Gauging storage needs over time is one of the biggest challenges
faced by IT administrators, and a new generation of capacity
planning tools is emerging to help forecast growth and utilisation
of storage resources, and even perform predictive modeling of the
future storage environment based on historical data collected.
Capacity planning tools must include a thorough consideration of
your applications while being interoperable across all of your
storage systems, while still meeting all of your analytical and
reporting requirements.
The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key
specifications for a cross-section of popular capacity planning
software products. The following products were selected based on
input from industry analysts and SearchStorage.com editors, and
specifications are current as of February 2007.
The following specifications have been provided by vendors and
are periodically updated.
Select the desired product below:
Return
to the beginning
Product Snapshot #1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:Aptare Inc.; StorageConsole software
Storage System Support:SAN, NAS, DAS
Data Analysis:Yes
Key Features:Utilization optimization and predictive
analysis
Management Features:Key features include browser-based
console, personalized home page, dashboard analytics
Scalability:One server running the specified software
can support approximately up to 8,000 clients being backed
up
Reporting:Reporting includes backup and restore summary,
file level detail, discovery of unprotected data
Simulations:Yes. The software identifies suspect backups
and eliminates "false positives" by identifying partial backups
that report as successful.
Operating System:Solaris, Red Hat Linux, Windows 2000 or
2003 Server
Standards Support:All information is transmitted via
https protocols eliminating any need for proprietary ports. It
supports all the popular browsers: Internet Explorer 5.5+, Mozilla
Firefox 1.3+, and Netscape 7.1+
System Requirements:Dual processor server with 8Gb
memory with 200Gbs of RAID 5 Storage
Implementation:Deploys an agent on the master server,
without any code on the clients or media servers. StorageConsole is
agnostic to the underlying backup medium.
Interoperability:VERITAS NetBackup, IBM Tivoli, EMC
Legato
Vendor Comment:APTARE provides web-based enterprise
software that enables storage administrators to achieve maximum
data protection across heterogeneous storage environments. The
company's flagship product, APTARE StorageConsole, increases the
reliability of protecting a company's digital assets by quickly
identifying unprotected data, improving capacity planning,
increasing performance and providing compliance with audits and
legal discovery.
Availability:Currently available
Base Cost:Pricing is on a per unit basis with the
average cost being around $100/client.
Detailed Specs:http://www.aptare.com/storageconsole_features.jsp
Vendor URL:www.aptare.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Snapshot #2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:EMC Corp.; ControlCenter software
Storage System Support:SAN, NAS, DAS, CAS
Data Analysis:Data analysis for databases, backup
applications, volume groups, physical disks, hosts, arrays and
files
Key Features:Key SRM and reporting solutions in the
ControlCenter family include StorageScope for integrated asset
utilization reporting across multi-vendor storage infrastructures,
StorageScope File Level Reporter for file level monitoring and
reporting for improved control, and Performance Manager for
end-to-end performance resource management.
Management Features:Management features include
ControlCenter StorageScope, ControlCenter StorageScope File Level
Reporter, ControlCenter Performance Manager, ControlCenter SAN
Manager, ControlCenter SAN Advisor, ControlCenter Automated
Resource Manager (ARM), Symmetrix Optimizer, ControlCenter
Symmetrix Manager, and ControlCenter NaviSphere Management
Suite
Scalability:Managed object size is determined by the
number of Managed Object resources (not the total
capacity)
Reporting:StorageScope provides extensive reporting for
host storage resources (databases, backup applications, volume
groups and file systems). Any StorageScope report can be exported
for customization; the data can also be accessed via XML or
database views. StorageScope reports can compare planned vs. actual
storage usage and provide input into the capacity planning process.
StorageScope also assists in forecasting future storage needs. From
a historical report, users select trend lines and the solution will
forecast anticipated needs for a defined period of time and
forecast future storage requirements more accurately. StorageScope
also reports file-level summary details at the host and file system
level allowing users to identify the largest files, directories,
and most dormant files.
