3 Step Path to Storage Cloud Services using IBM System Storage

Silverton Consulting, Inc.
Introduction

StorInt™ Briefing
From the individual using a much advertised
public cloud service to the global, enterprise class IT shop using a custom private
cloud, more and more companies are switching to use cloud technology. In
todayʼs troubled economy, there is an increasing demand for information,
unfortunately coupled with a decreasing ability to afford additional resources.

Cloud services can help with this problem. In fact, cloud capabilities have the
potential to:

• Be more elastic - able to expand or
contract capacity or service on demand, as
business requirements dictate, responding
better to a changing economy.
• Be more economical – able to be billed for
on a unit cost or service consumed basis
(GB/month, Server/hour, etc.) saving capital
expense.
• Be self managed – able to be end-user
provisioned, reducing or eliminating
altogether administration delay for
provisioning storage.

Both public and private cloud services can provide
all of these benefits and more. But because the
hardware and software of public clouds are owned and run by external,
independent companies, potential security issues likely would eliminate them
from being a viable alternative for larger, more data intensive entities.

Consequently, many enterprise shops have turned to private cloud services to
solve public cloud security concerns. Through IBM® System Storage extensive
product line, and technologies such as IBM Active Cloud Engine™, IBM can
readily help these companies.

Private clouds are provided internally and can be either computing or storage
services. Private cloud computing services commonly include both server
resources and storage resources residing at multiple locations, but whose
services can be accessed from any Internet connected location. In contrast,
private cloud storage services generally only contain storage resources that can

3
Step
Path
to
Storage
Cloud
Services

Using
IBM
System
Storage

be accessed from Internet locations; server resources are located elsewhere. It
is this latter type of private cloud services which will remain the focus of this
paper.

Ineffective
approaches
to
private
storage
clouds

In the rush to enjoy the much touted benefits of cloud technology, companies
have sometimes gone to “cloud-in-the-can” solutions. These “one size fits all”
products claim to provide an easy entry into private cloud offerings. However,
many of these solutions are essentially reproductions of public cloud offerings,
modified for private use and rarely can be implemented without considerable
effort and disruption. Additional problems with these products can include:

• They do not really help improve current data center effectiveness enabling
only future services to use the cloud.
• They often package together cloud computing with storage but there are
few that offer storage cloud services alone.
• They offer limited O/S support and usually of only Linux and/or Windows
environments.
• They typically donʼt offer high availability solutions, often depending on
generic server hardware using DAS with redundancy as the only failure
recovery alternative.
• They often require substantial modifications to current operations and
applications to access and use their cloud services.

Thus, many of these solutions are unsuitable for enterprise level data centers.

Another, often ill-conceived alternative used by companies to quickly adopt cloud
technology is to try to use traditional storage solutions in cloud services. This
approach is fraught with some serious problems of its own. In particular,
traditional storage is often:

• Hard to configure, taking hours to days to provision new storage for new
client applications
• Hard to tune, sometimes taking dedicated personnel to maintain/improve
storage performance
• Difficult to scale, frequently requiring complete system swap-out to
increase capacity and/or improve performance.

None of these attributes is conducive to cloud deployment and may, in fact, make
using cloud services more difficult and costly.

As should be obvious, the above-discussed paths to storage cloud services are
unrealistic and unsuitable solutions for enterprise class data centers. Not only do

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3
Step
Path
to
Storage
Cloud
Services

Using
IBM
System
Storage

they not improve current data center capabilities, but in general, they canʼt really
deliver on the promises of cloud.

At this stage in cloud technology, a more deliberate, pragmatic approach is
warranted. Specifically, such an approach allows a data center to take more
measured, incremental steps to change current storage infrastructure to
something more suitable to cloud storage yet still realize tangible, immediate
benefits. This prudent, evolutionary approach can effectively help a data center
convert to cloud technology in better shape and much more quickly overall than
one, massive step. A deliberate approach lets the data center enjoy immediate
advantages as well as time to formulate a customized plan to migrate toward a
fully efficient, autonomous and optimized storage cloud environment.

