Writing Storage RFPs in 2012 - SNIA · 2021. 3. 7. · Creation of bottlenecks Need a storage system and network that can handle virtualized environment . Virtual . Machine Virtual

Writing Storage RFPs in 2012

John Webster, Evaluator Group

Author: John Webster, Evaluator Group

Writing Storage RFPs in 2012 © 2012 Storage Networking Industry Association. All Rights Reserved. 2 2

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Abstract

Writing Storage Management RFPs in 2012 The data storage industry has changed dramatically over the past few

years. The traditional Request for Proposal (RFP) does not address these changes or the challenges faced by IT organizations. Therefore, a new way of defining storage requirements to leverage this evolving technology is needed. This tutorial defines the “must-have” criteria that should be included in any data storage RFP in the current era. Performance, scalability, and resiliency are given; but new challenges will arise around server and desk top virtualization, power consumption, space requirements, and overall cost containment. Accommodations for developing technologies must be designed into the RFP. Attendees of this session will receive an RFP template designed specifically to take advantage of current storage and IT technologies.

Writing Storage RFPs in 2012 © 2012 Storage Networking Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.

Agenda

Storage Technologies for 2012 and Beyond Can you manage storage at Petabyte scale? What should you look for when writing the RFP?

Storage for Virtualized IT What changes for storage when you go from physical to virtual servers? What should you look for when writing the RFP?

Tips for writing storage RFPs Can you get what you need? Can you get differentiated responses?

4


Storage Technologies for 2012 and Beyond

5


6

Are Petabytes in your Future?

Growth in capacity demand

50-100% annual growth – compounding 99% of all documents are in digital form now ~50 billion emails per day Unstructured data (data not in databases) is largest and fastest growing type of data

Demand changes with information captured from Pervasive Computing moving into IT – the Big Data Problem

Terabytes (TB)


Are Petabytes in your Future?

Non-Traditional Data Growth

Data generated

from traditional

Data Centers

50 - 80% will end up in traditional Data Centers

(c) Evaluator Group, Inc

3-5x CAGR

Traditional and Non-Traditional Data Center Growth Outlook 3 -5 years

7


Managing at Petabyte Scale

Do you need another/newer data center? Is managing your environment so complex that you have to tear it up and start over? Will you migrate the old to the new and sow the seeds that recreate the same old problems? Is storage the largest line-item in the hardware budget?

8


Managing at Petabyte Scale

Can you manage a capacity growth rate of TBs per week? Per day? Are your current data protection processes sustainable? Will you add complexity as you add capacity? Will petabyte-scale storage break the budget?

9


Scale-out or Scale Up?

What to evaluate in scale-out storage

Attributes of the global namespace file system The scale-out architecture Thin provisioning Data reduction SSD as “Tier Zero” or cache Inside and outside the box tiering Snapshots and clones The management app

What to evaluate in scale-up storage

Virtualization Thin provisioning Data reduction SSD as “Tier Zero” or cache Inside and outside the box tiering Snapshots and clones The management app

10


Data Protection at Petabyte Scale

Are your existing data protection processes sustainable at Petabyte scale?

Time to get the backups done – growing capacity Amount of space consumed for backups - generations Cost of technology transitions – capital and migration Cost of backup software and administration

Backup Cycles

Initial FullBackup

MonthlyFulls

DailyIncrementals Weekly

Fulls

QuarterlyFulls

YearlyFull

Two Copies – one is offsite

Initial FullBackup

MonthlyFulls

DailyIncrementals Weekly

Fulls

QuarterlyFulls

YearlyFull

Two Copies – one is offsite

11


Data Protection at Petabyte Scale

Business Continuance Continuation of full operations. Requires

DATA, platforms, applications, and people for seamless failover and continuance

Disaster Recovery Resumption of full operations after a

period of recovery time. Requires DATA, platforms, applications, and people.

Recovery operations may be involved.

Data Protection Data protection from accidental,

inadvertent, or malicious destruction or corruption. Restoration to a

known point (RPO) within a given time (RTO). C

ontin

uous

Dat

a Pr

ot

Loca

l Bac

kup

Rem

ote

Bac

kup

Snap

shot

s R

emot

e Sn

apsh

ots

Asyn

chro

nous

Rep

licat

ion

Sync

hron

ous

Rep

licat

ion

/ Str

etch

ed C

lust

ers

12


Re-examine: Access to Information Pr

obab

ility

of A

cces

s

0-30 days 31-90 days 4-12 months 1 year +

100%

0%

Off-line Archive

Secondary Storage Primary Storage

Short-Term Data Protection Long-Term Data Retention

Inactive or Low Access Information

90% Drop in access rate within 60 days

13


Is RAID Sustainable at Petabyte Scale?

The RAID problem Large capacity disk drives take a long time to rebuild

Potentially days Probability of a second error occurring is high – loss of data

14


Forward Error Correction a.k.a Erasure Coding

Selectable data protection levels Example: 12 of 16 drives must be present – tolerate loss of 4 Example: 12 of 16 sites must respond with date – tolerate 4 sites not responding

Potential benefits Eliminates RAID scale issues Potential for data protection and business continuance with same architecture Failures tolerated over time – no replacements expected (with warning and exception conditions) No service planned

Reduces warranty cost for vendor Reduces service interruption / impact for IT

Protection set calculated for lifespan of storage system

15


Is the Storage Cloud in your Future?

