Introduction to Storage Area Networks and System Networking

Introduction to Storage Area Networks and System Networking

Released November 2012
Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
ISBN: 9780738437132

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Book description

The plethora of data that is created by the businesses of today is making storage a strategic investment priority for companies of all sizes. As storage takes precedence, three major initiatives emerge:

Flatten and converge your network
IBM takes an open, standards-based approach to implement the latest advances in the flat, converged data center network designs of today. IBM System Networking solutions enable clients to deploy a high-speed, low-latency Unified Fabric Architecture.

Optimize and automate virtualization
Advanced virtualization awareness reduces the cost and complexity of deploying physical and virtual data center infrastructure.

Simplify management
IBM data center networks are easy to deploy, maintain, scale, and virtualize, delivering the foundation of consolidated operations for dynamic infrastructure management.

Storage is no longer an afterthought. Too much is at stake. Companies are searching for more ways to efficiently manage expanding volumes of data, and to make that data accessible throughout the enterprise. This demand is propelling the move of storage into the network. Also, the increasing complexity of managing a large numbers of storage devices and vast amounts of data is driving greater business value into software and services.

With current estimates of the amount of data to be managed and made available increasing at 60 percent each year, this outlook is where a storage area network (SAN) enters the arena. SANs are the leading storage infrastructure for the global economy of today. SANs offer simplified storage management, scalability, flexibility, and availability; and improved data access, movement, and backup.

Welcome to the era of Smarter Networking for Smarter Data Centers.

The smarter data center with improved economics of IT can be achieved by connecting servers and storage with a high-speed and intelligent network fabric. A smarter data center that hosts IBM System Networking solutions can provide an environment that is smarter, faster, greener, open, and easy to manage.

This IBM Redbooks® publication provides an introduction to the SAN and Ethernet networking, and how these networks help to achieve a smarter data center. This book is intended for people who are not very familiar with IT, or who are just starting out in the IT world.

For more information, and a deeper dive into the SAN world, you might find the following Redbooks publications especially useful to expand your SAN knowledge:
Implementing an IBM b-type SAN with 8 Gbps Directors and Switches, SG24-6116
Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN32B-E4 Encryption Switch, SG24-7922
IBM System Storage b-type Multiprotocol Routing: An Introduction and Implementation, SG24-7544
IBM Converged Switch B32, SG24-7935

Also, be sure to see the IBM System Networking Redbooks portal for the latest material from the International Technical Support Organization (ITSO):
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/portals/networking

