Lab Review Cost-Effective iSCSI SANity

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Use iSCSI SAN Software to Virtualize and Consolidate Systems and Storage Data Center SAN Infrastructure openBench Labs Analysis :

description

Jack Fegreus from OpenBench Labs makes detailed review of TCO, functionality and perfomance of Starwind iSCSI target. For tests is used the most advanced edition - Starwind Enterprise Server.

Transcript of Lab Review Cost-Effective iSCSI SANity

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Use iSCSI SAN Software to Virtualizeand Consolidate Systems and Storage

DataCenterSANInfrastructure

openBench Labs

Analysis:

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Author: Jack Fegreus, Ph.D.Managing Director

openBench Labshttp://www.openBench.com

July 12, 2009

Use iSCSI SAN Software to Virtualizeand Consolidate Systems and Storage

Analysis:

Jack Fegreus is Managing Director of openBench Labs, consults through

Ridgetop Research, and is on the Board of Advisors of IT Brand Pulse. He

currently contributes to InfoStor and Virtualization Strategy Magazine. He

has served as Editor in Chief of Open Magazine, Data Storage, BackOffice

CTO, Client/Server Today, and Digital Review. Previously Jack served as a

consultant to Demax Software, CTO of Strategic Communications, and IT

Director at Riley Stoker Corp. Jack holds a Ph.D. in mathematics and

worked on the application of computers to symbolic logic.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 04

VMware iSCSI SAN Scenario 06

Snapshots & Replication in a VOE 09

Desktop Storage Consolidation 13

Customer Value 15

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Table of Contents

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Whether at a small- to medium-size business (SMB) or a global enterprise, ITdecision makers universally agonize over servers and networks. The root causeof most slowdowns and interruptions to computer operations, however, is foundwithin the site's data storage configuration. That's one of the reasons drivingCIOs to focus on infrastructure virtualization as a way to lower IT operatingexpenditure (OpEx) costs.

Resource virtualizationeliminates the constraints thatphysical limitations put ondevices. By eliminating device-specific restrictions commonto storage hardware packaging,IT administrators can groupstorage resources into genericpools, which are characterizedstrictly by device functionality.What's more, administratorscan manage all of the membersin a pool with one set of tools,which simplifies the task ofproviding a network of serverswith highly available andextremely flexible storage.

As a software-only productfor iSCSI storagevirtualization, StarWindEnterprise Server provides ITwith a highly cost effectivemeans to leverage storage

virtualization and help deliver critical data management services for businesscontinuity. With StarWind Enterprise Server, any 32-bit or 64-bit Windows®Server can be used to provide iSCSI target devices capable of sharing access withmultiple hosts—very important for Windows Server clusters and VMware

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

“With StarWind Enterprise Server, any 32-bit or 64-bit Windows®Server can be used to provide iSCSI target devices capable of

sharing access with multiple hosts—important for Windows Serverclusters and VMware environments—and having no limits on the storagecapacity exported to clients or on the number of client connections.”

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openBench Labs Test Briefing:StarWind Enterprise Server iSCSI SAN Software1) StarWind consolidates resources and virtualizes storage at the disk-

block level: Image-based logical devices serve logical blocks from anyunderlying physical storage and can be easily moved, cloned, or copied toanother storage device.

2) StarWind management console provides a unified single-pane-of-glass management for all StarWind servers: With storage resourcemanagement being IT’s biggest cost driver, StarWind provides the means tomanage heterogeneous storage resources centrally.

3) Full support for VMware ESX server including VMotion and VMwareConsolidated Backup: IT is no longer constrained to use identicalhardware and can mix and match servers and storage at their disposalto assemble a highly-available storage infrastructure that covers disasterrecovery needs.

4) Image-based virtual disks pools support thin provisioning: StarWindautomates thin provisioning by consuming virtual disk blocks, which areassigned to a logical disk in the file header, only when data is written tothe disk rather than when the volume is assigned or formatted.

5) Iometer benchmark pegs sequential throughput at near-wire speedwhile supporting high IOPS levels: Sequential reads and writesreached 80MB and 65MB per second respectively, while a stream ofrandom 8KB reads (75%) and writes (25%) on sustained 3,250 IOPS.

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environments. Most importantly, StarWind differs from many competitiveofferings by including two nodes with a StarWind Enterprise Server license tosupport mirroring and replication. StarWind also places no limits on the storagecapacity exported to clients or on the number of client connections.

