Managing Your FAST Environment with EMC Ionix ControlCenter and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer

Transcription

1 Managing Your FAST Environment with EMC Ionix ControlCenter and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer Applied Technology Abstract EMC Ionix ControlCenter and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer have been enhanced to provide storage teams visibility into the resources consumed and performance levels delivered with Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST). This white paper provides an overview of how these applications can be used to manage tiered storage capacity and service level delivery in FAST environments. December 2009

2 Copyright 2010 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS. EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Part Number h6850 Applied Technology 2

3 Table of Contents Executive summary...4 Introduction...4 Audience... 4 A summary of FAST...4 Symmetrix Performance Analyzer... 4 Ionix ControlCenter StorageScope...5 Managing a FAST environment with StorageScope and SPA...6 Conclusion...9 Applied Technology 3

4 Executive summary Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) delivers a powerful ability to automatically tier storage capacity based on policies that optimize the use of storage resources while ensuring the delivery of appropriate levels of service. To maintain end-to-end visibility across physical and virtual environments and monitor and manage the impact of data movement between tiers, enhancements to management tools are needed. Fortunately, EMC has updated Ionix ControlCenter version 6.1 and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer to enable storage teams to reap maximum benefit from their investments in FAST. Introduction This white paper provides an overview of how these applications enable the efficient management of tiered storage capacity and service level delivery in FAST environments. It will also illustrate where, when, and how these tools can best be used. The goal is to advise readers of the management capabilities provided by EMC Ionix ControlCenter 6.1 and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer 2.0 for FAST environments. Audience This white paper is intended for storage managers, architects, and engineers looking to understand how enhancements to Ionix ControlCenter and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer can help them get the most out of their investment in a tiered storage environment with Fully Automated Storage Tiering. A summary of FAST FAST automates tiered storage strategies by easily tiering and re-tiering data dynamically as its performance characteristics change over time. FAST performs system reconfiguration with the goal of improving performance and managing costs while maintaining defined service levels. In short, the power of FAST its ability to automatically move storage around based on policies enables organizations to improve service levels by optimizing the use of Enterprise Flash Drives while lowering costs by moving less performance-sensitive data to high-capacity, lower-cost SATA drives. FAST proactively monitors workloads in order to identify busy or hot spots that would benefit from being moved to higher-performing drives. FAST will also identify data with low I/O activity that could be relocated to higher-capacity, low-power drives without impacting existing performance or service levels. The primary benefits of FAST include: Automating the process of identifying data that can benefit from Enterprise Flash Drives and/or can be kept on higher-capacity, less-expensive SATA drives without impacting performance Improving application performance at the same cost, or providing the same application performance at lower cost Optimizing and prioritizing business applications by enabling managers and administrators to dynamically allocate resources within a single array The configuration and operation of FAST are provided through the Symmetrix Management Console (SMC), as well as the Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface (SYMCLI). By simply pooling storage resources, defining the policy, and applying it to an application, FAST automatically and dynamically moves data across storage tiers so that the data resides in the right place at the right time to meet service levels and minimize cost. Symmetrix Performance Analyzer Symmetrix Performance Analyzer (SPA) works with FAST by collecting and storing historical performance data for managers and administrators to analyze and report on workload and resource usage trends for: Applied Technology 4

5 Impact analysis on FAST data moves Root cause analysis of performance issues Performance trending and capacity planning SPA is a standalone, server-based application that monitors workload activity for Symmetrix arrays in traditional and FAST environments. SPA has been integrated with SMC to streamline workflows while providing diagnostic, performance, and planning information through an easy-to-use graphical interface. SPA gives managers and administrators four views of their storage environment: Real Time view provides high frequency data collection and displays the selected metrics as they become available. This view includes user-definable charts for viewing the metrics of Symmetrix arrays and directors. Diagnostic view analyzes high- and low-level metrics and provides an intuitive root cause analysis engine that allows access to all available metrics, including composite comparison charts of related metrics. This view includes a fast lane to quickly navigate to the root cause of an alert. Snapshot view displays an analysis of collected data and categorizes the data by physical (array, disk, director) and logical (device group, application) monitored objects. Trend view displays raw data collected (IOs, Read Hits, Write Hits). By designating a long time frame in the Trend view, administrators can see the consumption of resources over time. This view includes a linear projection capability for performance analysis and planning. SPA is an intuitive graphical tool. Managers or administrators can navigate through the tool using dialog boxes and drop-down lists with point-and-click ease. They can click on almost any item to drill down for more details. Data is displayed in a variety of easy-to-understand charts, graphs, and tables. SPA version 2.0 includes enhancements for FAST that provide detailed insight into performance levels as FAST shifts data between Storage Types to optimize resource allocation. Ionix ControlCenter StorageScope Ionix ControlCenter 6.1 has been enhanced in Update Bundle 7 (UB7) to provide capacity reporting and analysis for tiered storage environments. With ControlCenter 6.1 UB7, you can use StorageScope for capacity planning, reporting, and trend analysis across both heterogeneous storage and Symmetrix FAST environments. Storage managers can use StorageScope to answer key questions about their environment such as: What s my storage utilization and when will I run out of capacity? Where can I reclaim capacity and how much can I reclaim? Which applications are using the most storage? How much capacity have I used from each tier or array? StorageScope lets managers see the status of storage devices throughout the environment and whether enough resources are available to meet business objectives. It generates alerts for administrators when resources are running low and it provides visibility into the relationships between virtual and physical resources as they take advantage of FAST. It also provides capacity chargeback models to help business unit owners document the savings attained from moving to a tiered storage infrastructure. Applied Technology 5

6 Managing a FAST environment with StorageScope and SPA In a typical FAST environment, StorageScope and SPA can be used to monitor the impact FAST has on capacity allocation and performance levels. The following is an example of how StorageScope and SPA can be used to monitor the impact of a FAST data move. In Figure 1, SMC is used to create a FAST policy called Finance_Database and is applied to a Storage Group called FAST_devices. Under this policy, 10 percent of the Storage Group data will be placed on a Storage Type called Performance_Flash, which is made up of ultra-high-performance Enterprise Flash Drives, 40 percent will be on a Storage Type named Normal_Workload_FC containing Fibre Channel drives, and 50 percent will be placed on a Storage Type called Capacity_SATA containing high-capacity, low-power SATA drives. Figure 1. FAST policy creation in SMC Figure 2 shows the policy being applied in SMC to a Storage Group named FAST_devices. Applied Technology 6

7 Figure 2. Applying the FAST policy to a Storage Group named FAST_devices Once the policy has been applied, FAST monitors I/O activity and creates a change plan to optimize data placement based on this policy. In Figure 3, SMC displays the history of the move that was made based on a FAST change plan created as a result of applying the policy Finance_Database. As you can see, a device 01BB from the Storage Group FAST_devices has been moved to the Storage Type Performance_Flash while four other devices have been moved to the Storage Type Capacity_SATA. Figure 3. SMC shows devices moved based on the FAST change plan Applied Technology 7

8 StorageScope can import Storage Types directly from SMC. StorageScope Query Builder and Query Scheduler can be used to create, schedule, and distribute custom reports on capacity utilization in FAST environments. In this example, StorageScope Query Builder has been used to develop a report showing the capacity consumed by the Storage Group FAST_devices before and after the FAST move. Figure 4 shows the configuration of the Storage Group prior to the FAST move contains 10 devices from the Storage Type Normal_Workload_FC with a total allocated capacity of 80 GB. Figure 4. The Storage Group FAST_devices prior to the FAST moves Figure 5 shows the capacity allocated by Storage Type after the FAST move. After the move, the Storage Group FAST_devices has one device of the Storage Type Performance_Flash, four devices of the Storage Type Normal_Workload_FC, and five devices of the Storage Type Capacity_SATA. Figure 5. The Storage Group FAST_devices after the FAST moves FAST has moved the data with very high I/O activity to an ultra-high-performance Enterprise Flash Drive while moving less I/O sensitive data to SATA. Symmetrix Performance Analyzer can be used to view the impact this move has on performance levels. Figure 6 shows that moving performance-sensitive data to an Enterprise Flash Drive has significantly reduced the average response time even though half of the data has been moved to lower-cost, lower-power SATA drives. Applied Technology 8

9 Figure 6. SPA shows the performance impact of FAST moves In this example, StorageScope and SPA have been used to identify the impact FAST has on improving service levels while monitoring the allocation of tiered storage resources. StorageScope also enhances capacity planning by reporting on resource allocation by Storage Type to identify when critical resources are running low. Figure 7 is an example of a report showing the allocated and unallocated capacity for Symmetrix array The report shows GB of Performance_Flash capacity remains unallocated in the array. Figure 7. StorageScope shows allocated and unallocated capacity by Storage Type Conclusion Fully Automated Storage Tiering automates the process of moving data to the right place at the right time. Ionix ControlCenter StorageScope and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer have been enhanced to provide visibility into resource utilization and performance levels in FAST environments. With StorageScope and SPA, IT organizations maintain complete visibility and control while adopting FAST to maximize the benefits of their investments in tiered storage environment. Applied Technology 9