technology overview and use cases

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HP StorageW orks SAN Virtualization

Services Platform (HP SVSP)

Technology Overview and Use Cases

Table of contents

Abstract.................... ................. .................. ................. .................. .................. ............... .................. . 2Introduction................... .................. .................. ................. .................. ................. ................. ............. 2Virtualization Overview ................ .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ................ 2

W hat is virtualization?............................ .................. ................. .................. ................. ................ .... 2The need for storage virtualization ................ .................. ................. .................. ................. ............... 2Advantages of storage virtualization .................. ................. ................. ................. .................. ........... 3Necessary features of a storage virtualization solution..................... ................. .................. ................. . 3Storage virtualization methods................ ................. .................. .................. ................. ................. .... 4

Virtualization at the host level ................. ................. .................. ................. .................. ................ . 4Virtualization at the storage subsystem level ................ .................. .................. ................. ............... 4Network-based virtualization ............... .................. ................. .................. .................. ............... .... 4

Network-based Virtualization Implementation Methods.............. .................. ................. .................. ...... 4Symmetric (In-the-Data-Path) virtualization.... ..... .... ..... .... ..... ..... .... ..... .... ..... ..... .... ..... .... ..... ..... .... ..... . 5Split path virtualization ................. .................. ................. .................. ................. ................ .......... 5

HP SAN Virtualization Services Platform............ .................. ................. .................. ................. ............... 7HP SVSP at a glance .................. ................. .................. ................. .................. ................. ............... 7

Use Cases................ .................. ................. .................. ................. .................. ................ ................. 10 Consolidation and Centralized Management ................. .................. ................. ................. ............... 10 Improving IT economics with storage virtualization ................. ................. .................. ................. .... 10

Non-disruptive Data Migration...................... .................. ................. ................. ................. .............. 13 Simplifying capacity management and Data mobility........ ................. .................. .................. ......... 13

Application test, development, and deployment.. ................. .................. ................. .................. ......... 15 Streamlining IT processes for greater productivity ................. ................. ................. ................. ....... 15

Rapid restore of files and applications................. .................. .................. ................. .................. ...... 17 Minimizing downtime by enabling Rapid Restore of volumes and files..... ..... .... ..... ..... .... ..... ..... .... .... 17

Cost-effective Disaster Recovery (DR) ................ ................. .................. ................. .................. .......... 19 Affordable Services for Rapid Recovery of Business Operations after Site or Regional Disasters..... ... ... 19

Complete Data Protection............................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ......... 25 Comprehensive Data Management Services for Multi-tiered Data Protection .... ..... .... ..... ..... .... ..... ..... . 25

Conclusion........... .................. .................. ................. .................. ................. .................. .................. . 27 For more information........................... ................. .................. .................. ................. .................. ....... 27


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Abstract

The HP StorageW orks SAN virtualization Services Platform or SVSP is a network-based storage

virtualization solution that enables enterprises to manage, pool, and share storage resources to

improve efficiency, simplify operations, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

This paper provides a general overview of virtualization technology and explains in more detail the

value of storage virtualization in modern IT infrastructures. It then describes the HP SVSP architecture,

its benefits, and the various data management services that SVSP provides. Finally, this paperpresents a number of common use cases and describes more specifically the benefits of the SVSP in

those scenarios.

Introduction

In todays challenging business environment, IT managers are seeking infrastructure solutions that

extend the value of current and future IT investments, simplify operations, and increase the overall

efficiency. As IT looks for transformation to bring about such a vision, virtualization, and especially

server virtualization, has emerged as one of the most significant shifts in IT.

Server virtualization adoption is high and it is being used extensively in both mission critical and

business critical applications. It provides well recognized benefits like increased server utilization, the

ability to easily provision compute resources, and improved application availabi lity. However, i t

brings a series of storage challenges that could undermine and even nullify the benefits of server

virtualization. Virtual environments need virtualized storage to enable and actually accelerate the

benefits of server virtualization. Network-based storage virtualization in particular, provides a flexible

scalable implementation that enables firms to optimize capacity utilization and streamline operations

for greater productivity.

This paper reviews the SVSP, newest network-based virtualization solution by HP, and explores in

more details the specific ways in which storage virtualization can help IT to drive better business

outcomes.

Virtualization Overview

W hat is virtualization?

Virtualization is the aggregation of physical resources into a unified structure (pool ) and the

presentation of those resources as capabilities that can be consumed by applications or other types of

clients. The term virtualization has really become an umbrella that encompasses a vast group of

encapsulation and management technologies as well as implementation methods. These approaches

create pools of sharable resources that enhance utilization and, ultimately, can automatically allocate

the resources to match supply to demand.

The need for storage virtualization

Storage virtualization is a key component of a fully virtualized IT environment. The explosive growth

in storage capacity and processing power in many enterprise installations, coupled with the need for

high availabi lity and 24x7 operations, requires SAN architectures that enable seamless addition and

management of storage and performance elements wi thout downtime. Storage must match the agility

of virtualized servers, and this is best achieved through virtualization of the storage.

