This white paper examines how many organizations are currently
addressing storage and management needs to support the growing
amount of file-level activity pervasive in most enterprise
organizations. The paper then identifies pain points associated
with the current solutions, takes a closer look at network-attached
storage (NAS), and focuses on Sun Microsystems' new NAS solutions
and the benefits to be gained by customers.
This white paper examines how many organizations are currently
addressing storage and management needs to support the growing
amount of file-level activity pervasive in most enterprise
organizations. The paper then identifies pain points associated
with the current solutions, takes a closer look at network-attached
storage (NAS), and focuses on Sun Microsystems' new NAS solutions
and the benefits to be gained by customers.
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Introduction
Today's businesses are digitized, online, and growing.
Organizations of all sizes continue to generate increasing amounts
of data, largely because of a growing number of applications and
users generating and accessing data. The productivity and viability
of organizations are becoming ever more reliant on the ability to
store, organize, and share this business information.
One of the largest areas of growth, especially within enterprise
organizations, is expected to be in file-level services, with
activity related to file-based data continuing to grow as
organizations:
! Increasingly rely on digitization of data and business
information in the form of files
! Experience growing numbers of users generating and/or accessing
the files
! Demand the ability to share files in an efficient manner to
improve productivity or help achieve business goals
! Generate larger files with continuing advancements in application
features, graphics, and processor power
! Generate more files, particularly as a result of increased email
activity and collaboration
! Address business governance and regulatory compliance, which will
increase and complicate the retention of business information,
forcing IT managers to develop ways to save more (or all) files
generated for longer periods of time
Enterprise organizations have had several options from which to
choose in addressing their file-level needs. For most, the
deployment of general-purpose servers (GPSs) to accommodate file
sharing remains the most widely adopted method. Organizations that
are capable of making more strategic investments to consolidate or
reduce management complexity rely on alternative solutions such as
advanced file systems or NAS.
As a result of growing file-related activity, CIOs and IT managers
are constantly looking for methods to store and manage their
business information in the most efficient and cost-effective
manner possible. With respect to file-level data, the increased
amount of activity will continue to add to the existing stress of
IT budgets and resources. Many administrators are looking to
optimize the value of their IT infrastructures by leveraging fewer
suppliers that can deliver as much end-to-end value as possible in
attempts to achieve a total IT or storage solution. As data storage
and organization continue to grow in importance, suppliers that are
capable of addressing storage capabilities in the context of an
organization's overall IT environment can help to maximize a
customer's investment. Systems vendors that offer servers, storage,
and associated software and services to provide a broader
range of full solutions are best positioned to offer more
end-to-end capability to customers. One such company is Sun
Microsystems, whose recent investment in NAS products has increased
its breadth of offerings to help customers address a wide variety
of file-based and overall storage needs.
Typical Architectures to Address File-Level
Storage Needs
General-Purpose Servers
General-purpose servers represent the most widely adopted choice
among end users to address their file-level storage needs. GPSs can
be deployed for a variety of workloads, including network file
sharing. IDC estimates that approximately $5.1 billion was spent in
2005 on general-purpose servers deployed for the function of
network file sharing.
These servers are typically deployed with internal hard disk drives
to facilitate file-level storage, and they are typically based on
Windows, Unix, or Linux operating systems. Each server has a
separate file system that uses a single type of protocol for
sharing files over the network (typically CIFS for Windows servers
and NFS for Unix or Linux servers). The scalability of the
internal, direct-attached storage (DAS) is typically contained
within each individual server.
A GPS with internal DAS remains the most widely deployed
file-sharing solution for several reasons:
! Customers are loyal to existing channels of IT infrastructure. In
most cases, they will tend to be loyal to one or several of the
larger server vendors that have traditionally focused on
server-based solutions.
Datacenter Overhaul
Featuring NAS
IDC spoke with Ahmet Oner, vice
president of IS at Chuck E. Cheese (CEC) Entertainment Corporation.
Currently, CEC has 475 stores in the United
States; each store is equipped with point-of-sale (POS) systems
that are connected to company headquarters via a WAN. The company
was saddled
with an outdated datacenter that no longer met its storage
needs.
Prior to its upgrade, CEC had 40ñ50 servers, each equipped with
dedicated storage. Each server required individual management,
leading to inefficiency
in resource deployment. Frequently, the company would experience
significant downtime when an HDD in a server failed. Additionally,
as the
HDDs were older, CEC would also have to go to the used market to
find replacement drives. As such, the current system was not
cost-effective.
