EMC debuted VFcache today, which was codenamed "Project Lightning." So what is this thing they call VFCache? VFCache is a server Flash caching technology that reduces latency and increases throughput by moving the active dataset up to the server-side PCI-e cache. It accelerates block I/O reads and also protects data by using a write-throughcache to the back-end storage.
First thought is how is VFCache different from similar products currently in the marketplace? Well let’s first look at how it compares to a DAS based cache solution.
DAS-based PCIe Flash technology stores the application directly on the Flash card, so in this architecture it doesn't provide protection if the card were to fail. With VFCache write-through cache, you have protection against data loss as it ...
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Chargeback Realities
I've been involved in probably a dozen conversations with IT organizations over the past three months regarding various phases of the development of an internal cloud/private clouds/ITaaS instance. In every single one of those discussions, chargeback has become a hot button of debate, and I feel the need to add some external perspective to what I've been hearing.
The Way it Has Always Been
When I bring up the concept of chargeback or a rate card for internal ITaaS consumption, I almost invariably encounter the pushback that "the business" won't accept chargeback, that it's never been done there, and that it's a non-starter of a conversation. If there is a manufacturer in the room, they will typically default to the "next best thing" approach of saying "of ...
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Drive Availability and Contingency Planning
At this point, all of the major external storage subsystem manufacturers have announced price increases in response to the devastating Thailand floods, and the subsequent impact on hard drive manufacturing. At the same time, many companies in the consumer electronics space have warned about revenue targets in the wake of component shortages, including Intel in December.
To date, however, I haven't seen any reporting of hard drive shortages affecting the enterprise disk market, but I am now seeing that first hand. I am currently involved in at least four customer projects, across multiple manufacturers, where drive lead times are stretching out until March. These are for orders that are either currently being processed, or that were placed in December.
In order to make sure you aren't severely ...
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What’s the “Big Deal” about Cisco UCS ver 2.0 Fabric?
What's the "big deal" about Cisco UCS ver 2.0 fabric? Two words: bandwidth and flexibility.
Cisco recently expanded the UCS product line to include an additional Fabric Interconnect (model 6248), an additional Chassis IO Module (model 2208), as well as software release 2.0 with many new features. The new 2.0 components support existing chassis and server blades, and are back-compatible to inter-operate with existing first-generation UCS hardware (in original modes of use.)
Although the new models need not obsolete the original hardware, many of the recent Cisco UCS deployments by Ahead have opted to take advantage of the benefits of the new components.
The new 6248 Fabric Interconnect packs 48 Unified Ports into a 1 RU form factor. Any of the base Unified Ports may be configured to ...
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What’s the Forecast? Storage…
In this second to last post in this series, I'll review my thoughts on the near term future of the storage industry, technology adoption, and challenges faced by the incumbent storage array manufacturers. The next and final post will lightly touch on End User Computing and evolution of application development and delivery. If you have thoughts, comments, or would like to see more on any of what I have published in this series, I welcome all comments / questions / requests. Thanks for reading! - Brett
Storage Forecast:
As they have over the last 3-5 years, enterprise storage requirements will continue to grow at accelerated rates over the next 3-5 years. Information and intelligent access/use of that information is already a critical differentiator for companies in most ...
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VMware updates Horizon and ThinApp to allow for self-service Windows app delivery
This morning VMware announced updates to ThinApp and VMware Horizon to allow for Windows application delivery via the Horizon portal. In case you are wondering what Horizon is, it's a web based portal for application delivery. Before today it was only able to delivery access to SaaS based or Web applications. With the latest updates you can now deliver ThinApp packages to users with the Horizon agent on their PC. This provides a self-service option for application delivery.
So some of you may be asking how is this different than assigning ThinApp packages within VMware View? Below is a quote from VMware on the two processes.
Entitlement to Horizon-enabled ThinApp packages can be based on Active Directory groups or on groups that you create within Horizon. With ...
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Forecast – Server Virtualization and Compute (x86)
Second post in the series about where I see things going - this is a brief synopsis of my views on near term futures for Virtualization and Compute.
Virtualization
x86 virtualization will continue at a rapid pace. Over the next 3-5 years, compute and memory capabilities will continue to grow. Hypervisor technologies will continue to increase their ability to handle workload on both consolidated and non-consolidated basis. Rapid and massive server consolidation for cost savings alone will no longer be a core driver for virtualization. The focus of virtualization will shift as enterprise organizations begin to virtualize all Tier 1 applications as a driver to increase availability through virtualization attributes including scalability and portability. Most organizations will be challenged to identify any applications that will not be ...
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What’s the Forecast? Network…
Without the network - it really wouldn't matter what applications, servers, storage, or virtualization technologies are deployed. The network is by definition, what brings everything together and ensures that systems and users can interact to run business. I figured this would be a good place to start with my observations on what's coming...
Network virtualization will continue to the point that traditional models of distinct location or geographic-based network topologies will in many cases no longer be sufficient to support applications. In order to provide high availability, location independence, and application portability, many organizations will look at a massive flattening of the network infrastructure and the expansion of Layer 2 networking across datacenter locations.
Traditional three tier designs and the approach of extending L3 as far as ...
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What’s the forecast?
One of my customers was recently challenged by his CIO to come up with a vision for datacenter infrastructure technology trends for the next 18-36 months. The focus was not on any one technology, but more about how changes in many traditional datacenter technologies would change the way that technology is applied, how it interacts, and what that means for application development and deployment. This customer, like many, is distantly intrigued by the "sometime future" promise of public cloud, but is significantly more interested in what they can do today to increase datacenter efficiency and otherwise prepare for taking advantage of new and coming technologies to make their current and near future datacenter infrastructure the best it can be.
During the process of reviewing various parts ...
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H108: Lab Launch – Experience a True Hybrid Cloud
This Wednesday will be a big day at Ahead as we launch our second-generation lab. Those who have been reading our blog probably know we have been architecting and building this for the last two quarters.
I’m often asked why we spent the time and money on such a state-of-the-art facility when so many of our partners and clients have their own labs. Well, Ahead's goal is to help our clients plan, design, and deliver complex solutions within the data center. We can only do this by getting hands-on with the technology to educate our clients and ourselves. In addition, the lab lets us demonstrate the integration between different layers of the data center stack. Too often the aforementioned labs look at one piece of ...
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