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IBM SAN Volume Controller Best Practices and Performance Guidelines for IBM Spectrum Virtualize Version 8.4.2

by Antonio Rainero, Carlton Beatty, David Green, Hartmut Lonzer, Jonathan Wilkie, Kendall Williams, Konrad Trojok, Mandy Stevens, Nezih Boyacioglu, Nils Olsson, Renato Santos, Rene Oehme, Sergey Kubin, Thales Noivo Ferreira, Uwe Schreiber, Vasfi Gucer

October 2023

Intermediate to advanced

640 pages

20h 27m

English

IBM Redbooks

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1.1 Benefits of using IBM Spectrum Virtualize1.2 IBM SAN Volume Controller supported product range1.2.1 New in Spectrum Virtualize v8.41.2.2 Supported products1.2.3 IBM SAN Volume Controller high-level features1.3 IBM SAN Volume Controller product range1.4 Advanced functions for data reduction1.4.1 Data reduction pools1.4.2 Deduplication1.4.3 Thin provisioning1.4.4 Thin-provisioned flash copies1.5 Advanced software features1.5.1 Data migration1.5.2 Copy services1.5.3 Easy Tier1.5.4 External virtualization1.5.5 Enhanced stretched cluster1.5.6 IBM HyperSwap1.5.7 Licensing
2.1 SAN topology general guidelines2.1.1 SAN performance and scalability2.1.2 ISL considerations2.2 SAN topology-specific guidelines2.2.1 Single switch SAN Volume Controller SANs2.2.2 Basic core-edge topology2.2.3 Edge-core-edge topology2.2.4 Full mesh topology2.2.5 IBM Spectrum Virtualize as a multi SAN device2.2.6 Device placement2.3 IBM SAN Volume Controller ports2.3.1 Slots and ports identification2.3.2 Port naming and distribution2.4 Zoning2.4.1 Types of zoning2.4.2 Prezoning tips and shortcuts2.4.3 IBM SAN Volume Controller internode communications zones2.4.4 SAN Volume Controller storage zones2.4.5 SAN Volume Controller host zones2.4.6 Hot Spare Node zoning considerations2.4.7 Zoning with multiple IBM SAN Volume Controller clustered systems2.4.8 Split storage subsystem configurations2.5 Distance extension for Remote Copy services2.5.1 Optical multiplexors2.5.2 Long-distance SFPs or XFPs2.5.3 Fibre Channel over IP2.5.4 SAN extension with Business Continuity configurations2.5.5 Native IP replication2.6 Tape and disk traffic that share the SAN2.7 Switch interoperability
3.1 General considerations for managing external storage3.1.1 Storage controller path selection3.1.2 Guidelines for creating optimal back-end configuration3.1.3 Considerations for compressing and deduplicating back-end3.2 Controller-specific considerations3.2.1 Considerations for DS8000 series3.2.2 IBM XIV Storage System considerations3.2.3 IBM FlashSystem A9000/A9000R considerations3.2.4 FlashSystem 5000, 5100, 5200, 7200, 9100, and 9200 considerations3.2.5 IBM FlashSystem 900 considerations3.2.6 Path considerations for third-party storage with EMC VMAX and Hitachi Data Systems3.3 Quorum disks
4.1 Introduction to pools4.1.1 Standard pool4.1.2 Data reduction pools4.1.3 Standard pools versus DRPs4.1.4 Data reduction estimation tools4.1.5 Understanding capacity use in a DRP4.2 Storage pool planning considerations4.2.1 Planning for availability4.2.2 Planning for performance4.2.3 Planning for capacity4.2.4 Extent size considerations4.2.5 External pools4.3 Data reduction pool best practices4.3.1 Data reduction pools with IBM FlashSystem NVMe attached drives4.3.2 DRP and external storage considerations4.3.3 Data