MODULE 4

VIRTUALIZED DATA
CENTER STORAGE

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Module 4: Virtualized Data Center Storage

Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:

Explain storage virtualization and its
implementation
Explain virtual machine storage options
Describe block and file level storage virtualization
Describe virtual provisioning and automated
storage tiering

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Module 4: Virtualized Data Center

Storage
Lesson 1: Storage Virtualization Overview
Topics covered in this lesson:
Key benefits of storage virtualization
Implementation of storage virtualization at
compute, network, and storage layers

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Storage Virtualization
Storage
virtualization

It is the process of masking the underlying

complexity of physical storage resources and
presenting the logical view of these resources to
compute systems.

Logical to physical storage mapping is performed by

virtualization layer
Virtualization layer abstracts the identity of physical
storage devices
Creates a storage pool from multiple, heterogeneous

storage arrays

Virtual volumes are created from the storage pools

and are assigned to the compute system
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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Benefits of Storage Virtualization

Adds or removes storage without any downtime

Increases storage utilization thereby reducing TCO
Provides non-disruptive data migration between

storage devices
Supports heterogeneous, multi-vendor storage
platforms
Simplifies storage management

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Storage Virtualization at Different Layers

Layers

Examples

Compute

Storage provisioning for VMs

Network

Block-level virtualization
File-level virtualization

Storage

Virtual Provisioning
Automated Storage Tiering

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Module 4: Virtualized Data Center

Storage
Lesson 2: Virtual Machine Storage
Topics covered in this lesson:
Virtual machine storage options
Virtual machine storage considerations

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Storage for Virtual Machines

Compute 1

Compute 2

VMs are stored as set of

files on storage space

available to hypervisor
Virtual disk file represents
a virtual disk used by a VM
to store its data
Size of virtual disk file
represents storage space
allocated to virtual disk
VMs remain unaware of

VM 3

Virtual
disk file

Virtual
disk file

Virtual
disk file

VM 4

Virtual
disk file

NFS

VMFS

FC SAN

IP Network

Total space available to the

hypervisor
Underlying storage
technologies
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FC Storage

iSCSI

Virtualized Data Center - Storage

NAS

File System for Managing VM Files

Hypervisor uses two file systems to manage the VM

files
Hypervisors native file system called Virtual Machine

File System (VMFS)

Network File System (NFS) such as NAS file system

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

Virtual Machine File System (VMFS)

Compute 1

Hypervisors native file

Compute 2

system to manage VM files

Cluster File System
Can be accessed by multiple

compute systems
simultaneously
Provides on-disk locking

Uses a VMFS volume to store

VM files
Virtual disk Virtual disk

Virtual disk Virtual disk

VMFS Volume

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

10

Dynamic Expansion of VMFS

Expand VMFS on the
existing volume

VMFS can be dynamically

expanded without disrupting
running VMs

VMFS

Add a LUN to the

existing VMFS volume

Methods to expand VMFS

Expand VMFS dynamically on the volume partition on which

it is located
Add one or more LUNs to the source VMFS volume

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

VMFS
Volum
e

LUN

Virtualized Data Center - Storage

VMFS Volume

11

Raw Device Mapping

Enables VM to directly

access LUNs in a storage

system
Contains a symbolic link on
VMFS volume to the LUN
Acts as a proxy that allows

VM1

VM2

Mapping
File

VM
Content

direct access to a LUN

VMFS
Volume

Benefits

Provides solution when huge volume of

data on LUN is not practical to move
onto virtual disk
Enables clustering the VM with physical
machine

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

LUN on
Physical
Storage
System

VM
Conte
nt

12

Network File System

Hypervisor uses NFS protocol

Compute 1

Compute 2

to access NAS file system

NFS volumes are created on
NAS device
Provide storage to VM
Accessed by multiple compute

systems simultaneously
NFS Volume

Virtual disk Virtual disk

Virtual disk Virtual disk

NAS System

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

13

Module 4: Virtualized Data Center

Storage
Lesson 3: Block-level and File-level Virtualization
Topics covered in this lesson:
Block-level storage virtualization
File-level storage virtualization

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

14

Block-level and File-level Virtualization

Overview
Network-based virtualization embeds storage

virtualization intelligence at the network layer

Provides ability to
Pool heterogeneous storage resources
Perform non-disruptive data migration
Manage a pool of storage resources from a single

management interface

Network-based storage virtualization is applied at

Block-level (SAN)
File-level (NAS)

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

15

Block-level Storage Virtualization

Creates an abstraction
layer at SAN, between
physical storage resources
and volumes presented to
compute
Uses virtualization
appliance to perform
mapping operation
Makes underlying storage
infrastructure transparent
to compute
Enables significant cost and
resource optimization

