© 2007 DataCore Software Corp DataCore Announces SANsymphony 6.0 Enterprise Edition.
Product Review: DataCore SANsymphony-V R8 Storage ......across storage devices as pro-ducts like...
Transcript of Product Review: DataCore SANsymphony-V R8 Storage ......across storage devices as pro-ducts like...
SANsymphony-V is a storage vir-
tualisation product that provides
hosts with virtual access to stora-
ge capacity quickly and easily.
The solution works through Fib-
re-Channel- and iSCSI SAN con-
nectivity and can manage and vir-
tualize almost every type of stora-
ge (SATA, SAS, SSD, etc.).
SANsymphony-V synchronously
mirrors and asynchronously repli-
cates storage systems across di-
stances and offers snapshots as
well as continuous data protecti-
on (CDP) and thin-provisioning.
In general, SANsymphony-V
acts like a "hypervisor for stora-
ge" and performs similar benefits
across storage devices as pro-
ducts like VMware vSphere or
Microsoft Hyper-V do for server
hardware.
The current product version, R8,
of DataCore’s SANsymphony-V
comes with a new interface that
allows administrators to carry
out all storage management tasks
quickly and easily. In this test we
will install the software in our
test lab, provision storage capaci-
ty via iSCSI to a Windows host,
set up a synchronously mirrored
configuration of two redundant
DataCore servers (nodes), activa-
te continuous data protection
(CDP) and replicate asynchro-
nously to a third DataCore node.
In addition, we will reverse the re-
plication direction so that the vir-
tualisation solution restores data
from our third disaster recovery
node into the mirrored group of
nodes. In the end, we will go
through SANsymphony-V’s new
management tools and take a clo-
ser look at its features.
Test environment
SANsymphony-V requires two
or more CPUs with at least 2,0
GHz processors, 4 GByte RAM,
20 GB free hard disk drive
(HDD) space and a network port
for communication and manage-
ment. In addition it is necessary
to have two or more additional
ports for iSCSI and/or two Fibre-
Channel ports on each node. The
software runs on top of the Win-
dows Server 2008 R2 operating
system with .NET 3.5.1. The soft-
Product Review: DataCore SANsymphony-V R8
and challenging IT environments
Dr. Götz Güttich
With SANsymphony-V, DataCore offers a comprehensive software platform to provision,
share, migrate, replicate, expand, reconfigure and upgrade storage without delay or
downtime. IAIT took a closer look at the newest version.
1
Storage virtualization for sophisticated
ware can be installed on physical
or virtual machines.
In our test we set up three Win-
dows Server 2008 R2 systems
with dual-core CPUs, 4 GB
RAM and 60 GB HDD space.
Two of the systems were equip-
ped with three network cards for
the remote management, the syn-
chronous mirror connection and
the iSCSI SAN connection to the
hosts.
The third computer that served
as a replication target only nee-
ded two network connections as
it does not need ports for synchro-
nous mirroring. The 3 built-in
HDDs per server were used as fol-
lows: (1) for the operating sys-
tem, (1) to act as the storage pool
and (1) as a buffer for the asyn-
chronous replication. When addi-
tional capacity is needed, exter-
nal disk systems can be added as
well to the pool.
In our network configuration the
management and iSCSI connecti-
ons operated in the same subnet,
as we wanted to access the virtu-
al storage pool from all compu-
ters in our LAN. In a production
environment it would probably
make more sense to set up a sepa-
rate sub network for the SAN.
The synchronous mirror connecti-
on between the two SANsym-
phony-V nodes was set up as a
separate network. Before setting
up SANsymphony-V R8 in an
iSCSI environment it is import-
ant to install a Microsoft-Hotfix
under http:// support. microsoft.
com/kb/979711/en-us, on each no-
de. In the test we also used a Win-
dows Server 2008 system as a
host.
Installation
Note: In general, SANsymphony-
V is installed and configured by
DataCore-authorized solution pro-
viders, leaving the IT staff to per-
form day-to-day operations.
For the installation of SANsym-
phony-V R8 on a server, you sim-
ply select the set-up routine and
complete the installation wizard.
The wizard basically wants to
know which components it
should install; afterwards the set-
up runs automatically (it is only
necessary to agree to several dri-
ver installations). After success-
ful installation, the software asks
for a "DcsAdmin" account pass-
word for the Super-user account,
and completes installation with a
restart.
