So anyone who knows me knows I am huge fan of Open Source.  Traditionally there have been lots of great open source projects focused on network management like GroundWork, OpenNMS and Nagios to name a few.  Open Source storage projects are few and far between which is why I was so excited a few years back when the Aperi project was announced.  I have been tracking the progress of the project over the past few years and I recently invested the time to do the installation and configuration required to see what sort of value it could deliver today and if it was ready for prime time.  Aside from the fact that the user interface relies on a java client as opposed to being a web based application I was pleasantly surprised by the stability, functionality and overall usefulness of the application.  My goal in this blog is to highlight some of the finer points of the application which supports everything from reporting to physical configuration.

For my lab in configuration I am running the Aperi server / console on a Windows 2003 VM, I have a physical Windows 2003 server connected via fibre channel to a Cisco 9124 fibre channel switch and an EMC CLARiiON CX3-10 connected to the same Cisco 9124.  Solutions Enabler is installed on the physical Windows 2003 server and a LUN is mapped from the CX3-10 to the physical windows 2003 server.

An Aperi host agent is running on the Aperi server (aperi-vm) and also on the Windows 2003 physical server (w2k3phys1) which is connected to the EMC CLARiiON.

I will now walk you though a few Aperi features, my configuration is just for testing so it is not perfect but good enough to provide a taste of the power that the Aperi project is delivering.  This is also by no means a comprehensive overview of the product but rather an introduction some of the features, I am hoping to create a video in the near future, time permitting.

Figure 1:  The Aperi Dashboard

The Dashboard provides an overview of your storage environment.  The left hand navigation tree makes it easy to move between task while the quadrants on the right provide information about managed elements, capacity and utilization.

Note:  Some of the screenshots below have been cropped to improve clarity, the navigation tree is actually always visible on the left.

From here we will click on the Topology and we will be presented with high-level topology (Figure 2:  Topology) which shows all the elements of the SAN. 

Figure 2:  Topology

You notice above that in the high-level topology we can see information about the fabrics, computers, switches, storage devices and other which are elements that are connected to the SAN but are unidentifiable.  I this case an EMC Celerra and RecoverPoint Appliances.

Next we will view the topology from different perspectives, when we click on Computers we are then presented with Figure 3:  Computer Topology View.

Figure 3:  Computer Topology View

When we drill down in the computer topology view we can see that the HBA in the host w2k3phys1 is connected to a port on the Cisco 9124 and the WWN is also displayed.  We can also see that 1 volume (in CX terms a LUN) is mapped to the host w2k3phys1 and identified by the label "FC Test Lun for Rich".

NOTE:  The application uses SNIA terminology so it does not map directly to the terms used by the CLARiiON.  This can be a little but confusing but once you understand how Aperi references luns, volumes, raid groups, etc… it is not a big deal.

Next we will navigate to the Figure 4:  Fabric Topology View.

Figure 4:  Fabric Topology View

You you will notice here is that 2 Virtual Fabrics are shown, these are synonymous with Cisco VSANs.  Here we can see each VSAN and at-a-glance what is attached to each VSAN.  Next I will drill down on the individual VSANs (Switches) Figure 5:  Switch Topology View, my personal favorite topology view.

Figure 5:  Switch Topology View

Here you can easily visualize and gather information about the SAN.  We can see that there are 2 connections from the CLARiiON to port 101 and 102 and one connection from the host w2k3phys1 to port 108.  There is also one unknown device connected to port 104 (the reason there is no line is because physical connectivity lines are established by clicking on either the initiator or target object, multiple objects are selected by holding down the CTRL key, very intuitive).

We can also look at the storage topology Figure 6:  Storage Topology View another one of my personal favorites.

Figure 6:  Storage Topology View

Here we view the physical CLARiiON configuration.  The physical drives, storage groups and LUNs.  We can also see what switch(es) and ports the CLARiiON is connected to.

In addition to being able to view interactive topologies from a number of different perspective, reports can also be run on many different aspects of the storage infrastructure.  In Figure 7: Physical Storage Report we can see all the physical devices across the environment from both the array and host perspective, reports can be filtered to only show array physical storage, host physical storage, etc…

Figure 7: Physical Storage Report

Along with interactive topologies and reporting the Aperi project offers the ability to configure and provision.  Volumes can be created and provisioned through the Aperi GUI, pretty cool! 

Figure 8:  Create a Volume Wizard

Here a LUN can be created and labeled.  Chose the RAID type, array (RAID Group), number of volumes (luns) to be created, the volume (lun) size and label and click next and you can assign the volume to a host port to make it accessible.