Through the creation of snapshots that are compatible with Microsoft’sVolume Shadow Copy Services (VSS) with unlimited rollback points along withasynchronous and synchronous replication and mirroring, StarWind extends thebenefits of storage virtualization well beyond higher productivity for ITadministrators and higher utilization of storage devices. CIOs can address keybusiness application issues, such as data availability for service level agreements(SLAs), via the storage virtualization provided by a StarWind-based iSCSI SAN.

The simplicity of providing virtualization with a software iSCSI SAN solutionallows StarWind to fit a wide range of IT needs. For SMB sites, where directattached storage (DAS) is dominant, IT can leverage StarWind Enterprise Serverwith existing Ethernet infrastructure to adopt a SAN paradigm with minimalcapital expenditure (CapEx) and OpEx costs. At large enterprise sites, IT canimmediately garner a positive return on investment (ROI) by leveragingStarWind Enterprise Server to extend storage consolidation to desktop systemsfor dramatically higher storage utilization, on-demand storage provisioning,higher data availability, booting over the SAN, and tighter risk management.

It is the virtualization of systems via a Virtual Operating Environment (VOE);however, that now garners the lion's share of attention from CIOs. Moreimportantly, to maximize the benefits of a VOE, such as VMware® VirtualInfrastructure, shared SAN-based storage is a prerequisite. Advanced features,such as VMware Consolidated Backup and VMotion™, are designed specificallyto leverage shared storage in order to provide a virtual machine (VM) with anunobtrusive snapshot-based backup process and mobility within a VOE.

In particular, VM mobility is critical for advanced features such as loadbalancing and disaster recovery. The image of files stranded on a server that isnot functional does not make a great poster for high availability. That explainswhy strong growth in server virtualization is spurring strong iSCSI adoption asthe least complicated way to migrate from DAS to a SAN and harness holisticsystem and storage virtualization synergies. Remarkably, IDC reports revenuegrowth for iSCSI SAN equipment vendors grew 40 percent.

StarWind Enterprise Server further compounds the SAN value propositionwith integrated software for the automation of storage management functions toensure the high availability of data and protection against application outages.StarWind Enterprise Server’s data management features include thin storageprovisioning, data replication and migration, automated snapshots forcontinuous data protection, and remote mirroring for less than $3,000.

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Executive Summary

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ISCSI FROM DESKTOP TO VM

With server virtualization and storage consolidation the major drivers of iSCSIadoption, openBench Labs set up two servers running StarWind Enterprise

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iSCSI Test Scenarios

VMware iSCSI SAN Scenario

“VCB provides the framework needed to support both image-leveland file-level backup operations; however, VCB requires that an

ESX host share logical disks with a Windows-based server and thatmakes VCB support an excellent test of the iSCSI SAN flexibility, ease-of-use, as well as, the I/O throughput provided by StarWind EnterpriseServer.”

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Server in a VMware iSCSI SAN test scenario. We focused our tests on StarWind’sability to support a Virtual Operating Environment featuring VMware ESX serverhosting 8 virtual machines (VMs). With disk sharing essential for such advancedfeatures as VMotion and VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB), the lynch pin forsupporting these features with StarWind is the device sharing capability which isdubbed “clustering” in the device creation wizard.

We began by installing StarWind Enterprise Server on a pair of servers, a DellPowerEdge® 1900 running the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 and an HPProLiant DL360 running the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003. Weexported all iSCSI targets using a dedicated Gigabit Ethernet adapter over aprivate network. Both servers were configured with an 8Gbps FC HBA and alldisk block pools for iSCSI target volumes originated on volumes imported froma Xiotech Emprise 5000 system. With two, active-active, 4Gbps FC ports, theEmprise 5000 system provided a uniform storage base for StarWind thateliminated back-end storage as a potential bottleneck.

As with any SAN device, StarWind Enterprise Server is about packaging acollection of physical disk blocks and presenting that package to a client system asa logical disk. There are several ways to do this within StarWind, which providesa complete set of tools for IT administrators to establish control of an entire iSCSISAN infrastructure from a central point of management. The most functional andsophisticated of StarWind’s storage virtualization methods provides thin storageprovisioning, automated snapshot creation, and shared disk access.

