IBM FlashSystem V9000 introduction
This chapter introduces the IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage system and its core values, benefits, and technological advantages.
This chapter includes the following topics:
The detailed description of the IBM FlashSystem V9000 AC3 control enclosure and on Spectrum Virtualize 8.1 software are described in these publications:
•Implementing IBM FlashSystem 900 Model AE3, SG24-8414
•Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller V7.4, SG24-7933
1.1 IBM FlashSystem V9000 overview
With the release of FlashSystem V9000 Software version 8.1, extra functions and features are available, including support for new and more powerful FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosure model AE3. Software features added include GUI enhancements, new dashboard, Support Assistance and inline hardware compression in the model AE3 storage enclosure.
1.1.1 Hardware components
Each IBM FlashSystem V9000 AC3 control enclosures is an individual server in an IBM FlashSystem V9000 clustered system on which the IBM FlashSystem V9000 software runs. These control enclosures are organized into I/O groups; each I/O group is made up of a pair of AC3 control enclosures.
An I/O group takes the storage that is presented to it by the AE3 storage enclosures as MDisks, adds these to pools, and translates the storage into logical disks (volumes) that are used by applications on the hosts. An AC3 control enclosure is in only one I/O group and provides access to the volumes in that I/O group.
These are the core IBM FlashSystem V9000 components:
•FlashSystem V9000 AC3 control enclosure:
– Power supply units
– Battery modules
– Fan modules
– Interface cards
•FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure:
– Control canisters
– IBM MicroLatency modules
– Power supply units
– Battery modules
– Fan modules
– Interface cards
•SAN switches for flexible building blocks
•FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosures (SAS attached)
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 delivers high capacity for the enterprise data center. IBM FlashSystem V9000 uses a fully featured and scalable all-flash architecture that performs at up to 5.2 million input/output operations per second (IOPS) with IBM MicroLatency modules, is scalable to 80 gigabytes per second (GBps), and delivers internal flash capacity up to 1.7 PB (maximum effective with inline hardware compression) or 7.2 PB (effective, assuming 5:1 data reduction using software compression, the IBM Real-time Compression™ technology (RtC).
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Note: Applications may not benefit from the lowest FlashSystem 900 AE3 latency if data is compressed using RtC, they may benefit a higher compression rate. Details can be found in section “Physical and effective capacity based on compression rates” in the IBM Redbooks publication Implementing IBM FlashSystem 900 Model AE3, SG24-8414.
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Figure 1-1 shows the IBM FlashSystem V9000 front view. The 12 IBM MicroLatency modules are in the middle of the unit.
Figure 1-1 IBM FlashSystem V9000
Beyond its base all-flash architecture, the IBM FlashSystem V9000 also addresses tiered capabilities as described below.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 Control Enclosure model AC3 delivers advanced software functionality with Spectrum Virtualize 8.1. With the release of IBM FlashSystem V9000 Software version 8.1, extra functions and features are available, including new Graphical User Interface (GUI) and support for new and more powerful IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosure model AE3 with inline hardware compression.
SAS-based small form factor (SFF) and large form factor (LFF) expansion enclosures are providing a mixture of nearline SAS hard disk drives (HDDs) and flash managed disks (MDisks) in a pool, which can be used for IBM Easy Tier®.
Up to 20 serial-attached SCSI (SAS) expansion enclosures are supported per IBM FlashSystem V9000 controller pair, providing up to 240 drives with expansion enclosure model 12F, and up to 480 drives with expansion enclosure model 24F.
The new IBM FlashSystem V9000 LFF expansion enclosure model 92F supports up to 92 drives per enclosure, with a mixture of HDD and SSD drives in various capacities.
Using its flash-optimized design, IBM FlashSystem V9000 can provide response times of 180 microseconds. It delivers better acquisition costs than a high-performance spinning disk for the same effective capacity while achieving five times the performance when using RtC, making it ideal for environments that demand extreme performance.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 LFF expansion enclosure model 12F offers tiering options with 8 TB or 10 TB nearline SAS hard disk drives (HDDs).
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 SFF expansion enclosure model 24F offers tiering options with low-cost solid-state drives (SSDs).
