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EMC FAST: Whether to File and/or Block Tier

Storage performance needs in today’s data center can change on a moment’s notice. Data that once needed the backing of a freight train today may only need the performance of a vespa tomorrow. Having the ability to react to the ever changing needs of one’s data in an automated fashion allows efficiencies never before seen in EMC’s midrange product line. Generally as data ages its importance lessens both from a business and usage perspective. Utilizing FAST allows EMC customers to place data on the appropriate storage tier based on application requirements and service levels. Choosing between cost (SATA/NL-SAS) and performance (EFD’s/SAS) is a thing of the past. Below are the what, when and why of EMC’s FAST. The intent is to help one make an informed decision based on the needs of their organization.

Block Tiering (What, When and Why)

The What: FAST for VNX/Clariion is an array based feature that utilizes Analyzer to move block based data (slices of LUNs). By capturing performance characteristics, it can intelligently make predictions on where that data will be best utilized. Data is moved at the sub LUN layer in 1G slices, eliminating the need and overhead with moving the full LUN. This could mean that portions of a LUN could exist on multiple disk types (FC, SATA , EFD) Migrations are seamless to the host and occur bidirectionally based on performance needs, ie. FC to SATA, FC to EFD, SATA to FC, SAS to NL-SAS, etc. FAST is utilized at the Storage Pool layer and not available within Traditional RAID Groups. To utilize FAST v2 (which is sub LUN tiering ) you must be at FLARE 30 or above (4.30.000.5.xxx), and have both Analyzer and FAST enabler installed on the array. Existing LUNs/Data can migrate seamlessly and non-disruptively into storage pools using the VNX/Clariion LUN migration feature. Additionally FAST operates with other Array based features such as Snapview, MirrorView, SAN Copy, RecoverPoint, etc, without issue. All FAST operations and scheduling is configurable through Unisphere.

The When: Automated tiering is a scheduled batch event and does not happen dynamically.

The Why: To better align your application service levels with the best storage type. Ease of management, as a requirement for FAST are storage pools. Storage pools allow for concise management and eased growth opportunities from one location. Individual RG and Meta LUNs management is not needed to obtain high end services levels with the use of SP’s and FAST. The idea going forth is to minimize disk purchasing requirements by moving hot and cold data to and fro disk types that meet specific service levels for that data. If data is accessed frequently then it makes sense that it lives on either EFD (enterprise FLASH drives) or FC/SAS. If data is not accessed frequently then it ideally should live on SATA/NL-SAS. By utilizing FAST in your environment, you are utilizing your Array in the most efficient manner while minimizing cap-ex costs.

File Tiering (What, When and Why)

The What: FAST for VNX File/Celerra utilizes the Cloud Tiering Appliance (or what was FMA, previously known as Rainfinity). The CTA utilizes a policy engine that allows movement of infrequently used files across different storage tiers based on last access times, modify times, size, filename, etc. As data is moved, the user perception is that the files still exist on primary storage. File retrieval (or recall) is initiated simply by clicking on the file, the file is then copied back to its original location. The appliance itself is available as a virtual appliance that can be imported into your existing VMware infrastructure via vCenter, or as a physical appliance (HW plus the software). Unlike FAST for VNX/CLARiiON, FAST for file allows you to tier across arrays (Celerra <-> VNX, Isilon or third party arrays) or cloud service providers (Atmos namely, other SP’s coming). The introduction of CTA to your environment is non-disruptive. All operations for CTA are configurable through the CTA GUI. In summary, CTA can be used as a Tiering engine, an archiving engine or a migration engine based on the requirements of your business. From an archiving perspective, CTA can utilize both Data Domain and Centera targets for long term enforced file level retention. As a migration engine, CTA can be utilized for permanent file moves from one array to another during technology refreshes or platform conversions. Note: CTA has no knowledge of the storage type, it simply moves files from one tier to another based on pre- defined criteria.

The When: Automated tiering is designed to running at scheduled intervals (in batches) and does not happen dynamically or continually I should say.

