Around the Storage Block Blog : iSCSI

Not your grandfather’s NAS…

CalvinZ — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:30:00 GMT

By Dirk Kunselman, Product Manager

If I ask you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind when I mention NAS, you might reference high-end (and expensive) file serving appliances. Or you might mention consumer-class devices that are becoming more prevalent at your local electronics retailer. Or you might say that you know it's like a SAN, only different. You might even reveal that he's your favorite rapper. Oops, you lost me.

Fact is, NAS (Network Attached Storage) is often misunderstood and more frequently underappreciated. Most folks associate it with files, but as NAS has evolved, it's taken on more than just file protocols and print services. The term is now almost synonymous with (and sometimes even replaced by) unified-or combined file and block-storage. It's a great story, especially for small environments: why just network and consolidate one type of data when you can serve files for your clients and blocks for your servers all from the same storage system?

That's where the new HP StorageWorks X1000 and X3000 Network Storage Systems come in. They're NAS devices, yes; but moreover, they're unified storage systems since they all include an iSCSI Target standard. An X1000 model can be that single storage consolidation platform by itself, while an X3000 Gateway can turn an existing array or SAN into a unified consolidation solution (utilizing both SAN and Ethernet connections) by adding IP-based file and/or iSCSI protocols to it.

NAS isn't just about sharing files any more--it's about sharing information.

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Learn more about HP LeftHand

CalvinZ — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:21:00 GMT

By Calvin Zito

I wanted to follow-up on John Spiers previous blog post about our HP LeftHand announcement on Monday. I'd like to point you to a few different things around our hp.com web pages to help you learn more about the problems our HP LeftHand solutions are solving, product details, and point you to some customers who are using HP LeftHand today. So here we go:

First is a feature article that talks about the customer problems HP LeftHand helps you to solve. It's titled The secret to successful virtualization.
Next is a video that provides a good introduction to HP LeftHand. It features Bill and Dave (no, not Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard but Bill Chambers and Dave Roberson). The video talks about how the HP StorageWorks LeftHand SAN delivers low-cost storage that is optimized for virtualized computing environments.
I found another video that gives a quick tour of the LeftHand P4000 SAN solution.
If you want to dig deeper into our LeftHand solutions, you can check out the product pages:
- HP LeftHand P4000 SAN Solution page. Be sure to check out the Flash-based product demo and click on the Resource Library link to get a look at all of the collateral available.
- HP LeftHand P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) Software page and again, be sure to click on the Resource Library link (which for all of our products is always on the top right-hand side of the product page).
Lastly, I'll point you to our customer case studies where you can read how others are using HP LeftHand solutions:
- BlueLock, a technology service provider running VMware ESX, Windows and Linux OS's
- Gaylor, a construction services company running VMware ESX Exchange, and SQL
- Litigation Management, a litigation support services business running VMware ESX and SQL.
- Mojave Water Agency, a public utility running SQL, Visual Studio, Exchange, and ESRI GIS
- Florida Municipal Power Agency, a public utility running VMware ESX, Dynamics SL, Lotus Notes, Maximo Asset Management
- Los Angeles Mission College, an educational institution running Exchange, SQL, and ImageNow document imaging
- University of Florida, an educational institution running VMware ESX, Exchange and SQL
- Jackson Energy Authority, a public utility running Windows Hyper-V, SQL, Exchange, SharePoint, System Center

I know I've given you a lot of links today but if you're looking for an iSCSI based storage solution, it will be worth your time.

I also wanted to remind you that you can follow HP StorageWorks on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HPstorageGuy.

Have a great weekend!

Is the SAN dead?

CalvinZ — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:08:00 GMT

By Lee Johns

Is the SAN Dead?

Well what do you know. A well respected analyst has had the courage to write a paper entitled "Do you really need a SAN anymore?". In his paper Andrew Reichman of Forrester postulates that the promise of the SAN has not been realised and that application centric storage based on industry standard platforms and alternate interconnects like iSCSI, SAS and infiniband may offer a better return.

So is the SAN dead. The simple answer is no. Fibre Channel SANs will continue to be the predominant platforms for storage over the next few years. However there is real merit in Andrew Reichman's hypothesis.

