Front cover IBM Real-time Compression in IBM SAN Volume Controller and IBM Storwize V7000 Discover how embedded compression software aids data reduction Learn about IBM Random Access Compression Engine technology See the compression savings that can be achieved Christian Burns Bosmat Tuv-El Jorge Quintal Jon Tate ibm.com/redbooks Redpaper International Technical Support Organization IBM Real-time Compression in IBM SAN Volume Controller and IBM Storwize V7000 March 2015 REDP-4859-01 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page vii. Second Edition (March 2015) This edition applies to those hardware and software products as detailed in the paper only. © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2012, 2015. 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 . vii Trademarks . viii Preface . ix Authors. ix Now you can become a published author, too! . xi Comments welcome. xi Stay connected to IBM Redbooks . xi Summary of changes. xiii March 2015, Second Edition . xiii Chapter 1. Overview . 1 1.1 Current IT challenges . 2 1.2 The solution: IBM Real-time Compression . 2 1.3 Common use cases . 3 1.3.1 General-purpose volumes. 3 1.3.2 Databases. 4 1.3.3 Virtualized infrastructures . 4 1.4 IBM Real-time Compression . 4 Chapter 2. Compression technology. 5 2.1 Compression technology history . 6 2.2 Data efficiency technologies . 7 2.2.1 Thin provisioning technology . 7 2.2.2 FlashCopy (thin-provisioned snapshots). 8 2.2.3 IBM Easy Tier . 8 2.2.4 Archiving and space management . 9 2.2.5 Data deduplication . 9 2.3 Data compression technologies . 10 Chapter 3. IBM Real-time Compression . 11 3.1 Overview . 12 3.2 IBM Real-time Compression . 12 3.2.1 Random Access Compression Engine . 13 3.2.2 Location-based compression . 15 3.2.3 Temporal compression . 17 3.2.4 RACE in the SAN Volume Controller software stack . 18 3.2.5 Data write flow . 20 3.2.6 Data read flow. 20 3.2.7 Compression of existing data . 20 3.3 Software and hardware updates that enhance IBM Real-time Compression . 21 3.3.1 Software enhancements . 21 3.3.2 Hardware enhancements . 22 Chapter 4. Planning . 25 4.1 Candidate data sets for compression . 26 4.1.1 Data types. 26 4.2 Requirements . 26 © Copyright IBM Corp. 2012, 2015. All rights reserved. iii 4.2.1 Supported hardware configurations . 27 4.2.2 Hardware requirements. 27 4.2.3 Compressible data . 28 4.3 Comprestimator. 29 4.3.1 Downloading Comprestimator. 29 4.3.2 Installing Comprestimator . 29 4.3.3 Installing Comprestimator on Linux or AIX . 30 4.3.4 Installing Comprestimator on IBM i through VIOS . 30 4.3.5 Installing Comprestimator on ESXi . 30 4.3.6 Installing Comprestimator on Windows server . 30 4.3.7 Using Comprestimator . 30 4.3.8 Available space. 33 4.3.9 Licensing. 34 4.4 General guidelines . 34 4.4.1 Compression ratio recommendations . 35 4.4.2 Guidelines for getting a high compression ratio . 35 4.4.3 Easy Tier. 35 4.4.4 I/O Groups and compressed volumes. 36 4.5 Generic volumes that are created from reused extents . 36 4.5.1 How reused extents consume system resources . 36 4.5.2 How reused extents affect Comprestimator results . 36 4.5.3 Avoiding this behavior. 37 Chapter 5. Configuring compressed volumes . 39 5.1 Compression . 40 5.2 Software licensing for the SAN Volume Controller and Storwize V7000. 40 5.2.1 Licensing for the SAN Volume Controller using the GUI. 41 5.2.2 Licensing for the SAN Volume Controller using the CLI . 42 5.2.3 Licensing for the Storwize V7000 using the GUI. 42 5.2.4 Licensing for the Storwize V7000 using the CLI . 43 5.3 Configuring compressed volumes using the SAN Volume Controller and Storwize V7000 GUI . ..