The Why: Unstructured data, data that exists outside of pre-defined data model such as SQL, is growing at an alarming rate. Think about how many word docs, excel spreadsheets, pictures, text files exist in your current NAS or general file-served environments. Out of that number what percentage hasn’t been touched since its initial creation? In that context, a fair assessment would be 50% of that data. A more accurate assessment would probably be 80% of your data. Archiving and Tiering via CTA simple allows for more efficient use of your high end and low end storage. If 80% of your data is not accessed or accessed infrequently it has no business being on fast spinning disk (FC or SAS). Ultimately this allows you to curb your future spending on pricey high end disk and focus more purchasing capacity for where your data should sit, on low end storage.

***Update***

As brought to my attention on the twitters (Thanks->@PBradz and @veverything), there is of course another option. Historically, data LUNs as used by the data movers for file specific data (CIFS, NFS) has only been supported on traditional RAID Group LUNs. With the introduction of the VNX, support has been extended to pool LUNs. This implies that you can utilize FAST block tiering for the data that encompasses those LUNs. A couple of things when designing and utilizing in this manner (more info here)…

• The entire pool should be used by file only 
• Thick LUNs only within the pool
• Same tiering policy for each pool LUN 
• Utilize compression and dedupe on the file side. Stay clear of block thin provisioning and compression.

There are of course numerous other recommendations that should be noted if you decide to go this route. Personally, its taken me a while to warm up to storage pools. Like any new technology it needs to gain my trust before I go all in on recommending it. Inherent bugs and inefficiencies early on have caused me to be somewhat cautious. Assuming you walk the line on how your pools are configured, this is a very viable means to file tier (so to speak) with the purchase of FAST block only. That being said there is still benefit to using the CTA for long term archiving primarily off array, as currently FAST Block is array bound only. Define the requirements up front so you’re not surprised on the backend as to what the technology can and can not do. If the partner you’re working with is worth their salt you’ll know all applicable options prior to that PO being cut…

Battle Ponderings: A Year in Review 2011

Once a year I attempt to recall the happenings (here to) of the last 12 months specifically in the VAR space. If I had an inkling of smarts I would start this post Jan 1st and work forward, contributing as the events occur. But more times than not my inner laggard wins the race pushing me to the end of year countdown to complete.

Suffice it to say, its been quite a year from our partners perspective. Advancements in data mobility and cloud management have pushed our customers and Varrow to look at IT differently. Our customers are coming to the realization that not all workloads can be serviced in house. Which is why we are seeing quite an interest stir in managed services, cloud offerings, and general trusted advisor type partnerships. With the ever thin IT staff whittling away and the increasing project demand, to stay nimble, our customers must have an IT service provider they can rely on. We are that provider.

So revel in the year, hold hands with our successes, there’s no stopping this train, this industry we are in. Here are but a few memories from the glorious 2011…