VOE SUPPORT RIGORS

The openBench Labs VOE was hosted on a quad-processor HP DL580ProLiant server, on which we installed a dual-port QLogic iSCSI HBA, theQLA4052, along with a 4Gbps Fibre Channel HBA. Similarly, we configured aquad-core Dell PowerEdge server, which ran Windows Server® 2003, VMwarevCenter Server (a.k.a. Virtual Center), VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB),and Veritas NetBackup 6.5.3, with both a QLogic iSCSI HBA and an 8Gbps FCHBA. In this configuration, we were able to test StarWind’s ability to provideshared access to iSCSI targets, which is critical for VCB.

Backup is not only a critical business support issue in a VOE, for IT it’s amajor technical support issue. Best IT practices call for classic file-level backupsof VMs to be augmented with image-level backups that can be moved amongVOE servers to enhance business continuity. VCB provides the frameworkneeded to support both image-level and file-level backup operations; however,VCB requires that an ESX host share logical disks with a Windows-based serverand that makes VCB support an excellent test of the iSCSI SAN flexibility, ease-of-use, as well as, the I/O throughput provided by StarWind Enterprise Server.

The pivotal component in a VCB package is a VLUN driver, which is used tomount and read ESX-generated snapshots of VM disks. VCB is installed on a

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iSCSI Test Scenarios

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Windows Server host—dubbed the “proxy server”—that has SAN access to thedatastore volume, which contains the appropriate VM files, on the ESX server. Theproxy server must be able to mount the ESX datastore and access all vmdk filesassociated with the disk volumes that belong to the VM to be backed up.

With both the proxy server andthe ESX server able to access thedatastore over the SAN, from theperspective of a VM and its businessapplications, the VCB backupwindow only lasts for the fewseconds that the ESX Sever needs totake and later remove a snapshot ofthe VM’s logical disk, which isrepresented by a vmdk file. During abackup, the proxy server instructsthe ESX Server to initiate asnapshot, which freezes the vmdkfile in a state that reflects the VM atthe instance of the snapshot, anddirects all new data writes to aspecial file dubbed a delta disk file.

Next, the ESX Servercreates a snap ID and a blocklist of the frozen vmdk fileand sends them to the proxyserver. The Windows-basedproxy server uses the VLUNdriver to mount the vmdkfile as a read-only drive. Inthis way, all data during thebackup process is accessedand moved over the storagenetwork for minimal impacton production processing.

At the end of a backup,the proxy server dismountsthe vmdk file and the ESXServer removes the snapshotfrom the VM byconsolidating the delta diskfile into the vmdk file. As a

result, a VCB-based backup process stresses the flexibility of the SANconfiguration as much as it stresses I/O throughput.

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iSCSI Test Scenarios

STARWIND VCB SUPPORT

ESX DATASTOR AND VM CONFIGURATION

Using vCenter Server,we cloned an existingnetwork of eight VMs,which was resident on anFC-based datastore, anddeployed the new VMs onan iSCSI datastore thatwas exported byStarWind. We easilyshared access to both theiSCSI and FC datastoreswith a Dell server runningWindows Server 2003,VCB, and NetBackup.

With StarWind’s supportfor shared iSCSI targets,dubbed “clustering” forsupport Windows HScluster configurations, wewere easily able toimplement and integrateVMware ConsolidatedBackup (VCB) with VeritasNetBackup (NBU) 6.5.3.During the backupprocess, the VCB proxyserver initiated all I/O forboth VCB and NBU. In thefirst stage of a backup,VCB read data on theshared ESX datastore,SWDataStor, and wrote acopy of the data filesassociated with each VMto a local directory onanother the data toanother iSCSI StarWinddisk. With two Ethernetpaths and foursimultaneous VM backupsin process, both readsand writes proceeded atover 100MB per second.

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FEATURE-BASED DEVICE PROVISIONING

As a full-featured, software-only, iSCSI target solution for Windows, StarWindEnterprise Server is a conceptually simple and deceptively complex application.Ostensibly, the purpose of installing StarWind Enterprise Server is to packagecollections of physical disk blocks and present those collections as logical disks toclient systems. What complicate the StarWind equation are those robust full-featured services. The result can be a daunting initial out-of-box experience.

For IT, the business value of the StarWind solution lies in optimal resourceutilization, minimal IT administration, and maximal performance. To meet thatvalue proposition while also providing a wide array of optional features, StarWindutilizes a number of ways to package and virtualize pools of physical disk blocks.

While the menu to add a newiSCSI device is feature-centric,the eight options represent threedifferent technologies for devicevirtualization. The most basiclevel of virtualization andsimplest management task for ITinvolves exporting a rawphysical device.