Table of contents

  1. Front cover
  2. Notices
    1. Trademarks
  3. Summary of changes
    1. November 2012, Fifth Edition
  4. Preface
    1. The team who wrote this book
    2. Now you can become a published author, too!
    3. Comments welcome
    4. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  5. Chapter 1. Introduction
    1. 1.1 What is a network
      1. 1.1.1 The importance of communication
    2. 1.2 Interconnection models
      1. 1.2.1 The open systems interconnection model
      2. 1.2.2 Translating the OSI model to the physical world
    3. 1.3 What do we mean by storage?
      1. 1.3.1 Storing data
      2. 1.3.2 Redundant Array of Independent Disks
    4. 1.4 What is a storage area network?
    5. 1.5 Storage area network components
      1. 1.5.1 Storage area network connectivity
      2. 1.5.2 Storage area network storage
      3. 1.5.3 Storage area network servers
    6. 1.6 The importance of standards or models
  6. Chapter 2. Why, and how, can we use a storage area network?
    1. 2.1 Why use a storage area network?
      1. 2.1.1 The problem
      2. 2.1.2 The requirements
    2. 2.2 How can we use a storage area network?
      1. 2.2.1 Infrastructure simplification
      2. 2.2.2 Information lifecycle management
      3. 2.2.3 Business continuity
    3. 2.3 Using the storage area network components
      1. 2.3.1 Storage
      2. 2.3.2 Storage area network connectivity
      3. 2.3.3 Servers
      4. 2.3.4 Putting the components together
  7. Chapter 3. Fibre Channel internals
    1. 3.1 First, why the Fibre Channel architecture?
      1. 3.1.1 The Small Computer Systems Interface legacy
      2. 3.1.2 Limitations of the Small Computer System Interface
      3. 3.1.3 Why Fibre Channel?
    2. 3.2 Layers
    3. 3.3 Optical cables
      1. 3.3.1 Attenuation
      2. 3.3.2 Maximum power
      3. 3.3.3 Fiber in the storage area network
      4. 3.3.4 Dark fiber
    4. 3.4 Classes of service
      1. 3.4.1 Class 1
      2. 3.4.2 Class 2
      3. 3.4.3 Class 3
      4. 3.4.4 Class 4
      5. 3.4.5 Class 5
      6. 3.4.6 Class 6
      7. 3.4.7 Class F
    5. 3.5 Fibre Channel data movement
      1. 3.5.1 Byte encoding schemes
    6. 3.6 Data transport
      1. 3.6.1 Ordered set
      2. 3.6.2 Frames
      3. 3.6.3 Sequences
      4. 3.6.4 Exchanges
      5. 3.6.5 In order and out of order
      6. 3.6.6 Latency
      7. 3.6.7 Open fiber control
    7. 3.7 Flow control
      1. 3.7.1 Buffer to buffer
      2. 3.7.2 End to end
      3. 3.7.3 Controlling the flow
      4. 3.7.4 Performance
  8. Chapter 4. Ethernet and system networking concepts
    1. 4.1 Ethernet
      1. 4.1.1 Shared media
      2. 4.1.2 Ethernet frame
      3. 4.1.3 How Ethernet works
      4. 4.1.4 Speed and bandwidth
      5. 4.1.5 10 GbE
      6. 4.1.6 10 GbE copper versus fiber
      7. 4.1.7 Virtual local area network
      8. 4.1.8 Interface virtual local area network operation modes
      9. 4.1.9 Link aggregation
      10. 4.1.10 Spanning Tree Protocol
      11. 4.1.11 Link Layer Discovery Protocol
      12. 4.1.12 Link Layer Discovery Protocol Type Length Values (LLDP TLVs)
    2. 4.2 Storage area network IP networking
      1. 4.2.1 The multiprotocol environment
      2. 4.2.2 Fibre Channel switching
      3. 4.2.3 Fibre Channel routing
      4. 4.2.4 Tunneling
      5. 4.2.5 Routers and gateways
      6. 4.2.6 Internet Storage Name Service
    3. 4.3 Delving deeper into the protocols
      1. 4.3.1 Fibre Channel over Internet Protocol (FCIP)
      2. 4.3.2 Internet Fibre Channel Protocol (iFCP)
      3. 4.3.3 Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI)
      4. 4.3.4 Routing considerations
      5. 4.3.5 Packet size
      6. 4.3.6 TCP congestion control
      7. 4.3.7 Round-trip delay
    4. 4.4 Multiprotocol solution briefs
      1. 4.4.1 Dividing a fabric into subfabrics
      2. 4.4.2 Connecting a remote site over IP
      3. 4.4.3 Connecting hosts using Internet Small Computer System Interface
  9. Chapter 5. Topologies and other fabric services
    1. 5.1 Fibre Channel topologies
      1. 5.1.1 Point-to-point topology
