data protection in unified storage environment

7/28/2019 Data Protection in Unified Storage Environment

1/7

Tech

nology

Insig

htSeries

Data Protection in a Unied Storage

Environment

Evaluator Group

John WebsterJune, 2012


2/7

Data Protection in a Unified Storage Environment

Page1of6 Copyright2012,EvaluatorGroup,Inc.

Copyright2012EvaluatorGroup,Inc. Allrightsreserved.


3/7


Aretraditionaldataprotectionprocessesunsustainable?Thedatastorageindustryisexperiencinganaccelerateddemandforstoragecapacitythatwillmakethe

moreor

less

normal

compounded

annual

growth

rates

of

50

80%

seem

mild

by

comparison.

This

heighteneddemandcomesfrommanysources:

Businessexpansionandthedemandfromtoplevelmanagementtocreatemorebusiness

opportunities.Previously,Clevelmanagementwasmoreheavilyfocusedonbusiness

preservationandriskmanagement.EightypercentoftheITbudgetwasdevotedtomaintaining

existingapplications.Thependulumisnowswinginginthedirectionofnewapplication

developmentandtheuseofdataanalyticstogaincompetitiveadvantage.

Theneedtoleverageadditionaldatatypes.Thesemorevoluminoustypesincludeunstructured

data,richmedia,andmachinetomachinedata(RFID,GPS,etc.)thatfeednewapplicationsand

analyticssystems.

Theinfluxofdataspawnedoutsideofthedatacenter.Ahugewaveofdatageneratedbythe

webandmobilecomputingdevicesisnowbeingcapturedinsidethedatacenter.

Theneedtoretainmoreinformationforlongerperiodsoftime.Thisneedisdrivenbythe

traditionalsourcesofdataretention,includingauditandcompliance,aswellasnewapplication

usersneedingtoanalyzechangeovertimewithintheirareasoffocus(markets,populations,

scientificresearch,etc.)

Giventheacceleratingdemandforstoragecapacityweareseeingacrossindustrysegments,webelieve

thatexistingdataprotectionpracticesareunsustainable.Infact,manyorganizationsrealizethismainly

becauseoftheimpactofincreasedcapacitydemandandbudgetlimitations.Backupprocessesare

inadequate,creatingincreasedexposuretodatalossandmakingrecoverymorecomplexandtimeconsuming.

Thisincreasewillhaveasignificant,multifacetedimpactonexistingdataprotectionprocessesthat

simplyreplacingtapewithdiskasabackupmediawillnotfullyaddress(seeFigure1below).Ifthese

processesarenot effectivelyaddressedinatimelymanner:

Thegrowingamountofdataincludedthebackupprocessplacesincreasedpressureonstoragemanagerswhomayalreadybestrugglingtoensurethatenterprisedataisadequatelyprotected

Thecapitalbudgetdevotedtodataprotectionthatalreadyaccountsforhalfofmanyenterprisestoragebudgetswillcontinuetogrow

Theamountoftimerequiredtoprotecttheinformationmayextendbeyondwhatispracticalfromabusinessoperationsstandpoint

Theamountofdatatoprotectmayrequiremorebackupsystemsthancanbephysicallyaccommodated

NewITprojectscouldbeimpacted,as administratorsrealizethattheyarecompetingforalreadystraineddataprotectionresources



4/7


Capacitybasedlicensingthresholdscanbeexceededbothonandoffsiteandturnintounpleasantbudgetbusters

Initial Full

Backup

Monthly

Fulls

Daily

Incrementals WeeklyFulls

Quarterly

Fulls

Yearly

Full

Two Copies one is offsite

Initial Full

Backup

Monthly

Fulls

Daily

Incrementals WeeklyFulls

Quarterly

Fulls

Yearly

Full

Two Copies one is offsite

Figure1.TypicalDataCenterBackupCycles

TowardDataProtectionSustainabilityGoingbeyondthediskfortapeswap,wenotethatstoragevendorshavecommonlyrespondedby

enhancingtraditionalbackupandrecoveryproducts,whichimprovestheirspeedandcapacity

limitations.Anotherapproachistointroducenewdataprotectionappliancesthatcombinesoftware

andhardwaretosimplifyoperations.Whetherornotthesearelongtermsolutionsormerely

incrementalimprovementsdependsonthespecificenvironment.