Non-Traditional

Data Growth

Data generated

from traditional

Data Centers

(c) Evaluator Group, Inc

3-5x CAGR

Traditional and Non-Traditional Data Center Growth Outlook 3 -5 years

1. All data owned and in Corp. Data Center

2. All data owned but split between traditional data center and cloud

3. Blend of owned and “rented” data in both the Corp. data center and cloud

Data Ownership Models:

16


Storage in the Cloud

Information typically stored in the cloud

Data when SaaS is used Archive information Backup data / Replication for DR Content distribution

17

Technologies used Applications that write data directly to cloud Storage-based migration software On-ramps – devices that stage data and move to the cloud over time Storage systems that make copies to cloud locations


Storage for Virtua lized IT

18


Virtual Machines & Storage

Servers with More processors and more cores Multiple applications on same physical hardware

Create storage problems Not equivalent number of storage capabilities

– Paths – Cache – Disk drives

Creation of bottlenecks Need a storage system and network that can handle virtualized environment

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine

Physical Server

Storage

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Storage for Server Virtualization

SSD Cache

Storage Thin Provisioning

Array Based Snapshots & Clones

Application Application

VM1 VM2

VMDK/VHD VMDK/VHD

Hypervisor

Highly random I/O

High-value storage system features for server virtualization • SSD • Array-based snapshots and

clones • Thin provisioning • In-the-box tiering / caching • Array management app • Array features specific to

vendor – VAAI, VASA support, etc.

20


Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Storage

Same problems as multiple virtual machines Except – multiplied

More users Likelihood of “boot storms” Simultaneous application startup Protection and recovery – frequency and user-level control Provisioning

21


Sample Results From VDI Storage Benchmark Runs

I/O ranges from 5 to 20 IOPS per desktop Block sizes include 512, 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, 16K, 32K, 64K, 128K, 512K, 1M and 2M VDI does most I/O from 4K – 2 MB Read / Write mix varies from 30 / 70 (r/w) to 60 / 40 depending on apps Overall Read / Write mix is about 50 – 50

Lighter workloads are skewed towards more writes 4K blocks, are the most common for writes, 32K for reads

22


Storage for VDI

Snapshots Writeable and space efficient – ROW/COW Large number supported Cascadable – snap of snap

Thin Provisioning Allocate capacity on demand only Reclaim deleted space

Wide striping Maximize number of simultaneous disk operations

Caching Read and write data Managed cache and pinning

Tiering – SSDs and disks High performance Automated provisioning

23


Tips for Writing the S torage RFP

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Business Problem Assessment

What problem(s) are you trying to solve? RFI, RFP, or RFQ? Weighting

What’s most important? What’s least important? What’s in-between?

Who will you have to sell the solution to?

CxO Business Units Others within IT

25


RFP Platitudes

Get as much decision-point data as possible at the beginning of a project (rather than at the end) Be aware of all project phases up front so that you can gather data for each phase during the RFP process Ask succinct questions that discourage RFP marketing rhetoric You don’t get what you don’t ask for

26


While Writing the RFP…

Do Be detailed and specific Be as descriptive of the IT environment and the business need as is prudent in the RFP Know the relevant standards and ask for them Put yourself in the vendor’s shoes (Ask a confusing question, get a confusing answer) Include security or compliance obligations where applicable Give vendors a reasonable time to respond

Don’t Create a “vendor bias” impression

27


Important Questions to Ask

Can we run a test environment? Can we get product documentation before we buy? Can we get a product road map?

28


Preparing for Negotiation

Bundled solution or individual components? Pro – bundles have a flat rate giving you a fixed cost Con – you might end up paying more if bundled

Get a line-item cost for everything Basic modules and add-ons Upgrades (even if you don’t need them right now) Maintenance and support Training Implementation services

Don’t be afraid to ask for creative financing options Leasing Deferred payments

29


Covering the People–to–People Issues

How much help can the vendor provide during the internal selling process?

Procurement should be a partnership

What is the vendor’s problem resolution process? Service and support capability Problem escalation procedure

Will the RFP response give you: The ammunition you may need to defend yourself or your group if (when) challenged?

30

Visit the “Storage Implications for Server Virtualization” HOL at SNW


Summary

Prepare to manage storage at Petabyte scale

Virtualization is now driving storage decisions Vendors are differentiating on the basis of advanced functionality expressed in software Your goal: Differentiated responses to your RFP will give you what you need to make informed decisions

31


Q&A / Feedback

Many thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to this tutorial.

- SNIA Education Committee

Joseph White Eric Hibbard Randy Kerns

Send any questions or comments on this presentation to SNIA: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]�

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Writing Storage RFPs in 2012 - SNIA · 2021. 3. 7. · Creation of bottlenecks Need a storage system and network that can handle virtualized environment . Virtual . Machine Virtual