If the device uses the SCSIcommand set, then all StarWindneeds to do is route thecommand and data streams. Allextended functionality isprovided by the device itself.This device choice is dubbed aSCSI pass-through interface(SPTI) device. If the device doesnot utilize the SCSI command

set, such as a SATA drive, StarWind offers a Disk Bridge device that virtualizesthe command set so that a non-SCSI drive or array can be employed.

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Snapshots & Replication in a VOE

Snapshots & Replication in a VOE

“While automated snapshots cannot replace a traditional backupprocess, in many scenarios that involve data corruption, StarWind’s

automated snapshot and replication scheme provides a far superiorRecovery Point Option (RPO) and a far better Recovery Time Option.”

ISCSI STORAGE PROVISIONINGOn any server running

StarWind EnterpriseServer, IT administratorscan launch the StarWindmanagement console andmanage all StarWindServers on a LAN.Provisioning a newstorage device amountsto choosing a device withthe appropriate supportfeatures, which rangefrom a simple hardwareSCSI pass-throughinterface (SPTI) device toan iSCSI disk withautomated snapshots forcontinuous dataprotection (CDP). Withinour VOE, all testing wasdone strictly using thelatter family of image-based virtual disks, whichStarWind designates asIBV volumes.

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To do more than just virtualize the SCSI command set, StarWind needs tovirtualize disk blocks and that means leveraging NTFS on the host server. Theeasiest way to do this is with an image file that represents the iSCSI device,which is exactly the technology found in the free version of StarWind. It is alsothe virtualization technology used to provide VTL and RAID-1 mirror devices.

ISCSI TARGET REPLICATION

The most sophisticatedStarWind features involve thinprovisioning, automatedsnapshots for continuous dataprotection, and replication—dubbed cloning. Providing thosefeatures requires the much moresophisticated StarWind image-based virtual disk (IBV) scheme.In this scheme, StarWindvirtualizes disk blocks usingseparate files for disk headers(.ibvm), block data (.ibvd), anddisk snapshots (.ibvss). Thisvirtual disk image technology iswhat we employed in our VOEto virtualize iSCSI targets forthe ESX server and theWindows VCP proxy server.

With our ESX datastore resident on a StarWind IBV device, we hadencountered no issues in leveraging the advanced features that StarWind offersfor IBV target devices. Since our datastore would immediately be required tocontain the logical disk files of eight VMs, we needed to define a volume withsufficient room to provide for the VMs and also support future growth. To meetthose needs, we created a 500GB target volume with thin provisioning. Initiallythis volume began with a few MBs of meta data, but it quickly swelled toconsume about 155GB of real disk space as we loaded our eight VMs.

In addition to setting up thin provisioning to garner better utilization ofstorage, openBench Labs also configured the IBV device for the ESX datastorewith support for snapshots. IT administrators can manually create a snapshot atany time. What’s more, IT can also enable automatic snapshot creation for anIBV target device.

The central issue with any automated snapshot scheme is the extent to whichsnapshots grow and consume resources. In our VOE testing, snapshot overheadfor our ESX datastore typically was on the order of 100KB. That gives systemand storage administrators a lot of leeway when deciding how to configure the

Snapshots & Replication in a VOE

ISCSI STORAGE PROVISIONING To test the advancedfeatures of StarWind andhow these features addvalue to a VOE, wecreated a new snapshotof our IBV deviceSWdatafile. SWdatafilewas imported by our ESXserver and used for thedatastore, SWDataStor,”which contained the vmdkfiles of our eight VMs. Wethen mounted thatsnapshot as an IBVdevice, SWdatafileclone,which was virtualized asan independent copy orSWDataStor on the ESXhost server.

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frequency for automatic snapshot creation and whether to limit the number ofsnapshots maintained. If a limit is placed on the number of snapshots, StarWindoverwrites the oldest snapshot when the limit is reached.

The easiest way to mount andleverage a StarWind snapshot isthrough the creation of a newIBV device as a “linked clone.”The linked clone process utilizesa snapshot of the original deviceto set up pointers, rather thanduplicate the device’s data, increating a point-in-time replica.Once the replica is created, anychanges to either the new deviceor the original are independent,which makes snapshots andreplication powerful tools fordisaster recovery.

