1

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 2

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrendsIntroduction

BenefitsofUsingSSDsfortheDataCenterDataistheheartandsoulofanybusinessorganization.Withtheever-increasingneedtostoreandaccessdatareadily,moderndatacenterproductionworkloadsareprogressivelycomplexandvaried.Theseworkloadsrequireahigh-performancestorageinfrastructurefordatacenterstomeetthedemandsoftheircustomers.

Entersolid-statedrive(SSD)technology,thefirstquantumleapinstorageperformancein40years.Comparedwithtraditionalspinningharddiskdrives(HDDs),SSDshaveamuchlowerlatency,cangenerateasmuchas1000timesthenumberofI/Ospersecond(IOPS),andhavethreetofivetimesthethroughput.

SSDspromiseimprovedapplicationperformance,greaterstorageutilization,reducedoperatingexpenses,andlowertotalcostofownership.

IssueswhenTransitioningtoSSDsintheDataCenter

UnderstandingNewCharacteristicsandTestingIssuesofNewTechnologyThoughtherearenumerousbenefitstousingSSDsinthedatacenter,therearesomeassociatedissueswhentransitioningtoanewtechnology.

SinceSSDsconsistofmemorytechnologywithoutmovingparts,theydonothavethesamebehaviorcharacteristicsasmagneticandmechanically-basedHDDs.SSDsneedtheirownapproachandtoolsetfortestingandvalidatingperformanceandfunctionality.

Also,replacingslow-spinningHDDswithfasterflashstoragedoesnotremovethebottleneckforadequatetesting,butrather,thetestbottleneckismovedsomewhereelse.Thetestingbottleneckshiftsovertimeasprocessorsandmemoryadvance;applicationsandfirmwareareupdated;andnewtechnologiesareimplemented.Consequently,thecaseforeffectiveSSDvalidationismorenecessarythanever.

KeepingCostsDownDatacentermanagersmustmeettheneedforon-demandtechnologyserviceswhilethecostofdeployingandmanagingtheseservicescontinuestoskyrocket.Theymustbeagileinmeetingcustomerneedswhileensuringtheircapitalexpensesstayaffordable.

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 3

AvoidingDataCenterDowntimeorFailuresDatacentermanagersarerequiredtoguaranteerunningsystems,storagecapacities,andresourcesinmeetingcustomerinformationaccessdemands.Assuch,therecannotbeanydowntimeorstoragefailureswhentransitioningtoSSDs.Thatiswhyit’simperativethattherightSSDsarechosenandvalidatedbeforebeingdeployedinthedatacenter.

ChoosingtheRightSSDforPerformanceinProductionEnvironmentsDatacentermanagerswanttomakewell-informeddecisionsonhardwarepurchases.Theyneedtoensuretheyhavethebestperformanceandmoststablehardwaretosupporttheircriticaldatacenterworkloads.SincethereisaplethoraofenterpriseSSDsavailableonthemarkettoday,decidingonwhichSSDsmeettheirspecificanduniquerequirementsisnotsimple.

Evenwhenthe“right”SSDisinitiallychosen,itmayunderperformorfailinaproductionenvironment.ThisisbecauseSSDtechnologyisstillevolvingandnotnormallytestedunderproductionworkloadsbytheSSDsuppliers.Also,theremaybeadisconnectbetweenSSDsuppliersandtheirdatacentercustomerswhendevelopingoptimumSSDsforthedatacenter.

RecognizingtheLimitationsofCurrentTestandValidationToolsforSSDsDatacentermanagers,aswellasSSDsuppliers,mustrecognizethelimitationsofsomeoftheavailabletoolstotestSSDfeaturesandverifytheirperformanceandfunctionality.ThereisalackofcomprehensivetoolsetsbeingusedbydatacenterteamstovalidateSSDs.WithSSDtechnologymovingsoquickly,inadequatetoolshavedifficultyvalidatingnewSSDfeaturesandfunctionality.

