Introduction To Storage

Overview of the storage subsystem

Objectives for this Unit
Understand Storage Basics
Introduce Direct Attached Storage
Differentiate between types of storage
DAS
NAS
ISCSI
SAN
Introduce Network Attached Storage
Introduce Fibre Channel SAN
A Few Storage Basics.
Where will data finally end up?
How will it get there?
What will it pass through?
Direct Attached Storage
(Internal)
Computer System

CPU

Memory

Bus

I/O - RAID
Controller

Disk Drives
Direct Attached Storage
(Internal)
12345
Computer System

Data
CPU

Memory

Bus

I/O - RAID
Controller

Disk Drives
Direct Attached Storage
(Internal)
Computer System
12345

CPU

Memory

Bus

I/O - RAID
Controller

Disk Drives
DAS w/ internal controller and
external storage
Computer System
12345

CPU
Disk Enclosure
Memory

Bus Disk Drives

I/O - RAID Disk Drives
Controller
Disk Drives
 Comparing Internal and External
Storage
RAID controllers
Server and disk drives
are internal to the
server
Storage SCSI, ATA, or
SATA protocol Server
Disk Drives between controller
and disks RAID Controller
RAID Controller
RAID controller is
internal
Internal Storage Storage
SCSI or SATA
protocol between
controller and Disk Drives
disks
Disk drives are SCSI Bus w/ external storage
external
DAS w/ external controller and
external storage
Storage System

Computer System
12345 Disk Enclosure

CPU
Disk Drives

Memory Disk Drives

Disk Drives
Bus

HBA

RAID
Controller
DAS over Fibre Channel
Server

HBA
HBA is internal
Fibre Channel
protocol
between HBAs
and external
RAID controller Storage

Disk drives and Disk Drives

RAID controller
RAID Controller
are external

External SAN Array

I/O Transfer
RAID Controller
Contains the smarts
Determines how the data will be written (striping,
mirroring, RAID 10, RAID 5, etc.)
Host Bus Adapter (HBA)
Simply transfers the data to the RAID controller.
Doesnt do any RAID or striping calculations.
Dumb for speed.
Required for external storage.
Storage types
Single Disk Drive
JBOD
Volume
Storage Array
SCSI device
DAS
NAS
SAN
iSCSI
NAS: What is it?
Network Attached Storage
Utilizes a TCP/IP network to share data
Uses file sharing protocols like Unix NFS
and Windows CIFS
Storage Appliances utilize a stripped-
down OS that optimizes file protocol
performance
Networked Attached Storage

Public or Private Ethernet

network
NIC NIC
All data converted
Server to file protocol for NAS Server
transmission (may
slow down Storage
database
transactions) Disk Drives
Server has a RAID Controller
Network Interface
Card
No RAID
Controller or HBA
in the server
iSCSI: What is it?
An alternate form of networked storage
Like NAS, also utilizes a TCP/IP network
Encapsulates native SCSI commands in TCP/IP
packets
Supported in Windows 2003 Server and Linux
TCP/IP Offload Engines (TOEs) on NICs speed
up packet encapsulation
iSCSI Storage
Public or Private Ethernet
network
NIC or iSCSI HBA NIC or iSCSI HBA
SCSI commands
iSCSI Storage
Server are encapsulated
in TCP/IP packets
Disk Drives
Server has a RAID Controller
Network Interface
Card or iSCSI
HBA
iSCSI HBAs use
TCP/IP Offload
Engine (TOE)
Fibre Channel: What is it?
Fibre Channel is a network protocol
implemented specifically for dedicated
storage networks
Fibre Channel utilizes specialized
Switches
Host Bus Adapters
RAID controllers
Cables
Fibre Channel Components
Server A Server B Server C

HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA

Servers
Host Bus Adapters
switch switch Cables
Fiber optic or copper
Fibre Channel Switches
Two switches for redundancy
Fibre Channel Storage Array
Disk Drives Two RAID Controllers for
redundancy
4100+ disk drives per array
RAID Controller RAID Controller
A true storage network
Multiple servers
FC Storage Array
Multiple switches
Multiple Storage Arrays
SAN: What is it?
Storage Area Network
A network whose primary purpose is the transfer
of data between storage systems and computer
systems
Fibre Channel is the primary technology utilized
for SANs
Recently, SANs have been implemented with
dedicated iSCSI networks
Benefits of SAN/Consolidated
Storage
Reduce cost of external storage
Increase performance
Centralized and improved tape backup
LAN-less backup
High-speed, no single-point-of-failure
clustering solutions
Consolidation with > 70TB of storage
Fibre Channel Technology
Provides concurrent communications between servers,
storage devices, and other peripherals
A gigabit interconnect technology
FC1: Over 1,000,000,000 bits per second
FC2: Over 2,000,000,000 bits per second
A highly reliable interconnect
Up to 127 devices (SCSI: 15)
Up to 10 km of cabling (3-15 ft. for SCSI)
Physical interconnect can be copper or fiber optic
Fibre Channel (continued)
Hot-pluggable - Devices can be removed
or added at will with no ill effects to data
communications
Provides a data link layer above the
physical interconnect, analogous to
Ethernet
Sophisticated error detection at the frame
level
Data is checked and resent if necessary
Fibre Channel Frame
Dissection
Up to 2048 byte
payload
4 byte checksum
for each frame
Fibre Channel
Whats with the funny name?
Some background history required
Originally developed to only support fiber optic
cabling
When copper cabling support was added, ISO
decided not to rename the technology
ISO changed to the French spelling to reduce
association with fiber optics only medium
Fibre Channel
How does it work?
Serial interface
Data is transferred across a single piece of
medium at the fastest speed supported
No complex signaling required
Fibre Channel Interface
Layers

Device Driver

SCSI Protocol

Fibre Channel

Fiber Optic or Copper Cabling

SCSI vs. Fibre Channel
Protocol
SCSI
SCSI protocol vs. SCSI device
SCSI is an established, tried and true protocol
Provides services analogous to TCP/IP
Supported in every major OS on market
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel runs on top of SCSI
No re-inventing the wheel
Immediate OS support
SCSI vs. FC Transmission

RAID Controller Disk Drive

Fibre Channel

RAID Controller Disk Drive

SCSI
SCSI vs. Fibre Channel
Interface for internal storage to Used with SAN
external disks Lots of built-in redundancy with connections
Potential down time w/ SCSI Redundant network
Single bus HBA is fibre channel hardware
RAID controller is SCSI hardware Standards:
Standards: FC1: 100 MB/sec
Ultra2 (80 MB/sec) FC2: 200 MB/sec
Ultra 160 (160 MB/sec) Provides a data link layer above the physical
Ultra 320 (320 MB/sec) interconnect
Media specific (copper only) Analogous to Ethernet
SCSI Limitations: FC is a network of devices
Cables cant be any longer It can be media independent- copper or
than 3 feet for single ended; fibre optic
15 feet for LVD (low voltage Fibre Channel limitations:
differential) Cable length: Up to 10 kilometers (more
No more than 15 devices on a limitation of cable than FC itself)
a SCSI bus Up to 127 devices
# of disk drives # of disk drives
Fibre Channel vs. iSCSI
Fibre Channel
The current market leader for shared storage technologies
Provides the highest performance levels
Designed for mission-critical applications
Cost of components is relatively high, particularly per server
HBA costs
Relatively difficult to implement and manage
iSCSI
Relatively new, but usage is increasing rapidly
Performance can approach Fibre Channel speeds
A better fit for databases than NAS
A good fit for Small to Medium Size Businesses
Relatively inexpensive, compared to Fibre Channel
Relatively easy to implement and manage
Microsoft Simple SAN Initiative
Make operating system aware of SAN and SAN
capabilities
Shift integration burden from IT staff or services back
to VENDORS products:
Microsoft
Storage hardware and software
Application developers
Key storage technologies:
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
Virtual Disk Service (VDS)
Microsoft Multipath Input/Output (MPIO)
Microsoft iSCSI driver
Software Initiator (client)
Software Target (attached to disk subsystem)
Review
What is the difference between a RAID
Controller and an HBA?
How many protocols may be used for DAS?
Name two types of storage that rely on ethernet
cables
Name two benefits of SANs
Describe the four interface layers of the Fibre
Channel protocol
Describe a scenario where an iSCSI SAN may
be preferred over a Fibre Channel SAN
Summary
How data is routed through a server to I/O
Types of storage
DAS
NAS
iSCSI
SAN
Benefits of SAN technology
Storage consolidation
Reduced costs
Centralized, LAN-free backup and restore
The Fibre Channel protocol
How it works
Fibre Channel protocol vs. SCSI protocol
Comparing Fibre Channel SANs and iSCSI SANs
Fibre Channel SANs offer mission-critical performance, with relatively high
costs and high complexity
iSCSI SANs offer moderate to high performance at an attractive
price/performance ration and are relatively easy to administer