View
8
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
1
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 2
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrendsIntroduction
BenefitsofUsingSSDsfortheDataCenterDataistheheartandsoulofanybusinessorganization.Withtheever-increasingneedtostoreandaccessdatareadily,moderndatacenterproductionworkloadsareprogressivelycomplexandvaried.Theseworkloadsrequireahigh-performancestorageinfrastructurefordatacenterstomeetthedemandsoftheircustomers.
Entersolid-statedrive(SSD)technology,thefirstquantumleapinstorageperformancein40years.Comparedwithtraditionalspinningharddiskdrives(HDDs),SSDshaveamuchlowerlatency,cangenerateasmuchas1000timesthenumberofI/Ospersecond(IOPS),andhavethreetofivetimesthethroughput.
SSDspromiseimprovedapplicationperformance,greaterstorageutilization,reducedoperatingexpenses,andlowertotalcostofownership.
IssueswhenTransitioningtoSSDsintheDataCenter
UnderstandingNewCharacteristicsandTestingIssuesofNewTechnologyThoughtherearenumerousbenefitstousingSSDsinthedatacenter,therearesomeassociatedissueswhentransitioningtoanewtechnology.
SinceSSDsconsistofmemorytechnologywithoutmovingparts,theydonothavethesamebehaviorcharacteristicsasmagneticandmechanically-basedHDDs.SSDsneedtheirownapproachandtoolsetfortestingandvalidatingperformanceandfunctionality.
Also,replacingslow-spinningHDDswithfasterflashstoragedoesnotremovethebottleneckforadequatetesting,butrather,thetestbottleneckismovedsomewhereelse.Thetestingbottleneckshiftsovertimeasprocessorsandmemoryadvance;applicationsandfirmwareareupdated;andnewtechnologiesareimplemented.Consequently,thecaseforeffectiveSSDvalidationismorenecessarythanever.
KeepingCostsDownDatacentermanagersmustmeettheneedforon-demandtechnologyserviceswhilethecostofdeployingandmanagingtheseservicescontinuestoskyrocket.Theymustbeagileinmeetingcustomerneedswhileensuringtheircapitalexpensesstayaffordable.
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 3
AvoidingDataCenterDowntimeorFailuresDatacentermanagersarerequiredtoguaranteerunningsystems,storagecapacities,andresourcesinmeetingcustomerinformationaccessdemands.Assuch,therecannotbeanydowntimeorstoragefailureswhentransitioningtoSSDs.Thatiswhyit’simperativethattherightSSDsarechosenandvalidatedbeforebeingdeployedinthedatacenter.
ChoosingtheRightSSDforPerformanceinProductionEnvironmentsDatacentermanagerswanttomakewell-informeddecisionsonhardwarepurchases.Theyneedtoensuretheyhavethebestperformanceandmoststablehardwaretosupporttheircriticaldatacenterworkloads.SincethereisaplethoraofenterpriseSSDsavailableonthemarkettoday,decidingonwhichSSDsmeettheirspecificanduniquerequirementsisnotsimple.
Evenwhenthe“right”SSDisinitiallychosen,itmayunderperformorfailinaproductionenvironment.ThisisbecauseSSDtechnologyisstillevolvingandnotnormallytestedunderproductionworkloadsbytheSSDsuppliers.Also,theremaybeadisconnectbetweenSSDsuppliersandtheirdatacentercustomerswhendevelopingoptimumSSDsforthedatacenter.
RecognizingtheLimitationsofCurrentTestandValidationToolsforSSDsDatacentermanagers,aswellasSSDsuppliers,mustrecognizethelimitationsofsomeoftheavailabletoolstotestSSDfeaturesandverifytheirperformanceandfunctionality.ThereisalackofcomprehensivetoolsetsbeingusedbydatacenterteamstovalidateSSDs.WithSSDtechnologymovingsoquickly,inadequatetoolshavedifficultyvalidatingnewSSDfeaturesandfunctionality.
