NetApp - Storage Nuts & Bolts

Sneak Preview: SnapManager for Hyper-V (SMHV)

Server Virtualization is one of the most disruptive technologies that has hit the industry the past 20 years. Arguably, the only thing that comes to it, is the transition from Mainframes to Open Systems.

That said, server virtualization also presents some challenges that require customers to re-think their infrastructures because some things tend to become challenging. Backup and Recovery is an example of that.

Server Virtualization challenges that I/O limitations of Physical servers and can introduce new bottlenecks which can make it rather difficult to backup the large amounts of data now residing on the physical. Although traditional backup methods have served us well for years, unfortunately, in server virtualization environments don't scale particularly well, never mind that in some cases, they contradict the most basic values of server virtualization technology.

Continuing our integration theme with various server virtualization technologies, today i'm going to show you what we're doing in order to accelerate Backup and Recovery of Virtual Machines in Microsoft Hyper-V R2 environments and do so in manner where we do not impact the performance of the VM, the physical server host itself or the array. 

SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure 2.0

As some of you may have seen NetApp, yesterday, announced, an enhanced version of SnapManager for VI (SMVI 2.0) which among other things provides support for Single File Restores from within a VMDK. However, this is not the only enhancement provides by 2.0.

What's New with SMVI 2.0

Autosupport Integration

With SMVI 2.0, we've integrated Autosupport. This feature can be enabled or disabled on the fly. When it's enabled, SMVI will send Autosupport messages to the storage system. On a Storage System with Autosupport enabled these messages and events will be tracked by the NetApp Support Center. Basically, it's "Call Home" functionality for Host side Software.

NetApp Collector & Analyzer for Virtual Environments

A little bit over a year ago we undertook a project to develop a NetApp Collector & Analyzer tool that would be used to collect all storage relevant performance data from physical hosts in order to properly size our disk arrays for customers embarking on server virtualization projects. 

Now, one would ask why would NetApp try to re-invent the wheel given there are a lot of tools that can provide this capability such as VMware's Capacity Planner, Microsoft's Assessment and Planning Toolkit, and Windows native tools like Perfmon and Logman. The reason we decide to proceed with a project like this, is because either the above tools do not collect all the performance counters we need, and/or the analysis phase can be quite complex.

Having to go over 1000s of CSV files, analyze them, plot the output and decide on what values to input into our Sizing Tool is no simple task and takes time and resources. The reality is, the entire process can be quite a pain in the a$$.

So we developed a NetApp Collector and Analyzer Tool that will...collect tall he relevant performance data we're interested in and will perform analysis of 1000s of CSV files produced with the push of a button.

  This is an agentless collection with the requirement being windows user with WMI access. You can set things as the:

• Collection Interval
• Collection Duration
• Output Directory to dump a zip file containing the CSVs
• Can add individual hosts
• Can import Hosts from a CVS
• Can export hosts to a CSV
• Can encrypt host credentials read from a CSV

  After you've collected the data, you'd fire up the NetApp Analyzer tool. Prior to doing that, you want to unzip the zip file containing the CSVs. Then you'd start the Analyzer and you will point to to the directory the CSVs are located.

Depending on the Number of Hosts, Collection intervals and Duration, the amount of the CSVs and the size of each CSV will vary.  For example, for a 7 day run at 5 minute interval (default) for 49 hosts, I ended up with 1500 CSV files to be analyzed each of which had a 32k size. 

Under normal circumstances, analysis of 1500 files, would be a huge task, however using the NetApp Analyzer the entire process took about 15-20 minutes.

So what were the results I got back?

The above shows an overview of the results in terms of AVG and MAX numbers as well as the different workload characteristics. We would then take these number and input then into our NetApp Application Sizer which will produce a configuration interms of the Disk Array required and necessary capacity to sustain this load.

If you look at the above screenshot, there's a substantial deviation between the AVG and the MAX. So what would you size for? AVG or MAX? It depends.

From the above graph we see there are some spikes so we need to figure out what causes them by showing the data to the customer and asking questions. In this particular case, the spikes occur every day at approximately 9:00pm. These spikes are most likely due to some form of a backup procedure.

After, you decide, based on customer input, as to what to size for, you would use the above data points as input into the NetApp's Custom Application Sizer which will produce the necessary array and relevant configurations for the customer.

The NetApp Collector and Analyzer is available to all NetApp SEs and NetApp partners to assist their customers in server virtualization projects and proper storage sizing. It can be download from Field Portal. If you have difficulty locating it, search for "Collector". 

The NetApp Custom Application sizer is a web based tool also accessible to partners thru Field Portal.

Cheers

 

Technorati Tags: VMware,Hyper-V-Citrix,Performance Sizing,NetApp Collector & Analyzer,Server Virtualization Storage Sizing

Virtual Desktop Ask the Expert Session

Given the strong trend towards returning to thin computing by leveraging various Virtual Desktop technologies, NetApp will be hosting a weeklong "VDI Ask the Expert" discussion in our community forums.