Figure 1-2 shows IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosure model 12F.
Figure 1-2 IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosure model 12F
Figure 1-3 shows IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosure model 24F.
Figure 1-3 IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosure model 24F
Figure 1-4 shows IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosure model 92F.
Figure 1-4 IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosure model 92F
IBM FlashSystem V9000 with the new model EA3 storage enclosure has built in and always on inline hardware compression.
Furthermore with optional RtC technology, IBM FlashSystem V9000 provides up to 180 terabtyes (TB) usable flash capacity, and up to 900 TB effective flash capacity in only 6U (assumes a 5:1 reduction in data using RtC). This scales to 1.44 PB usable flash capacity and up to 7.2 PB effective flash capacity in only 34U. The FlashSystem V9000 inline hardware compression will not compress already compressed RtC workloads.
IBM FlashSystem V9000 delivers enterprise-class advanced storage capabilities, including these among others:
•IBM Real-time Compression Accelerators
•IBM Easy Tier
•Thin provisioning
•Copy services
•Data virtualization
•IBM HyperSwap® Split-Clusters
•Highly available configurations
•N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) support
•Distributed redundant array of independent disks (DRAID) Component in Doubt (CID)
•iSCSI virtualization support
•SKLM Encryption support (at code level 8.1)
•Transparent Cloud Tiering (at code level 8.1)
Advanced data services that are provided include copy services, mirroring, replication, external virtualization, IBM HyperSwap capabilities, Microsoft Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX)-capable features, and VMware vSphere Storage application programming interfaces (APIs) Array Integration (VAAI) support.
Host interface support includes 8 gigabit (Gb) and 16 Gb Fibre Channel (FC), and 10 Gb Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) or Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI). Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256 hardware-based encryption adds to the rich feature set.
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Note: The AC3 control enclosure supports only the 16 Gb 4-port Fibre Channel adapter, however it can negotiate down to both 8 Gb and 4 Gb, so this book uses the reference “16/8/4” to indicate that the three speeds are supported by this adapter.
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IBM FlashSystem V9000, including its IBM MicroLatency module (flash modules), is covered by up to seven years of total hardware support through the applicable warranty period.
1.1.2 Power requirements
IBM FlashSystem V9000 is green data center friendly. The IBM FlashSystem V9000 building block uses only 2700 watts of power under maximum load, and uses six standard single phase (100v - 240v) electrical outlets, two per AC3 storage controller and two for the AE3 storage enclosure. Plan to attach each of the two power supplies in each of the enclosures, to separate main power supply lines.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 maximum configuration, with four scalable building blocks and four additional AE3 storage enclosures, consumes 16 kilo watts of power under maximum load.
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AE3 storage enclosure: The 1300 W power supply provides the AE3 storage enclosure with high power to run at maximum performance for longer durations during power supply servicing, resulting in more predictable performance under unexpected failure conditions. The operating environment electrical power is as follows:
•Voltage range: 100-240 V AC
•Frequency: 50 - 60 Hz
Using two power sources provides power redundancy. The suggestion is to place the two power supplies on different circuits.
Important: The power cord is the main power disconnect. Ensure that the socket outlets are located near the equipment and are easily accessible.
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1.1.3 Physical specifications
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 installs in a standard 19-inch equipment rack. The IBM FlashSystem V9000 building block is 6U high and 19 inches wide. A standard 42U 19-inch data center rack can be used to be populated with the maximum IBM FlashSystem V9000 configuration to use up to 36U.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 has the following physical dimensions:
•IBM FlashSystem V9000 control enclosure (AC3) each:
– Width: 447.6 mm (17.62 in); 19-inch Rack Standard
– Depth:801 mm (31.54 in)
– Height: 87.5 mm (3.44 in.)
– Weight: 23.8 kg (52.47 lb)
– Airflow path: Cool air flows into the front of unit (intake) to rear of unit (exhaust)
– Power consumption: 700 watts maximum, 450 watts typical operation
– Heat dissipation: 512 BTU per hour
•IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosure (AE3):
– Width: 445 mm (17.6 in); 19-inch rack standard
– Depth: 761 mm (29.96 in)
– Height: 86.2 mm (3.39 in)
– Weight (maximum configuration is 12 flash modules): 34 kg (75 lb)
– Airflow path: Cool air flows into the front of unit (intake) to rear of unit (exhaust)
– Power consumption: 1300 watts maximum, 625 watts typical operation
– Heat dissipation: 1194 BTU (maximum configuration RAID 5)
For more information about IBM FlashSystem V9000 configuration options, see the IBM FlashSystem V9000 Model AE3 Product Guide.