Simulations:Not provided
Operating System:AIX, HP-UX, Sun, Windows, Linux and
Mainframe
Standards Support:EMC does exploit standards such as
SMI-S and SNMP, and uses APIs
System Requirements:Not provided
Implementation:Not provided
Interoperability:Refer to the support matrix at
http://powerlink.emc.com/km/live1/en_US/Offering_Technical/Interoperability_Matrix/DocLib/300-003-704_a05_elccnt_0.pdf?mtcs=ZXZlbnRUeXBlPUttQ2xpY2tDb250ZW50RXZlbnQsZG9jdW1lbnRJZD0wOTAxNDA2NjgwMjBkZmM0LG5hdmVOb2RlPVNvZndhcmVEb3dubG9hZHM_
Vendor Comment:Built on industry leading automation
building blocks of model based management (Smarts), application
dependency mapping (nLayers Application Discovery Manager), and
storage resource management (ControlCenter), this solution enables
IT to more effectively deliver services across storage, network,
server, and application domains. With this solution set customers
can better enable CMDB & ITIL process automation, accelerate
data center, server and storage consolidation, unify management of
tiered storage, and optimize delivery of next generation IT
services.
Availability:EMC ControlCenter 5.2 SP 5 and EMC
ControlCenter SAN Advisor 5.3 both currently available
Base Cost:Contact EMC or reseller for pricing
Detailed Specs:http://www.emc.com/products/storage_management/controlcenter.jsp
Vendor URL:www.emc.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Snapshot #3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:Finisar Corp.; NetWisdom Enterprise SAN
solutions
Storage System Support:NetWisdom supports Fibre
Channel SAN
Data Analysis:Data analysis provides detail information
at host, array and LUN level
Key Features:Provides end-to-end (e2e) bandwidth
capacity monitoring and trending. NetWisdom uses dedicated hardware
monitoring instead of a software agent that could cause
incompatibility and be a taxing system resource.
Management Features:NetWisdom provides alarms based on
user configurable rules. Rules can be based on throughput, latency
or event within FC SAN.
Scalability:We recommend that our hardware solution be
deployed on the storage ports of FC SAN. We can support 1000's of
links with an unlimited number for hosts.
Reporting:Reports end-to-end throughput, latency, queue
depth and event reports based on point-in-time or trending. Reports
can be scheduled or event-driven.
Simulations:We do not have a predictive or simulation
feature
Operating System:Our bandwidth capacity planning is OS
independent. Our dedicate hardware collects data directly from the
physical link.
Standards Support:SNMP and FC
System Requirements:Dual CPU Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz system,
Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2000 or Windows XP, 4 GB of RAM, 100
Mb/s Ethernet port with TCP/IP configured, CD ROM drive,
Administrator rights on the host computer (Portal and
Client)
Implementation:Traffic Access Points (TAPs) inserted
between storage ports and fabric; TAP output is routed to the
ProbeFCX; NetWisdom portal server collects statistical data from
ProbeFCX into a self- managed database; User accesses data from the
portal server via client software or HTTP web interface.
Interoperability:Supports any storage vendor that
adheres to the Fibre Channel standard
Vendor Comment:Finisar NetWisdom Enterprise solutions
and services provide deep fabric visibility to quickly diagnose
issues and prevent future problems in their SAN infrastructure thus
enabling them to ensure critical enterprise applications have
uninhibited, unrestricted access to the data, every time.
Availability:Currently available
Base Cost:NetWisdom Express, a software-only,
entry-level solution is priced under $13K. NetWisdom Enterprise
which includes 4Gb/s Fibre Channel hardware probes in addition to
the management and reporting application is priced under $25K for
2-probes, while the full configuration of 8-probes is priced at
under $50K.
Detailed Specs:http://www.finisar.com/index.php?file=product&var=product&div_id=smenu3&level=C&sub_sub_cat=6&dlink=NetWisdom
Vendor URL:www.finisar.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Snapshot #4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:IBM; TotalStorage Productivity Center for
Data
Storage System Support:Supports SAN, NAS and DAS in
addition to being able to view IBM 3584/3500 tape library
assets
Data Analysis:Designed to help improve capacity
utilization of file systems, databases, arrays, and tape libraries
and to add intelligence to data protection and retention practices.