While the Aperi project definitely has some growing up to do this is a remarkable tool given the current state of Open Source storage management tools.  Hopefully this spurs OSI (Open Source Initiative) to focus on development of Storage Management tools, I will continue to watch the progress and do more testing and hopefully find the time to publish some additional findings.

So I was catching up on some reading on the way home tonight when I stumbled across a pretty interesting blog, that got me thinking.

You Had Me At EHLO… : Voice Mail and Discoverability with Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging.

There are a plethora of solutions and business that have been spawned by 21^st century Email bloat.  The problem is not adequately being solved because we continue to take disposable conversation mediums like voice calls, instant messages, etc… and turn them in long term, translated, full-text indexed, searchable, etc…. , historic evidence.  Storing one copy of the data is no longer good enough, we need to create full-text searchable databases witch in many cases store > 2x the original data source.  The proof is everywhere that the exponential growth of digital information is far outpacing Moore’s Law.  Just look around, I am astounded by the number of kids I see who have replace verbal conversation with an SMS (IMO a major contributor to information bloat) even when sitting right next to each other. 

Articles like this are not only scary because the world is making all forms of correspondence a matter of record which is a bit scary and Orwellian.  Remember Orwell’s 1984 was not meant to be an instructional guide but as long as we treat it that way it will continue to create a huge amount of opportunity for us in the technology sector (I am not complaining).  The need to protect and store information has never been greater and the there seems to be no slow down in the exponential growth of stored information, I sometimes question the actual need but then I double-click my CTRL and up pops Google Desktop, I punch in from:john doe and there are all the Emails I have received from John Doe.

The blog has been neglected mostly because I have been working on a major post that will include a demo of some very cool technology. In the meantime I have also recently latched another blog which you can find at http://appoftheday.org. The goal of this blog is to share some of the cool applications that I run across.

Stay tuned for my next post.

So much time is spent these days on logical security, penetration testing, intrusion detection, etc… The reality is most attacks occur from the inside. This week I attended a trade show at which I was scheduled to speak. Upon arrival at the convention center I approached the speakers registration booth to collect my conference badge and materials. After 2 or 3 minutes of searching it appeared that there was no badge for me and I was not in the system as a registered attendee or a speaker. Apparently I did nor register but if I have received numerous confirmations on the speaking engagements should I not already be registered? Anyway, when I was not found in the system I proceeded to open a conference program and point out that I was scheduled to speak at two sessions, how could I not be registered. The person manning the booth then proceeded to enter my name into the computer and create me a badge with the name of the speaker I pointed out in the program. Never did they ask to see identification to verify that I was actually that person, I had socially engineered my way into the conference.

The biggest whole in any secure system is the human beings who work within the system. Even in theatrical scenarios like the ones portrayed in Mission Impossible 1 through 1000 🙂 the key to entry is always a person. Find the weakest link with the most information and power and social engineering goes to work. Once I received my badge I proceed to walk onto the show floor in large part unmanned at the hour I was there, there was literally next to no security with plasma and LCD TVs everywhere and computers powering these TVs I pretty much could have walked out with anything.

It was a pretty good show overall and I thought this experience was worth sharing.

I has been on my to do list to produce a Cisco WAAS demo for a while. I did this one quickly for another purpose but it is a good start.

30 drives in a 3 U platform.  Includes servers, DAS SAS or SATA, IP connectivity between servers and IP connectivity to client network.  Sounds like a HPC cluster in-a-box?

Configuration details:

• 300 TBs in a 44U rack
• 10 – SAS / SATA disk shelves
  • 30 drives per 3 U shelf
• 12 1 U servers
  • JBOD or Raid Controller
• Dual Switches
  • 24 gigE server ports
  • One 10 gigE port for uplink
• Front-to-back cooling
• Variable server to drive ratio (1:30) defined above
• Config for capacity or performance
• Upgrade CPU and storage independently
• HA config options available
• Simplified serviceability

Note:  Not CX DAEs (visibly they look the same to me, but apparently they are native SAS shelves) but they have the same footprint.  The equivalent of 2 DAEs are mounted in the same 3 U on a moveable shelf.  Essentially 2 DAEs in the same 3 U vertical footprint.

InfiniFlex is customer serviceable, customer can spare all parts or the customer can opt for a standard EMC support contract.