1.2 IBM FlashSystem family
The success or failure of businesses often depends on how well organizations use their data assets for competitive advantage. Deeper insights from data require better information technology. As organizations modernize their IT infrastructure to boost innovation rather than limit it, they need a data storage system that can keep pace with highly virtualized environments, cloud computing, mobile and social systems of engagement, and in-depth, real-time analytics.
1.2.1 Why flash matters
Flash is a vibrant and fast growing technology. Clients are looking to solve data center problems, optimize applications, reduce costs, and grow their businesses.
Here are several reasons why flash is a must in every data center, and why an IBM FlashSystem changes storage economics:
•Reduces application and server licensing costs, especially those related to databases and virtualization solutions.
•Improves application efficiency, an application’s ability to process, analyze, and manipulate more information, faster.
•Improves server efficiency. Helps you get more out of your existing processors, use less random access memory (RAM) per server, and consolidate operations by having server resources spend more time processing data as opposed to waiting for data.
•Improves storage operations. Helps eliminate costly application tuning, wasted developer cycles, storage array hot spots, array tuning, and complex troubleshooting. Decreases floor space usage and energy consumption by improving overall storage environment performance.
•Enhances performance for critical applications by providing the lowest latency in the market.
Almost all technological components in the data center are getting faster, including central processing units, network, storage area networks (SANs), and memory. All of them have improved their speeds by a minimum of ten times (10x); some of them by 100x, such as data networks. However, spinning disk has only increased its performance 1.2x.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 provides benefits that include a better user experience, server and application consolidation, development cycle reduction, application scalability, data center footprint savings, and improved price performance economics.
Flash improves the performance of applications that are critical to the user experience, such as market analytics and research applications, trading and data analysis interfaces, simulation, modeling, rendering, and so on. Server and application consolidation is possible because of the increased process utilization resulting from the low latency of flash memory, which enables a server to load more users, more databases, and more applications.
Flash provides or gives back time for further processing within the existing resources of such servers. Clients soon realize that there is no need to acquire or expand server resources as often or as soon as was previously expected.
Development cycle reduction is possible because developers spend less time designing an application to work around the inefficiencies of HDDs and less time tuning for performance.
Data center footprint savings are realized due to the high density and high performance of the IBM flash solutions, these systems are replacing racks and cabinet bays of spinning HDDs. Reducing the data center footprint also translates into power and cooling savings, making flash one of the greenest technologies for the data center.
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Improved price: Performance economics are because of the low cost for performance value from the IBM FlashSystem. The cost savings result from deploying fewer storage enclosures, fewer disk drives, fewer servers with fewer processors, and less RAM while using less power, space, cooling and fewer processor licenses. Flash is one of the best tools for the data center manager for improving data center economics.
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1.2.2 Product differentiation
Flash is used widely in the data center in many ways: In a server (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) cards or internal SSDs), in storage arrays (hybrid or all-flash), appliances, or platform solutions (hardware, software, and network). Flash can be used as cache or as a data tier. Because of the vast and wide adoption of flash, several flash architectures and, therefore, criteria can be applied to compare flash options. See Figure 1-5.
Figure 1-5 The various deployments of flash
Most storage vendors manufacture and market some type of flash memory system. The difference is how it is implemented, and the effect that such implementation has on the economics (cost reduction and revenue generation) for clients.
Flash technology is used to eliminate the storage performance bottleneck. The IBM FlashSystem family is a key shared-storage market leader and provides extremely low latency and consistent response times. It is designed and purpose-built specifically to harness what flash technology has to offer.