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Storage virtualization can create logical views of storage that are distinct from their physical

components, thereby insulating application access and utilization of storage from infrastructure

configuration and management.

The term storage virtualization is used to indicate the operation of dividing the avai lable storage

space into virtual volumes wi thout regard to the physical layout or topology of the actual storage

elements (for example, disk drives, RAID subsystems, and the like). Typically, virtual volumes are

presented to Operating Systems as an abstraction of physical disks and are used by these OS as if

they were such disk drives. The main difference between a virtual volume and physical volume is that

a virtual volume can be created, expanded, deleted, moved, and selectively presented, independentof the underlying storage subsystems.

The independence of virtual volumes from physical storage is essential to support the dynamic mobility

inherent in virtual machines. It is also essential for maximizing storage utilization (with features like

Thin Provisioning), and to enable the migration and replacement of obsolete storage subsystems

without causing data access interruptions. In addition, virtualization of storage enables the usage of

software applications instead of human administrators to perform volume allocations. Finally, data

management is significantly enhanced through storage applications such as Snapshots, Remote

Mi rroring, and Server-Free Backup.

To summarize, the promise of SAN s can be fully realized with storage virtualization.

Advantages of storage virtualization

Figure 1: Storage Virtualization benefits

Typical blockvirtualization benefits (1)

Improved asset utilizationby 300%

Shrink back-up windowsby up to 80%

Manage up to 3x morestorage/ administrator

(1) Business Value of Stora ge Virtualiza tion: Scaling the storage solution, levera ging the storage investment, Richard Vill ars & Randy Perry, IDC, Feb. 2009

Speedy delivery ofnew applicationsand business services

Put unused resources andcapacity to work

Increase focus on businesspriorities

Reduce IT costs and risk

Improve end-usermanageability and security

Typical blockvirtualization benefits (1)

Improved asset utilizationby 300%

Shrink back-up windowsby up to 80%

Manage up to 3x morestorage/ administrator

(1) Business Value of Stora ge Virtualiza tion: Scaling the storage solution, levera ging the storage investment, Richard Vill ars & Randy Perry, IDC, Feb. 2009

Speedy delivery ofnew applicationsand business services

Put unused resources andcapacity to work

Increase focus on businesspriorities

Reduce IT costs and risk

Improve end-usermanageability and security

Necessary features of a storage virtualization solutionStorage virtualization should provide the following functions without affecting inherent performance,

availability, scalability, and security of the SAN:

Universality: The creation of a unified view of the virtual storage regardless of the physical elementsor topology

Single Point Management: To enable the construction of the cost-effective SAN Storage subsystem independence: To enable unbiased selection of best of breed systems Heterogeneous SAN support: To enable growth in changing market conditions

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Flexible allocation of storage space to servers: To effectively meet users needsStorage virtualization methods

Virtualization at the host level

One method of virtualization is through storage management software that runs on the server. The

software may reside in the operating system, or in a driver, or as a layered software application.

Server-based virtualization can be applied to any storage visible to the server, and an advantage of

this method is that it enables storage subsystems to work in parallel with multiple servers.

A key difficulty with this method is that it assumes a prior partitioning of the entire SAN resources

(physical volumes or virtual volumes) to the various servers. Virtualization is only performed on

pre-assigned storage, losing a key advantage of SAN as well as the independence of physical

volumes from servers. Typically, entire virtual volumes are assigned to specific servers, thus limiting the

number of servers that can use the same storage subsystem. Furthermore, a virtual volume created

over the storage space of, say, two virtual volumes will not be easily moved to another server,

especially if there are other volumes created over the same virtual volume. Virtualization at the host

level, typically, also requires augmenting the management function with some parallel mechanism of

zoning and virtual volumes relying on LAN connectivity for synchronization between servers, which

may affect the reliability of the entire SAN. Finally, virtualization at the host level may reduce the

server resources available to applications.

Virtualization at the storage subsystem level

This method was first implemented in mainframe environments in the 90s and is one of the most

common storage virtualization solutions in use today. The virtualization functions are achieved by

creating virtual volumes over the storage space of the specific storage subsystem. Storage-based

virtualization derives many of its benefits from the performance advantages inherent in modern array

controller architectures (including design integration and low latency), the ability to connect easily to

swi tches and/ or host adapters, and neutrality in presenting virtualized capabilities to hosts.

Most limitations of storage-based virtualization are related to the span of resources it can control

typically a single physical storage subsystem. Pooling all SAN storage resources and managing

virtual volumes across several storage subsystems usually requires that this method be augmented by

other means. W ith the notable exception of HP StorageW orks XP arrays (which can virtualize

heterogeneous storage), most storage-based virtualization tends to work only for homogenous storage

environments and can contribute to vendor lock-in.