I am a Zoologist. Yes I admit it. I have an "ology". I don't apply the knowledge I gained from zoology everyday in my job in the computer industry but occasionally I do and one of the things that zoology taught me is that evolution comes in leaps. When the climate changes dramatically it does not suddenly result in mutations that lead the next generations. Those mutations already exist, and the change in climate just means their adaptions (which may previously have been a weakness) make them more competitive than they were.

We are currently going through one of these "Climate Changes" with the turmoil in the financial markets. IT managers are looking for alternatives and they are out there. The HP Oracle Exadata Database Machine (Leverages infiniband), The HP Extreme Data Storage System (SAS), alternate SAN technologies like LeftHand Networks an HP company (iSCSI) and new SAS connected solutions including HP's direct connect storage for HP BladeSystem.

Anyone want to make a guess as to who is most ready to capitalize on this new shift in storage power? Andrew Reichman makes some suggestions and HP is on his list of the best prepared and most likely to embrace. He does not say it quite like a Zoologist would however. As every zoolologist knows The Dinosaurs never saw that meteorite coming.

If you liked this article you might also like the read the following (these are all links):-

And for those of you who don't believe I'm a zoologist:-

http://h30431.www3.hp.com/?fr_story=48087e34d302151d43a00ab35c025f555c2d375c&rf=bm

HP/LeftHand Networks named partner of the year

CalvinZ — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:27:00 GMT

By Lee Johns

Our new colleagues at LeftHand Networks have big smiles on their faces today. And with good reason too. CDW has named LeftHand its "Partner of the Year" for 2008. The award recognizes LeftHand Networks for "its unique marketing programs and solid field engagement, as well as its strong sales growth at CDW." All of us in the HP StorageWorks business are excited about the merging of our two organizations and the innovations in industry-leading SAN solutions we'll be delivering to customers. You can read more about the award here: http://newsroom.cdw.com/news-releases/news-release-11-24-08.html.

I would like to highlight that when making acquisitions it is important to consider all aspects of a companies viability and strategic fit. LeftHand Networks brought to HP:

Great technology and products for iSCSI SANs.
A strong presence in midmarket customers in North America.
Leadership virtualization technology
A product architecture running on industry standard servers that provides unique possibilities for HP

However as we talked with them we realized one of their strongest assets was their shared passion with HP for the reseller community and the innovative apprach they have taken to be the best partner they can be. This award from CDW rightly recognizes them for their innovation outside of their product engineering.

You can learn more about our LeftHand Networks portfolio by going here: www.hp.com/go/LeftHandNetworks

OH, and don't ever let anyone tell you that an old dog can't learn new tricks.

Lee Johns, Director of Marketing for Entry Storage

HP BladeSystem and StorageWorks Synergy

CalvinZ — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:26:00 GMT

By Lee Johns

I often get asked why HP BladeSystem and StorageWorks are such a compelling combination. There are multiple reasons and it starts with the cost of connecting to existing fibre channel storage which can be reduced by up to 50% with the reductions in cables, single failure points and administration when you use a technology like HP Virtual Connect. You of course also benefit from the infrastructure savings you get from implementing blade servers in terms of time, energy, change and cost.

Today there is a new reason. Direct connect storage! Think the simplicity of DAS with the resource sharing of a SAN. With HP BladeSystem you can now implement up to 192TB of shared storage across 16 blade servers using a simple, but high-performance 3Gb SAS interconnect. What's more the Storage offers all the management features and capabilities of the HP MSA 2000 but without the requirement to manage a fabric (Fibre Channel or iSCSI).

Now don't get me wrong. Fibre Channel and iSCSI storage are every bit as important as they were yesterday with BladeSystem. In fact HP also announced a technology called Virtual Connect Flex-10 for BladeSystems today that will offer great benefits for future iSCSI storage solutions for our EVA and MSA as well as future products from our acquisition of LeftHand Networks. The difference today is that if implementing Fibre Channel or iSCSI was not the right choice for me as a customer, I now have an alternative that offers breakthrough simplicity. Direct connect storage is perfect for Server Administrators who want to implement a simple shared storage environment for boot infrastructure or other server administrator controlled data. It is ideal for small and medium businesses or remote sites who are looking to implement there first SAN but want a simpler solution. It is great for VMware infrastructure and supports VMotion. It is great second tier storage for Enterprises.