      2. 5.1.2 Arbitrated loop topology
      3. 5.1.3 Switched fabric topology
      4. 5.1.4 Single switch topology
      5. 5.1.5 Cascaded and ring topology
      6. 5.1.6 Mesh topology
      7. 5.1.7 Core-edge topology
      8. 5.1.8 Edge-core-edge topology
    2. 5.2 Port types
      1. 5.2.1 Common port types
      2. 5.2.2 Expansion port types
      3. 5.2.3 Diagnostic port types
    3. 5.3 Addressing
      1. 5.3.1 Worldwide name
      2. 5.3.2 Tape Device WWNN and WWPN
      3. 5.3.3 Port address
      4. 5.3.4 The 24-bit port address
      5. 5.3.5 Loop address
      6. 5.3.6 The b-type addressing modes
      7. 5.3.7 FICON address
    4. 5.4 Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop protocols
      1. 5.4.1 Fairness algorithm
      2. 5.4.2 Loop addressing
    5. 5.5 Fibre Channel port initialization and fabric services
      1. 5.5.1 Fabric login (FLOGI)
      2. 5.5.2 Port login (PLOGI)
      3. 5.5.3 Process login (PRLI)
    6. 5.6 Fabric services
      1. 5.6.1 Management server
      2. 5.6.2 Time server
      3. 5.6.3 Simple name server
      4. 5.6.4 Fabric login server
      5. 5.6.5 Registered state change notification service
    7. 5.7 Routing mechanisms
      1. 5.7.1 Spanning tree
      2. 5.7.2 Fabric shortest path first
    8. 5.8 Zoning
      1. 5.8.1 Hardware zoning
      2. 5.8.2 Software zoning
      3. 5.8.3 Logical unit number masking
  10. Chapter 6. Storage area network as a service for cloud computing
    1. 6.1 What is a cloud?
      1. 6.1.1 Private and public cloud
      2. 6.1.2 Cloud computing components
      3. 6.1.3 Cloud computing models
    2. 6.2 Virtualization and the cloud
      1. 6.2.1 Cloud infrastructure virtualization
      2. 6.2.2 Cloud platforms
      3. 6.2.3 Storage virtualization
    3. 6.3 SAN virtualization
      1. 6.3.1 IBM b-type Virtual Fabrics
      2. 6.3.2 Cisco virtual storage area network
      3. 6.3.3 N-Port ID Virtualization
    4. 6.4 Building a smarter cloud
      1. 6.4.1 Automated tiering
      2. 6.4.2 Thin provisioning
      3. 6.4.3 Deduplication
      4. 6.4.4 New generation management tools
      5. 6.4.5 Business continuity and disaster recovery
      6. 6.4.6 Storage on demand
  11. Chapter 7. Fibre Channel products and technology
    1. 7.1 The environment
    2. 7.2 Storage area network (SAN) devices
      1. 7.2.1 Fibre Channel bridges
      2. 7.2.2 Arbitrated loop hubs and switched hubs
      3. 7.2.3 Switches and directors
      4. 7.2.4 Multiprotocol routing
      5. 7.2.5 Service modules
      6. 7.2.6 Multiplexers
    3. 7.3 Componentry
      1. 7.3.1 Application-specific integrated circuit
      2. 7.3.2 Fibre Channel transmission rates
      3. 7.3.3 SerDes
      4. 7.3.4 Backplane and blades
    4. 7.4 Gigabit transport technology
      1. 7.4.1 Fibre Channel cabling
      2. 7.4.2 Transceivers
      3. 7.4.3 Host bus adapters
    5. 7.5 Inter-switch links
      1. 7.5.1 Cascading
      2. 7.5.2 Hops
      3. 7.5.3 Fabric shortest path first
      4. 7.5.4 Non-blocking architecture
      5. 7.5.5 Latency
      6. 7.5.6 Oversubscription
      7. 7.5.7 Congestion
      8. 7.5.8 Trunking or port-channeling
  12. Chapter 8. Management
    1. 8.1 Management principles
      1. 8.1.1 Management types
      2. 8.1.2 Connecting to storage area network management tools
      3. 8.1.3 Storage area network fault isolation and troubleshooting
    2. 8.2 Management interfaces and protocols
      1. 8.2.1 Storage Networking Industry Association initiative
      2. 8.2.2 Simple Network Management Protocol
      3. 8.2.3 Service Location Protocol
      4. 8.2.4 Vendor-specific mechanisms
    3. 8.3 Management features
      1. 8.3.1 Operations
    4. 8.4 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center
      1. 8.4.1 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Data
      2. 8.4.2 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Disk
      3. 8.4.3 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Disk Select
      4. 8.4.4 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Basic Edition
