Safe and Secure

Data Migration
Its Not That Tough

David Clark
Director of Product Marketing
QLogic, Storage Solutions Group

Agenda

Drivers for Data Migration

Why Data Migration is complex
Seven Gremlins to a Safe DM
Methods / Tools used for Data Migration
A Better Data Migration tool

Data Migration

Its Not That Tough

Data Migration
Data Migration is one of those tasks that never
seems to be done. The data center ebbs and
flows through periods of storage and server
expansion & consolidation.
The need to
migrate data never goes away, it just takes a
break.

Leading Drivers
End of Life/lease on storage systems
Technology transitions
Speed changes on FC 2Gb 4Gb 8 Gb
iSCSI, FCoE

Operating Systems and Application Migration

M&A activities
Regulatory Compliance
VMware / Virtualization driven server consolidation
Storage Consolidation
Tiered Storage Strategies
Information Life Cycle Management

Why Data Migration is complex

Data Migration cuts across:
1. Multiple OS and applications
2. Multiple SAN islands & Storage protocols
3. Multi-Vendor Storage
O/S A

O/S B

O/S C

FC SAN

FC
SAN

O/S D

Servers

iSCSI
SAN

Vendor A
FC Storage

Vendor B

iSCSI Storage

IT Organizations within Data Centers

Application team
Manages applications

Network team

Storage
Applications
Network

Manages Networks

Storage team
Manages storage

Data Migration involves interactions

amongst many IT teams

Different Types of Data Migration

ONLINE / OFFLINE
Depends on how much down time application can tolerate

Local
Within Data Center

Remote
Migration of Data Centers

Across Storage Protocols

FC, iSCSI, FCoE

Many-to-one
Consolidation of volume grown over multiple LUNs to a
single large volume

Customer Concerns re: DM

Extend Downtime

58%

Compatibility Issues

48%

Data Corruption

37%

Applications Performance

36%

Lost Data

32%

No Problems

25%

Other

Data Source - ESG Survey

6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Gremlins of Data Migration

1. Downtime
2. Human error
3. Data corruption
4. Infrastructure incompatibilities
5. Departmental conflict

6. Costs and resources

7. Poor planning (too many details)

Data Migration Methods

Manual Methods
Software based
Network based appliance
Array based
New paradigm

Manual Methods
Server

VTL

Backup & Restore

SAN

Simple to use
Protects Meta Data
Requires Backup device
Source Array
Extended down time
Expensive
Requires scheduling with backup windows

Target Array

Manual copies

If small amount of file-based data set, most inexpensive method

For repetitive work, develop scripts
Tedious & prone to human error
Must ensure the copy of application metadata
Extended down time
Server
FC
SAN

Source Array

Target Array

Software only Migration

tools

Typically installed on the

server
Manages Migrations at
Volume level
Supports Migration
From DAS to SAN
SAN to SAN

Independent of Storage and

SAN
O/S A

O/S B

OS Specific
Need a different tool or
version of SW per OS type
Compatibility with many
different versions of OS and
software is required
Server Reboot Required after
install

O/S C

Servers
FC
SAN

Source Array

Migration is OS
vendor
dependent

Target Array

Software Migration Steps

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Schedule application down time

Storage Manager kills Application Manager (or whatever
is needed to load DM agents/apps)
Ensure that Agent/App supports proper OS release(s)
Create volume-to-LUN map
Take application offline
Run migration for selected volumes/LUNs
Rezone new storage to application
Reboot server/application

Network Based DM Tools

Deployed in the Network

Independent of Operating
System & Storage Array
Block based migration tool
ONLine / OFFline Migration

O/S A

O/S B

Todays DM tools work only in a

vendor specific Network
May require a specific Fabric
infrastructure already installed
Cumbersome to setup
Downtime during install
Expensive
May require new multi-path SW
O/S C

Servers
FC
SAN

Source Array

Fabric Vendor
Dependent

Target Array

Network DM Steps
1.
2.

Determine fabric-based or direct-attach

Network Manager kills Storage Manager
a)
b)

Attach and zone new device

Disconnect storage and rezone

O/S A

O/S B

O/S C

Servers
FC SAN

Source Array

Fabric Vendor
Dependent

Target Array

Network DM Steps
3. Ensure fabric compatibility
4. Determine which Apps/LUNs to be migrated
5. Schedule downtime for some Apps (SANattached) or all Apps (direct-attached)
6. Reboot server/Apps to new storage
O/S A

O/S B

O/S C

Servers
FC SAN

Source Array

Fabric Vendor
Dependent

Target Array

Storage Array based

Deployment
Incompatible across
Software License on an array
heterogeneous storage
New class of array
SW often not compatible
within different family of
arrays even from same
Independent of Operating
System and Fabric vendors
vendor
Software License tied to a
Cost effective if used in very
specific array, allows
narrow use case
migration in and out of that
specific array
New class of storage requires
a fork lift upgrade

Array-based Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Check array family compatibility

Acquire and load license for EACH array
Determine Volume-to-LUN map
Take application(s) offline
Perform block-level transfers
Rezone and reboot
O/S A

O/S B

O/S C

Servers
FC SAN

Source Array

Target Array

It cant be that tough?

A Better Data Migration Solution

Need for DM tools

Block based offline migration Service
Must be Independent of:
OS, Fabric, Storage Vendors
Minimize downtime
Fast install and configuration
Simple to use
Associate Server volumes to physical
LUNs
Use only allocated array bandwidth

Low cost:
Small Capital investment
Pay as you go model
Simple to transport

OFFLINE

Server C w/ LUN 3

OFFLINE

FC
SAN

Server B w/ LUN 2

Data Mover

OFFLINE
Server A w/ LUN 1

DATA
PATH

Old Storage
LUN 3
LUN 2
LUN 1

Migrated LUNs

New Storage
LUN 3
LUN 2
LUN 1

DM Tool requirement for Enterprise

Independent of :

Operating System
SAN Vendor
Storage protocols (FC, iSCSI, FCoE)
Storage Array

Need to support :
Online / Offline
Local / Remote

Many to One
Volume consolidation from many small LUNs to a single LUN

DM Tool requirement for Enterprise

Least intrusive

Should not require any changes to Host Software or any other infrastructure
already in place
Should be able to insert ONLINE

Management

Manage Remotely
Simple to install, configure and deploy
Should provide detailed intelligent migration reports that are simple to
understand
Flexible scheduling of migration Jobs
Should facilitate communication amongst multiple groups with Data Center
Association of Application Volume to Physical Luns
Accountability

DM Tool requirement for Enterprise

Provide Protection against Human errors
Accidently migrating Destination LUN to Source LUN
Selection of one of the other Data LUN as Destination LUN

Security
Provide the access to Job configuration only for authorized
users
Alerts on unauthorized attempt

Address cost
Low capital cost
Should not require fork lift upgrades
Pay as you go model

Enterprise Online DM
1. Install appliance and new storage (nondisruptive)
2. Create Volume/LUN map
3. Migrate and verify
4. Rezone and reboot
Server C w/ LUN 3

FC
SAN

Server B w/ LUN 2

Server A w/ LUN 1

Data Mover

DATA
PATH

Old Storage
LUN 3
LUN 2
LUN 1

Migrated LUNs

New Storage
LUN 3
LUN 2
LUN 1

Online DM Scenario
Standard zoning before DM
Dual SAN, split path

SAN A

Old Storage

SAN B

New Storage

Online DM Scenario
Rezone dual-path with DM appliance as target for server
Rezone dual-path with DM appliance as initiator for storage
Maintain one server path while configuring the other path

SAN A

Old Storage

SAN B

New Storage

Online DM Scenario
Simplified topology for illustration

SAN

Old Storage

New Storage

Source LUN

Sector 0

Destination LUN

Sector N

Sector 0

Sector N

Online DM Scenario
Simplified topology for illustration

Sync Log
SRC sector 3
SAN

New
write
Old Storage

New Storage

Source LUN

Sector 0

Destination LUN

Sector N

Sector 0

Sector N

Online DM Scenario
Simplified topology for illustration

Sync Log
SRC sector 3
SAN

Old Storage

New Storage

Source LUN

Sector 0

Destination LUN

Sector N

Sector 0

Sector N

Summary
Data Migration should be:
1. Managed by one group
2. Independent of OS, Fabric and Storage
environments
3. Minimally intrusive
4. Highly automated less prone to error
5. Cost-effective

Safe and Secure Data Migration is now possible,

its not that tough!

Questions?
THANK YOU