QuestionstoAddresswhenQualifyingSSDsAsdatacentermanagerstransitiontheirstoragetechnologyfromHDDstoSSDs,itiscrucialthattheycanattainandmaintainmaximumperformance,reliability,andfunctionalityfromtheSSDsbeforedeployingthemintoproductiondatacenters.
GiventheissuesofusingSSDsinthedatacenter,severalquestionsarise:
• WhatdoesittaketoqualifySSDsforaproductiondatacenter?• Howdoesadatacenterensuremaximumperformance,reliability,andfunctionality
fromtheirstorageinfrastructuregiventherapidadvancesinSSDtechnology?• Giventhecostofimplementationandsupportforadatacenter,howareissues
identifiedbeforedeployingSSDsintoaproductiondatacenter?• Howcandatacentersverifythattheyaregettingmaximumperformance,reliability,
andfunctionalityfromtheirstoragesysteminfrastructure?
Thefollowingsectionsaddresssomeoftheseconcerns.
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 4
CurrentTrends:TestandValidation
ChoosingtheRightTestandValidationToolsFirstandforemost,therighttestandvalidationtools,specificallydesignedforSSDs,mustbeselected.TheavailableSSDtoolsrangefromasimple,freesolutiontoacomplete,cost-effectivesolution.
• Thefreetoolsoffersomehelpfultesting,butitislimited,andlittlesupportorcustomizationisavailable.Also,thefreetoolsarelessabletostaycurrentwiththeever-evolvingfeaturesandfunctionality.
• Acomplete,cost-effectivesolution,suchasOakGateTechnologyproducts,includessoftwareandhardwareproductstofullytestandvalidateSSDs.OakGate’sfourth-generationsoftwaresuite,EndurowithStorageValidationFramework(SVF)Pro,providescustomized,easy-to-usesoftwarethatbringsunprecedentedcontrolandefficiencytoanydevelopment,validation,andmanufacturingtestplan.OakGate’shardwareproductsincludehigh-performancedesktopandrackmountappliances,plug-inmodules,externalenclosures,andadd-ons,providingameanstotestafewSSDsfordevelopmenttohundredsofSSDsforhigh-volumeproduction.
TestingandValidatingVariousSSDsBeforeTheyArePurchasedInsteadofpurchasingSSDsbasedonlyonasupplier’sliterature,itismuchmorereliableandthus,cost-effective,totestandvalidatevariousSSDsbeforepurchasingthem.TestingtheSSDsunderrealproductionworkloadswouldbetheideal.
TestingandValidatingSSDsBeforeTheyAreDeployedtoProductionEnvironmentsAmongthebenefitsforqualifyingSSDsbeforedeployingtheminproductionenvironmentsare:
• Knowingtheperformance,reliability,stability,andfunctionalityofselectedSSDs• Helpingdecision-makerstomakewell-informeddecisionsonfutureSSDpurchasesand
configurations• Savingmoney(andtime)byfindingproblemsbeforeSSDproductsaredeployedinthe
productionenvironment• Improvingcustomersatisfactionwithqualityservicesandproducts
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 5
FutureTrends:WorkloadReplayandWorkloadAnalytics
WorkloadReplayManyorganizationshavetriedtouseinternally-developedand/orthird-party,load-generationtoolstosimulateworkloads.Insomecases,thesebasic,syntheticworkloadsare“goodenough,”buttheynevergiveanaccuratereproductionofreal-worldproductionworkloads.
Real-worldworkloadsareacollectionofconstantly-changingI/Odatastreams,generatedbyapplicationsovertime.UnderstandingthenatureofdatacenterproductionworkloadsiscrucialtodesigningandimprovingSSDs.
Performancemodeling,workloadanalysis,andcapacityplanningaremuchmoreaccuratetohandlingthesechangingI/Odatastreamswhenreal-worldworkloadsareapplied.Thisiswhyreal-worldworkloadsaremorebeneficialthansyntheticworkloadsinanalyzingworkloadbehaviortoimproveSSDproducts.