      5. 8.4.5 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Standard Edition
      6. 8.4.6 IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Replication
      7. 8.4.7 What is IBM System Storage Productivity Center?
      8. 8.4.8 What can be done from the System Storage Productivity Center?
    5. 8.5 Vendor management applications
      1. 8.5.1 b-type
      2. 8.5.2 Cisco
    6. 8.6 SAN multipathing software
  13. Chapter 9. Security
    1. 9.1 Security in the storage area network (SAN)
    2. 9.2 Security principles
      1. 9.2.1 Access control
      2. 9.2.2 Auditing and accounting
      3. 9.2.3 Data security
      4. 9.2.4 Securing a fabric
      5. 9.2.5 Zoning, masking, and binding
    3. 9.3 Data security
    4. 9.4 Storage area network encryption
      1. 9.4.1 Basic encryption definition
      2. 9.4.2 Data-in-flight
      3. 9.4.3 Data-at-rest
      4. 9.4.4 Digital certificates
      5. 9.4.5 Encryption algorithm
      6. 9.4.6 Key management considerations and security standards
      7. 9.4.7 b-type encryption methods
      8. 9.4.8 Cisco encryption methods
    5. 9.5 Encryption standards and algorithms
    6. 9.6 Security common practices
  14. Chapter 10. Solutions
    1. 10.1 Introduction
    2. 10.2 Basic solution principles
      1. 10.2.1 Connectivity
      2. 10.2.2 Adding capacity
      3. 10.2.3 Data movement and copy
      4. 10.2.4 Upgrading to faster speeds
    3. 10.3 Infrastructure simplification
      1. 10.3.1 Where does the complexity come from?
      2. 10.3.2 Storage pooling
      3. 10.3.3 Consolidation
      4. 10.3.4 Migration to a converged network
    4. 10.4 Business continuity and disaster recovery
      1. 10.4.1 Clustering and high availability
      2. 10.4.2 LAN-free data movement
      3. 10.4.3 Disaster backup and recovery
    5. 10.5 Information lifecycle management
      1. 10.5.1 Information lifecycle management
      2. 10.5.2 Tiered storage management
      3. 10.5.3 Long-term data retention
      4. 10.5.4 Data lifecycle management
      5. 10.5.5 Policy-based archive management
  15. Chapter 11. Storage area networks and green data centers
    1. 11.1 Data center constraints
      1. 11.1.1 Energy flow in data center
    2. 11.2 Data center optimization
      1. 11.2.1 Strategic considerations
    3. 11.3 Green storage
      1. 11.3.1 Information lifecycle management
      2. 11.3.2 Storage consolidation and virtualization
      3. 11.3.3 On-demand storage provisioning
      4. 11.3.4 Hierarchical storage and tiering
      5. 11.3.5 Data compression and deduplication
  16. Chapter 12. The IBM product portfolio
    1. 12.1 Classification of IBM storage area network products
    2. 12.2 SAN Fibre Channel networking
      1. 12.2.1 Entry SAN switches
      2. 12.2.2 Midrange SAN switches
      3. 12.2.3 Enterprise SAN directors
      4. 12.2.4 Multiprotocol routers
    3. 12.3 IBM System Storage Disk Systems
      1. 12.3.1 Entry level disk systems
      2. 12.3.2 Midrange disk systems
      3. 12.3.3 Enterprise disk systems
    4. 12.4 IBM Tape Storage Systems
      1. 12.4.1 Fibre Channel tape drives
      2. 12.4.2 Autoloaders and entry tape libraries
      3. 12.4.3 Midrange tape libraries
      4. 12.4.4 Enterprise tape libraries
    5. 12.5 Storage virtualization and cloud computing
      1. 12.5.1 Disk storage virtualization
      2. 12.5.2 Tape storage virtualization
      3. 12.5.3 Storage systems for cloud computing
    6. 12.6 IP-based networking for SAN environments
    7. 12.7 Hardware solutions for network convergence
      1. 12.7.1 IBM Virtual Fabric solution
    8. 12.8 IBM Flex System networking
      1. 12.8.1 IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093 10Gb Scalable Switch
      2. 12.8.2 IBM Flex System EN4091 10Gb Ethernet Pass-thru
      3. 12.8.3 IBM Flex System EN2092 1Gb Ethernet Scalable Switch
      4. 12.8.4 IBM Flex System FC5022 16Gb SAN Scalable Switch
      5. 12.8.5 IBM Flex System FC3171 8Gb SAN Switch
      6. 12.8.6 IBM Flex System FC3171 8Gb SAN Pass-thru
  17. Chapter 13. Certification
    1. 13.1 Why certification?