reduction pool configuration limits4.3.4 DRP provisioning considerations4.3.5 Standard and DRP pools coexistence4.3.6 Data migration with DRP4.4 Operations with storage pools4.4.1 Creating data reduction pools4.4.2 Adding external MDisks to storage pools4.4.3 Renaming MDisks4.4.4 Removing MDisks from storage pools4.4.5 Remapping-managed MDisks4.4.6 Controlling extent allocation order for volume creation4.5 Considerations when using encryption4.5.1 General considerations4.5.2 Hardware and software encryption4.5.3 Encryption at rest with USB keys4.5.4 Encryption at rest with key servers4.6 Easy Tier, tiered, and balanced storage pools4.6.1 Easy Tier concepts4.6.2 Easy Tier definitions4.6.3 Easy Tier operating modes4.6.4 MDisk tier types4.6.5 Changing the tier type of an MDisk4.6.6 Easy Tier overload protection4.6.7 Removing an MDisk from an Easy Tier pool4.6.8 Easy Tier implementation considerations4.6.9 Easy Tier settings4.6.10 Monitoring Easy Tier using the GUI
5.1 Overview of volumes5.2 Guidance for creating volumes5.3 Thin-provisioned volumes5.3.1 Compressed volumes5.3.2 Deduplicated volumes5.3.3 Thin provisioning considerations5.4 Mirrored volumes5.4.1 Write fast failovers5.4.2 Read fast failovers5.4.3 Maintaining data integrity of mirrored volumes5.5 HyperSwap volumes5.6 VMware virtual volumes5.7 Cloud volumes5.7.1 Transparent cloud tiering configuration limitations and rules5.7.2 Restoring to the production volume5.7.3 Restoring to a new volume5.8 Volume migration5.8.1 Image-type to striped-type volume migration5.8.2 Migrating to image-type volume5.8.3 Migrating with volume mirroring5.8.4 Migration from standard pools to data reduction pools5.8.5 Migrating a volume between systems non-disruptively5.9 Preferred paths to a volume5.10 Moving a volume between I/O groups and nodes5.10.1 Changing the preferred node of a volume within an I/O group5.10.2 Moving a volume between I/O groups5.11 Volume throttling5.12 Volume cache mode5.13 Other considerations5.13.1 Volume protection5.13.2 Volume resizing
6.1 Introduction to copy services6.1.1 FlashCopy6.1.2 Metro Mirror and Global Mirror6.1.3 Volume mirroring6.2 FlashCopy6.2.1 FlashCopy use cases6.2.2 FlashCopy capabilities overview6.2.3 FlashCopy functional overview6.2.4 FlashCopy planning considerations6.3 Remote Copy services6.3.1 Remote copy use cases6.3.2 Remote copy functional overview6.3.3 Remote copy network planning6.3.4 Remote copy services planning6.3.5 Multiple site remote copy6.3.6 1920 error6.4 Native IP replication6.4.1 Native IP replication technology6.4.2 IP partnership limitations6.4.3 VLAN support6.4.4 IP compression6.4.5 Replication portsets6.4.6 Supported configuration examples6.4.7 Native IP replication performance consideration6.5 Volume mirroring6.5.1 Read and write operations6.5.2 Volume mirroring use cases6.5.3 Mirrored volume components6.5.4 Volume mirroring synchronization options6.5.5 Volume mirroring performance considerations6.5.6 Bitmap space for out-of-sync volume copies
7.1 Business continuity topologies7.1.1 Business continuity with Stretched Cluster7.1.2 Business continuity with Enhanced Stretched Cluster7.1.3 Business continuity with HyperSwap7.2 Third site and IP quorum7.2.1 Quorum modes7.3 HyperSwap volumes7.4 Comparison of business continuity solutions7.4.1 Other considerations and general recommendations