The SANsymphony-V installati-
on package consists of two com-
ponents: "Management console"
and "Server". The management
console can operate on any stan-
dard Windows system so adminis-
trators have the option to manage
the system from any remote Win-
dows computer (server or PC) wi-
thin their network.
There is also the option to install
the management console to-
gether with the server component
in one system. For convenience
in our test we installed the mana-
gement console and the server
component on one node and only
the server component on the two
other systems. The administrati-
on of the whole system was then
operated through node one.
Initial configuration
After the restart, SANsymphony-
V was running on all systems
and we started the administration
console to connect the DataCore
nodes with the local host. For
that, we defined "localhost" as
target and used the "Use-default-
credentials" for it. Afterwards the
console connected our "DcsAd-
min" account to the server.
After login, the administrator is
presented with the central mana-
gement tool that very much
looks and feels like a Microsoft
Office application and especially
reminds us of Outlook 2010. At
the top of the screen a ribbon of-
fers quick access to context-rele-
vant commands. On the left side,
tree charts indicate DataCore ser-
vers and the hosts that can access
the virtual storage (similar to fol-
ders in the Outlook Inbox) so
they can be accessed quickly.
Similar to newer Windows versi-
ons, after the first login, SAN-
symphony-V welcomes the user
with a "getting-started Page",
which runs through the necessary
steps to put the storage virtualisa-
tion solution into operation. Wor-
king down through the list re-
sults in a synchronously-mirro-
red DataCore server group with
at least one host that accesses a
virtual disk. Every step on this
opening page can be recalled and
repeated, so it plays an important
role during the daily operations.
In detail, the Getting started page
involves seven workflow steps.
The first step entails setting up of
additional user accounts to ac-
cess the management tools. SAN-
symphony-V differentiates bet-
ween "Owner" and "Reader"
user-rights, allowing you to defi-
ne users with read only access
who cannot modify the storage
2
The login at the management console
with host name or IP-Address
virtualization configuration. By
the way, when creating the user
accounts, the corresponding Win-
dow accounts have to be already
in place on the local workgroup
or domain.
When the administrator account
configuration finished, we connec-
ted to the second DataCore ser-
ver for the mirroring. This step is
therefore only necessary when a
mirrored configuration is needed,
e.g. our third system for replicati-
on did not require this step. To
add the mirror connection it is
enough to enter the server name
or the corresponding IP-address.
The mirror configuration requi-
res an existing Fibre-Channel or
iSCSI connection between the Da-
taCore servers.
Now we need to define the port
roles for the DataCore server
connections (for node 1 and the
mirror, which have been introdu-
ced into the system so far). That
configuration wizard offers an
overview on existing connecti-
ons and their designated functi-
ons. In this list, administrators
define the task of the single net-
work interface and choose from
mirror-port, management-port,
frontend or backend roles. In our
test environment we defined a wi-
reless LAN-connection as mana-
gement-port, the iSCSI-connec-
tion as frontend and the iSCSI-in-
itiator as mirror.
In the next step we use "Register
a Host" to connect a separate Win-
dows-Server-2008 machine to a
virtual disk. For that it was ne-
cessary to specify its operating
system (supported host operating
systems are listed later in detail).
At this stage one can activate Mul-
tipath or ALUA (Asymmetric Lo-
gical Unit Access) paths. In order
to make the host access work, so-
me smaller configuration steps
are needed on the host as well.
Our next step is to create the first
disk pool. This consists of the
physical hard drives that are used
by SANsymphony-V to generate
dynamic virtual disks for the
hosts. In our example we used
the internal disks of the DataCo-
re servers. Though independent
from each other, the HDD disk-
pools on each site should be com-
parable in size and capacity.
As soon as the disk pool was defi-
ned, a virtual disk can be created.
In our mirrored DataCore server
group the disks can be generated
either as "mirrored" or as "non-
mirrored" volumes. Mirrored
disks are highly available over
multiple paths. At this point it is
also possible to activate the Con-
tinuous-Data-Protection (CDP)
function for the virtual disk. The
latter allows the administrator to
generate Rollback-points in a ti-
me line which represents the data
on a virtual disk at a certain
point of time in the past.
In that way, CDP allows you to
correct unwanted changes made
to data in the past. In a producti-
on environment it is possible to
allocate the rollback point as ano-
ther virtual volume to the hosts.
At this point during our tests, we
created a virtual disk with syn-
chronous mirroring and CDP for
later use.
