Storage Cycles

Just prior to the holidays I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Jonathon Koomey, a researcher with Lawrence Berkeley Labs and professor at Standard University. Much of Dr. Koomey’s work is focused on data center energy usage.  One of Dr. Koomey’s studies indicates that energy used by corporate data centers doubled from 2000 to 2005. Internet computing and supporting back-end data bases have largely contributed to this increase. Dr. Koomey explained to me that power expenditures are typically levied against the Facilities budget, not the Data Center. Consequently, many Data Center managers haven’t been as motivated to preserve power. Granted, interest in power consumption changes when concern shifts to simply getting enough power into the Data Center.

Several years ago, while with another company, we set out to build a 10GbE target. We had decided to demonstrate the system at Storage Networking World to show technology leadership. This included putting enough spindles behind the system to drive 10Gb. Not just sequential throughput, but impressive random I/O. We built the system to include enough disk drives to drive targeted performance. While I can’t recall the precise number of spindles, there were many; I think in the hundreds. Achieving high IOPs demanded a large number of disk drives, that when aggregated, and striped to, delivered adequate performance.

Continue reading "Thoughts on SSDs and Data Center Efficiency" »

Posted by Doug Rainbolt at 05:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I’ve spent some time reviewing the presentations and commentaries proffered by claimed industry experts promoting the merits FCoE. One can find ample footage on YouTube on this topic. As I watch the clips I’ve made it a point to study the presenter’s body language, especially they attempt to contrast FCoE from iSCSI. It’s often that point in the pitch where their body and eyes shift dramatically demonstrating some discomfort. It’s as if they aren’t really sure what to say about iSCSI given their limited first hand experience. They end up filling things in based on the company party line or other anecdotal evidence. They will often state that as iSCSI relies on TCP it won’t be as reliable as FCoE and performance will suffer. Or they will state that iSCSI is really a SMB play as opposed to an enterprise play.

Continue reading "The Converged Network Adapter" »

Posted by Doug Rainbolt at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It’s been some time since my last posting. Between our 10GbE product launch, the holidays, and a trip to overseas, I’ve been pretty busy. A new year has arrived and despite some of the doom and gloom related to economic news, I’m feeling pretty optimistic. A new year always brings a fresh start, new goals, and the promise of spring around the corner.  A key contributor to my good mood was pulling off a successful 10GbE press and analyst launch. We briefed countless journalist and analysts and received some very positive coverage. As a product guy, you know you’ve overcome the first hurdle associated with brining a new product to market when analyst feedback and media coverage is positive. The second hurdle is obviously the ramp to revenue. We’re working on that one. I think that “the market” saw a new side to the company when we launched; an aggressive tone filled with confidence and commitment in delivering products that not only deliver great performance but also contribute to substantial capital and power savings.

When considering the messaging used to support the recent launch, I’m reminded of something that Mark Allen, the six-time Kona Ironman Champion, has long advocated to athletes looking to improve performance. His advice for those seeking to run faster is to first focus on running slower. What?

Continue reading "Server Optimization" »

Posted by Doug Rainbolt at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)