hitachi architecture guide hus vm

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Architecture Guide

By Hitachi Data Systems

December 2012

DATA DRIVEN GLOBAL VISION CLOUD PLATFORM STRATEGIC ION POWERFUL RELEVANT PERFORMANCE SOLUTION CLOUD VIRTUAL BIG DATA SOLUTION ROI FLEXIBLE DATA DRIVEN VIS

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ARCHITECTURE GUIDE 2

Contents

Executive Summary 3

Chapter 1: Unifed Storage with Enterprise Virtualization 4

A Single Virtualized Platform with Hitachi Unified Storage VM 4

Chapter 2: Hitachi Unified Storage VM Architecture 4

One Platform for All Data 5

Hitachi Unifed Storage VM Hardware Components 5

High-Performance Switched Network 11

Cache and Control Memory 12

Front-End Design 12

High-Performance SAS Back-End Design 13

Chapter 3: Software Packages 17

Block Module Software Bundles 17

File Module Software Bundles 24

Conclusion: A Single Virtualized Platform for all Data 26


Hitachi Unified Storage VM Architecture Guide

Executive Summary

Hitachi Unified Storage VM (HUS VM) is a storage platform for small to medium enterprises that combines storage virtualization services with unified block, file and object data management (see Figure 1). This versatile, scalable plat-form provides a new storage virtualization system with central storage services for existing storage assets. Unified management delivers end-to-end central storage management of all virtualized internal and external storage. A unique, hardware-accelerated, object-based file system supports intelligent file tiering and migration as well as virtual NAS functionality without compromising performance or scalability.

This storage platform requires less floor space and cooling due to innovative new technologies and packaging. It offers tighter integration with server virtualization and improved storage administrator productivity through Hitachi Command Suite. Hitachi Command Suite is an open, standards-based suite of tools that provides comprehensive management, control and reporting for all file, object and block services. This software suite enables single-pane-of-glass management of all virtualized internal and external storage attached to HUS VM.

Using this system, you can deploy virtual server applications within a new storage virtualization framework. You can extend new services to your current storage investments and more closely align IT with business objectives by enhancing capacity efficiency. HUS VM storage systems provide the foundation for matching application service requirements to different classes of storage and for delivering critical services.

Figure 1. Hitachi Unified Storage VM


Chapter 1: Unified Storage with Enterprise Virtualization

To achieve growth and efficiency, businesses today must overcome a range of challenges while faced with surg-ing operating expenses and flat budgets. Building an enterprise-level storage infrastructure should not be one of their challenges. Hitachi Unified Storage VM (HUS VM) changes the storage economics equation by introducing the world’s first unified storage platform with enterprise storage virtualization. With storage virtualization, businesses gain higher value and higher functionality, resulting in greater capacity efficiency and extensive cost savings.

A Single Virtualized Platform with Hitachi Unified Storage VM

Hitachi Data Systems offers a unique approach to storage management: a single virtualized platform for all data (structured and unstructured) with single-pane-of-glass management for heterogeneous environments (see Figure 2). We are focused on the evolving requirements of structured and unstructured data. And we are the only vendor who can provide you with a single, virtualized and scalable data management architecture for all open systems platforms as well as all data and information types.

Figure 2. Hitachi Consolidated Storage Virtualization

Hitachi Unified Storage VM enables a common set of management tools across all storage assets, whether they are the products of Hitachi Data Systems or our competitors. Our common platform and management tools improve the productivity of storage administrators and enable better cost management (power, cooling, resource sharing), simpli-fied data migration (block and file storage), and higher availability (IOPS and reliability) with less risk (data protection).

Chapter 2: Hitachi Unified Storage VM Architecture

Like Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP), which we introduced in 2010, Hitachi Unified Storage VM is based on the Hi-Star crossbar-switch architecture. This architecture provides a shared resource system where all the primary components, including front-end ports, back-end ports, cache modules and processors, are connected through an internal switched network. HUS VM supports up to 64PB of internal and external virtualized storage capacity, and up to 256GB of directly addressable cache (see Table 1).


The internal processors share a global cache along with the front-end and back-end I/O modules, which creates a common pool of storage resources and disk capacity. This disk capacity can include external storage, which is con-nected through host-initiator Fibre Channel ports.

One Platform for All Data

Controller-based storage virtualization is a key enabling technology to providing one platform for all data. In addition, the internal architecture of Hitachi Unified Storage VM separates management and control processing from front-end and back-end processing. It delivers improved performance for any unique processing required by different types of data. It also provides the flexibility to mix and match front-end and back-end storage services to rapidly achieve a desired goal. Consolidated and aggregated multivendor storage resources provide a single platform of enterprise capacity for all file, object and block services functionality.

Operational Simplicity

Hitachi controller-based storage virtualization dramatically simplifies the storage infrastructure. Virtualization enables the consolidation and aggregation of all multivendor storage resources in a single pool of enterprise storage capac-ity. Existing LUNs and data on externally attached storage systems are automatically discovered by Hitachi Universal Volume Manager. The LUNs and data are presented through global cache as if they were still connected to the appli-cation server.

Hitachi Command Suite offers a comprehensive set of management, control and discovery tools for file, object and block storage services. The software integrates solutions for storage resource management, tiered storage, business continuity and thin provisioning, giving storage managers a unified management solution for all enterprise storage.

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Hardware Components

Hitachi Unified Storage VM can be configured starting with a single diskless system up to a full, 3-rack system (see Table 1). The full system can include up to 1,152 hard disk drives (HDDs), up to 128 solid-state drives (SSDs) and a total of 256GB cache. The system provides a highly granular upgrade path, allowing the addition of file modules or disk drives to the drive chassis in an existing system as storage needs increase. All modules or drives are mounted in standard 19-inch racks. A basic HUS VM storage system consists of a 5U controller chassis and none or 1 or more drive trays that contain the HDDs or SSDs. HUS VM supports multiple concurrent operating systems to create a het-erogeneous system environment.

The controller chassis has dual controllers, and each controller has a cache blade and a processor blade. All data passes through the cache blade application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to cache. The processor blade executes all I/O jobs and manages cache. HUS VM hardware is composed of the following major components, as shown in Figure 3:

■■ Block modules — storage virtualization system with support for internal and external virtualized storage.

■■ File modules — file virtualization system with support for internal and external virtualized storage.

■■ Drive trays — support for large form factor (LFF) 3.5-inch drives and small form factor (SFF) drives.

■■ Rack — Hitachi Data Systems or standard 19-inch rack using our supplied rail kits.


Figure 3. Hitachi Unified Storage VM Components

Block Module

Hitachi Unified Storage VM is based on a new block storage system powered by a storage virtualization control-ler. This virtual storage system is a single controller chassis, available without drives. It contains the control logic, processors, memory and interfaces to the drive chassis and the host servers (see Figures 4 and 5). Its dual-node, shared-resource architecture creates a redundant configuration in which the storage system can continue operation should a component failure occur.

The block module enables virtualized data access by aggregating storage servers with enterprise storage services without added complexity. It provides common enterprise storage and data services for lower-level, lower-cost stor-age by leveraging existing investments, and it provides seamless integration for future capabilities.

Main components can be added, removed and replaced in the block module without shutting down a device while the storage system is in operation. The microcode can also be upgraded without shutting down the storage system. An integrated service processor, mounted in the controller chassis, monitors the running condition of the storage system. Connecting the service processor with our service center enables remote maintenance. As shown in Figure 5, the block module features:

■■ Up to 32 x 8GB Fibre Channel (48 without drives).

■■ 4 x 8 WL 6GB SAS.

■■ Integrated switching power supplies.

■■ Integrated service processor.


Figure 4. Controller Chassis

Figure 5. Block Module Chassis Rear Detail


The block controller module includes 2 cache blades, 2 processor blades, an integrated service processor, and dual power supplies with built-in cooling fans. Each cache blade has slots for the system cache. Each also contains an ASIC that includes most of the discrete logic previously found on Virtual Storage Platform front-end director and back-end director boards, and a battery for data saving. If a power failure continues more than 20 milliseconds, the storage system uses power from the batteries to back up the cache memory data and the storage system configura-tion data onto the cache flash memory.

The processor blade contains an Intel Xeon 8-core processor and local RAM.

A basic HUS VM chassis with dual controllers provides a total of:

■■ 2 cache blades, each with:

■■ Up to 128GB of cache (16 x 8GB DDR3 DIMMs).

■■ 160GB flash for cache backup (2 x 80GB).

■■ Flash battery.

■■ 2 processor blades, each with:

■■ 1 x 8-core Intel Xeon processor.

■■ 8GB of local memory (2 x 4GB DIMMs).

■■ 8 host modules (4 x 8Gb/sec Fibre Channel ports each).

■■ 4 drive modules (8 x 6Gb/sec SAS links each).

■■ Supports up to 1,152 HDDs housed in the disk trays.

File Module

Hitachi Unified Storage VM file module features a hybrid core architecture that uses the best properties of FPGA-based design to optimize data movement. These properties are coupled with high-performance, multicore pro-cessors for efficient data management. Both classes of activity work at full speed without impacting each other. They can handle a number of simultaneous workloads and responsibilities, such as serving email to thousands of users and hosting large-scale online transaction processing (OLTP) applications while maintaining high performance.

The file module provides virtualized file access through a single cluster namespace, unifying the directory structure and presenting a single logical view (see Figure 6). It provides a virtual NAS to allocate server resources for perfor-mance and high availability, and storage pools that simplify storage provisioning for applications and workgroups. Tiered storage optimizes performance, high availability and disk utilization across multiple tiers of storage.

The file module provides high IOPS performance, utilizing built-in 10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 1GbE for high throughput NAS and iSCSI networking connectivity. Up to 4 nodes in a single cluster will meet demands for scalable storage with greater access, capacity and performance. Storage can be added at any time to meet new application or business needs, or to consolidate disparate storage with a single point of management and without downtime. These systems offer a total usable capacity from 4PB to 8PB under a single namespace with easy-to-use centralized system management that enables administration via command-line interface (CLI) or an intuitive graphical user inter-face (GUI).


Figure 6. File Module Rear Detail

HUS VM file modules are designed to meet the high performance and scalability requirements of enterprise mission-critical applications. They can help reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) through consolidation without sacrificing performance and scalability. We employ BlueArc®1 Silicon FS, a patented hardware-accelerated object-based file system, to enable file system performance and scalability without compromise. In addition, multiple layers of storage virtualization overcome the complexities associated with large-scale file system management and data availability.

Metadata optimization for improved storage efficiency is included in BlueArc Silicon FS. The number of metadata operations is significantly greater than the regular data operations and contributes to a larger share of the I/O work-load mix. This function enables use of fewer high-performance disks combined with lower cost disks while achieving the same high performance. This efficiency derives from the automatic separation of metadata from user data. Metadata is placed on the faster tier of utilized storage and the user data, on the slower, less expensive tier. This results in improved overall system performance and reduced costs.

The BlueArc Silicon FS also includes core functionality for storage virtualization. Individual file systems belong to enterprise virtual servers (EVS) within each physical system, each with its own set of IP addresses, policies and individual port assignments. Virtual servers are used to group server resources to match the needs of application or organizational requirements. In a clustered environment, file systems can be quickly relocated among physical servers for load balancing, and virtual servers automatically migrate in a cluster failover scenario.

The file system also organizes RAID storage into a logical pool of shared storage that can simultaneously provi-sion multiple file systems. This allows administrators to provision file systems as needed manually or by setting rules that automatically enforce policies, distributing data dynamically across available storage to optimize performance. Intelligent file tiering helps organizations move data among storage and archive tiers, whether internally to the data center or externally from remote or branch offices, with automated policy-driven migration tools.

The cluster namespace functionality provides a single namespace with a directory structure that is independent of where data actually resides in physical storage. Virtual servers are used to group server resources to match the needs of application or organizational requirements. In a clustered environment, file systems can be quickly relocated among physical servers for load balancing, and virtual servers automatically migrate in a cluster failover scenario.

1 BlueArc is now a part of Hitachi Data Systems.


Drive Trays

Hitachi Unified Storage VM is available with a choice of disk drives ranging from high-performance SSDs to SAS drives. Both LFF 3.5-inch drives and SFF 2.5-inch drives are supported. All drive types use a 6Gb/sec SAS interface.

The standard drive tray (see Figure 7) is a chassis that enables the installation of up to twenty-four 2.5-inch SFF disk drives and 2.5-inch flash drives. It includes 2 enclosure communication cards and 2 power supplies with a built-in cooling fan.

Figure 7. Drive Tray: 2.5-inch SFF and 3.5-inch LFF

The dense disk drive is configured with up to forty-eight 3.5-inch LFF drives (see Figure 8). The enclosure communi-cation cards and power supplies are individual for each half of the unit and are installed as a duplex configuration.

Figure 8. Drive Tray: 3.5-inch LFF DBX Dense


TABLE 1. HITACHI UNIFIED STORAGE VM SPECIFICATIONS

Physical Characteristics

Maximum Standard Disk Expansion Trays (2U, 24 x 2.5” disks) 48

Maximum Standard Disk Expansion Trays (2U, 12 x 3.5” disks) 48

Maximum Dense Expansion Trays (4U, 48 x 3.5” disks) 24

Data Cache (GB) 64-256

Fibre Channel Port Performance (Gb/sec) 2/4/8

Maximum Logical Devices (LDEVs) 16,384

Number of Disks per System (with spares) (2.5” or 3.5”) 0-1,152

Number of Flash Drives per System (SSD) 0-128

Number of Disk Spares 1-64

Maximum Internal and External Capacity (PB) 64PB

Block Modules

Architecture Hierarchical star network

Backend SAS links (6Gb/sec) 2-4 2-port modules (32 SAS links, 4 WL links per port)

Dimensions HxWxD 5U, 8.5" (217mm) x 19.0" (480mm) x 33" (838mm)

Weight 156 lbs. (71kg)

File Modules

Nodes per Cluster 1-4

Main Board Memory 32GB (2GB NVRAM)

Number of VLANs 256

1Gb/sec Client Ports 6

10Gb/sec Client Ports 2

Protocols SMB, NFS, FTP

Dimensions Height/Width/Depth 3U, 5.1" (130mm) x 17.2" (437mm) x 27" (685mm)

Weight 55 lbs. (25kg)

High-Performance Switched Network

At the heart of Hitachi Unified Storage VM is the switched network that is used to communicate and transfer informa-tion between the various components (see Figure 9).

Each block module contains dual Hi-Star crossbar-switch controllers. All cache data and control data paths are part of the switched network. This switched network is used to communicate and transfer information between the vari-ous components of Hitachi Unified Storage VM.


Figure 9. Hitachi Unified Storage VM With Hi-Star Crossbar-Switch Architecture for High-Performance Data Movement

Cache and Control Memory

Hitachi Unified Storage VM uses partitioned cache rather than a shared global cache. A portion of this cache space (4GB to 20GB per blade, mirrored) is reserved for the control memory region. There is also a transfer buffer region where the host ports and drive ports transfer data blocks. There is also space for 2 or 4 user data cache directories (500MB each).

The control memory and cache directory regions are backed up to each cache blade’s SSD on a planned shutdown. On power loss, all of cache per blade is backed up to its local SSD on power loss.

The remaining cache space is managed as a global pool. This space is evenly divided into 4 partitions for the 4 microprocessor units. A microprocessor unit may borrow some space from another partition under certain circum-stances. A microprocessor unit cannot access its own data partition; only the cache blades can do so with DMA transfers, but the microprocessors manage their partitions. Each processor blade microprocessor unit uses DMA to access control memory and the cache directories on the cache blades, but the cache blades do not.

Front-End Design

Each host I/O module contains one 4-port Tachyon QE8 8Gb/sec Fibre Channel controller. Each module is con-nected to one PCIe x8 link on the ASIC on the cache blade. Hitachi Unified Storage VM supports Fibre Channel for open systems and SAN connectivity. HUS VM supports up to 32 Fibre Channel ports from up to 8 host I/O modules per controller chassis. Additional ports, up to 48, can be added by replacing 1 to 4 drive modules per controller


chassis with host I/O modules. The Fibre Channel ports support industry-standard 2Gb/sec, 4Gb/sec and 8Gb/sec transfer rates.

Unique port virtualization technology dramatically expands connectivity from open systems platforms to Hitachi Unified Storage VM. Each physical Fibre Channel port supports 1,024 virtual ports. Each virtual port has access to a private storage partition called a host storage domain, which includes a bootable LUN0.

Connectivity from all major open systems hosts is supported, including2:

■■ HP: HP-UX.

■■ IBM®: AIX®.

■■ Microsoft®: Windows Server® (2000, 2003, 2008, 2012).

■■ Novell: NetWare, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

■■ Red Hat: Enterprise Linux.

■■ Oracle: Sun Solaris.

■■ VMware: ESX Server.

High-Performance SAS Back-End Design

The back end of Hitachi Unified Storage VM is a SAS engine that is a cross between the HUS 100 family and Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform. The SAS engine elements include the drive I/O modules, up to 48 disk trays with their dual 4-link SAS switches (ENCs), and the SAS drives. The cache blade controls all communications between the drive modules and the processor blades and all DMA transfers to cache. Each drive module is connected to 1 PCIe x 8 link on the ASIC in the main blade. Each drive I/O module contains 1 SAS controller device with a pair of 4-wide ports (4 x SAS 6Gb/sec lanes).

HUS VM is available with a choice of disk drives, ranging from high-performance SSDs to SAS drives (see Table 2). Both LFF 3.5-inch drives and SFF drives are supported. All drives types use a 6Gb/sec interface to the back-end directors.

TABLE 2. HITACHI UNIFIED STORAGE VM DRIVE TYPES

Drive Type Size CapacitySpeed(RPM)

SSD 2.5” 400GB n/a

SAS

2.5” 300GB 15K

2.5” 600GB 10K

2.5” 900GB 10K

3.5” 3TB 7.2K

2 For the most updated list of supported operating systems, refer to Hitachi Data Systems website at http://www.hds.com/products/storage-systems/specifications/operating-system-support-vm.html


RAID Implementation Advantages

Hitachi Data Systems drive I/O modules employ advanced algorithms to manage performance. The intelligent controllers provide disk-interface and RAID management circuitry, offloading these tasks to dedicated embedded processors. Hitachi Unified Storage VM supports RAID-1+0, RAID-5 (parity RAID) and RAID-6 (see Table 3). All user data disks in the system are defined as part of a RAID array group of one type or another.

TABLE 3. HITACHI UNIFIED STORAGE VM BACK-END DIRECTOR SUPPORT OF RAID CONFIGURATIONS3

RAID Type Supported Disk Configuration

RAID-1+0 Mirroring 2D+2D

RAID-5 Distributed Parity3D+1P 7D+1P

RAID-6 Redundant Distributed Parity6D+2P 14D+2P

RAID-1+0

RAID-1+0 is available in 2 data plus 2 data (2D+2D) disk configuration. The configuration includes a rotating copy, where the primary and secondary stripes are toggled back and forth across the physical disk drives for performance. RAID-1+0 is best suited to applications with low cache-hit ratios, such as random I/O activity and with high write to read ratios.

RAID-5 Distributed Parity

RAID-5 disk arrangements consist of 4 disks (3D+1P) or 8 disks (7D+1P). Data is striped across disks similar to RAID-1+0. However, RAID-5 keeps parity information on each stripe of data for fault resilience. If a failure occurs, the contents of the failed block can be recreated by reading back other blocks in the stripe and the parity. Parity informa-tion is distributed throughout the array to minimize bottlenecks when rebuilding data from a failed disk. The overhead of RAID-5 is equivalent to 1 disk drive, regardless of the size of the array. RAID-5 is best suited to applications using mostly sequential reads.

Concatenated RAID-5 Array Groups

Concatenated array groups enable users to stripe logical devices (LDEVs) across more disks than are in a single RAID-5 array group for better performance. The feature supports the concatenation of 2 or 4 RAID-5 7D+1P array groups. An LDEV created on a standard RAID-5 array group becomes a LUN when it is mapped to a host port. For concatenated array groups, the LDEV, striped across multiple elements in the joined array groups, forms a virtual device (VDEV). Mapping the VDEV to a host port creates the LUN.

RAID-6 Redundant Distributed Parity

Like RAID-5, RAID-6 stripes blocks of data and parity across an array of drives. However, RAID-6 maintains redun-dant parity information for each stripe of data. This redundancy enables RAID-6 to recover from the failure of up to 2 drives in an array (a double fault). Other RAID configurations can only tolerate a single fault. As with RAID-5,

3 When using Open V-volumes for RAID-5, RAID-6 or RAID-1+0 configurations, Hitachi Unified Storage VM uses 2 adjacent 256KB chunks from the same disk before moving to the next disk, so the effective chunk size is 512KB. For example, in a RAID-5 7d + 1P configuration, the stripes are actually 3,584KB (7 x 512KB).


performance is adjusted by varying stripe sizes. RAID-6 is good for applications using the largest disks and perform-ing many sequential reads.

RAID Rebuild

If a disk in a RAID group fails, the information on the failed drive is rapidly and automatically rebuilt on a hot spare drive. Hitachi Unified Storage VM also allows logical volumes to be expanded online. Administrators can set rebuild priority based on the daily processing cycle and RAID configuration installed.

Connecting External Storage

One of the most significant features offered by Hitachi Unified Storage VM is the ability to connect external, multi-vendor storage. This creates a single virtualized pool of capacity for administrators to centrally manage using Hitachi storage management software (see Figure 10). HUS VM supports a wide range of 3rd-party storage systems.

Figure 10. A Single Virtualized Pool of Capacity

For the latest information, see the Externally Attached Storage Systems for each enterprise array including the HUS VM at: www.hds.com/products/storage-systems/specifications/supported-external-storage.html.

Power Subsystem

The power subsystem used in Hitachi Unified Storage VM has redundant power supplies in the controller. The power supplies are hot-pluggable, hot-swappable and N+1 redundant. This means power supplies can be removed or installed without affecting system operation.

Each controller chassis in HUS VM consists of 2 redundant controller halves. Each half contains all physical and logi-cal elements needed to sustain processing. Both storage halves support alternate connection path schemes, so if one fails, the other can continue processing for the entire storage system.

http://www.hds.com/products/storage-systems/specifications/supported-external-storage.html


Redundant power supplies are provided to power each half of the controller. In the event of a power supply failure, the power supplies in each half are capable of providing power for the entire system.

System Monitoring Network

The system monitoring network in Hitachi Unified Storage VM connects to all cabinets and reports on a variety of system conditions, such as component failure, fan speed, voltages and temperature. The network enables efficient predictive maintenance, so components can be replaced before they fail. It also expedites system repair after a fail-ure, through the failure alert system.

The system-monitoring network passes information to the service processor or remotely across a private LAN on a UNIX or Microsoft Windows console. Failure information is also available via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Copies of all system status and alerts are sent to Hitachi Data Systems customer support centers via the Hi-Track Remote Monitoring system.

High Availability

Hitachi Unified Storage VM places emphasis on high availability to satisfy the needs of the most demanding enter-prise applications. Hitachi Data Systems offers a combination of unique industry solutions and best-in-class 3rd-party software integration to deliver unbeatable resilience and availability.

■■ Nondisruptive microcode and hardware upgrades.

■■ Automatic failover architecture with redundant, hot-swappable components.

■■ Dual data paths and dual control paths connecting every component.

■■ Active-active dual-ported disk drives.

■■ Nonvolatile backup of cache using a combination of battery and flash disk drives.

■■ Hi-Track Remote Monitoring system, which immediately sends notification of any incident that may affect availabil-ity to the Hitachi Data Systems customer support center.


Chapter 3: Software Packages

Hitachi Data Systems storage solutions support a full range of file, object and block storage services (see Table 4). The solutions give IT the ability to mix and match services to satisfy a desired goal. All solutions use open protocols, rather than proprietary APIs, to promote interoperability and maintain scalability. When combined with Hitachi Unified Storage VM, this complete offering of software solutions allows a single storage solution to support all data types.

Block Module Software Bundles

TABLE 4. HITACHI UNIFIED STORAGE VM BLOCK MODULE SOFTWARE BUNDLES

Bundle Hitachi Solution Application

Hitachi Base Operating System (BOS) Hitachi Device ManagerHitachi Dynamic ProvisioningHitachi Universal Volume ManagerHitachi Virtual Partition ManagerHitachi Dynamic Link Manager

Baseline management tools for Hitachi Unified Storage VM, including virtualization.

Hitachi Command Suite Analytics Hitachi Tuning ManagerHitachi Command Director

Seamlessly gathers and reports storage and application performance.

Hitachi Command Suite Mobility Hitachi Tiered Storage ManagerHitachi Dynamic Tiering

Optimizes tiered storage at the volume or sub-LUN level.

Hitachi Local Protection Hitachi ShadowImage Heterogeneous Replication Hitachi Replication Manager

Create and manage internal full and snapshot copies of volumes.

Hitachi Remote Protection Hitachi TrueCopy synchronous remote replicationHitachi Universal Replicator

Simplifies data replication between storage systems.

The following sections describe the complementary storage capabilities and software components in depth.

Hitachi Command Suite Storage Management

Hitachi Command Suite is an application-centric storage management solution (see Figure 11). It incorporates the internationally recognized Information Technology Infrastructure Library services management best practices to simplify administration of a common pool of multivendor storage. This suite of management software gives administrators the tools to deliver dependable storage system availability and performance. The software offers com-prehensive management, control and discovery for file, object and block storage services and reduces complexity, costs and risk in the storage infrastructure.


Figure 11. Deep Integration Through a Common Hitachi Command Suite GUI, Showing Usability, Data Repositories and Task Workflows.

Hitachi Base Operating System (BOS)

Hitachi Base Operating System is a set of fully integrated tools for simplifying storage management and enabling the partitioning and virtualization capabilities of Hitachi Unified Storage VM (see Table 5). BOS utilizes an easy-to-use and intuitive GUI to centrally manage Hitachi storage systems and also includes a complete CLI. It provides user, logical, physical and host management views that enable provisioning and storage pooling for primary and secondary stor-age. Base Operating System includes the following individual software components:

TABLE 5. HITACHI BASE OPERATING SYSTEM INTEGRATED TOOLS

Tool Function

Hitachi Device Manager ■y Primary control point for Hitachi Base Operating System.■y Provides a single point of management for all Hitachi physical and virtual storage.■y Acts as the interface for integration with other systems.

Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning ■y Provides thin provisioning for simplified provisioning operations, automatic performance optimization and storage space savings.

Hitachi Universal Volume Manager ■y Enables virtualization of external heterogeneous storage.

Hitachi Virtual Partition Manager ■y Supports up to 29 virtual cache partitions.

Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager Advanced

■y Provides advanced SAN multipathing with centralized management.


Hitachi Device Manager

Hitachi Device Manager provides centralized management of multiple Hitachi storage systems. Hitachi Device Manager v7 features a new GUI, integrated workflows for improved usability and significant improvements to both scalability and performance. By providing a single console for managing complex storage environments, Hitachi Device Manager software unifies and simplifies storage management.

Featuring both an intuitive GUI and a complete CLI, Device Manager centrally manages single or multiple Hitachi storage systems. With highly efficient context-sensitive workflows, Device Manager supports multiple management views, including physical, logical, host, NAS and virtual server for provisioning and storage pooling for primary and secondary storage.

Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning

Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning provides Hitachi Unified Storage VM with thin provisioning services. This gives applica-tions access to virtual storage capacity (see Figure 12). As an application writes data to a virtual volume, the storage system dynamically allocates physical disk space from a common pool. Unused capacity in the pool is available to any application that needs it, eliminating the waste of overallocated and underutilized application storage capacity.

The automated allocation of application storage capacity also dramatically simplifies the storage provisioning process. Dynamic Provisioning reduces the need to perform complex storage system tuning to improve I/O performance. HUS VM automatically stripes thin provisioned volumes across the entire width of the physical pool of disks. This wide striping balances the I/O load across many disk spindles, giving consistently high performance for all I/O.

Figure 12. Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning Deployed to Reduce the Size, Cost and Complexity of the Enterprise Storage Environment.


HUS VM implementation of thin provisioning is unique. All internal and externally attached storage resources virtual-ized by the Hitachi storage controller can participate in the common physical pool used by thin provisioned volumes.

Dynamic Provisioning also simplifies storage provisioning and automates data placement on disk for optimal per-formance. Administrators do not need to micromanage application storage allocations or perform complex, manual performance tuning. In addition, physical storage resources can be added to the thin provisioning pool at any time, without application downtime.

Hitachi Universal Volume Manager

Hitachi Universal Volume Manager simplifies migration of applications using 3rd-party storage to HUS VM. The soft-ware eliminates the need to reformat LUNs or perform complex extent mapping, providing a minimally disruptive migration process. Once virtualized behind HUS VM, external LUNs gain access to all Hitachi storage services.

Hitachi Virtual Partition Manager

Hitachi Virtual Partition Manager enables the logical partitioning of cache into independently managed virtual machines (VMs). The number of partitions and partition sizes can be adjusted nondisruptively while HUS VM is in operation. These partitions can be allocated dynamically to utilize resources based on changes in business require-ments by assigning different I/O workloads to different areas of cache. Hitachi Resource Partition Manager is also available as an option for administrative partitioning of Hitachi Unified Storage VM resources.

Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager Advanced

Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager Advanced offers robust multipath SAN connections between servers and storage sys-tems. It provides fault-tolerant failover, failback and load balancing, and centralized path management, for improved information access, usability and availability. Automatic workload balancing helps to maintain outstanding system performance across all available paths. If one path were to fail, Dynamic Link Manager Advanced would automatically switch the I/O to an alternate path, ensuring that an active route to data is always available.

Hitachi Command Suite Analytics Package

Hitachi Command Suite Analytics Package software gathers information and reports on storage network resources, enabling storage administrators to make informed storage management decisions. It includes the following individual software components:

Hitachi Tuning Manager

Hitachi Tuning Manager is an automated, intelligent and path-aware storage resource management tool that maps, monitors, analyzes and measures storage network resources and performance from the application to the device. By monitoring all storage network resources, including hosts, file systems, databases, SAN switches and Hitachi stor-age systems, Hitachi Tuning Manager provides the necessary visibility for complete performance management of the entire storage environment. Through a Web-based interface, Tuning Manager facilitates monitoring of the storage net-work with a comprehensive range of performance statistics combined with predefined reports and custom reporting capabilities.

Hitachi Command Director

Hitachi Command Director centralizes management and reporting across Hitachi Command Suite (see Figure 13). By consolidating reporting of storage configuration, capacity, performance and tier information, Command Director provides a business-oriented view into the storage environment. This view allows you to easily align Hitachi storage assets with critical business applications and simplify application-to-storage reporting. It also ensures compliance to application-specific storage service levels.


Figure 13. Hitachi Command Director Business-Oriented View of Storage

Hitachi Command Suite Mobility Package

Hitachi Command Suite Mobility Package software is used to optimize the system’s tiered storage capabilities at the volume or sub-LUN level. It includes the following individual software components:

Hitachi Tiered Storage Manager

Hitachi Tiered Storage Manager provides the unique ability to migrate volumes between heterogeneous tiers of stor-age, without affecting application access to data. The software supports up to 64 simultaneous migrations, using 64 processor threads, and it offers a single interface for all data movement between storage virtualized by Hitachi Unified Storage VM.

Hitachi Dynamic Tiering

Hitachi Dynamic Tiering extends Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning and takes the automation of tiered storage to a new level (see Figure 14). It enables the management of multiple storage tiers as a single entity. It presents a new kind of virtual volume with embedded smart tiering that monitors access and moves data at the fine grain page level.

Dynamic Tiering uses a dynamic storage pool that is divided into 42MB pages. Virtual volumes are made up of pages from the dynamic storage pool. Each page is mapped to a tier within the pool and can be anywhere in the pool on any tier within that pool. HUS VM, through Dynamic Tiering, determines which pages it is best to place in higher tiers and which in lower tiers. The pages can be moved up and down between the tiers within the pool for performance optimization purposes.

A Hitachi Dynamic Tiering environment will have most of the highly referenced pages in the highest tier and the least referenced pages in the lowest tier. Dynamic Tiering will try to use highest tiers as much as possible. This can provide the effective appearance that all the data is on the fastest tier of storage; in fact, most of the data resides on lower cost, lower performance storage tiers composed of SAS drives. The lowest tier also contains much of the spare capacity.

A Dynamic Tiering volume is another type of volume in a virtualized storage architecture. Just like disk types and RAID configurations, multitier volumes are another way of delivering storage with tailored cost and performance ser-vice levels. Capacity can be dynamically added to or removed from a tier at any time, which means that sizing a tier for a pool is much easier.


Figure 14. Volume, Page and File System Tiering

With Dynamic Tiering, the storage administrator does not need to classify data or define policies. Once the tiers are configured, the storage system does all the work, freeing up the storage administrator to focus on other storage-related responsibilities.

Hitachi Local Replication Package

Hitachi Local Replication Package software is used to both replicate full volumes as well as create snapshot copies of internal volumes. It includes the following individual software components:

Hitachi ShadowImage Heterogeneous Replication

By providing nondisruptive, high-speed data replication within any Hitachi storage system or virtualized storage pool, Hitachi ShadowImage Heterogeneous Replication software enables immediate use of data in decision support, soft-ware testing and development, and data protection operations. ShadowImage cloning operations are independent of operating system, application or device, allowing efficient and centralized replicated storage volume management. ShadowImage software provides heterogeneous replication between any storage systems within a virtualized stor-age pool managed by Hitachi Unified Storage VM. Leveraging the storage virtualization capabilities of the platform, administrators can move data that resides on an externally attached storage system from the source to a target data volume anywhere in the storage pool, including to another externally attached system.

Hitachi Replication Manager

With Hitachi Replication Manager, administrators can configure, monitor and manage any replication systems that are based on Hitachi storage systems. Combining robust reporting, mirroring and features previously available in separate offerings, it manages in-system or distance replication for open systems environments. Replication Manager simplifies and optimizes configuration, operations, task management, automation and monitoring of the critical applications and storage components of your replication infrastructure.

Hitachi Remote Replication Package

Hitachi Remote Replication Package software is used to replicate volumes between primary and secondary data cen-ters. It includes the following individual software components:


Hitachi TrueCopy Synchronous Remote Replication

Hitachi TrueCopy synchronous remote replication software duplicates data from one Hitachi storage system to another, across any distance. It automates the recovery process and enables normal business operations to resume in minutes rather than hours or days following an outage at the primary site. TrueCopy software provides host- independent data replication, including heterogeneous replication capabilities for any type of data across any dis-tance, without affecting application performance. Copies generated by Hitachi replication software products can be used for the rapid recovery of production systems or the restart of production on disaster recovery systems following an outage. They can also be used for data warehousing, data mining or data migration applications.

Hitachi Universal Replicator

Hitachi Universal Replicator delivers the industry’s first multiplatform, multivendor, remote copy capability. Supporting asynchronous, real-time replication of data from one Hitachi Unified Storage VM to another, the software gives stor-age administrators a consistent replication approach using a common set of procedures, tools and skills for all data center storage.

Conventional replication solutions push updates from the primary storage system to a remote location. Universal Replicator running on HUS VM at the remote site pulls changes from journal volumes maintained by HUS VM running Universal Replicator at the primary site. This approach offloads replication overhead from the primary storage system and dramatically reduces the impact of replication on the business application. Transmitted record sets include a sequence number, enabling the replication engine to verify receipt of all records at the remote site and to sequence writes in the correct order for storage replication.

Resource Partition Manager (optional software package)

Hitachi Resource Partition Manager software enables administrative partitioning of Hitachi Unified Storage VM resources (see Figure 15). It can be used with local authentication, or it can be integrated into corporate directory services and security systems using standard management interfaces such as Active Directory, LDAP and RADIUS. Solving both security and audit or compliance issues, Hitachi Resource Partition Manager enables management of shared storage assets by different groups.


Figure 15. Resource Groups That Allow Greater Administrator Granularity and Flexible Partitioning

File Module Software Bundles

Hitachi Base Operating System F provides multiprotocol file services, dynamic provisioning, intelligent file tiering, file virtualization and unified directory structure. Intelligent file tiering helps organizations move data among storage and archive tiers with automated, policy-driven migration tools. This integration of NAS with Hitachi Content Platform and Hitachi Data Discovery Suite features combines NAS, archive, index and search technologies.

Tiered file system (TFS), also known as “metadata optimization,” separates file system metadata from user data and automatically places metadata on the highest tier for improved performance and storage cost-efficiency. Complementary to the policy-based intelligent file tiering capability, it migrates data between different file systems.

Cluster namespace creates a unified directory structure across storage pools and servers. Multiple file systems appear under a single common root, and both Server Message Block (SMB) and Network File System (NFS) clients obtain global access through any cluster node. Virtual file system supports SMB and NFS protocols for flexibility and power to handle very large files and millions of small files plus concurrent file system operations with no performance impact. Automatic file system expansion is also available.


TABLE 6. HITACHI UNIFIED STORAGE VM FILE MODULE SOFTWARE BUNDLES

Bundle Hitachi Solution Options

Basic Operating System F (entry level) CIFS and NFS File system recover from snapshot

2x virtual server Cluster namespace

Storage pool Replication bundle

FS audit Data Migrator

File system rollback XVL (cross volume links)

Quick snapshot restore Virtual server migration

HA cluster iSCSI

Entry 90-day trial license Read caching

Virtual server security

WORM

Basic Operating System F (value level) CIFS and NFS Replication bundle

4x virtual server Data Migrator

Storage pool XVL (cross volume links)

FS audit Virtual server migration

File system rollback iSCSI

File system recover from snapshot Read caching

Quick snapshot restore Virtual server security

Cluster namespace WORM

HA cluster

Value 90-day trial license

Basic Operating System F (ultra level) CIFS and NFS Virtual server migration

64x virtual server iSCSI

Storage pool Read caching

FS audit Virtual server security

File system rollback WORM

File system recover from snapshot

Quick snapshot restore

Cluster namespace

Replication bundle

Hitachi Data Migrator

XVL (cross volume links)

HA cluster

Ultra 90-day trial license

Disaster Recovery

The disaster recovery capabilities of BlueArc JetMirror, based on object replication, bring data back online quickly and efficiently through enhanced tools that automate system failover and failback. A source file system can be included in multiple replication schedules, allowing for multitarget replication. The snapshots and replication states for each replication job are separately maintained. This software also supports file replication, which allows it to recover a more granular subset of files compared to object replication, which works only at the file system level.


BlueArc JetClone software performs cloning at the file level. Using this software, multiple copies or clones of single files are made by taking snapshots of that file and saving subsequent differences separately. By referring back to the original file for most of the data, the software avoids making multiple copies of the common elements of the file. Using BlueArc JetClone, entire development and production environments can be deployed in a matter of minutes with little incremental storage cost.

Hitachi NAS Virtual Infrastructure Integrator, specifically developed for VMware environments, provides snapshot management from within a vCenter console. As an integrated plug-in to vSphere, Hitachi NAS Virtual Infrastructure Integrator allows vSphere administrators to work from their existing management interface to create snapshots for backup or recovery of virtual machines and VMDK files. Possible choices are instant on-demand snapshots taken by the user, policy-based snapshots, or orphan snapshots from deleted file module storage systems and VMs. Policy-based retention allows the administrator to define the preservation timeframe by snapshot, freeing up storage capacity. The administrator can define snapshot retention by the number of backups, the number of days, or a mix-ture of both backups and days.

Conclusion: A Single Virtualized Platform for all Data

Hitachi Data Systems offers a unique approach to storage management: a single virtualized platform for all data (structured and unstructured) with single-pane-of-glass management for heterogeneous environments. We are focused on the evolving requirements of structured and unstructured data. HDS is the only vendor that can provide you with a single, virtualized and scalable data management architecture for all open systems platforms as well as all data and information types.

Figure 16. Hitachi Storage Virtualization


Hitachi Unified Storage VM enables a common set of management tools across all storage assets, whether they are the products of Hitachi Data Systems or our competitors. Our common platform and management tools improve the productivity of storage administrators and enable better cost management (power, cooling, resource sharing). They support simplified data migration (block and file storage), and higher availability (IOPS and reliability) with less risk (data protection).

The technologies at the core of HUS VM have been developed over multiple generations and many years. Our over-riding goal has been to provide a highly scalable high-performance platform for storage services.

© Hitachi Data Systems Corporation 2012. All rights reserved. HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. Innovate With Information, ShadowImage, TrueCopy, BlueArc and Hi-Track are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. IBM and AIX are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Microsoft and Windows Server are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners.

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