Storage Technology Basics

Foreword


Data is the most important asset for every enterprise. This course
describes how and where data is stored, and provides the key data
storage technologies in cloud computing.

3 Huawei Confidential
 Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:


Understand mainstream data storage modes and network topologies.

Master RAID and Huawei RAID 2.0+ block virtualization technologies.

Distinguish between centralized and distributed storage.

Understand storage protocols and application scenarios.

4 Huawei Confidential
 Contents

1. Storage Basics
 Definition of Storage
 History of Storage
 Mainstream Disk Types
 Storage Networking Types
 Storage Forms

2. Key Storage Technologies

5 Huawei Confidential
What Is Storage?

Database
User server
Application server

Mail server

Online Nearline Offline

storage storage storage

Employe Based on the data access

es File server frequency

Data Data Data

generation processing management

6 Huawei Confidential
 Contents

1. Storage Basics
 Definition of Storage
 History of Storage
 Mainstream Disk Types
 Storage Networking Types
 Storage Forms

2. Key Storage Technologies

7 Huawei Confidential
History of Storage

Controller

This century
1990s • Distributed
• Storage storage
1980s network • Cloud storage
• External
1950s storage
• Traditional
storage

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Storage Development - from Server Attached Storage
to Independent Storage Systems
External disk array Intelligent disk array

Disk in the server CPU Server Server

CPU

Server RAM
RAM
CPU
Disk Disk
RAM

SCSI card
SCSI
Disk card
Controller

Just a Bunch Of Disks (JBOD)

A controller provides the RAID function and

Restrictions: JBOD logically connects several large-capacity cache, and enables the disk
• Disks become the system performance physical disks to increase array to have multiple functions for better
bottleneck. capacity. read/write performance and data security.
• The number of disk slots is limited,
thereby limiting capacity. Problems solved:
• Data is stored on a single disk, lowering Problem solved: •Disks become the system performance
data reliability. bottleneck.
• Storage space utilization is low. • The number of disk slots is • The number of disk slots is limited,
• Data is scattered in local storage limited, thereby limiting thereby limiting capacity.
systems. • Data is stored on a single disk, lowering
capacity. data reliability and read/write
9 Huawei Confidential performance.
Storage Development - from Independent Storage
Systems to Network Shared Storage
SAN NAS

Server
Server Server
Server
Server
CPU
Server
Server
File system File system
RAM

SAN LAN

Disk
RAID File system
SCSI card

Controller Problems solved:

• Disks become the system performance bottleneck.
• The number of disk slots is limited, thereby limiting capacity.
• Data is stored on a single disk, lowering data reliability and read/write
performance.
• Storage space utilization is low.
• Data cannot be shared.
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 Contents

1. Storage Basics
 Definition of Storage
 History of Storage
 Mainstream Disk Types
 Storage Networking Types
 Storage Forms

2. Key Storage Technologies

11 Huawei Confidential
Introduction to Disks

Disks can be considered the most important storage device of a computer.

A disk interface is a component used to connect a disk to a host. It transmits data between the disk cache
and the host memory. The disk interface type determines the connection speed between the disk and the
computer, the program running speed, and system performance.

SATA SAS NL-SAS SSD

Rotational
7,200 15,000/10,000 7,200 N/A
speed (rpm)
Serial/Parallel Serial Serial Serial Serial

Capacity (TB) 1 TB/2 TB/3 TB 0.6 TB/0.9 TB 2 TB/3 TB/4 TB 0.6 TB/0.8 TB/1.2 TB/1.6 TB

MTBF (h) 1,200,000 1,600,000 1,200,000 2,000,000

SAS disks are designed to meet Solid state disks (SSDs) are
NL-SAS disks are enterprise-class
enterprises' high performance made up of solid-state electronic
Being developed from ATA SATA drives with SAS interfaces.
requirements, and are compatible storage chip arrays.
disks, SATA 3.0 supports They are applicable to storage
with SATA disks. The transmission Each SSD consists of a control
up to 600 MB/s data tiering in a disk array, which
rate ranges from 3.0 Gbit/s to 6.0 unit and a storage unit (DRAM or
Remarks transfer. simplifies the design of the disk
Gbit/s, and will be increased to flash chip). SSDs are the same
array.
12.0 Gbit/s. as the common disks in the
The annual failure rate of
regulations and definition of
SATA disks is about 2%. The annual failure rate of NL-SAS
The annual failure rate of SAS interfaces, functions, usage, as
disks is about 2%.
disks is less than 2%. well as the exterior and size.