Ultimately, the resulting cloud storage domain should be:

• Expandable and contractible as workloads dictate
• Self-tuned by the system in response to diverse workloads
• More economical because the system automatically moves data to the
lowest cost appropriate storage
• Metered and billed automatically as required storage is used by
business units
• Self-provisioned by users when new storage is needed to meet
application requirements.
• Automated and managed: to achieve better utilization through cloud
storage

Steps
to
private
cloud
storage

At a minimum, a step-by-step approach should have at least three phases
including:

• A transformation of current infrastructure into hyper-efficient storage by
using advanced storage efficiency and virtualization features
• A transition of hyper-efficient storage into an automated and managed
environment by using advanced software solutions combined with new
and innovative storage capabilities
• A conversion of the automated environment into optimized storage
services by using self-service provisioning and state-of-the-art distributed
data/global file access capabilities.

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3
Step
Path
to
Storage
Cloud
Services

Using
IBM
System
Storage

Step
1:
Highly
efficient
or
“hyper-‐efficient”
storage

The problems with many traditional storage systems include:

• Performance tuning is tedious and difficult.
• Allocated storage is frequently wasted.
• Operations and provisioning are often complex.
• Overall storage utilization is usually poor to mediocre.
• Increasing performance and/or capacity often requires a complete
hardware swap-out.

As pointed out before, IBM has a vast array of disk and tape products to ease the
incremental approach and provide hyper-efficient storage to assist in migrating to
private cloud storage services.

For pure block storage, IBM has its storage virtualization management (Tivoli
Storage Productivity Center
or TPC) and the storage
virtualization platform (the
SAN Volume Controller or
SVC) which together
construct a storage
hypervisor that can be used
to move data and
dramatically improve IT
storage efficiency. The IBM
DS series of storage spans
from the low-end DS3500 to
their enterprise class
DS8000® product family
and IBM XIV® offers a
scalable grid with extreme
ease-of-use architecture that spans mid-range to enterprise storage
environments. Also, IBM Storwize® V7000, introduced in 2010, provides both
block services and virtualization for a pool of external storage systems.

For file data, IBM has a full gamut of products from their low-end to midrange N-
series storage to their Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) system
addressing the big data, massive capacity needs. This sophisticated offering is
based on their leading edge GPFS clustered and shared file system and is
designed to support high performance along with policy managed file data.
Recently, IBM enhanced their midrange V7000 product by adding SONAS

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3
Step
Path
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Storage
Cloud
Services

Using
IBM
System
Storage

capabilities to create a new Storwize V7000 Unified system, which supports both
file (i.e., NFS or CIFS) and block virtualization services on the same platform.

Specific advanced storage features of these IBM product offerings to combat the
problems associated with traditional storage include:

• Easy Tier – a capability available on DS8000 and Storwize V7000 that
automatically places data on storage tiers which can provide IO rates
required by the application.
• Storage thin provisioning – an advanced storage capability available on
SVC, DS8000, Storwize V7000 & V7000 Unified, XIV, SONAS and all N-
Series storage which can free up allocated but unused storage for other
application use.
• Extreme ease of use – available originally on XIV but now also available
on the DS8000, Storwize V7000 & V7000 Unified as well as SONAS
making managing a heterogeneous IBM storage environment look like a
homogeneous storage pool.
• Storage virtualization – available in SVC and Storwize V7000, which can
be used to non-disruptively migrate data from one subsystem to another
and improve utilization or refresh technology.
• Scaleability – systems that can scale both capacity such as SONAS
which expands from a few TBs up to 21.6PB capacity or scale
performance available with SONAS, XIV and StorwizeV7000
independently or in combination without requiring a disruptive hardware
swap-out.
• Deduplication– available on IBM ProtecTIER series of nearline
appliances and Tivoli® Storage Manager software, removes or does away
with storing non-unique or duplicate data, saving capacity.
• Compression – available on IBM tape storage, IBM Real-time
Compression system and Tivoli Storage Manager software, which
considerably reduces the storage footprint for highly repetitive data.
• High-density disks – 3TB drives are now available on all IBM disk
storage systems, which can be used to more economically support the
PBʼs of storage often required by the cloud.

In addition, ideal for archive clouds, IBM's TS1140 tape systems now provides
the fastest tape data transfer available and the IBM TS3500 tape library
connection provides more library slot counts, unmatched in the industry.