Otherevolvingapproachesincludeinsystemdataprotection,ordataprotectionasanintegralpartofa

storagesystem.Thiscaninvolveaddingdatacopyfunctionsand/ordatamoversforautomateddata

protectionmanagedbypolicycontrols.PolicycanalsobesetbystorageadministratorstoallowotherIT

staffmembersapplicationadministrators,forexampletomanageasubsetofthedataprotection

environmentviaafamiliarGUI.CustomizedrestorationcanalsobesupportedviathisGUI.

Applicationawarenessisyetanotherapproach.Thisreferstotheabilitytoimplementapplication

leveldataprotectioninwaysthatcanbemanagedbyotherITstaffmembersincludingapplication

administrators.Italsomeansthatasinglerestorationprocesscanoccurattheleveloftheentire

application.

Suchsystemlevelapproachesreducebackupdatavolumethroughtheuseofcompressionand

deduplication,copycontrolsnapsandreplicasandautomatedtieringthatincludesintegrationwith

anactivearchive.Thegoalforstorageadministratorstakingthisapproachistofindastoragesystem

thatsimplifiesandreducesmanagementburden,suchashaving fewermanagementprocessesperunit

ofprimarydatathroughautomation.Here,wetakeacloserlookatthecapabilitiesbuiltintotheHitachi

UnifiedStorage(HUS)platformthataddressthenextgenerationofdataprotectionstrategiesneededto

supportdatagrowth.



5/7


HitachiUnifiedStorage(HUS)Block,File,andObjectFromamanagementperspective,HitachiUnifiedStorage(HUS)unifiesanenhancedversionofitsAMS

arrayswithitsnewlyacquiredBlueArchighperformanceNAStechnologyunderacommonmanagement

umbrellatheHitachiCommandSuite.HUSisanintegrationofallthree,butissoldasasingleunified

storageplatform.

As

such,

HUS

simultaneously

supports

and

manages

block

(commonly

implemented

asSAN)andfilebasedstorage(commonlyimplementedasNAS).

Asauniquedifferentiator,HUSalsosupportsobjectbasedstorageviatheFileModulesideofHUS.

Unlikeblockstorage,anobjectbasedfilesystemcreatesandmaintainsadditionalintelligentattributes

ofafilesmetadata.Alongwitheachfile,Hitachisfilesystemimplementationcreatesattributes

describingthefile(suchascontent,replicationstatus,ACL,etc.)thatitstoresasfilemetadataalong

withfiledatatocreatethedataobject.Undercertainapplications,thiscapabilitycanacceleratefile

searches,tiering,migration,andreplicationonalargescale.

TheobjectiveofHUSistheunifiedmanagementofblock,file,andobjectbasedstoragetocreatea

services

oriented

storage

management

model.

Data

protection

is

included

in

this

management

model.

Dataprotectionandreplicationsoftwareisstoragearraybased.ForHUS,thisincludesacombinationof

existingHitachidataprotectionproductsandstoragearraybasedsoftwareintroducedinconjunction

withtheHUSannouncement.Someapplytobothblockandfile/objectbasedstorage(Hitachi

ApplicationProtector,forexample)withintheHUS,whileothersapplytotheblockorfileonly.

HitachiApplicationProtector(HAPRO)HitachiApplicationProtector(HAPRO)isanewapplicationconsistentcopymanagementsoftwarethat

allowsstorageadministratorstotransfercontrolofHitachiCopyonWriteSnapshotandHitachi

ShadowImagefullvolumecloningsoftwaretoapplicationadministrators.Theseinsystemreplication

applicationsaresupportedontheblockstoragesideofHUS,andareincludeditsbasicoperatingsystem.

Oninitialrelease,HAPROisdesignedtopresentafamiliar,applicationconsistentinterfacetoMicrosoft

applicationadministrators.ItisdesignedtointegratewithnativeapplicationmanagementAPIsto

supportapplicationconsistentprotectionofapplicationsasfollows:

MicrosoftintegratedwithVSSandpresentedtoapplicationadministratorsviatheMicrosoftManagementConsole(MMC)forExchange,SQLServer,andSharePoint(availablenow)

OracleHDSGUIintegratedwithRMANbackupandrestorecapabilities(futurerelease) SAPbackupAPIforComputerCenterManagementSystem(CCMS)backupandrecoverytools

(futurerelease)

HAPROremovesthedependencyonstorageadministratorstoperformbackupandrestoreoperations.

Attheapplicationlevel,HAPROallowstheapplicationadministratortorestoreanapplicationandallof

itspertinentdata,metadata,andfilestothestatetheyexistedjustbeforeanincidentifandwhen

required.However,theabilitytorestoreatthefilelevelisalsosupported.

Asmentioned,HUSsupportsHitachiCopyonWriteSnapshotaswellasHitachiShadowImageforfull

volumecloning. However,HitachihasnowincludedenhancementsthatallowHUSadministratorsto

useconsistencygroupswithHUS.Snapshotpoolsizeisnolongerlimited.Storageadministratorscan

dynamicallycreate,edit,anddeletesnapshotpropertiesandaddsnapshotstoragecapacityviaHitachi



6/7


DynamicProvisioning(HDP)pools. ImprovementsinHitachiShadowImageprovidefastersplit/write

executionforoverallperformanceimprovements.

HitachiDynamicReplicatorHitachiDynamicReplicator(HDR)isapplicationawarereplicationappliancethatsupports

heterogeneousserver

and

storage

environments

including

replication

between

heterogeneous

storage

devices.Itbuiltonacontinuousdataprotection(CDP)engineandoffersremoteofficedataprotection,

applicationlevelrecovery,andfilelevelrecoveryfeatures.ItcanalsobeusedinconjunctionwithHUS

toprovidedataprotectionandrecoveryservicesacrossmultipleplatform,servers,applications,and

arrays.ApplicationlevelrecoveryispossibleforMicrosoftWindows,Linux,andOracleSolarisbased

applications.Individualfilelevelgranularityisalsosupportedforrecoveryand,likeHAPRO,canalsobe

managedbyapplicationandotherITadministrators.

HDRsCDPengineallowsanadministratortoessentiallydialbacktoapointintimejustbeforea

disasterorfailureeventbycapturingchangestoafileinrealtimeandasthesechangesoccur.CDP

appliestolocalandremoteapplicationenvironments,multipleservers,andmultiplevirtualmachines1

withinthose

environments.

Change

data

is

captured

and

sent

via

existing

network

links

where

they

are

capturedbyaseparateHDRserver.HDRresidentdatacanalsobereplicatedsimultaneouslytolocaland

remoterepositoriesfordisasterrecoveryandbusinesscontinuancepurposes.

JetCloneForfilebasedreplication,HitachihasadaptedBlueArcspaceefficientsnapshotandfileclone

technologytotheunifiedmanagementenvironment. JetClonemaintainsonephysicalcopyand

provideswritablesnapshotsforthemultipleapplicationsthatusecopies.JetClonecreateswritable

snapshots,whichmeansthatonceasnapshotismade,anyandallsubsequentchanges(deltas)are

trackedandmaintainedinblockspointedtobytheoriginalmetadatatableentry.Allchangestothefile

copiesaremaintainedintheformofwritablesnapshotsbelongingtoeachprocess.Updatesaremade

andtracked

without

affecting

the

original,

saving

capacity,

streamlining

storage

administrative

time,

and

reducingcomplexity.

JetMirrorJetMirrorleveragestheBlueArcobjectbasedfilessystemstechnologytoacceleratesynchronousand

asynchronousreplicationtometrodistanceandremotesites.BecausetheBlueArcHNASsideofHUS

storesdataasuniqueobjectsratherthanfiles,objectsarereplicatedtotargetsystems.Asaresult,the

replicationprocessdoesnotneedtoreadthoughtraditionalfilesystemstructuresandmetadatato

identifyitssourcedata.Rather,JetMirrorscansanindexedlistofobjectstoidentifysourcedatafor

replicationtothetargetsystem.Inaddition,metadataupdatesareperformedbytheobjectbasedfile

systemwithoutopeningtheobject.ThecombinationoftheseandotherBlueArcattributesallows

storageadministratorstosignificantlyreducethetimeandbandwidthrequiredtoreplicatethedata

offsite.

1VirtualmachinesupportcoversVMwareESX,XenServer,andMicrosoftHyperV.



7/7


AddingExistingHitachiDataProtectionCapabilitiestoHUSAdditionalblockbasedreplicationsoftwarepackagesthatarealsosupportedontheHUSplatform

include:

HitachiReplication

Manager

(HRpM)a

module

within

Hitachi

Command

Suite

that

allows

the

HUS

administratortoaggregatethesetup,configuration,andongoingmanagementofmultipleblockbased

copyfunctionssupportedforusewithHUS.ThisappliestolocalandremoteHUSsystems.

AdministratorscanscheduleandautomatereplicationprocessesusingHRpM.

HitachiDataProtectionSuite(HDPS)basedonCommVaultSimpana.

HitachiTrueCopySynchronousandTrueCopyExtendedDistanceforremotecopyingoffullvolume

dataclones,TrueCopySynchronoussupportssynchronousdatareplicationandimmediaterecoverability

whenusingatargetHDSstorageplatformlocatedupto300kmaway.TrueCopyExtendedDistance

utilizesasynchronousreplicationforvolumecloningoveranydistancefordisasterrecoveryandbusiness

continuancepurposes.

ConclusionHUSrepresentsanadvancementinstoragesystembaseddataprotectioninthatboththeblockandfile

sidesofaunifiedstoragesystemareincludedundertheunifiedstorageumbrella.Forblockstorage,

administratorscanuseHitachiCopyonWriteSnapshotandShadowImage.Forfileandobjectstorage,

JetCloneisoffered.Bothsupportinsystembackupandrecoveryprocesses. HAPROcombinesthese

capabilitiesforbothblockandfiledataprotectionunderaunifiedstorageumbrellathatismanaged

fromafamiliarinterface.

Inaddition,

both

HAPRO

and

Dynamic

Replicator

give

storage

administrators

the

ability

to

implement

applicationleveldataprotectioninwaysthatcanbemanagedbyotherITstaffmembersincluding

applicationadministrators.Thistakesasetoftimeconsumingandrepetitivetasks,anddelegatesthem

tootherITstakeholders.

Asnotedearlier,acceleratingdemandforstoragecapacityacrossindustrysegmentsisgradually

renderingexistingdataprotectionpracticesineffectiveandunsustainable.Insystemdataprotection

relievesthepressureonexistingdatacenterbasedbackupandrecoveryprocessessotheycanbe

continuallyscaledupwardtocoverexplosivedatagrowth.Applicationleveldataprotectionthatisalso

implementedwithinthestoragesystemallowsstorageadministratorstosimplifytheirworking

environments.HitachideliversboththesecapabilitieswithintheHUSframework.

AboutEvaluatorGroupEvaluatorGroupInc.isdedicatedtohelpingITprofessionalsandvendorscreateandimplementstrategiesthatmakethemostof

thevalueoftheirstorageanddigitalinformation.EvaluatorGroupservicesdeliverindepth,unbiasedanalysisonstorage

architectures,infrastructuresandmanagementforITprofessionals. Since1997EvaluatorGrouphasprovidedservicesfor

thousandsofendusersandvendorprofessionalsthroughproductandmarketevaluations,competitiveanalysisandeducation.

www.evaluatorgroup.comFollowusonTwitter@evaluator_group

http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/advanced-education/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/advanced-education/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/evaluator-series-research/http://www.evaluatorgroup.com/services/for-it-professionals/

data protection in unified storage environment

Documents