It is also extremely useful in helping perform data
classification/categorization for ILM purposes and Storage
Assessment purposes. It may also be used to help with governmental
regulation compliance.
Key Features:Improves storage utilization by identifying
storage capacity allocated in storage subsystems that is not
assigned to any server; highlighting areas where allocated capacity
significantly exceeds used capacity; enabling redistribution of
capacity; proactively monitoring and enforcing storage usage
policies; archiving and space managing files; identifying
inappropriate data; identifying orphaned data; identifying
duplicate data
Management Features:IBM TotalStorage Productivity
Center's new Topology Viewer employs progressive information
disclosure allowing a layered drill-down that greatly simplifies
daily administrative tasks. Detailing all storage resources in
context, the topology viewer includes overlays that can show the
health and performance of storage resources via color-coded
indications and a mini-map in the corner of the screen showing
where the topology that is being viewed resides in relation to the
rest of the storage infrastructure.
Scalability:A single instance of IBM TotalStorage
Productivity Center can handle over 50 storage arrays,
approximately 85 switches representing several thousand switch,
host and array ports and dozens of logical fabrics, and
approximately 2500 host agents collecting file system and
file-level reporting information.
Reporting:Provides over 300 enterprise-wide reports,
monitoring and alerts, policy-based action and file system capacity
automation in a heterogeneous environment. Data may also be
downloaded in .csv file format to spreadsheets for further
analysis. Key capacity analysis data may be consolidated in weekly,
monthly or yearly aggregations for long term usage and other data
(i.e. daily) may be discarded.
Simulations:Yes; The capacity information collected can
be stored for historic reporting and used for automatic growth
analysis. This predictive capacity analysis can be charted based on
file system, server, group, or enterprise level.
Operating System:Supports AIX, Sun Solaris, HP-UX,
Windows, Red Hat Linux, United Linux, SuSe Linux and 18 different
file systems
Standards Support:Supports SMI-S
System Requirements:For requirements, see
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=1133&context=SS8JB5&context=SSWQP2&dc=DB500&uid=ssg1S1002815&loc=en_US&cs=utf-8&lang=en
Implementation:Host Data Agents can be pushed and
automatically updated from the IBM TotalStorage Productivity Center
server.
Interoperability:See the compatibility matrix at
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=597&uid=ssg1S1003019
Vendor Comment:Not provided
Availability:Version is 3.2 is currently
available
Base Cost:Tiered pricing; contact IBM or a reseller for
more information
Detailed Specs:http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/storage/software/center/index.html
Vendor URL:www.ibm.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Snapshot #5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:Microsoft Corp.; System Center Capacity
Planner 2006
Storage System Support:Supports SAN
Data Analysis:Capacity Planner is not a database or
storage optimization tool, but it does recommend the storage
required for an Exchange or Microsoft Operations Manager
implementation.
Key Features:Efficiently plan deployments for Exchange
2003 and Microsoft Operations Manger 2005; Provide guidance for
system sizing and architecture; Provide "What-if" analysis
capability: hardware, software, topology.
Management Features:Supports infrastructure planning and
optimization, proactive performance planning, and performance
analysis and predictive reporting
Scalability:The only limits are in the topology: 95
branch sites and 50,000 users in the central site.
Reporting:Provides integrated reports showing the
recommended hardware for the deployment, in a topology diagram.
This diagram is interactive, and can be used to refine and further
optimize the recommendations. It also provides reports on the
effects of running the specified Exchange or Microsoft Operations
Manager workload on the recommended topology, such as server
utilization and end user response time. These reports can be
exported to Excel or Visio.
Simulations:Yes
Operating System:Microsoft Windows – It is deployed as a
standalone application on a Windows desktop machine.
Standards Support:N/A
System Requirements:.NET Framework 2.0
Implementation:It is deployed as a standalone
application on a Windows desktop machine.