While looking to add storage to satisfy the growing needs of the
company, Oner considered several options to improve upon his
outdated architecture.
"I wanted flexibility and scalability to meet our needs for at
least the next four years," Oner said. In addition, Oner had a
specific budget to work within and wanted to ensure he purchased a
solution that entailed straightforward installation. "Sun was a
single vendor that could provide a complete solution,
and they offered an attractive price," he said. Oner went on to say
that a single vendor was a key element for him. "Otherwise, with
partners, they
point fingers at one another when something goes wrong. This way,
Sun, and only Sun, will handle any issues."
Today, CEC deploys a Central Storage Array. A Sun StorageTek NAS
Appliance is positioned at the front end of the system and is
available for file
sharing. Oner cited redundancy and efficiency as key elements of
the new environment, adding, "There is no single path of failure."
Overall, he has
been very pleased with his decision to buy Sun NAS and storage
products.
! Many organizations might perceive the notion of migrating to a
new storage architecture as costly or complex.
! Many organizations may be unaware of alternative solutions, such
as NAS. In some cases, customer loyalty could actually be the
result of indifference or ignorance to alternative
architectures.
Customer Pain Points Regarding GPS Solutions
The increase in files in organizations is placing stress on
administrators and infrastructure to accommodate the growth. For
many organizations that have already deployed GPSs for general file
sharing, the typical reaction to increasing file-level storage
capacity or activity is either to undergo disruptive upgrades to
hard drives or to deploy additional file servers to accommodate an
increase in capacity or performance in an effort to serve files
efficiently to all users and applications.
Many times, the storage capacities or performance capabilities of
general-purpose servers are inadequate, especially as organizations
grow over time. Upgrading individual servers by manually replacing
the drives with larger drives is extremely disruptive and involves
considerable time and effort on the part of IT or storage
administrators. Along with taking servers offline during the
upgrade, administrators are subject to the complexities of manually
reconfiguring and rebooting each server.
Eventually, when maximum capacities or performance is reached,
additional servers are added to increase file-level services. This
proliferation of multiple devices leads to:
! Increased complexity of architecture
! Increased use of resources and higher cost to manage multiple
devices and multiple file systems
! Increased backup activity and complexity
! Multiple devices for multiple user environments (multiple
operating systems)
! Increased licensing costs for each server added Network-Attached
Storage and Benefits over GPS Solutions NAS is a disk storage
system that attaches directly to the user network and contains its
own file system, which has been optimized to store and share files.
NAS is a mature technology that has found success among users
wishing to consolidate their file-level services, typically
consolidating from multiple general-purpose servers.
IDC estimates that the NAS market will grow from $2.1 billion in
2005 to about $3.4 billion by 2009, representing a robust 12.9%
CAGR. NAS provides many of the following typical benefits over GPS
solutions:
! Ease of use and dedicated purpose. NAS is designed to be easier
to deploy and manage than GPS file-sharing solutions. It is a
storage system architected and optimized to store, share, and
manage files.
! Multiprotocol file sharing. Most NAS solutions support
multiprotocol environments simultaneously, unlike general-purpose
servers, which are each
dedicated to a single operating system. Typical environments
supported include Windows (via CIFS protocol) and Unix/Linux (via
NFS protocol).
! Greater capacity and scalability. Higher initial capacity points
can provide consolidation of storage and management into fewer
devices. Further, NAS is typically architected to scale capacity
external to the initial deployed NAS device, greatly enabling the
ability to scale even further as capacity needs to amplify.
! Greater performance. Because NAS devices are purpose-built for
file sharing, they typically provide greater performance compared
with their GPS counterparts.
! Lower licensing costs. NAS typically allows for the consolidation
of multiple GPSs and, therefore, potentially lowers costs
associated with fewer server licenses.
Customer Requirements
The aggressive data
growth that many enterprise organizations face can be debilitating,
especially if the installed infrastructure is not capable of
providing IT or storage managers with the tools needed to
accommodate growth. Organizations are looking for ways to store,
manage, archive, and retrieve all files in the most efficient and
cost-effective manner possible. For companies facing the
proliferation of GPSs, the notions of lower cost of ownership,
simplified management, and improved business productivity will be
unrealized.