QuestionstoAddresswhenQualifyingSSDsAsdatacentermanagerstransitiontheirstoragetechnologyfromHDDstoSSDs,itiscrucialthattheycanattainandmaintainmaximumperformance,reliability,andfunctionalityfromtheSSDsbeforedeployingthemintoproductiondatacenters.

GiventheissuesofusingSSDsinthedatacenter,severalquestionsarise:

• WhatdoesittaketoqualifySSDsforaproductiondatacenter?• Howdoesadatacenterensuremaximumperformance,reliability,andfunctionality

fromtheirstorageinfrastructuregiventherapidadvancesinSSDtechnology?• Giventhecostofimplementationandsupportforadatacenter,howareissues

identifiedbeforedeployingSSDsintoaproductiondatacenter?• Howcandatacentersverifythattheyaregettingmaximumperformance,reliability,

andfunctionalityfromtheirstoragesysteminfrastructure?

Thefollowingsectionsaddresssomeoftheseconcerns.

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 4

CurrentTrends:TestandValidation

ChoosingtheRightTestandValidationToolsFirstandforemost,therighttestandvalidationtools,specificallydesignedforSSDs,mustbeselected.TheavailableSSDtoolsrangefromasimple,freesolutiontoacomplete,cost-effectivesolution.

• Thefreetoolsoffersomehelpfultesting,butitislimited,andlittlesupportorcustomizationisavailable.Also,thefreetoolsarelessabletostaycurrentwiththeever-evolvingfeaturesandfunctionality.

• Acomplete,cost-effectivesolution,suchasOakGateTechnologyproducts,includessoftwareandhardwareproductstofullytestandvalidateSSDs.OakGate’sfourth-generationsoftwaresuite,EndurowithStorageValidationFramework(SVF)Pro,providescustomized,easy-to-usesoftwarethatbringsunprecedentedcontrolandefficiencytoanydevelopment,validation,andmanufacturingtestplan.OakGate’shardwareproductsincludehigh-performancedesktopandrackmountappliances,plug-inmodules,externalenclosures,andadd-ons,providingameanstotestafewSSDsfordevelopmenttohundredsofSSDsforhigh-volumeproduction.

TestingandValidatingVariousSSDsBeforeTheyArePurchasedInsteadofpurchasingSSDsbasedonlyonasupplier’sliterature,itismuchmorereliableandthus,cost-effective,totestandvalidatevariousSSDsbeforepurchasingthem.TestingtheSSDsunderrealproductionworkloadswouldbetheideal.

TestingandValidatingSSDsBeforeTheyAreDeployedtoProductionEnvironmentsAmongthebenefitsforqualifyingSSDsbeforedeployingtheminproductionenvironmentsare:

• Knowingtheperformance,reliability,stability,andfunctionalityofselectedSSDs• Helpingdecision-makerstomakewell-informeddecisionsonfutureSSDpurchasesand

configurations• Savingmoney(andtime)byfindingproblemsbeforeSSDproductsaredeployedinthe

productionenvironment• Improvingcustomersatisfactionwithqualityservicesandproducts

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 5

FutureTrends:WorkloadReplayandWorkloadAnalytics

WorkloadReplayManyorganizationshavetriedtouseinternally-developedand/orthird-party,load-generationtoolstosimulateworkloads.Insomecases,thesebasic,syntheticworkloadsare“goodenough,”buttheynevergiveanaccuratereproductionofreal-worldproductionworkloads.

Real-worldworkloadsareacollectionofconstantly-changingI/Odatastreams,generatedbyapplicationsovertime.UnderstandingthenatureofdatacenterproductionworkloadsiscrucialtodesigningandimprovingSSDs.

Performancemodeling,workloadanalysis,andcapacityplanningaremuchmoreaccuratetohandlingthesechangingI/Odatastreamswhenreal-worldworkloadsareapplied.Thisiswhyreal-worldworkloadsaremorebeneficialthansyntheticworkloadsinanalyzingworkloadbehaviortoimproveSSDproducts.

