SAN Volume Controller overview

The SAN Volume Controller combines software and hardware into a comprehensive, modular appliance that uses symmetric virtualization.

Symmetric virtualization is achieved by creating a pool of managed disks (MDisks) from the attached storage systems. Those storage systems are then mapped to a set of volumes for use by attached host systems. System administrators can view and access a common pool of storage on the storage area network (SAN). This functionality helps administrators to use storage resources more efficiently and provides a common base for advanced functions.

A SAN is a high-speed Fibre Channel network that connects host systems and storage devices. In a SAN, a host system can be connected to a storage device across the network. The connections are made through units such as routers and switches. The area of the network that contains these units is known as the fabric of the network.

IBM Spectrum Virtualize software

IBM® SAN Volume Controller is built with IBM Spectrum Virtualize™ software, which is part of the IBM Spectrum Storage™ family.

IBM Spectrum Virtualize is a key member of the IBM Spectrum Storage portfolio. It is a highly flexible storage solution that enables rapid deployment of block storage services for new and traditional workloads, on-premises, off-premises and in a combination of both. Designed to help enable cloud environments, it is based on the proven technology. For more information about the IBM Spectrum Storage portfolio, see the following website.
http://www.ibm.com/systems/storage/spectrum
The software provides these functions for the host systems that attach to SAN Volume Controller.
  • Creates a single pool of storage
  • Provides logical unit virtualization
  • Manages logical volumes
  • Mirrors logical volumes
The system also provides these functions.
  • Large scalable cache
  • Copy Services
    • IBM FlashCopy® (point-in-time copy) function, including thin-provisioned FlashCopy to make multiple targets affordable
    • IBM HyperSwap® (active-active copy) function
    • Metro Mirror (synchronous copy)
    • Global Mirror (asynchronous copy)
    • Data migration
  • Space management
    • IBM Easy Tier® function to migrate the most frequently used data to higher-performance storage
    • Metering of service quality when combined with IBM Spectrum Control Base Edition. For information, refer to the IBM Spectrum Control Base Edition documentation.
    • Thin-provisioned logical volumes
    • Compressed volumes to consolidate storage
Figure 1 shows hosts, SAN Volume Controller nodes, and RAID storage systems connected to a SAN fabric. The redundant SAN fabric comprises a fault-tolerant arrangement of two or more counterpart SANs that provide alternative paths for each SAN-attached device.
Figure 1. SAN Volume Controller system in a fabric
This figure shows an overview of a system in a SAN fabric

Volumes

A system of SAN Volume Controller nodes presents volumes to the hosts. Most of the advanced functions that SAN Volume Controller provides are defined on volumes. These volumes are created from managed disks (MDisks) that are presented by the RAID storage systems. The volumes can also be created by arrays that are provided by flash drives in an expansion enclosure. All data transfer occurs through the SAN Volume Controller node, which is described as symmetric virtualization.

Figure 2 shows the data flow across the fabric.

Figure 2. Data flow in a SAN Volume Controller system
This figure shows an overview of data flow in an IBM SAN Volume Controller system

The nodes in a system are arranged into pairs that are known as I/O groups. A single pair is responsible for serving I/O on a volume. Because a volume is served by two nodes, no loss of availability occurs if one node fails or is taken offline. The Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (ALUA) features of SCSI are used to disable the I/O for a node before it is taken offline or when a volume can not be accessed via that node.

Volumes types

You can create the following types of volumes on the system.
  • Basic volumes, where a single copy of the volume is cached in one I/O group. Basic volumes can be established in any system topology; however, Figure 3 shows a standard system topology.
    Figure 3. Example of a basic volume
    This figure shows an example of a basic volume
  • Mirrored volumes, where copies of the volume can either be in the same storage pool or in different storage pools. The volume is cached in a single I/O group. Typically, mirrored volumes are established in a standard system topology.
    Figure 4. Example of mirrored volumes
    This figure shows an example of mirrored volumes
  • Stretched volumes, where copies of a single volume are in different storage pools at different sites. The volume is cached in one I/O group. Stretched volumes are only available in stretched topology systems.
    Figure 5. Example of stretched volumes
    This figure shows an example of stretched volumes
  • HyperSwap volumes, where copies of a single volume are in different storage pools that are on different sites. The volume is cached in two I/O groups that are on different sites. These volumes can be created only when the system topology is HyperSwap.
    Figure 6. Example of HyperSwap volumes
    This figure shows an example of HyperSwap volumes

