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Editor to share with you how to deploy server-level storage virtualization, I hope you will learn something after reading this article, let's discuss it together!

How to deploy server-level storage virtualization

Previous storage virtualization products were often used to simplify the allocation of space for internal disk drives and server external directly connected storage, as well as to support application clusters. Veritas Volume Manager and Foundation Suite are the first such solutions, which make it easier and faster to extend storage and provide space for applications and file servers.

With the growth of storage demand far beyond the scope that directly connected storage can provide, storage virtualization has gradually become a way of providing capacity in storage arrays. With the continuous growth of capacity and the emergence of shared storage technology affordable by small IT organizations such as iSCSI, storage virtualization technology is also integrated into network-based devices and software running on common hardware.

However, the rise of server and desktop virtualization technology has brought new vitality to the storage virtualization technology, and the host-based storage virtualization technology is gradually returning. Server virtualization platforms must be based on shared storage architectures to implement key features such as VMware's vMotion and Distributed Resource Schedule (DRS). This shared storage architecture can naturally be implemented through the traditional SAN architecture, but more and more IT organizations are looking for easier ways to implement shared storage. Host-based virtualization is one of the ways.

Server virtualization vendors such as VMware believe that storage is one of the bottlenecks that hinder the large-scale adoption of virtualization technology. These Hypervisor vendors have implemented abstraction of processor and memory resources to achieve better control and improve resource utilization, and they will naturally want to control storage in this way. However, the integration of storage control functions into the host server side, called "storage Hypervisor", will bring some potential problems. Handling storage services that are critical in virtual servers and virtual desktop environments, such as snapshots, clones, and auto-thin configuration, can seriously affect the performance of the host server.

The solution of Virsto

Virsto has developed a software solution that installs on each host server (whether it is a virtual machine or a filter drive on Hypervisor) and creates a virtualization layer on primary storage called the Virsto storage pool. It also creates a high-performance disk or solid-state storage area, which is called vLog. The read operation points directly to the primary storage, but the write operation is done through vLog, which sends an acknowledgement back to the requested virtual machine or application. VLog then asynchronously distributes these writes to the primary storage, thereby reducing the impact on write performance. The storage pool can accommodate up to four tiers of storage, including solid-state storage and various types of disk drives.

Similar to caching, vLog improves storage performance and reduces back-end storage latency by reducing coupling at the front end of storage. At the same time, it changes the random write operation of the front-end host into a sequential mode to achieve the best performance of the back-end storage. The storage virtualization software based on the Virsto host implements these functions.

Virtual storage device

Another application example of host-based storage virtualization is virtual storage device (VSA)

VSA is a storage controller running on a virtual machine, which virtualizes the storage directly connected to the hosts in the unified cluster. VSA provides a simple storage sharing architecture used by hosts and supports high availability, virtual machine migration, and improved storage delivery. For many enterprises, this approach can replace the architecture that needs to build and manage traditional SAN or NAS to support virtual servers and desktops.

How to deploy server-level storage virtualization

VSphere Storage Appliance.VMware 's vSphere Storage Appliance runs as a virtual machine, creating a shared storage pool from DAS storage directly connected to each ESX/ESXi host in a 2-or 3-node cluster. VMware VSA provides RAID protection for each node and mirror protection between nodes in the same cluster. Although VMware VSA is technically a file-based architecture, it also provides block-level storage virtualization for each host in the cluster, and users can benefit from this deployment as much as block-based shared storage.

LeftHand Virtual SAN Appliance of HP. Although similar to the function of VMware VSA, P4000 VSA software can support each host other than directly connected to DAS. It also allows the use of external storage such as iSCSI or FC SAN to create shared storage pools. This means that how to use storage, local storage or remote storage for disaster recovery, can be transformed into LeftHand storage nodes. P4000t provides snapshots and automatic thin configuration, and supports Hyper-V and VMware.

DataCore's SANsymphony-V.DataCore solution is to consolidate the directly connected storage of other VMware,Hyper-V or XEN hosts by deploying its SANsymphony software in one virtual machine to form a shared storage pool. SANsymphony-V can virtualize external network storage in the same way as HP's solution, and the software can be deployed on external servers when migrating to a traditional shared storage architecture. SANsymphony-V also provides a variety of storage services, such as snapshots, automatic thin provisioning, automated tiering, and remote replication.

Network Storage Server Virtual Appliance (NSSVA) of FalconStor's NSS Virtual Appliance.FalconStor is the only supported VMware version of the company's NASS hardware products, creating a virtual storage pool with directly connected storage from other hosts on the network. Similar to DataCore and LeftHand solutions, the storage pool can be extended to any available iSCSI storage on the network. The NSS Virtual Appliance includes storage features such as snapshots, automatic thin configuration, read / write caching, remote replication, and volume tiering.

When to use

Host-based storage virtualization solutions are currently mostly used in virtualized servers and virtualized desktop environments to achieve the high availability characteristics of the environment and to improve storage performance, utilization and management efficiency. In small environments, VSA can also be used to provide storage resources for physical servers.

After reading this article, I believe you have a certain understanding of "how to deploy server-level storage virtualization". If you want to know more about it, welcome to follow the industry information channel, thank you for reading!

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