Compute

Virtual
volume

SAN
Virtualiza
tion
Appliance

Heterogeneous Storage
Arrays
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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

16

Physical to Virtual Volume Mapping

Compute

Compute

Virtualizati
on
Appliance
Virtual
volume

Virtual
volume

Extent

Storage Volume

Extent

Storage Volume

Extent

Storage Volume

Extent

Storage Volume

Storage

Storage

Array
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Array
Virtualized Data Center - Storage

17

File-level Storage Virtualization

Clients

Provides an abstraction in the

NAS/File servers environment

Eliminates dependencies between

the file and its location

Enables movement of files

between NAS systems without

impacting client access
Provides opportunities to
optimize storage utilization
Implemented using global
namespace

IP

Virtualizati
on
Appliance

IP Network

Multi-vendor NAS Systems

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18

File-level Storage Virtualization Global

Namespace
Enables clients to access files using logical names

which are independent of the actual physical

location
Maps logical path of a file to the physical path
names
Simplifies access to files
Clients no longer need to have multiple mount points to

access data located on different NAS devices

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

19

Module 4: Virtualized Data Center

Storage
Lesson 4: Virtual Provisioning and Automated
Storage Tiering
Topics covered in this lesson:
Virtual provisioning and its benefits
Thin LUN and Thin Pool
Virtual Provisioning for virtual disks
Automated Storage Tiering
Sub-LUN Tiering and Cache-Tiering

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

20

Virtual Provisioning (Thin Provisioning)

Virtual Provisioning (Thin
Provisioning)

Compute Systems

It is the ability to present a LUN to a

compute system with more capacity
than what is physically allocated to
the LUN.

10 TB

Capacity-on-demand from a shared

storage pool, called Thin pool

Physical storage is allocated only when

the compute requires it

Compute
Reporte
d
Capacity

Thin LUN

3 TB
Allocated

10 TB

10 TB

Thin LUN Thin LUN

4 TB
Allocated

3 TB
Allocated

Provisioning decisions not bound by

currently available storage

May be implemented at

Disk Drives

Storage layer
Compute layer virtual Provisioning for

virtual disk

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Shared Storage pool

(Thin Pool)

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21

Traditional Provisioning vs. Virtual Provisioning

150 GB
Available
Capacity

400 GB
Allocated
Unused
Capacity

100 GB
Data

LUN 1
500
GB

500 GB
Allocated
Unused
Capacity

50 GB Data

LUN 2
550
GB

1500 GB
or
1.5 TB
Allocated
Unused
Capacity

600 GB
Allocated
Unused
Capacity

200 GB
Data

LUN 3
800
GB

350 GB
Actual data
Storage
System
2
TB

Traditional Provisioning

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

500
GB

100 GB
Allocated

Thin
LUN 1

800
GB

550
GB

50 GB
Allocate
d

Thin
LUN 2

200 GB
Allocate
d

Thin
LUN 3

1650 GB
or
1.65 TB
Available
Capacity

350 GB
Actual data
Storage
System
2
TB

Virtual Provisioning

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22

Thin LUN

Logical device where the physical storage need not

be completely allocated at the time of creation

Seen by the operating system as a traditional LUN
Physical storage is allocated to the Thin LUN from
the Thin pool
Minimum amount of physical storage allocated at a
time to a Thin LUN from a Thin Pool is called Thin
LUN Extent
Best suited for environments, where space
efficiency is paramount

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Thin Pool
Thin
Pool

Collection of physical drives that

provide the actual physical

storage used by Thin LUNs
Multiple pools may be created
within a storage array
Can be expanded dynamically
Drives can be added to a Thin pool

while pool is being used in

production

Allocated capacity is reclaimed

by the pool when Thin LUNs are
destroyed

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

Additional Disk
Drives

Virtualized Data Center - Storage

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Thin Pool Rebalancing

Balances the used capacity of

physical disk drives over the

entire pool when new disk
drives are added
Restripes data across all disk
drives

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

25

Virtual Provisioning at Compute

Hypervisor performs
virtual provisioning to
create virtual disks for
VMs

Hypervisor

Virtual machine sees full

logical disk size at all times

Hypervisor allocates
storage space to the
virtual disk only when VM
requires storage space

Thin

Thick

Thin

10GB

20GB

40GB

20GB
Virtual Disks

100GB

Eliminates the need to

overprovision virtual disks

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

26

Virtual Provisioning Benefits

Reduces administrative overhead

Improves capacity utilization
Reduces cost
Reduces downtime

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

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Virtual Provisioning Best Practices

Drives in Thin pool should have same RPM

Drives in the Thin pool should be of same size
Provision Thin LUNs for applications that can
tolerate some variation in performance

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28

Storage Tiering
Storage Tiering

Establishing a hierarchy of storage type, and identifying the

candidate data to relocate them to the appropriate storage
type to meet service level requirements at a minimal cost.

