have yet.

Sure I have a DJI Phantom II on my wish list, however also have other things on my needs list (e.g. what I really need and want vs. what would be fun to wish for).

DJI Phantom helicopter drone
Image via DJI.com, click on image to learn more and compare models

So here are some things for the geek or may have everything or is up on having the latest and greatest, yet forgot or didn’t know about some of these things.

Not to mention some of these might seem really simple and low-cost, think of them like a Lego block or erector set part where your imagination will be your boundary how to use them. Also, most if not all of these are budget friendly particular if you shop around.

Replace a CD/DVD with 4 x 2.5″ HDD’s or SSD’s

So you need to add some 2.5" SAS or SATA HDD’s, SSD’s, HHDD’s/SSHD’s to your server for supporting your VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM, Xen, OpenStack, Hadoop or legacy *nix or Windows environment or perhaps gaming system. Challenge is that you are out of disk drive bay slots and you want things neatly organized vs. a rat’s nest of cables hanging out of your system. No worries assuming your server has an empty media bay (e.g. those 5.25" slots where CDs/DVDs or really old HDD’s go), or if you can give up the CD/DVD, then use that bay and its power connector to add ones of these. This is a 4 x 2.5" SAS and SATA drive bay that has a common power connector (molex male) with each drive bay having its own SATA drive connection. By each drive having its own SATA connection you can map the drives to an on-board available SATA port attached to a SAS or SATA controller, or attach an available port on a RAID adapter to the ports using a cable such as small form factor (SFF) 8087 to SATA.

sas storage enclosuresas sata storage enclosure
(Left) Rear view with Molex power and SATA cables (Right) front view

I have a few of these in different systems and what I like about them is that they support different drive speeds, plus they will accept a SAS drive where many enclosures in this category only support SATA. Once you mount your 2.5" HDD or SSD using screws, you can hot swap (requires controller and OS support) the drives and move them between other similar enclosures as needed. The other thing I like is that there are front indicator lights as well as by each drive having its own separate connection, you can attach some of the drives to a RAID adapter while others connected to on-board SATA ports. Oh, and you can also have different speeds of drives as well.

Power connections

Depending on the type of your server, you may have Molex, SATA or some other type of power connections. You can use different power connection cables to go from one type (Molex) to another, create a connection for two devices, create an extension to reach hard to get to mounting locations.

Warning and disclosure note, keep in mind how much power you are drawing when attaching devices to not cause an electrical or fire hazard, follow manufactures instructions and specification doing so at your own risk! After all, Just like Clark Grizzwald in National Lampoon Christmas Vacation who found you could attach extension cord to splitters to splitters and fan-out to have many lights attached, you don’t want to cause a fire or blackout when you plug to many drives in.


National Lampoon Christmas Vacation

Measuring Power

Ok so you do not want to do a Clark Grizzwald (see above video) and overload a power circuit, or perhaps you simply want to know how many watts, amps or quality of your voltage is.

There are many types of power meters along with various prices, some even have interfaces where you can grab event data to correlate with server storage I/O networking performance to do things such as IOP’s per watt among other metrics. Speaking of IOP’s per watt, check out the SNIA Emerald site where they have some good tools including a benchmark script that uses Vdbench to drive hot band workload (e.g. basically kick the crap out of a storage system).

Back to power meters, I like the Kill A Watt series of meters as they give good info about amps, volts, power quality. I have these plugged into outlets so I can see how much power is being used by the battery backup units (BBU) aka UPS that also serve as power surge filters. If needed I can move these further downstream to watch the power intake of a specific server, storage, network or other device.

Kill A Watt Power meter

Standby and backup power

Electrical power surge strips should be a given or considered common sense, however what is or should be common sense should be repeated so that it remains common sense, you should be using power surge strips or other devices.

Standby, UPS and BBU

For most situations a good surge suppressor will cover short power transients.

APC power strips and battery backup
Image via APC and model similar to those that I have

For slightly longer power outages of a few seconds to minutes, that’s where battery backup up (BBU) units that also have surge suppression comes into play. There are many types, sizes with various features to meet your needs and budget. I have several of theses in a couple of different sizes not only for servers, storage and networking equipment (including some WiFi access points, routers, etc), I also have them for home things such as satellite DVR’s. However not everything needs to stay on while others simply need to stay on long-enough in order to shutdown manually or via automated power off sequences.

Alternate Power Generation

Generators are not just for the rich and famous or large data center, like other technologies they are available in different sizes, power capacity, fuel sources, manual or automated among other things.

kohler residential generator
Image via Kohler Power similar to model that I have

Note that even with a typical generator there will be a time gap from the time power goes off until the generator starts, stabilizes and you have good power. That’s where the BBU and UPS mentioned above comes into play to bridge those time gaps which in my cases is about 25-30 seconds. Btw, knowing how much power your technology is drawing using tools such as the Kill A Watt is part of the planning process to avoid surprises.

What about Solar Power

Yup, whether it is to fit in and be green, or simply to get some electrical power when or where it is not needed to charge a battery or power some device, these small solar power devices are very handy.

solar charger
Image via Amazon.com
solar battery charger
Image via Amazon.com

For example you can get or easily make an adapter to charge laptops, cell phones or even power them for normal use (check manufactures information on power usage, Amps and Voltage draws among other warnings to prevent fire and other things). Btw, not only are these handy for computer related things, they also work great for keeping batteries on my fishing boat charged so that I have my fish finder and other electronics, just saying.

Fire suppression

How about a new or updated smoke and fire detection alarm monitor, as well as fire extinguisher for the geek’s software defined hardware that runs on power (electrical or battery)?

The following is from the site Fire Extinguisher 101 where you can learn more about different types of suppression technologies.