WorkloadAnalyticsDataisking.Itisthenewcompetitiveadvantage.RecentstudiesfromtheInternationalDataCorporation(IDC)showthat83%ofChiefInformationOfficers(CIOs)embracebusinessintelligenceandanalyticsaspartoftheirvisionaryplan;morethan54%ofcompaniesuseanalyticsasacompetitiveadvantage;andinthelastfouryears,$4.3billionofventurecapitalhasbeeninvestedinbusinessintelligenceandanalytics.
IDCalsoprojectsthat,bytheendof2020,theITindustrywillspend$203billiononstoringandmanagingdata.Addtothat,IBMestimatesthatmorethanonetrillionconnectedobjectsanddevicesworldwidewillgeneratedataarateof2.5billionGBeverydayby2020.Thesestatisticssuggestthateffectivedatamanagementanddataanalyticsisthenewcompetitiveadvantage.Noplaceisthismoreapparentthaninthedatacenter.
BenefitsofWorkloadReplayandWorkloadAnalytics
DevelopMoreReliableandHigh-PerformingSSDsbySharingReal-WorldWorkloadsToday,datacentersdonothaveaneffectivewaytomonitor,capture,analyze,andreplayreal-worldworkloads.Additionally,SSDsuppliersdonothavethecapabilitytoreplayproductionworkloads,andthereforefinditproblematictoresolvecustomerissuesorimproveperformanceandfunctionalityintheseenterpriseenvironments.
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 6
Consequently,asharedvaluepropositionisemergingbetweenSSDsuppliersandtheirdatacentercustomers.EstablishingamutualprocessofjointdrivequalificationbetweenSSDsuppliersanddatacentercustomerscanacceleratequalificationanddeploymentofnewSSDs.ThisprocesscanalsoforgeastrongerqualityproductfortheSSDsupplieranddatacentercustomeralike.
Thisjointqualificationgivesdatacentercustomersaplatformtoshareearly,non-productionsystemsandapplication-specifictestscripts.Likewise,SSDsupplierscansharepreliminaryversionsoftheirproductstotheirdatacentercustomerstostartearlyqualification.
DatacentercustomersthatsharetheirproductionworkloadswiththeirSSDsupplierscanhelptheirsuppliersimproveSSDperformanceandfunctionalitysincethesupplierswouldhavetheabilitytotestareal-worldenvironment.Inturn,supplierswouldreplayandanalyzethecustomer’sreal-worldworkloadstohelpthemidentifyandresolvepre-productionissues.TheresultisthatdatacentercustomerswouldgetSSDsthathavebeentestedandvalidatedwithproductionworkloadsbeforedeployingthemintheirenterpriseenvironment.
EffectivelyandAccuratelyTestandValidateSSDsUsingworkloadreplay,SSDscanbeeffectivelyandaccuratelytestedandvalidatedwithproductionworkloads.Datacentermanagerscanmakemoreinformedbusinessdecisionswithaccuratedataonpurchasesandfutureconfigurations.Inaddition,adeeperunderstandingofproductionworkloadbehaviorandperformanceiscrucialtooptimizingSSDsandstoragesystems.
EnableDataCenterManagerstoSelecttheRightSSDsTheabilitytocapture,analyzeandreplayuniqueproductionworkloadsisbecomingcriticallyimportantasSSDscontinuetoreplaceHDDsinthedatacenter.CapturingtherealI/Obehaviorofagivenworkloadprovidesaccurate,decision-makinginformationfordatacentermanagersinselectingtherightSSDsfortheirenvironment.
PreventDataCenterDowntimeAnotherimportantbenefitforusingreplayisthatitdoesnotrequireaphysicalinfrastructuretoreproducetheproductionworkload.Accurateworkloadreplayensurestheworkloadisreproducedwiththesameperformance,throughput,responsetime,andI/Orequestorder.Therefore,whenusingworkloadreplay,theproductioninfrastructureisnotexposedtopossibleinterruptionsandperformanceimpacts.
