Front cover IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize V7000, and IBM FlashSystem 7200 Best Practices and Performance Guidelines Tiago Moreira Candelaria Bastos Ingo Dimmer Jon Herd Sang-hyun Kim Sergey Kubin Dirk Peitzmann Antonio Rainero Jon Tate Redbooks International Technical Support Organization IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller, IBM Storwize V7000, and IBM FlashSystem 7200 Best Practices and Performance Guidelines February 2020 SG24-7521-06 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page xi. Seventh Edition (February 2020) This edition applies to IBM Spectrum Virtualize V8.2.1, and the associated hardware and software detailed within. Screen captures might differ from the generally available (GA) version, because parts of this book were written with pre-GA code. On 11th February 2020 IBM announced the arrival of SAN Volume Controller SA2 and SV2, and IBM FlashSystem 7200. This book was written specifically for prior versions of SVC and Storwize V7000; however, most of the general principles will apply. If you are in any doubt as to their applicability then you should work with your local IBM representative. © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2008, 2020. All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp. Contents Notices . xi Trademarks . xii Preface . xiii Authors. xiv Now you can become a published author, too . xviii Comments welcome. xviii Stay connected to IBM Redbooks . xviii Summary of changes. xxi February 2020, Seventh Edition. xxi Chapter 1. Storage area network . 1 1.1 SAN topology general guidelines . 2 1.1.1 SAN performance and scalability . 2 1.1.2 ISL considerations . 3 1.2 SAN topology-specific guidelines . 4 1.2.1 Single switch SAN Volume Controller/Storwize SANs . 5 1.2.2 Basic core-edge topology . 6 1.2.3 Edge-core-edge topology . 6 1.2.4 Full mesh topology . 8 1.2.5 IBM Spectrum Virtualize and IBM Storwize as a SAN bridge . 8 1.2.6 Device placement . 9 1.3 SAN Volume controller ports. 11 1.3.1 Slots and ports identification . 12 1.3.2 Port naming and distribution . 12 1.4 Zoning . 17 1.4.1 Types of zoning. 17 1.4.2 Prezoning tips and shortcuts. 18 1.4.3 SAN Volume Controller/Storwize internode communications zones. 20 1.4.4 SAN Volume Controller/Storwize storage zones. 20 1.4.5 SAN Volume Controller/Storwize host zones . 37 1.4.6 Hot Spare Node zoning considerations. 41 1.4.7 Zoning with multiple SAN Volume Controller/Storwize clustered systems . 42 1.4.8 Split storage subsystem configurations. 43 1.5 Distance extension for remote copy services . 43 1.5.1 Optical multiplexors. 43 1.5.2 Long-distance SFPs or XFPs . 43 1.5.3 Fibre Channel over IP . 43 1.5.4 SAN extension with Business Continuity configurations. 45 1.5.5 Native IP replication . 47 1.6 Tape and disk traffic that share the SAN . 48 1.7 Switch interoperability . 48 Chapter 2. Back-end storage . 49 2.1 Internal storage types . 50 2.1.1 NVMe storage . 50 2.1.2 SAS-attached drives . 52 2.1.3 Internal storage considerations. 52 © Copyright IBM Corp. 2008, 2020. All rights reserved. iii 2.2 Disk and flash arrays. 54 2.2.1 Supported RAID types . 55 2.2.2 Array considerations . 55 2.2.3 Compressed array monitoring. 57 2.3 External storage . 59 2.3.1 Storage controller path selection . 59 2.3.2 Considerations for compressing and deduplicating back-end. 61 2.4 Controller-specific considerations . 62 2.4.1 Considerations for DS8000 series . 62 2.4.2 Considerations for IBM XIV Storage System . 68 2.4.3 Considerations for IBM FlashSystem A9000/A9000R . 71 2.4.4 Considerations for Storwize family and FlashSystem 9100 . 73 2.4.5 Considerations for IBM FlashSystem 900. 75 2.4.6 Pathing considerations for third-party storage with EMC VMAX and Hitachi Data Systems . 76 2.5 Quorum disks . 77 2.5.1 IP Quorum. 78 Chapter 3. Storage pools . 81 3.1 Introduction to Pools . 82 3.1.1 Standard Pool . 82 3.1.2 Data Reduction Pools . 85 3.1.3 Standard Pools versus Data Reduction Pools . 88 3.2 General considerations for Data Reduction Pools . 95 3.2.1 Data Reduction Pools . 96 3.3 Storage pools planning considerations . 97 3.3.1 Planning for availability . 97 3.3.2 Planning for performance . 98 3.3.3 Extent size considerations . ..