WorkloadAnalyticsDataisking.Itisthenewcompetitiveadvantage.RecentstudiesfromtheInternationalDataCorporation(IDC)showthat83%ofChiefInformationOfficers(CIOs)embracebusinessintelligenceandanalyticsaspartoftheirvisionaryplan;morethan54%ofcompaniesuseanalyticsasacompetitiveadvantage;andinthelastfouryears,$4.3billionofventurecapitalhasbeeninvestedinbusinessintelligenceandanalytics.

IDCalsoprojectsthat,bytheendof2020,theITindustrywillspend$203billiononstoringandmanagingdata.Addtothat,IBMestimatesthatmorethanonetrillionconnectedobjectsanddevicesworldwidewillgeneratedataarateof2.5billionGBeverydayby2020.Thesestatisticssuggestthateffectivedatamanagementanddataanalyticsisthenewcompetitiveadvantage.Noplaceisthismoreapparentthaninthedatacenter.

BenefitsofWorkloadReplayandWorkloadAnalytics

DevelopMoreReliableandHigh-PerformingSSDsbySharingReal-WorldWorkloadsToday,datacentersdonothaveaneffectivewaytomonitor,capture,analyze,andreplayreal-worldworkloads.Additionally,SSDsuppliersdonothavethecapabilitytoreplayproductionworkloads,andthereforefinditproblematictoresolvecustomerissuesorimproveperformanceandfunctionalityintheseenterpriseenvironments.

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 6

Consequently,asharedvaluepropositionisemergingbetweenSSDsuppliersandtheirdatacentercustomers.EstablishingamutualprocessofjointdrivequalificationbetweenSSDsuppliersanddatacentercustomerscanacceleratequalificationanddeploymentofnewSSDs.ThisprocesscanalsoforgeastrongerqualityproductfortheSSDsupplieranddatacentercustomeralike.

Thisjointqualificationgivesdatacentercustomersaplatformtoshareearly,non-productionsystemsandapplication-specifictestscripts.Likewise,SSDsupplierscansharepreliminaryversionsoftheirproductstotheirdatacentercustomerstostartearlyqualification.

DatacentercustomersthatsharetheirproductionworkloadswiththeirSSDsupplierscanhelptheirsuppliersimproveSSDperformanceandfunctionalitysincethesupplierswouldhavetheabilitytotestareal-worldenvironment.Inturn,supplierswouldreplayandanalyzethecustomer’sreal-worldworkloadstohelpthemidentifyandresolvepre-productionissues.TheresultisthatdatacentercustomerswouldgetSSDsthathavebeentestedandvalidatedwithproductionworkloadsbeforedeployingthemintheirenterpriseenvironment.

EffectivelyandAccuratelyTestandValidateSSDsUsingworkloadreplay,SSDscanbeeffectivelyandaccuratelytestedandvalidatedwithproductionworkloads.Datacentermanagerscanmakemoreinformedbusinessdecisionswithaccuratedataonpurchasesandfutureconfigurations.Inaddition,adeeperunderstandingofproductionworkloadbehaviorandperformanceiscrucialtooptimizingSSDsandstoragesystems.

EnableDataCenterManagerstoSelecttheRightSSDsTheabilitytocapture,analyzeandreplayuniqueproductionworkloadsisbecomingcriticallyimportantasSSDscontinuetoreplaceHDDsinthedatacenter.CapturingtherealI/Obehaviorofagivenworkloadprovidesaccurate,decision-makinginformationfordatacentermanagersinselectingtherightSSDsfortheirenvironment.

PreventDataCenterDowntimeAnotherimportantbenefitforusingreplayisthatitdoesnotrequireaphysicalinfrastructuretoreproducetheproductionworkload.Accurateworkloadreplayensurestheworkloadisreproducedwiththesameperformance,throughput,responsetime,andI/Orequestorder.Therefore,whenusingworkloadreplay,theproductioninfrastructureisnotexposedtopossibleinterruptionsandperformanceimpacts.