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 7
AretheBenefitsofUsingWorkloadReplayandWorkloadAnalyticsinYourFuture?ForovertenyearsOakGateTechnologyhasbeenhelpingdatacentermanagers,SSDsuppliers,andITprofessionalsverifyandensuretheirSSDsmeetalloftheirrequirements.Ourtestandvalidationplatformsareusedbycustomersaroundtheworldtotestnewfeatures,functionality,andperformancebeforedeployment.
Now,OakGateTechnologyisworkingcloselywithitsSSDsuppliersanddatacentercustomerstodeliveranalyticsandreplaytoolsfortestingreal-worldworkloadsbeforeSSDsaredeployedintodatacenterenvironments.ThisisagreatbenefitfordatacentermanagerswhopurchaselargevolumesofSSDsfortheirproductiondatacenters.
OakGatedefinesfivemainworkflowphasesforcomprehensiveworkloadreplayandanalytics:
1. Capture–Captureandimportsystemeventfileslocallyoroverthenetwork.Thistime-
stampedimportprocesswillautomaticallyorganize,structure,sequence,andsummarizethedata;
2. Analyze–TheanalysisdirectlycorrelatesdatawithsystemprocessIDstohelpidentifyhostissues.Usingatracelibraryallowsuserstocalculate,plot,andanalyzeamoreextensiveselectionofattributesandstatistics;
3. Visualize–Visualizationofbehaviormakesiteasytounderstandworkloadbehavior.Theabilitytocharacterizetheresultsfromdifferentviewsallowsforadeepunderstandingoftheworkload.
4. Replay–TheabilitytoreplayproductionworkloadshelpsvalidateSSDsforthedatacenterwithaccuracy;and,
5. Share–SharingreplayfilesandreplayresultswiththeirSSDsuppliersasthereisasharedvaluepropositionfordatacentersandsupplierstoworktogethertoensureenterpriseSSDsoperateefficientlyandreliablyinproductionenvironments.
ThedetailedanalyticsfromthesereplayscanbeusedbysupplierstooptimizeSSDsandstoragesystems.Likewise,theanalyticscanhelpdatacentermanagersmakemoreintelligentbusinessdecisionsontheirSSDpurchases.Andboth,gainadeeperinsightintostoragesystemperformanceandbehavior.
Capture Analyze Visualize Replay Share
QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 8
SummaryAsdatacentermanagerstransitiontheirstoragetechnologyfromHDDstoSSDs,itisvitalthattheyaretestedandvalidatedformaximumperformance,reliability,andfunctionalitybeforebeingdeployedinaenterpriseenvironment.Ithasbecomemuchmorecost-effectivefordatacenterstotestandvalidatevariousSSDsbeforepurchasingthem.
OakGateprovidesacompletesolutionofassessingtheimpactofchangeonreal-worldSSDproductionissues.ValidatingSSDswithOakGatetoolsandanalyticscan:
• LowerstheriskofputtingSSDsinproduction• Acceleratesthetimetodeployment,whichcansavemoney• Lowersthehardwareandsupportcosts• Maximizesdatacenterproductivity
Additionally,OakGateisworkingcooperativelywithitsdatacenterandSSDcustomerstodevelopasuiteofadvancedtoolsthatdeliversonthepromiseofprovidinganalyticsandreplaycapabilitiesfortestingreal-worldworkloads.Usingworkloadanalyticsandreplay,datacenterteamswillbeabletovalidateandtestdriveseffectivelyandaccuratelywithproductionworkloads.Thiswillallowthemtomakemoreinformedbusinessdecisionsbeforemakingapurchasedecisionanddeployinginthedatacenter.
FormoreinformationonOakGateproducts,visithttps://www.oakgatetech.com.
Forademonstrationofourindustryleadingtestandvalidationplatformscontactusbyemailatmarketing@oakgatetech.com
Recommended