Huawei N2000 NAS Storage System Technical White Paper

Huawei N2000 NAS Storage System Technical White Paper Issue 2.1 Date 2012-10-19 HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

2012. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Trademarks and Permissions and other Huawei trademarks are trademarks of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All other trademarks and trade names mentioned in this document are the property of their respective holders. Notice The purchased products, services and features are stipulated by the contract made between Huawei and the customer. All or part of the products, services and features described in this document may not be within the purchase scope or the usage scope. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, all statements, information, and recommendations in this document are provided "AS IS" without warranties, guarantees or representations of any kind, either express or implied. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this document to ensure accuracy of the contents, but all statements, information, and recommendations in this document do not constitute a warranty of any kind, express or implied. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Address: Website: Huawei Industrial Base Bantian, Longgang Shenzhen 518129 People's Republic of China http://enterprise.huawei.com i

Contents Contents 1 Overview... 1 1.1 Project Background... 1 1.2 Live Network Analysis... 1 1.3 System Requirements Analysis... 2 1.4 System Requirements... 2 2 Design Basis and Principles... 4 2.1 N2000 Overview... 4 2.2 Solution Design... 4 3 System Design... 5 3.1 Application Scenario... 5 3.2 Configuration Description... 7 3.2.1 Capacity Configuration... 7 3.3 Software and Hardware Configuration List... 错 误! 未 定 义 书 签 4 Solution Advantages and Software Features... 8 4.1 Solution Advantages... 8 4.2 Software Features... 8 5 Functions and Features... 10 5.1 Product Description... 10 5.2 Product Features... 11 5.3 Specifications... 12 6 Acronyms and Abbreviations... 14 ii

1 Overview 1 Overview 1.1 Project Background Revenues from network attached storage (NAS) and unified storage rose by 32.5% in 2011, with NAS income increasing by 21.5% alone. The jump in NAS revenue is primarily due to support for NAS products and the rapid growth in vertical industry applications, which generates high volumes of unstructured data from interdepartmental cooperation, proactive services, backend system integration, promotional campaigns, and Internet marketing. The enterprise-level NAS system changes the method of storing unstructured data from dispersed storage to centralized storage coupled with enhanced management and simpler maintenance. It adapts to the fast growth in unstructured data storage, and facilitates the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SME data management faces the following problems: Incompatible storage servers used for different applications Complex and costly maintenance on storage servers running different operating systems (OSs), which requires trained IT personnel Time-consuming and error-prone manual data backup and synchronization due to the deployment of servers in both HQ and branch offices Current storage systems suffer from dispersed server distribution, high deployment costs, poor compatibility, complex maintenance, and a lack of central service maintenance. A reliable, cost-effective, and easy-to-maintain storage system is urgently required. 1.2 Live Network Analysis The following figure shows the live network configuration. 1

1 Overview Figure 1-1 Networking diagram Equipment and service configuration Enterprise applications include the email system, financial and human resource database, customer information management system, printing server system, and cloud desktop system. Servers in use include Dell, HP, and other PC servers. The financial system uses the SQL Server database; the printing server employs D-Link DPR-2000; the email system is based on Microsoft Exchange; DB2 and Oracle databases are used as additional databases; and the OSs installed for storage systems include Linux Redhat, Linux SUSE, and Windows. To improve access efficiency, independent storage systems must be established for branch offices; however, data synchronization and backup between HQ and branch offices is complex and error-prone. As an enterprise expands, the data maintenance workload doubles for each additional branch. 1.3 System Requirements Analysis On the live network, different applications within the enterprise depend on servers and storage systems from different manufacturers. Each OS requires trained IT personnel, which drives up maintenance costs. An easily configurable storage system that can be maintained without trained personnel can solve this problem by integrating NAS and the storage area network (SAN). Such a system must be scalable, and incorporate online node expansion and automatic data synchronization mechanisms to meet the needs of new branch offices. 1.4 System Requirements Project analysis reveals the following requirements for the new storage system: 2

1 Overview Integrates various heterogeneous storage systems to implement unified deployment, management, and maintenance. Delivers high-performance file sharing services and keeps pace with rapid service development. Provides highly reliable applications and implements full redundancy on the whole storage system to prevent single point failures by operating all key devices in redundancy mode. Supports distributed deployment and online dynamic node expansion to meet the needs of newly opened branch offices. Implements a cost-effective storage system to meet application and expansion requirements while reducing investment and operating costs. Provides an effective and reliable deduplication function. 3

2 Design Basis and Principles 2 Design Basis and Principles 2.1 N2000 Overview The N2000 NAS system integrates a NAS server and disk arrays and directly connects to the TCP/IP network, which runs the clients on which users store and manage their data. As an integrated solution, the N2000 eliminates the need to install disk arrays individually and is remarkably easy to deploy. The N2000 comes with the latest Windows Storage Server 2012 OS preinstalled, and the corresponding services and roles are configured before delivery. All you have to do is turn it on and use it. The N2000 supports the common Internet file system (CIFS), network file system (NFS), HTTP, and FTP, which enables clients running Linux, UNIX, Windows, and other heterogeneous OSs to use the unified storage system. As The N2000 also supports Internet small computer systems interface (iscsi) and transfers SCSI data blocks over the TCP/IP network instead of SAN, which minimizes investment in the fiber switching network. As the penetration of Ethernet increases, the gap between iscsi and SAN transmission speeds is narrowing. SMEs can also replace SAN devices. 2.2 Solution Design Based on the applications and development requirements of SMEs, the solution design should adhere to the following rules: Ease of use: The OS and the main features, roles, and services are preconfigured, leaving only a few items for the user to configure. Reliability: System disks are separated from data disks, so reinstalling the operating system does not affect existing data. The system disks are configured with RAID 1 properties, and the data disks are configured with RAID 5 properties. Scalability: distributed deployment. New branch offices do not affect services. Compatibility: The storage system provided in the solution supports clients running Windows, Linux, and UNIX. Shared storage: can be provided for multiple application servers (mail and database servers) over the iscsi. Maintainability: The solution incorporates a user friendly information collection tool to help maintenance personnel locate faults. Intuitive and user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI): As clients run Windows, trained IT personnel are not required. 4

3 System Design 3 System Design 3.1 Application Scenario Figure 3-1 N2000-based unified storage Deploying a unified storage system provides sufficient storage capacity for databases and file servers. Services can be categorized; for example, mapped storage spaces are provided for office PCs and desktop cloud terminals. The storage space is managed and controlled based on quotas. A storage space of 10 TB can provide 50 GB storage space for each employee in an enterprise with 200 staff; a storage space of 5 TB is reserved for the public file server to archive and back up data. The database server connects to the shared storage space provided by the N2000 over the iscsi. The reserved storage capacity is about 2 TB. 5

3 System Design The email server connects to the shared storage space provided by the N2000. The reserved storage capacity is about 3 TB, and a 1 GB mailbox is provided for each user. Two N2000-based virtual machines (VMs) can run at the same time. Different services can be deployed on different VMs without affecting each other. Different deduplication policies can be configured for different VMs to fully utilize storage space. Figure 3-2 Networking of distributed deployment based on the N2000 Distributed deployment mode is used for storage servers in the HQ and branch offices based on distributed file system (DFS) technology. Changes to a file on a storage server in HQ or a branch are automatically synchronized to the other server. DFS file synchronization provides folder-level availability and error tolerance. Data on multiple servers in a duplication group is consistent because changes to data in one server are automatically synchronized to the other servers in the same duplication group. The BranchCache function can be enabled on the HQ server to reduce network bandwidth between DFS nodes. The DFS provides a unified virtual directory for different folders on servers placed in different locations, enabling all employees to access different folders from the same directory. When employees from different branches access the same directory, the DFS greatly improves efficiency by redirecting their access requests to local servers in their branch offices. If a local server fails, the DFS redirects employees' requests to the nearest DFS server. The benefits of the integrated storage system are as follows: Different storage media adapt to different service performance scenarios. Implementation operations are greatly reduced because you only need deploy the hosts, connect the network, and map resource spaces in the new storage system. Less host resources are used because data is shared by mapping the shared storage space on the service host instead of using the frontend service host, which consumes host resources and reduces system utilization. 6

3 System Design The client provides mapped storage space to decrease investment in PCs. 3.2 Configuration Description 3.2.1 Capacity Configuration The N2000 can be configured in either of the following modes: 1. Standard mode: The maximum raw capacity is 12 TB, comprising six 2 TB hard disks. The calculation formula is as follows: There are six member disks in a RAID group. The six disks are classified as: 5+1 RAID 5. The available capacity of the RAID group is: 5 x 2 TB x 0.93 = 9.3 TB 2. Advanced mode: The maximum raw capacity is 24 TB, comprising twelve 2 TB hard disks. The calculation formula is as follows: There are 12 member disks in a RAID group. Each group of six disks is classified as: 5+1 RAID 5. The available capacity of the RAID group is: 5 x 2 TB x 0.93 = 9.3 TB The total capacity of all RAID groups is: 9.3 TB x 2 = 18.6 TB Note: 0.93 is the percentage of available capacity after the hard disk is formatted. 7

4 Solution Advantages and Software Features 4 Solution Advantages and Software Features 4.1 Solution Advantages 1. Preconfiguration before delivery User operations are greatly reduced because the OS, services, and roles are already installed on delivery. To provide file sharing services, users simply need to power on the system, select a language, set a password, and classify a volume. 2. Multiple services are integrated in the storage system The file server, email server, database server, Windows client, Linux client, and desktop cloud terminal are integrated into the storage system. 3. Rich value-added functions to reduce investment Besides file sharing and data storage, the N2000 provides DFS and deduplication functions. The DFS function accommodates new branch offices, while the deduplication function helps delete redundant data, reduces storage space, and maximizes return of investment (ROI). 4.2 Software Features 1. Deduplication Deduplication is an operation that detects and deletes duplicated data without affecting data accuracy and integrity. The N2000 divides a file into variable blocks between 32 KB and 128 KB, determines duplicated blocks, and reserves one copy for each block. Duplicated blocks are replaced by copies to enable more data to be stored in a limited space. 8

4 Solution Advantages and Software Features Figure 4-1 Deduplication diagram 9

5 Functions and Features 5 Functions and Features 5.1 Product Description The N2000 is a highly reliable, large-capacity, and easy-to-deploy rack storage server running Windows Storage Server 2012. It enables SMEs to rapidly deploy shared storage centers, and provides unified file sharing applications for local departments and remote branch offices. The N2000 provides a storage capacity of 24 TB, meeting increases in file quantities and the demands of shared projects. At just 2 U high, the N2000 saves space for other systems and components. Windows Storage Server 2012 imposes no limits on the number of uses who access shared folders, so purchased license files are not required for each user added to the N2000. The N2000 provides a user friendly data sharing function to satisfy increasing requirements for storage capacity and applications. The N2000 also enables remote management on storage servers. After enabling the CIFS- and NFS-compliant sharing function, different OSs and users in different locations can easily access shared files and applications on the storage server. As industry standard-compliant disks are classified to one or multiple storage spaces to set up virtual disks, individual management on each physical disk is unnecessary, which reduces management costs and the operations required. The flexible and highly available storage system can be easily configured and managed without trained personnel. The sharing method and scope can be controlled by setting the user and user group rights, directory access, and file shielding rules to meet the needs of various applications. Duplicated files are detected and only one copy is saved, which reduces storage capacity, improves space utilization, and reduces the bandwidth occupied by data backup transmission. Hyper-V technology enables multiple OSs to be run on one physical server and sets and manages VMs and resources on the server, which reduces the costs of setting up an office network. 10

5 Functions and Features 5.2 Product Features Reliable Hardware Architecture Supports redundant power supply units (PSUs) and fans. Supports hot-swappable PSUs and hard disk modules. Supports AC and DC. Supports two independent hot-swappable, rear OS hard disk slots that do not occupy hard disk storage space. The OS hard disks support RAID, improving system reliability. Supports 12 hard disk slots at the front. RAID 5 is configured before delivery, improving service data reliability. Supports automatic reconstruction after a failed disk is replaced. If reconstruction is interrupted due to device restart, after the device is restarted, reconstruction resumes till ends. Comprehensive Service Functions Simple Maintenance Supports flexible storage space use. Disks that comply with standards can be allocated flexibly based on service planning, and the storage capacity quota for users or directories can be flexibly set. Supports NFS and CIFS file sharing, providing shared services for hosts running Windows and UNIX. Supports FTP and HTTP file sharing. Users can access shared data through the FTP client and browser. Supports iscsi destination servers, and provides block storage to other servers and applications on the network over the iscsi. Supports deduplication by detecting duplicated data fragments and reserving only one copy, which improves disk utilization. Supports the BranchCache function, which allows a computer in a branch to cache the files downloaded from the HQ server that has enabled this function, and provides the files to other computers in the branch. This lowers network bandwidth and improves file access efficiency. Supports the DFS function of synchronizing data on multiple servers. The DFS function copies data over the Remote Differential Compression (RDC) protocol and updates only copied files with the changes, reducing transmission bandwidth and improving copying efficiency. Supports the Hyper-V function to set up and manage VMs using the in-built virtualization technology in Windows Storage Server 2012. Hyper-V technology virtualizes hardware to enable multiple OSs to run on one physical server and set up and manage VMs and resources. Each VM can have its own OS, which decreases the costs of setting up PC networks. Supports IPMI 2.0, serial over LAN (SOL) and the out-of-band management channel. GUIs are provided to manage hardware devices over the IPMI. Supports keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) over LAN and virtual media over LAN. Supports GUI and command-line interface (CLI). GUI and CLI provide different basic operations and management for users with different skills. 11

5 Functions and Features Superior Energy Efficiency Flexible Scalability Supports Windows PowerShell for trained users to manage servers by using command lines. Preinstalls Windows Storage Server 2012, which allows users to rapidly deploy applications after they are installed, and power on the hardware and complete basic service configurations. Provides an automatic information collection tool to enable administrators to collect server information with one click. Supports disk hibernation and wakeup to reduce unnecessary power consumption. Controls disk startup current to reduce overall power consumption. Uses efficient PSUs to reduce unnecessary power consumption. Intelligently adjusts fan speeds to reduce power consumption. Supports scalability in DFS mode: Servers can be expanded online based on the existing server, and DFS functions can be deployed to ensure effective data storage. 5.3 Specifications Item Description OS Windows Storage Server 2012 Standard Edition Access protocols CIFS, NFS, iscsi, FTP, and HTTP Other features BranchCache, Deduplication, DFS, and Virtualization (Hyper-V) CPU One Intel Xeon E5-2403 quad-core 64-bit CPU DIMM 2 x 4 GB DDR3 DIMMs Storage 12 + 2 disk slots Twelve 3.5-inch service disks and two 2.5-inch system disks at the rear System disks: 2 x 2.5-inch 300 GB 10,000 RPM SAS disks Service disks: twelve 2 TB and 7200 rpm SATA disks Supports RAID0, 1, 10, 5, 6, 50, and 60, and comes with RAID 1 and 5 pre-configured for hard disks Supports battery backup unit (BBU) for power-off protection. Service port Four gigabit Ethernet (GE) service ports Expansion slot One PCIe x8 expansion slot and one PCIe x4 expansion slot 12

5 Functions and Features Item Description I/O port One 100 Mbit/s IPMI 2.0 management network port Management ISM One VGA port One RS-232 serial port Four USB 2.0 ports IPMI 2.0 KVM over LAN and Virtual Media over LAN Energy efficiency Supports S3 hibernation and automatic wakeup within 30 seconds. Provides soft startup of disks and controls the disk startup current to reduce overall power consumption. Supports disk hibernation and wakeup to reduce unnecessary power consumption. Intelligently adjusts fan rotation speeds, and monitors ambient temperature and real-time server temperatures. 13

6 Acronyms and Abbreviations 6 Acronyms and Abbreviations Acronym/ Abbreviation AD CIFS Full Name Active Directory Common Internet File System g, G Gigabyte iscsi internet small computer system interface k, K Kilobyte m, M Megabyte NAS NFS SAN SAS SATA Network Attached Storage Network File System Storage Area Network Serial Attach SCSI Serial Attach ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) t, T Terabyte 14