8.1 General configuration guidelines8.1.1 Number of paths8.1.2 Host ports8.1.3 Port masking8.1.4 N-port ID virtualization (NPIV)8.1.5 Host to I/O group mapping8.1.6 Volume size as opposed to quantity8.1.7 Host volume mapping8.1.8 Server adapter layout8.1.9 Host status improvements8.1.10 Considerations for NVMe over Fibre Channel host attachments8.1.11 Considerations for iSER host attachments8.2 IP multi-tenancy8.2.1 Considerations and limitations8.3 CSI Block Driver8.4 Host pathing8.4.1 Path selection8.5 I/O queues8.5.1 Queue depths8.6 Host clusters8.6.1 Persistent reservations8.6.2 Clearing reserves8.7 AIX hosts8.7.1 Multipathing support8.7.2 Configuration recommendations for AIX8.8 Virtual I/O server hosts8.8.1 Multipathing support8.8.2 Configuration recommendations for VIOS8.8.3 Physical and logical volumes8.8.4 Identifying a disk for use as a virtual SCSI disk8.9 Microsoft Windows hosts8.9.1 Multipathing support8.9.2 Configuration recommendations for Windows and Hyper-V8.10 Linux hosts8.10.1 Multipathing support8.10.2 Configuration recommendations for Linux8.11 Oracle Solaris hosts8.11.1 Multipathing support8.11.2 Configuration recommendations for Solaris MPxIO8.11.3 Configuration recommendations for Symantec Veritas DMP8.12 HP 9000 and HP integrity hosts8.12.1 Multipathing support8.12.2 Configuration recommendations for HP8.13 VMware ESXi hosts8.13.1 Multipathing support8.13.2 Configuration recommendations for VMware
9.1 Generic monitoring9.1.1 Monitoring by using the management GUI9.2 Monitoring by using quotas and alerts9.3 Performance monitoring9.3.1 On-board performance monitoring9.3.2 Performance monitoring with IBM Spectrum Control9.3.3 Performance monitoring with IBM Storage Insights9.4 Capacity monitoring9.4.1 Capacity monitoring by using the management GUI9.4.2 Capacity monitoring by using Spectrum Control or Storage Insights9.5 Creating alerts for IBM Spectrum Control and IBM Storage Insights9.5.1 Alert examples9.5.2 Alert example to monitor pool capacity: Used Capacity9.6 Error condition example9.6.1 Offline VDisk condition in the management GUI9.6.2 Offline VDisk condition in Spectrum Control and Storage Insights9.7 Important metrics9.8 Performance diagnostic information9.8.1 Performance diagnostic information included in a snap command9.8.2 Performance diagnostic information exported from Spectrum Control9.8.3 Performance diagnostic information exported from Storage Insights9.9 Metro and Global Mirror monitoring with IBM Copy Services Manager and scripts9.9.1 Monitoring MM and GM with scripts9.10 Monitoring Tier1 SSD
10.1 User interfaces10.1.1 Management GUI10.1.2 Service Assistant Tool GUI10.1.3 Command-line interface10.2 Users and groups10.3 Volumes10.4 Hosts10.5 Software updates10.5.1 Determining the target software level10.5.2 Obtaining software packages10.5.3 Hardware considerations10.5.4 Update sequence10.5.5 SAN fabrics preparation10.5.6 Storage controllers preparation10.5.7 Hosts preparation10.5.8 Copy services considerations10.5.9 Running the Upgrade Test Utility10.5.10 Updating software10.6 Drive firmware updates10.7 Remote Code Load10.8 SAN modification10.8.1 Cross-referencing WWPN10.8.2 Cross-referencing LUN ID10.9 Server HBA replacement10.10 Hardware upgrades10.10.1 Adding nodes10.10.2 Upgrading nodes in an existing cluster10.10.3 Moving to a new IBM SAN Volume Controller cluster10.10.4 Splitting an IBM SAN Volume Controller cluster10.10.5 Adding expansion enclosures10.10.6 Removing expansion enclosures10.11 I/O throttling10.11.1 I/O throttling overview10.11.2 I/O throttling on front-end I/O control10.11.3 I/O throttling on back-end I/O control10.11.4 Overall benefits of using I/O throttling10.11.5 I/O throttling considerations10.11.6 Configuring I/O throttling using the CLI10.11.7 Configuring I/O throttling using the GUI10.12 Automation10.12.1 Red Hat Ansible10.12.2 RESTful API10.13 Documenting IBM SAN Volume Controller and SAN environment10.13.1 Naming conventions10.13.2 SAN fabric documentation10.13.3 IBM SAN Volume Controller documentation10.13.4 Storage documentation10.13.5 Technical support information10.13.6 Tracking incident and change tickets10.13.7 Automated support data collection10.13.8 Subscribing to IBM SAN Volume Controller support