We have identified several internal and well known external experts and bloggers with large scale Virtual Desktop implementation deployment experience that will help answer technical and non-technical questions around Virtual Desktop. If you follow the server virtualization blog-o-sphere, you will know these folks. If you don't, then here's your chance to meet them and ask questions...virtually.

We'll also have a commitment from Citrix and we're in talks with VMware to secure their highly respected resource(s) as well.

Registration

There is no registration for the event and all content can be viewed by logging in as a "guest". However, for those who would like to actively participate by asking specific questions you will need to use your NOW login. If you don't have a NOW login you can request one by following the instructions below. 

Viewing Content using as a Guest

Navigate to the Community page below. By default you will have Guest access be able to view all contents in the forum. http://communities.netapp.com/community/technet/ask_the_expert

For Active Participants

For those of you that would like to actively participate, and ask questions, you will need to use you NOW account, if you have one. If you don't, we ask that you obtain one. NOW accounts are available to anyone.

How do I get a NOW account?

Follow the above link and click on "Login" listed in the Upper Left corner of the screen.  You will then be prompted to enter your NOW account Credentials or Register for a new NOW account. 

Hope to see you there!!

Technorati Tags: VDI Best Practices,Virtual Desktop NetApp,VMware VDI,Citrix VDI,NetApp,Vmware,XenServer

Sneak Preview: NetApp System Manager (NSM)

For the past couple of months I've been playing with NetApp's upcoming Element Manager which is a complete re-write and eventually will replace FilerView. Since Val let the cat out of the bag, that opens the door for a blog entry.

Update - 03/06/2009: There has been an article recently posted by the Register stating that NetApp dumps FilerView in favor of the upcoming NetApp System Manager. That statement is not true. FilerView will continue to exist and be fully supported in the forseeable future.

The basic idea behind the NetApp System Manager (NSM) is to provide comprehensive management and capability of one of more arrays via a simple, easy to use, intuitive GUI.

NSM is a Windows/MMC 3.0 application that supports Discovery, Setup, FCP, iSCSI, CIFS, NFS, Deduplication, provisioning, Thin Provisioning, Snapshot and configuration management of multiple NetApp Storage Systems from a single pane of glass.

Storage Configuration Wizards

New wizards allow Admins to create quickly and easily create Aggregates, Volumes, LUNs, shares as well as a new Server Virtualization wizard that supports provisioning for VMware implementations.

Aggregate Wizard

Aggregate creation is literally a 3 click process. You can let the system select the appropriate disks based on the disk type you choose automatically, or you can select them manually. The Automatic process makes sure all disks in the aggregate are balanced across multiple back-end loops.

Volume Wizard

Creating a volume is similarly a no brainer process. Pick the aggregate you want, select the Volume size, snapshot space, %, enable thin provisioning if you'd like at the Volume level and/or enable deduplication under the Space settings tab and that's it. In there you can set the different Space Guarantees provided depending on what it is you want to accomplish.

LUN Wizard

The process of creating a LUN is pretty much out of the "How to Create a LUN for Dummies" book. Select a name for the LUN, it's size, the LUN type which corresponds to the OS type the LUN will be used by, click next, select an existing NetApp Aggregate/Volume that will contain the LUN or create a new Aggregate/Volume, select the initiators (FCP or iSCSI) that will have access to the LUN and you're done. Given the entire process is wizard driven I have personally found no way to mess up.

Server Virtualization Wizard

Given that we're seeing a large number of customer requests for NFS implementations for VMware, the NSM provides a Wizard for creating NFS Datastores. The process is similar to creating a Volume, however, the wizard will also ask for the VMkernel IP address of the ESX host(s) so the NFS volume gets exported. The dedup option is also there should you choose to take advantage of our NetApp level dedup capability.

Dashboard/System Tools

NSM provides a dashboard with notifications that are integrated with the Windows System Tray so you receive updated notifications regarding the system's health status. The Dashboard also includes it's own notification pane and performance pane. Autosupport, licensing, SNMP, and syslog can also be configured.

NSM will also be supported for the IBM N-Series system. The product will become available in the next few months, in the mean time it will soon become available to the NetApp Beta Community as a download for testing. We'd love to hear your feedback!!!

Technorati Tags: NetApp,NSM,NetApp System Manager

Windows 2008 Hyper-V and SCVMM 2008 Part III

I didn't have a chance to continue writing last week on my Hyper-V series post because I had to deal with Domain issues that prevented me from adding my second Hyper-V node to the domain. Finally, I was able to figure out the root cause which was duplicate SPNs and fix it last night.

In the last two posts I talked about some of the Hyper-V requirements, and dealing with Server Core installations. In this post I'd like to talk a bit about SCVMM (System Center Virtual Machine Manager).

NetApp 50% Virtualization Guarantee Program

There has been a lot of storage vendor hand waving recently about green storage and storage efficiencies.  While everybody has a story to tell, what it boils down to is "How real are these benefits?"

