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Storage optimizationBoost storage consolidationwith Blue Coat WANOptimization and DellPowerVault appliancesBy George Sadler and Suresh JasrasariaDeduplication, compression, and bandwidth enhancementtechnologies available in Dell PowerVault DL2100 backupand Blue Coat ProxySG WAN Optimization appliancescan alleviate stress on networks—helping organizationsenhance data protection and application recovery at remoteor branch offices.Demand for increased storage, fueledavailability of high-bandwidth lines coupled with highby exponential data growth, can resultlatency in wide area network (WAN) connectivityin storage sprawl that can be difficultcan present serious challenges to a storageto manage at both remote or branchconsolidation strategy for ROBOs. Deploying limitedoffice (ROBO) and central data center locations.bandwidth between a ROBO and a central dataROBO locations, in particular, often do not havecenter can constrain storage consolidation at thefull-time IT personnel, and the staff may not haveROBO—for example, the amount of time it takesexpertise in managing storage and performingto replicate consolidated data from the ROBO tobackup and recovery operations. These constraintsthe central location can be larger than the recoverycan put ROBO data particularly at risk of loss orpoint objective (RPO) of the organization, and thenoncompliance with regulatory requirements.amount of time it takes to restore consolidatedStorage consolidation can be a key strategyROBO data from the central data center may befor overcoming data protection and managementlarger than the recovery time objective (RTO) ofchallenges at ROBO locations. Consolidation enablesthe organization, thus jeopardizing applicationadministrators to store data at ROBOs on a singlerecoverability at the ROBO. Such WAN constraintssystem, and storage can then be replicated to acan be especially pronounced in ROBOs with acentralized repository for data protection, retention,large number of users or high data change rates.and analysis—helping alleviate the need for ROBOFortunately, emerging technologies such as dataIT personnel to perform complicated data protectiondeduplication, data compression, and bandwidthand management tasks.optimization can alleviate stress on WANs,Although storage consolidation at ROBOlocations can offer many benefits, the cost andReprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 2. Copyright 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.enabling organizations to boost ROBO storageconsolidation with reduced WAN traffic.dell.com/powersolutions 2010 Issue 0261
Storage optimizationDell EqualLogic PS4000XiSCSI SAN arrayBlue Coat ProxySG Virtual Appliance(installed on Dell PowerEdge 2950 server)Dell PowerConnect 6248switchCisco Catalyst 3560 switchDell PowerEdge R710serverWANDell PowerConnect 5448switchFSCT clientsBlue Coat ProxySG 510applianceDell PowerConnect 6248switchFSCT controllerDell EqualLogic PS6000EiSCSI SAN arrayFigure 1. Test configuration for the low-change-rate environmentTo help organizations implement a successful,because of limited-bandwidth deploymentsscalable ROBO storage consolidation strategy, Dellbetween a ROBO and a central office. Byand its partners offer a range of storage arrays andimplementing a storage consolidation strategyappliances—including Dell EqualLogic PS Seriesbased on EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays,Internet SCSI (iSCSI) storage area network (SAN)PowerVault DL2100 backup appliances, and Bluearrays, Dell PowerVault DL2100 backup appliances,Coat ProxySG WAN Optimization appliances,and Blue Coat ProxySG WAN Optimizationthey can create reliable, scalable storageappliances. EqualLogic arrays enable storageconsolidation and data protection and recoveryconsolidation at remote sites and support automatedfor their ROBOs—enabling them to streamline datareplication to a centralized location, providing anmanagement, ensure regulatory compliance, andexcellent foundation for implementing a storagemeet organizational RPO and RTO requirements.consolidation strategy. PowerVault DL2100 backupcompression features that help to significantly reduceDesigning a consolidatedstorage infrastructureWAN traffic and provide reliable, fast local recovery atA storage consolidation strategy based on Dellremote sites. And Blue Coat ProxySG appliances offerEqualLogic PS Series iSCSI SAN arrays helps removeadvanced features for optimizing WAN connectivity,the burden of data protection and regulatoryincluding data deduplication, data compression,compliance from ROBOs. Implementing an appropriateand network protocol enhancements designed toconfiguration, however, depends on factors such asfurther reduce WAN traffic to meet an organization’snumber of remote users or data change rates, andRPO and RTO objectives with minimum networkavailable WAN bandwidth and latency.appliances offer built-in data deduplication andbandwidth. In fact, benchmark testing has shownnumber of users as well as a connection to theappliance in an existing configuration can enablecentral data center with adequate bandwidthROBOs to support up to five times more usersand latency may be able to use a storage(see the “Benchmarking replication and backupconsolidation strategy based on EqualLogicperformance” section in this article).arrays alone, using the built-in remote replicationOrganizations can take advantage of these62ROBOs with a low data change rate or a smallthat adding a Blue Coat ProxySG WAN Optimizationfunctionality included at no additional cost. Aappliances to both enhance data protectiontypical deployment might include EqualLogicand application recovery through storagePS4000 series arrays for storage consolidationconsolidation, and overcome WAN constraintsat ROBO locations connected to a central data2010 Issue 02 dell.com/powersolutionsReprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 2. Copyright 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
center approximately 2,000 miles away (40 mssymbolizing those patterns as tokens and thenround-trip latency) over a 5 Mbps connection. Insending tokens in lieu of bulky trafficsuch a deployment, the ROBO EqualLogic PS4000 Object caching: Can lighten network trafficarray would replicate the changed data every hour,even further by caching entire application-a typical RPO objective, to an EqualLogic PS6000specific objectsseries array at the central data center for data In-line compression: Complements caching byprotection, retention, and analysis.ROBOs with a high data change rate or a largehelping to reduce data over the wire Protocol optimization: Can utilize a variety ofnumber of users with a limited-bandwidth connectionoptimization techniques to enhance the efficiencyto a central data center—or organizations thatof WAN network protocols such as TCP, iSCSI,require extremely fast, local disaster recovery (veryHTTP, HTTP over Secure Sockets Layer (HTTPS),small RTO)—have the option of using a storageconsolidation strategy that combines EqualLogic PSand Common Internet File System (CIFS) Bandwidth management: Helps partitionSeries arrays with Dell PowerVault DL2100 backupapplication traffic and allocate bandwidth toappliances. PowerVault DL2100 backup appliancesapplications based on priorityinclude built-in compression and data deduplicationfeatures designed to avoid backup of redundantAdding a Blue Coat ProxySG appliance to afiles, attachments, and documents and help reducestorage consolidation configuration based on Dellbackup storage requirements—which in turn canEqualLogic arrays alone or on Dell EqualLogicdramatically reduce WAN traffic associated witharrays combined with Dell PowerVault DL2100remote data protection and recovery. A typicalbackup appliances can help dramatically increasedeployment for such ROBO locations mightbackup and recovery performance over existinginclude EqualLogic PS4000 series arrays for storageWAN connections. Enhanced WAN effectiveness, inconsolidation with PowerVault DL2100 backupturn, enables organizations to scale ROBOs withoutappliances for local backup and quick recovery. Innecessarily having to purchase additional WANsuch a deployment, the ROBO PowerVault DL2100bandwidth. In addition, when ROBOs do not usebackup appliance would deduplicate, compress, andlocal storage and run critical business applicationsreplicate the changed data every hour, a typical RPOlike e-mail or enterprise resource planning (ERP)objective, to an additional PowerVault DL2100 backupsoftware over a WAN using remote desktops, aappliance at the central site over a limited-bandwidthBlue Coat ProxySG appliance can help increaseconnection (for example, a 5 Mbps connection withapplication performance while reducing WAN costs.Blue CoataccelerationdemoThis video overviewof Blue Coat WANOptimization includesa detailed discussion ofspecific use cases as wellas demonstrations ofthe Blue Coat dashboardinterface.dc.bluecoat.com/?elqPURLPage 510a 40 ms round-trip latency) for data protection usingCommVault Simpana backup software.Benchmarking replicationand backup performanceOptimizing WAN performanceTo illustrate the benefits of adding Blue CoatTo further enhance the effectiveness of WANWAN Optimization to a storage consolidationconnections associated with data protection and7and consolidation, organizations can add Blue6Coat WAN Optimization. Blue Coat ProxySGappliances—available as either physical (hardware)or virtual (software running in a dedicated server orvirtual machine) implementations—use a specificcombination of the following technologies toenhance WAN effectiveness: Byte caching: Helps reduce network traffic byobserving repetitive patterns in network traffic,Hourly data transfer (GB)recovery, or to help scale ROBO data growth5Figure 2. Replication results for thelow-change-rate environment withand without Blue Coat ProxySG WANOptimization43210Without Blue CoatProxySG VirtualApplianceReprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 2. Copyright 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.With Blue CoatProxySG VirtualAppliancedell.com/powersolutions 2010 Issue 0263
Storage optimizationdeployment, in April 2010 PrincipledLow data change rateincreasing the user count progressivelyTechnologies conducted Dell-commissionedThe test configuration illustrated in Figure 1every other hour.benchmark tests on various ROBOsimulated a ROBO with a low data changeBackups were performed every hour, aconfigurations.1 In particular, these testsrate. This ROBO configuration consisted oftypical RPO for ROBOs, where the amountwere designed to determine the advantagesone Dell PowerEdge R710 rack server forof data replicated to the central locationof various remote replication and backupfile sharing, one Dell EqualLogic PS4000Xeach hour was equal to the amount oftechnologies for ROBO data protection to aiSCSI SAN array for primary storage and localdata that changed in the hour precedingcentral office across a WAN. Configurationsbackup, and one Blue Coat ProxySG Virtualthe backup and replication. The tests werewith and without a Blue Coat ProxySGAppliance installed on a PowerEdge 2950performed both with and without the Bluephysical appliance and a Blue Coat ProxySGserver for WAN optimization. A CiscoCoat ProxySG Virtual Appliance.Virtual Appliance were tested.Layer 3 switch was used for redirecting trafficThese tests used the Microsoft FileFigure 2 shows the results. Theto the Blue Coat ProxySG Virtual Applianceconfiguration without the Blue Coat ProxySGServer Capacity Tool (FSCT) with theusing Web Cache Communication ProtocolVirtual Appliance was able to support up toHomeFolders workload to simulate typical(WCCP). The central office configuration1.85 GB of user changes in less than oneROBO data change rates in two exampleconsisted of one Blue Coat ProxySG 510hour, while the configuration with the Blueconfigurations—one based on a low datahardware appliance for WAN optimizationCoat ProxySG Virtual Appliance was able tochange rate and the other based on a highand one Dell EqualLogic PS6000E array forsupport up to 6.07 GB of user changes indata change rate. FSCT simulates file serveroff-site data protection.less than one hour—a more than threefoldactivity, and includes typical operationsThe test first ran the FSCT benchmarkincrease in effective network bandwidth duesuch as deleting, navigating, and movingat the ROBO with 150 users for fourfiles using Windows Explorer and editing,hours to create a baseline data set onto Blue Coat WAN Optimization.saving, closing, and opening files withthe EqualLogic PS4000X array. ThisHigh data change rateMicrosoft Office software such as the Word,baseline data set was then replicatedThis test was designed to illustrate WANExcel , and PowerPoint applications. Ato the EqualLogic PS6000E array usingoptimization in a ROBO with a high datatypical WAN bandwidth of 5 Mbps andEqualLogic replication. To evaluate ROBOchange rate when using a Blue Coat ProxySGa ROBO at a distance of approximatelydata protection performance for a range of510 hardware appliance (see Figure 3). The2,000 miles (round-trip delay of 40 ms)users, the test then restarted and ran FSCTROBO configuration consisted of one Dellwere used in all tests.with user counts ranging from 10 to 150,PowerEdge R710 rack server for file sharing,one Dell EqualLogic PS4000X array for primaryDell PowerVaultDL2100 applianceDell EqualLogicPS4000XiSCSI SAN arrayappliance for local backup, and one Blue CoatProxySG 510 hardware appliance for WANoptimization. The central office configurationBlue CoatProxySG 510applianceDell PowerConnect6248 switchconsisted of one Dell PowerVault DL2100backup appliance for off-site data protectionDell PowerEdgeR710 serverWANDell PowerConnect5448 switchFSCT clientsstorage, one Dell PowerVault DL2100 backupFSCT controllerBlue CoatProxySG 510applianceDell PowerConnect6248 switchand one Blue Coat ProxySG 510 hardwareappliance for WAN optimization.The test first ran the FSCT benchmark atthe ROBO with 500 users for four hours tocreate a baseline data set on the EqualLogicDell PowerVaultDL2100 appliancePS4000X array. This baseline data setwas backed up to the remote PowerVaultDL2100 appliance and then replicated to thecentralized PowerVault DL2100 applianceusing CommVault Simpana backup softwareFigure 3. Test configuration for the high-change-rate environmentwith continuous data replication. To evaluate1 Forthe complete report, including detailed information on the test environment, benchmark workloads, methodology, and results, see “Dell PowerVault DL2100 and Dell EqualLogic PS Series RemoteOffice/Branch Office Data Replication with Blue Coat ProxySG WAN Optimization,” by Principled Technologies, April 2010, 2100robowithbluecoat.pdf.642010 Issue 02 dell.com/powersolutionsReprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 2. Copyright 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
10ROBO data protection performance for a rangeuser counts ranging from 30 to 500, increasing the8user count progressively every other hour.As in the low-change-rate test, backups wereperformed every hour, and the amount of datareplicated to the central location each hour wasequal to the amount of data that changed in thehour preceding the backup and replication. The testswere performed both with and without the Blue CoatProxySG 510 appliances.Figure 4 shows the results. The configurationwithout the Blue Coat ProxySG 510 appliances wasable to support up to 1.75 GB of user changes inHourly data transfer (GB)of users, the test then restarted and ran FSCT with9Figure 4. Replication resultsfor the high-change-rateenvironment with and withoutBlue Coat ProxySG WANOptimization76543210Without Blue CoatProxySG 510applianceWith Blue CoatProxySG 510applianceless than one hour, while the configuration withthe Blue Coat ProxySG 510 appliances was ableorganizations overcome WAN bandwidthto support up to 9.19 GB of user changes in lesslimitations to enhance data protection andthan one hour—a more than fivefold increase inapplication recovery. By boosting storageeffective network bandwidth due to Blue Coatconsolidation scalability in this manner,WAN Optimization.organizations can enhance the performance oftheir data protection and recovery at ROBOs toBoosting storage consolidation andscalability for remote or branch officeshelp facilitate regulatory compliance, streamlineA storage consolidation strategy based on Dellservice-level agreements.IT management, and meet RPO and RTOEqualLogic PS Series iSCSI SAN arrays helpsorganizations to streamline data managementand ensure reliable data protection andLearn morerecovery. The powerful deduplication,Dell EqualLogic PS Series:compression, and network chnologies available with Dell PowerVaultDL2100 backup appliances and Blue CoatBlue Coat ProxySG:ProxySG WAN Optimization appliances helpbluecoat.com/products/sgReprinted from Dell Power Solutions, 2010 Issue 2. Copyright 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.George Sadler is a verticalsolutions marketingstrategist for the DellEnterprise SolutionsMarketing team, andhas more than 20 yearsof experience spanningmultiple industries.Suresh Jasrasaria is aproduct marketing seniorconsultant in the DellEnterprise Storage ProductGroup, and has worked inthe data storage industry formore than 20 years.dell.com/powersolutions 2010 Issue 0265
application performance while reducing WAN costs. Benchmarking replication and backup performance To illustrate the benefits of adding Blue Coat WAN Optimization to a storage consolidation Blue Coat acceleration demo This video overview of Blue Coat WAN Optimization includes a detailed discussion of specific use cases as well as demonstrations of
