equallogic

If you are already a part of the EqualLogic fan base, hopefully you downloaded a free copy of SAN HQ 1.0 off the support site.  Less than a year after introducing an already great product (free to customers on support I might add), Dell EqualLogic is getting ready to debut the second version, likely before the end of the year.  

SAN HQ 2.0's interface is still as snappy, informative and intuitive as the previous generation, with some added capabilities:

Packaged Reports --

• "Top 10" reports such as Top 10 Busy Volumes, Top 10 Hosts by Connection, and more. 
• Performance Report
• Host Connections Report
• Group Configuration Report with Alerts
• Capacity Utilization and Trending Report
• Thin Volume Status Report
• Replication Status Report
• Alerts Report for All Groups
• Hardware Summary Report

Enhanced Analytics: calculation and display of maximum theoretical IOPS; degraded performance limits; estimated percentage-busy IOPS for groups, pools, and members; IOPS vs. latency; and volume queue depths

Broader Data Collection: additional metrics on iSCSI sessions, outbound replication, volume collections, network ports and controllers, including temperature charts

New Alerts: including those for unreachable member ports, port status, member disk mirroring issues, and disk alternate signatures

Better Communication: finer-grained control over e-mail notification and group e-mail settings

Improved Usability: single sign-on, new wizards, simpler navigation, and chart enhancements

Since a picture is worth a 1000 words, I'll save my usual marathon-length blog and throw up some screen captures from our two groups in the DellTechCenter monitored by SAN HQ 2.0:

Figure 1: Main page of one of our groups.

Figure 2: New with 2.0 SAN HQ Report Wizard

Figure 3: Page from "Top 10" report generated

Figure 4: Expanded Network port and controller information available in 2.0

It has been a while since my last post; but there’s been good reasons for the delay. I’ve been working with Dell partners- Microsoft, VMware and Veeam on performance and usability related studies and Scalent to understand how they integrate into Dell’s solution stacks.

Areas encompassed include Microsoft Windows 2008 Server running Hyper-V R2 feature, running Microsoft Exchange and SAP VMs in a VMware vSphere environment, backup using Veeam’s Backup product, and dynamic infrastructure management using Scalent.  All of this is built upon Dell 11G servers and Dell | EqualLogic PS series storage arrays. So continue to check the Dell TechCenter blog and the Dell TechCenter site for sneak peeks into study results and demo announcements.

Last week Dell EqualLogic debuted 4.2.1 firmware for the PS Series arrays, which you can download from the support site.  Take a look at the release notes and you'll find there's some pretty amazing additions --and you didn't even have to buy a new array to take advantage of them.  Well, unless you want to pick up a PS6500X or two (which I talked about here.)

Here's a few highlights of what's new in the 4.2.1 release:

• Preemptive drive replacement
• Support for new PS6500X
• Support for 16-member groups

Take note: ALL GENERATIONS of EqualLogic arrays are eligible for the latest firmware upgrade.  They too benefit from the expansion of up to 16 members/arrays in a single group.  One of the best selling points, beyond the widely accepted ridiculous ease of use, is the investment protection through backwards compatibility that Dell EqualLogic continues to deliver.

Growing the group size by 33% (from 12 to 16 members) provides several benefits.  It allows a storage admin to manage more arrays in a single pool. It load balances data more efficiently across more arrays and more drives. The larger spindle count and group capacity also reduces sprawl of applications.  You can manage more of those applications in a single group.

Upgrading is a cinch, especially if you are at a 4.1.3 or later versions of the firmware.  Here's a short video of me upgrading one of our arrays through the GUI to 4.2.1:

I recommend you read the "Updating Storage Array Firmware" document found on the support site before giving it a go.

Starting today, there's a little known, new Dell EqualLogic offering:  The PS6500X.  Note I didn't say PS6500E.  For those of you new to EqualLogic model naming conventions, the X=SAS, the E=SATA.  This means now you can get a single array with 48 x 600GB 10K SAS drives!  28.8 TB in 4U, with the ability to scale to 460.8 TB (16 member groups available now with 4.2 Firmware - more on this later.)

Three times more SAS capacity in the EqualLogic groups is cool. I think another important point is the impact on space, power and cooling.   The largest single array SAS 10K offering from Dell EqualLogic, up until now, was a PS6000X, which has a 16 drive capacity.  (There is a 15K SAS option as well in the 16 drive offering.) I took a look at some of the power/heat dissipation numbers, and it makes for a nice green story. 

Comparing the new PS6500X's capacity to the PS6000X, you'd need 3 PS6000X arrays to measure up.  These 3 arrays would take up 9U (3U each), whereas the PS6500X only occupies 4U.  The new array consumes 26% less power at peak and 35% fewer BTU's than the combined PS6000X's.   That's a nice reduction in power consumption and heat dissipation on a per drive basis, and some leftover rack space to boot. 

In the coming weeks I'll have more in-depth information on some of the new features of the 4.2 firmware and an upcoming update to an already great (and free) piece of software -- SAN Headquarters. 

This year's Storage Networking World (SNW) is coming up fast -- October 12-15, 2009.  Dell Storage is participating in 3 excellent Hands On Labs, which you can register for here.  So while hanging out in Phoenix, stop by and get some quality time in with our DL2000, EqualLogic, and MD3000i.  I've listed the theme, abstract, and our labs below:

IP SAN Solutions
In organization of all sizes, Internet (IP) Storage Area Networks (SANs) are increasingly becoming a networked storage solution for business critical IT environments. This Lab guides students through the steps required to quickly setup and configure an IP SAN. Upon completion, attendees will better understand IP based SAN technology, associated strategies, storage system capabilities, and usage of IP Storage solutions.
In detail, students will learn how to setup and configure a iSCSI SAN in a choice of Windows or Linux environments. Students will also learn how to setup and configure a network boot environment using a Windows iSCSI initiator, how to attach to an iSCSI LUN/volume from a virtual host server, and preserve/restore data using snapshot technology.

• Dell EqualLogic PS Series
• Dell PowerVault MD3000i

Storage Virtualization
With ever more focus on ROI and TCO, there is heightened interest in storage virtualization. This Lab guides students through the steps required to establish a virtualized storage environment. Upon completion, students will have a good basic understanding of how to set up and configure a virtualized block storage environment with fault-tolerant protection.
Exercises will include basic provisioning, data migration, volume expansion, and data protection. Students will understand how to set up and take advantage of advanced virtualization features in a storage environment, including dynamic expansion and allocation of resources, replication, data migration, and data protection.

• Dell EqualLogic PS Series

Data Deduplication
With today’s pressure on organizations' storage infrastructure, deduplicating data offers a solution to reduce the physical disk footprint and required bandwidth. This lab guides students through exercises that illustrate how organizations store data - first for backup and disaster recovery, and now across the entire storage ecosystem - using data deduplication technology. Upon completion, students will better understand the powerful cost savings this new technology can offer as a way to augment traditional data protection methodologies.

• Dell PowerVault DL2000 with CommVault