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Disk Key Indicators

Disk capacity Bandwidth
IOPS
(128 KB
Disk Type (4 KB random

Rotational speed (HDD only) sequential
write)
read)

Average access time SATA 330 200 MB/s

Data transfer rate
SAS 10K 350 195 MB/s

Input/Output operations per second (IOPS)
SAS 15K 450 290 MB/s
Higher IOPS,
IOPS

better SATA SSD 30,000 to 60,000 540 MB/s

performance
SAS SSD 155,000 1000 MB/s
Maximum
read
bandwidth
Maximum NVMe SSD 300,000 3500 MB/s
Bandwidth write
bandwidth

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 Contents

1. Storage Basics
 Definition of Storage
 History of Storage
 Mainstream Disk Types
 Storage Networking Types
 Storage Forms

2. Key Storage Technologies

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Introduction to DAS

Direct attached storage (DAS)

Time: 1970s

Server

Background: Data explosion drove up
Fibre huge demand for storage. A simple storage
SAS SCSI
Channel
architecture, DAS, was then introduced.
Controller Controller Controller

Connection mode: Fibre Channel, SCSI,
or SAS

Access mode: The connection channels
Disk array
between DAS and server hosts often use
SAS.

Link rate: 3 Gbit/s 、 6 Gbit/s 、 12 Gbit/s
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
Provides functions, such as snapshot
Introduction to NAS (1)

Network attached storage (NAS)

Time: early 1990s
NAS system
Unix architecture
Linux Windows

Background: Developing networks drove the
need for large-scale data sharing and
exchange, leading to dedicated NAS storage
NFS NFS CIFS devices.

Access mode: Multiple front-end servers
Dedicated IP share space on back-end NAS storage devices
storage network using CIFS or NFS Concurrent read and write
NFS and
CIFS File system operations can be performed on the same
RAID
directory or file.

The file system is on the back-end
NAS storage
device storage device.

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Introduction to NAS (2)

NAS supports the centralized management of scattered and independent data,
facilitating access to various hosts and application servers.

NAS
Ethernet Ethernet
port port
NFS
File
system
Volume management Volume management
module module

LUN0 LUN1 LUN2 LUN3 LUN4 LUN5

LUN6 LUN7 LUN8 LUN9 LUN10 LUN11

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Introduction to SAN

A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated storage network that connects one or
more network storage devices to servers.

Clients

LAN

Servers

Ethernet switch Fibre Channel switch

Storage devices
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Introduction to FC SAN

Fiber Channel storage area network (FC
SAN)
Server 
Time: middle and late 1990s

Background: To solve the poor scalability
issue of DAS, storage devices was networked.
More than 100 servers can be connected in a
Fibre
Channel network.
switch Fibre
Channel link

Connection mode: Fibre Channel link; Fibre
Channel switch
FC SAN
Controller 
Access mode: The storage space on the back-
end storage device can be divided into multiple
LUNs. Each LUN belongs to only one front-end
server.
Disk array

Link rate: 2 Gbit/s, 4 Gbit/s, or 8 Gbit/s

Provides advanced data protection
19 Huawei Confidential functions, such as snapshot and disaster
recovery.
Introduction to IP SAN

IP storage area network (IP SAN)

Time: 2001

Background: IP SAN is designed to solve the price
Server and management issues of the FC SAN.

Connection mode: Ethernet link; Ethernet switch

Access mode: The storage space on the back-end
Ethernet switch storage device can be divided into multiple LUNs.
Each LUN belongs to only one front-end server.
IP link 
Link rate: 1 Gbit/s, or 10 Gbit/s

The IP SAN provides advanced data protection
iSCSI storage functions, such as snapshot and disaster recovery.
controller 
iSCSI is a mainstream choice because:

Mature IP network management tools and
infrastructure can be used.

IP networks are widely used, which can reduce a
Disk array large number of construction, management, and
personnel costs.