Network-based virtualization

Network-based storage virtualization is applied to resources presented by storage subsystems

attached to a storage network (typically a SAN)usually to join a number of disk arrays into a single

or multiple pools from which virtual (logical) disks are created and presented to hosts. Virtual disks

created within the network can be presented to any host connected to the network, and they are

securely presented in a host-neutral manner. Also, these virtual pools may themselves be backed by

virtualized storage subsystems like the HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array. Notice that in this

example, different virtualization approaches are combined to achieve the desired results (forexample, availabili ty, performance, and physical location). Network-based virtualization is one of the

most flexible approaches due to its neutrality toward both storage and servers.

Network-based Virtualization Implementation Methods

Today, network-based virtualization is being implemented in two major architectures:

1. Symmetric approach: Separate appliances in-the-data-path of the storage network infrastructure

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2. Split path approach: Separate appliances installed out-of-the-data-path of the storagenetwork infrastructure

Symmetric (In-the-Data-Path) virtualization

The general architecture of the symmetric approach (sometimes referred to as In-the-Data-Path) is

shown in the following figure. This approach calls for the appliance (a computing platform and

associated memory) to be installed between the servers and the storage resources on the SAN , at

least in terms of data flow. A key drawback of the symmetric approach to virtualization is that it

creates a SAN bottleneck (and thus limits the SAN performance and scalability) and significantlycomplicates the design of large-scale highly available configurations.

Figure 2: Symmetric Virtualization

The symmetric virtualization concept creates a bottleneck because all data from all applications must

pass through a virtualization appliance to be processed, and thus forces the appliance to sustain the

throughput of the entire SAN , impacting performance. Some symmetric designs are attempting to

circumvent this performance problem by adding a cache facility to the appliance.

However, the use of caching within the fabric plays against the high avai labi lity and scalabi lity

quali ties of the SAN . In order to scale, complex mechanisms must be put in place to insure cache

coherence. Experience with RAID controllers has shown that this can be both complicated and

expensive.

Split path virtualization

This method uses a combination of appliances and network agents to create and manage virtual

volumes while enabling direct data transfer between server and storage subsystems for optimal

performance. By having multiple storage subsystems working in parallel with multiple servers, total

performance can be increased up to the maximum of the FC fabric bandwidth.

In the split path approach metadata handling is done separately from the data path. The appliance

serves as a Metadata Center that sees the physical storage and allocates virtual volume mapping.

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The agent retrieves the volume configuration from the appliance and presents virtual volumes to the

operating system as if they were disk drives. W hen the operating system sends an I/ O to the virtual

volume, the Agent intercepts the I/ O, translates the volumes logical address to the physical address,

and sends the I/ Os directly to the storage devices.

The HP SVSP is an example of this architecture, where the Data Path Modules (or DPMs) act as agent

and the Virtualization Server managers (or VSMs) act as the appliance.

This architecture maintains the flexibility of symmetric virtualization without incurring the degradation

of performance or the high cost of hardware. The appliance can be a small and inexpensive unit.

Figure 3: Split path virtualization

High Availability (HA) SAN configurations can be implemented through simple redundancy of the

appliance. Very high degrees of scalability can be achieved through loosely connected storage

domains and similar designs, benefiting from the key advantage of the split path concept, so that

there are neither pending I/ Os stored in the appliance nor is there a need for clustering, cache

coherency algorithms, or other complex mechanisms, which limit the practical expansion of real-life

enterprise SAN s.

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HP SAN Virtualization Services Platform

The HP SVSP provides a cost-effective and change-ready storage virtualization solution that addresses

the storage management, utilization, and mobility challenges of virtual environments. It can accelerate

the path to the benefits of virtual environments.

The SVSP aggregates capacity of multiple SAN attached arrays and creates pools of virtual storage

that can be easily provisioned to virtual and physical machines on demand. It also provides a

comprehensive set of data services across all managed capacity that enables the SVSP platform toaddress a significant number of use cases to streamline operations and increase productivity. Some of

the use cases that the SVSP can address are reviewed in more detail in the last section of this paper.

HP SVSP at a glance

The HP SVSP is targeted at enterprise and mid-range firms that are experiencing significant storage

growth, may be deploying server virtualization, and need to improve productivity. The SVSP helps

customers improve efficiency, simplify operations, and lower TCO, by enabling the pooling and

sharing of storage resources and providing a range of storage services for those resources. The SVSP

also supports heterogeneous arrays to facili tate pooling of storage across HP and non-HP arrays.

The SVSPs comprehensive set of data service includes:

Centralized management and pooling of storage resources Consolidation of HP and non-HP arrays Centralized volume management High performance, highly scalable split path architecture

Comprehensive set of storage data services Non-disruptive data migration copy services (clones and snapshots) Sync (local) and Async (local and remote) mirroring

Improved asset utilization and decreased costs with thin provisioning Provision thin volumes and grow to larger ones over time Thin provisioning for any vendors hardware No rip-and-replace approaches are required

Figure 4: HP SVSP Management Interface

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Figure 5: HP SVSP Architecture

Figure #5 illustrates a typical SVSP SAN deployment. The storage layer includes arrays from different

vendors (HP, EMC, SUN, and IBM) and a Fibre Channel SAN (the storage network itself). The serverlayer has multiple servers from different vendors running different operating systems: W indows, Linux,

HP-UX, and the like. The figure also illustrates the detail of the split path architecture for the SVSP as

well as the presence of the typical data services: snapshots, snapclones, data migration, thin

provisioning, and remote mirroring.

