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Storage Virtualization: Technologies for Simplifying Data Storage and Management View Larger Image | Tom Clark
Addison-Wesley, Paperback, Published March 2005, 234 pages, ISBN 0321262514 | List Price: $39.99
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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Preface
Organization of This Book
This book provides an overview of storage virtualization technology and its
myriad manifestations. Like any emerging technical trend, the vague outlines
of virtual storage concepts have only begun to sharpen as the technology has
matured to productive applications in the real world. Today, there is a diversity
of storage virtualization solutions, often tailored to meet specific storage
needs. This book attempts to explain the background for that diversity, how
different solutions function, and the essential value that is driving storage
virtualization toward higher levels of utility.
Chapter 1, "Introduction," discusses the current state of storage
virtualization in the market and provides core concepts for understanding the
hierarchy of virtualization-enabled storage operations.
The following three chapters provide foundation knowledge for understanding
the relationship between what the user sees and what is done behind the scenes.
Chapter 2, "Files and Records," begins with data in its more familiar
format, as objects manipulated by applications for persistent storage. Chapter
3, "Data on Disk," provides the link between upper layer file/record
structures and lower layer block data storage. Ultimately, all data must reside
somewhere, and at some point the content of a file or record will be transformed
into data blocks. Chapter 4, "The Storage Interconnect," reviews the
connectivity required to link servers with their storage assets, whether by
direct-attached SCSI, Fibre Channel, or iSCSI.
The next five chapters discuss storage virtualization proper and the various
means that have been engineered to support it. Chapter 5, "Abstracting
Physical Storage," examines the process of aggregating multiple storage
systems into a virtual storage pool. The secret recipe behind this is the mapping
of logical block addresses presented by each system to virtual block addresses
that are in turn presented to servers. This may be done in a variety of ways.
Chapter 6, "Virtualization at the Host," discusses software virtualization
that runs on individual servers. Chapter 7, "Virtualization at the Storage
Target," discusses array-based virtualization techniques that are offered
in some form by nearly all storage vendors. Chapter 8, "Fabric-Based Virtualization,"
reviews the integration of virtualization technology with fabric switches and
initiatives such as the Fabric Application Interface Standard that promise interoperable
solutions. Chapter 9, "Virtualization Appliances," examines fabric-attached
solutions and the innies/outties dispute between in-band and out-of-band methods.
Collectively, these chapters address the "where it is done" category
of the SNIA storage virtualization taxonomy.
Chapter 10, "Virtualization Services," discusses the practical application
of virtual storage to real problems such as high availability and heterogeneous
storage use. Storage virtualization in general is a foundation for higher-level
storage services such as hierarchical storage management.
Chapter 11, "Virtualized SAN File Systems," reviews another use of
virtualization technology to streamline file system management and to enable
distributed computing environments.
Chapter 12, "Virtualized Tape," provides an overview of the application
of virtualization and system aggregation concepts to classic tape backup operations.
New technologies such as RAIT (Redundant Array of Independent Tape) devices
are breathing new life into an established fixture of data center environments.
Chapter 13, "Storage Automation and Virtualization," discusses the
higher level services that are enabled by storage virtualization. Policy-based
storage management, application-sensitive virtualization intelligence, and the
capability of applications to leverage underlying virtualized services are new
areas of development that hold great promise for simplifying storage operations.
Chapter 14, "The Storage Utility," examines the wide range of technical
dependencies that have been setting the pace of development of storage virtualization
technology. As is typical for a final chapter, Chapter 14 also provides wild
speculations on the future of storage virtualization and the benefits it may
yet provide as an enabling technology for a storage utility.
I have included a bibliography, which unfortunately seems to be an endangered
species in technical works these days. Although there are few works on storage
virtualization, there are many fine references on SAN technology that the serious
reader can pursue. There is also a glossary of storage virtualization terminology
and general SAN concepts.
The Appendix section at the end of the book includes additional reference material
that hopefully will be of interest. Appendix A, "Industry Resources,"
provides web links to industry and standards organizations. Appendix B, "Vendor
Resources," provides web links to storage virtualization and storage networking
vendors, grouped by product type. Appendix C, "Observations and Speculations,"
is an opportunity for industry observers, analysts, experts, and customers to
express their opinions on what this technology is and where it might be going.
Intended Audience
The following work should be useful for anyone who wants to understand the
higher functions of storage networking. Storage managers, administrators, SAN
architects, storage engineers, analysts, vendors, students, and anyone involved
in data storage technology should appreciate the new opportunities that storage
virtualization provides. This book is therefore intended for a fairly diverse
audience—from readers who already have experience with SANs to those who
are just learning the benefits of shared storage solutions.
It is always difficult, however, to write a technical work with a specific
reader in mind. Some readers will want more technical content, others less.
Some will appreciate a broader overview, while others will want to get immediately
to the point. This book attempts to provide both sufficient technical detail
to be meaningful for a technical audience, and sufficient overview to provide
an understanding of the subject by a less technical reader. For both types of
readers, feel free to fast-forward through sections that discuss concepts already
well-understood, or simply of less interest.
Throughout the text I have attempted to avoid mention of specific products
or vendors. This is done both to preserve objectivity in discussing technical
matters as well as to extend the useful shelf life of the work despite the inevitable
innovations that will be introduced. Hopefully, the concepts and relationships
explained in the following chapters will provide a useful framework for understanding
where we are in the space-time continuum of virtualization's maturation into
more sophisticated products.
Table of Contents
Preface.
1. Introduction.
2. Files and Records.
3. Data on Disk.
4. The Storage Interconnect.
5. Abstracting Physical Storage.
6. Virtualization at the Host.
7. Virtualization at the Storage Target.
8. Fabric-Based Virtualization.
9. Virtualization Appliances.
10. Virtualization Services.
11. Virtualized SAN File Systems.
12. Virtual Tape.
13. Storage Automation and Virtualization.
14. The Storage Utility.
Glossary.
Bibliography.
Appendix A. Industry Resources.
Appendix B. Vendor Resources.
Appendix C. Observations and Speculations.
Index.
About the Author
Tom Clark is McDATA's resident SAN Evangelist. He represents
McDATA in industry associations, conducts seminars and tutorials at conferences
and trade shows, promotes McDATA multi-capable solutions, and acts as a customer
liaison. A noted author and industry advocate of storage networking technology,
he is a board member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and
has held chair positions for SNIA customer initiatives and the SNIA Interoperability
Committee. Clark has published numerous articles and white papers on storage
networking and is the author of Designing Storage Area Networks, Second Edition
(AWP, 0321136500). Tom lives in Duvall, WA.
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