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Comparison Between Storage Networking Types
SAN
DAS NAS
FC SAN IP SAN
Transmission SCSI, Fibre Channel,
IP Fibre Channel IP
mode and SAS

Data type Block-level File-level Block-level Block-level

Application
Any File servers Database applications Video security
scenario
High scalability and Strong
Easy to understand; Easy to install;
Advantage performance; scalability;
robust compatibility low cost
high availability low cost

Difficult
management; limited Low performance; Expensive and complex Low
Disadvantag
scalability; low inapplicable to some configuration; poor performance
e
storage space applications networking compatibility
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 Contents

1. Storage Basics
 Definition of Storage
 History of Storage
 Mainstream Disk Types
 Storage Networking Types
 Storage Forms

2. Key Storage Technologies

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Centralized Storage

A centralized storage system refers to one set of storage system consisting of multiple devices.
Enterprises often deploy their storage devices on a centralized environment. For example, the Huawei
storage system may need several cabinets to house devices. In terms of technical architectures,
centralized storage is classified into SAN (including FC SAN and IP SAN) and NAS storage.

Centralized storage has a simple deployment structure, which means you do not need to consider how to
deploy multiple nodes for a service, or the distributed collaboration between multiple nodes.

Server

Ethernet switch

IP link

iSCSI storage controller

Disk storage

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Distributed Storage

A distributed storage system stores data on multiple independent devices. It adopts a scalable system
architecture and enables multiple storage servers to share the storage load, improving scalability,
reliability, availability, and access efficiency. As distributed storage is becoming more popular, some
applications requiring high performance, such as databases of financial systems, also use distributed
storage.

Server Server Server

1 2 3

Volume1 Volume2 Volume3 Volume10 Volume11

P1 P2 Px
...
P1 P2 Py

Disk Disk Disk Disk Disk Disk

Resource pool 1 Resource pool 2
Host1 Host2 Host3 Host4 Host5 Host6

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Storage Service Type
iSCSI/FC NFS/CIFS HTTP/REST/S3
Protocol layer

Object
File Object
Object Object Data
system Key
system Object

Storage Metadat
layer
... a
User-
... ... defined
metadata

Block storage File storage Object storage


Advantages: direct access,

Advantages: easy 
Flat structure and nearly unlimited capacity
management and expansion
minimized overhead, and high
interconnection with
efficiency applications 
More intelligent self-management

Disadvantages: high cost and 
Disadvantages: limited 
Standard Internet protocol of the industry, cross-
poor scalability scalability regional transmission capability

Application scenarios:

Application scenarios: enterprise 
Application scenarios: Internet-oriented storage,
enterprises' internal
databases, such as Oracle application integration and file archiving, and backup
sharing
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 Contents

1. Storage Basics
2. Key Storage Technologies
 RAID Technologies
 Storage Protocol

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What Is RAID?

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) combines multiple physical disks into one
logical disk in different ways, improving read/write performance and data security.

 RAID levels based on combination methods

RAID 0 Data striping, no parity

RAID 1 Data mirroring, no parity

RAID 3 Data striping, with dedicated parity

RAID 5 Data striping, with distributed parity

RAID 6 Data striping, with double distributed parity

 RAID levels by using two different RAID modes

RAID 0+1 Create RAID 0 and then RAID 1, providing data striping
and mirroring.

RAID 10 Similar to RAID 0+1. The difference is that RAID 1 is

created before RAID 0.

RAID 50 Create RAID 5 and then RAID 0, effectively improving the

performance of RAID 5.
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RAID Data Distribution

Disk striping: Space in each disk is divided into multiple strips of a specific size.
Written data is also divided into blocks based on the strip size.

Strip: A strip consists of one or more consecutive sectors in a disk, and multiple
strips form a stripe.

Stripe: A stripe consists of strips of the same location or ID on multiple disks in the
same array.

Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3

D6 D7 D8 Stripe 2 Stripe depth

D3 D4 D5 Stripe 1

D0 D1 D2 Stripe 0

Data strips Data strips Data strips

in a disk in a disk in a disk

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RAID Data Protection

1. Mirroring: Data copies are stored on another redundant disk.

2. Parity check algorithm (XOR)

XOR is widely used in digital electronics and computer science.

XOR is a logical operation that outputs true only when inputs differ (one is true,
the other is false).