The last step on the Getting Star-
ted page takes on the task of pro-
visioning the virtual disk to the
host. In the test we selected our
defined host and assigned the
created virtual disk to it. With
that step the initial configuration
of two mirrored DataCore ser-
vers with a useable virtual disk
was finalized.
Summing up, we can say that the
Getting Started page with its wi-
zards guide an administrator with
some storage experience quickly
and systematically through the in-
itial configuration. With many
useful commands, e.g. for registe-
ring new hosts or users, it also re-
mains an important central tool
in on-going operations.
Note: A short cut known as
Quick Serve Virtual Disks is also
available. In one click, it takes
care of all the necessary steps to
serve a mirrored, high-perfor-
mance, cached, virtual disk with
thin provisioning to a host.
3
The Getting Started Page
Host Configuration
In order to connect the virtual
disk via iSCSI and make it acces-
sible from the host like a local
hard-drive, it is necessary to start
the standard Microsoft iSCSI-In-
itiator on the host. Then the admi-
nistrator chooses the search tab,
selects “Add Portal” and adds
the IP addresses of the DataCore
servers. In the "target" tab they
are assigned to the available
hosts. If multi-path support is re-
quired which is generally recom-
mended for high availability, the
DataCore Multipath I/O-driver
(MPIO) also has to be installed
on the host with an easy setup rou-
tine.
As soon as it is installed, the “Vo-
lumes” tab in the MPIO console
provides the information about ac-
tive and passive connections for
each virtual disks. If an active Da-
taCore server fails or is taken out-
of-service (in the test we just de-
activated it through the configura-
tion interface), the second Data-
Core server changes automatical-
ly to the active mode, which can
be tracked in the MPIO-console
on the host. When the offline Da-
taCore server is returned to ser-
vice, it takes over the primary
host connection for that virtual
disk. The SANsymphony-V mana-
gement interface also allows the
configuration of the preferred
path within the mirrored group.
The MPIO console provides addi-
tional interesting information to
the user. "Adapters/ iSCSI Initia-
tor" shows the existing connecti-
ons to each DataCore server.
"DataCore Storage Servers" on
the other hand provides the de-
tails about the number of paths
and volumes connected to the Da-
taCore servers and active or passi-
ve paths. As soon as the
iSCSI-configuration on the hosts
is finalized, virtual disks can be
connected or disconnected on the
fly.
In summary, we came away
with the impression that the allo-
cation of storage to a host with
the SANsymphony-V configurati-
on tools is fast and easy and the
deployment of the software is no
problem for a storage administra-
tor.
Setting up asynchronous repli-
cation to a third server
To set up a disaster recovery con-
figuration on a third DataCore ser-
ver, the administrator has to
define a buffer disk to hold the
delta writes that have not yet be-
en transferred to the remote Data-
Core server. If the replication is
meant to operate bi-directionally,
the same should be done on the re-
mote DataCore server.
Before the buffer HDDs can be in-
tegrated into the SANsymphony-
V system, they have to be format-
ted and named. To define the buf-
fer, the administrator right clicks
the respective DataCore server
entry in the tree structure of the
management pane and selects
"view details" where he/she can
insert the buffer drive in the tab
"properties".
After that is done, it is sufficient
to right click on the existing ser-
ver-group in the SANsymphony-
V configuration tool and choose
the command "Partner with repli-
cation group". Here it is necessa-
ry to insert the server-name or IP
addresses and define the credenti-
als with which the management
console can login on the local
and distant servers, e.g. with our
DscAdmin account. The final
step is to choose the virtual disks
for replication. Here administra-
tors have to keep in mind that the
number and size of the target and
the source virtual disks have to
be identical. After those few
steps the replication is set up.
The direction of the replication
can be reversed at any time
through an operation in the "Rep-
lication" tab of each virtual disk.
This is also were checkpoints for
actions like Snapshot updates are
set. These can be mounted from
the host like any other virtual vo-
lume. In our test environment we
did not see any difficulties du-
ring the setup and configuration
of the replication.
4
The information page about the disk pools also includes graphic resource dis-
plays
Feature scope of the configurati-
on tool
At this point we take a closer
look at additional features availa-
ble from SANsymphony-V and
the new GUI. As mentioned ear-
lier, the management tool with
the ribbon and the tree-descripti-
on on the left hand side looks si-
milar to Microsoft Outlook 2010,
while the Getting Started page re-
minds us of the "Initial-configura-
tion tasks" in current Windows
Server versions. The commands
in the ribbon or command bar de-
pend on the menu context, depen-
ding on whether it is the con-
figuration of virtual disks, hosts
or DataCore servers.