• Varrow Managed Services - MS was derived out of customer need, point blank. Taking the skill and resourcefulness of our engineers, bundle it together with our VMC (Varrow Managed Cloud) and you have a packaged monthly operational expense. That of which you control or we control, internal or external to your data center. Mighty appealing to many. From full on data center management to Backup-As-A Service, were setting trends in not so obvious areas. Bring it.
• VMware vSphere 5 released - Perhaps one of the most profound releases of the year, VMware released their latest flagship Cloud Infrastructure Suite, vSphere 5. Although not without its troubles, namely around licensing, VMware was quick to respond to the community in a fair manner. With over a 140 new features such as Storage Driven Profiles, Storage DRS, and Auto-Deploy, clearly VMware is the leader in a space that has no boundaries. With no lack of innovation and the social media presence to move it, its extremely easy to get fired up. Viva la VMware!!!
• EMC VNX/VNXe released - A release close to my heart was that of the 5th generation midrange array from EMC, VNX/VNXe. From sub-10K up, this titan of tin brings the speeds and feeds to tackle the most demanding workloads. With a 4 channel 6G SAS backend and Intel Quad 5600 Processors this array has tipped the Law’s of Moore. Pair that with industry setting benchmarks and easy to bundle software suites and the winner is clear in this space.
• Varrow Madness Augural Release - As far as I know this was one of the largest partner events in the area (Southeast). The brainchild of our marketing director, Varrow Madness brings together Tech, College Hoops, St Patty’s and community sharing pundits. Sure to be out done in 2012 (More Info Here), you’ll want to be at this event. Price? Free.
• Accolades Galore - We aren’t much for bragging but there is something to be said for a company that continues to impress. Although we are not naive to the fact that rocket ship growth is not sustainable, we take all such awards in stride. But perhaps the award that makes us most proud is that of the EMC Services Quality Award. This is based on solicited customer feedback on the quality of the partners service engagement. We hold our own feet to the fire on the output of these surveys. It’s important to provide this level of interaction as it gives us the ammunition we need to constantly improve. It’s a win win for Varrow and for our customers. 
  • 2011 Tech 200 Designation
  • Fastest Growing Company in 2011 (NCTA 21)
  • CRN Fast Growth 100 List
  • Triad Fast 50 Numero 1, year 2
  • EMC Velocity Services Quality Award (ASN)
  • Everything 500 VAR 500 List
  • VMware Business Continuity Partner of the Year
  • VMware VCDX and vExperts on staff (Jason Nash and Me)
• Varrow Private Customer Community - Using enterprise microblogging client Yammer, Varrow has extended private invitations to their customers and partners. This means has allowed all to share in a closed community approach. Look at this great write-up here on how we are using this approach to further extend our value to our customers.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity - Big move in this space across the healthcare vertical specifically. Countless hours have been spent developing DR strategies namely around VMware’s Site Recovery Manager (did you see the VMware BC Partner of the year?) Although there is obviously more to this than a single product, focusing on dependencies and recovery process’ is key to your success and where we excel. We have a strong history in this space and would welcome the chance to assist.
• Data Mobility - Frame lock is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Products like EMC RecoverPoint and VPLEX are enabling data mobility in a manner that is far from the data center of old. Whether its to address an approaching storm (Disaster Avoidance) or migration from aging hardware, both are tuned to addressing very different use cases. Varrow by far has excelled in this space. Don’t believe me? Check out the handy work of yours truly here.
• EMC VMAX takes a foothold in Healthcare - Foreseeing our customers needs for top tier enterprise frames accelerated by the explosion of data growth in the healthcare industry, Varrow made significant investments in top tier VMAX talent. Whether your in need of a VMAX resident engineer to get the ball moving or design services to fit your business needs. We are there to help. With numerous implementations under our belt, the time is now to “frame ground” for the future.
• Double Occupancy - I have no official count, but I dare to say we have grown our internal workforce times 2. From accounting to sales, to pre-sales to engineering, our roots have taken hold and we’re growing. But no matter how much we grow, our family remains tight and our passion runs deep. We’re at an acceptable cruising altitude and looking to take it to the next stratum. If you are exceptional at what you do around the space we operate in, we should talk! Although we love our partners (Cisco, EMC, VMware, Citrix) and celebrate their success, you CAN make a difference at a reseller : )

Well there you have it. Although far from comprehensive, I have offered you a quick view into the exciting world of a valuable reseller, that’s us Varrow! Thank you EMC, VMware, Cisco and Citrix for giving us the chance and means to grow. We hope our symbiotic relationship continues to blossom throughout 2012 and beyond.

And our customers, Thank You for trusting in our abilities, challenging us day to day, and allowing us to strengthening our relationships. You are the reason we are where we are. Happy Holidays my friends see you on the other side : )

The Dynamism of Feedback Loops

Feedback loops are as follows according to a recent post on Wired.com called “Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops”..

“..[Feedback Loops] Provide people with information about their actions in real time (or something close to it), then give them an opportunity to change those actions, pushing them toward better behaviors”

Furthermore, there are 4 distinct stages that encompass a loop…

• Data or evidence – pertinent tools must be in place to capture a behavior in action.
• Relevance – how that data relates to us or to the participant for which that data was captured.
• Consequence – taking that data and developing a path or many paths toward change
• Action – the participant makes a choice and changes that behavior for the better.

Rypple is a service that brings together multiple channels of feedback into quantitative data that companies can use to improve their employees behaviors. Success Factors, a service we @ Varrow use internally also has this capability as part of its broader suite. Rypple in particular allows feedback from essentially four different feeds: Co-workers (known or anonymous), work goal progress tracking, supervisory feedback and co-worker affirmations. See how one of the largest tech companies in the world uses feedback loops.

What I like about feedback loops via Rypple is the anonymous co-worker feed. The greatest feedback I have ever gotten was feedback I didn’t want to hear. It was data that was presented in a way not to harm but to improve. If I improve then those around me improve and vice versa…