Step
2:
Automated
and
managed
storage
services

The second step previously enumerated in the incremental, evolutionary path to
the cloud is automation of infrastructure using sophisticated software and new
storage capabilities. By doing this, an efficient, stratified storage environment is
created thatʼs easy to deploy, bill for, manage and protect.

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3
Step
Path
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Storage
Cloud
Services

Using
IBM
System
Storage

IBM
Active
Cloud
Engine

IBM has introduced a new storage capability called the IBM Active Cloud Engine
available on its SONAS and Storwize V7000 Unified storage solutions. This new
capability supports a heretofore unheard of lightening fast file scan, able to
examine millions to billions of files in a matter of minutes and then take an action
based on the policy rules, such as:

 Identify files for backup or replication
 Detect files better served from another tier of storage including tape in a
TSM hierarchy
 Recognize expired or unwanted files

The automated policy capabilities of IBMʼs Active Cloud Engine further astound.
Armed with the file information discussed above, this remarkable offering and its
automated policy capabilities can be used to backup and/or replicate unprotected
file data, migrate aged and infrequently accessed file data to other, more
appropriate storage, and/or delete files based on mandated expiration dates. As
such, this feature can simplify storage protection while at the same time
automating much of the storage management process. More automated,
stratified, efficient and thus generally more economical storage, results.

SAN
Volume
Controller
(SVC)
Stretched
Clusters

IBM also has introduced its stretched cluster technology to facilitate automation
of disaster avoidance for two data centers. This capability permits a single
cluster of SVC nodes to connect two distinct data centers up to 300km apart and
stretch the virtual storage environment across these two locations. Thus, a
stretched cluster allows multiple applications to execute across two data centers
and access the same block storage, regardless of the actual data location. With
VMware Vmotion or PowerVM Live Partition Migration and the stretched cluster
feature, an application workload can move from one data center to another and
thereby mitigate the effects of slow developing disasters like hurricanes or other
outages. Moreover, such features, when used in a more ongoing fashion can
create a virtual data center environment that spans physical locations, Advanced
capabilities like disaster avoidance and virtual data centers can supply state-of-
the-art resilient operations required by any private storage cloud.

Tivoli
Product
Family

IBMʼs extensive product lines also include its Tivoli family of software. The Tivoli
Storage Productivity Center is the storage virtualization management component
of the storage hypervisor. The Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager now integrates
space efficient snapshots of both its Storwize V7000 and the SVC storage
hypervisor platform with VMware APIs to support instantaneous data protection
for virtual machines. In fact, an administrator could easily and selectively restore
individual files, virtual volumes or even entire VMs.

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3
Step
Path
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Storage
Cloud
Services

Using
IBM
System
Storage

Moreover, Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) Suite for Unified Recovery can provide
automatic, policy based archive storage management for data that spans online
storage, nearline disk storage and/or tape storage. With TSM, data thatʼs
infrequently referenced can be migrated off high-priced storage to a more
economical storage tier such as deduplicated disk or compressed tape storage.
Here again, this capability to automate is an indispensible element of cloud
services.

Step
3:
Optimized
storage
services

Optimizing the data centerʼs storage service is the final step on its path to cloud
storage. Taking this final step provides the data center a truly cloud-ready
storage environment.

As IT grows from a single data center to system services hosted around the
world, the optimization of storage services becomes ever more critical. For
example, one major consideration is what data must be accessible at each
location. Often data is improperly situated between sites, and resolving such
difficulties wastes storage and bandwidth.

With multiple data centers, customer requests also quickly proliferate. When this
occurs, even automated provisioning may not be sufficient. Further optimization
of the storage system is necessary to remove any administrative activity from the
provisioning critical path.