Users who choose to make more strategic investments that either
leverage existing pools of storage or provide the ability to
consolidate multiprotocol access into fewer pools can greatly
reduce complexity, improve performance, and benefit from ease of
management, all leading to overall lower cost of ownership and
lower price-performance of the storage solution.
Customers desire consolidated solutions that offer:
! Simplicity to lessen the strain on administrators, given that
storage capacities will grow while resource budgets will remain
relatively static
! Lower licensing costs due to lower number of products
deployed
! Flexibility that enables the ability to leverage existing pools
of storage and/or make use of multiple tiers of storage to align
the business value of data with the appropriate level of storage
performance and reliability, ultimately improving cost
! Scalability of capacity and performance to ensure investment
protection as organizations attempt to address the tremendous
growth of file-level data
! Nondisruptive and reliable solutions that provide the ability to
scale without taking down systems or that decrease risk due to
higher reliability
! Turnkey solutions that integrate multiple facets of an overall
solution from a single supplier or at least as few suppliers as
possible
! Integration with third-party software to enhance solution
benefits and address higher application layers with respect to
content management or regulatory compliance
Sun StorageTek Network-Attached Storage
Appliances
One solution on the market today that is
helping customers address many desired requirements of enterprise
file sharing comes from Sun Microsystems and its line of NAS
products.
Sun offers three NAS products, each of which employs hardware-based
RAID (0, 1, 5) and can simultaneously support users among multiple
platforms, including Windows, Unix, and Linux via the included CIFS
(SMB), NFS (v2 and v3), and FTP protocols.
In addition, each NAS appliance offers iSCSI support as a target
for the Microsoft Software iSCSI initiator.
The products are as follows:
! Sun StorageTek 5220 NAS Appliance, which scales up to 24TB of raw
Serial ATA (SATA) RAID-protected storage
! Sun StorageTek 5320 NAS Appliance, which offers the ability to
cluster and mix Fibre Channel (FC) and SATA drives, scaling up to
134TB (FC) or 224TB (SATA) raw capacity
! Sun StorageTek 5320 NAS Gateway System, which offers the
separation of the NAS file system from the back-end storage,
enabling flexibility to apply file-level services to existing or
complementary pools of storage area networks (SANs)
! Sun StorageTek Compliance Archiving System, which combines the
Sun StorageTek NAS Appliance with the Sun StorageTek Compliance
Archiving
Software to prevent intentional or accidental destruction or
alteration of the data stored until its assigned retention date has
been met. The StorageTek Compliance Archiving System has been
evaluated as meeting the stringent requirements for data storage as
defined by SEC Rule 240.17a-4.
History of File-Level Services
Sun has a
long history of providing file-level services to enterprise and
high-performance computing environments. The company was an early
pioneer in the development of Unix and TCP/IP networking protocols.
In the early 1980s, Sun developed the Network File System (NFS) and
since then has developed other advanced file systems.
Sun StorageTek QFS shared file system software provides
high-performance file sharing among servers deployed in a SAN
environment, while the StorageTek SAM-FS file system provides
archiving capabilities to help manage and protect file-level
data.
While Sun's QFS enhances the ability for customers to address
file-level storage while leveraging a SAN architecture, the company
has introduced its line of NAS solutions to provide a broader
choice of options. For many customers, a Sun StorageTek NAS
Appliance provides an easier, cost-effective method to store and
manage growing amounts of files.
Customer Benefits of Sun NAS
Capacity
and Scaling
A single Sun StorageTek NAS Appliance scales well beyond the
typical internal DAS capacities of most general-purpose servers
(which are typically under 1TB). Sun StorageTek NAS Appliance helps
to address customers' consolidation requirements and can
dramatically simplify an organization's file-data landscape by
reducing the number of devices necessary to facilitate a given
organization's file-level demands. This capability in turn can help
reduce capital costs and lower management costs as well.
IDC spoke with Jeff Whitmore, director of IT at Ernie Ball Inc.,
one of the world's leading manufacturers of electric guitars,
basses, guitar strings, and
accessories. Strings and accessories are available in more than
5,500 music stores throughout the United States. The company also
exports to 68 countries. With 80 network users spread over two
locations, the company wanted to provide shared storage to each
user's Sun Ray client that would
provide maximum operational efficiency at a low cost.