System topology

The topology property of a SAN Volume Controller system can be set to one of the following states.
Note: You cannot mix I/O groups of different topologies in the same system.
  • Standard topology, where all nodes in the system are at the same site.
    Figure 7. Example of a standard system topology
    This figure shows an example of a standard system topology
  • Stretched topology, where each node of an I/O group is at a different site. When one site is not available, access to a volume can continue but with reduced performance.
    Figure 8. Example of a stretched system topology
    This figure shows an example of a stretched system topology
  • HyperSwap topology, where the system consists of at least two I/O groups. Each I/O group is at a different site. Both nodes of an I/O group are at the same site. A volume can be active on two I/O groups so that it can immediately be accessed by the other site when a site is not available.
    Figure 9. Example of a HyperSwap system topology
    This figure shows an example of a HyperSwap system topology

Summary of system topology and volumes

Table 1 summarizes the types of volumes that can be associated with each system topology.

Table 1. System topology and volume summary
Topology Volume Type
Basic Mirrored Stretched HyperSwap Custom
Standard X X     X
Stretched X   X   X
HyperSwap X     X X

System management

The SAN Volume Controller nodes in a system operate as a single system and present a single point of control for system management and service. System management and error reporting are provided through an Ethernet interface to one of the nodes in the system, which is called the configuration node. The configuration node runs a web server and provides a command-line interface (CLI). Any node in the system can be the configuration node. If the current configuration node fails, a new configuration node is selected from the remaining nodes. Each node also provides a command-line interface and web interface for initiating hardware service actions.

Fabric types

I/O operations between hosts and SAN Volume Controller nodes and between SAN Volume Controller nodes and arrays use the SCSI standard. The SAN Volume Controller nodes communicate with each other through private SCSI commands.

All SAN Volume Controller nodes that run system software version 6.4 or later can support Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity.

Table 2 shows the fabric type that can be used for communicating between hosts, nodes, and RAID storage systems. These fabric types can be used at the same time.

Table 2. SAN Volume Controller communications types
Communications type Host to SAN Volume Controller nodes SAN Volume Controller to storage system SAN Volume Controller nodes to SAN Volume Controller nodes
Fibre Channel SAN Yes Yes Yes
iSCSI (1 Gbps Ethernet or 10 Gbps Ethernet, depending on the node) Yes Yes No
Fibre Channel Over Ethernet SAN (10 Gbps Ethernet) Yes Yes Yes

Flash drives

Some SAN Volume Controller nodes contain flash drives or are attached to expansion enclosures that contain flash drives. These flash drives can be used to create RAID-managed disks (MDisks) that in turn can be used to create volumes. On SAN Volume Controller 2145-DH8 and SAN Volume Controller 2145-SV1 nodes, the flash drives are in an expansion enclosure that is connected to both sides of an I/O group.

Flash drives provide host servers with a pool of high-performance storage for critical applications. Figure 10 shows this configuration. MDisks on flash drives can also be placed in a storage pool with MDisks from regular RAID storage systems. IBM Easy Tier performs automatic data placement within that storage pool by moving high-activity data onto better-performing storage.

Figure 10. SAN Volume Controller nodes with internal Flash drives
Figure shows an overview of nodes with internal solid-state drives (SSDs)

SAN Volume Controller hardware

Each SAN Volume Controller node is an individual server in a SAN Volume Controller clustered system on which the SAN Volume Controller software runs.

The nodes are always installed in pairs; a minimum of one pair and a maximum of four pairs of nodes constitute a system. Each pair of nodes is known as an I/O group.