Customer excitement in HP early previews has been very strong. In fact it has so much utility for new implementations or existing SAN environments it make me wonder why the traditional storage only vendors are not offering it. After all it simply offers customers more choice.

Lee Johns, Director of Marketing for Entry Storage

Today's LeftHand Networks Announcement

CalvinZ — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:18:00 GMT

Wow - it's been a busy week at StorageWorks and Lee still can't post his own blog so I'll post this for him on today's news that we have signed a definitive agreement to acquire LeftHand Networks, Inc.. Here is Lee's post:

As the dust settles on the announcement of the HP & Oracle Exadata machine, along comes another interesting announcement. HP has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LeftHand Networks (See press release). I'm sure a lot of press and analyst opinion will focus on the benefits to HP of beefing up our iSCSI portfolio or gaining access to some of the strong server and storage virtualization capabilities of the LeftHand Networks solution, or of the opportunity to sell to more mid-market customers with HP storage or even on the channel synergies and worldwide expansion opportunities of the acquisition.

These are all true but what are the customer benefits? An interesting fact is a software solution that builds storage products from industry standard servers. HP Extreme Data Storage System, HP & Oracle Exadata Machine & LeftHand Networks are all very different in their target market, and yet all build from Industry Standard ProLiant and/or BladeSystem components. They all layer on strong SW capabilities that turn industry standard servers into robust storage solutions. LeftHand Networks delivers a very strong software stack featuring Snap & Clone technology, thin provisioning, remote replication and SmartClone capabilities and each of these has considerable customer benefit. LeftHand Networks even offers the capability to run storage services in a virtual machine. Imagine that - building a SAN without having to buy storage hardware. Now that really sounds like a customer benefit!

Lee Johns, Director StorageWorks Marketing

Top Ten Reasons Why DAS Will Grow!

jasontreu — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:17:00 GMT

By Lee Johns

For a number of years now the relentless growth of SANs has overshadowed the Direct Attached Storage market (DAS). Indeed market studies have shown that while still a large market, DAS is shrinking. However, recent advances in SAS drives and SAS connectivity, along with market shifts are pointing to a resurgence of DAS.

I thought I might put forward 10 reasons why over the next 18 months DAS will grow! SO HERE WE GO (drum roll)...

1) SAS connectivity offers much more functionality that older SCSI cable connections. Indeed major systems manufacturers, like HP, have introduced SAS connected arrays that can provided a shared storage environment for multiple servers just like a SAN. For smaller environments this offers SAN functionality without the headache of managing a network.

2) Server Blades are the hotest growth area of the server market. By consolidating servers in a single enclosure, SAS based arrays will in the near future be able to share storage across more servers without using a network with traditional server architectures.

3) Server Virtualization is the hotest SW growth story in the market. Using products like VMware forces customers to have to consider how to implement shared storage, and for many using fibre channel storage is too expensive. SAS connectivity offers a lower cost alternative and is easier to manage, especially for server administrators. SAS products like the HP MSA 2000sa are VMware certified.

4) Although SAN's have consolidated a huge amount of data there still exists an extraordinary amount of drives in servers today that have not been consolidated for a variety of reasons. SAS offers a lower cost consolidation play for the drives that have not today been moved to SANs.

5) Ongoing management costs are one of the major issues faced by IT organizations today. If you don't already have a Fibre Channel SAN and just require shared storage for a few simple applications why look at managing a new fabric and hiring expensive SAN administrators?

6) Applications like Microsoft Exchange are moving more and more storage services inside the application. They are even recomending DAS for performance.

7) Web 2.0 companies are having to think differently about storage implementations b/c of new scale out applications. They can not afford traditional SAN's and the promise of architecting Storage based on DAS is compelling.

8) Server purchasers can not buy SANs without engaging Storage teams. They can buy shared SAS storage though and get the same effect.

9) Choice is always important as a consumer. Products like the HP MSA 2000 offers the choice of Fibre Channel, iSCSI or SAS interconnect, while providing the same basic functionality and management interface. This means you can buy into SAS connected storage with a simple migration path to a future SAN based on iSCSI or Fibre, if you need the future scalability.

10) AND FINALLY......... COST, COST, COST. It is an easy way for SMB's to implement shared storage and have you seen the economy lately?!?

What do you think?