MODULE – 2

DATA CENTER
ENVIRONMENT

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 Module 2: Data Center Environment

Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:

• Describe the core elements of a data center
• Describe virtualization at application and host layer
• Describe disk drive components and performance
• Describe host access to storage through DAS
• Describe working and benefits of flash drives

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 Module 2: Data Center Environment

Lesson 1: Application, DBMS, and Host (Compute)

During this lesson the following topics are covered:
• Application and application virtualization
• DBMS
• Components of host system
• Compute and memory virtualization

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 Application
• A software program that provides logic for computing operations
• Commonly deployed applications in a data center
 Business applications – email, enterprise resource planning (ERP),
decision support system (DSS)
 Management applications – resource management, performance
tuning, virtualization
 Data protection applications – backup, replication
 Security applications – authentication, antivirus
• Key I/O characteristics of an application
 Read intensive vs. write intensive
 Sequential vs. random
 I/O size

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 Application Virtualization
Application Virtualization

It is the technique of presenting an application to an end user without

any installation, integration, or dependencies on the underlying
computing platform.

• Allows application to be delivered in an isolated environment

 Aggregates Operating System (OS) resources and the application
into a virtualized container
 Ensures integrity of Operating System (OS) and applications
 Avoids conflicts between different applications or different
versions of the same application

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 Database Management System (DBMS)
• Database is a structured way to store data in logically organized
tables that are interrelated
 Helps to optimize the storage and retrieval of data
• DBMS controls the creation, maintenance, and use of databases
 Processes an application’s request for data
 Instructs the OS to retrieve the appropriate data from storage
• Popular DBMS examples are MySQL, Oracle RDBMS, SQL Server,
etc.

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 Host (Compute)
• Resource that runs applications with the
help of underlying computing
components
 Example: Servers, mainframes, laptop,
desktops, tablets, server clusters, etc.
• Consists of hardware and software
components
• Hardware components
 Include CPU, memory, and input/output
IP
(I/O) devices
• Software components
 Include OS, device driver, file system,
volume manager, and so on

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 Operating Systems and Device Driver
• In a traditional environment OS resides between the applications
and the hardware
 Responsible for controlling the environment
• In a virtualized environment virtualization layer works between
OS and hardware
 Virtualization layer controls the environment
 OS works as a guest and only controls the application environment
 In some implementation OS is modified to communicate with
virtualization layer
• Device driver is a software that enables the OS to recognize the
specific device

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 Memory Virtualization
• An OS feature that presents larger memory to Operating System
the application than physically available
 Additional memory space comes from disk
storage
 Space used on the disk for virtual memory is
called ‘swap space/swap file or page file’ Memory

 Inactive memory pages are moved from Swap in Swap out

physical memory to the swap file

 Provides efficient use of available physical
memory
 Data access from swap file is slower – use of Disk Drive

flash drives for swap space gives best

performance

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 Logical Volume Manager (LVM)
• Responsible for creating and
controlling host level logical storage Logical Volume
 Physical view of storage is converted
Logical Volume Logical Disk
to a logical view Block

 Logical data blocks are mapped to

physical data blocks
• One or more Physical Volumes form
a Volume Group
 LVM manages Volume Groups as a
single entity
• Logical volumes are created from the Physical Vol. 1 Physical Vol. 2 Physical Vol. 3

volume group
Volume Group

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 LVM Example: Partitioning and Concatenation

Hosts

Logical Volume

Physical Volume

Partitioning Concatenation

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 File System
File System Blocks

Users
Files File System

1 2 3

Creates/ Reside in Mapped to

Manages

Disk Physical
Disk Sectors Extents LVM Logical Extents

6 5 4
Mapped to Mapped to Mapped to

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 Compute Virtualization
Compute Virtualization

It is a technique of masking or abstracting the physical compute

hardware and enabling multiple operating systems (OSs) to run
concurrently on a single or clustered physical machine(s).

• Enables creation of multiple virtual

machines (VMs), each running an OS
and application
 VM is a logical entity that looks and
behaves like physical machine
• Virtualization layer resides between Virtualization Layer (Hypervisor)

hardware and VMs x86 Architecture

 Also known as hypervisor
• VMs are provided with standardized
hardware resources CPU NIC Card Memory Hard Disk

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 Need for Compute Virtualization

Virtualization Layer (Hypervisor)

x86 Architecture x86 Architecture

CPU NIC Card Memory Hard Disk CPU NIC Card Memory Hard Disk

Before Virtualization After Virtualization

• Runs single operating system (OS) per machine at a • Runs multiple operating systems (OSs) per
time physical machine concurrently
• Couples s/w and h/w tightly • Makes OS and applications h/w independent
• May create conflicts when multiple applications • Isolates VM from each other, hence, no conflict
run on the same machine • Improves resource utilization
• Underutilizes resources • Offers flexible infrastructure at low cost
• Is inflexible and expensive

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 Desktop Virtualization
Desktop Virtualization

It is a technology which enables detachment of the user state, the

Operating System (OS), and the applications from endpoint devices.