The user only sees relevant mana-
gement choices for the current
task, and the correct configurati-
on details, avoiding endless me-
nu options. Thus each part of the
management tool stays transpa-
rent. In our test we felt that the
management tools are arranged lo-
gically and clearly structured so
that an administrator with some
experience in managing a storage
network should not have any diffi-
culties. We also liked that the ma-
nagement tool presents data in
real-time, not only for the volu-
me size of the replication buffer
or the disk utilization but for all
information presented by the
tool. Thus IT representatives stay
constantly informed about the
state of the storage network.
With regards to the feature set of
the tool, users find on the left
hand side of the screen two tree-
structures that represent the Data-
Core servers and the registered
hosts. Below each node it is possi-
ble to access the subcomponents.
So within the server-groups you
can find the single DataCore ser-
vers, below them the defined vir-
tual pools, below the pools the
allocated virtual disks and so on.
It is therefore easy to navigate
through the storage environment.
As mentioned earlier, the menu
bar offers often-used commands
and are accessed through the rib-
bon. For example, in the "Home"
menu you find the entry for virtu-
al disks that gives information on
the status of the nodes, the conti-
nuous data protection, the connec-
ted hosts and the type of the host
access (e.g. read or write).
From the same location, the admi-
nistration console also offers a "re-
place" option, with which you
can relocate data in order to possi-
bly regulate the workload bet-
ween the disk pools – more
about that later.
The "Disk-Pools" tab shows a
list of the existing disk pools
with connected servers, their si-
ze, their type (e.g. dynamic),
their status, utilization etc. Here
the pools can also be renamed or
deleted or even expanded by ad-
ding physical disks.
The Hosts overview also offers a
list with the status, information
about the operating system and
connections (multipath or not).
Here users also find an option to
assign virtual disks to the hosts,
revoke the assignment and simi-
lar services.
In the User list, the configuration
tool delivers detailed information
about user roles and events. Wi-
zards for the assignment of roles
as well as the registration or dele-
tion of user accounts complete
this screen.
The "System Health" ribbon deli-
vers a list of problems detected
for the specific devices as well as
the current device status. With a
double click on the respective
entry the administrators receive a
more detailed overview.
Under "Performance", adminis-
trators can create graphic over-
views of performance metrics of
the storage network in catego-
ries, instances or counters.
Available categories include ser-
ver, disk pool, mirrors, disk
pools, host iSCSI ports, hosts,
physical disks or server groups,
while the instances contain all or
single components. The counters
provide metrics about read and
write operations, the cache and
similar parameters. If needed, ad-
ministrators can incorporate mul-
tiple counters into the graphic. In
5
Restore points of the Continuous Data Protection are defined via a time line
this case they are presented as dif-
ferently-colored curves.
In addition it is possible to define
times and the scale of the gra-
phics to the meet the user’s uni-
que requirements. In the test, the
performance graphics were quick-
ly defined and the configuration
window was a useful place to im-
mediately discover performance
data on single components or ser-
ver groups.
The task overview enables you
to define tasks that are evoked by
triggers, e.g. Mail-Alerts for utili-
zed drives. There are different
trigger types like "Log Message
Posted", "Monitor State Chan-
ged", "Replication checkpoint"
and others. It is also possible to
combine multiple triggers and car-
ry them all out if anyone of them
gets activated or to start them on-
ly when all trigger conditions are
met.
Among the actions, there are se-
veral options in addition to the
mentioned mail alerts like "Post
Log Message", "Reclaim Space",
"Revert from Snapshot", "Run
Command", "Run Powershell
Script" or "Update Snapshot". In
the test no problems occurred
whilst working with the tasks.
The event log provides a list of
events with the status of the host,
disks and others. The alert list
comprises urgent messages (e.g.
in cases like a lost server connecti-
on, etc.) that require immediate
action from the IT staff.
Beneath the "Home" menu, an
entry called "Common Actions"
resides. Here DataCore servers
can be added, disk pools and virtu-
al disks can be created and alloca-
ted, hosts can be defined, user
accounts generated and remote
connections to server groups can
be set up.
As for hosts, SANsymphony-V
supports "Windows Server 2008"
(also Windows Vista, Windows 7
and Windows Server 2008 R2),
"Other Windows Versions",
"ESX" and "XenServer", "Suse
Linux Enterprise Server 11",
"Other Linux-Versions", "AIX",
"HP-UX", "Solaris" and
"Others".