Furthermore, how many times have you heard perspective customers question the  validity of various "Storage Efficiency vs the Competition" studies vendors provide, claiming the results are skewed in favor of vendor X simply because vendor X paid for the study? After all, It is a logical assumption and it is part of human nature to always question those who provide such reports. So, why should customers believe our Efficiency claims? Because we're ready to firmly stand behind them in a manner than no else in the industry has.

Performance Acceleration Module (PAM)

Along with the introduction of the new FAS3100 series arrays  a couple of months ago, NetApp also made an announcement regarding a Performance Acceleration Module (PAM).

Since i haven't  seen any of the NetApp bloggers discussing it, although I may have missed it, I figured you'd probably find it more interesting than hearing a story about how every time I go on vacation I lose my luggage.

So what is a PAM?

The PAM offers a new way to optimize the performance of a NetApp storage system by improving Throughput and Latency while reducing the number of disk  spindles/shelves required as well as power, cooling and rack space requirements .

 

Hyper-V: Released To Manufacturing

Microsoft has made it official today. Hyper-V is RTM. The built will be available at http://www.Microsoft.com/Hyper-V today at 12:00 pm PDT. It will also be available via a Windows Update around July 8th.

More info from John Howard's, Sr.Product Manager,  Hyper-V Blog

In order to manager Hyper-V you want to download SCVMM RC1 from here. Access is open to the public after you register.

Site Recovery Manager & NetApp Site Recovery Adapter

As most of you are already aware VMware's Site Recovery Manager v1.0 (SRM) went GA last week. An 60 day trial can be downloaded from here as well as the appropriate Storage Recover Adapter (SRA) for your array vendor. As always, check VMware's SRM compatibility matrix before you proceed because the supported storage vendor list can fit in the back of your business card right now, although that will change.

SRM, to date, represents the most elegant DR/BC solution that tackles a very difficult and costly problem, Disaster Recovery. Doing Physical DR does not only require identical HW at both sites but it's also a process that's prone to errors and with very little automation. Furthermore, DR Testing in these type of situations takes a significant amount of time and so it typically occurs infrequently. The worst thing about infrequent testing is that you have no idea how/if even the smallest change in your production will affect your DR processes.

Leveraging Virtual Machine portability, and Hardware independence, SRM automates the DR workflow process by allowing Administrators to quickly and efficiently Implement and easily Test, Disaster Recovery plans quickly and efficiently with no service disruption to the production site. Furthermore,it reduces the need for idle Hardware at the Recovery site (you could run Production VMs there as well) thereby lowering costs while raising the quality of service.

Storage Array Integration with SRM

While, conceptually, SRM provides the same capabilities regardless of the Storage Array, the manner within which these capabilities are implemented vary depending upon the storage vendor, storage vendor platform and replication SW used.

The SRM requirements presented by VMware to their Storage vendor partners for integrating with SRM  were that, Storage Vendors had to develop a Site Recovery Adapter(s) (SRA) capable of:

1. Discovering storage vendor arrays
2. Discovering replicated LUN(s)
3. Initiating an SRM simulated failover
4. Initiating an actual SRM failover

Flexibility, Simplicity & Efficiency

Continuing our theme of Flexibility and SW commonality, we've provide:

• A single SRA adapter for all of our VMware supported HW platforms using our native Array Replication (i.e SnapMirror).
• Support for Sync, Async and Semi Sync SnapMirror
• An SRA that does not require like-to-like configurations (i.e like-to-like NetApp disk arrays, disk types, or disk capacities).
• Multi-protocol support...You can leverage Fibre Channel at the Production site, and iSCSI at the Recovery Site or vice versa.
• Integration with our space efficient FlexCloning capability for DR Testing, thereby reducing the cost of storage at the DR site. This is significant, in that you don't need to split any full blown clones off the destination replica, which  can take time, require space and add costs. That means you can test your Recovery Plan(s) all day long, if you want, while keeping the replication intact
• Integration with the upcoming SnapManager for VI Release. The NetApp SRA will leverage SMVI induced replicated Snapshots and will create FlexClones based on these.

Update: Integration with SMVI did not make it in with the current SMVI/SRA releases.

Frankly, whether you're dealing with Replication technologies and SRAs or juggling balls in a circus...fewer is always easier, so we only have one SRA that works with every platform.

Now, take the above, plus get a Free Deduplication license from Netapp and get an even bigger bang for your buck...You see, Dedup for us is a feature that's part of the array, not an added cost...

Future capability

As it stands right now, SRM provides support for 1:1 Replication-Test-Failover scenarios. Failback is not automated in the SRM v1.0 release although it's very simple. You basically do everything in reverse.

Having said that, wouldn't it be great if VMware were to provide multi-to-one site failover and testing capability? Being able to replicate multiple sites to a single one, would be an absolute killer approach for VMware and would help them to distance themselves even further.

Secondly, in the near term, I'd like to see NFS support as we have a ton of customers running on NFS who love the protocol's flexibility and operational efficiencies and would like to take advantage of SRM's elegant approach to DR/BC.