• Enables organizations to host and Pcs and thin clients

centrally manage desktops

 Desktops run as virtual machines within the
data center and accessed over a network
• Desktop virtualization benefits
 Flexibility of access due to enablement of LAN/WAN

thin clients
 Improved data security
Desktop VMs
 Simplified data backup and PC maintenance

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 Module 2: Data Center Environment

Lesson 2: Connectivity
During this lesson the following topics are covered:
• Physical components of connectivity
• Storage connectivity protocols

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 Connectivity
• Interconnection between hosts or between a host and
peripheral devices, such as storage
• Physical Components of Connectivity are:
 Host interface card, port, and cable
• Protocol = a defined format for communication between sending
and receiving devices
 Popular storage interface protocols: IDE/ATA and SCSI

Host
Adapter Cable

Disk

Port

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 IDE/ATA and Serial ATA
• Integrated Device Electronics (IDE)/Advanced Technology
Attachment (ATA)
 Popular interface used to connect hard disks or CD-ROM drives
 Available with varity of standards and names
• Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
 Serial version of the IDE/ATA specification that has replaced the
parallel ATA
 Inexpensive storage interconnect, typically used for internal
connectivity
 Provides data transfer rate up to 6 Gb/s (standard 3.0)

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 SCSI and SAS
• Parallel Small computer system interface (SCSI)
 Popular standard for connecting host and peripheral devices
 Commonly used for storage connectivity in servers
 Higher cost than IDE/ATA, therefore not popular in PC
environments
 Available in wide variety of related technologies and standards
 Support up to 16 devices on a single bus
 Ultra-640 version provides data transfer speed up to 640 MB/s
• Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
 Point-to-point serial protocol replacing parallel SCSI
 Supports data transfer rate up to 6 Gb/s (SAS 2.0)

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 Fibre Channel and IP
• Fibre Channel (FC)
 Widely used protocol for high speed communication to the storage
device
 Provides a serial data transmission that operates over copper wire
and/or optical fiber
 Latest version of the FC interface ‘16FC’ allows transmission of
data up to 16 Gb/s
• Internet Protocol (IP)
 Traditionally used to transfer host-to-host traffic
 Provide opportunity to leverage existing IP based network for
storage communication
 Examples: iSCSI and FCIP protocols

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 Module 2: Data Center Environment

Lesson 3: Storage
During this lesson the following topics are covered:
• Various storage options
• Disk drive components, addressing, and performance
• Enterprise Flash drives
• Host access to storage and direct-attached storage

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 Storage Options
• Magnetic Tape
 Low cost solution for long term data storage
 Preferred option for backup destination in the past
 Limitations
 Sequential data access
 Single application access at a time
 Physical wear and tear
 Storage/retrieval overheads

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 Storage Options (contd.)
• Optical discs
 Popularly used as distribution medium in small, single-user
computing environments
 Limited in capacity and speed
 Write once and read many (WORM): CD-ROM, DVD-ROM
 Other variations: CD-RW, Blu-ray discs
• Disk drive
 Most popular storage medium
 Large storage capacity
 Random read/write access
• Flash drives
 Uses semiconductor media
 Provide high performance and low power consumption

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 Disk Drive Components

Controller
Board

HDA

Platter and Interface

Read/Write Head
Power
Connectors

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 Physical Disk Structure

Spindle Sector
Sector
Track

ylinder

Track

Platter

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 Logical Block Addressing

Sector 8

Block 0
Head 0 (Upper Surface)

Cylinder 1 Block 32
(Lower Surface)

Block 64

Block 128

Physical Address= CHS Logical Block Address= Block#

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 Disk Drive Performance
• Electromechanical device
 Impacts the overall performance of the storage system
• Disk service time
 Time taken by a disk to complete an I/O request, depends on:
 Seek time
 Rotational latency
 Data transfer rate

Disk service time = seek time + rotational latency + data transfer time

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 Seek Time
• Time taken to position the read/write head
• The lower the seek time, the faster the I/O
operation
• Seek time specifications
include
 Full stroke
 Average Radial
 Track-to-track Movement

• The seek time of a disk is specified

by the drive manufacturer

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 Rotational Latency
• The time taken by the platter
to rotate and position the data
under the R/W head
• Depends on the rotation speed
of the spindle
• Average rotational latency
 One-half of the time taken for
a full rotation
 For ‘X’ rpm, drive latency is
calculated in milliseconds as:

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 Data Transfer Rate
• Average amount of data per unit time that the drive can deliver
to the HBA
 Internal transfer rate : Speed at which data moves from a platter’s
surface to the internal buffer of the disk
 External transfer rate: Rate at which data move through the
interface to the HBA

External transfer rate Internal transfer rate

measured here measured here

Head Disk
HBA Interface Buffer Assembly

Disk Drive

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 I/O Controller Utilization Vs. Response Time
• Based on fundamental laws of disk drive performance:

 Service time is time taken by the controller to serve an I/O

• For performance-sensitive applications disks are commonly
utilized below 70% of their I/O serving capability
Knee of curve: disks at
about 70% utilization
Response time (msec)

Low Queue Size

100%
0% Utilization 70%

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 Storage Design Based on Application Requirements and
Disk Drive Performance
• Disks required to meet an application’s capacity need (DC):

• Disks required to meet application’s performance need (DP):

• IOPS serviced by a disk (S) depends upon disk service time (TS):
 TS is time taken for an I/O to complete, therefore IOPS serviced by
a disk (S) is equal to (1/TS)
 For performance sensitive application (S)=

Disk required for an application = max (DC,DP)

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 Enterprise Flash Drives

Conventional Hard Drives Flash Drives

Mechanical delay due to seek time and Highest possible throughput per drive due
rotational latency to no mechanical movement
Limited performance and I/O serving Very low latency per I/O and consistent I/O
capability performance
More power consumption due to High Energy efficiency
mechanical operations • Lower power requirement per GB
• Lower power requirement per IOPS
Low mean time between failure (MTBF) High reliability due to no moving parts

Higher TCO due to more number of disks, Overall less TCO

power, cooling, and management cost

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 Host Access to Storage
Storage Networking Options
Compute Compute Compute

Application
Application Application

File System File System

Storage File-level
Network Request

Block-level Storage
Network
Block-level
Request Network Request

File System
Storage
System
Storage Storage Storage

Direct-Attached Storage Block-level Access File-level Access

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 Direct-Attached Storage (DAS)

Internal Direct Connect External Direct Connect

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 Module 2: Data Center Environment

Concept in Practice
• VMware ESXi

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 VMware ESXi
• Industry’s leading hypervisor
 Enable virtualization of x86 hardware platforms
• Physical machine that houses ESXi is called ESXi host
 ESXi host abstracts physical compute resources to run multiple
VMs concurrently on same physical server
• Two Components
 VMKernel
 Work similar to OS – responsible for process creation, resource
scheduling, and so on
 Virtual machine monitor
 Performs binary translation for privileged OS instructions that can
not be virtualized

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 Module 2: Summary
Key points covered in this module:
• Key data center elements
• Application and compute virtualization
• Disk drive components and performance
• Enterprise flash drives
• Host access to storage

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 Check Your Knowledge – 1
• Which is a benefit of compute virtualization?
A. Enables compute memory swapping
B. Improves compute utilization
C. Isolates compute memory from the applications
D. Isolates compute OS from the applications

• What best describes virtual machines (VMs)?

A. All VMs on a physical server must run same OS
B. VM files are deleted when VM is powered off
C. VMs are discrete sets of files
D. All VMs share available resources equally

EMC Proven Professional. Copyright © 2012 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Module 2: Data Center Environment 43
 Check Your Knowledge – 2
• What is concatenation?
A. Grouping multiple physical drives into a logical drive
B. Dividing a physical drive into multiple logical drives
C. Process of writing disk metadata on a logical drive
D. Adding more capacity to a physical drive through de-fragmentation

• Which factors contribute to the overall service time of a

mechanical disk?
A. Disk buffer time, full stroke, and rotation latency
B. Internal transfer rate, external transfer rate, and buffer time
C. Full stroke, average seek time, and track-to-track seek time
D. Average seek time, rotational latency, and data transfer rate

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 Check Your Knowledge – 3
• Which is a challenge of DAS environment?
A. Low performance
B. Limited scalability
C. Deployment complexity
D. High initial investment

EMC Proven Professional. Copyright © 2012 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Module 2: Data Center Environment 45
 Exercise: Design Storage Solution for New Application
• Scenario
 Characteristics of new application:
 Require 1TB of storage capacity
 Peak I/O workload 4900 IOPS
 Typical I/O size is 4KB
 Specifications of the available disk drives:
 15K rpm drive with storage capacity = 100 GB
 Average seek time = 5ms
 Data transfer rate = 40 MB/sec
 As it is business critical application, response time must be within
acceptable range
• Task
 Calculate the number of disks required for the application

EMC Proven Professional. Copyright © 2012 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Module 2: Data Center Environment 46