Some other vendors create flash appliances based on commodity server platforms and use software-heavy stack. Also, they use hardware technologies designed and created for disk, not flash. Others have designed their products using hybrid arrays combining existing storage designs, spinning HDDs, and SSD. The IBM storage portfolio includes SSD and flash on a variety of storage platforms; however, these alternative solutions do not have the same low latency (MicroLatency) as the hardware-accelerated IBM FlashSystem.
IBM FlashSystem family versus SSD-based storage arrays
Flash memory technologies appeared in the traditional storage systems some time ago. These SSD-based storage arrays help to successfully address the challenge of increasing I/Os per second (IOPS) needed by applications, and the demand for lower response times in particular tasks. An implementation example is the IBM Easy Tier technology.
However, these technologies typically rely on flash in the format of Fibre Channel (FC), serial-attached SCSI (SAS), or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) disks, placed in the same storage system as traditional spinning disks, and using the same resources and data paths. This approach can limit the advantages of flash technology because of the limitations of traditional disk storage systems.
SAS attached storage (called expansion enclosures) still has advantages under the control of the IBM FlashSystem V9000, and can be considered as a good second tier level of storage in this environment.
IBM FlashSystem storage enclosures provide a hardware-only data path that realizes all of the potential of flash memory. These systems differ from traditional storage systems, both in the technology and usage.
An SSD device with an HDD disk form factor has flash memory that is put into a carrier or tray. This carrier is inserted into an array, such as an HDD. The speed of storage access is limited by the following technology because it adds latency and cannot keep pace with flash technology:
•Array controllers and software layers
•SAS controllers and shared bus
•Tiering and shared data path
•Form factor enclosure
IBM FlashSystem purpose-built MicroLatency modules are fast and efficient, designed using hardware-only data path technology that has a minimum number of software layers. Using this technology, IBM implements a mostly firmware component data path, and management software that is separated from the data path enabling the lowest latency modules on
the market.
the market.
The only other family of products with hardware-only access to flash technology is the PCI Express (PCIe) flash product family, where products are installed into a dedicated server. With the appearance of the IBM FlashSystem, the benefits of PCIe flash products to a single server can now be shared by many servers.
1.2.3 The IBM Piece of Mind Initiative
IBM Storage has developed three new programs anchored to all-flash IBM storage offerings including:
•Data reduction program is designed to reduce planning risks and help lower storage costs by meeting baseline levels of data compression effectiveness in IBM Spectrum Virtualize based offerings.
•Controller upgrade program enables customers of designated all-flash IBM storage systems to reduce costs while maintaining leading-edge controller technology for essentially the cost of ongoing system maintenance.
•A new high-availability program helps enterprises avoid the costs and risks related to business downtime by ensuring the availability of business-critical data and storage systems.
Separately, the Data Reduction Guarantee, Controller Upgrade Program and High-Availability Guarantee each offer many benefits. But when combined as part of an IBM all-flash storage solution, the power of all three to help customers lower costs, reduce business risk and maintain the most current technologies can be even more significant. For example:
•Flash endurance coverage while hardware maintenance is current, ensuring that Flash wear never becomes a problem.
•Enhanced support is available from IBM via the Enterprise Class Support service that comes with the 9848 machine type.
Confidence. Trust. Peace of mind. IBM understands that real solutions include more than simply great engineering.
For further information on the IBM Piece of Mind Initiative please see the Technical White Paper of the same title.
1.3 FlashSystem V9000 architecture
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 architecture is explained in the following section together with key product design characteristics, performance, and serviceability. Hardware components are also described.
1.3.1 Overview of architecture
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 AC3 control enclosure combines software and hardware into a comprehensive, modular appliance that uses symmetric virtualization. Single virtualization engines, which are known as AC3 control enclosures, are combined to create clusters. In a scalable solution, each cluster can contain between two and eight control enclosures.
Symmetric virtualization is achieved by creating a pool of managed disks (MDisks) from the attached storage systems. Those storage systems are then mapped to a set of volumes for use by attached host systems. System administrators can view and access a common pool of storage on the storage area network (SAN). This functionality helps administrators to use storage resources more efficiently and provides a common base for advanced functions.
The design goals for the IBM FlashSystem V9000 are to provide the client with the fastest and most reliable all-flash storage array on the market, while making it simple to service and support with no downtime. The IBM FlashSystem V9000 uses hardware acceleration techniques incorporating Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) components to reduce the software stack which keeps I/O latency to a minimum and I/O performance to a maximum.
