VCMDB: Volume Control Manager Database

ACLX: Access Control Logix

VCM: Volume Control Manager device (where the database resides)

VCM Gatekeeper: Volume Control Manager Gatekeeper (database doesn’t reside on these devices)

SFS Volumes: Symmetrix File System Volumes

If you work with EMC Symmetrix systems, you know the importance of VCMDB. Introduced with Symmetrix 4.0 and used in every generation after that, VCMDB stands for Volume Control Manager Database). Also in the latest generation of systems the VCM device is at times also referenced as VCM Gatekeeper.

VCMDB is a relatively small device that is created on the Symmetrix system that allows for hosts access to various devices on the Symmetrix. VCMDB keeps an inventory of which devices have access to which host (HBA’s). Without a VCMDB in place, host systems will not be able to access the Symmetrix. The VCMDB should be backed up on regular intervals and would be helpful in a rainy day.

The VCMDB device size grew along with new generations of Symmetrix systems that got introduced, primarily a means to keep a track of more supported devices (hypers / splits) on these platforms. With the introduction of Symmetrix V-Max, the VCMDB concept is now a bit changed to ACLX (Access Control Logix). Access Logix is being used on the Clariion systems for years now.

Here are a few things to consider with VCMDB

• On the older Symmetrix systems (4.0, 4.8, 5.0 and 5.5), the VCMDB (device) is mapped to all the channels, host
• In these systems the VCMDB access is typically restricted by Volume Logix or ACL (access control lists)
• With the Symmetrix DMX, DMX2 Systems – Enginuity Code 5670, 5671 the VCM device only requires to be mapped to the Management stations
• Management stations include SYMCLI Server / Ionix Control Center Server / Symmetrix Management Console
• At all given times on the DMX, DMX2 platforms, the VCMDB would need to be mapped to at least one station to perform online SDDR changes. Alternatively this problem of not having device mapped to at least one host can also be fixed by the PSE lab
• Mapping VCMDB to multiple hosts, channels may make the device venerable to crashes, potential tampering, device attributes and data change
• You can write disable VCMDB to avoid the potential of the above
• With these systems, the host can communicate to the VCMDB via Syscalls
• The VCM Edit Director Flag (fibrepath) needs to be enabled for management stations to see VCM device
• The database (device masking database) of the VCMDB resides on the SFS volumes. This feature was introduced with DMX-3 / DMX-4 (5772 version of microcode). A 6 cylinder VCM Gatekeeper device is okay to use with these versions of microcode.
• Starting Symmetrix V-Max systems, the concept of ACLX was introducted for Auto Provisioning etc.
• VCM volumes are required to be mirrored devices like SFS volumes

Various different types of VCMDB

Type 0, Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, Type 5, Type 6

• Type 0: Symmetrix 4.0, 32 Director System, 16 cylinder device size, Volume Logix 2.x
• Type 1: Symmetrix 4.8, 64 Director System, 16 cylinder device size, ESN Manager 1.x
• Type 2: Symmetrix 5.0/5.5, 64 Director System, 16 cylinder device size, ESN Manager 2.x
• Type 3: Symmetrix DMX, supports 32 fibre/ 32 iSCSI initiator records per port, 24 cylinder device in size. Enginuity 5569, Solutions Enabler 5.2, Support 8000 devices
• Type 4: Symmetrix DMX/DMX-2, supports 64 fibre/ 128 iSCSI initiator records per port, 48 cylinder device in size. Enginuity 5670, Solutions Enabler 5.3, Supports 8000 devices
• Type 5: Symmetrix DMX/DMX-2, supports 64 fibre / 128 iSCSI initiator records per port, 96 cylinder device in size, Enginuity 5671, Solutions Enabler 6.0, Supports 16000 devices
• Type 6: Symmetrix DMX-3, DMX-4, supports 256 fibre / 512 iSCSI initiator records per port, 96 cylinder device in size, Enginuity 5771, 5772 Solutions Enabler 6.0, Supports 64000 devices

Notes about various Types of VCMDB

• Type 3 of VCMDB can be converted to Type 4 VCMDB (code upgrade from 5669 to 5670 to 5671)
• Solutions enabler 5.2 and Solutions Enabler 5.3 can read/write Type 3 VCMDB
• Solutions enabler 5.3 can read/write Type 4 VCMDB
• VCMDB device is recommended to be a certain size, but it is okay to use a larger size device if no choices are available.

Converting various types of VCMDB using SymCLI

• If the device cylinder size is equal with a conversion you are attempting, the following will help you convert your VCMDB from type x to type y.
  • Backup the device
  • symmaskdb –sid <symmid> backup –file backup
  • Check the VCMDB type using
  • symmaskdb – sid <symmid> list database
  • Convert from type 4 to type 5
  • Symmaskdb – sid <symmid> convert –vcmdb_type 5 –file Covertfilename

To initialize VCMDB for the first time on a Symmetrix System

Within Ionix Control Center

• Click on the Symmetrix array you are trying to initialize the VCMDB
• Select Masking then VCMDB Management and then initialize
• Select a new backup and create a file name
• Create a file name with .sdm extenstion
• Click on Activate the VCMDB
• VCMDB backups are stored at \home\ecc_inf\data\hostname\data\backup\symmserial\
• Also it will be viewable within Ionix Control Center at Systems/Symmetrix/VCMDB Backups/

With SymCLI

• To query the VCMDB database
  • symmaskdb –sid <symmid> list database
  • To backup and init an existing VCMDB database
    • symmaskdb – sid <symmid> init –file backup

More technical deep dive coming soon on various other topics…including ACLX.

Cheers
@storagenerve

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2010. | EMC Symmetrix: VCMDB and ACLX
Read more posts categorized as Storage

EMC Symmetrix BIN file, largely an unknown topic in the storage industry and practically there is no available information related to it. This post is just an attempt to shed some light as to what a BIN file is, how it works, what’s in it and why is it essential with the Enginuity code. Some EMC folks have capitalized on the BIN file as to the personality it brings to the Symmetrix, while the EMC competition always uses it against them as it introduces complexities in the storage environment with management and change control.

Personally I feel a Symmetrix wouldn’t be a Symmetrix if the BIN file weren’t there. The personality, characteristics, robustness, compatibility, flexibility, integration with OS’s, etc wouldn’t be there if the BIN file didn’t exist.

With the total number of OS’s, device types, channel interfaces and flags it supports today, sort of making it one of the most compatible storage arrays in the market. The configuration and compatibility on the Symmetrix can be verified using the E-Lab navigator available on Powerlink.

So here are some facts about the BIN file

• Only used with Symmetrix systems (Enginuity Code)
• BIN file stands for BINARY file
• BIN file holds all information about the Symmetrix configuration
• One BIN file per system serial number is required
• BIN file was used with Symmetrix Gen 1 in 1990 and is still used in 2010 with Symmetrix V-Max systems
• BIN file holds information on SRDF configurations, total memory, memory in slots, serial number of the unit, number of directors, type of directors, director flags, engines, engine ports, front end ports, back end ports, drives on the loop, drives on the SCSI bus, number of drives per loop, drive types in the slots, drive speeds, volume addresses, volume types, meta’s, device flags and many more settings
• The setup for host connection if the OS is Open Systems or Mainframe environments using FICON, ESCON, GbE, FC, RF, etc is all defined in the BIN file. Also director emulations, drive formats if OSD or CKD, format types, drive speeds, etc is all defined in the BIN file
• BIN file is required to make a system active. It is created based on customer specifications and installed by EMC during the initial setup
• Any ongoing changes in the environment related to hardware upgrades, defining devices, changing flags, etc is all accomplished using BIN file changes
• BIN file changes can be accomplished 3 ways.
  • BIN file change for hardware upgrades is typically performed by EMC only
  • BIN file change for other changes that are device, director, flags, meta’s, SRDF configurations etc is either performed through the SYMAPI infrastructure using SymCLI or ECC (Now Ionix) or SMC (Symmetrix Management Console) by the customer. (Edited based on the comments: Only some changes now require traditional BIN file change, typically others are performed using sys calls in enginuity environment)
• Solutions enabler is required on the Symcli, ECC, SMC management stations to enable SYMAPI infrastructure to operate
• VCMDB needs to be setup on the Symmetrix for SymCLI, ECC, SMC related changes to work
• Gatekeeper devices need to be setup on the Symmetrix front end ports for SymCLI, ECC, SMC changes to work
• For Symmetrix Optimizer to work in your environment, you need DRV devices setup on your Symmetrix.(Edited based on comments: Only required until DMX platform. Going forward with DMX3/4 & V-Max platforms it uses sys calls to perform Optimizer changes).

Back in the day

All and any BIN file changes on the Symmetrix 3.0, Symmetrix 4.0 used to be performed by EMC from the Service Processor. Over the years with introduction of SYMAPI and other layered software products, now seldom is EMC involved in the upgrade process.

Hardware upgrades

BIN File changes typically have to be initiated and performed by EMC, again these are the hardware upgrades. If the customer is looking at adding 32GB’s of Cache to the existing DMX-4 system or adding new Front End connectivity or upgrading 1200 drive system to 1920 drives, all these require BIN file changes initiated and performed by EMC. To my understanding the turn around time is just a few days with these changes, as it requires change control and other processes within EMC.

Customer initiated changes

Configuration changes around front end ports, creating volumes, creating meta’s, volume flags, host connectivity, configuration flags, SRDF volume configurations, SRDF replication configurations, etc can all be accomplished through the customer end using the SYMAPI infrastructure (with SymCLI or ECC or SMC). These are performed through Sys calls and not necessarily using traditional BIN changes DMX-3 systems onwards.)

Enginuity upgrade

Upgrading the microcode (Enginuity) on a DMX or a V-Max is not a BIN file change, but rather is a code upgrade. Back in the days, many upgrades were performed offline, but in this day and age, all changes are online and accomplished with minimum pains.

Today

So EMC has moved quite ahead with the Symmetrix architecture over the past 20 years, but the underlying BIN file change requirements haven’t changed over these 8 generations of Symmetrix.

Any and all BIN file changes are recommended to be done during quite times (less IOPS), at schedule change control times. Again these would include the ones that EMC is performing from a hardware perspective or the customer is performing for device/flag changes.

The process

During the process of a BIN file change, the configuration file typically ending with the name *.BIN is loaded to all the frontend directors, backend directors, including the global cache. After the upload, the system is refreshed with this new file in the global cache and the process makes the new configuration changes active. This process of refresh is called IML (Initial Memory Load) and the BIN file is typically called IMPL (Initial Memory Program Load) file.

A customer initiated BIN file works in a similar way, where the SYMAPI infrastructure that resides on the service processor allows the customer to interface with the Symmetrix to perform these changes. During this process, the scripts verify that the customer configurations are valid and then perform the changes and make the new configuration active.

To query the Symmetrix system for configuration details, reference the SymCLI guide. Some standard commands to query your system would include symcfg, symcli, symdev, symdisk, symdrv, symevent, symhost, symgate, syminq, symstat commands and will help you navigate and find all the necessary details related to your Symmetrix. Also similar information in a GUI can be obtained using ECC and SMC. Both will allow the customer to initiate SYMAPI changes.

Unless something has changed with the V-Max, typically to get an excel based representation of your BIN file, ask your EMC CE.

Issues

You cannot run two BIN files in a single system, though at times the system can end up in a state where you can have multiple BIN files on various directors. This phenomenon typically doesn’t happen to often, but an automated script when not finished properly can put the system in this state. At this point the Symmetrix will initiate a call home immediately and the PSE labs should typically be able to resolve these issues.

Additional software like Symmetrix Optimizer also uses the underlying BIN file infrastructure to make changes to the storage array to move hot and cold devices based on the required defined criteria. There have been quite a few known cases of Symmetrix Optimizer causing the above phenomenon of multiple BIN files. , Though many critics will disagree with that statement. (Edited based on comments: Only required until DMX platform. Going forward with DMX3/4 & V-Max platforms it uses sys calls to perform these Optimizer changes).

NOTE: One piece of advice, never run SYMCLI or ECC scripts for BIN file changes through a VPN connected desktop or laptop. Always run all necessary SymCLI / SMC / ECC scripts for changes from a server in your local environment. Very highly recommend, never attempt to administer your Symmetrix system with an iPhone or a Blackberry.

Hope in your quest to get more information on BIN files, this serves as the starting point..

Cheers
@storagenerve

NOTE: Read additional comments and clarifications on this topic at the Storagenerve Blog

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2010. | EMC Symmetrix: Bin File
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Very little is known about the Symmetrix File System largely known as SFS. Symmetrix File System is an EMC IP and practically only used within the Symmetrix environment for housekeeping, security, access control, stats collection, performance data, algorithm selection, etc.

If there are any facts about SFS that are known to you, please feel free to leave a comment. This post talks about the effects of SFS and not really the underlying file system architecture.

Some facts about the Symmetrix File System are highlighted below.

• Symmetrix File System (SFS) resides on volumes that have specially been created for this purpose on the Symmetrix
• SFS volumes are created during the initial Enginuity Operating Environment load (Initial install)
• 4 Volumes (2 Mirrored Pairs) are created during this process
• SFS volumes were introduced with Symmetrix Series 8000, Enginuity 5567 and 5568

Characteristics

• 4 SFS volumes are spread across multiple Disk Directors (Backend Ports) for redundancy
• SFS volumes are considered as reserved space and not available to use by the host
• Symmetrix 8000 Series: 4 SFS volumes, 3GB each (cylinder size 6140). Reserved space is 3GB x 4 vols = 12 GB total
• Symmetrix DMX/DMX-2: 4 SFS volumes, 3GB each (cylinder size 6140). Reserved space is 3GB x 4 vols = 12 GB total
• Symmetrix DMX-3/DMX-4: 4 SFS volumes, 6GB each (cylinder size 6140). Reserved space is 6GB x 4 vols = 24 GB total, (It’s different how the GB is calculated based on cylinder size on a DMX/DMX-2 vs a DMX-3/DMX-4)
• Symmetrix V-Max: 4 SFS volumes, 16GB each, Reserved space is 16GB x 4 vols = 64GB total
• SFS volumes cannot reside on EFD (Enterprise Flash Drives)
• SFS volumes cannot be moved using FAST v1 and/or FAST v2
• SFS volumes cannot be moved using Symmetrix Optimizer
• SFS volumes cannot reside on Vault Drives or Save Volumes
• SFS volumes are specific to a Symmetrix (Serial Number) and do not need migration
• SFS volumes are managed through Disk Directors (Backend Ports) only
• SFS volumes cannot be mapped to Fiber Directors (now FE – Frontend Ports)

Effects

• SFS volumes are write enabled but can only be interfaced and managed through the Disk directors (Backend Ports).
• SFS volumes can go write disabled, which could cause issues around VCM DB. VCM DB issues can cause host path and disk access issues.
• SFS volume corruption can cause hosts to lose access to disk volumes.
• If SFS volumes get un-mounted on a Fiber Director (Frontend Port), can result into DU (Data Unavailable) situations.

Fixes

• Since the SFS volumes are only interfaced through the Disk Directors (Backend Ports), the PSE lab will need to be involved in fixing any issues.
• SFS volumes can be VTOC’ed (formatted) and some key information below will need to be restored upon completion. Again this function can only be performed by PSE lab.
• SFS volumes can be formatted while the Symmetrix is running, but in a SCSI-3 PGR reservation environment it will cause a cluster outage and/or a split brain.
• No Symmetrix software (Timefinder, SYMCLI, ECC, etc) will be able to interface the system while the SFS volumes are being formatted.
• The security auditing / access control feature is disabled during the format of SFS volumes, causing any Symmetrix internal or external software to stop functioning.
• Access Control Database and SRDF host components / group settings will need to be restored after the SFS format

Access / Use case

• Any BIN file changes to map SFS volumes to host will fail.
• SFS volumes cannot be managed through SYMCLI or the Service Processor without PSE help.
• SYMAPI (infrastructure) works along with SYMMWIN and SFS volumes to obtain locks, etc during any SYMCLI / SYMMWIN / ECC activity (eg. Bin Changes).
• Since FAST v1 and FAST v2 reside as a policy engine outside the Symmetrix, it uses the underlying SFS volumes for changes (locks, etc).
• Performance data relating to FAST would be collected within the SFS volumes, which FAST policy engine uses to gauge performance.
• Performance data relating to Symmetrix Optimizer would be collected within the SFS volumes, which Optimizer uses to gauge performance.
• Other performance data collected for the DMSP (Dynamic Mirror Service Policy).
• All Audit logs, security logs, access control database, ACL’s etc is all stored within the SFS volumes.
• All SYMCLI, SYMAPI, Solutions enabler, host, interface, devices, access control related data is gathered on the SFS volumes.
• With the DMX-4 and the V-Max, all service process access, service processor initiated actions, denied attempts; RSA logs, etc are all stored on SFS volumes.

Unknowns

• SFS structure is unknown
• SFS architecture is unknown
• SFS garbage collection  and discard policy is unknown
• SFS records stored, indexing, etc is unknown
• SFS inode structures, function calls, security settings, etc is unknown

As more information gets available, I will try to update this post. Hope this is useful with your research on SFS volumes…

Cheers

@storagenerve

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Symmetrix File System (SFS)
Read more posts categorized as Storage, Tech

Symmetrix was a compute / storage beast 20 years ago and so it is today.

This post includes the video “Journey of the Symmetrix”  (20 years in the making) created exclusively for this blog post.

To read more about the Symmetrix

Symmetrix Deepdive

Symmetrix product is considered a Flagship product and possibly has the largest share in the Enterprise Storage – Compute market today.

Here is a video I have put together showing my love for the Symmetrix Product. It starts with the Symm that was invented 20 years ago to this last generation Symmetrix V-Max.

Viewable in HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieC_xUBp-Zc

Some other details on the Symmetrix include generation of the product, some facts, Enginuity code levels and model numbers.

The 8 Generations of Symmetrix

• First Generation: 1990
• Second Generation: 1992
• Symmetrix 3.0: 1994
• Symmetrix 4.0: 1996
• Symmetrix 4.8: 1998
• Symmetrix 5.0: 2000
• Symmetrix 5.5: 2001
• Symmetrix DMX (Generation 6.0): 2003
• Symmetrix DMX-2 (Generation 6.5): 2004
• Symmetrix DMX-3 (Generation 7.0): 2005
• Symmetrix DMX-4 (Generation 7.5): 2007
• Symmetrix V-Max (Generation 8.0): 2009

There are various models within each generation of the Symmetrix and these models have different characteristics. Follow the deepdive section to read more about it.

Some other facts of the Symmetrix include:

• Introduced in 1990
• 8^th Generation Symmetrix available in the market today
• 450 Patents
• Introduction of the first every ICDA: Integrated Cache Disk array
• First system to support both Mainframe and Open systems environment
• SRDF Support introduced in 1994 (first in the market)
• RSF Supported introduced in 1992 (first in the market)
• BCV support introduced in 1997 (first in the market)
• In-the-Box Tiering only offered through Symmetrix (DMX-4 onwards), can support FLASH, Fibre and SATA drives
• Symmetrix (DMX-4) is worlds first PB enterprise system
• Symmetrix (V-Max) is worlds first multi PB enterprise system
• USD 3 Billion invested in Symmetrix Multi-vendor Interoperability Matrix support
• 800 Speed Gurus supporting the Symmetrix Performance and configurations for optimizing environments.

Enginuity Code Levels

• First Generation: Unknown
• Second Generation: Unknown
• Symmetrix 3.0: 50xx, 51xx
• Symmetrix 4.0: 5265, 5266
• Symmetrix 4.8: 5266, 5267
• Symmetrix 5.0: 5567, 5568
• Symmetrix 5.5: 5568
• Symmetrix DMX (Generation 6.0): 5669, 5670, 5671
• Symmetrix DMX-2 (Generation 6.5): 5670, 5671
• Symmetrix DMX-3 (Generation 7.0): 5771, 5772
• Symmetrix DMX-4 (Generation 7.5): 5772, 5773
• Symmetrix V-Max (Generation 8.0): 5874

Symmetrix Models

• First Generation: 4200
• Second Generation: 4400, 4800
• Symmetrix 3.0: 3100/5100, 3200/5200, 3500/5500
• Symmetrix 4.0: 3330/5330, 3430/5430, 3700/5700
• Symmetrix 4.8: 3630/5630, 3830/5830, 3930/5930
• Symmetrix 5.0: 8130, 8430, 8730
• Symmetrix 5.5: 8230, 8530, 8830
• Symmetrix DMX (Generation 6.0): DMX800, DMX1000, DMX1000-P, DMX2000, DMX2000-P, DMX3000-3
• Symmetrix DMX-2 (Generation 6.5): DMX801, DMX1000-M2, DMX1000-P2, DMX2000-M2, DMX2000-P2, DMX2000-M2-3, DMX3000-M2-3
• Symmetrix DMX-3 (Generation 7.0): DMX3-950, DMX3
• Symmetrix DMX-4 (Generation 7.5): DMX4-950, DMX4
• Symmetrix V-Max (Generation 8.0): V-Max SE, V-Max

Disclaimers

I have not been awarded a free V-Max or DMX-4 for my basement. I do not personally own a V-Max or a DMX-4.

As you can see, this post shows my love for the Symmetrix technology and sort of my tribute to the 20 years of Symmetrix technology advancement.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Symmetrix: The Journey of 20 Years
Read more posts categorized as Storage, Tech

FAST (FULLY AUTOMATED STORAGE TIERING)

FAST made a debut in the storage market yesterday (12/08/09). Finally after the market buzz we got a preview of the product in terms of its features, functionality, characteristics, possible shortcomings and use cases.

This blog post focuses on the features, the drawbacks and some applications around FAST.  By no means is this a comprehensive or an exhaustive list of the above.

After all, FAST makes a debut, (The previous post on FAST).

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NOTE: Out of the box thinking by EMC, imagine the flexibility one would have with a large infrastructure and FAST moving data based on policy. Its all about the big picture.

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Here are some features, highlights of FAST and how it operates.

• FAST will perform data movement based on IOPS, average I/O size and write percentage. This is currently true for the Symmetrix V-Max, Clariion CX4 and Celerra NS.

• Three elements that define FAST: Storage Type, FAST policies and Storage Groups.

• FAST is based on user defined – configuration policies.

• The configuration of FAST is typically done through FAST wizards (Symmetrix Management Console) on Symmetrix V-Max, FAST LUN Migrator for Clariion CX4 and Rainfinity File Management Appliance or VE for Celerra NS.

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• User defined analysis period for FAST. That will enable FAST to recommend or perform data analysis and then a data move based on policy.

• FAST created policies will associate with Storage Groups.

• FAST policies will be configurable at a LUN / drive / drive type / speed etc level.

• Data movement will take place based on a time of the date policy called “COLD” move or on usage policy called “HOT” move.

• Data movement will take place between various drive types, various LUN types and LUN sizes. (LUN types, LUN sizes will need to be same for the source and destination LUNs). For example a 9GB FBA LUN being migrated from Fibre to FLASH will need similar source and destination LUN properties.

• FAST data analysis will be performed in the background.

• For Symmetrix V-Max platform FAST will perform all analysis without the use of Symmetrix Performance Analyzer. Understanding is there will be some sort of API plugin available on the Service Processor of the V-Max that will enable Symmetrix Management Console (FAST plugin) to interface with the Symmetrix through the SYMAPI interface.

• For Clariions, the performance data of the array will be monitored and collected by Navisphere Analyzer.

• Based on the source LUN analysis, FAST will recommend the user to move the data either a faster speed drives or a slower speed drives.

• FAST will enable roll back based on user preferences (automated).

• FAST will be configurable by Symmetrix Management console wizards or SYMCLI

• FAST configurable by Clariion Naviseccli and installed on a host connected to Clariion, Host software called FAST LUN Migrator.

• FAST configurable by Rainfinity File Management Appliance GUI or CLI for Celerra NS “out-of-box data” movement. This enables the Celerra to move data to another Celerra or Centera or Atmos.

• FAST configurable by Rainfinity File Management / VE (Virtual Appliance) for Celerra NS “in-the-box” data movement.

• FAST can be installed non-disruptively on all platforms.

• FAST will operate both at an FBA and CKD level supporting open systems and mainframes for V-Max.

• FAST will operate at a LUN level on Symmetrix V-Max

• FAST will operate at a LUN level on Clariion CX4

• FAST will operate at a file level on Celerra NS

• FAST v1 users will be able to purchase a FAST v2 upgrade when it’s released in second half of 2010.

• FAST can be purchased as a FAST suite or part of an ATSM (Advanced Tiering Storage Management) suite with bundled discounting prices.

• For a unified storage system like a front end NAS (Celerra) with a backend SAN (Clariion), FAST can coexists at both levels. But it is not recommended to deploy FAST at a Celerra LUN level.

• FAST integrates with Symmetrix Management Console and with Rainfinity GUI (Celerra) for simple management. Though Clariion implementation will need one to specialize in CLI.

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FAST introduction by EMC

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FAST Drawbacks

Here are some drawbacks of FAST as I see it today.

• Does not support Virtual provisioning. So the Virtual provisioned LUNs will not be FAST enabled. Sub-LUN expected in second half of 2010

• FAST is not free and is charged based on RAW CAPACITY of the Storage Array.

• FAST will only work with similar LUN types (example FBA LUNs can be migrated to FBA) and LUN sizes (9GB LUN can be migrated to a 9GB LUN) only.

• FAST will require Professional Services and is not recommended for customer self implementation at least for the Clariion and the Celerra platforms. EMC is making a claim that FAST can be self provisioned on the Symmetrix V-Max platform.

• FAST works only on current generation systems like EMC V-Max Enginuity 5874, Clariion CX4 Release 29 and Celerra NS.

• With Clariion CX4 and FAST implementation, requirement is to have Navisphere Analyzer.

• With Celerra NS and FAST implementation, requirement is to have Rainfinity File Management /VE or Appliance.

• With Symmetrix V-Max FAST implementation, requirement is to have Symmetrix Management Console (Not free any more starting with the V-Max)

• For the Clariions, FAST only analyzes Fibre drives and LUN movement has to initiate from Fibre channel to FLASH or Fibre channel to SATA drives only. Movement from FLASH to Fibre or SATA to Fibre has to be initiated manually.

• A customer implementing Virtual Provisioning on Clariion CX4 and Symmetrix V-Max that is using 50% Thick Provisioning and 50% Virtual Provisioning. FAST will not work with Virtual Provisioned LUNs. But the customer will probably pay for 100% of Storage Raw Capacity when it comes to paying for FAST either non-bundled or bundled in an ATSM (Advanced Tiering Storage Management).

• FAST does not support IBM System I platform currently.

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Some real world FAST applications

• Acadia Service Model can now add granularity with offerings around on-demand resources using FAST at its core.

• On Demand application and workload needs can be met for OLTP, Data Warehousing, Mainframe compute and Virtual compute using FAST driven policies.

• Multi-tenancy with Private Clouds

• Move high demand data on faster drives while rarely used data goes on slower drives.

• Sell ITaaS based on SLA’s. Higher SLA’s can mean higher price. All automated processes controlled by policy.

• Higher transactions typically mean low overall cost; mean higher efficiency means higher profits all achievable through FAST policy engine.

Need to see some real world implementations of FAST now. In theory and on paper, FAST looks pretty compelling but practically will it do the magic.

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Some unanswered questions today

• How does it prevent from LUNs jumping between Fiber, FLASH and SATA if the application has un-expected performance that day?

• Manageability of FAST interfaces.

• Usability of FAST interfaces.

• Granular configuration policies associated with analysis.

• Future upgrades.

• Current implementations and how long and how effective are those.

• Can you improve performance without using SSD’s. Example with Fibre and SATA drives only.

• With future upgrades from FAST v1 to FAST v2 what happens with current user defined policies.

• Would Symcli scripts change with FAST implementation?

• During lockout periods (Where Symmetrix configuration cannot change, eg before a BIN file change) would FAST still operate.

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To read some of the answers to the questions, as commented by Barry Burke on the StorageNerve Blog

FAST is a bit of a new subject for me. Any experts please feel free to correct me if my understanding of FAST is incorrect at any level.

Stay tuned for a series of FAST posts over the next few days talking about various topics and how FAST plays within those areas.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | FAST: Features, Drawbacks, Applications and some Questions
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So EMC has proved critics like me wrong and have introduced EMC FAST (Fully Automated Storage Tiering) as an offering in Dec 2009. There were many skeptics like me that saw this product release being stalled because of various reasons, here.

Truly this was one of the most awaited products of 2009 from EMC after the initial announcement by EMC back in April 2009 along with the release of Symmetrix V-Max.

I have dedicated a separate deep-dive section for EMC FAST on the StorageNerve Blog, here

Along with FAST, EMC has also introduced some new enhancements to the EMC Symmetrix V-Max, Clariion CX4 and Celerra NS platforms. Currently FAST will be available on the above 3 platforms at debut and will provide automated storage tiering “in-the-box” for Symmetrix V-Max, “in-the-box” for Clariion CX4 and “out-of-box” for Celerra NS platforms.

As expected EMC has not made this feature free but rather offers a pricing model based on bundled software. FAST will be an available feature within ATSM: Advanced Tiering Storage Management bundle and will be charged based on RAW Capacity of the Array (Symmetrix, Clariion and Celerra)

FAST will not be supported on EMC DMX-4 and Clariion CX3. In essence FAST is only compatible with EMC Symmetrix V-Max Enginuity Microcode 5874.xxx.xxx and Clariion CX4 Flarecode Release 29.

FAST is a software only feature and integrates with existing hardware / software on the associated platforms.

The following are some of the features FAST will support at GA on the EMC Symmetrix V-Max, Clariion CX4 and Celerra NS platforms.

EMC Symmetrix V-Max

• Volume / LUN based data movement (Automated Storage Tiering) for open systems and CKD – mainframe volumes.

• Management of FAST through Symmetrix Management Console or SymCLI

• Data Movement can be accomplished between FLASH, fibre channel and SATA drives within the V-Max platform. Data can move in any direction and on any type of the drives based on policy.

• Data movement within a single frame or serial number only.

• FAST suite can be purchased as a standalone software suite but will be available at a discounted price based on a bundled option with Symmetrix Optimizer, DCP: Dynamic Cache Partitioning and SPC: Symmetrix Priority Controls.

• Symmetrix Performance Analyzer is not required for FAST to operate on the Symmetrix V-Max platform.
  

EMC Clariion CX4

• LUN based data movement (Automated Storage Tiering)

• Management of FAST will be enabled through CLI only. Not supported as an integrated part of Navisphere today.

• Will work with Flarecode Release 29 (Clariion CX4) only.

• Unlike the Symmetrix, the automated data movement will only be supported between fibre channel drives to FLASH or fibre channel drives to SATA. There is no automation related to data movement from FLASH to fibre channel or FLASH to SATA or SATA to FLASH or SATA to fibre Channel drives.

• Data movement within a single frame or serial number only.

• FAST suite can be purchased as a standalone software suite but will be available at a discounted price based on bundled option with Navisphere Analyzer and NQSM: Navisphere Quality Service Manager.

• Navisphere Analyzer is required for FAST to operate.

EMC Celerra platform

• File based data movement (Automated Storage Tiering)

• Management of FAST can be accomplished through Rainfinity file management appliance GUI or CLI. Customers also have an option to purchase Rainfinity File management/VE (Virtual Appliance), which has some limitations.

• Data movement can be enabled to another tier “in-the-box” or to another Celerra or Centera or Atmos.

• Celerra FAST is most interesting as it enables out the system data movement, like to another Celerra or Centera or Atmos.

• FAST suite can be purchased as a standalone software suite but will be available at a discounted price based on a bundled option with Rainfinity File Management Appliance or Rainfinity File Management /VE.

Based on EMC heat index charts, a before and after picture of a FAST implementation would look like this.

A FAST implementation video

Here is a post, back from August 2009 on Gestalt IT describing how EMC’s Unified Storage vision and federation may work. It is good to see, some of those things come to fruition now, and at least FAST with Celerra proves it.

Stay tuned for a series of FAST posts over the next few days talking about various other topics and how FAST plays within those areas.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | After all, FAST makes a debut
Read more posts categorized as Storage, Tech

To read other Drobo related posts:

Drobo S and DroboElite – Introduced 11/23/2009

Some very interesting articles on Drobo S and DroboElite

The Drobo Math

I totally love my Drobo but

PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED PDF FOR PERFORMANCE DATA

Here are some performance stats collected with running Drobo as a direct attached storage and using some benchmarking tools to compile these results.  All the performance stats are collected using different criteria’s that can affect the performance of the Drobo. Also used various connection methods including USB and Firewire to obtain these stats.

The entire series of tests have been performed using Mac OSX 10.6.2 host with either USB attached or Firewire attached to the Drobo.

These results are limited to the Drobo and cannot be compared to the Drobo Pro or Drobo Elite or Drobo S.

The test were carried out with using various combination of drives, rebuilt data protection, best-case scenario, worst-case scenario, 1 drive, 2 drives, 4 drives, different drive cache & capacity.

Enjoy!!!

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Drobo Performance Stats
Read more posts categorized as Desktop, Featured, Storage

Though there are two distinct groups of people, one favoring automation and the other half possibly thinking this technology brings no value-add in terms of how storage is utilized and managed today. This game was initially started by Compellent (Compellent Data Progression technology) about 4 years ago, then joined by Pillar Data Systems and now other OEM’s (including EMC, HDS, IBM) are starting to catchup on policy based automated storage tiering.

With private clouds in the near future and then hybrid clouds (a mesh of private and public clouds) in the horizon, automation, workload distribution, SLA’s, QoS will need to be monitored and managed to optimally run IT Infrastructures. Policy based management will create a new wave of storage management, automation and will act as a principle ingredient of hybrid clouds.

Generation 1 of policy based storage tiering works within a single storage subsystem.
Generation 2 in the near future should work across heterogeneous storage subsystems (by the same manufacturers).
Generation 3 over the next year or two will work across storage platforms irrelevant of the manufacturers.
Generation 3 of policy based management will include the entire stack of management. These products will be capable of not only managing the Storage, but also interact through policies at the Virtualization, Networking, Application, OS, Middleware and other layers in the stack of Infrastructure management..

We should see an up-rise of new emerging technologies that will create these external policy based engines for data movement automation. All infrastructure components including Storage, Virtualization, Networking, Application, OS, Middleware will provide the necessary API’s for these external engines to interact and enable data automation and workflow automation in hybrid clouds (irrelevant of the manufacturers).

Here are a few articles from the past month related to the topics of Policy, Automated Storage Tiering, Workloads, SLA’s and QoS.

Pillar

http://blog.pillardata.com/pillar_data_blog/2009/10/autotiering-of-data.html

EMC

http://flickerdown.com/2009/09/why-policy-is-the-future-of-storage/

http://flickerdown.com/2009/10/why-policy-is-the-future-of-storage-part-2/

http://stevetodd.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/greenfield-monitoring-of-a-private-cloud.html

http://stevetodd.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/09/federation-and-private-cloud.html

Compellent (Partner Blog)

http://blogs.cinetica.it/cinetica/2009/10/19/dear-mike/

http://blogs.cinetica.it/cinetica/2009/08/25/tiered-storage-and-new-features-for-the-rest-of-us/

Ocarina Networks

http://onlinestorageoptimization.com/index.php/tiered-storage/

HDS

http://blogs.hds.com/hu/2009/09/ilm-revisited-intelligent-tiered-storage-for-file-and-content-data.html

Independents

http://www.storagemonkeys.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=the-end-of-history-or-just-the-beginning-.html&Itemid=136

http://thestoragearchitect.com/2009/10/18/enterprise-computing-do-we-need-fast-v1-emc/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/22/emc_fast/

http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/storage-soup/hp-drops-roadmap-nuggets-at-storageworks-techday/

http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/storage-soup/spinnaker-founders-bring-avere-out-of-stealth/

http://breathingdata.com/2009/10/18/can-and-when-will-ssds-sata-replace-fcsas/

http://gestaltit.com/featured/top/gestalt/emc-unified-platform-storage-tiering/

http://storagenerve.com/2009/10/14/enhancements-to-emc-symmetrix-v-max-systems/

Some other posts include

http://www.compellentblog.com/Posts/2008/9/Patent-Sense-Automated-Tiered-Storage-and-Continuous-Snapshots.aspx

http://www.compellentblog.com/Tags/automated-tiered-storage.aspx?page=2

http://blogs.computerworld.com/compellent_ilm

Your thoughts always welcome!!!

cheers
@storagenerve

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Policy! Policy!! Policy!!!
Read more posts categorized as Featured, Storage

Enhancements to EMC Symmetrix V-Max systems is possibly around the corner (FY09 Q4).

FAST (Fully Automated Storage Tiering) is due this quarter and will be one of the most awaited software release in the enterprise storage space by EMC.

Bundled together with FAST, possibly a new microcode version the enables FAST (its associated features) and other expected enhancements.

Though this will be a major software release and functionality upgrade, I don’t think this would qualify as a 2nd generation EMC Symmetrix V-Max system.

But fully expect EMC to release its FAST v2 and V-Max Gen2 (possibly named like V-Max II or V-Max Ext) somewhere around Mid year 2010.

Here are a few new features to possibly expect on the EMC Symmetrix V-Max Systems this quarter.

1. Introduction of FAST v1, which should allow automated data movement within a single Symmetrix V-Max system. Here are some features of FAST as discussed on GestaltIT and by Barry Burke (TSA) on his blog.

2. FAST v1 data movement should possibly be policy driven around factors like time (how old is the data), SLA (promised SLA’s), Tier (from Tier 0 to Tier 1 to Tier 2) and possibly I/O or IOPS based.

3. FAST v1 should allow automated policy based data movement or prompt a user for manual intervention for data movement.

4. Do not expect FAST v1 to come for free, it will possibly be licensed based on the total number of TB’s in the storage subsystem.

5. Expect some integration between the IONIX platform and FAST v1 and possibly some very tight integration with future releases of FAST and IONIX.

6. Expect FAST and IONIX to integrate very tightly with Atmos through API’s and policies. We should expect to see this with FAST v2 and not with FAST v1.

7. So when does EMC retire Symmetrix Optimizer, with FAST v1 probably not, with FAST v2 probably yes.

8. 2TB SATA II drives will be introduced (According to a Keynote from Joe Tucci in NYC), though Joe Tucci didn’t mention what platforms the 2TB SATA II drives will be available on, it seems the V-Max upgrade would be the most logical platform.

9. The 2TB SATA II drive upgrade should make the V-Max 4 PB total storage (2400 drives x 2TB), possibly the single largest storage subsystem at an enterprise level.

10. RapidIO speed upgrade from 2.5 Gbps to 4 Gbps (interconnects between the engines) upgraded either through MBIE (new processors) and / or through microcode upgrades. EMC currently uses Serial RapidIO which supports 1.25Ghz to 3.0Ghz clocking speeds and can scale upto 10 Gbps I/O though EMC currently utilizes 2.5 Gbps as its interconnect speeds for the engines.

11. Increased drive interconnect speeds. May be denser EFD’s, though I can’t speculate on it.

12. FC and FICON (Host Connects) port speeds upgrade from 4 Gbps to 8 Gbps

13. Interconnect between two separate Symmetrix V-Max Systems (8 Engines each per system) expanding into possibly 16 (max) engines. The more I think about this concept, the more it makes me feel that there are no added benefits of this architecture, rather it will add more complexities with data management and higher latency. Remember how the V-Max was initially marketed with having hundreds of engines and millions of IOPS, the only way to achieve that vision is through interconnects. The longer the distance, the more latency with cache and I/O. If Interconnects end up making in this release, limitation on the distance between two Symmetrix V-Max system bays would be around 100 feet.

14. To the point above, another way of possibly connecting these systems could merely be federation through external policy based engines. Ed Saipetch and myself have speculated that concept on GestaltIT.

15. With the use of larger drive size, possibly expect a cache upgrade. Currently the Symmetrix V-Max supports 1TB total cache (512GB usable), which may get upgraded to 2TB total cache (1024 GB usable).

16. New possible microcode version 5875 that will help bring features like FAST, SATA II drives and additional cache into the Symmetrix V-Max.

17. Processors: 4 x Quad Core Intel processors on V-Max engines may not get an upgrade in this release, it should possibly be with FAST v2 as a midlife enhancement next year.

18. Further enhancements related to FCoE support.

19. Upgrade of iSCSI interface on Symmetrix V-Max engines from 1GB to 10GB (is now available with the Clariion CX4 platforms).

20. Really do not expect this to happen, but imagine RapidIO interconnects change to FCoE. Really not sure what made EMC to go with RapidIO instead of Infiniband 40 Gbps (which most of the storage industry folks think is dead) or FCoE with Engine interconnects, but if the engineers at EMC thought of RapidIO as a means to connect the V-Max engines, there has to be a reason behind it. Enginuity more or less doesn’t care about the underlying switching technology, making a switch from RapidIO to FCoE or Infiniband can be accomplished without a lot of pains. Though for customers already invested into RapidIO technology (with existing V-Max systems), it might be offline time to change the underlying fabric, which in most cases is unacceptable.

21. Virtual Provisioning on Virtual LUNs which is currently not supported with the existing generation of Microcode on V-Max systems.

22. Atmos currently is running as a beta release and we should expect a market release this Quarter. Should we expect to see an integration between V-Max and Atmos. I am not sure of any integration today.

23. A very interesting feature to have in the EMC Symmetrix V-Max would be system partitioning, where you can run half the V-Max engines at a certain Microcode level with a certain set of features and other half can be treated as a completely separate system with its own identity (almost like a Mainframe environment). Shouldn’t this be a feature of a modular storage array.

24. Symmetrix Management Console (SMC) and Vmware integration (like VMware aware Navisphere and Navisphere aware VMware). There is already quite a bit of support related to VMware in SMC for provisioning and allocation.

25. Also a much tighter integration between IONIX, FAST, SMC, Navisphere and Atmos may after all be the secret sauce, which would enable workflow, dataflow and importantly automation. Though do not expect this integration now, something to look forward for the next year.

Summary

Though I am still a bit confused on where FAST will physically sit.

FAST v1 can merely be a feature integrated within the Microcode, configurable & driven through policy within the Symmetrix Management Console.

FAST v2 (Sometime Mid 2010) should support in-box and out-of-box (eg: Symmetrix to Clariion to Celerra to Centera) data movement through policy engine.

Ed Saipetch and myself have speculated on GestaltIT on how that may work. Though after some thoughts, I do believe a policy engine can merely be a VM or a vAPP sitting outside the physical storage system in the Storage environment.

To promote the sales of the EMC Symmetrix V-Max systems, Barry Burke in his blog post talks about Open Replicator, Open Migrator and SRDF / DM (Data mobility) are now available at no cost for customers purchasing a new EMC Symmetrix V-Max system, these are some of the incentives that EMC is offering and further promoting the sales of its latest generation Symmetrix technology.

It remains to be seen the path of success FAST will carve for Symmetrix V-Max systems.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Enhancements to EMC Symmetrix V-Max Systems coming!!
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But the approvals haven’t stopped Mr. Ellison’s Team from redesigning the SUN ORACLE Exadata platform Version 2 (With SUN ORACLE logo’s on it). A joint venture between ORACLE and SUN has been on for several years now. Today was the day when the new Exadata platform version 2 was presented to the world by Mr. Ellison himself. It was truly visible, that Mr. Ellison is already taking a lot of pride with this acquisition even before its approved.

There was an advertisement earlier this week from ORACLE SUN challenging IBM and all its products and how Mr. Ellison now wants to go after IBM to become the top Infrastructure company. Said that, there are only 3 big infrastructure companies today, IBM and HP going neck to neck in terms of revenues competing for the 1st position, while the pending approval of ORACLE – SUN at number three.

Through it is great to see the vision of Mr. Ellison and how he is internally transforming ORACLE from being a software database company to an Infrastructure company. Today’s announcement of SUN ORACLE Exadata version 2 platform is very unique in that sense. Exadata products has been developed with years of partnership between SUN and ORACLE, but goes to show how both the combined companies can fulfill the datacenter vision END to END.

This platform extensively uses the SUN FlashFire technology and is truly the first OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) System designed to optimize customer data processing using a mix of SUN hardware and ORACLE software. It was very noticeable during the 35 minutes introduction where Mr. Ellison drove the presentation for more than 25 minutes and then handed over to John Fowler, EVP SUN for a technical talk.

Clearly ORACLE is targeting IBM and NCR – Teradata products with the release of this platform. It was obvious in the presentation that Mr. Larry Ellison used the word “THEY” numerous times signaling towards IBM and NCR. Though it was not said during the presentation, “THEY” could include HP as well. At this point without the final approval of the SUN purchase, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for ORACLE to make another enemy, HP.

Here are some SUN ORACLE Exadata Version 2 platform highlights

1. Exadata Version 2 is optimized for OLTP (Online Transaction Processing), first in its kind to hit the market.
2. Typically SUN ORACLE Exadata Version 2 should give customers a 50X to 100X better performance than standard data warehousing servers.
3. Optimized for Random I/O
4. 1M IOPS per system cabinet
5. Each system cabinet has 8 Compute servers, 176 total processors, 336 TB of Raw Disk, 5TB of Flash Cache (56 Flash Cache cards), 400GB to total DRAM in the 8 compute servers.
6. Intel Nehalem processors, Infiniband switching, FlashCache, 4 Ethernet links per database node.
7. Runs Linux System, Oracle manages cache, fully redundant compute servers and storage. On demand capacity expansion as it relates to compute servers, storage or Infiniband switches.
8. 1 Node (computer server) is the smallest configuration, large configurations can be 8 nodes in one cabinet or 32 cabinets combined together to massively have 32 Million IOPS or several 100 Petabyte of storage optimized for OLTP.
9. Infiniband speed per link is 40 Gbps aggregating to 880 Gbps for a system (cabinet), Non Blocking switch gives a full open & distributed system access for faster processing.
10. Power consumption less than Exadata version 1.0 by 14%
11. Fastest OLTP system, Fastest Data Warehousing system in the world
12. All calculations done in memory (FlashCache), optimizing the system.
13. Massively Parallel Processing, the scale out architecture helps and enables easy on demand expansion.

Couple things to note:

1. Mr. Ellison calls Flash Disk as Dumb Flask Disk, truly remarkable.
2. Also another highlight was to use 56 Flash Cache cards per system (5 TB) and then use 168 x 2TB SATA drives (Possibly 7.2K RPM) to optimize data space (Somehow didn’t make a lot of sense).

Some Questions to Consider :

1. Is this a real threat to Storage & Host providers where you have specialized Hardware / Software combination optimizing your performance for certain applications?
2. Is this the power of ORACLE SUN that we will see in the future?
3. How does this compete with EMC COMPUTE platform (rumors) or the Cisco – EMC Alpine Project (rumors)?
4. Does the VCE (VMware – Cisco – EMC) partnership really focus towards the giant to come ORACLE SUN?
5. What will happen to the ORACLE – HP partnership if the ORACLE SUN buyout gets approval, what happens to HP – Oracle Exadata?
6. Does this create any Antitrust scenarios for the future?
7. Is Mr. Ellison’s dream to own the infrastructure end with the purchase of SUN?

Here are some links for references if you would like to read more about Exadata products

http://www.orafaq.com/wiki/Exadata_FAQ

http://www.sun.com

http://www.oracle.com

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | SUN ORACLE Exadata Version 2: Showing the power of ORACLE SUN
Read more posts categorized as All, Cloud Computing, Featured, Networking, Storage