Integrative Programming and Technologies 1

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Intelligent Storage Systems

Module 04 Intelligent Storage Systems

Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe the key components of an intelligent storage system.
2. Describe cache management and protection techniques.
3. Describe two storage provisioning methods.
4. Describe two types of intelligent storage systems.

Background
These storage systems have an operating system that intelligently and optimally handles the
management, provisioning, and utilization of storage resources. The storage systems are configured
with a large amount of memory called cache and multiple I/O paths and use sophisticated
algorithms to meet the requirements of performance-sensitive applications. An intelligent storage
system has two key components, controller and storage.

A controller is a computer system that runs a purpose-built operating system that is

responsible for performing several key functions for the storage system. Examples of such functions
are serving I/Os from the application servers, storage management, RAID protection, local and
remote replication, provisioning storage, automated tiering, data compression, data encryption, and
intelligent cache management.

An intelligent storage system typically has more than one controller for redundancy. Each
controller consists of one or more processors and a certain amount of cache memory to process a
large number of I/O requests. These controllers are connected to the servers either directly or via a
storage network. The controllers receive I/O requests from the servers that are read or written
from/to the storage by the controller.

Based on the type of data access, a storage system can be classified as block-based storage
system, file-based storage system, object-based storage system, and unified storage system. A
unified storage system provides block-based, file-based, and object-based data access in a single
system. These are described in the next posts.

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What is an Intelligent Storage System (ISS)

It is a feature-rich RAID array that provides highly optimized
I/O processing capabilities.
Provides large amount of cache and multiple I/O paths that enhances the performance.
• Has an operating environment that provides
 Intelligent cache management
 Array resource management
 Connectivity to heterogeneous hosts
• Supports flash drive, virtual provisioning, and automated storage tierring.

Key Components of an ISS

Key Components of ISS: Front End

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Read Operation with Cache

Write Operation with Cache

Protects data in the cache against power or cache failures:
Cache mirroring
 Provides protection to data against cache failure.
 Each write to the cache is held in two different memory locations on two independent memory
cards.
Cache Vaulting
 Provides protection to data against power failure.
 In the event of power failure, uncommitted data in dumped to a dedicated set of drives called
vault drives.

Server Flash-Caching Technology

• Uses intelligent caching software and PCIe flash card on host.
• Dramatically improves application performance.
• Intelligently determines data that would benefit by sitting in server on PCIe flash
• Uses minimal CPU and memory resources

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Intelligent Storage Systems

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
1. Siewart, Sam & John Pratt. (2016). Real time embedded components and systems with
Linux and Rtos, O'Reilly Media

2. Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital

Information in Classic, Virtualized, and Cloud Environments, Second Edition, EMC
Education Services, 2012

Online Supplementary Reading Materials

1. Intelligent Storage Systems:
http://www.tsmtutorials.com/2016/06/intelligent-storage-systems.html
2. https://www.slideshare.net/vijipriyacse/ipt-chapter-5
Online Instructional Videos
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOk9-ZwW6-o

Course Module