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 7

AretheBenefitsofUsingWorkloadReplayandWorkloadAnalyticsinYourFuture?ForovertenyearsOakGateTechnologyhasbeenhelpingdatacentermanagers,SSDsuppliers,andITprofessionalsverifyandensuretheirSSDsmeetalloftheirrequirements.Ourtestandvalidationplatformsareusedbycustomersaroundtheworldtotestnewfeatures,functionality,andperformancebeforedeployment.

Now,OakGateTechnologyisworkingcloselywithitsSSDsuppliersanddatacentercustomerstodeliveranalyticsandreplaytoolsfortestingreal-worldworkloadsbeforeSSDsaredeployedintodatacenterenvironments.ThisisagreatbenefitfordatacentermanagerswhopurchaselargevolumesofSSDsfortheirproductiondatacenters.

OakGatedefinesfivemainworkflowphasesforcomprehensiveworkloadreplayandanalytics:

1. Capture–Captureandimportsystemeventfileslocallyoroverthenetwork.Thistime-

stampedimportprocesswillautomaticallyorganize,structure,sequence,andsummarizethedata;

2. Analyze–TheanalysisdirectlycorrelatesdatawithsystemprocessIDstohelpidentifyhostissues.Usingatracelibraryallowsuserstocalculate,plot,andanalyzeamoreextensiveselectionofattributesandstatistics;

3. Visualize–Visualizationofbehaviormakesiteasytounderstandworkloadbehavior.Theabilitytocharacterizetheresultsfromdifferentviewsallowsforadeepunderstandingoftheworkload.

4. Replay–TheabilitytoreplayproductionworkloadshelpsvalidateSSDsforthedatacenterwithaccuracy;and,

5. Share–SharingreplayfilesandreplayresultswiththeirSSDsuppliersasthereisasharedvaluepropositionfordatacentersandsupplierstoworktogethertoensureenterpriseSSDsoperateefficientlyandreliablyinproductionenvironments.

ThedetailedanalyticsfromthesereplayscanbeusedbysupplierstooptimizeSSDsandstoragesystems.Likewise,theanalyticscanhelpdatacentermanagersmakemoreintelligentbusinessdecisionsontheirSSDpurchases.Andboth,gainadeeperinsightintostoragesystemperformanceandbehavior.

Capture Analyze Visualize Replay Share

QualifyingSSDsfortheDataCenter:CurrentandFutureTrends|February2019 8

SummaryAsdatacentermanagerstransitiontheirstoragetechnologyfromHDDstoSSDs,itisvitalthattheyaretestedandvalidatedformaximumperformance,reliability,andfunctionalitybeforebeingdeployedinaenterpriseenvironment.Ithasbecomemuchmorecost-effectivefordatacenterstotestandvalidatevariousSSDsbeforepurchasingthem.

OakGateprovidesacompletesolutionofassessingtheimpactofchangeonreal-worldSSDproductionissues.ValidatingSSDswithOakGatetoolsandanalyticscan:

• LowerstheriskofputtingSSDsinproduction• Acceleratesthetimetodeployment,whichcansavemoney• Lowersthehardwareandsupportcosts• Maximizesdatacenterproductivity

Additionally,OakGateisworkingcooperativelywithitsdatacenterandSSDcustomerstodevelopasuiteofadvancedtoolsthatdeliversonthepromiseofprovidinganalyticsandreplaycapabilitiesfortestingreal-worldworkloads.Usingworkloadanalyticsandreplay,datacenterteamswillbeabletovalidateandtestdriveseffectivelyandaccuratelywithproductionworkloads.Thiswillallowthemtomakemoreinformedbusinessdecisionsbeforemakingapurchasedecisionanddeployinginthedatacenter.

FormoreinformationonOakGateproducts,visithttps://www.oakgatetech.com.

Forademonstrationofourindustryleadingtestandvalidationplatformscontactusbyemailatmarketing@oakgatetech.com