This document discusses strategies for consolidating data from branch offices in a cost-effective way. The challenges include data proliferation across sites, increasing regulation, and budget constraints. Consolidating data in the cloud can help address these issues through improved utilization, centralized management, simplified backups, and virtualization benefits. Key components of remote consolidation are using Ethernet protocols to deliver storage to remote sites, central management software, and WAN optimization techniques like deduplication and acceleration. Tests showed these methods increased the amount of change rate data that could be supported over WAN links by up to 5 times. The document recommends leveraging Ethernet, centralized software management, and optimizing existing WANs.
1. Branch office in a box:
strategies for consolidation
George Sadler
George_Sadler@Dell.com
2. The problem…
Data proliferation
Creating storage sprawl and complicated by limited IT
budgets
Increasing regulation
Increasing the risk of regulatory non-compliance
(SOX, DPA, HIPAA, FCRA, etc.)
Budgetary constraints
Forcing IT managers to implement lower-cost
support alternatives for remote sites
“Stretched” remote IT staff
Placing organizational data at risk of loss or non-
compliance with non-standard backups
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2
3. Benefits of consolidation
Cost savings redeployed for
strategic initiatives with:
• Improved disk utilization TCO
• Centralized management
• Simplified and enhanced backup SAN DAS
Source: “Dell EqualLogic TCO Analysis”, July 2009,
The Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc.
• Realized full benefits of virtualization
• Reduced number of tape drives
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4. Key components of remote consolidation
Ethernet protocols
Deliver centrally-managed, advanced-storage solutions to remote
sites leveraging easy-to-use iSCSI networked storage
Central management
Conduct performance and event monitoring for servers and
storage in a consolidated software management platform
WAN optimization
Remove network constraints to reduce storage and tape
requirements with deduplication and acceleration technologies
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5. Simplifying storage consolidation for ROBOTokyo
London
New Delhi
Dedupe +
compression
iSCSI SAN
SAN WAN
Replication acceleration
Multi-tiered data
protection for all sites
Local snapshots
Local backups
Remote replication
Central site
New York City Tape off-site archiving
Low change rate High change rate Full replication
SAN Deduplication WAN
replication & compression acceleration
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6. Can dedupe and WAN optimization deliver?
Hourly change rate Hourly change rate
supported (GB) supported (GB)
(T3 with 15ms latency) (5Mb with 40ms latency)
20
4x 20
15 15
10 10 5x
1.5x 3x
5 5
0 0
SAN Backup Backup SAN SAN + Backup BU
appliance appliance with Virtual WAN appliance appliance +
dedupe HW WAN
* Test data above from Principled Technologies papers published in Dec’09 and Apr’10 with Dell, Inc. Tests included Dell’s EqualLogic iSCSI
SAN arrays; Dell’s PowerVault DL2100 with CommVault ; and Blue Coat hardware and virtual WAN acceleration appliances
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7. In Summary
Three keys to effective remote storage consolidation:
• Leverage the simplicity of Ethernet protocols
• Centralize storage management via software
• Optimize the use of your existing WAN
Next Steps:
• Learn more about the technical papers discussed today on EqualLogic.com
> Solutions > Remote Office / Branch Office
• Got a question?…George_Sadler@Dell.com
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