Image via Fire Extinguisher 101
  • Class A extinguishers are for ordinary combustible materials such as paper, wood, cardboard, and most plastics. The numerical rating on these types of extinguishers indicates the amount of water it holds and the amount of fire it can extinguish. Geometric symbol (green triangle)
  • Class B fires involve flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. The numerical rating for class B extinguishers indicates the approximate number of square feet of fire it can extinguish. Geometric symbol (red square)
  • Class C fires involve electrical equipment, such as appliances, wiring, circuit breakers and outlets. Never use water to extinguish class C fires – the risk of electrical shock is far too great! Class C extinguishers do not have a numerical rating. The C classification means the extinguishing agent is non-conductive. Geometric symbol (blue circle)
  • Class D fire extinguishers are commonly found in a chemical laboratory. They are for fires that involve combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. These types of extinguishers also have no numerical rating, nor are they given a multi-purpose rating – they are designed for class D fires only. Geometric symbol (Yellow Decagon)
  • Class K fire extinguishers are for fires that involve cooking oils, trans-fats, or fats in cooking appliances and are typically found in restaurant and cafeteria kitchens. Geometric symbol (black hexagon)

Wrap up for part I

This wraps up part I of what to get a geek V2014, continue reading part II 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

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Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD StorgeIO lab review

Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD StorgeIO lab review

This is the first post of a two part series, read the second post here.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to test drive some Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD’s as a follow-up to some earlier activity trying their Enterprise TurboBoost Drives. Disclosure: Seagate has been a StorageIO client and was also the sponsor of this white paper and associated proof-points mentioned in this post.

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. For example nand flash SSD as part of an enterprise tiered storage strategy can be implemented server-side using PCIe cards, SAS and SATA drives as targets or as cache along with software, as well as leveraging SSD devices in storage systems or appliances.

Seagate 1200 SSD
Seagate 1200 Enterprise SAS 12Gbs SSD Image via Seagate.com

Another place where nand flash can be found and compliments SSD devices are so-called Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD) or Hybrid Hard Disk Drives (HHDD) including a new generation that accelerate writes as well as reads such as those Seagate refers to as with Enterprise TurboBoost. The Enterprise TurboBoost drives (view the companion StorageIO Lab review TurboBoost white paper here) were previously known as the Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD) or Hybrid Hard Disk Drives (HHDD). Read more about TurboBoost here and here.

The best server and storage I/O is the one you do not have to do

Keep in mind that the best server or storage I/O is that one that you do not have to do, with the second best being the one with the least overhead resolved as close to the processor (compute) as possible or practical. The following figure shows that the best place to resolve server and storage I/O is as close to the compute processor as possible however only a finite amount of storage memory located there. This is where the server memory and storage I/O hierarchy comes into play which is also often thought of in the context of tiered storage balancing performance and availability with cost and architectural limits.

Also shown is locality of reference which refers to how close data is to where it is being used and includes cache effectiveness or buffering. Hence a small amount of cache of flash and DRAM in the right location can have a large benefit. Now if you can afford it, install as much DRAM along with flash storage as possible, however if you are like most organizations with finite budgets yet server and storage I/O challenges, then deploy a tiered flash storage strategy.

flash cache locality of reference
Server memory storage I/O hierarchy, locality of reference

Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD’s

Back to the Seagate 1200 12Gbs Enterprise SAS SSD which is covered in this StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective thought leadership white paper. The focus of the white paper is to look at how the Seagate 1200 Enterprise class SSD’s and 12Gbps SAS address current and next generation tiered storage for virtual, cloud, traditional Little and Big Data infrastructure environments.

Seagate 1200 Enteprise SSD

This includes providing proof points running various workloads including Database TPC-B, TPC-E and Microsoft Exchange in the StorageIO Labs along with cache software comparing SSD, SSHD and different HDD’s including 12Gbs SAS 6TB near-line high-capacity drives.

Seagate 1200 Enterprise SSD Proof Points

The proof points in this white paper are from an applications focus perspective representing more of an end-to-end real-world situation. While they are not included in this white paper, StorageIO has run traditional storage building-block focus workloads, which can be found at StorageIOblog (Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?). These include tools such as Iometer, iorate, vdbench among others for various IO sizes, mixed, random, sequential, reads, writes along with “hot-band" across different number of threads (concurrent users). “Hot-Band” is part of the SNIA Emerald energy effectiveness metrics for looking at sustained storage performance using tools such as vdbench. Read more about other various server and storage I/O benchmarking tools and techniques here.

For the following series of proof-points (TPC-B, TPC-E and Exchange) a system under test (SUT) consisted of a physical server (described with the proof-points) configured with VMware ESXi along with guests virtual machines (VMs) configured to do the storage I/O workload. Other servers were used in the case of TPC workloads as application transactional requester to drive the SQL Server database and resulting server storage I/O workload. VMware was used in the proof-points to reflect a common industry trend of using virtual server infrastructures (VSI) supporting applications including database, email among others. For the proof-point scenarios, the SUT along with storage system device under test were dedicated to that scenario (e.g. no other workload running) unless otherwise noted.

Server Storage I/O config
Server Storage I/O configuration for proof-points

Microsoft Exchange Email proof-point configuration

For this proof-point, Microsoft Jet Stress Exchange performance workloads were placed (e.g. Exchange Database – EDB file) on each of the different devices under test with various metrics shown including activity rates and response time for reads as well as writes. For the Exchange testing, the EDB was placed on the device being tested while its log files were placed on a separate Seagate 400GB Enterprise 12Gbps SAS SSD.

Test configuration: Seagate 400GB 12000 2.5” SSD (ST400FM0073) 12Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise 15K with TurboBoost™ (ST600MX) 6 Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Enhanced 15K V4 (15K RPM) HDD (ST600MP) with 6 Gbps SAS, Seagate Enterprise Capacity Nearline (ST6000NM0014) 6TB 3.5” 7.2K RPM HDD 12 Gbps SAS and 3TB 7.2K SATA HDD. Email server hosted as guest on VMware vSphere/ESXi V5.5, Microsoft SBS2011 Service Pack 1 64 bit. Guest VM (VMware vSphere 5.5) was on a SSD based dat, had a physical machine (host), with 14 GB DRAM, quad CPU (4 x 3.192GHz) Intel E3-1225 v300, with LSI 9300 series 12Gbps SAS adapters in a PCIe Gen 3 slot with Jet Stress 2010.  All devices being tested were Raw Device Mapped (RDM) where EDB resided. VM on a SSD based separate data store than devices being tested. Log file IOPs were handled via a separate SSD device also persistent (no delayed writes). EDB was 300GB and workload ran for 8 hours.