Interoperability:Works out-of-the box with a all common
SCSI, SATA, ATA and RAID array configurations. Any custom
configuration can be modeled, by using the hardware editor to
customize specifications.
Vendor Comment:System Center Capacity Planner is
Microsoft's recommended solution for planning new implementations
of Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Operations Manager. It can also
be used to optimize existing implementations, and run what-if
scenarios to model changes to the environment.
Availability:System Center Capacity Planner (SCCP) 2006
is currently available
Base Cost:Available through TechNet Plus and MSDN
subscription. List price for TechNet Plus Direct subscription is
$349
Detailed Specs:http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/sccp/overview/default.mspx
Vendor URL:www.microsoft.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Snapshot #6
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:TeamQuest Corp.; TeamQuest Model
software
Specifications are not currently available
Detailed Specs:http://www.teamquest.com/solutions-products/products/model/index.htm
Vendor URL:www.teamquest.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Snapshot #7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product:Tek-Tools Inc.; StorageProfiler
software
Storage System Support:Profiler is able to monitor
and report on all SAN, NAS, and DAS devices with added features for
EMC, NetApp, IBM, HP, HDS, Sun/STK, Xiotech, SGI, Fujitsu,
Teradata. In addition, Profiler provides monitoring and reporting
for a wide array of backup software vendors.
Data Analysis:Profiler provides complete data analysis
on hosts, arrays, databases, file systems, with information on file
types, file sizes, file ages, file ownership, etc.
Key Features:Automates file analysis, capacity planning,
and performance monitoring across file systems. Proactively
monitors, alerts, and acts on storage utilization levels to avoid
system outages and ensure data usage polices are properly followed.
Reporting is done in both real time and historically to manage and
forecast storage growth. Profiler supports multiple arrays in
heterogeneous environments, and gathers data from the entire
storage stack, presenting it in a single "pane-of-glass" view.
Custom grouping of assets, arrays, hosts, and file systems create a
unique interface that maps technology to business
structure.
Management Features:Provides a full range of storage
management reports detailing how storage is being utilized. In
addition, Profiler offers lightweight ILM features for active
management functions such as move, delete, and copy.
Scalability:To date, Profiler has not hit a ceiling on
the amount of data it can report on.
Reporting:Provides a full range of reporting features
including more than 250 pre-defined reports as well as a fully
customizable reporting engine. Reports can be scheduled and
automatically delivered. Key reports for storage and capacity
planning include: capacity, RAID group configuration and usage, LUN
configuration and mapping, and performance statistics for the
array, controller, LUN, and disk. Key reports for servers include:
volume usage trending and forecasting, volume change over time, and
file classification by user, type and age.
Simulations:Provides sophisticated forecasting and
trending for load balancing and capacity management. Data is
gathered, and stored, and then analyzed historically for trending
and predictive management.
Operating System:Profiler server runs on Windows, Linux,
or Solaris. Profiler agents can monitor all major OSs.
Standards Support:Profiler supports SMI-S, SNMP, HTTP,
HTTPS
System Requirements:Profiler server requires 1 GB of
memory, 1 GB of disk space, and runs on Windows, Solaris, or Linux.
The Profiler agent requires 64-256 MB of memory, 150 MB of disk
space, and utilizes 1-3% of CPU.
Implementation:Profiler has a server-agent architecture,
so it requires a location to install the Profiler server (Windows,
Solaris, Linux) and then agents can be deployed onto the desired
servers (Windows, Solaris, Linux, AIX, HPUX, Tru64 and Netware).
The agents will monitor the server and also serve as a platform to
monitor other devices (arrays, switches, etc.), and applications
(backups, E-mail, databases, DNS, etc.) without requiring an agent
install on that device.
Interoperability:Refer to the online compatibility
matrix for detailed information
Vendor Comment:Not provided
Availability:Currently available
Base Cost:An entry-level package would likely run
$10,000-$15,000
Detailed Specs:http://www.tek-tools.com/jsp/storage.jsp
Vendor URL:www.tek-tools.com
Go
to beginning
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------