storage foundation chapter 1

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Information Storage and Management

Mastering Real-World Storage Concepts and Technologies

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Introduction to Information Storage Technology - 2

Course SectionsThis course contains the following sections:

1. Introduction to Information Storage Technology

2. Storage Systems Architecture

3. Networked Storage

4. Business Continuity

5. Monitoring and Managing the Data Center

6. Securing Storage and Storage Virtualization


ObjectivesUpon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Describe the logical and physical components of a information storage infrastructure

Evaluate storage architectures, including storage subsystems, DAS, SAN, NAS, CAS

Examine emerging technologies including IP-SAN

Define backup, recovery, disaster recovery, business continuity and replication

Identify components of managing and monitoring the data center

Define information security and identify different storage virtualization technologies

© 2009 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Information Storage Technology

Section 1 - Introduction


Section ObjectivesUpon completion of this section, you will be able to:

Describe how data is created, the amount of data being created, and the value of information to a business

Identify challenges in information storage and management

List the solutions available for data storage

List and describe the core elements of a Data Center infrastructure

Describe the key requirements of Storage Systems


In This Section This section contains the following modules:

Meeting Today’s Information Storage Needs

Data Center Infrastructure


Meeting Today’s Information Storage NeedsUpon completion of this module, you will be able to:

Describe who is creating data and the amount of data being created

Describe the value of data to business

List the solutions available for data storage


Data Creation Data is being created at an ever increasing rate

– Data creation/generation is growing at a rate in excess of 50% year over year

– The need to store the data over longer periods of time with improved accessibility is also growing

Information Technology (IT) budgets are responding– IT budgets typically have to account for expenditure on servers,

networks, storage, personnel, etc.– To keep up with data storage needs, IT expenditure on storage has

increased proportionally– It is estimated that about 40% of the IT expenditure is data storage

related


Data Creation: Individuals What data is created by individuals

Examples include:– Photos– Documents– Spreadsheets– Video


Data Creation: IndividualsWhere is this data stored

Storage can be in:– Cameras– MP3 players– Laptop hard drives– CDROM/DVDs– USB drives


Data Creation: Business What data is created by a business

Examples of data created by a business include:– Product data: inventory, description, pricing, availability, sales

numbers and projections– Customer data: orders, shipping details– Account data: banking, financial services industry– Medical data: health care providers, insurance industry, hospitals


Data Creation: BusinessWhere is this data stored

Business data can be stored on:– Employee workstations– Servers– Disk arrays– Tapes – CDROM/DVDs– Off-site libraries


Value of Data to a Business: Information What do businesses do with the data they collect

They turn it into “information”

Examples of information include:– Buying habits and patterns of customers– Health history of patients – Locations where a credit card is used


Value of Information to a Business Identifying new business opportunities

– Buying/spending patterns: internet stores, retail stores, supermarkets– Customer satisfaction/service: tracking shipments, and deliveries

Identifying patterns that lead to changes in existing business– Reduced cost: just-in-time inventory, eliminating over-stocking of

products, optimizing shipment and delivery– New services: security alerts for “stolen” credit card purchases– Targeted marketing campaigns: communicate to bank customers with

high checking account balances about a special savings plan

Creating a competitive advantage


Value of Individual Data to a Business What data, created by individuals, might be valuable to a

business

Examples of business value from individuals’ data include:– On-line job search services– On-line photo storing and sharing services


Information Availability - Downtime is ExpensiveMillions of US Dollars per Hour in Lost Revenue

6.53.6

2.82.6

2.01.61.6

1.51.3

1.21.1

Retail brokerage

Point of sale

Energy

Credit card sales authorization

Telecommunications

Call location

Manufacturing

Financial institutions

Information technology

Insurance

Retail

Source Meta Group, 2005


Categories of Data Data can be categorized as either

structured or unstructured data

Over 80% of enterprise information is unstructured (Fulcrum Research)

What has been the traditional approach to storing all this data Structured

UnstructuredE-mail Attachments

PDFs

Checks

X-rays

PaperDocumentsRich Media

Web PagesAudio & Video

RecordsInvoices

Manuals

Claims

Contracts Instant Messages

Forms

Images

XML

Rows and Columns


Data Storage Models: An Evolution Centralized: terminals connected to a Mainframe

computer which had connectivity to internal or external storage devices (disks, tapes)

Decentralized: With the advent of Open Systems, business units within an enterprise adopted a Client-Server model

Centralized: Networked Storage (the current “best practice” model being used in IT)


Data Storage Models: An Evolution (continued) Centralized: terminals connected to a Mainframe

computer which had connectivity to internal or external storage devices (disks, tapes)

Decentralized: With the advent of Open Systems, business units within an enterprise adopted a Client-Server model

Centralized: Networked Storage (the current “best practice” model being used in IT)


Common Data Storage Media and Solutions Tape Library: A collection of tape drives and tapes

Jukeboxes: A collection of optical disks and drives

Disk Arrays: A collection hard disks

Each solution addresses specific needs for data storage and management.– Tape Library – Backup/Restore; Archival of data– Jukeboxes – Typically to store non-changing content over long

periods of time– Disk Arrays – To store data that has to be immediately accessible

and on-line


Tape Storage Systems

• Traditionally tape based storage is relatively inexpensive, compared to disk arrays.

