Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Storage Revealed By Ray Quattromini Fortuna Power Systems Ltd February 2004

2 Solutions today for tomorrows problems The Companies Assets 1.Staff - Change 2.Customers – Change 3.Information stored on our servers – Remains and exponentially increases as you grow. The information is key. In any company there are three things that keep a company running. 2

3 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Today’s Systems Network switch Users Servers Users access information stored on the servers 3

4 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Primary Server Components Disk storage RAID controllerMemory CPU Ethernet card Motherboard SCSI card To our server we add our disk storage and our tape backup device. This server is then connected to the network. Tape storage 4

5 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Adding Storage Disk storage RAID controllerMemory CPU Ethernet card Motherboard SCSI card Tape storage Typically when a new server is installed more disk storage is bought that is actually needed. 5

6 Solutions today for tomorrows problems More Disk Space Disk storage RAID controllerMemory CPU Ethernet card Motherboard SCSI card Tape storage Adding more disk space requires the data to be firstly backed up, the server taken down or offline and the new disk drives added and the array rebuilt. The new disks add more storage than is actually required. 6

7 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Storage Utopia In an ideal world we would have infinite amounts of storage, that is always available, easily manageable, affordable, flexible, reliable and scaleable. Storage Utopia exists today in two forms Fibre Channel and iSCSI 7

8 Solutions today for tomorrows problems What is a SAN? Definition 1: –a high-speed network dedicated to moving information between users and a pool of flexible storage devices –users no longer compete with server I/O for network bandwidth Definition 2: –a high-speed network that establishes a direct connection between heterogeneous storage devices and servers –a network behind a network

9 Solutions today for tomorrows problems The Advent of Fibre Channel The Fibre Channel network is a totally separate network to the existing Ethernet network. Requires Fibre channel cards in all servers, fibre channel switch and storage. 9

10 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Fibre Channel Advantages All storage is now managed centrallyAll storage is now managed centrally The storage is served up to the servers via fibre channelThe storage is served up to the servers via fibre channel Fibre channel SAN’s can run at 2Gbits per secondFibre channel SAN’s can run at 2Gbits per second Storage can be added on demand with no server downtimeStorage can be added on demand with no server downtime 10

11 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Fibre Channel Disadvantages Requires an in depth understanding of LUN mapping, World Wide Names, LUN masking, Storage Virtualisation, Storage management etc.Requires an in depth understanding of LUN mapping, World Wide Names, LUN masking, Storage Virtualisation, Storage management etc. All servers now require Fibre Channel cards, Fibre Channel Switches, Fibre Channel Storage Arrays, Separate Fibre Channel Network!All servers now require Fibre Channel cards, Fibre Channel Switches, Fibre Channel Storage Arrays, Separate Fibre Channel Network! Fibre Channels are expensive to install maintain and manage.Fibre Channels are expensive to install maintain and manage. 11

12 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Storage iSCSI is a network storage protocol that encompasses block level SCSI data in a TCP/IP frame, thus allowing servers to access storage resources over an existing IP infrastructure SCSI and Ethernet technologies have been around for more than 20 years and are fully understood. The iSCSI storage protocol is supported by 99% of the storage vendors and endorsed by Microsoft, Intel, IBM and Cisco. iSCSI is a cost effective way to build SAN’s at much lower cost point, giving users greater consolidation in their environment 12

13 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Network Network switch Users Servers We use existing networking technologies. No separate networks. So savings over Fibre Channel can immediately be seen. An iSCSI network can be installed immediately and storage added within minutes. 13