Storage in an SVSP system starts with LUNs from each of the storage arraysthe LUNS are presented

to the SVSP system, which will manage them for day-to-day operations. The virtualization work is

performed by the DPMs and VSMs in the fabric (at least two of each for redundancy). The DPM is the

element in the architecture that does real-time parsing of FC frames by examining packets and making

immediate translation decisions. The DPM gets its virtual-to-physical storage mappings from the VSM

software that performs data management operations (for example, backup, migration). In this way,

the SVSPs innovative design separates data flow (through DPM) from management processes

(handled by VSM), so that the processing power needed to handle data path workloads can scale

independently from the resources used for management and data movement. All management or

control path operations take place between the VSM and DPM without disrupting the data path

between servers and storage arrays.

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The SVSP allows for the creation of storage pools according to business needs and required Quality

of Service. (For example, in figure 5, the storage pool marked green can be used to store data with

high availability requirements.) From those storage pools, the platform can create virtual disks which

are assigned to the different servers. The SVSP allows better utilization of the storage by assigning

free storage from the storage pools. Additionally, users can choose to thin provision volumes for

greater asset utilization. Storage pool expansion becomes routine and simple.

Finally, the SVSP also delivers a unified set of data services that provides the necessary tools to

address a series of important use casesexplained in the next sectionthat drive significant value by

helping customers improve efficiency, simplify operations, and increase productivity.

The remainder of this paper will review these use cases.

Figure 6: What are customers asking for?

Problems provisioningheterogeneous HA SAN s

Problems testing new

applications

Not enough time to

backup or the needfor rapid recovery

Migrating data betweenheterogeneous storage

Struggling to createa DR Plan

SVSP Volume Manager

SVSP Business Copy

Clones and Snapshots

Non-Disruptive DataMigration with SVSP

Volume Manager

SVSP Continuous Access

Heterogeneous storagearrays with multipledevice managers

Snapshot/ CopyEMC Timefinder/SnapViewHDS ShadowImageIBM FlashCopy

Remote MirroringEMC SRDF/MirrorViewHDS TrueCopyIBM PPRC

Problems provisioningheterogeneous HA SAN s

Problems testing new

applications

Not enough time to

backup or the needfor rapid recovery

Migrating data betweenheterogeneous storage

Struggling to createa DR Plan

SVSP Volume Manager

SVSP Business Copy

Clones and Snapshots

Non-Disruptive DataMigration with SVSP

Volume Manager

SVSP Continuous Access

Heterogeneous storagearrays with multipledevice managers

Snapshot/ CopyEMC Timefinder/SnapViewHDS ShadowImageIBM FlashCopy

Remote MirroringEMC SRDF/MirrorViewHDS TrueCopyIBM PPRC

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Use Cases

Consolidation and Centralized Management

Improving IT economics with storage virtualization

Many customers today have storage arrays from different vendors or at least different generations of

arrays from the same vendor. Except in very rare instances, the customer is forced to recall the

capabilities of each type of storage and use a different set of management tools or licenses from each

vendor, including data services options, in order to manage each array separately. As the number of

servers (virtual and physical) and storage devices grows, hundreds or thousands of volumes must be

individually monitored and managed by storage administratorsa daunting task to say the least.

Complexity, cost, and capacity utilization rates are all negatively impacted in these traditional

deployments, particularly when server virtualization is introduced.

Figure 7: De-centralized multi-vendor deployments

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Customer Problem Solution Customer Impact

Management complexity of multipletools and multiple islands of storage

Poor storage capacity utilization Application downtime due to

out-of-space conditions

Time consuming provisioning ofnew storage

High cost of a single tier storagearchitecture

Lack of ability to respond faster tostorage change requests

Incremental complexities of servervirtualization requirements

Aggregate capacity throughnetwork-based virtualization with the

SVSP, to form centrally managed pools

of virtual storage

Dynamically provision storage, reclaimunused space, maximize application

uptime by expanding capacity on a

just-in-time basis,

Centrally manage multiple arrays andmultiple data services with a consistent

set of tools

Create storage tiers and easily migratedata among the tiers to optimize

storage costs

Improve capacity utilization with thinprovisioning for all capacity under

management irrespective of the

array type

Business impact

Flexibility, Adaptive Infrastructureenabling faster responses to

changing business conditions

Maximizes application availabilityfor revenue-producing activity

Operational impact

Prevents server downtime due toout-of-space conditions

Reduces the time needed to respondto support additional servers,

applications, and users

Increases the amount of storage eachadministrator can manage

Reduces administrative errors byusing one management console for

all storage devices

Better performance due to volumestriping across RAID arrays

Financial Impact

Reduces storage costs Reclaims unused storage Greater storage utilization Lower TCO, CAPEX, and OPEX

Consolidation and management of multiple arrays from various vendors is made easy using the SVSP.