Microsoft Exchange VMware SSD performance
Microsoft Exchange proof-points comparing various storage devices

TPC-B (Database, Data Warehouse, Batch updates) proof-point configuration

SSD’s are a good fit for both transaction database activity with reads and write as well as query-based decision support systems (DSS), data warehouse and big data analytics. The following are proof points of SSD capabilities for database activity. In addition to supporting database table files and objects, along with transaction journal logs, other uses include for meta-data, import/export or other high-IO and write intensive scenarios. Two database workload profiles were tested including batch update (write-intensive) and transactional. Activity involved running Transaction Performance Council (TPC) workloads TPC-B (batch update) and TPC-E (transaction/OLTP simulate financial trading system) against Microsoft SQL Server 2012 databases. Each test simulation had the SQL Server database (MDF) on a different device with transaction log file (LDF) on a separate SSD. TPC-B for a single device results shown below.

TPC-B (write intensive) results below show how TPS work being done (blue) increases from left to right (more is better) for various numbers of simulated users. Also shown on the same line for each amount of TPS work being done is the average latency in seconds (right to left) where lower is better. Results are shown from top to bottom for each group of users (100, 50, 20 and 1) for the different drives being tested (top to bottom). Note how the SSD device does more work at a lower response time vs. traditional HDD’s

Test configuration: Seagate 400GB 12000 2.5” SSD (ST400FM0073) 12Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise 15K with TurboBoost™ (ST600MX) 6 Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Enhanced 15K V4 (15K RPM) HDD (ST600MP) with 6 Gbps SAS, Seagate Enterprise Capacity Nearline (ST6000NM0014) 6TB 3.5” 7.2K RPM HDD 12 Gbps SAS and 3TB Seagate 7.2K SATA HDD Workload generator and virtual clients Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 database was on Windows 7 guest. Guest VM (VMware vSphere 5.5) had a dedicated 14 GB DRAM, quad CPU (4 x 3.192GHz) Intel E3-1225 v300, with LSI 9300 series 12Gbps SAS adapters in a PCIe Gen 3 slot along with TPC-B (www.tpc.org) workloads.

VM with guest OS along with SQL tempdb and masterdb resided on separate SSD based data store from devices being tested (e.g., where MDF (main database tables) and LDF (log file) resided). All devices being tested were Raw Device Mapped (RDM) independent persistent with database log file on a separate SSD device also persistent (no delayed writes) using VMware PVSCSI driver. MDF and LDF file sizes were 142GB and 26GB with scale factor of 10000, with each step running for one hour (10-minute preamble). Note that these proof-points DO NOT use VMware or any other third-party cache software or I/O acceleration tool technologies as those are covered later in a separate proof-point.

TPC-B sql server database SSD performance
TPC-B SQL Server database proof-points comparing various storage devices

TPC-E (Database, Financial Trading) proof-point configuration

The following shows results from TPC-E test (OLTP/transactional workload) simulating a financial trading system. TPC-E is an industry standard workload that performs a mix of reads and writes database queries. Proof-points were performed with various numbers of users from 10, 20, 50 and 100 to determine (TPS) Transaction per Second (aka I/O rate) and response time in seconds. The TPC-E transactional results are shown for each device being tested across different user workloads. The results show how TPC-E TPS work (blue) increases from left to right (more is better) for larger numbers of users along with corresponding latency (green) that goes from right to left (less is better). The Seagate Enterprise 1200 SSD is shown on the top in the figure below with a red box around its results. Note how the SSD as a lower latency while doing more work compared to the other traditional HDD’s

Test configuration: Seagate 400GB 12000 2.5” SSD (ST400FM0073) 12Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise 15K with TurboBoost™ (ST600MX) 6 Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Enhanced 15K V4 (15K RPM) HDD (ST600MP) with 6 Gbps SAS, Seagate Enterprise Capacity Nearline (ST6000NM0014) 6TB 3.5” 7.2K RPM HDD 12 Gbps SAS and 3TB Seagate 7.2K SATA HDD Workload generator and virtual clients Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 database was on Windows 7 guest. Guest VM (VMware vSphere 5.5) had a dedicated 14 GB DRAM, quad CPU (4 x 3.192GHz) Intel E3-1225 v300, with LSI 9300 series 12Gbps SAS adapters in a PCIe Gen 3 slot along with TPC-B (www.tpc.org) workloads.

VM with guest OS along with SQL tempdb and masterdb resided on separate SSD based data store from devices being tested (e.g., where MDF (main database tables) and LDF (log file) resided). All devices being tested were Raw Device Mapped (RDM) independent persistent with database log file on a separate SSD device also persistent (no delayed writes) using VMware PVSCSI driver. MDF and LDF file sizes were 142GB and 26GB with scale factor of 10000, with each step running for one hour (10-minute preamble). Note that these proof-points DO NOT use VMware or any other third-party cache software or I/O acceleration tool technologies as those are covered later in a separate proof-point.

TPC-E sql server database SSD performance
TPC-E (Financial trading) SQL Server database proof-points comparing various storage devices

Continue reading part-two of this two-part series here including the virtual server storage I/O blender effect and solution.

Ok, nuff said (for now).

Cheers gs

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

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

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Seagate has shipped over 10 Million storage HHDD’s, is that a lot?

Seagate has shipped over 10 Million storage HHDD’s, is that a lot?

Recently Seagate made an announcement that they have shipped over 10 million Hybrid Hard Disk Drives (HHDD) also known as Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD) over that past few years. Disclosure Seagate has been a StorageIO client.

I know where some of those desktop class HHDD’s including Momentus XTs ended up as I bought some of the 500GB and 750GB models via Amazon and have them in various systems. Likewise I have installed in VMware servers the newer generation of enterprise class SSHD’s which Seagate now refers to as Turbo models as companions to my older HHDD’s

What is a HHDD or SSHD?