Snapshots and replicationhave profound implications for aVOE. Once we created the newIBV device, SWdatafileclone, we

used the VI Client to rescan the iSCSI HBA in our ESX host. The new device wasfound, mounted, and its VMFS datastore was imported. We dubbed the datastoreSWDataStorclone. We now had two 500GB datastores and 16 VMs within our ESXhost; however; we had only consumed 160GB of space on our StarWind Server.

For an ESX server hosting VMsrunning mission-criticalapplications, the StarWind processof creating automatic snapshotsand mounting the snapshots aslinked clones is much quicker andeasier than a traditional VCB-based backup. While automatedsnapshots cannot replace atraditional backup process, inmany scenarios that involve datacorruption, StarWind’s automatedsnapshot and replication schemeprovides a far superior RecoveryPoint Option (RPO) and a farbetter Recovery Time Option.What’s more, each of the VMs in

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Snapshots & Replication in a VOE

ISCSI STORAGE PROVISIONING We used the StarWindnew device wizard toeasily mount and accessIBV device snapshots as anew IBV device. Weemployed the wizard tocreate a new devicebased on a snapshot ofour SWdatafile device. Wesimply pointed to thesnapshot we wanted touse and a location tocreate the initial files tosupport the new devicedubbed SWdatafileclone.

ESX DATASTOR AND VM CONFIGURATION

In addition to using thereplicated datastore as ameans of restoring theoriginal VMs, we werealso able to use thereplicated datastore as away to replicate the VMsresident in the datastore.The process involves thecreation of a new VM byusing the vmdk file for asystem disk of one of thereplicated VMs. Using thereplicated system disk ofoblSWVM1, we createdoblSWVM1b. To completethe task, an administratormust launch the VM,change its LAN address,and join a domain underthe new name.

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the replicated datastore can used to easily create a new VM that can be mountedand run in its own right.

In addition to being able to clone a connected on-line disk using snapshottechnology, the files representing an off-line virtual disk can simply be copied toanother drive on the server or another server to create a new and fullyindependent virtual drive. As a result, a StarWind IBV device represents avirtualized iSCSI target that is entirely independent of the underlying storagehardware and the server running StarWind.

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Snapshots & Replication in a VOE

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DESKTOP STORAGE CONSOLIDATION

One of the mostpromising areas toconsolidate storage andimprove resourceutilization rates is on thedesktop. The valueproposition of iSCSIstorage provisioning hasalways been its simplicityand low cost compared toan FC SAN. Nonetheless,it was the availability of theextra bandwidth providedby Gigabit Ethernet thatlaunched significantadoption of iSCSI SANs.

Now growingregulatory demands onrisk management and dataretention, along with the

issues of Green IT are spurring the use of f iSCSI SANs as a means to consolidatedesktop storage resources. In particular, using an iSCSI SAN to provisiondesktop storage also provides IT with a means to deploy enterprise-classfunctions such a replication, volume snapshots, and continuous data protection.To support these aims, the new Windows 7 OS shares the Quick Connect iSCSItechnology being introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2,

To assess the use of StarWind Enterprise Server as a means for IT toprovision desktop systems with storage, openBench Labs utilized a DellPrecision T5400 workstation with a dual-core Xeon processor. Unlike on ourserver systems, we employed a dedicated 1Gbps Ethernet adapter for iSCSItraffic on the workstation, rather than an iSCSI HBA. On this system, we ran theIometer benchmark to test the performance of a number of iSCSI virtualizationtechnologies provided by StarWind Enterprise Server. While advancedfunctionality can sometimes trump performance on servers, the playing field is

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Desktop Storage Consolidation

Desktop Storage Consolidation

“Using an iSCSI SAN to provision desktop storage also provides ITwith a means to deploy enterprise-class functions such a

replication, volume snapshots, and continuous data protection.”

The upcoming releaseof Windows 7 providesstrong support for IT toprovision systems withiSCSI storage andintroduce desktopvirtualization services. Wewere easily able toprovision a workstationrunning Windows 7 RCwith all of the iSCSI diskoptions available withinStarWind EnterpriseServer.

ISCSI STORAGE PROVISIONING

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much more level on the desktop.

WIRE-SPEED PERFORMANCE

Given the simplicity of SPTI devices, wechose to use several to act as base-leveldevices in our benchmarks. What’s more,we benchmarked the Fibre Channelperformance of the underlying Emprise5000 which sustained 5,300 8KB I/Orequests per second on a single DataPacand provided 700MB per second sequentialI/O.