Whitmore chose to deploy a Sun StorageTek NAS Appliance at each
location. The units mainly support the company's ERP system, but
additional
value is achieved by also supporting user directory file services
(e.g., spreadsheet and word processing applications). In addition,
the NAS
products serve as targets for backup, specifically for email and
directory services. Ultimately, the Sun StorageTek NAS units are
backed up to tape
via conventional backup software.
Whitmore has been extremely pleased with the ease of use and
reliability of Sun's StorageTek NAS. Initial installation two years
ago took less than one
hour, and units have not failed since. In addition, Whitmore also
cited the comfort level that comes from having a single vendor
providing an overall
solution. Also, in regard to scalability, Whitmore expects Sun's
StorageTek NAS solution to fit the bill for the foreseeable
future.
Music Supply Company Uses Sun to Increase
Efficiency
Hardware RAID
Hardware
RAID used in the line of Sun StorageTek NAS Appliances can provide
increased performance for organizations to handle increased
file-level activity. The RAID firmware is executed on a dedicated
processor, which does not share resources of or interfere with the
CPU(s) of the NAS appliance itself, which runs the operating and
file system. This can greatly improve the performance of the RAID
functionality and the overall NAS device. Conversely, the
performance of software-based RAID is dependent on the appliance
CPU processor performance and load on the system.
In addition, the use of hardware RAID allows for the scaling of
storage performance by adding additional RAID controllers as the
storage capacity scales. Sun preconfigures disk shelves for
upgrades, which, when connected to the existing system, are
automatically recognized by the NAS operating system and provide a
smoother and nondisruptive method for scaling capacity and RAID
performance when compared with the use of software-based RAID. The
Sun StorageTek 5320 NAS Appliance can currently scale to 448 drives
behind a maximum of 8 dual RAID controller units, each with up to
1GB of cache.
Gateway Opens Up New Opportunities
The Sun
StorageTek 5320 NAS Gateway option provides the ability to leverage
existing pools of storage ó namely, the existing installed based
of Sun storage arrays, including the Sun StorageTek 6130 and 6920,
and the entire 9900 series, including the Sun StorageTek 9970,
9980, 9985, and 9990. This greatly enhances the ability for
existing Sun SAN customers to deploy file-level services using NAS
technology on top of their existing investments. It also allows for
new customers to deploy complementary systems that combine SAN
storage with NAS capabilities.
In addition, the Sun StorageTek 5320 (delivered either as an
appliance or as a gateway) offers multiple types of storage and
protocol access under common management tools. File-level data is
achieved via delivery of data through NAS (CIFS and NFS) protocols,
while block-level data can be delivered via either iSCSI (IP-based)
or FC SAN (FC-based). The ability to offer direct FC block-level
connection via the back-end storage array(s) enables performance
levels appropriate for direct SAN capabilities. Customers looking
to leverage SAN access to complement the NAS functionality can do
so without having to pass data through the NAS file system, which
could encumber performance.
Multiple Tiers Allow Fine-Tuning and Cost
Savings
The Sun StorageTek 5320 also offers the capability to mix and match
FC (performance-oriented) or SATA (capacity-oriented) drives. This
provides customers with multiple tiers of storage, under a single
management console, that offer the flexibility to store business
data of varying importance on different levels of storage.
This capability allows IT managers to fine-tune and match the
capacity, performance, and cost of the storage with the business
value or importance of the file-level data.
For example, consider an IT manager who has two applications; one
is mission-critical to the viability of the organization, the other
is of secondary importance (such as replicated, backup, or nearline
storage). While Fibre Channel would be the logical choice if the
manager had only one hard drive option from which to choose and
store both applications, this would be overkill for the secondary
application. By choosing multiple tiers of storage, the manager
could save costs by fine-tuning and deploying less expensive SATA
drives for the secondary application.
Sun's NAS Licensing Structure
Sun offers a
system-based licensing model (versus a capacity-based or
combination thereof) for its Sun StorageTek NAS Appliances. For
those organizations experiencing or anticipating tremendous data
growth, Sun's licensing model can help to keep costs at bay.
This pricing model can be key for organizations to grow their
file-level capacities without adversely adding cost. The advantage
is twofold: First, by virtue of the consolidation that is enabled
by Sun's NAS products (versus GPS solutions), customers will need
to deploy fewer devices to satisfy file-related activity. The fact
that Sun's licensing model is based on number of systems will help
to reduce costs. Second, as organizations' file-level needs or
capacity grows, they can add storage (by purchasing the extra disks
to scale capacity) without additional licensing costs or penalties
for increased capacity.