The HHDD’s continue to evolve from initially accelerating reads to now being capable of speeding up write operations across different families (desktop/mobile, workstation and enterprise). What makes a HHDD or SSHD is that as their name implies, they are a hybrid combing a traditional spinning magnetic Hard Disk Drive (HDD) along with flash SSD storage. The flash persistent memory is in addition to the DRAM or non-persistent memory typically found on HDDs used as a cache buffer. These HHDDs or SSHDs are self-contained in that the flash are built-in to the actual drive as part of its internal electronics circuit board (controller). This means that the drives should be transparent to the operating systems or hypervisors on servers or storage controllers without need for special adapters, controller cards or drivers. In addition, there is no extra software needed to automated tiering or movement between the flash on the HHDD or SSHD and its internal HDD, its all self-contained managed by the drives firmware (e.g. software).

Some SSHD and HHDD industry perspectives

Jim Handy over at Objective Analysis has this interesting post discussing Hybrid Drives Not Catching On. The following is an excerpt from Jim’s post.

Why were our expectations higher? 

There were a few reasons: The hybrid drive can be viewed as an evolution of the DRAM cache already incorporated into nearly all HDDs today. 

  • Replacing or augmenting an expensive DRAM cache with a slower, cheaper NAND cache makes a lot of sense.
  • An SSHD performs much better than a standard HDD at a lower price than an SSD. In fact, an SSD of the same capacity as today’s average HDD would cost about an order of magnitude more than the HDD. The beauty of an SSHD is that it provides near-SSD performance at a near-HDD price. This could have been a very compelling sales proposition had it been promoted in a way that was understood and embraced by end users.
  • Some expected for Seagate to include this technology into all HDDs and not to try to continue using it as a differentiator between different Seagate product lines. The company could have taken either of two approaches: To use hybrid technology to break apart two product lines – standard HDDs and higher-margin hybrid HDDs, or to merge hybrid technology into all Seagate HDDs to differentiate Seagate HDDs from competitors’ products, allowing Seagate to take slightly higher margins on all HDDs. Seagate chose the first path.

The net result is shipments of 10 million units since its 2010 introduction, for an average of 2.5 million per year, out of a total annual HDD shipments of around 500 million units, or one half of one percent.

Continue reading more of Jim’s post here.

In his post, Jim raises some good points including that HHDD’s and SSHD’s are still a fraction of the overall HDD’s shipped on an annual basis. However IMHO the annual growth rate has not been a flat average of 2.5 million, rather starting at a lower rate and then increasing year over year. For example Seagate issued a press release back in summer 2011 that they had shipped a million HHDD’s a year after their release. Also keep in mind that those HHDD’s were focused on desktop workstations and in particular, at Gamers among others.

The early HHDD’s such as the Momentus XTs that I was using starting in June 2010 only had read acceleration which was better than HDD’s, however did not help out on writes. Over the past couple of years there have been enhancements to the HHDD’s including the newer generation also known as SSHD’s or Turbo drives as Seagate now calls them. These newer drives include write acceleration as well as with models for mobile/laptop, workstation and enterprise class including higher-performance and high-capacity versions. Thus my estimates or analysis has the growth on an accelerating curve vs. linear growth rate (e.g. average of 2.5 million units per year).

 Units shipped per yearRunning total units shipped
2010-20111.0 Million1.0 Million
2011-20121.25 Million (est.)2.25 Million (est.)
2012-20132.75 Million (est.)5.0 Million (est.)
2013-20145.0 Million (est)10.0 Million

StorageIO estimates on HHDD/SSHD units shipped based on Seagate announcements

estimated hhdd and sshd shipments

However IMHO there is more to the story beyond numbers of HHDD/SSHD shipped or if they are accelerating in deployment or growing at an average rate. Some of those perspectives are in my comments over on Jim Handy’s site with an excerpt below.

In talking with IT professionals (e.g. what the vendors/industry calls users/customers) they are generally not aware that these devices exist, or if they are aware of them, they are only aware of what was available in the past (e.g. the consumer class read optimized versions). I do talk with some who are aware of the newer generation devices however their comments are usually tied to lack of system integrator (SI) or vendor/OEM support, or sole source. Also there was a focus on promoting the HHDD’s to “gamers” or other power users as opposed to broader marketing efforts. Also most of these IT people are not aware of the newer generation of SSHD or what Seagate is now calling “Turbo” drives.

When talking with VAR’s, there is a similar reaction which is discussion about lack of support for HHDD’s or SSHD’s from the SI/vendor OEMs, or single source supply concerns. Also a common reaction is lack of awareness around current generation of SSHD’s (e.g. those that do write optimization, as well as enterprise class versions).

When talking with vendors/OEMs, there is a general lack of awareness of the newer enterprise class SSHD’s/HHDD’s that do write acceleration, sometimes there is concern of how this would disrupt their “hybrid” SSD + HDD or tiering marketing stories/strategies, as well as comments about single source suppliers. Have also heard comments to the effect of concerns about how long or committed are the drive manufactures going to be focused on SSHD/HHDD, or is this just a gap filler for now.

Not surprisingly when I talk with industry pundits, influencers, amplifiers (e.g. analyst, media, consultants, blogalysts) there is a reflection of all the above which is lack of awareness of what is available (not to mention lack of experience) vs. repeating what has been heard or read about in the past.

IMHO while there are some technology hurdles, the biggest issue and challenge is that of some basic marketing and business development to generate awareness with the industry (e.g. pundits), vendors/OEMs, VAR’s, and IT customers, that is of course assuming SSHD/HHDD are here to stay and not just a passing fad…

What about SSHD and HHDD performance on reads and writes?

What about the performance of today’s HHDD’s and SSHD’s, particular those that can accelerate writes as well as reads?

SSHD and HHDD read / write performance exchange
Enterprise Turbo SSHD read and write performance (Exchange Email)

What about the performance of today’s HHDD’s and SSHD’s, particular those that can accelerate writes as well as reads?