IBM Spectrum Virtualize software
IBM FlashSystem V9000 is built with IBM Spectrum Virtualize software, which is part of the IBM Spectrum Storage™ family.
Virtualization is a radical departure from traditional storage management. In traditional storage management, storage is attached directly to a host system that controls the storage management. SAN introduced the principle of networks of storage, but storage is still primarily created and maintained at the RAID system level. Multiple RAID controllers of different types require knowledge of, and software that is specific to, the specific hardware. Virtualization provides a central point of control for disk creation and maintenance.
IBM Spectrum Virtualize is a key member of the IBM Spectrum Storage portfolio. It is a highly flexible storage solution that enables rapid deployment of block storage services for new and traditional workloads, on-premises, off-premises, and in a combination of both, and it is designed to help enable cloud environments.
For more information about the IBM Spectrum Storage portfolio, see the IBM Storage website.
AE3 storage enclosure architecture
Figure 1-6 on page 12 illustrates the IBM FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure design. At the core of the system are the two high-speed non-blocking crossbar buses. The crossbar buses provide two high-speed paths, which carry the data traffic, and they can be used by any host entry path into the system. There is also a slower speed bus for management traffic.
Connected to the crossbar buses are high-speed non-blocking RAID modules and IBM MicroLatency modules. There is also a passive main system board (midplane) to which both the RAID controllers (called canisters) and all the flash modules connect, and also connections to battery modules, fan modules, and power supply units.
The two RAID controllers contain crossbar controllers, management modules, interface controllers and interface adapters, and fan modules. The two RAID controllers form a logical cluster, and there is no single point of failure in the design (assuming that all host connections have at least one path to each canister).
Figure 1-6 AE3 storage enclosure architecture
IBM FlashSystem V9000 software
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 software provides the following functions for the host systems that attach to IBM FlashSystem V9000:
•Creates a pool of storage. Two choices are available when the system consists of more than one AE3 storage enclosure:
– Create a separate pool for each AE3 storage enclosure.
– Create one storage pool that spans all AE3 storage enclosures.
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Important: Before deciding whether to create a single storage pool or multiple storage pools, carefully evaluate which option best fits your solution needs, considering data availability and recovery management.
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•Provides logical unit virtualization.
•Manages logical volumes.
IBM FlashSystem V9000 software also provides these advanced functions:
•Large scalable cache
•Copy services:
– IBM FlashCopy® (point-in-time copy) function, including thin-provisioned FlashCopy to make multiple targets affordable
– Metro Mirror (synchronous copy)
– Global Mirror (asynchronous copy)
•Data migration
•Space management
•IBM Easy Tier function to automatically migrate the most frequently used data to higher-performance storage
•Thin-provisioned logical volumes
•Compressed volumes to consolidate storage
•HyperSwap, which enables each volume to be presented by two I/O groups
•Microsoft Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX)
•VMware and vSphere 6.0 support
•Enhanced FlashCopy bitmap space increased
For more information about the IBM FlashSystem V9000 advanced software features, see Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller with IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.1, SG24-7933.
MDisks
A managed disk (MDisk) is a logical unit of physical storage. MDisks are either arrays (RAID) from internal storage or volumes from external storage systems. MDisks are not visible to host systems.
An MDisk might consist of multiple physical disks that are presented as a single logical disk to the storage area network (SAN). An MDisk always provides usable blocks of physical storage to the system even if it does not have a one-to-one correspondence with a physical disk.
Each MDisk is divided into a number of extents, which are sequentially numbered starting at 0 (zero), from the start to the end of the MDisk. The extent size is a property of pools. When an MDisk is added to a pool, the size of the extents that the MDisk is divided into depends on the attribute of the pool to which it was added. The access mode determines how the clustered system uses the MDisk.
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Attention: If you observe intermittent breaks in links or if you replaced cables or connections in the SAN fabric or LAN configuration, you might have one or more MDisks in degraded status. If an I/O operation is attempted when a link is broken and the I/O operation fails several times, the system partially excludes the MDisk and changes the status of the MDisk to excluded. You must include the MDisk to resolve the problem.
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The MDisks are placed into storage pools where they are divided into several extents, which are 16 - 8192 MB, as defined by the IBM FlashSystem V9000 administrator. For more information about the total storage capacity that is manageable per system regarding the selection of extents, see the IBM Storwize V7000 support topic.
A volume is host-accessible storage that was provisioned from one storage pool. Alternatively, if it is a mirrored volume, it was provisioned from two storage pools. The maximum size of an MDisk is 1 PB. One IBM FlashSystem V9000 supports up to 4096 MDisks.
MDisks consideration for IBM FlashSystem V9000
Each MDisk from external storage has an online path count, which is the number of nodes that have access to that MDisk. The path count represents a summary of the I/O path status between the system nodes and the storage device. The maximum path count is the maximum number of paths that were detected by the system at any point in the past. If the current path count is not equal to the maximum path count, the MDisk might be degraded. That is, one or more nodes might not see the MDisk on the fabric.
Previously with IBM Spectrum Virtualize (2145 SAN Volume Controller model DH8) and previously with IBM FlashSystem V840, the leading practices stated that the back-end storage (on SAN Volume Controller) or internal storage (in FlashSystem V840) should be divided into 16 MDisks for the best performance. For the IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosure AE2 this changed to be a single MDisk per storage enclosure.
For the AE3 storage enclosure, attached to IBM FlashSystem V9000, eight MDisks per storage enclosure should be created for best performance.
The reason for this change can be explained in the relationship of the I/O throughput on the machine, versus the number of cores and threading on the control enclosure architecture.
The control enclosures assign workloads to different cores, depending on the object that is associated with the workload. The three categories of objects are as follows:
•Interface channel (I/O) ports
•VDisks (volumes)
•MDisks (managed disks)
When an I/O comes in, this input is assigned to the core associated with an interface channel port. It moves to the VDisk thread and then to the MDisk thread and finally back to an interface channel thread, for de-staging back out of the system.
The VDisk has the most amount of work associated with it.
For additional information of Storage pools and Volumes see Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller with IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.1, SG24-7933.
1.3.2 IBM FlashSystem V9000 building blocks
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 building block consists of two AC3 control enclosures, one AE3 storage enclosure, and software and hardware features. A building block can be either fixed or scalable. You can combine scalable building blocks to create larger clustered systems in such a way that operations are not disrupted.
Figure 1-7 shows a single IBM FlashSystem V9000 fixed versus multiple scalable building blocks.
Figure 1-7 IBM FlashSystem V9000 scalability
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Note: You can mix the AC2 control enclosure-based building blocks with the newer AC3 control enclosure building blocks, but each building block must have either two AC2s or two AC3s. The control enclosure types cannot be inter-mixed within a building block.
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Scale up or scale out
A scalable building block can be scaled up by adding IBM FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosures for increased storage capacity. You can add a maximum of four extra storage enclosures.
A scalable building block can be scaled out by combining up to four building blocks to provide higher IOPS and bandwidth needs for increased performance.
Figure 1-7 illustrates the scalable capacity of IBM FlashSystem V9000. It also shows that extra IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosures (SEs) can be added to a single building block, and also to two, three, or four building blocks.
1.3.3 IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosures
With the introduction of IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosures, even greater capacity offerings are now available.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 large form factor (LFF) expansion enclosure model 12F offers new tiering options with high capacity nearline SAS hard disk drives (HDDs). Each LFF expansion enclosure supports up to twelve 8 TB or 10 TB drives.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 small form factor (SFF) expansion enclosure model 24F offers new tiering options with low-cost SSDs. Each SFF expansion enclosure supports up to 24 2.5-inch low-cost SSD drives.
Up to 20 LFF or SFF expansion enclosures are supported per IBM FlashSystem V9000 controller pair, providing up to 480 drives with expansion enclosure model 24F (SFF) and up to 240 drives with expansion enclosure model 12F (LFF).
IBM FlashSystem V9000 HD expansion enclosure model 92F delivers increased storage density and capacity in a cost-efficient way. The IBM FlashSystem HD expansion enclosure model 92F offers the following features:
•5U, 19-inch rack mount enclosure with slide rail and cable management assembly
•Support for up to ninety-two 3.5-inch LFF 12 Gbps SAS top-loading drives
•High-performance disk drives, high-capacity nearline disk drives, and flash drive support:
– High-capacity, archival-class nearline disk drives in 8 TB and 10 TB 7,200 rpm
– Flash drives in 1.92 TB, 3.84 TB, 7.68 TB, and 15.36 TB
•Dual redundant 200 - 240V AC power supplies (new PDU power cord required)
Up to eight model 92F high-density (HD) expansion enclosures are supported per IBM FlashSystem V9000 controller pair, providing up to 736 drives with expansion model 92F. With four controller pairs, a maximum of 32 HD expansion enclosures with up to 2,944 drives can be attached.
If a mix of SFF, LFF, and HD enclosures is required, see 2.2.4, “SAS expansion enclosures” on page 39.
Figure 1-8 on page 17 shows the maximum possible configuration with a single building block (controller pair) using a combination of native IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosures and LFF or SFF expansion enclosures.
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Note: If you require a mix of storage expansion enclosure types, see the supported configurations in 2.2.4, “SAS expansion enclosures” on page 39.
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Figure 1-8 Single scalable building block maximum configuration
High-density, low-cost SSDs allow applications to scale and achieve high read performance while maintaining traditional reliability and endurance levels. The 1.92 TB and 3.84 TB SAS 2.5-inch low-cost SSDs options are available for IBM FlashSystem V9000 SFF expansion enclosure.
High-capacity nearline SAS drives enables high value tiered storage with hot data stored in flash and warm data on lower cost nearline SAS HDDs all managed by IBM Easy Tier. The 8 TB and 10 TB SAS 3.5-inch nearline drives are available for IBM FlashSystem V9000 LFF storage expansion enclosure model 12F.
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 with software version 8.1 also supports model 92F 5U-high, 92-drive bay, and supports the following drive types:
• High-capacity, nearline HDDs in 8 TB and 10 TB 7,200 rpm
• SSD Flash drives in 1.92 TB, 3.84 TB, 7.68 TB, and 15.36 TB
For IBM FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure, only RAID5 with a standby hot spare is supported. However, the SAS attached expansion enclosures can be configured with various RAID options. The preference for SAS attached storage is distributed RAID DRAID 6, which offers improved redundancy and rebuild times.
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Note: To support SAS expansion enclosures, an AH13 - SAS Enclosure Attach adapter card must be installed in slot 2 of each AC3 control enclosure in the building block.
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1.3.4 IBM FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure
The new IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosure AE3 looks similar to the IBM FlashSystem V9000 storage enclosure AE2. The physical enclosure is the same, power supplies, batteries, fans and interface cards also remain the same. However, new RAID canisters and new 3D TLC Flash memory modules either 3.6 TB, 8.6 TB, or 18 TB provides more IOPS and larger capacity.
Furthermore, the AE3 enclosure has built in and always on inline hardware compression which offers 2:1 reduction in data, using inline hardware compression on the 3.6 TB and
8.5 TB modules. For less compressible workloads, IBM offers the 18 TB Flash memory modules for a maximum of up to 180 TB usable and up to 219 TB maximum effective capacity within a single AE3 enclosure.
8.5 TB modules. For less compressible workloads, IBM offers the 18 TB Flash memory modules for a maximum of up to 180 TB usable and up to 219 TB maximum effective capacity within a single AE3 enclosure.
Figure 1-9 shows the FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure. One visible difference from the EA2 storage enclosure is the blue handlebars on the flash modules.
Figure 1-9 FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure
IBM FlashSystem V9000 Storage Enclosure AE3 provides the following advanced features:
•IBM FlashCore technology
•Hardware accelerated I/O
•IBM MicroLatency module
•Inline hardware compression
•Advanced flash management
•Flash wear assurance
For details of the features mentioned above see the Implementing IBM FlashSystem 900 Model AE3, SG24-8414 Redbooks publication.
1.3.5 Fixed and scalable configurations
IBM FlashSystem V9000 can be configured as a fixed building block or a scalable building block.
Fixed building block
A fixed building block contains one IBM FlashSystem V9000. The AE3 storage enclosure is cabled directly to each model AC3 control enclosure using 16 Gb links. Each control enclosure is connected to switches or directly attached to a host. The control enclosures internal connections are directly connected, without the use of switches or a SAN fabric, to form the cluster links. A fixed building block can be upgraded to a scalable building block, but the upgrade process is disruptive to operations.
Scalable building block
Scalable building blocks can contain from one and up to four control enclosure pairs (I/O groups) and from one and up to eight AE3 storage enclosures. In a scalable building block, the control enclosures are not cabled directly to each other. Instead Fibre Channel switches are used to create a private storage fabric. This infrastructure means that you can add building blocks or storage enclosures non disruptively.
The Fibre Channel switch fabrics do not have to be dedicated, and can be shared with hosts or server-side storage area networks (SANs). Care must be taken to ensure correct zoning for optimal interaction between hosts or server-side storage to FlashSystem V9000 control enclosures and backend storage.
For more guidelines of port utilization techniques in a scalable environment, see Appendix A, “Guidelines: Port utilization in an IBM FlashSystem V9000 scalable environment” on page 245.
The back-end storage switch fabric is isolated, through the zoning, from the host or server-side SAN for these reasons:
•So that any host or server does not have access to the AE3 storage enclosures directly
•So that the I/O from the controller to the storage does not interfere with the I/O from the host to the controllers
1.3.6 Scale-up and scale-out solutions
IBM FlashSystem V9000 offers the flexibility of the purchase of an all flash solution and hybrid enclosures that can be upgraded in the future, by the ability to scale-up for increased capacity, scale-out for increased performance, or both.
Clients can start with a fixed building block, or opt for a scale-up scale-out (SUSO) solution, that includes two 16 Gb FC switches, which enables you to add extra storage enclosures and building blocks with minimal effect to the existing systems.
Figure 1-10 shows the IBM FlashSystem V9000 scale-up and scale-out capabilities.
Figure 1-10 IBM FlashSystem V9000 scale-up and scale-out capabilities
Figure 1-11 shows a scale-out solution with four IBM FlashSystem V9000 building blocks, using the 16 Gb FC switches for interconnections.
Figure 1-11 Scale out IBM FlashSystem V9000 solution
Figure 1-12 shows a scale-up solution with one IBM FlashSystem V9000 scalable building block and four additional IBM FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosures.
Figure 1-12 Scale up IBM FlashSystem V9000 solution
Figure 1-13 shows a scale-up and scale-out solution with four IBM FlashSystem V9000 building blocks and additional four IBM FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosures, indicating a maximum supported configuration.
Figure 1-13 Scale-up and scale-out IBM FlashSystem V9000 solution
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Note: The FC internal connection switches are ordered together with the first IBM FlashSystem V9000 scalable building block. IBM also supports the use of customer-supplied FC switches and cables, if they are supported by IBM. See the latest information about supported FC switches at the IBM System Storage® Interoperation Center (SSIC).
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The IBM FlashSystem V9000 capacity can be expanded further by the inclusion of additional SAS attached expansion enclosures. See more details in 1.3.3, “IBM FlashSystem V9000 expansion enclosures” on page 16.
For more details about IBM FlashSystem V9000 scale-up or scale-out solutions, see Chapter 3, “Scalability” on page 61.
1.4 Advanced software features
The IBM FlashSystem V9000 builds on the IBM SAN Volume Controller nodes in conjunction with the FlashSystem V9000 AE3 storage enclosure. FlashSystem V9000 delivers the same advanced software features as IBM SAN Volume Controller. These include:
•IBM Real-time Compression
•FlashCopy
•Thin provisioning
•Thin-provisioned flash copies
•Built in data migration tools
•Advanced copy services
•Remote mirroring:
– Metro Mirror
– Global Mirror
– Global Mirror with Change Volumes
•External virtualization
•Easy Tier
•IBM HyperSwap
•Transparent cloud tiering (V8.1)
•Remote Support capability
•Upload support package to directly to open PMR
For more information of software features see Implementing the IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller with IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.1, SG24-7933.
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