Optimizing Application Storage Performance
Optimizing Storage Performance has much to do with making sure your application's data is on the fastest possible storage and that the application can take advantage of that performance. This is often at odds with optimizing storage CAPEX. The result is only an "anointed few" applications work their way on to the fastest possible storage. The problem is that these applications don’t always need the fastest storage and there are other applications whose data sometimes does. How do you make sure the right data is on the fastest tier of storage when it is needed but on the most cost effective tier of storage when it is not?
Friday, October 9, 2009
This is the problem that Storspeed's application-aware caching solution may solve. It constantly analyzes application storage I/O through a sophisticated packet inspection process and then moves that data into the DRAM based storage cache of their SP5000 appliance. With the support of SSDs the cache density will become even greater. The result is that application data can be dynamically moved in and out of high speed tier 0 storage, dramatically improving application storage I/O.
Storspeed has initially targeted NAS environments that need high speed storage I/O. Architecturally multiple SP5000s are clustered together to front end a NFS or CIFS storage system. The cluster provides both performance and cache capacity scaling as well as redundancy. If an appliance fails the remaining nodes in the cluster assume the workload.
With the Storspeed solution no changes need to be made to the existing infrastructure, including no mount point changes, application changes nor changes to backup and storage management processes. Even in the unlikely total failure to the storage cache cluster, operations continue as normal. This is critical for companies looking to make the jump to this type of technology but not wanting to be exposed if something goes wrong.
The key aspect of the solution is its ability to monitor application packets as they travel through the infrastructure and determine which of those should be mirrored in RAM and SSD based storage and which should stay on mechanical drives. Further the storage manager has the ability to override the automated solution and place specific application data in cache either permanently or by event driven needs. The most impressive aspect of this is the GUI that is provided to help the storage manager perform that task.
Storage Switzerland’s Take
In the last few weeks we have seen several storage caching devices. For NAS based storage the Storspeed solution has a lot of merit. We like the fact that there are no infrastructural changes required and are very impressed with the management GUI. Frankly the GUI is so powerful it may be worth buying the SP5000s just for the ability to use it. It has one of the clearest articulations of how an application's data is using storage resources and how performance might improve if its data is moved to a higher speed storage tier or if additional capacity is added to that higher speed storage tier.
Technology like Storspeed will play a pivotal role in the adoption of solid state disk technology. Even when that adoption is complete and mechanical drives are no more, it will have a role as even storage solutions based on solid state disks will have different performance tiers that need to be managed to guarantee optimal application performance.
George Crump, Senior Analyst
Briefing Report
