Real World StorageDealing with scale, operational complexity, users and bosses!

Warning!

This is a light hearted discussion on my experiences in storage over the last 30 years. As such it contains no technical deep

dives, no incisive comment or corporate analysis. If you’re easily offended, don’t worry, I do my best to make fun of everyone.

TRUISMSLet’s start by discussing the most obvious statements in storage…

Truisms

Everyone is expected to do more with less.

We are creating too much data.

Shared storage is dead!

Storage Administration is

dead.

Vendors have the solutions to all of

our problems.

Same As It Ever WasTHISCHARTISFROM1987…

FACTSBut what are the real facts about storage and data?

Facts

Storage prices ($/TB) continue to decline for all media

Data volumes are increasing – but a lot is transient

We have no way to measure the value of data

Storage hardware is super reliable

The future of storage is about managing the DATA and not the hardware

TechnologyHow has the technology changed over the past 30 years? Let’s have some fun….

IBM Mass Storage Subsystem

IBM 3420 Tape

IBM 3380 Disk (1987)

•3MB/s transfer rate•$70,000 list ($55,000/GB)•1.26GB capacity per drive• IBM 3380 model K 16ms response time

Hitachi Disk Drive

Hard Drive Form Factors

Hard Drive Heads

IBM0665(around 1985,capacity20-44MB)

ModernHDD(400GBdrive)

Storage Arrays and Crazy Names

Flash Memory in 1987!

• 0.3ms access time• 3MB/s transfer• 32-512MB capacity

Technology Realities

Storage media is truly a commodity

We have too much data to micromanage everything

Storage is cheap – don’t worry about a little wastage

Devicedensitieswillcontinuetoriseexponentially

PeopleOK, so technology is in a good place; what about the people?

USERSPERCEPTION: Technically these people are our customers. Without them we have no purpose. Users justify why we design and implement new storage systems.

REALITY: Users get in the way. Without them, we’d have lovely systems that never ran out of storage and always performed perfectly.

User Types

The Panicker The Daydreamer

The PerfectionistThe Hoarder

BOSSES• PERCEPTION: Our

managers are more in tune with customer and business needs than we are. They spend endless hours planning and strategizing how we implement best of breed technology.

REALITY: Bosses are a right pain in the a**e. They demand things at short notice, they moan about buying more storage and they expect you to use the technology that got them the best deal, not the stuff you know will work.

Boss Types

The Tyrant

The Walkover

The Corporate

Micromanager

COLLEAGUESPERCEPTION: There’s no “I” in TEAM; we all work together for the good of the company, supporting our colleagues to get the job done.

REALITY: No-one is as good at storage management as you; other people don’t adhere to standards, don’t clean up after them and are terrible at maintaining documentation. Given the choice, you’d prefer to do it all yourself.

Colleague Types

The Idler

The Tinkerer

The Loner

The Sticker

VENDORSPERCEPTION: As far as the vendor is concerned, it’s all about the customer. Your vendor will go that extra mile to ensure you’re happy and that their product is suited to your requirements.

REALITY: Vendors sell products; whether you need it or not, they will still try and sell it to you. Vendors are in it to make money; remember that when their salesmen come to call.

Vendor Types

The Backstabber

The MateThe Miser

Coping Strategies

Keep a little storage for

”emergencies”

Coping Strategies

Be a little Paranoid!

Coping Strategies

Never volunteer for the risky jobs

Lessons Learned

•You will never have enough storage•Document things separately•Be prepared to become a data manager

Thank You!