I/O groups take the storage that is presented to the SAN by the storage systems as MDisks and translates the storage into logical disks (volumes) that are used by applications on the hosts. A node is in only one I/O group and provides access to the volumes in that I/O group.

SAN Volume Controller nodes

In a clustered system, a node is an individual server upon which the SAN Volume Controller software runs.

The nodes are always installed in pairs; a minimum of one pair and a maximum of four pairs of nodes constitute a system. Each pair of nodes is known as an I/O group.

I/O groups take the storage that is presented to the SAN by the storage systems as MDisks. The storage is then translated into logical disks (volumes) that are used by applications on the hosts. A node is in only one I/O group and provides access to the volumes in that I/O group.

SAN Volume Controller 2145-SV1 node features

The SAN Volume Controller 2145-SV1 system has the following features.

  • A 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure
  • Two eight-core processors
  • 64 GB base memory per processor. Optionally, by adding 64 GB of memory, the processor can support 128 GB, 192 GB, or 256 GB of memory.
  • Eight small form factor (SFF) drive bays at the front of the control enclosure
  • Support for a variety of optional host adapter cards, including:
    • 4-port 16 Gbps Fibre Channel adapter cards
    • 4-port 10 Gbps Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) adapter cards for host attachment
    • 4-port 12 Gbps SAS cards to attach to expansion enclosures
  • Support for iSCSI host attachment (10 Gbps Ethernet)
  • Support for expansion enclosures to support additional drives
    • SAN Volume Controller 2145-92F expansion enclosure to house up to 92 flash drives (SFF or LFF drives) and two secondary expander modules
    • SAN Volume Controller 2145-24F to house up to 24 SFF flash drives
    • SAN Volume Controller 2145-12F to house up to 12 large form factor (LFF) HDD or flash drives
  • Support for optional Compression Accelerator cards for IBM Real-time Compression™
  • Dual redundant power supplies
  • Dual redundant batteries
  • A dedicated technician port to initialize or service the system

SAN Volume Controller 2147-SV1 node features

The SAN Volume Controller 2147-SV1 system includes all of the features of the SAN Volume Controller 2145-SV1 system plus Enterprise Class Support and a three year warranty.

SAN Volume Controller 2145-DH8 node features

The SAN Volume Controller 2145-DH8 node has the following features:

  • A 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure
  • At least one Fibre Channel adapter or one 10 Gbps Ethernet adapter
  • Optional second, third, and fourth Fibre Channel adapters
  • 32 GB memory per processor
  • One or two, eight-core processors
  • Dual redundant power supplies
  • Dual redundant batteries for better reliability, availability, and serviceability than for a SAN Volume Controller 2145-CG8 with an uninterruptible power supply
  • SAN Volume Controller 2145-92F expansion enclosure to house up to 92 flash drives (SFF or LFF drives) and two secondary expander modules
  • Up to two SAN Volume Controller 2145-24F expansion enclosures to house up to 24 flash drives each
  • SAN Volume Controller 2145-12F expansion enclosures to house up to 12 LFF HDD or flash drives
  • iSCSI host attachment (1 Gbps Ethernet and optional 10 Gbps Ethernet)
  • Supports optional IBM Real-time Compression
  • A dedicated technician port for local access to the initialization tool or the service assistant interface.

SAN Volume Controller 2145-CG8 node features

The SAN Volume Controller 2145-CG8 node has the following features:
  • A 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure
  • One 4-port 8 Gbps Fibre Channel adapter
  • One optional 2-port 10 Gbps Fibre Channel over Ethernet converged network adapter
  • Optional second 4-port 8 Gbps Fibre Channel adapter
  • 24 GB memory
  • Fibre Channel over Ethernet host attachment (need to add only one)
  • One quad-core processor
  • Dual, redundant power supplies
  • Supports up to four optional flash drives
  • iSCSI host attachment (1 Gbps Ethernet and optional 10 Gbps Ethernet)
  • Supports optional IBM Real-time Compression
Note: The optional flash drives and optional 10 Gbps Ethernet cannot be in the same 2145-CG8 node.
Parent topic: Technical overview