The rest of the entries in the me-
nu bar vary according to the con-
text, and change with the chosen
elements. In summary, we have
come to the conclusion that the
combination of menu-bar/ribbon
is an efficient method for acces-
sing the most important manage-
ment aspects of SANsym-
phony-V.
Further configuration tasks can
be carried out directly at the com-
ponent level in the tree-structure.
In addition to the mentioned com-
mands like connecting to a repli-
cation group, it is also possible
to back up the configuration, defi-
ne the mail server for alerts, start
or stop DataCore servers, activa-
te licenses, etc.
An IT operator can also start and
stop individual DataCore servers.
Within the server nodes informa-
tion section they will find data
about CPU, RAM and the opera-
ting system in use as well as
about the replication buffer, the
cache settings and the storage uti-
lization. In addition, there are
lists of the physical hard drives
available similar to the disk
pools with utilization, virtual
disk with replications status,
snapshots, check points as well
as the CDP. Also, available ports
with type (e.g. iSCSI) and status
(connected or not) can be found
in the lists under the server node
level. The lists are not only wor-
thwhile information for configu-
ration steps, but helpful when
creating disk pools or connecting
virtual disks to a host.
In the display for physical hard
drives, SANsymphony-V offers
user graphics, while the virtual
disk overviews help to define
snapshot and rollback points
through the timeline, check the
replication buffer status or set
checkpoints. Snapshots and CDP
roll back points are then represen-
ted under the virtual disk as a
usable copy.
6
With the performance graphics, authorised employees gain a quick overview
on the performance of their storage components
It is important to mention that
the IT employee can set alert le-
vels for "Attention", "Warning"
and "Critical" within the proper-
ties during the disk pool configu-
ration, both for utilization and
for latency. The alerts also allow
you to monitor the performance
of the disk pools. On that display
you find an allocation map that il-
lustrates the performance of the
pools in graphical form. With the
help of the information shown he-
re, administrators can optimize
and load balance the pool
through the previously mentio-
ned "replace" feature.
Among the entries for the server
ports, the configuration tool deli-
vers information about the adap-
ter type (e.g. Ethernet), chipset
and MAC-Address. The host ent-
ries offer details about the connec-
ted virtual disks and applicable
ports. Here it is also possible to
connect or disconnect virtual
disks. For all sub nodes there is
an event list and performance gra-
phic for the respective com-
ponents available.
Configuration tool for the remo-
te group
If the authorised employee logs
in to the remote replication group
instead of the mirror group then
they have full access to the remo-
te DataCore server with all its as-
sets. There are some interesting
aspects making it possible to mo-
nitor the replication status with re-
maining data, time lag and
related items from the other side
and to reverse the replication di-
rection from the remote server.
Apart from that, the management
tools correspond to those of the
Server group.
Conclusion
With SANsymphony-V R8, Data-
Core offers an extremely effi-
cient central administration tool
for storage virtualisation with syn-
chronous mirroring for high
availability, asynchronous replica-
tion for disaster recovery and fur-
ther important function like
virtual disk pooling, thin provisio-
ning, snapshots for backups and
restores as well as CDP for Conti-
nuous Data Protection.
Despite the comprehensive fea-
ture set, the solution is easy to ad-
minister and monitor, thanks to
the intuitive and well thought-out
configuration tools with real time
updates. According to the ven-
dor, the product is appropriate
for a wide range of storage net-
works ranging from a minimum
size of one terabyte to very large
multi-petabyte, enterprise confi-
gurations. It has the potential to
reduce a lot of the storage admi-
nistrator’s workload in all envi-
ronments and considerably
improves data protection and
availability. That is why we are
able to thoroughly recommend
this DataCore solution without re-
striction. In our SANsymphony-
V testing environment every-
thing worked as expected from
the very beginning.
Götz Güttich owns the Intitute
for analysis of IT-Components in
Korschenbroich, Germany. His
blog can be found at www.iait.eu.
The port overview displays existing network ports with their system status
The MPIO console delivers lots of in-
teresting information about the hosts
7
DataCore
SANsymphony-V R8
Software platform to provision,
share, migrate, replicate, ex-
pand, reconfigure and upgrade
storage without delay or downti-
me.
Advantages:
- Easy management
- Central administration
- Lots of useful functions
- Real time updates
- Sophisticated monitoring
- Great flexibility
Further information:
DataCore Software
www.datacore.com