Dell Storage PS Series Architecture: Hybrid Array Load Balancer The Dell PS Series architecture is a virtualized, self-tuning system that uses intelligent load balancers to maintain system performance at optimum levels. This technical report describes the hybrid array load balancer and how it works.
Revisions Date Description March 2013 Initial release February 2017 Update to industry changes The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.
Table of contents Revisions.............................................................................................................................................................................2 Executive summary.............................................................................................................................................................4 1 PS Series Storage .................................................................................................................
Executive summary In many organizations, significant effort is devoted to tuning resources: modifying network settings on switches, changing various parameters on servers, re-configuring QoS on the WAN, and continually altering the layout of data on the SAN. Estimates indicate that 80% of most IT budgets are dedicated to operations and maintenance, leaving only 20% for technical innovation to enhance the business.
1 PS Series Storage Dell PS Series storage is an award winning, virtualized, scale-out SAN architecture that provides simplified management, ease of use, a comprehensive set of data protection and recovery tools and great ROI for both large and small organizations. PS Series arrays are designed and built to be highly available and work together to provide virtualized SAN resources called a group.
2 PS Series hybrid array and load balance One line of PS Series arrays is aimed at increasing performance over HDD-only arrays while balancing cost associated with SSD-only arrays. These hybrid models are available in several configurations, combined SSD devices with HDDs creating a tiered platform within a single array. The current hybrid arrays available are: PS6210XS PS6610ES PS4120XS PS-M4110XS A hybrid array supports only the RAID 6 - accelerated RAID type.
HALB Decision Matrix Heat Index If the page is on an SSD If the page is on an HDD Hot Do nothing, page is optimized Attempt to move to SSD Warm Do nothing, page is optimized Move to an SSD if there are cold pages on the SSD to move and if no hot pages have been identified to be optimized.
SSD tier is able to hold, the APLB is able to migrate active data from the HDD tier to another member such as a second hybrid or standard array that may have more resources available to better service the I/O requests. Load Balancing of arrays within pools is discussed more extensively in Dell Storage PS Series Architecture: Load Balancers.
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