14 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Questions Are iSCSI products available now? YESAre iSCSI products available now? YES Is the technology proven? YESIs the technology proven? YES Will iSCSI saturate my existing network? Probably and if it does then simply install a separate Gigabit switch.Will iSCSI saturate my existing network? Probably and if it does then simply install a separate Gigabit switch. Will iSCSI supplant Fibre Channel? Over time iSCSI will become the preferred technology choice for SAN’s.Will iSCSI supplant Fibre Channel? Over time iSCSI will become the preferred technology choice for SAN’s. Why are the major storage vendors not pushing iSCSI? The primary reason is, if they push iSCSI they cannot supply expensive people to install the expensive fibre channel switches, storage array, FC cards, software or management.Why are the major storage vendors not pushing iSCSI? The primary reason is, if they push iSCSI they cannot supply expensive people to install the expensive fibre channel switches, storage array, FC cards, software or management. How does iSCSI work? iSCSI storage is seen on the network as an IP address. Your servers remotely connect to this IP address and utilise the storage available.How does iSCSI work? iSCSI storage is seen on the network as an IP address. Your servers remotely connect to this IP address and utilise the storage available. Surely a NAS device offers me more storage? A NAS device allows shared disk storage to be accessed across a network by users. It does not allow block level access to the data which many applications require to operate.Surely a NAS device offers me more storage? A NAS device allows shared disk storage to be accessed across a network by users. It does not allow block level access to the data which many applications require to operate. 14

15 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Questions cont.. How can I realise the savings? By purchasing iSCSI storage you can: Utilise your existing networkUtilise your existing network Traditional servers can be replaced by smaller cheaper low cost servers.Traditional servers can be replaced by smaller cheaper low cost servers. Adding more storage, no longer needs the servers to be taken down for upgrades.Adding more storage, no longer needs the servers to be taken down for upgrades. Servers run more efficiently as they have less to manage internally.Servers run more efficiently as they have less to manage internally. Use non-proprietary storage SATA, SCSI etc.Use non-proprietary storage SATA, SCSI etc. When replacing servers the data no longer needs to be backed up and restored. Just snapshot the data and re-mount the storage to the new server.When replacing servers the data no longer needs to be backed up and restored. Just snapshot the data and re-mount the storage to the new server. Reduced maintenance costsReduced maintenance costs Utilises all your disk storage and takes the guess work out of how much is requiredUtilises all your disk storage and takes the guess work out of how much is required Reduced management costs as additional disk space can be easily added to the serversReduced management costs as additional disk space can be easily added to the servers 15

16 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Reduced Server Costs RAID controllerMemory CPU Ethernet card Motherboard SCSI card iSCSI reduces the cost of servers by: Removing the RAID controller Removing the RAID controller Install a server only with a boot disk (not necessary with a TOE card) Install a server only with a boot disk (not necessary with a TOE card) Removing the SCSI card Removing the SCSI card X X This increases the reliability of the servers and allows for the storage to be added on demand. 16

17 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Connectivity iSCSI storage is given an IP address and this address is mapped to our servers. 17

18 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Server Failure Server Failure

19 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI TOE An iSCSI TOE (TCP/IP Offload Engine) card offloads the Ethernet and SCSI packet processing from the CPU and carries out the function on the iSCSI card. Although this is not necessary for the execution of iSCSI to operate, it does allow servers to remotely boot from the iSCSI storage. 19

20 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI IP Management iSCSI uses the IP protocol to operate. Because of this there are already hundreds of network management tools available for configuring VLAN’s, switches, reporting, VPN’s etc.

21 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Storage Management The SAN Melody server allocates the disk storage for the servers and allocates to each of the servers 2TB’s of disk space even though the physical disk has 1TB. Our disk storage is now virtualised. 21

22 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Remote connectivity Examples of how iSCSI can connect to remote sites.

23 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Remote connectivity cont.. Remote offices or shops Internet Direct connection The stores have no local disk drives. The disk storage is served up remotely by iSCSI and is seen virtually by the local store computers. iSCSI Storage

24 Solutions today for tomorrows problems SAN Melody SAN Melody allows us to pool all of our physical disk storage and control how this disk space is allocated to each of the servers. These servers or clients can be Windows XP, Windows 2000 Workstation or Server, Windows 2003 server, Novell, Linux, UNIX, MAC etc. The only proviso is that they have iSCSI support natively or the iSCSI TOE card has support. The disk storage that we pool and virtualise can be from any manufacture. We can use JBOD, RAID Arrays, NAS, Fibre Channel storage, re-use older disk arrays or drives. HP EMC IBM JBOD SAN Melody Gigabit switch 24