SSHD and HHDD performance TPC-B
Enterprise Turbo SSHD read and write performance (TPC-B database)

SSHD and HHDD performance TPC-E
Enterprise Turbo SSHD read and write performance (TPC-E database)

Additional details and information about HHDD/SSHD or as Seagate now refers to them Turbo drives can be found in two StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective White Papers (located here and another here).

Where to learn more

Refer to the following links to learn more about HHDD and SSHD devices.
StorageIO Momentus Hybrid Hard Disk Drive (HHDD) Moments
Enterprise SSHD and Flash SSD
Part of an Enterprise Tiered Storage Strategy
Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?
2011 Summer momentus hybrid hard disk drive (HHDD) moment
More Storage IO momentus HHDD and SSD moments part I
More Storage IO momentus HHDD and SSD moments part II
New Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid drive (SSD and HDD)
Another StorageIO Hybrid Momentus Moment
SSD past, present and future with Jim Handy
Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?

Closing comments and perspectives

I continue to be bullish on hybrid storage solutions from cloud, to storage systems as well as hybrid-storage devices. However like many technology just because something makes sense or is interesting does not mean its a near-term or long-term winner. My main concern with SSHD and HHDD is if the manufactures such as Seagate and WD are serious about making them a standard feature in all drives, or simply as a near-term stop-gap solution.

What’s your take or experience with using HHDD and/or SSHDs?

Ok, nuff said (for now)

Cheers
Gs

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

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

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CompTIA needs input for their Storage+ certification, can you help?

CompTIA needs input for their Storage+ certification, can you help?

The CompTIA folks are looking for some comments and feedback from those who are involved with data storage in various ways as part of planning for their upcoming enhancements to the Storage+ certification testing.

As a point of disclosure, I am member of the CompTIA Storage+ certification advisory committee (CAC), however I don’t get paid or receive any other type of renumeration for contributing my time to give them feedback and guidance other than a thank, Atta boy for giving back and playing it forward to help others in the IT community similar to what my predecessors did.

I have been asked to pass this along to others (e.g. you or who ever forwards it on to you).

Please take a few moments and feel free to share with others this link here to the survey for CompTIA Storage+.

What they are looking for is to validate the exam blueprint generated from a recent Job Task Analysis (JTA) process.

In other words, does the certification exam show real-world relevance to what you and your associates may be doing involved with data storage.

This is opposed to being aligned with those whose’s job it is to create test questions and may not understand what it is you the IT pro involved with storage does or does not do.

If you have ever taken a certification exam test and scratched your head or wondered out why some questions that seem to lack real-world relevance were included, vs. ones of practical on-the-job experience were missing, here’s your chance to give feedback.

Note that you will not be rewarded with an Amex or Amazon gift card, Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts certificates, free software download or some other incentive to play and win, however if you take the survey let me know and will be sure to tweet you an Atta boy or Atta girl! However they are giving away a free T-Shirt to every 10 survey takers.

Btw, if you really need something for free, send me a note (I’m not that difficult to find) as I have some free copies of Resilient Storage Networking (RSN): Designing Flexible Scalable Data Infrastructures (Elsevier) you simply pay shopping and handling. RSN can be used to help prepare you for various storage testing as well as other day-to-day activities.

CompTIA is looking for survey takers who have some hands-on experience or involved with data storage (e.g. can you spell SAN, NAS, Disk or SSD and work with them hands-on then you are a candidate ;).

Welcome to the CompTIA Storage+ Certification Job Task Analysis (JTA) Survey

  • Your input will help CompTIA evaluate which test objectives are most important to include in the CompTIA Storage+ Certification Exam
  • Your responses are completely confidential.
  • The results will only be viewed in the aggregate.

    • Here is what (and whom) CompTIA is looking for feedback from:

  • Has at least 12 to 18 months of experience with storage-related technologies.
  • Makes recommendations and decisions regarding storage configuration.
  • Facilitates data security and data integrity.
  • Supports a multiplatform and multiprotocol storage environment with little assistance.
  • Has basic knowledge of cloud technologies and object storage concepts.

    • As a small token of CompTIA appreciation for your participation, they will provide an official CompTIA T-shirt to every tenth (1 of every 10) person who completes this survey. Go here for official rules.

    Click here to complete the CompTIA Storage+ survey

    Contact CompTIA with any survey issues, research@comptia.org

    What say you, take a few minutes like I did and give some feedback, you will not be on the hook for anything, and if you do get spammed by the CompTIA folks, let me know and I in turn will spam them back for spamming you as well as me.

    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

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    June 2014 Server and StorageIO Update newsletter

    Server and StorageIO Update newsletter – June 2014

    Welcome to the June 2014 edition of the StorageIO Update (newsletter) containing trends perspectives on cloud, virtualization and data infrastructure topics. June has been busy on many fronts with lots of activities, not to mention spring and summer are finally here in the Stillwater MN area.

    Speaking of busy, the spring rains came a month or two late, or the summer storms early as we will end up with one of the, if not rainiest Junes in history here in Stillwater MN area.

    Greg Schulz Storage I/OGreg Schulz @StorageIO

    Industry and Technology Updates

    There has also been plenty of activity in the Information Technology (IT) and in particular the data infrastructure sector (databases, file systems, operating systems, servers, storage, I/O networking, cloud, virtualization, SSD, data protection and DCIM among others). SANdisk announced their intention to buy SSD vendor Fusion IO for a $1.1 Billion dollars as part of a continued flash consolidation trend For example Cisco buys Whiptail, WD buys Virident, Seagate buys Avago/LSI Flash division among others (read more about flash SSD here). Even with flash SSD vendor and technology consolidation, this is in no way an indication of the health of the market. Quite the opposite in that flash SSD has a very bright future and we are still in the relative early phase or waves and flash will be in your future. The question remains 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 as well as StorageIO.com/SSD;).

    StorageIO Industry Trends and Perspectives

    NetApp Updates

    In early June I was invited by NetApp to attend their annual analyst summit along with many others from around the world for a series of briefings, NDA updates and other meetings. Disclosure NetApp has been a client in the past and covered travel and lodging expenses to attend their event.