For example, assume a customer purchases a Sun StorageTek 5220 at a
list price, for the initial system, of $31,990. This system
includes a base storage capacity of 4TB and CIFS, NFS, and iSCSI
protocols. As the customer's organization grows, the capacity need
increases to 8TB. The customer can upgrade the capacity for
$14,995, which is the cost of the hard disk drives only, but does
not pay additional licensing costs associated with the increase in
capacity.
Business Governance and Regulatory
Compliance
Sun StorageTek Compliance Archiving
Software, when deployed in conjunction with Sun StorageTek NAS
solutions, allows customers to address two levels of compliance on
a single platform:
! Mandatory or regulatory compliance (such as SEC 240.17a-4 or
HIPAA)
! Advisory or business governance to enable best practices within
the specific and internal guidelines of a particular organization
Similar to the scaling and cost benefits of the NAS licensing
structure, the Sun StorageTek Compliance Archiving Software is sold
per NAS device and is not capacity-based; therefore, customers can
take full advantage of scaling their compliance-related data
without increasing costs related to software licensing.
Sun's End-to-End Capabilities
Sun has the
capability to help customers engaged in high-performance computing
environments or larger enterprise organizations. In particular, Sun
is capable of providing end-to-end solutions that include its own
servers, various storage arrays including SAN and NAS, server and
storage software, and services. Sun is not unique in this area, but
this capability is limited to those server vendors that also sell
external storage arrays, including both SAN and NAS products, and
that have the ability to address both block- and file-based
application needs. Further, Sun offers complete suites of storage
and application software and services to complement the server and
storage technology offerings.
Sun StorageTek NAS Appliances have also lent themselves to enable
partnerships with many third-party software companies or ISVs,
particularly in the following areas:
! Enterprise content management (ECM) to help customers manage the
extreme growth of unstructured file-level data
! Global name space to enhance the scalability beyond the maximum
of 224TB per single StorageTek 5320 NAS solution
! Business governance and/or regulatory compliance issues
! Backup and archive in conjunction with major backup software
vendors to ensure a wide variety of choices to protect data while
leveraging existing backup schemes (In addition, Sun has also
developed APIs that allow customers to integrate its NAS products
with existing backup and archive solutions and leverage existing
investments.)
CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES
Sun has many
opportunities to help customers engage in more cost-effective and
efficient ways to support enterprise file-level applications.
However, Sun should pay attention to the following items and strive
to address them on behalf of its existing and potential
customers:
! As with all storage suppliers, Sun will need to continue to
advance its technology in terms of capacity, performance, and
scalability. Increased competition will not cease, especially in
the area of file-level services, because many, if not all,
suppliers have recognized the importance and opportunity that lie
in supporting advanced technologies for file-level data
storage.
! Sun will need to continue to add functionality and drive deeper
value by internally developing or working with ISVs for even
tighter integration between storage and applications. The company
is well-positioned to advance this integration, but it will need to
execute successful strategies to do so.
! The Sun StorageTek 5320 NAS Gateway is an ideal product to
leverage the Sun installed base of SAN storage and enable
file-level services via NAS. Sun must work internally and with
other storage systems vendors to expand the list of qualified,
external storage arrays to embark on new opportunities and gain
more NAS footprint in the datacenter.
CONCLUSION
File-level activity will continue
to garner increased attention from CIOs and IT/storage
administrators as more users and new applications generate more and
larger files. At the same time, administrators will look for new
ways of supporting this increase in file-level data without
increasing staff, complexity, or costs. For many organizations,
this will include the deployment of external and shared file
systems in the form of NAS.
Sun StorageTek NAS Appliances address many pain points that
enterprise storage administrators face today. The scalability of
Sun's hardware-based RAID, combined with its system-based licensing
architecture, allows organizations to consolidate file-level
services while enabling the ability to scale performance and
capacity at a minimum cost. Multiple tiers of storage allow
customers to align the value of their data with the appropriate
performance and cost characteristics of the storage system. The
single platform provides ease of use and management to
administrators as they address a variety of needs in terms of
compliance or business governance and multiprotocol attachment in
terms of both block- and file-level storage.
Finally, Sun's long history of developing and offering file-level
services, combined with its end-to-end capabilities as a
full-service systems vendor, provides an excellent foundation upon
which to offer its new NAS solutions.