    2. 13.2 IBM Professional Certification Program
      1. 13.2.1 About the program
      2. 13.2.2 Certifications by product
      3. 13.2.3 Mastery tests
    3. 13.3 Storage Networking Industry Association certifications
      1. 13.3.1 SNIA Certified Storage Professional (SCSP)
      2. 13.3.2 SNIA Certified Storage Engineer (SCSE)
      3. 13.3.3 SNIA Certified Storage Architect (SCSA)
      4. 13.3.4 SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E)
      5. 13.3.5 SNIA Qualified Data Protection Associate
      6. 13.3.6 SNIA Qualified Storage Virtualization Associate
      7. 13.3.7 SNIA Qualified Storage Sales Professional
      8. 13.3.8 CompTIA Storage+ Powered by SNIA
    4. 13.4 Brocade certifications
      1. 13.4.1 Brocade Accredited Server Connectivity Specialist
      2. 13.4.2 Brocade Accredited Data Center Specialist
      3. 13.4.3 Brocade Accredited Fibre Channel connection (FICON) Specialist
      4. 13.4.4 Brocade Accredited FCoE Specialist
      5. 13.4.5 Brocade Accredited Internetworking Specialist
      6. 13.4.6 Brocade Accredited WLAN Specialist
      7. 13.4.7 Brocade Certified Fabric Administrator (BCFA)
      8. 13.4.8 Brocade Certified Fabric Professional (BCFP)
      9. 13.4.9 Brocade Certified SAN Manager (BCSM)
      10. 13.4.10 Brocade Certified Fabric Designer (BCFD)
      11. 13.4.11 Brocade Certified Architect For FICON (BCAF)
      12. 13.4.12 Brocade Certified FCoE Professional (BCFCoEP)
      13. 13.4.13 Brocade Certified Ethernet Fabric Engineer
      14. 13.4.14 Brocade Certified Network Engineer
      15. 13.4.15 Brocade Certified Layer 4-7 Engineer
      16. 13.4.16 Brocade Certified Network Professional
      17. 13.4.17 Brocade Certified Layer 4-7 Professional
      18. 13.4.18 Brocade Certified Network Designer
    5. 13.5 Cisco certification
      1. 13.5.1 Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT)
      2. 13.5.2 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
      3. 13.5.3 Cisco Certified Network Associate Security (CCNA Security)
      4. 13.5.4 Cisco Certified Network Associate Wireless (CCNA Wireless)
      5. 13.5.5 Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA)
      6. 13.5.6 Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
      7. 13.5.7 CCNP Security certification
      8. 13.5.8 CCNP Wireless certification
      9. 13.5.9 Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP)
      10. 13.5.10 Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) - Routing and Switching
      11. 13.5.11 Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) - Security
      12. 13.5.12 Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) - Wireless
      13. 13.5.13 Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE)
      14. 13.5.14 Cisco CCIE Storage Networking
      15. 13.5.15 Cisco Certified Architect
      16. 13.5.16 Cisco specialization tracks
    6. 13.6 The Open Group certifications
      1. 13.6.1 The Open Group Certified IT Specialists (Open CITS)
      2. 13.6.2 The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA)
      3. 13.6.3 The Open Group certification
    7. 13.7 Juniper Networks Certification Program (JNCP)
      1. 13.7.1 JNCP Junos-based certification tracks
      2. 13.7.2 Service Provider Routing and Switching track
      3. 13.7.3 Enterprise Routing and Switching track
      4. 13.7.4 Junos security track
    8. 13.8 Non-Junos certification tracks
      1. 13.8.1 E-Series certification track
      2. 13.8.2 Firewall/VPN certification track
      3. 13.8.3 SSL certification track
      4. 13.8.4 Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP) Track
      5. 13.8.5 Unified Access Control (UAC) Track
      6. 13.8.6 WX certification track
  18. Related publications
    1. IBM Redbooks
    2. IBM Flex System education
    3. Referenced websites
    4. Help from IBM
  19. Back cover

Product information

  • Title: Introduction to Storage Area Networks and System Networking
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: November 2012
  • Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
  • ISBN: 9780738437132