    While the material under NDA naturally can not be discussed, there was discussion around NetApp previously announced earnings, their continued relationship with IBM (for the E Series) along with the June product updates. Shortly after the NetApp event they announced enhancements to there ONTAP FAS based systems that followup to those released earlier this year. These recent enhancements NetApp claims as being their fastest FAS based systems ever.

    Given the success NetApp has had with their ONTAP FAS based systems including with FlexPod, it should not be a surprise that they continue to focus on those as their flagship offerings. What was clear from listening to CEO Tom Georgens is that NetApp as a company needs to offer, promote and sell the entire portfolio including E Series (disk, hybrid and all flash EF), StorageGrid (bycast), FlexPod and FAS among other tools (software defined storage management) and services (for legacy, virtual and cloud). Watch for some interesting updates and enhancements for the above and other things from NetApp in the future.

    Staying busy is a good thing

    What have I been doing during June 2014 to stay busy besides getting ready for summer fun (as well as preparing for fall industry events) including in and around the water?

    • Presented several BrightTalk Webinars (see events below) with more coming up
    • 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
    • Moderated a software defined panel discussion at MSP area VMUG
    • Providing industry commentary in different venues (see below)
    • Not to mention various client consulting projects

    What’s 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 Spiceworks Webinar on July 2, Do More with Less Hardware Using Software Defined Storage Management (sponsored by Starwind Software). The webinar looks at the many faces and facets of virtualization and software defined storage and software defined storage management for Hyper-V environments. Learn more about the Hyper-V event here or here.

    In addition to the upcoming July 2 Hyper-V software defined storage webinar ( a recording for replay will be posted to the StorageIO.com/events page after the event), I also did a webinar on BrightTalk a few weeks covering software defined storage management. View the BrightTalk webinar replays by clicking the following links The Changing Face and Landscape of Enterprise Storage (June 11), The Many Facets of Virtual Storage and Software Defined Storage Virtualization (June 12), Evolving from Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (BC) to Business Resiliency (BR) recorded Jun 19.

    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

    June 2014 Industry trend and perspectives

    Tips, commentary, articles and blog posts

    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

    Toms Hardware: Comments on Selecting the Right Type, Amount and Location of Flash SSD to use 
    TechPageOne: Comments on best practices for virtual data protection
    SearchAWS: Comments on Google vs. AWS SSD which is better
    InfoStor: Comments on Cloud Appliance Buying Guide

    StorageIO video and audio pod casts

    StorageIOblog postStorageIOblog post
    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)
  • April and May 2014 Server and StorageIO Update newsletter

    • StorageIO White Papers, Solution Briefs and StorageIO Lab reports

    White Paper

    New White Paper: StarWind Virtual SAN:
    Hardware Agnostic Hyper-Convergence for Microsoft Hyper-V
    Using less hardware with software defined storage management There is no such thing as an information recession with more data being generated, processed, moved, stored and retained longer. In addition, people and data are living longer as well as getting larger.

    Key to support various types of business environments and their information technology (IT) / ITC applications are cost effective, flexible and resilient data infrastructures that support virtual machine (VM) centric solutions. This StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective thought leadership white paper looks at addressing the needs of Microsoft Hyper-V environments to address economic, service, growth, flexibility and technology challenges.

    The focus is on how software defined storage management solutions unlock the full value of server-based storage for Hyper-V environments. Benefits include removing complexity to cut cost while enhancing flexibility, service and business systems resiliency along with disaster recovery without compromise. Primary audiences include Small Medium Business (SMB), Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO) of larger organizations along with managed service providers (Cloud, Internet and Web) that are using Hyper-V as part of their solutions. Read more in this StorageIO Industry Trends and Perspective (ITP) white paper compliments of StarWind Software Virtual SAN (VSAN) for Microsoft Hyper-V.

    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.

    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.

    October 10, 2014 Seminar: Server, Storage and IO Data Center Virtualization JumpstartNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    October 9, 2014 Seminar: Data Infrastructure Industry Trends and Perspectives – Whats The BuzzNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    October 8, 2014 Private Seminar – Contact Brouwer Storage ConsultancyNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    October 7, 2014 Seminar: Data Movement and MigrationNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    October 6, 2014 Seminar: From Backup and Disaster Recovery to Business Resiliency and ContinuanceNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    August 25-28, 2014VMworldTBASan Francisco
    August 7, 2014TBATBATBA
    July 2, 2014Starwind SoftwareLive webinar: Live Webinar: Do More with Less Hardware Using Software Defined Storage ManagementWebinar
    1PM CT
    June 26, 2014MSP VMUGModerate Live Panel Software Defined DiscussionPanel
    12:45PM CT
    June 17, 2014Dell BackupUExploring the Data Protection Toolbox – Data Footprint ReductionDell BackupU
    Online Webinar
    May 14, 2014 Seminar: Vendor Neutral Archiving for HealthcareNijkerk Holland
    Netherlands
    May 5-7, 2014EMC WorldLas Vegas
    April 23, 2014SNIA DSI EventKeynote: Enabling Data Infrastructure Return On Innovation – The Other ROIbackup, restore, BC, DR and archiving
    April 22, 2014SNIA DSI EventThe Cloud Hybrid “Homerun” – Life Beyond The Hypebackup, 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 EnvironmentsWebinar
    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 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

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

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    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 Storage I/OGreg 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

    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

    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 postStorageIOblog 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.

    audioSNIA 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.

    audiocash 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

    White Paper

    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, 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 14, 2014Brouwer Storage ConsultancyKeynote – Healthcare Vendor Neutral Archiving SymposiumNijkerk Netherlands
    May 5-7, 2014EMC WorldLas Vegas
    April 23, 2014SNIA DSI EventKeynote: Enabling Data Infrastructure Return On Innovation – The Other ROIbackup, restore, BC, DR and archiving
    April 22, 2014SNIA DSI EventThe Cloud Hybrid “Homerun” – Life Beyond The Hypebackup, restore, BC, DR and archiving
    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

    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

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

    Posted on

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

    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

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

    Posted on

    Enterprise SSHD and Flash SSD Part of an Enterprise Tiered Storage Strategy

    Enterprise SSHD and Flash SSD 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.