• They served as primary storage solutions in the early days.

• Tape drives use Read/Write heads to record bits of data onto magnetic material on the tape surface.

• This technology continues to evolve, providing higher storage capacity, greater reliability, and improved performance.


Storing Data on Tape Data is recorded sequentially from the beginning to end,

one byte after another.

Because data is stored linearly along the length of the tape, random access to specific bits of data is slow and time consuming. This severely limits tape as a medium for real-time, rapid access to data.

Tapes cannot be simultaneously shared among multiple users or applications.


Optical Data Storage

• Popular in small, single-user computing environments.

• Frequently used by individuals to store and share data, or as backup solution.

• Also used as distribution medium for applications, or as a means of transferring small amounts of data between computers.


Disk Based Storage

Disk based storage provides a number of advantages over tape and optical solutions:

• Data can be randomly accessed very rapidly

• Larger capacity

• Less wear and tear compared to tapes

• Simultaneous access for multiple users and applications

• Numerous options to ensure data availability


Worldwide Information Growth

~60% Average Growth Rate

>70% in 2005

0%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005e

Annual Growth of Data Stored on Disk Arrays

Data Source: IDC


Module SummaryKey points covered in this module:

Who is creating data and the amount of data being created

The value of data to business

The evolution of data storage models

Three common media and solutions for large scale data storage


Data Center InfrastructureUpon completion of this module, you will be able to:

List the five core elements of a data center infrastructure

Describe the role of each element in supporting business activities

Describe the requirements of storage systems for optimally supporting business activities

Describe the challenges and activities in managing the storage systems of a data center


The Core Elements Applications

Databases – Database Management System (DBMS) and the physical and logical storage of data

Servers/Operating systems

Networks (LAN and SAN)

Storage arrays


Example of a Data Center Infrastructure

Consider an order processing system consisting of: Application for order entry Database Management System (DBMS) to store customer and product information Server/Operating System (OS) on which the application and database programs are run Networks that provide

– Connectivity between Clients and the Application/Database Server (LAN)– Connectivity between the Server and the Storage system (SAN)

Storage Array – database is stored on physical disks in the storage array

Local AreaNetwork

Storage Area Network

Storage Array

ClientServer

Application User

InterfaceOS and DBMS

Database


An Example - Closer Look

A customer order is entered via the Application User Interface on a client

Local AreaNetwork


ClientServer

Application User

Interface

Storage Array

OS and DBMS

Database


An Example - Closer Look (continued)

A customer order is entered via the Application User Interface on a client

The client accesses the server over a Local Area Network


ClientServer

Storage Array

Local AreaNetwork

OS and DBMS

Database



A DBMS uses the operating system on the server to read and write this data to the physical location on a disk


ClientServer

O/S and DBMS

Storage Array

Local AreaNetwork

Database



A DBMS uses the operating system on the server to read and write this data to the physical location on disk

A dedicated Storage Area Network provides the communication link between the server and the storage array, and transports the read/write commands and data between the server and the storage array


ClientServer

Storage Array

Local AreaNetwork

O/S and DBMS

Database



A DBMS uses the operating system on the server to read and write this data to the physical location on disk

A Network provides the communication link between the client and the server, and transports the read/write commands and data between the server and the storage array

A storage array receives the read/write commands and data from the server and performs the necessary operations to store the data on the physical disks


ClientServer

Storage Array

Local AreaNetwork

Database


Optimal Order Processing Example The application should be optimized for fast interaction

with the DBMS The tables in the database should be constructed with

care so the number of read/write operations can be minimized

The server should have sufficient CPU and memory resources to satisfy application and DBMS needs

The different networks should provide fast communication between client and server, as well as server and storage array

The storage array should service the read/write requests from the server for optimal performance


Final Look at Data Access - ExampleWhen the DBMS receives a request from the application:

It first searches the server memory; if data is found there, the operation takes about a millisecond

If not, it uses the operating system to request the data from the storage array

Dedicated high speed networks transport this request to the storage array

Intelligent storage arrays can deliver the requested data within a few milliseconds, and are typically configured to protect data in the event of drive failures


Key Requirements of Information Storage Systems

Availability

Data Integrity Security

Capacity

Scalability

Performance

Manageability


Some Constraints to Meeting the RequirementsConstraints include:

Cost

Physical environment

Maintenance and support

Compliance – regulatory and legal

Hardware and software infrastructure

Interoperability and compatibility


Management ActivitiesData Center management activities include:

Provisioning/Capacity/Resource Planning

Monitoring

Reporting


Module SummaryKey points covered in this module:

The five core elements of a Data Center infrastructure

The role of each element in supporting business activity was explained with an example of an order entry process

The importance of an intelligent storage array

Key requirements of storage systems to support business activities, as well as some of the constraints

Examples of key management activities in a data center operation, with focus on storage systems


Section SummaryKey points covered in this section:

Challenges in data storage and data management

The core elements in a data center


Check Your Knowledge What are the five core technology elements of the Data

Center infrastructure?

What are the seven requirements of the information storage system?

What are the common management activities in a Data Center?