11.1 Starting troubleshooting11.1.1 Using the GUI11.1.2 Recommended actions and fix procedure11.2 Diagnostic data collection11.2.1 Collecting data from IBM Spectrum Virtualize11.2.2 More data collection11.3 Common problems and isolation techniques11.3.1 Host problems11.3.2 SAN problems11.3.3 Storage subsystem problems11.3.4 Native IP replication problems11.3.5 Remote Direct Memory Access-based clustering11.3.6 Advanced Copy services problems11.3.7 Health status during upgrade11.3.8 Managing physical capacity of over provisioned IBM FlashSystems11.4 Remote Support Assistance11.5 Call Home Connect Cloud and Health Checker feature11.5.1 Health Checker11.6 IBM Storage Insights11.6.1 Storage Insights Customer Dashboard11.6.2 Customized dashboards to monitor your storage11.6.3 Creating support tickets11.6.4 Updating support tickets11.6.5 SI Advisor
12.1 IBM Real-time Compression overview12.2 Evaluating compression savings and available resources12.2.1 Estimating compression savings12.2.2 Verifying available resources12.3 Standard benchmark tools12.4 Configuring Real-time Compression for best performance12.4.1 Balancing12.4.2 Sequential workload12.4.3 Temporal locality12.4.4 Volume size considerations12.5 Compression with Easy Tier12.6 Coexistence with compression on backend12.7 Migration12.7.1 Migrating to IBM Real-time Compression12.7.2 Converting IBM Real-time Compression volumes to DRP
13.1 Base architecture13.2 System resources13.3 Networking13.3.1 Node networking13.3.2 Host networking13.4 Storage13.4.1 Discovery and access13.4.2 Easy Tier considerations13.4.3 Data reduction considerations13.5 Replication
14.1 Base architecture14.2 System resources14.2.1 EC214.2.2 IBM Spectrum Virtualize system14.2.3 CloudFormation templates14.3 Storage14.4 Replication
15.1 REST API on IBM Spectrum Virtualize15.2 Scripting15.2.1 Scripting principles15.2.2 Secure Shell15.2.3 SMI-S15.2.4 HTTPS and REST API on IBM Spectrum Virtualize15.2.5 HTTPS and REST API on IBM Spectrum Control15.3 Automation with Red Hat Ansible15.3.1 Red Hat Ansible15.3.2 Red Hat Ansible Editions15.3.3 Requirements15.3.4 Essential terminology in an Ansible environment15.3.5 Automating IBM Storage with Ansible15.3.6 Getting started15.3.7 Securing credentials in Ansible15.3.8 Creating an Ansible playbook15.3.9 More automation
IBM i Storage managementSingle-level storageIBM i response timePlanning for IBM i storage capacityStorage connection to IBM iSetting attributes in VIOSDisk drives for IBM iDefining LUNs for IBM iData layoutFibre Channel adapters in IBM i and VIOSZoning SAN switchesIBM i multipathBooting from SANIBM i mirroringCopy services considerationsIBM SAN Volume Controller stretched clusterDB2 mirroring for IBM i
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Content preview from IBM SAN Volume Controller Best Practices and Performance Guidelines for IBM Spectrum Virtualize Version 8.4.2

Storage area network guidelines

The storage area network (SAN) is one of the most important aspects when implementing and configuring an IBM Spectrum Virtualize. Because of their unique behavior and the interaction with other storage, specific SAN design and zoning recommendations differ from classic storage practices.

This chapter provides guidance to connect IBM Spectrum Virtualize in a SAN to achieve a stable, redundant, resilient, scalable, and performance-likely environment. Although this chapter does not describe how to design and build ...

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