06
Sun, Oct
2 New Articles

Defrag Important Function for SANs

Storage
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

Diskeeper highlights occasionally overlooked housekeeping on storage area networks. 

Some things are good ideas from the start, and one of them is the storage area network (SAN). It has great success potential, especially potential for delivering on the promise that storage not directly attached to the server will bring advantages in provisioning and performance, reliability and availability. But these very real advantages don’t eliminate the need for IT maintenance actions to permit the best possible SAN performance and reliability.

“One of the most significant potential issues, and probably the most unrecognized, is defragmentation in a SAN storage system. With the implementation of a SAN in their storage environment, many Windows Server administrators believe that defragmentation, which they accepted and dealt with when using DASD storage, has gone away.” This statement, made by David Chernicoff of Windows IT Pro in his paper, “Maximize the Performance of Your Windows SAN Infrastructure,” points out a basic misstep that can be costly to IT administrators.

A SAN is agnostic when it comes to server operating systems. And the SAN appears to the operating system as locally attached storage. It is inherent in SAN storage that the operating system isn’t aware of the type of storage it uses and can’t optimize for a particular storage model.

This also means that SANs are not built to prevent or correct fragmentation. When you store information in your SAN, fragmentation at the file system level creates operating system overhead that interferes with file retrieval. These events are not caused by the SAN, and it’s outside the scope of your SAN to do anything about them.

Storage administrators can fail to consider this when they run into reduced efficiency. When they notice performance problems, many administrators add additional storage, assuming that a lack of free space is causing slowdowns. They fail to consider that both performance and reliability are often affected by the fragmentation that occurs when Windows Server writes data to any storage ? and that’s not just DASD or NAS, but also SAN.

This fragmentation often shows up as reduced application performance. Application response time begins to increase, it takes longer to load files, and applications loaded from the storage take longer to launch. Your IT team can receive help desk calls with complaints about a variety of supposed problems, when the real problem is that fragmentation is causing data manipulation times to increase to the point where the delays affect the user.

Since it isn’t a SAN function to manage fragmentation, it’s important to address the fragmentation at its source. Of course, the ideal solution to this phenomenon would be to prevent it. That would mean writing to the SAN using technology that minimizes fragmentation as the data writes, so your system would be passing fewer, larger disk I/Os to the SAN. You would thus reduce operating overhead and raise your I/O efficiency.

Defrag has been automated for years by Diskeeper Corporation defrag applications for systems ranging from individual workstations to enterprise servers. Today Diskeeper 2010 with IntelliWrite technology takes defrag a step further by preventing fragmentation from happening in the first place. Its proactive defrag is much easier on the budget than throwing storage expansion dollars at your SAN performance issues.

Diskeeper's family of innovative products are relied upon by more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies and more than 67 percent of The Forbes Global 100, as well as thousands of enterprises, government agencies, independent software vendors (ISVs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and home offices worldwide. Inventors of the first automatic defragmentation in 1986, Diskeeper pioneered a new breakthrough technology in 2009 that actually prevents fragmentation. Founded in 1981, Diskeeper Corp. is the technology innovator in performance and reliability technologies. The company's products make computer systems faster, more reliable, longer lived and energy efficient, all with zero overhead. The company has been profitably developing and providing software solutions for nearly three decades.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: