Storage

Virtualizatio
n
Faisal Imran, Ph.D.
Department of Computer Science,
Bahria University
Virtualization Comes in Many Forms

Virtual Each application sees its own logical

Memory memory, independent of physical memory

Virtual Each application sees its own logical

Networksnetwork, independent of physical network

VirtualEach application sees its own logical

Serversserver, independent of physical servers

VirtualEach application sees its own logical

Storagestorage, independent of physical storage

2
Storage
Virtualizatio
n
What is Storage Virtualization?

• Storage systems may use virtualization concepts as a

tool to enable better functionality and more advanced
features within and across storage systems.
[Wikipedia]
What is Storage Virtualization?

• The act of abstracting, hiding, or isolating the internal

functions of a storage (sub)system or service from
applications, computer servers, or general network
resources for the purposes of enabling application
and network independent management of storage or
data.
• The application of virtualization to storage services or
devices for the purpose of aggregating, hiding
complexity, or adding new capabilities to lower-level
storage resources.
In simpler words …

• Storage virtualization aggregates storage

components, such as disks, in a coordinated way to
share them more efficiently among the applications.
Where did it come from?

• 1950s – IBM main-frames

• The magnetic disk storage was directly attached via
a cable, to the CPU and RAM.
• Direct attached storage (DAS)
Direct Attached Storage
(Internal)
Computer System

CPU

Memory

Bus

I/O
Controller

Disk Drives
Direct Attached Storage
(Internal)
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Data
CPU

Memory

Bus

I/O
Controller

Disk Drives
Direct Attached Storage
(Internal)
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CPU

Memory

Bus

I/O
Controller

Disk Drives
Where did it come from?

• Next few decades,

• standard protocols emerged,
such as the small computer
system interface (SCSI)
• different types of storage
flourished and fault-tolerant
designs provided greater
reliability

• However, connectivity was still

confined to single servers or
Where did it come from?

• The first wave of storage virtualization

appeared in the disk array controller
• Large numbers of magnetic disks
were pooled together
• Arranged in a way to provide fault
tolerance to protect against
individual disk failures.

• This system became known as RAID

(redundant array of independent
disks).
DAS w/ internal controller and
external storage
Street Computer System
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CPU
Disk
Memory Enclosure

Bus Disk Drives

I/O - RAID Disk Drives
Controller
Disk Drives
 A host bus adapter (HBA) is a circuit board or integrated
DAS over Fiber Channel circuit adapter that connects a host system, such as a
server, to a storage or network device
Server

HBA
HBA is internal
Fiber Channel
protocol
between HBAs
and external
RAID controller Storage

Disk drives Disk

and Drives
RAID controller RAID Controller
are external

External SAN
Where did it come from?

• Early 1980s – revolution

• Computer networks allowed servers to talk to one
another and exchange information over standard
mediums like ethernet

• If servers can share data, then why not share their

storage as well?
Network Attached Storage (NAS)

• Allowed servers to treat storage in another room, or

potentially another city, as though it was right
there, physically attached to the server.

• Increased collaboration, allowed multiple users to

write and read to the storage at the same time
Network Attached Storage (NAS)

• A single device that contains disk storage and

computer system
• Sole purpose is to deliver storage to servers.
• Referred to as a ‘file server’ due to its ability to share
a common pool of files with multiple servers.
• it optimizes and simplifies the delivery of storage to
servers
• can provide services such as redundancy and
replication

• NAS storage typically connects to an organization’s

TCP/IP network via ethernet (the same used by
servers)
Network Attached Storage

Public or Private
Ethernet network
NIC NIC
All data
Server converted to file NAS Server
protocol for
transmission Storage
(may slow down
database Disk
transactions) Drives
Server has a RAID Controller
Network Interface
Card
No RAID
Controller or HBA
in the server
NAS - File level storage

• File level storage devices are often used to share files

with users.
• nothing beats the simplicity of file level storage
when all that's needed is a place to dump raw files

• File level storage is usually accessible using common

file level protocols such as SMB/CIFS (Windows) and
NFS (Linux, VMware).
NAS Usage Model

• The administrator of a home network or small business

network can connect one NAS device to their LAN.
• The NAS maintains its own IP address comparable to
computer and other TCP/IP devices.

• NAS holds gigabytes of data, up to a few terabytes.

• Additional NAS devices can be added for more storage,
although each NAS operates independently.
Storage area networks (SANs)

• Introduced in the mid to late 1990s,

• A storage area network (SAN) is an architecture to
connect detached computer storage devices, such
as disk arrays, tape libraries, to servers in a way
that the devices appear as local resources.
• SANs deliver storage to servers at a block level, and
feature mapping and security capabilities to ensure
only one server can access the allocated storage at
any particular time.
• Traditionally, SANs have used optical connectivity
called fiber channel (FC) due to its gigabit transfer
Block level storage

• Can be considered as a hard drive in a server,

happens to be in a remote chassis, accessible using
FibreChannel/iSCSI.

• Raw storage volumes are created, and then the

server-based operating system connects to these
volumes and uses them as individual hard drives.
• Usable for almost any kind of application,
• Including file storage, database storage, virtual
machine file system (VMFS) volumes, and more.
SAN Usage Model

• Administrators of larger enterprise networks may

require many terabytes of centralized file storage or
very high-speed file transfer operations.