Each tier is optimized for a specific characteristic,

such as performance, availability, or cost

Efficient storage tiering requires implementation of
policies
Policies may be based on parameters such as file type,

frequency of access etc.

Storage Tiering Implementation

Manual storage tiering
Automated storage tiering
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29

Automated Storage Tiering

Automates the storage tiering process

Enables non-disruptive data movement between

tiers
Improves application performance at the same cost
or provides the same performance at a lower cost
Configures data movement
Within a storage array (Intra-array)
Between storage arrays (Inter-array)

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30

Automated Storage Tiering Intra Array

Automates the storage tiering

process within array

Enables efficient use of Solid-state
drives (SSDs) and SATA drive
technologies

Faster,
Application
performanc
e

Fibre
Channel

Moving active data to high performance

SSD tier and inactive data to higher

capacity lower performance SATA drives
tier

Performs data movements between

SSD

Lower
storage
costs and
less energy

SATA

tiers at sub-LUN level

Employs cache tiering to improve
application performance further

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Sub-LUN Tiering

By using sub-LUN tiering, a LUN is broken down

into smaller segments and tiered at that level
5% Active

SSD

95% Inactive

HDD

Storage pool

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32

Automated Storage Tiering Building Blocks

Building
Blocks

Description

Storage Type

Combination of drive technologies (SSD, FC, or SATA) and

RAID protection

Storage groups

Logical collection of LUNs that are managed together

Policies

Manage data placement and movement across Storage

Types to achieve service levels for one or more Storage
Groups

Storage Type
Type 1
200 GB SSD
RAID 5 (3+1)

Type 2
146 GB 15K FC
RAID 1
Type 3
1 TB SATA
RAID 6 (14+2)

Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

Policies

Storage
Groups

Platinum

25%
50%
25%

Exchange_SG

Silver

Oracle_SG

25%
100%
Dev_SG

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33

Cache Tiering

Creates a large capacity

secondary cache using SSDs

Enables tiering between DRAM
cache, SSDs drives (secondary
cache)
Most reads are now served
directly from high performance
tiered
cache
Benefits

Hypervis
or

Hypervis
or

Hypervis
or

Array controller

DRAM Cache

Tiered
Cache

Benefits

SSD

Tier
1

Tier
2

Provides excellent performance

benefit during peak workload
Non-disruptive and transparent to
applications

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Inter-Array Storage Tiering

Facilitates policy-based
data movements between
tiers

Network
Policy Engine
Applicatio
n Servers

Tier 1
Primary
Storage

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Tier 2
Secondary
Storage

Virtualized Data Center - Storage

35

Module 4: Virtualized Data Center

Storage
Concept in Practice

EMC VPLEX
EMC Symmetrix VMAX FAST VP

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

36

EMC VPLEX

Next-generation solution for

non-disruptive data mobility

and information access

Local and Distributed

Federation

Within, across, and between

VDCs

Allows VMs at multiple VDCs

EMC VPLEX

to access the shared block

storage device
Resides between compute
and heterogeneous storage
systems
Virtualizes data movement

Offers three deployment

models

VPLEX Local
VPLEX Metro
VPLEX Geo

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EMC Symmetrix VMAX FAST VP

Automated storage tiering for Thin

pools
Data movement at sub-LUN level:
Places very active parts of a LUN on

high-performing Enterprise Flash Drives

(EFD)
Places less active parts of a LUN on

higher-capacity, more cost-effective

SATA drives
Moves data at the extent group level
(7,680 KB)

Enterprise
Flash Drive

Fibre
Channel

SATA

Moves data based on user-defined

policies and application
performance needs
Data movement is automatic and
non-disruptive
Virtualized Data Center - Storage
Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All Rights

38

Module 4: Summary
Key points covered in this module:
Storage virtualization and its benefits
Storage for Virtual Machines
Network-based storage virtualization
Virtual provisioning and its benefits
Automated storage tiering

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

39

Check Your Knowledge

1. What are the key benefits of storage

2.
3.
4.
5.

virtualization?
Explain the use case for the RDM.
Explain block-level and file-level virtualization.
Explain virtual provisioning for virtual disks.
How does cache tiering improve performance in
automated storage tiering environment?

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MODULE 4 QUIZ

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Virtualized Data Center - Storage

41