The mainstream super integration at home and abroad manufacturers exactly what are the differences? What are the disadvantages of their products? Should from the several aspects to measure the super fusion architecture to clarity? This article will depth analysis of the mainstream market integration and vendors, help fusion introductory users a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of ultra fusion concept, and from the core key aspects to understand the characteristics of different vendors and products, thereby combining the situation of the enterprises targeted assessment and selection,
a. Super fusion is a concept or an art?
Super integration is a way of IT infrastructure construction, its core idea is to use the generic hardware, software defined to implement the IT infrastructure services, including: computing, storage, disaster preparedness, operations management, etc., and these services are on the unified platform,
Super fusion concept contains three elements:
1. Use the generic hardware: precisely x86 servers, so if there is a proprietary hardware IT platforms do not belong to super convergence, for instance, in the traditional centralized storage controller is proprietary hardware;
2. Software definition: super convergence in the IT services through the x86 server running software implementation, such as distributed storage software to realize data storage services; Compared with traditional IT service is mostly written in proprietary hardware and function of logic in the firmware death;
3. A unified platform: all the IT services in a flat, belonging to the same software stack, here way different from past IT service architecture, each service will belong to different platform; Need special distinction is that the market will storage devices, servers, network switches in a cabinet in the overall delivery of the fusion scheme, such as: VCE Vblock, completely different and fusion,
Visible super fusion is a concept, not a technology, this explicit itself is very important for understanding the ultra fusion, different fusion products and manufacturers is not the concept itself, or the difference between a gap in the technology behind the super fusion and implementation approach, a simple analogy: "auto" is a concept, the dictionary explanation is: "usually a four-wheeled automotive, used for street and road transportation", as if to implement this concept here didn't do rules and restrictions, so both all-electric tesla, fukuda small CARDS, golf carts, is to meet the above definition, but use behind the scenes and implement, is enormous,
2. Evaluation of super integration platform what need to focus on the core problem?
Understand the concept of super fusion is, the further question: each manufacturer of fusion products achieve what are the different? Real concerns, this issue is selecting the fusion out four sub problems:
1. The integration platform to integrate the IT service?
1) distributed storage break data islands
Though super fusion integrates multiple IT service by means of software defined, but the software defined storage is cornerstone, there needs to be explain: pooling local storage server, the software definition stored must be distributed, and can used by virtual machines on the into virtual volume, without special instructions, the software in the super integration platform definition refers to the distributed block storage,
No stable reliable distributed block Storage and will not be able to provide a unified Storage resources abstraction, no unified abstraction, local Storage for each server is a data island, with the traditional stand-alone store there is no difference, so, discuss the super integration platform does not discuss distributed Storage, and the types of soft display platform IT service, moreover should use how much support IT kinds of standards as a fusion of algebra, basic can determine is a kind of "misleading", the essence is the vendor does not have the super fusion and distributed Storage research and development ability, the mainstream core manufacturers invariably on distributed block Storage with core competitiveness and the independent research and development ability, such as: Nutanix Acropolis Enterprise Storage called NDFS before (internal), VMware VSAN, SmartX ZBS etc are corresponding to the core of integration platform in distributed Storage,
2) the indispensible virtualized computing
Virtualized computing is another essential service integration platform, the computation and storage is the most basic IT infrastructure, many vendors will also be a part of the function of the network services into virtualized computing, because of the Hypervisor technology is relatively mature, whether closed source VMware ESXi KVM is open source, both functional and performance for many years by the market, so the virtualized computing services on super integration platform basic on VMware products and products based on KVM from research, such as: the Nutanix AHV (based on KVM), VMware vSphere (based on ESXi), the Elf SmartX (based on KVM), etc., of course Nutanix and SmartX also support VMware virtualization computing platform, and with the aid of its powerful storage service, and even outperform the overall integration platform of VMware,
3) a platform to manage multiple IT services, operational trend of simplification is
With a single server computing power is more and more strong, more and more of IT services are to be implemented by means of software defined, such as: emergency services, all flash memory, container services, network services, security services, etc.,
A platform with multiple IT service is a kind of trend, with the revolutionary change is that traditional architecture need operations to manage multiple IT platform, under the super convergence, a set of management platform is enough, IT is to review the IT operations from a new point of view, provides a great imagination, at the same time, the ultra strong fusion architecture implementation to use unified management platform, its importance and priority was also promoted to unprecedented levels, leading companies like super fusion Nutanix, SmartX etc., under the operations management platform, respectively introduced intelligent power management platform: Nutanix Prism and SmartX Fisheye, greatly improve the system usability,
Summarize is, super integration platform in distributed storage, virtualization computing and unified operations management platform is the smallest, is also the core collection, the lack of any one could not be called super integration platform, but with the development of hardware, more services are bound to implementation in a super integration platform,
