You have to implement a new enterprise storage system, or manage changes. The storage configuration has to be right.

• Lower Response Time
• Improve Performance Reliability
• Increase Throughput Capability
• Increase Headroom
• Completely understand your storage performance limits and capabilities
• Know your performance is the best it can be

Protect your investment while providing the best possible storage performance for your workload and resources. Even if you think your storage system is already well tuned, ORtera can find additional headroom and capability you didn't know you had. Never before has this level of automated analysis applied through the storage hierarchy been available. Storage performance optimization is just easy steps away:

Click on the images below to enlarge them

1. Download (free of charge trial, here) and install ORtera on your current system.

2. Select and monitor the filesystems and processes designated for migration to the new storage hardware configuration.

3. Generate an ORtera XML (The ORtera workload model) from your current system containing the ORtera data from the monitoring session you just ran on the filesystems and/or processes you intend to migrate.

4. Use your load generation software to capture the specifics of the workload on your current system.

5. Install the candidate hardware and software environment with your best configuration for optimal performance of the storage sub-system, guided by the knowledge available in the ORtera XML and ORtera User Guide.

Using the application I/O and access types, as shown by the ORtera Workload charts, consider if the primary I/O of the application should be coalesced, divided, or unchanged as it is issued to the next layer down. Configure the system, filesystem, and RAID to distribute the target I/O size and load as evenly and efficiently as possible.

6. Install ORtera on the new hardware configuration.

7. With your load generator emulating your old production system load on the new system, monitor with ORtera and compare the results to those from the old system, using the ORtera XML you generated there. Comparison of the ORtera XMLs you generate at each step will provide baseline performance reference, and document your progress towards performance optimization. Here, for instance, we see that filesystem bandwidth on the new system averages 7.89 MB/second compared to 7.52 MB/second on the old system. Filesystem response time is 38 vs. 44 ms.

As you can see, ORtera will show you comparison of the relevant metrics, and provide you helpful heuristics and recommendations, at every level of the storage stack.

8. Follow the advice in the ORtera Heuristics to make changes in data placement, system, filesystem, and RAID configuration. Test these changes and capture another ORtera XML to compare the results. Note the improvements in throughput, response time, consistency, and headroom.

9. Vary the load generation to reflect anticipated changes in the production system load, while monitoring with ORtera. Follow the Heuristics advice as needed, and you will have achieved the best possible storage configuration for your workload and resource combination.

Resulting Performance Improvements:
In the specific example illustrated by the screenshots, you will have improved I/O response time at the application level by 46% and the consistency of response time (standard deviation) by 79%. You will have also improved headroom by 150% at the physical-devices layer (Click on the screenshots to enlarge; columns 1 and 2 show I/O before and after at the filesystem, 3 and 4 show I/O at the logical device, and 5 and 6 show I/O at the physical device layer).

Moreover, you will understand your storage performance, its capabilities and its limits. ORtera is the No Mystery storage performance optimization solution.

10. Deploy the new system with confidence.