• Where installing an army of many NAS devices is not

a practical option, administrators can instead install a
single SAN containing a high-performance disk array
to provide the needed scalability and performance.
SAN vs NAS - What Is the Difference?

• A NAS is a single storage device that operate on data

files, while a SAN is a local network of multiple
devices that operate on disk blocks.

• But what does it mean?

SAN vs NAS - What Is the Difference?

• A NAS is a single storage device that operate on data

files, while a SAN is a local network of multiple
devices that operate on disk blocks.

• Network-attached storage (NAS), in contrast to SAN,

uses file-based protocols such as NFS or SMB/CIFS
where it is clear that the storage is remote, and
computers request a portion of an abstract file rather
than a disk block...
DAS, NAS and SAN
• Common storage architecture :
• DAS - Direct Attached Storage
• Storage device was directly attached
to a server or workstation, without a
storage network in between.
• NAS - Network Attached Storage
• File-level computer data storage
connected to a computer network
providing data access to
heterogeneous clients.
• SAN - Storage Area Network
• Attach remote storage devices to
servers in such a way that the
devices appear as locally attached to
the operating system.
DAS, NAS and SAN

• Better than before, but problems remained

• Islands of SANs were created due to poor
interoperability between different vendors and
devices
• utilization levels were still relatively low due to
traditional storage allocation practices being used

• the lack of mobility or replication between different

storage vendors meant organizations were still
restricted.
Advanced virtualization features

• Providing external connectivity of heterogeneous

storage,
• Non-disruptive data migration and mobility features,
• Enhanced business continuity, tiered storage, and
thin provisioning.
Ideal storage virtualization

• Different storage virtualization solutions

• Each implemented in a different way or offered in
different packaging.
• Therefore, it is important to understand the
characteristics of an ideal storage virtualization
solution.
Desirable properties

• Manageability
• Storage resource should be easily configured and
deployed.
• Availability
• Storage hardware failures should not affect the
application.
• Scalability
• Storage resource can easily scale up and down.
• Security
• Storage resource should be securely isolated.
The Digital Universe 2009-2020

Growing
by a
Factor of 44
2009:
0.8 ZB

2020: 35.2 Zettabytes

One Zettabyte (ZB) = 1 trillion gigabytes
Source: IDC Digital Universe Study, sponsored by EMC, May 2010
Data, data, data !!

• Too much data being produced (which may or may

not be considered a problem)
• All this creates several challenges in the storage
environment.
Storage virtualization - Challenges

• Out of storage again!

• The main reason this happens is applications are typically
allocated more storage than they need.
• Compounding the problem is the common practice of
creating multiple copies of data.
• Countless surveys reveal that organizations suffer from very
poor actual utilization, as low as 30 to 40 percent.
Storage virtualization - Challenges

• Reducing cost
• More applications = exponential growth of data
• More applications = more storage
• More storage = more IT persons to keep it going

• And the cycle continues …

Storage virtualization - Challenges

• Adding agility and flexibility

• Applications required to be available 99.99 percent
of the time (or more!)
• bringing an application down for servicing and
maintenance, or migrating to new server or storage
platforms
• Would of course be unthinkable 
Storage virtualization - Challenges

• Repurposing and adding value to existing assets

• Things just don’t seem to last as long as they used
to.
• They become superseded by new models with
better performance or features.
• Most storage subsystems and associated networks
cost thousands or even millions of dollars.
• So, with such potentially short life cycles, it’s not
surprising that organizations are looking to squeeze
every last drop out of their investments.
Storage virtualization - Challenges

• Going “green”
• Consolidating storage though intelligent pooling of
storage resources
• Use of thin provisioning
• It enables the squeezing of more users onto a
particular volume of physical storage, while also
avoiding excess capacity
RAID

• RAID was originally defined as Redundant Array of

Inexpensive Drives

• There are three fundamental RAID techniques and the

various RAID types can use one or more of these
techniques:
• Mirroring
• Striping
• Striping with parity
RAID levels

• On most situations you will be using one of the

following four levels of RAIDs.
• RAID 0
• RAID 1
• RAID 5
• RAID 10 (also known as RAID 1+0)
RAID LEVEL 0

• Following are the key points to remember for RAID

level 0.
• Minimum 2 disks.
• Excellent performance ( as blocks are striped ).
• RAID 0 (disk striping) is the process of dividing a
body of data into blocks and spreading the
data blocks across multiple storage devices
• No redundancy ( no mirror, no parity ).
• Don’t use this for any critical system.
RAID LEVEL 0
RAID LEVEL 1

• Following are the key points to remember for RAID

level 1.
• Minimum 2 disks.
• Good performance ( no striping. no parity ).
• Excellent redundancy ( as blocks are mirrored ).
RAID LEVEL 1
RAID LEVEL 5

• Following are the key points to remember for RAID

level 5.
• Minimum 3 disks.
• Good performance ( as blocks are striped ).
• Good redundancy ( distributed parity ).
• Best cost effective option providing both
performance and redundancy.
RAID LEVEL 5
RAID LEVEL 10

• Following are the key points to remember for RAID

level 10.
• Minimum 4 disks.
• This is also called as “stripe of mirrors”
• Excellent redundancy ( as blocks are mirrored )
• Excellent performance ( as blocks are striped )

• If you can afford the dollar, this is the BEST option for
any mission critical applications (especially
databases).
RAID LEVEL 10
Thank You