2. The IT service is how to implement?
Evaluating super fusion products, the key is not to see what IT contains, plug in to the "box" super fusion more IT services is much less than the plug into the "box" IT service quality is important, some vendors cognitive fusion with customers on the super market is not mature, will blindly spell platform services and functions on the number of super fusion, IT is usual to open source projects, such as: "IT + open source distributed storage (Ceph/GlusterFS... ) "build a function appears to be a lot of" super integration platform "quickly to the market, you can see, almost no user can really with it in the end, the reason is that this piece of" fusion "super products tend to each service component quality cannot pass, in reliability, stability, performance problems, combined with the open source community basic is not under the control of the manufacturers, the so-called after-sales support was largely invisible, it is difficult to achieve a product should have a market readiness,
1) implementation mechanism is the core
Core is to realize its technology and mechanism of service, for example, a mobile phone batteries for mobile phones for long life, the ability of a manufacturer simply increase the capacity of the battery block, another company USES a battery management algorithm optimization of mobile phone software, even if the final test will last for two days, but the first mobile phone on the implementation mechanism of life is not as good as the second, because of the increased cell block can cause cell phone hot, and there is the risk of battery explosion, but these defects can not in the test battery life indicator,
The same product used in fusion, super fusion compete is the most important is necessarily distributed block storage, virtualization, the realization of the operational management platform,
Top priority is a software defined storage, it is the foundation of super integration platform, the current market in various ultra the realization of the integration platform distributed block storage is nothing more than two ways:
- independent research and development, such as: Nutanix NDFS, VMware VSAN, SmartX ZBS, huawei Fusion Storage;
- directly adopting open source distributed storage or slightly modified based on open source, such as, Ceph, GlusterFS;
The greatest benefit of open source is the cycle of the product can be greatly shortened, the biggest risk in addition to storing stability is no guarantee, and the manufacturer's ability to control and maintain storage little, no other system, storage system guarded the enterprise is the most important data, in case of problems would be in a helpless situation out of control, and brings to the enterprise loss is heavy and immeasurably,
There is a fact that cannot be ignored, foreign famous super integration vendors are no exception, are to go the way of independent research and development, also confirmed in the mature market environment, the user will be the rational choice of autonomous control and security products, throughout the history of the development of IT, not even a storage company, the use of open source projects to achieve their own storage products, and products and business success, and once again proved, storage of business continuity, reliability and security of the data, not a business customer "dare" confided his business to uncontrollable storage products,
All distributed on the market can converge to two basic block storage architecture, a data placement and distribution depend on metadata service, another placement and distribution depend on data consistency hash, but in terms of distributed block storage itself, and two kinds of data architecture each has his strong point, but on super integration scenario, the metadata service mode has more advantages, the placement of data is more flexible and controllable, such as: the VM data localization can shorten the I/O paths, greatly reduce network traffic, the product of this architecture have Nutanix NDFS and SmartX ZBS,
Followed by virtualized computing, and storage, virtualization Hypervisor core technology is relatively mature, the super fusion products more compete is virtualization platform support ability, support for multiple binding the makers of virtualization platform means less risk, in addition, whether to support virtualization special interface is also very important indicator, it directly affect the use and maintenance support experience, such as: VMware VAAI/VVol, Citrix Ready and so on, the more excellent foreign manufacturers is Nutanix, almost all of the virtualization support platform; Domestic manufacturers SmartX, huawei support all except the Hyper - v virtualization platform; VMware support only their virtualization platform, open source integration schemes generally only supports KVM,
As open source KVM Hypervisor chosen by many manufacturers, but need to implement their virtualized computing management platform, in addition to the basic VM life cycle management, also need to implement at least enterprise commonly used functions, such as: HA, VM, distributed virtual switch, Shared disk, etc.,
In addition to the storage and computing, and other IT services will more or less dependent on the above two kinds of core services, such as: disaster on and backup storage service; Container layout dependent on computing services,
2) resource consumption should focus on evaluation
In addition to the implementation of the service mechanism, super integration platform has a special request: resource consumption to as little as possible, super integration scenarios, consume large amounts of resources is absolutely not acceptable, each physical server running in addition to the storage, computation, and other IT services, and leave the rest of the allocation of resources for business applications, IT services occupy the resources, the greater the for the smaller business application resources, and even squeeze into a business cannot run, resource consumption not only saves the TCO indicators, more important variables influencing super fusion is practical,
The following collected various merchants distributed resource consumption situation of block storage products,
3. How to integrate and manage service?
1) each have advantages and disadvantages of three kinds of service integration way
Service integration is generalized integration platform on the combination of the various services methods, but the discussion is more, the integration of storage and virtualization, which can be roughly divided into three categories:
- storage service as a kernel module running within the Hypervisor, is the most typical representative VxRail, storage services VSAN as ESXi/vSphere kernel modules are integrated, storage services under this architecture without Hypervisor direct access storage devices, almost no performance loss, local I/O performance can give full play to in theory, it is a pity that the actual performance of the VSAN did not stand out in a super fusion products, should be stored software optimization and gap compared to other manufacturers, this tightly coupled architecture exists the risks:
- the risk of vendor lock-in, such as VMware fusion platform virtualization computing locked vSphere;
Independence of computing and storage can't upgrade;
- storage or virtualized computing services any problems may affect the normal work of the other party,
nullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnull