Storage Resource Tuning Technologies and

Applications
 Foreword

This course describes storage resource tuning technologies, including SmartThin,

SmartTier, SmartQoS, SmartDedupe, SmartCompression, and SmartMigration.

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 Objectives

On completion of this course, you will be able to understand the service features,
implementation principles, and application scenarios of the following features:
 SmartThin
 SmartTier
 SmartQoS
 SmartDedupe
 SmartCompression
 SmartMigration

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 Contents

1. SmartThin

2. SmartTier

3. SmartQoS

4. SmartDedupe

5. SmartCompression

6. SmartMigration

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 Overview
⚫ The traditional deployment of a storage system has the following problems:
 Adverse impact or even interruption on services when expanding the storage space
 Uneven storage space utilization
 Low storage efficiency

⚫ SmartThin can allocate the storage space on demand to improve storage resource
utilization and fully meet service requirements.

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• If the actual amount of data is larger than expected, LUN space can be adjusted dynamically.
As public space, free space can be allocated to any LUN that needs space. In this way,
storage space utilization and effectiveness are improved. In addition, LUN space can be
adjusted online without affecting services during capacity expansion.

• Improvements are as follows using SmartThin:

▫ Improvement 1: Real space is not allocated to LUNs when LUNs are created, but is
allocated on demand when LUNs are being used.

▫ Improvement 2: LUN space can be adjusted dynamically.

 Working Principle of SmartThin
Logical virtual Actual physical
Servers
space space

DB
Data
RAID
server

Disk
DB
Data
RAID
server

Space Disk
DB
Data
server RAID

Disk
DB
Data
server RAID

Visible storage space Storage Disk Storage

resource pool resources array

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• The working principle of SmartThin is to virtualize storage resources.

• SmartThin manages storage devices on demand.

• SmartThin does not allocate all space in advance, but presents users a virtual storage space
larger than the physical storage space. In this way, users see a larger storage space than the
actual storage space. SmartThin allocates the space based on users’ demands. If the storage
space is insufficient, users can add back-end storage units to expand the system capacity.
The whole expansion process is transparent to users without system shutdown.

• SmartThin creates thin LUNs based on a RAID 2.0+ virtual storage resource pool, that is,
thin LUNs coexist with thick LUNs in the same storage resource pool. A thin LUN is a logic
unit created in a storage pool, which can be mapped to and then accessed by a host. The
capacity of a thin LUN is not an actual physical space but a virtual value. Only when the thin
LUN starts to process an I/O request, physical space can be applied from the storage
resource pool based on the capacity-on-write policy.

• SmartThin allows the capacity detected by a host to be larger than the actual capacity of a
thin LUN. The capacity detected by a host is the capacity that a user creates for a thin LUN,
namely the volume capacity (virtual space) displayed on a host after a thin LUN is created
and mapped to the host. The actual capacity of a thin LUN refers to the physical space
actually occupied by the thin LUN.

• In addition, SmartThin allows users to cerate a thin LUN whose capacity is larger than the
maximum available space of a storage pool.
 SmartThin Read Process
1. A thin LUN receives a read request 2. Queries the mapping table between the thin
from a host. LUN and the storage pool.
3. Confirms that the space is allocated by the storage pool and returns the data read from
the corresponding area in the storage pool to the host.

Data

2 1 D 3
1 2 D D D
3 D
1 1 3 5 2
0000 4
2 4 6 5 D
3
Thin LUN 6 Storage pool
Mapping table
1. The thin LUN receives a read request from the host.
2. Queries the mapping table between the thin LUN and the storage pool.
3. Confirms that the space is not allocated by the pool and returns all zeros to the host.

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• The SmartThin read process is as follows:

▫ After receiving a read request from a host, a thin LUN queries the mapping table
between the thin LUN and the storage pool to check whether an actual storage space
has been allocated to the thin LUN by the storage pool.

▫ If the storage pool allocates an actual storage space to the thin LUN, SmartThin uses
direct-on-time to read data from the actual storage space and returns the data to the
host.

▫ If the storage pool does not allocate an actual storage space to the thin LUN, no data
is written, SmartThin returns all zeros to the host.

• Direct-on-time

▫ When capacity-on-write is used, the relationship between the actual storage area
and logical storage area of data is not calculated using a fixed formula but
determined by random mappings based on the capacity-on-write principle. Therefore,
when a thin LUN is read or written, the relationship between the actual storage area
and logical storage area must be redirected based on a mapping table. A mapping
table is used to record the mappings between an actual storage area and a logical
storage area. A mapping table is dynamically updated during writes and is queried
during reads. Therefore, direct-on-time is classified into read direct-on-time and
write direct-on-time.
 SmartThin Write Process
2. Queries the mapping table between the thin
1. A thin LUN receives a write request
LUN and the storage pool.
from a host.
3. Confirms that the space is allocated by the pool and performs the write process on the corresponding area
in the storage pool. If the write request asks for releasing space, the space is released.

Data
Data

2 1 D 3
1 2 D D
3 3
1 1 3 5 2
4
2 4 6 5
1. A thin LUN receives a write request
from the host. Storage pool
Thin LUN 6
2. Queries the mapping table between the thin
LUN and the storage pool. Mapping table
3. If the space is not allocated by the pool, the storage system allocates the space first. And then performs write process on the corresponding
area in the storage pool. If the write request asks for releasing space, a message is returned to the host.

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• The SmartThin write process is as follows:

▫ Upon receiving a write request from a host, a thin LUN queries the mapping table
between the thin LUN and the storage pool to check whether an actual storage space
has been allocated to the thin LUN by the storage pool.

▫ If the storage pool has allocated an actual storage space to the thin LUN, data is
written to the corresponding area in the storage pool (based on direct-on-time). If
the write request asks for releasing space, the system releases the space and returns
a response to the host indicating a successful data write.

▫ If the storage pool does not allocate an actual storage space to the thin LUN,
SmartThin uses capacity-on-write to allocate an actual storage space from the pool,
uses direct-on-time to build a relationship between the actual storage space and
logical storage space, and writes data to the actual storage space. If the write request
asks for releasing space, a write success acknowledgement is directly returned to the
host.

• Capacity-on-write

▫ Upon receiving a write request from a host, a thin LUN uses direct-on-time to check
whether a physical storage area is allocated to a logical storage area provided for the
request. If a physical storage area is not allocated, a space allocation task is triggered,
and the grain size (minimum granularity) is 64 KB. Then data is written to the newly
allocated physical storage area.
Application Scenarios
⚫ SmartThin can help core system services that require high service continuity, such as bank
transaction systems, expand system capacity online without interrupting ongoing services.
⚫ SmartThin can assist with on-demand physical space allocation for services where the growth of
application system data is hard to be accurately evaluated, such as email services and web disk
services, preventing a space waste.
⚫ SmartThin can assist with physical space contention for mixed services that have diverse storage
requirements, such as carriers' services, to achieve optimized space configuration.

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Configuration Process

Start Modify properties of a thin

LUN.
Check the SmartThin license.
Expand a thin LUN online.

Import a SmartThin license. Delete a thin LUN.

Create a disk domain. Delete a storage pool.

Create a storage pool. Create a disk domain.

Create a thin LUN. End

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 Contents

1. SmartThin

2. SmartTier

3. SmartQoS

4. SmartDedupe

5. SmartCompression

6. SmartMigration

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 Overview
⚫ The random distribution of hot and cold data fails to fully utilize disk characteristics of different media.
SmartTier automatically matches different active data with storage media of different characteristics. For
example, cold data is stored on NL-SAS disks, and hot data is stored on SSDs. In this way, data flows vertically,
improving storage system performance and reducing costs.

High-performance tier
SSDs

Performance tier
SAS disks
Most active data

Capacity tier Hot data

NL-SAS disks
Cold data

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• With the development of disk technologies, storage systems support more types and a
growing number of storage media. Each type of storage media offers its unique advantages
and disadvantages in performance and cost, and it is difficult for users to strike a balance
between storage costs and storage performance.

• Data features

▫ The most active data: stored in or migrated to a high-performance tier with

significantly improved read performance.

▫ Hot data: stored in or migrated to a performance tier.

▫ Cold data: stored in or migrated to a capacity tier without any performance reduction
after migration.
 Dividing Storage Tiers
⚫ In the same storage pool, a storage tier is a collection of storage media with the same performance. Each
storage tier respectively uses the same type of disks and RAID policy.

Performance tier: SAS disks

High-performance tier: SSDs
✓ High bandwidth under a large number of service
✓ High IOPS; Short task response time;
High cost of storage capacity per unit
Storage loads; Moderate task response time; Write speed
tiers slower than read speed without cached data
✓ Applicable to applications with
✓ Applicable to applications with moderate access
intensive random access requests
requests

Capacity tier: NL-SAS disks

✓ Low IOPS; Long task response time. High
cost for storage request processing per unit
✓ Applicable to applications with light access
requests

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• A storage pool is a logical combination of one or more storage tiers, supporting a maximum
of three storage tiers. The types of disks in a storage pool determine the allowed number of
storage tiers. A storage pool housing one type of disks can only create a single storage tier
and therefore does not support SmartTier for intelligent data storage management.
 Three Phases for Implementing SmartTier
⚫ The storage system undergoes three phases of I/O monitoring, data placement analysis,
and data relocation to implement SmartTier.

The I/O monitoring module collects statistics on the activity

I/O monitoring
levels of all data blocks.

Data placement analysis The data placement analysis module ranks the activity levels
of all data blocks.

Data migration The data migration module migrates data based on the
ranking result and data migration policies.

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• If a storage pool contains more than one type of disks, SmartTier can be used to fully utilize
the storage resources. During data migration, a storage pool identifies data activity levels
by data blocks and migrates complete data blocks to another storage tier.

• I/O monitoring and data placement are automatically performed by the storage system,
and data migration is initiated manually or by a user-defined or scheduling policy.
SmartTier Key Technologies

Migration Monitoring
Initial capacity Data
policy statistics
allocation migration
formulation analysis

• Automatic allocation • Automatic • I/O monitoring • Data migration

• Preferential migration and statistics plan
allocation to the • Migration to the collection • Data migration
high-performance higher- • Determining the rate
tier performance tier data to be • Data migration
• Preferential • Migration to the migrated granularity
allocation to the lower-
performance tier performance tier
• Preferential • No migration
allocation to the
capacity tier

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 Application Scenarios

⚫ SmartTier is used for various service

environments. 25000

Disk procurement cost (USD)

⚫ The following uses the Oracle database service
20000
as an example:
15000
 After using SmartTier, enterprise A reduces 25%
cost for disk procurement. 10000

 The more cold data is stored, the more disk

5000
procurement costs are saved.
0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Idle data percentage (%)

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• Since cold data is stored on NL-SAS disks, the storage space of the high-performance SSDs is
freed up for hot data. SSDs provide hot data with quick response and high IOPS. In this way,
the overall storage system performance is aggressively improved.
 Configuration Process
Storage system-level configuration includes the configuration
Start
of data migration speed, which is applied to all storage pools in
a storage system.
Check the license. Storage pool-level configurations include configurations of
data migration granularity, RAID policy, data migration plan,
enabling I/O monitoring, and forecast analysis. The mentioned
Configure SmartTier parameters based on
the storage system level. configurations are applied to a single storage pool.

Configure SmartTier parameters base on LUN-level configurations include the configuration of

the storage pool level. the initial capacity allocation policy, and SmartTier
policy, which are applied to a single LUN.
Configure SmartTier parameters based on
the LUN level.

End

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• The configuration process of SmartTier in the storage system includes checking the license,
configuring SmartTier parameters based on the storage system level, configuring SmartTier
parameters base on the storage pool level, and configuring SmartTier parameters based on
the LUN level.
 Contents

1. SmartThin

2. SmartTier

3. SmartQoS

4. SmartDedupe

5. SmartCompression

6. SmartMigration

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 Overview

⚫ SmartQoS traffic control management

SmartQoS dynamically allocates storage system resources to meet certain
performance goals of some applications.
⚫ The storage system uses LUN-, file system-, or snapshot-based I/O priority
scheduling and I/O traffic management to ensure the proper running of critical
services.

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• SmartQoS is an essential value-added feature for a storage system, especially in certain

applications that demand high service-level requirements.

• When multiple applications are deployed on the same storage device, users can obtain
maximized benefits through the proper configuration of SmartQoS.

▫ Performance control reduces adverse impacts of applications on each other to

ensure the performance of critical services.

▫ SmartQoS limits the resources allocated to non-critical applications to ensure high

performance for critical applications.
 I/O Priority Scheduling
High Middle Low High Middle Low

App 1 App 2 App 3 App 1 App 2 App 3

FIFO 7
8 4
7 1
9 8
6
5 6
4 2
3 9
2 5
1 3

Traditional storage I/O priority scheduling

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• The I/O priority scheduling technology of SmartQoS is implemented based on LUN priorities.

• Each LUN or file system has a priority property, which is configured by a user and saved in a
database. When a host sends an I/O request to a storage array, the storage array gives a
priority to the I/O request based on the priority of the LUN or the file system that will
process the I/O request. Then the I/O carries the priority throughout this processing
procedure.

• When a LUN or a file system is created, its I/O priority needs to be specified. If not, the LUN
or the file system is granted the low priority by default.

• After a LUN or a file system is created, its I/O priority can be manually changed.
I/O Traffic Control
Application server 1 Application server 2

I/O I/O
1 request 1 request

Number of allocated tokens

(I/O queue processing mechanism of Storage
applications in the system) system
2 Processes
dequeued I/O
Application I/O queue 1 requests.
...... 3

Application I/O queue n

Disk

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• The performance goal of I/O traffic control is achieved based on token distribution and
control. When a user sets a performance upper limit for a traffic control group, the upper
limit is converted into the number of corresponding tokens. In a storage system, If the IOPS
is limited, an I/O corresponds to a token. If the bandwidth is limited, a token is allocated to
a sector.

• Each traffic control queue has a token bucket. SmartQoS puts a certain number of tokens
into the token bucket of each traffic control queue periodically. The number of tokens is
determined by the performance upper limit set for the traffic control group. For example,
if the performance upper limit is set to IOPS = 10,000, the token distribution algorithm sets
the maximum number of tokens in the token bucket to 10,000 for the traffic control group.

• When processing a traffic control queue, the queue checks whether the token bucket has
robust tokens. If yes, one I/O is processed, and its corresponding token is consumed. If no,
SmartQoS does not process I/Os in this queue until there are tokens in the token bucket.
 Application Scenario
User Type Service Quality
Requirements
Subscriber A (gold subscriber) High

Subscriber B (silver subscriber) Low The limited bandwidth is less

Subscriber A
than or equal to 100 MB/s,
gold subscriber
which ensures robust resources.
• SmartQoS traffic control policy A: limits the service bandwidth of
subscriber A (for example, ≤ 100 MB/s) to ensure the service
performance of subscriber A without affecting the service The limited bandwidth is less Subscriber B
performance of the whole storage system. than or equal to 30 MB/s. silver subscriber
• SmartQoS traffic control policy B: limits the service bandwidth of
subscriber B (for example, ≤ 30 MB/s). The bandwidth of subscriber
B is less than that of subscribe A to reserve robust system resources
for other users.

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• SmartQoS allows users to create different SmartQoS policies. In this way, the service
running and quality of high-level users are preferentially ensured when resources are
insufficient.

• For cost reduction, some users will not build their dedicated storage systems independently.
They prefer to run their storage applications on the storage platforms offered by storage
resource providers. This lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO) and ensures the
application continuity. On such shared storage platforms, applications of different types
and features content for storage resources, so the high-priority users may fail to obtain
their desired storage resources.
Configuration Process

Start

Check the SmartQoS license.

Monitor service performance.

Configure SmartQoS. Configure the I/O priority.

Create a SmartQoS policy.

End
Main steps
Sub-steps

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 Contents

1. SmartThin

2. SmartTier

3. SmartQoS

4. SmartDedupe

5. SmartCompression

6. SmartMigration

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Overview
⚫ SmartDedupe eliminates redundant data from a storage system and reduces the physical
storage capacity for storing data to meet the increasing needs for storage capacity.
⚫ Dorado V6 storage systems support online deduplication and post-process similarity
deduplication.
 Online deduplication: Data is deduplicated before being written to disks.
 Post-processing similarity deduplication: Data is written to disks in advance and then read and
deduplicated when the system is idle.

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 Working Principle of Online Deduplication
Data to be deduplicated

Block 1 Block 2 Block 3

Fingerprint (FP) table

FP Data Address References

FP0 FP1 FP2
FP0=FPx Data address 0 1

FP1=FPy Data addition 1->2

FP2 Data address 2 1

FPx Data address 1

New block Old block New
(same FP)
(same FP) block
(byte-by-byte comparison)

Writes data. +1 Writes data.

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• 1. A storage divides data into blocks.

• 2. The storage system uses the weak hash algorithm to calculate the fingerprint information
about a data block that is newly written into the storage system.

• 3. The storage system checks whether the fingerprint information about the newly data
block is consistent with the fingerprint information in the fingerprint library.

▫ If yes, the byte-by-byte comparison is performed by the storage system.

▪ Same=>Old block

▪ Different=>New block
▫ If no, the newly written data is a new block.

• 4. For old block: The storage system maps its fingerprint information and storage location
mapping to the existing data block in the fingerprint library.

• 5. For new block: The storage system writes new data into the disk and records its
fingerprint information in the fingerprint library and mapping in the storage location.
 Working Principle of Post-processing Similarity Deduplication

Data to be deduplicated

Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Similarity deduplication opportunity table

<LBA> <FP> <Similarity

SFP0 SFP1 SFP2 fingerprint (SFP)>
FP0 FP1 FP2
LBA0 FP0 SFP0
Storage LBA1 FP1 SFP1
LBA2 FP2 table
Fingerprint SFP2

Same block <FP> Data Address References

New block
Similar block
(same FP)
(same SFP)
(byte-by-byte comparison) FP0 Data address 0 2,1

Differentially
Writes data. +1
compresses.

Saved after differential compression

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• 1. A storage system divides newly written data into blocks. The default data block size is 8
KB.

• 2. The storage system uses the similar fingerprint algorithm to calculate the similar
fingerprint information about a newly written data block.

• 3. The storage system writes a data block to the disk, and writes its fingerprint and location
information to the opportunity table.

• 4. The storage system periodically checks whether there is similar fingerprint information in
the opportunity table.

▫ If yes, goes to 2.

▫ If no, continues periodical check.

• 5. The storage system checks whether similar blocks are the same through the result of the
byte-by-byte comparison.

▫ If they are same, the storage system deletes this data block, and maps its fingerprint
information and storage location to the existing data block.

▫ If they are similar, the storage system performs differential compression on data
blocks, records its fingerprint information to the fingerprint library, updates the
fingerprint information to the metadata of data blocks and recycles the spaces of
these data blocks.
Application Scenarios of SmartDedupe
⚫ Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a common application scenario of deduplication.
⚫ In VDI applications, users create multiple virtual images on a storage device. These images
have a large amount of duplicate data. As the amount of duplicate data increases, the
storage system space fails to meet service running requirements. SmartDedupe can delete
duplicate data between images to release storage resources and store more service data.

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Configuration Process

Start

1. Checking the availability

of SmartDedupe Check the license.

2. Enabling SmartDedupe Enable SmartDedupe.

for LUNs

End

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 Contents

1. SmartThin

2. SmartTier

3. SmartQoS

4. SmartDedupe

5. SmartCompression

6. SmartMigration

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Overview
⚫ SmartCompression reorganizes data to save storage space and improves the data transfer,
processing, and storage efficiency under the precondition that no data is lost. The storage
system supports online compression, that is, only newly written data is compressed.
⚫ The storage systems of the Dorado V6 storage systems support online compression and
post-compression, both of which are lossless compression.
 Online compression: Data is compressed before being written to disks.
 Post-compression: Data is written to disks in advance and then read and compressed when the
system is idle.

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Working Principle of SmartCompression

Compression window

The window moves forward The window moves forward

Data to be
... ... abcdefg abc hj abchj
compressed

Searches for the

longest identical
After character string, (0,3) hj (2,5)
starting from the
compression first character.

Offset in the Longest matched

window string

(LZ77 example)

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 Application Scenarios of SmartCompression

Engineering
File and
Databases
Services Seismic Geological
Data

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• Database: A database is the optimal application scenario for data compression. Many users
would like to save more than 65% storage space at the expense of slight performance
deterioration.

• File service: The file service is a common application scenario for data compression. For the
storage system with the file service enabled, peak hours occupy half of the total service
time and the dataset compression ratio of the system is 50%, in this case,
SmartCompression slightly decreases the IOPS.

• Engineering data and seismic geological data: Features of engineering and seismic
geological data are similar with the those of database backup data. This type of data is
stored in the same storage format, but there is few duplicate data. Therefore, such data can
be compressed to save the storage space.
 Scenarios Where SmartDedupe and SmartCompression Are Used
Together
⚫ The deduplication and compression technologies can be used at the same time to achieve
the optimal space saving effect.
⚫ Application scenarios:
 VDI and VSI scenarios
Less storage Longer
Less cost
 Data tests or development systems space SSD life

 Storage systems with the file service enabled

 Engineering data systems

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• SmartDedupe can combine with SmartCompression for data tests or development systems,
storage systems with the file service enabled and engineering data systems.

• VDI is usually applied for creating multiple virtual images which have a large amount of
duplicate data at a singe storage device. As the duplicate data increases, a storage system
may fail to work properly. SmartDedupe and SmartCompression can prevent such
circumstance.

• Advantages:

▫ SmartDedupe and SmartCompression can effectively reduce redundant data, thereby

minimizing storage space consumption.

▫ Procurement cost: In the initial phase, a smaller number of storage devices can be
purchased to store the same amount of data.

▫ TCO: Less management manpower is needed because fewer storage devices are
purchased. In addition, costs in room space, power consumption, cooling, and O&M
drop accordingly.

▫ The SmartDedupe and SmartCompression features reduce the amount of data

written into SSDs and the number of data writes, mitigating SSD wear to prolong
SSDs' service life.
Configuration Process

Start

1. Checking the availability

of SmartCompression Check the license.

2. Enabling
SmartCompression for Enable SmartCompression.
LUNs

End

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 Contents

1. SmartThin

2. SmartTier

3. SmartQoS

4. SmartDedupe

5. SmartCompression

6. SmartMigration

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 Overview
⚫ SmartMigration is a key service migration technology. Services on a source LUN can be
completely migrated to a target LUN without interrupting host services. The target LUN
can totally replace the source LUN to carry services after the replication is complete.

What does "completely"

mean?

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• "Completely" means that after the service migration is complete, all service data has been
replicated from a source LUN to a target LUN.

• SmartMigration features:

▫ Reliable service continuity: supports migrating service data online to prevent any loss
caused by service interruption during service migration.

▫ Stable data consistency: timely synchronizes data changes on a host to both source
LUN and target LUN during service data migration, ensuring data consistency after
migration and preventing data loss.

▫ Convenient performance adjustability: migrates data between different storage

media and between RAID levels based on service requirements to flexibly adjust
services.

▫ Compatible data migration between heterogeneous storage systems: supports

service data migration both within a storage system and between a Huawei storage
system and a compatible heterogeneous storage system.
 Working Principle of SmartMigration
⚫ SmartMigration is leveraged to adjust service performance or upgrade storage systems by
migrating services between LUNs.
⚫ SmartMigration is implemented in two phases:

Service data LUN information

synchronization exchange
Start Finish

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• A storage system uses the virtualized storage technology. Virtual data in a storage pool
consists of metadata volumes and data volumes.

▫ Metadata volumes: record the data storage locations, including IDs of LUNs and data
volume IDs. IDs of LUNs are used to identify LUNs and data volume IDs are used to
identify physical space of data volumes.

▫ Data volumes: store actual user data.

 SmartMigration Service Data Synchronization
⚫ After creating a SmartMigration task, create the pair relationship between a source LUN and a
target LUN.
⚫ Service data synchronization between the source and target LUNs involves initial synchronization
and change synchronization.
A B C Host
D E F 1 5
G H I DCL Log
A B C A B C 2
4
Storage
D E F Copy all data. D E F
4 LM
G H I G H I
2 2
3 3
Source LUN Target LUN
Source Target
LUN LUN
Initial synchronization
Change synchronization

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• Pair: In SmartMigration, a pair indicates the data migration relationship between a source
LUN and a target LUN. A pair can have only one source LUN and one target LUN.

• The two synchronization modes of service data are independent and can be performed at
the same time to ensure that service data changes on the host can be synchronized to the
source LUN and the target LUN.

• Data change synchronization

▫ A host delivers an I/O write request to the LM module of a storage system.

▫ The LM module writes the data to the source LUN and target LUN and records write
operations to the log.

▫ The source LUN and target LUN return the data write result to the LM module.

▫ The LM module determines to clear LOG or not based on the write I/O result.

▫ A write success acknowledgment is returned to the host.

 SmartMigration LUN Information Exchange
⚫ LUN information exchange is used for mappings between LUNs and data volumes, namely, the
exchange between both data volume IDs when the IDs of source LUNs and target LUNs remain
unchanged.
Source Target
The host reads the ID of LUN LUN
the source LUN.

LUN ID Source data volume ID LUN ID Target data volume ID

Before LUN information 1
0 0 1 1
exchange Mapping

LUN ID Target data volume ID LUN ID Source data volume ID

During LUN information 2
0 1 1 0
exchange Exchanging data volume IDs

LUN ID Target data volume ID LUN ID Source data volume ID

After LUN information 3
0 1 1 0
exchange Mapping

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• LUN information exchange is the prerequisite for a target LUN to take over services from a
source LUN after service information synchronization.

• In a storage system, each LUN and its corresponding data volume have a unique identifier,
namely, the ID of a LUN and data volume ID. A source LUN corresponds to a data volume.
The former is a logical concept whereas the latter is a physical concept.

• Before LUN information exchange: A host identifies a source LUN by the ID of the source
LUN. The ID of a LUN corresponds to a data volume ID.

• During LUN information exchange: A source data volume and a target data volume ID are
exchanged. The physical storage space to which the source LUN points becomes the target
data volume.

• After LUN information exchange: The ID of the source LUN is unchanged, and users sense
no fault because services are not affected. The ID of the source LUN and target data volume
ID form a new mapping relationship. The host actually read and writes physical space of the
target LUN.
 SmartMigration Pair Splitting
⚫ Splitting is performed on a single pair. The splitting process includes stopping service data
synchronization between the source LUN and target LUN in a pair to exchange LUN information,
and removing the data migration relationship after the exchange.

After service data synchronization is stopped.

1. Information
exchange

Splitting What if multiple

Source LUN Pair Target LUN
pairs are split?

2. Pair splitting

40 Huawei Confidential

• In splitting, host services are suspended. After information is exchanged, services are
delivered to the target LUN. In this way, service migration is transparent to users.

• Pair splitting: Data migration relationship between a source LUN and a target LUN is
removed after LUN information is exchanged.

▫ After the pair is split, if the host delivers an I/O request to the storage system, data is
only written to the source LUN.

▫ The target LUN stores all data of the source LUN at the pair splitting point in time.

▫ After the pair is split, no connections can be established between the source LUN and
target LUN.

• The consistency splitting of SmartMigration means that multiple pairs exchange LUN
information at the same time and concurrently remove pair relationships after the
information exchange is complete, ensuring that data consistency at any point in time
before and after the pairs are split.

• In scenarios where multiple pairs are used, such as in medium- and large-size database
applications, data, logs, records, and other files are stored on LUNs that are associated with
one another in a storage system. Splitting cannot ensure that information in one LUN is
always associated with that in another. If data in a LUN is unavailable, data in the other
LUNs may become invalid. Consistency splitting is used to ensure data consistency.
 Configuration Process

Start

Check the license file.

Create a SmartMigration task.

Split SmartMigration pairs or perform

consistency splitting on SmartMigration
pairs.

End

41 Huawei Confidential

• The preceding figure shows the configuration process of SmartMigration in a storage

system. To perform a SmartMigration task between storage systems, the LUN takeover
function of SmartVirtualization is required. In this case, after checking the license, take over
LUNs on a heterogeneous storage system before creating a SmartMigration task and
splitting SmartMigration pairs or performing consistency splitting on SmartMigration pairs.
 Summary
SmartThin

SmartTier

SmartQoS
Definitions, working
Storage resource tuning technology
principles, and configuration
and application processes
SmartDedupe

SmartCompression

SmartMigration

42 Huawei Confidential
 Quiz

1. (True or false) SmartTier cannot be enabled for a storage pool whose member disks are of the same type. ( )

2. (Multiple-choice) Which of the following migration policies can be set for LUNs? ( )

A. Automatic migration

B. Migration to the higher-performance tier

C. Migration to the lower-performance tier

D. No migration

43 Huawei Confidential

• Answers:

▫ 1. T

▫ 2. ABCD
 Quiz

3. (Single-answer question) Which status must a pair be before consistency splitting during LUN

migration? ( )
A. Migrating

B. Stop

C. Normal

D. Migrated

44 Huawei Confidential

• Answers:

▫ 3. D
 More Information

Enterprise Huawei
technical support enterprise
app business app

45 Huawei Confidential

• Huawei training app

▫ Contains a large number of Huawei certified high-quality learning videos.

• Enterprise technical support app

▫ Covers all popular product documents, cases, and bulletins of Huawei. Users can
quickly query commands, alarms, and spare parts, and scan the QR to view the
device information and simple as well as intuitive video guide. This app provides
uninterrupted enterprise technical support.

• Huawei enterprise business app

▫ Provides one-stop mobile ICT portals for customers and partners to understand
Huawei's comprehensive product and solution information in the enterprise ICT field
anytime and anywhere.
 Recommendations

⚫ Huawei official websites

 Enterprise business: https://enterprise.huawei.com/en/
 Technical support: https://support.huawei.com/enterprise/
 Online learning: https://learning.huawei.com/en/

⚫ Popular tools
 HedEx Lite
 Network Documentation Tool Center
 Information Query Assistant

46 Huawei Confidential

• Popular tools:

▫ HedEx Lite: Huawei product document management tool, which allows users to
browse, search for, update, and manage product documentation.

▫ eStor: A graphic storage simulation platform. Through simulation of Huawei

OceanStor all-flash storage devices, the platform helps ICT practitioners and
customers quickly get familiar with Huawei storage products, and understand and
master their operations and configurations.

▫ Network Documentation Tool Center: The documentation tool for network products
is a good assistant for bidding support, network planning, project delivery, and
upgrade and maintenance.

▫ Information Query Assistant: It provides commands and alarm information queries

for Huawei products.
Thank you. 把数字世界带入每个人、每个家庭、
每个组织，构建万物互联的智能世界。
Bring digital to every person, home, and
organization for a fully connected,
intelligent world.

Copyright©2020 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

The information in this document may contain predictive

statements including, without limitation, statements regarding
the future financial and operating results, future product
portfolio, new technology, etc. There are a number of factors that
could cause actual results and developments to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the predictive statements.
Therefore, such information is provided for reference purpose
only and constitutes neither an offer nor an acceptance. Huawei
may change the information at any time without notice.