InfiniFlex 10000 Server Specs:

• 64-bit dual-core
  • Woodcrest 2.33 Ghz
• 4 GB of RAM
• Single Power Supply
• CD / DVD-RW (boot image)
• Standard 19" NEMA rackable
• 20" deep
• Adaptec 3085 disk controller
  • SAS / SATA

Use cases:

• Web 2.0 deployment model
  • Proprietary applications
  • Availability by replication
  • Preference for self-service
• Web 2.0 use cases
  • ISP services
  • Social networks
  • Cloud computing
  • etc…
• Content depots
  • Documents
  • Videos
  • Surveillance
  • Research repositories

Should have called this session Site Recovery Manager brainwashing revisited.

I find it interesting that we are still spending time talking about Replistor and MirrorView as viable Exchange replication technologies.  I thought we determined years ago that they just don’t work.

It would make more sense to me when talking about Exchange 2007 and replication to spend more time on Local Continuous Replication (LCR), Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) and Single Copy Clusters (SCC).  With applications like Exchange enterprises will more to adopt the technology with the tightest application integration (e.g. – Oracle RAC).  I would have preferred a discussion focused on application integration.

Just my 2 cents.

I have been really busy the past few weeks so the blog has slowed to a snail crawl, although I do have an interesting blog that compares some of the more popular Windows data migration tools so stay tuned for that.  This week I will try to report live from EMC World and the sessions that I attend, note that I will be listening, typing and publishing so please excuse spelling and grammar mistakes as I will not be spending time proofreading.

I am now sitting in a session entitled “Simplifying Disaster Recovery with VMware and Celerra Replicator”  This session should be entitled “VMware Site Recovery Manager and Celerra Replicator”

Since I have been typing this blog I may have missed a few details but here is what i have heard thus far:

Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is supported in the following environments:

• >= VMware 3.0.2 and Virtual Center 2.5
• >= DART 5.6
• iSCSI Only (No NFS Support)

One topic that I feel the need to address is the thought that SRM replaces Disaster Recovery (DR) Runbooks.  I could not disagree more, under ideal conditions SRM automates the tasks traditionally documented in the DR Runbook but it is important to remember that SRM is another piece of software that is added to an already complex mountain of software and process, I do not believe this is a replacement for the DR Runbook but rather another infrastructure component that needs to be documented as part of the DR process.

Note:  VMware will only support RDM devices as beta?  What the heck does that mean?

SRM only support crash consistent copies, essentially no support for application awareness and Replication Manager.

I asked the question with EMC and the application vendors (Microsoft) pushing for application (Exchange, SQL) awareness via VSS and other application aware APIs what is the plan for SRM and application awareness?  The answer I received nebulous at best, to paraphrase the presenter I think he stated that you would need to determine if Exchange is core to your business; last time I checked Email is a fairly critical component of doing business in 2008.

Needless to say to this point SRM is not making a good case for jettisoning the DR Runbook.

Talk to you from Tucci’s Keynote next.

EMC has acquired iomega for a cool 213 Million or 3.85  share.  This is a significant premium for a company that has been struggling for a while.  Back in the days before every computer has a CD/RW and before we all carried a 4 GB USB drive on our key chain the primary primary medium for transferring data between computers was the 5.25 floppy, then the 3.5 floppy and then iomega with the 100 MB Zip drive which revolutionized my life and had to be the the gadget of the year.  Every techie I know had one and it dramatically simplified our lives, who could forget hooking up you 100 MB Zip drive to your PCs parallel port, nowadays it’s hard to find a PC with a parallel port.  Fast forward 10 years, just about every computer ships with a DVD/RW which can store 4+ GB of data, a 4GB USB thumb drive is ~ $25, translation the Zip drive is died a grim death.

What does this acquisition mean… hmmmm…  I could speculate that EMC has acquired iomega to continue their down market push with the obvious connection between iomega and Retrospect, which BTW I think is true.  iomega has some nice disk based products that play well in this space.  I also think that while the Zip drive is not really of much value these days iomega has a heritage of pioneering a storage technology which could help EMC realize the vision of displacing tape as the primary media for offsite storage in the SMB.  iomega’s iStorage also seems to dovetail nicely into EMC’s cloud computing initiative.  My thought here is that iStorage pairs nicely with Mozy, Pi, EMC’s Cloud Infrastructure initiative, etc…  Then of course there is the iomega Jaz the 2GB removable cartridge that never really took off but could EMC look to increase density and really target tape in the SMB with a technology like this?  The speculator is me says, maybe.  If you look around at companies like rdx are on the right track but may not have the market muscle, presence or heritage to capture significant market share and change the market paradigm, you can almost visualize how EMC could and might parlay the iomega acquisition.