As expected, sequential I/O on ourWindows 7 workstation was entirelylimited by the single Gigabit Ethernetconnection. Equally interesting, sequentialread and write throughput on all of ouriSCSI targets, from a simple SPTI device tosophisticated image-based virtual diskswere all statistically identical. While wemeasured no difference in sequentialthroughput, running Iometer with 8KBrandom access I/O requests, which were ina mix of 75% reads and 25% writes,uncovered differences that were an order ofmagnitude in performance.

With an SPTI device, IOPS peaked at about 350. On the other hand, using aDisk Bridge device, which also exports a full disk target, but virtualizes thecommand set to enable the use of non-SCSI drives as simple targets, moreclosely reflected what we had measured with the underlying disk over FibreChannel. In particular, when we connected to the same hardware, but as a DiskBridge device, our StarWind iSCSI target sustained 3,250 8KB IOPS. Using fullfeature IBV devices also sustained that same 3,250 IOPS level on target devicesused to provision our Windows 7 workstation.

Desktop Storage Consolidation

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ISCSI STORAGE PROVISIONING On Windows 7 clients,sequential file I/O wasstatistically the same withall of the StarWind iSCSIdevices. For mainstreamdesktop applications, 8KBread and write requestscharacterize nearly all I/Oand we measured readand write throughput tobe consistently around50MB per second for 8KBreads and 30MB persecond for 8KB writes.

Sequential access,however, stresses read-ahead caching far morethan it does the ability ofa drive to process I/Orequests, which is neededfor storage on servers fordatabase processing. Intests of random I/O,StarWind devices thatvirtualized the SCSIcommand set significantlyoutperformed SPTIdevices.

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For CIOs, the top-of-mind issue is how to reduce the cost of IT operations.With storage volume the biggest cost driver for IT, storage management isdirectly in the spotlight.

At most SMB sites today, IT hasmultiple vendor storage arrays that allhave similar functions that must bemanaged in different ways. From an IToperations perspective, multiple arrayswith multiple management systemsforces IT administrators to developmany sets of skills. Worse yet, if ITattempts to automate based on one ofthese proprietary functions, they maybe unable to move data from onesystem to another. By tying data to thefunctions on one box, purchase options

and vendor choice is greatly reduced.

There are also substantial capital costs to be paid when the same criticalmanagement functions are repeatedly licensed for every storage array. Forexample, licenses for snapshot, mirror, and replication functionality on an IBMDS4200 storage array provisioned with 8TB of SATA disk storage will more thandouble the cost of the array. With an iSCSI SAN anchored by StarWindEnterprise Server, IT buyers can plan for new storage devices not with an eye tothe bottom line, but with laser-like precision.

By building on multiple virtualization constructs, including the notion of aspace of virtual disk blocks from which logical volumes are built, StarWindEnterprise Server is able to take full control over physical storage devices. Indoing so, StarWind provides storage administrators with all of the tools neededto automate such critical functions as thin provisioning, creating disk snapshots,disk replication and cloning, as well as local and remote disk mirroring for High-Availability (HA) and Disaster-Recovery (DR) capabilities.

What's more, StarWind helps IT utilize storage assets more efficiently andavoid vendor lock-in. By leveraging the storage capacity of many disk arrays, IT

Customer Value

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Customer Value“With two servers included in a StarWind Enterprise license, the abilityto replicate and mirror devices eliminates single points of failure and allof the disk-related interruptions that get in the way of mission-criticalbusiness processing.”

StarWind Enterprise Server Quick ROI1) Lower the Total Cost of Storage Hardware by Eliminating

Device-specific Feature License Purchases

2) Consolidate Site-wide Storage Resources for HigherResource Utilization

3) Centralize Site-wide iSCSI Storage Provisioning via theStarWind Management Console

4) Unified SAN Thin Storage Provisioning Only Draws UponStorage Capacity When Data is Written

4) High Availability and Disaster Recovery Supported withAutomated Snapshots, Replication and RAID-1 Mirroring

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administrators no longer need to keep spare space available for each individualstorage array. This is a particularly important advantage when pushing an iSCSISAN out to desktop systems, which are notoriously underutilized and overprovisioned.

StarWind can also play a very important role in supporting businesscontinuity. With two servers included in a StarWind Enterprise license, theability to replicate and mirror devices eliminates single points of failure and all ofthe disk-related interruptions that get in the way of mission-critical businessprocessing. Replicating a disk that has automated snapshots to periodicallycreate known-good points in time will provide a far better recovery image thanany backup saveset.

Customer Value

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