It allows the storage administrator to aggregate capacity through virtualization into centrally

managed pools. The SVSP facilitates management of heterogeneous arrays, which can be used to

create storage pools and create front-end (host visible) volumes. The HP SVSP also deploys role based

management, which makes day-to-day administrative jobs easier.

Storage consolidation and centralized storage management with the HP SVSP Aggregates all available capacity into centrally managed pools Improves performance by striping LUNs across RAID arrays Allocates appropriately-sized LUNs to each server Provides thin provisioning to increase storage utilization Maintains unused capacity in pool for future requirements Dynamically and granularly allocates additional capacity to any server on a just-in-time basis Strong multi-vendor support

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Figure 8: Consolidation and Centralized Storage management with the HP SVSP

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Non-disruptive Data Migration

Simplifying capacity management and Data mobility

Traditional SANs would typically have various types of backend storage arrays holding very valuable

data for the customers business. However, data would need to be moved at times due to many

potential reasons: hardware refreshes, ILM strategies, tiered storage strategies, and many more. An

optimal storage infrastructure would require a flexible method to efficiently move data between

different arrays without any disruption to critical business applications. For many customers today alldata migrations are a costly process that must take place during an outage or scheduled downtime,

increasing the operational challenges and costs for IT.


Refresh IT infrastructure to keep pacewith strategic goals

Place data on storage deviceaccording to its current value, as part

of an ILM strategy

Non-disruptively migrate applicationsand data from older, slower, or more

expensive storage to newer, faster,or less expensive devices

Prevent overburdening of storagedevices by proactively reassigning

applications to different storage

devices to achieve better

performance and balance workloads

Protect migrating data by creating acopy before the migration

process begins

HP SVSP on-line Data migrationcapabilities enable any-to-any

(heterogeneous) data migration while

production applications remain

online. It also protects data by

leaving the original data intact for

further use.

Business impact

Enables non-disruptive infrastructureupgrades that support strategic goals

and objectives

Maximizes the uptime and performanceof revenue generating applications

Operational Impact

Avoids the costs and disruption oflost access to applications and data

Migrates data to any devices atany location while production

applications remain online

Enhances data protection byusing HP SVSP snapshot to create

instant, read/ write snapshot

copies of migrating volumes

Centralizes and simplifies data migrationacross all servers and storage devices

Implements Information LifecycleManagement (ILM) process, to

maximize storage utilization

Financial Impact

Maximizes availability ofrevenue-producing applications

during infrastructure upgrades

Accelerates the introduction of newstorage devices

Reduces costs by purchasing high-endstorage only for data that has high

value. Move data when its value

changes to avoid unnecessary expenses

The HP SVSP has a non-disruptive Data Migration capability which allows data to be migratedefficiently from one array to another, allowing applications to be online and fully available during the

migration without server impact. This SVSP data service enables seamless movement of data among

the storage tiers, making it easy to migrate data to cost-appropriate, performance-appropriate, and

availability-appropriate storage pools that make sense to the business and optimize storage costs.

The SVSPs data migration feature also ensures that the original LUNs remain intact for fail-safe roll

back purposes. Using the import in place feature, existing storage can be quickly moved into the

pools and presented through SVSP. These virtual disks can be used anytime and all the advanced

features can be applied on them as a normal virtual disk.

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Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)

ILM is a process of treating your data according to its value. As part of this concept, data is placed

on the appropriate storage device to match the performance, capacity, and availability requirements

of that data. As business needs and data value change over time, an online volume migration tool is

mandatory for ILM strategies. Moreover, data migration may be required from time to time.

Refresh older storage to improve performance and lower costs

Seamlessly transitioning production applications from older, slower, and more expensive-to-maintain

storage to newer devices can result in significantly better performance at a lower cost. A migration

data services is also essential to efficiently carry this type of IT operations

Figure 9: Data migration

Non-disruptive, any-to-any data migration with HP SVSP data migration Any-to-any data movement, from any device, to any device, to any location Migrates data while production applications remain online. No change or activity is required by

the host

Integrates with HP SVSP Snapshot to create instant snapshots of migrating volumes for enhanceddata production

Original volume remains intact for backup purposes SAN -wide, centralized management of all migration activities Supports all major operating systems and storage devices

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Application test, development, and deployment

Streamlining IT processes for greater productivi ty

Two problems exist in todays environment regarding this particular use case. The first is that in order

to deploy a new application or update an existing application, it is necessary to validate that the

application at least performs as well as expected if not better. The second is that some development

may be required to prepare the application for the environment that exists for your business. In either

case it is a non-trivial task to test, develop, and deploy a new application without

disrupting operations.