    Introducing Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD)

    Solid State Hybrid Disks (SSHD) are the successors to previous generation Hybrid Hard Disk Drives (HHDD) that I have used for several years (you can read more about them here, and here).

    While it would be nice to simply have SSD for everything, there are also economic budget realities to be dealt with. Keep in mind that a bit of nand flash SSD cache in the right location for a given purpose can go a long way which is the case with SSHDs. This is also why in many environments today there is a mix of SSD, HDD of various makes, types, speeds and capacities (e.g. different tiers) to support diverse application needs (e.g. not everything in the data center is the same).

    However, If you have the need for speed and can afford or benefit from the increased productivity by all means go SSD!

    Otoh if you have budget constraints and need more space capacity yet want some performance boost, then SSHDs are an option. The big difference however between today’s SSHDs that are available for both enterprise class storage systems and servers, as well as desktop environments is that they can accelerate both reads and writes. This is different from their predecessors that I have used for several years now that had basic read acceleration, however no write optimizations.

    SSHD storage I/O oppourtunity
    Better Together: Where SSHDs fit in an enterprise tiered storage environment with SSD and HDDs

    As their names imply, they are a hybrid between a nand flash Solid State Device (SSD) and traditional Hard Disk Drive (HDD) meaning a best of situation. This means that the SSHD are based on a traditional spinning HDD (various models with different speeds, space capacity, interfaces) along with DRAM (which is found on most modern HDDs), along with nand flash for read cache, and some extra nonvolatile memory for persistent write cache combined with a bit of software defined storage performance optimization algorithms.

    Btw, if you were paying attention to that last sentence you would have picked up on something about nonvolatile memory being used for persistent write cache which should prompt the question would that help with nand flash write endurance? Yup.

    Where and when to use SSHD?

    In the StorageIO Industry Trends Perspective thought leadership white paper I recently released compliments of Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD (that’s a disclosure btw ;) enterprise class Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD) were looked at and test driven in the StorageIO Labs with various application workloads. These activities include being in a virtual environment for common applications including database and email messaging using industry standard benchmark workloads (e.g. TPC-B and TPC-E for database, JetStress for Exchange).

    Storage I/O sshd white paper

    Conventional storage system focused workloads using iometer, iorate and vdbench were also run in the StorageIO Labs to set up baseline reads, writes, random, sequential, small and large I/O size with IOPs, bandwidth and response time latency results. Some of those results can be found here (Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?) with other ongoing workloads continuing in different configurations. The various test drive proof points were done in the   comparing SSHD, SSD and different HDDs.

    Data Protection (Archiving, Backup, BC, DR)

    Staging cache buffer area for snapshots, replication or current copies before streaming to other storage tier using fast read/write capabilities. Meta data, index and catalogs benefit from fast reads and writes for faster protection.

    Big Data DSS
    Data Warehouse

    Support sequential read-ahead operations and “hot-band” data caching in a cost-effective way using SSHD vs. slower similar capacity size HDDs for Data warehouse, DSS and other analytic environments.

    Email, Text and Voice Messaging

    Microsoft Exchange and other email journals, mailbox or object repositories can leverage faster read and write I/Os with more space capacity.

    OLTP, Database
     Key Value Stores SQL and NoSQL

    Eliminate the need to short stroke HDDs to gain performance, offer more space capacity and IOP performance per device for tables, logs, journals, import/export and scratch, temporary ephemeral storage. Leverage random and sequential read acceleration to compliment server-side SSD-based read and write-thru caching. Utilize fast magnetic media for persistent data reducing wear and tear on more costly flash SSD storage devices.

    Server Virtualization

    Fast disk storage for data stores and virtual disks supporting VMware vSphere/ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM, Xen and others.  Holding virtual machines such as VMware VMDKs, along with Hyper-V and other hypervisor virtual disks.  Compliment virtual server read cache and I/O optimization using SSD as a cache with writes going to fast SSHD. For example VMware V5.5 Virtual SAN host disk groups use SSD as a read cache and can use SSHD as the magnetic disk for storing data while boosting performance without breaking the budget or adding complexity.

    Speaking of Virtual, as mentioned the various proof points were run using Windows systems that were VMware guests with the SSHD and other devices being Raw Device Mapped (RDM) SAS and SATA attached, read how to do that here.

    Hint: If you know about the VMware trick for making a HDD look like a SSD to vSphere/ESXi (refer to here and here) think outside the virtual box for a moment on some things you could do with SSHD in a VSAN environment among other things, for now, just sayin ;).

    Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

    SSHD can be used as high performance magnetic disk for storing linked clone images, applications and data. Leverage fast read to support read ahead or pre-fetch to compliment SSD based read cache solutions. Utilize fast writes to quickly store data enabling SSD-based read or write-thru cache solutions to be more effective. Reduce impact of boot, shutdown, and virus scan or maintenance storms while providing more space capacity.

    Table 1 Example application and workload scenarios benefiting from SSHDs

    Test drive application proof points

    Various workloads were run using Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD in the StorageIO lab environment across different real world like application workload scenarios. These include general storage I/O performance characteristics profiling (e.g. reads, writes, random, sequential or various IOP size) to understand how these devices compare to other HDD, HHDD and SSD storage devices in terms of IOPS, bandwidth and response time (latency). In addition to basic storage I/O profiling, the Enterprise Turbo SSHD was also used with various SQL database workloads including Transaction Processing Council (TPC); along with VMware server virtualization among others use case scenarios.

    Note that in the following workload proof points a single drive was used meaning that using more drives in a server or storage system should yield better performance. This also means scaling would be bound by the constraints of a given configuration, server or storage system. These were also conducted using 6Gbps SAS with PCIe Gen 2 based servers and ongoing testing is confirming even better results with 12Gbs SAS, faster servers with PCIe Gen 3.