25 Solutions today for tomorrows problems SAN Melody High Availability 25

26 Solutions today for tomorrows problems SAN Melody High Availability with Remote Mirror and Snapshot This diagram represents a typical configuration for High Availability (HA) storage. Multiple iSCSI RAID arrays can be used along with multiple SAN Melody servers, Gigabit switches and multi-path iSCSI cards in each server. High-Availability is achieved through synchronous mirroring between adjacent storage servers packaged as a pair. Both members actively process I/Os. Each server may be configured to handle primary paths for some of the volumes while its companion takes over with the mirrored images in case of failure. Host must be adequately configured with qualified multi-path drivers to take advantage of this feature. Fibre Channel may be used as the inter-server link. Each server in the high-availability pair must be separately licensed with this option. 26

27 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Storage – The New Rules Advantage 1: Completely flexible blueprint designed without R&D to produce own product: Any PC/Server building block: Any storage: SCSI, FC, SATA (RAID) Any network: iSCSI, FC, Infiniband Advantage 2: Reduce the h/w price/performance curve utilising OEM PC/Servers Leverage MS familiarity and certification Advantage 3: Build better product than competitor at lower cost with high end-user ROI and TCO. Internal Disks drives or Disk Shelves Wintel PC/Servers Portable Software Productivity Services  Centralized security and provisioning  Disaster Recovery  Mirroring  Point in Time Storage Snapshots  Compliant with MS storage standards  High-Speed Caching  Virtualization  Storage Network Management  Fully interoperable product range  Auto-Provisioning and Resource Management 27

28 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Major Advantages -No dedicated specialised networks as in Fibre Channel -Buy servers with no RAID controllers or Disk -As the storage is IP based you can serve up information across Wide Area Links or the Internet -Every single server can be given 2000GB's of virtual disk space, even though that amount of disk space is not available -Storage can now be non-proprietary and you can use JBOD's (Just Bunch of Disks) -Should a server fail, then the storage can be mounted on another server and simply/instantly restored -Reduces cost by buying smaller more compact servers - Backups are reduced because you can make snapshots and back them up during the day 28

29 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Major Advantages cont.. -Your servers only use the disk capacity that they need! There is no need to guess how much you will need -Microsoft Exchange & SQL 2003 automatically create their own snap shots and automatically call for more disk space. All this is done automatically -One person can administer and control all you storage requirements from a single system and allocate disk on demand - Cut down on Backup Software Licensing costs as all you need to do is Snapshot or Mirror the information to another server and backup just one server! - No massive storage investment needed 29

30 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI is a “disruptive” Technology! In this instance to define “disruptive” is to define “benefit” iSCSI Technology shifts how storage technology is now to be deployed in that the previous dominant way to deploy storage technology was through Fibre Channel [FC] Technology. However, a FC Technology based Network ties the Client into one of a number of “single source” suppliers that would always advise [promote] that all the FC components should be “single sourced” from them. This adds significantly to the Total Cost of Ownership [TCO] from the initial installation, through to on-going support and the inevitable upgrade. iSCSI Technology on the other hand is an established architecture that comprises of :- Operating System Driver iSCSI Storage Management iSCSI Storage Server Any Storage Media [Hard Disk, Magnetic Tape, Optical, etc.] The components of iSCSI do not have to be “single sourced”, they can be components that you have currently installed or may wish to purchase from your preferred supplier.

31 Solutions today for tomorrows problems iSCSI Summary iSCSI is an OPEN architecture that enables an optimised and cost effective TCO to be achieved and your TCO is protected for the future. Whereas Fibre Channel is a TIED architecture that can only see an increase in TCO in the future.

32 Solutions today for tomorrows problems How can Fortuna help? On site demonstrations iSCSI software & hardware iSCSI installation Consultancy Maintenance Training We can provide: 32

33 Solutions today for tomorrows problems Contacting us Tel: Fax: Web: To contact us and find out more about iSCSI please use the following details. 33