SONAS
Active
Cloud
Engine
distributed
data
with
global
access

Once again IBM Active Cloud Engine in SONAS successfully transitions a
companyʼs storage from a single site data center to a planet-wide, service
network. This new feature joins together multiple SONAS clusters into a solitary
global, unified name space with distributed file data access that allows a single
file to be read and processed from a joined SONAS cluster anywhere around the
world. Thus, using SONASʼs distributed file with global access, the storage
cluster recognizes the current location of the file data being accessed and moves
it automatically to the requestor thereby saving both bandwidth and storage. With
these new capabilities SONAS can:

 Distribute files to multiple sites, globally
 Localize data to improve file performance and reduce network costs
 Provide a global namespace that can fuse multiple SONAS sites into a
single file system
 Allow collaboration on information exchange across multiple sites while
still retaining ownership of data

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3
Step
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Storage
Cloud
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Using
IBM
System
Storage

In addition and as mentioned before, IBM Active Cloud Engineʼs file scan
capability is turbo charged. As such, with automated policy management, file
data can be prepositioned at any number of SONAS cluster locations and thus
yield quicker access to the prepositioned global data. Even more remarkably,
the SONAS Active Cloud Engine automatically maintains the highest integrity and
consistency for its file data by restricting write access if another cluster is editing
a file; once saved, any joined SONAS location can access the newly updated file
data.

All of the advanced capabilities of the IBM Active Cloud Engine are vital to
provide optimal, global cloud storage services. In fact, the IBM offering is leading
edge technology in providing a global network of connected data centers and true
private cloud services. For example, universities, R&D centers, and healthcare
companies may require data to be accessible outside their organizations. For
instance,

• Hospital MRI images may need to be sent to doctor offices.
• University research may need to be distributed to multiple institutions.
• R&D lab results may need to be shared with other groups around the
globe

Not only does Active Cloud Engine provide impressive worldwide connectivity of
SONAS file data, but it also does it efficiently and cost-effectively, saving clients
thousands of dollars on network costs. IBM Storwize V7000 Unified will

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Step
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Storage
Cloud
Services

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IBM
System
Storage

incorporate the global file management capabilities of Active Cloud Engine in the
near future.

Additional
Tivoli
product
capabilities

IBM has introduced its Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Standard Edition to help
data centers efficiently provision their pooled block storage. The administrator
defines categories of storage, selecting from the different storage attributes on
hand such as thin provisioning, performance capabilities, and data replication
options. After this input, Tivoli software provides a unique service catalog for
these classes of storage. Customers select a pre-defined storage type and
specify the capacity needed using the catalog and then Tivoli provisions the
storage.

IBMʼs Tivoli Storage Productivity Center also automatically measures and
records block and file storage use. This information is then delivered to Tivoli
Usage and Account Manager to invoice business units and/or other customers
for storage use. Such capability is important for any future storage cloud
services.

IBM
Global
Services

In addition to IBMʼs imposing lineup of hardware and software, IBM Global
Services can help resolve many other problems of a company on the road to
private storage cloud services. For example, the service group can work with
data center personnel to custom design a self-service portal into the cloud that
automates the allocation, provisioning and deployment process. IBM Global
Services can also maintain and manage private cloud environments for clients.

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3
Step
Path
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Cloud
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Storage

Summary

The path to a smooth transition to private cloud storage services generally is not
a quick one as promised by the “cloud-in-the-can” solutions; rather the process
should be an evolutionary one involving thoughtful steps. Hyper-efficient storage,
automation and management and optimization are all critical in the move.

As an established industry front-runner, IBM System Storage provides leading
edge technology products and capabilities ready to simplify and streamline the
transition. Capabilities like storage thin provisioning, Easy Tier, and storage
virtualization can help make a data centerʼs storage more hyper-efficient. The
Tivoli family of software solutions combined with Storwize V7000 storage can
automate VMware vSphere data protection. IBM Active Cloud Engine allows
effective and automated management of immense file data accumulations. IBMʼs
SONAS with Active Cloud Engine provides global scale file management and
access to distributed data at multiple, distinct locations. And finally, IBM Global
Services can help assist companies on their path to private cloud storage
services.

Silverton Consulting, Inc. is a Storage, Strategy & Systems
consulting services company, based in the USA offering
products and services to the data storage community.

Disclaimer: This document was developed with International
Business Machines Corporation (IBM) funding. Although the
document may utilize publicly available material from various sources,
including IBM, it does not necessarily reflect the positions of such sources
on the issues addressed in this document.

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3 Step Path to Storage Cloud Services using IBM System Storage

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