    SSHD large file storage i/o
    Copy (read and write) 80GB and 220GB file copies (time to copy entire file)

    SSHD storage I/O TPCB Database performance
    SQLserver TPC-B batch database updates

    Test configuration: 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Turbo SSHD (ST600MX) 6 Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Enhanced 15K V4 (15K RPM) HDD (ST600MP) with 6 Gbps SAS, 500GB 3.5” 7.2K RPM HDD 3 Gbps SATA, 1TB 3.5” 7.2K RPM HDD 3 Gbps SATA. Workload generator and virtual clients ran on Windows 7 Ultimate. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Database was on Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit) 14 GB DRAM, Dual CPU (Intel x3490 2.93 GHz)), with LSI 9211 6Gbps SAS adapters with TPC-B (www.tpc.org) workloads. VM resided on separate data store from devices being tested. All devices being tested with SQL MDF were Raw Device Mapped (RDM) independent persistent with database log file (LDF) on a separate SSD device also persistent (no delayed writes). Tests were performed in StorageIO Lab facilities by StorageIO personal.

    SSHD storage I/O TPCE Database performance
    SQLserver TPC-E transactional workload

    Test configuration: 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Turbo SSHD (ST600MX) 6 Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Enhanced 15K V4 (15K RPM) HDD (ST600MP) with 6 Gbps SAS, 300GB 2.5” Savio 10K RPM HDD 6 Gbps SAS, 1TB 3.5” 7.2K RPM HDD 6 Gbps SATA. Workload generator and virtual clients Windows 7 Ultimate. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 database was on Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit) 14 GB DRAM, Dual CPU (E8400 2.99GHz), with LSI 9211 6Gbps SAS adapters with TPC-E (www.tpc.org) workloads. VM resided on separate SSD based data store from devices being tested (e.g., where MDF resided). All devices being tested were Raw Device Mapped (RDM) independent persistent with database log file on a separate SSD device also persistent (no delayed writes). Tests were performed in StorageIO Lab facilities by StorageIO personal.

    SSHD storage I/O Exchange performance
    Microsoft Exchange workload

    Test configuration: 2.5” Seagate 600 Pro 120GB (ST120FP0021 ) SSD 6 Gbps SATA, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Turbo SSHD (ST600MX) 6 Gbps SAS, 600GB 2.5” Enterprise Enhanced 15K V4 (15K RPM) HDD (ST600MP) with 6 Gbps SAS, 2.5” Savio 146GB HDD 6 Gbps SAS, 3.5” Barracuda 500GB 7.2K RPM HDD 3 Gbps SATA. Email server hosted as guest on VMware vSphere/ESXi V5.5, Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 Service Pack 1 64 bit, 8GB DRAM, One CPU (Intel X3490 2.93 GHz) LSI 9211 6 Gbps SAS adapter, JetStress 2010 (no other active workload during test intervals). All devices being tested were Raw Device Mapped (RDM) where EDB resided. VM on a SSD based separate data store than devices being tested. Log file IOPs were handled via a separate SSD device.

    Read more about the above proof points along view data points and configuration information in the associated white paper found here (no registration required).

    What this all means

    Similar to flash-based SSD technologies the question is not if, rather when, where, why and how to deploy hybrid solutions such as SSHDs. If your applications and data infrastructures environment have the need for storage I/O speed without loss of space capacity and breaking your budget, SSD enabled devices like the Seagate Enterprise Turbo 600GB SSHD are in your future. You can learn more about enterprise class SSHD such as those from Seagate by visiting this link here.

    Watch for extra workload proof points being performed including with 12Gbps SAS and faster servers using PCIe Gen 3.

    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

    Posted on

    Data Storage Innovation Chat with SNIA Wayne Adams and David

    Data Storage Innovation Chat with SNIA Wayne Adams and David

    In this episode, SNIA Chairman Emeritus Wayne Adams and current Chairman David Dale join me in a conversation from the Data Storage Innovation Conference (DSICON) 2014 conference event.

    SNIA DSI David Dale
    SNIA Chairman David Dale opening remarks SNIA DSICON 2014

    SNIA DSI Conference (DSICON), CDMI Conformance Testing and other updates

    DSICON 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. In addition to the DSICON event, SNIA also announced CDMI Cloud Interoperability Conformance Test Program is now available for cloud solution vendors and providers.

    DSI, Santa Clara, CA (April 22, 2014)— The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), today announced the launch of a Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) Conformance Test Program (CTP)that validates cloud products’ conformance to the ISO/IEC CDMI standard for cloud data interoperability(ISO catalog number ISO/IEC 17826:2012). Cloud solutions that pass the CDMI CTP offer cloud consumers assurance that the CDMI standard has been properly implemented and that data stored in any conformant implementation will be transportable to any other conformant implementation.

    Here is a perspective commentary quote that I issued which was included in the SNIA Press Release.

    “Today, the cloud market is crowded with a slew of vendors offering different solutions for migration, data management and security, often leaving IT customers confused about the right solution for their requirements,” said Greg Schulz, founder of StorageIO, a storage technology advisory and consulting firm. “SNIA’s CDMI Conformance Test Program is a great step forward helping IT customers, VARs or others in the industry navigate their way through the fog of cloud interoperability requirements in a streamlined fashion, not to mention laying standard routes vendors will want to adopt going forward.”

    Check out the full SNIA CDMI press release announcement for the conformance testing here, as well as learn more about CDMI here.

    audio

    Listen in to our podcast conversation here as we cover cloud, convergence, software defined and more about data storage.

    Topics and themes discussed:

  • Data Storage Innovation (DSICON) Conference
  • Data Storage Infrastructures and Convergence
  • Cloud Data Management Initiative (CDMI) and Conformance Testing
  • CDMI Update and Overview (or refresher)
  • Nonvolatile Memory and flash SSD
  • Standards, education and other technical activities

    • Check out SNIA and DSICON listen in to the conversation with David Dale and Wayne Adams 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

    Posted on

    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

    Posted on

    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

    Posted on

    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