Accelerate the development, testing,and delivery software to improve

business operations, maintain

competitiveness, and generate new

sources of revenue

Allow real-time testing to use copiesof current production data but

without disrupting normal operations

Identify and eliminate more softwarebugs and errors prior to deployment

Use HP SVSP Business Copy solutionsto improve productivity and minimize

the cost of post-deployment support

Business impact

Enhances revenue opportunities andmaintains competitive advantages by

rolling out new features faster

Enhances overall business efficiencyby improving software quality

Operational Impact

Prevents system disruptions Creates copies and allows testing

to occur without disruptingnormal operations

Enables more thorough testing toeliminate software bugs and

errors prior to deployment

Shortens system integration projects Reduces the time needed to build or

modify applications

Financial Impact

Reduces costs by eliminatingpost-deployment software bugs

Lowers support costs Less system downtime

Allows existing equipment to bere-purposed for development and

test activities

A lengthy test cycle extends new application development, which increases the development costs,

leading to delayed revenue and loss of competitive market position. Lack of time and resources to

thoroughly test more data permutations also affects the quality of any product.

The SVSP allows faster deployment of new solutions. W ith the SVSP Business Copy services, IT

personnel can instantaneously present a snapshot to a virtual or physical server, to start testing on

copies of production data without disrupting production systems. Furthermore, the capabilities support

the creation of snapshots that will enable you to keep copies of every stage in amulti-stage testing process. If something goes wrong in any stage, you can easily roll back to the

previous stage without the need for repeating all stages. As a result, productivity will be improved by

maximizing development time. A flexible, Adaptive Infrastructure enables faster responses to

changing business conditions.

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Accelerating application time-to-market

Streamlining the application testing process can significantly accelerate the delivery of all types of

applications. Figure 10, depicts application time to market. W ith HP SVSP, the copy and staging

process is reduced to minutes for each test run, resulting in faster testing and faster time-to-market.

Figure 10: Application time-to-market

Before After

Application testing with HP SVSP Business Copy

Creates instant read/ write copies of production data without taking applications offline Allows any-to-any data movement between production and test environments Allows multiple tests on multiple copies to occur in parallel Changes to test data do not affect production data In time, will support all major operating systems and storage devices

Figure 11: Application testing with HP SVSP Business Copy

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Rapid restore of files and applications

Minimizing downtime by enabling Rapid Restore of volumes and files

As previously described, heterogeneous arrays (and different revisions and types of same-vendor

arrays) have different capabilities and resources for the restoring of files and applications. In many

instances when acquiring a new array it is necessary for the user to write scripts to allow this

particular feature (if supported).

Traditional restore in a SAN environment

In the event of data loss, restoring data requires locating the tape(s), which may be stored away fromthe site and then restoring the desired file or volume. In some cases this process has to be repeated in

order to restore the right file or volume. This process can take hours or even days and the integrity of

the data on tape media can be unreliable.

Figure 12: Traditional restore in a SAN

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Rapidly recover data inminutes rather than hours

(reduce RTO to minutes)

Minimize data loss in case ofdisaster (reduce RPO to minutes)

Solution must support exponentialcapacity growth (capacities are

growing at 50% + per year)

Solution must support multi-vendorservers and storage

Use HP SVSP Business Copy feature to

create frequent, instant, read/ write

disk-based, low capacity snapshots of

production data. W hen necessary,

recover from Point-in-Time (PIT)

snapshot.

Recover a missing or corrupted fileby mounting a recovery server to a

view on a PIT and copymissing/ corrupted file back

Recover a complete volume by rolling-back a snapshot

Business impact

Maximizes uptime, availability, andperformance of key business applications

Improves business continuity byenabling rapid resumption of

operations after unexpected events

Operational Impact

Reduces Recovery Point Objective(RPO) and Recovery Time Objective

(RTO) to minutes

Reduces disaster recovery efforts Centralizes/ simplifies recovery of

data for all servers and storage

Enhances recovery services Improves employees productivity and

satisfaction

Financial Impact

Maximizes availabi lity of revenueand satisfactions after disaster

Reduces cost of storage for snapshotsby using low-capacity redirect-on-

write technology

The SVSP Business Copy feature minimizes downtime by enabling rapid restore of volumes and files.

W ithout the SVSP, data recovery can take hours and data loss is possible. Instead the SVSP provides

Snapshot and Snapclone features, which can be used to create rapid recovery facilities. Copies of

production data can be captured using snapshot or snapclone and can be restored easily.

Rapid restore w ith SVSP business copy

Create frequent, instant, low capacity snapshots on any storage array In case of a failure, mount any prior snapshot and examine its content To recover a file, simply copy the file from the snapshot to the production volume To recover the entire volume, mount the production server to snapshotThis entire process can be completed within minutes

Figure 13: Rapid Restore with SVSP Business Copy

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Cost-effective Disaster Recovery (DR)

Affordable Services for Rapid Recovery of Business Operations after Site or Regional Disasters

What is the problem?

In the U.S., the September 11, 2001, events have made disaster recovery a major concern for

businesses of all sizes. Large business can sometimes afford the consultants and testing required to

build a complete data recovery plan, but small and medium size businesses are often challenged by

the finances and the choices available. Even though the business risk involves loss of data andapplications (with the consequent negative business impact), not all business are able to deploy an

adequate DR solution. The complexity of DR is due to the variety of strategies involved, as well as the

complex change management activities associated with mission-critical applications. Costly

communication links inhibit wide-area mirroring applications and projects, and tape or vaulting

solutions are often unreliable and will not meet recovery time objectives.

Traditional Data Mirroring Solutions

Server-based solutions burden the production servers with the task of mirroring their data to a similar

server at another site. In addition to degrading each servers performance and requiring multiple

licenses, multiple data streams must be managed (one per server).

Storage Array-based solutions are proprietary approaches that only mirror data between storagedevices from the same vendor and model. These solutions tend to be more expensive and vendor

lock-in prevents the use of storage devices that offer better price/ performance ratios. Particularly

when server virtualization has been introduced, firms would like more freedom on the hardware

selection to better optimize costs at the remote site

Figure 14: Traditional Data Mi rroring solutions

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Clustered Solutions

A common Microsoft Cluster Server configuration involves a SAN environment where both servers

(see figure #15) access a single image on a storage subsystem. From a DR perspective, the standard

configuration is lacking in several regards, including:

No protection against the failure of the storage subsystem No protection against the failure of the site No failover/ failback capability between sites

Figure 15: Traditional MSCS configuration

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21


Instantaneous data recovery in caseof disaster

Lower costs and increase flexibilityby mirroring data from any device,

to any device, at any location

Enable zero-downtime backup ofmirrored volumes at any location by

creating instant, read/ write

snapshots

Centralize the management of datamirroring processes across

multiple devices

Data consistency at the disasterrecovery site

Use the Synchronous mirroringcapabilities in the SVSP Volume

Manager to protect your data when

you need 100% data protection.

Centrally manage data mirroring

activities across the enterprise and

create instant read/ wri te snapshots

of mirrored volumes. Synchronous

mirroring can be achieved betweensites for mid-range distances.

Use HP SVSP Continuous Accessremote copy services of production

data to ensure high availabi lity.

Restore entire applications in minutes

with HP SVSP Business Copy. Use

snapshot enhanced instant roll-back

for improved data integrity

Business impact

Rapidly resumes operations after anytype of system failure or other disruption

Improves sharing of critical informationacross multiple geographical regions

Maximizes the uptime andperformance or revenue-generating

applications.

Operational Impact

Protects against operational downtime Allows rapid failover and access

to copies of data in secondary

locations

Allows systems at any location tobe taken down for maintenance

while applications remain online

Enhances data protection by usingHP SVSP Snapshot and Snapclone to

create instant, read/ write snapshots

of mirrored volumes for use in

zero-downtime backup and

online restores

Centralizes and simplifies themirroring of data for all servers and

storage devices

Guaranteed data integrity at certainpoints in time, according to users

definition

Easy disaster recovery site testingand fai l-back

Enhances and simplifies the mirroringof data for all servers and storage

devices

Protects against regional disastersFinancial Impact

Maximizes uptime ofrevenue-producing applications

Allows data to be mirrored toinexpensive storage devices in

secondary locations

Reduces recovery costs Performance optimization reduces

the need for expensive,

high-bandwidth communication links


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HP SVSP for Disaster Recovery

The synchronous mirroring features in the SVSP Volume Manager or the remote Async Mirroring

capabilities in the SVSP Continuous Access option can facilitate instantaneous service resumption after

storage, site, or regional disaster. The HP SVSP Business Copy feature, which will keep the system

online and fully avai lable during backup wi thout impact, allows restoring the entire application in

minutes. Together these SVSP data services help firms improve productivity through maximum uptime.

Centralized management of recovery operations reduces administrative tasks and minimizes errors

while lowering management costs.

Figure 16: Data Mirroring with HP SVSP

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SAN-based HP SVSP SolutionCampus deployments

W hen two sites share a SAN , HP SVSP Volume Manager can be used to synchronously mirror data

between the sites. In this configuration, there is one VSM and (at least) one DPM at each site, such

that both sites are part of the same SVSP domain and have an identical view of the virtualized

storage. Application servers run at both sites (in either clustered or primary/ backup configurations),

and each site has its own storage subsystem. W ith SVSP handling the synchronous mirroring across

the two storage systems, the two sites do not need to have identical types or brands of storage.

This solution provides business continuity after server, storage, or site failures, and it is usable up to

mid-range distances. A common application is a cross-campus deployment within a metropolitanregion. (Please consult the HP SAN design guide at www.hp.com/ go/ SANDesignGuide for detailed

information about supported distance limits.)

Figure 17: Clustered application server configuration for dual site domain HP SVSP Solution

23
http://www.hp.com/go/SANDesignGuidehttp://www.hp.com/go/SANDesignGuide


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Low Cost Long Distance DR Solution - Snapshot-enhanced, any-to-any Data Mirroring

In this scenario (see figure 18), servers are present across two different sites or domains which can be

further apart than those in the SAN -based solution above. Like the SAN-based solution, each site has

its own application servers and storage, but in this case each site is also a complete SVSP domain

(that is each site has its own pair of VSMs and DPMs). The asynchronous mirroring capabilities of

SVSP are used to replicate data across the domains in a bandwidth-efficient way, across existing IP

connections. This solution provides disaster recovery after server, storage, or site fai lures across large

geographic areas.

Figure 18: HP SVSP Continuous Access Asynchronous Mirroring Between Domains

Data is asynchronously mirrored between the sites, using existing IP infrastructure. (Note the contrast

to alternative solutions which often require dedicated and costly high-bandwidth links.) This solution

provides:

An affordable, vendor-independent solution that enables rapid recovery from both planned andunplanned downtime

Mirroring from any device to any device, to any location

Integrates with HP SVSP Business Copy feature to create instant, R/ W snapshots ofmirrored volumes

Local and remote mirroring (LAN , MAN, and W AN ) Optimized for high performance over limited bandwidth connections SAN-wide, centralized management of all mirroring processes Supports all major operating systems and storage devices Facilitates data integrity at the disaster recovery site Unique procedure for test disaster recovery site with easy and quick fail-back to the original site

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25

Complete Data Protection

Comprehensive Data Management Services for Multi-tiered Data Protection

What is the problem?

Data loss can occur for multiple reasons that range from logical failures (for example, viruses,

operator error) to hardware failures (for example, disk failure) to outright disasters (for example, fire,

flood, terrorism). A complete storage solution must be able to address all forms, and provide:

Rapid data recovery in case of disaster Zero data loss Fast Recovery (without re-copy of the entire volume) Non-disruptive failover in case of a single component failure Protection against rolling disaster Protection against regional disasterLastly, regulatory requirements sometimes impose unique data protection requirements of their own.

Traditional solutions

Traditional solutions address some or many of the possible failure scenarios that businesses must

contend with, but they often fail to address all in a comprehensive and integrated way.

HP SVSPComplete Data Protection


Regulatory Requirements Remote Backup Propagation of Failures Remote Snapshots Departmental Failure Local MirrorSync Site Failure SAN -wide Synchronous mirroring

can be achieved between sites for

metropolitan distances

Regional Disaster HP SVSP Continuous AccessAsynchronous Mirrors

Hardware Failures Snapshot-based, Disk/ Tape Backup Logical Failures (virus, file delete) SnapshotsRapid Recovery

Business impact

Rapidly resume operations after anytype of system failure or other

disruption

Zero data loss Improved sharing of critical

information across multiple

geographic regions

Maximizes the uptime andperformance or revenue-generating

applications.

Operational impact

Reduces disaster recovery efforts Enhances and simplifies the mirroring

of data for all servers and storage

devices

Protects against regional disastersFinancial impact

Maximizes availability ofrevenue-producing applicationsduring disasters

Allows data to be mirrored toinexpensive storage devices in

secondary location

Reduces recovery costs


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HP SVSP Provides Comprehensive Data Services for Business Continuity

Centralized

Management

Application

Testing

Non-

Disruptive

Migration

Zero

Window

Backup

Rapid

Recovery

Cost

Effective

DR

Complete

Data

Protection

Applications

must function

24x7

Add storage/servers on the

fly

No

unscheduled

outages

No scheduled

outages

Data recovery

must be

immediate

Remote

disaster

recovery

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Conclusion

HP SVSP is a comprehensive infrastructure solution that helps IT managers extend the value of current

and future IT investments, simplify operations, and increase the overall efficiency of IT.

The SVSP aggregates capacity of heterogeneous arrays and creates pools of virtual storage that can

be easily provisioned to virtual and physical servers. The solution suite also provides a comprehensive

set of virtualization enabled data services that include: volume management, copy services (snapshot

and snapclones), non-disruptive data migration, sync/ async mirroring, and thin provisioning. Thesedata services improve storage utilization while simplifying storage management. Furthermore, they

also enable advanced replication and management services, giving users virtually limitless

opportunities to utilize up-to-date copies of production data for activities such as online migration,

consolidation, rapid application recovery, zero window backup, and disaster recovery.

This is a powerful tool kit from which solutions are built to solve the most challenging data

management problems that IT managers face today. As a result, the SVSP represents a solid

infrastructure solution that gives enterprises the ability to improve productivity, simplify operations,

and achieve lower total cost of ownership for their SAN environments.

For more information

For more information on HP StorageW orks SAN Virtualization Services Platform (HP SVSP), please

visit http:/ / www.hp.com/ go/ svsp

Technology for better business outcomes

Copyright 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The informationcontained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP
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