0 ⊕ 0 = 0, 0 ⊕ 1 = 1, 1 ⊕ 0= 1, 1 ⊕ 1 = 0

Physical disk 1 Physical disk 2 Parity disk

1 1 0
0 1 1
0 0 0

XOR for redundant backup

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RAID Hot Spare and Reconstruction

Hot spare

If a disk in a redundant RAID group is faulty, a functional backup disk in the RAID group can automatically replace
the faulty one to ensure RAID system redundancy.


Hot spare can be classified into the following types:

Global: The spare disk is shared by all RAID groups in the system.

Dedicated: The spare disk is used only by a specific RAID group in the system.

A0 Reconstructi XOR
on

Fault

Reconstructi
A0 A1 A2 P
on Replacement
Data disk Data disk Data disk Parity disk

Hot spare
disk

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Common RAID Levels
RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10

D3 D2 D3 D3

D2 Logical D1 Logical D2 Logical D2

Logical
disk disk disk D1
D1 D0 D1 disk

D0 D0 D0
RAID
0
D2 D2
D2 D3 D1 D1 D2 P1 D3 D0 D1 D2 D3
D0 D1 D0 D1 P0 RAID RAID RAID RAID 1
D0 D0
1 1 1
Physica Physica Physica Physica Physica Physica Physica
l disk 1 l disk 2 l disk 1 l disk 2 l disk 1 l disk 2 l disk 3 D0' D0' D1 D1 D2 D2 D3 D3
D3' ' ’ ’ ' ’ '
Physica Physica Physica Physica
Data striping Mirrorin Data parity l disk 1 l disk 2 …… l disk 7 l disk 8
g

Three key
technologies
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Working Principles of RAID 6 DP

Double parity (DP): In addition to the horizontal XOR parity disk used in RAID 4, it adds
another disk to store diagonal XOR parity data.

P0 to P3 on the horizontal parity disk are the parity information of horizontal data on all data
disks.

For example, P 0 = D 0 XOR D 1 XOR D 2 XOR D 3


DP 0 to DP 3 in the diagonal parity disk represent the diagonal parity data for respective data
disks and the horizontal parity disk.

For example, DP 0 = D 0 XOR D 5 XOR D 10 XOR D 15
Physic
Physic Physic Physic Horizonta Diagonal
al disk al disk al disk al disk l parity parity
1 2 3
D2 4 disk
P0 disk
DP0
D0 D1 D3 Stripe
D6 P1 0
D4 D5 D7 DP1 Stripe
1
D8 D9 D10 D11 P2 DP2 Stripe
2
D12 D13 D14 D15 P3 DP3 Stripe
3
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Introduction to RAID 2.0

RAID 2.0

RAID 2.0 is an enhanced RAID technology that effectively resolves the following problems: prolonged
reconstruction of an HDD, and data loss if a disk is faulty during the long reconstruction of a
traditional RAID group.

RAID 2.0+

RAID 2.0+ provides smaller resource granularities (tens of KB) than RAID 2.0 to serve as the units of
standard allocation and reclamation of storage resources, similar to VMs in computing virtualization.
This technology is called virtual block technology.

Huawei RAID 2.0+

Huawei RAID 2.0+ is a new RAID technology that overcomes traditional RAID issues. Huawei RAID
2.0+ evolves in line with the storage architecture virtualization to implement two-layer virtualized
management instead of the traditional fixed management. Based on the underlying disk
management that employs block virtualization (Virtual for Disk), RAID 2.0+ uses Smart-series
efficiency improvement software to implement efficient resource management that features upper-
layer virtualization (Virtual for Pool).

35 Huawei Confidential
RAID 2.0+ Block Virtualization

If data is not evenly stored on SSDs, some heavily loaded SSDs may become
the system bottleneck.

The storage system uses RAID 2.0+ for fine-grained division of SSDs to
evenly distribute data to all LUNs on each SSD and balance loads.

36 Huawei Confidential
 Contents

1. Storage Basics
2. Key Storage Technologies
 RAID Technologies
 Storage Protocol

37 Huawei Confidential
SCSI

Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) is an interface technology developed for
midrange computers and used for connecting between hosts and peripheral
devices.
I/O
SCSI request
Data/Address bus Host Disk
bus
Host
Adapter C/S
SCSI ID 7 Control signal SCSI application layer SCSI application layer

Command/Data
SCSI array SCSI transport layer SCSI transport layer
SCSI array
ID 0 ID 5
Bus connection
LUN 0 LUN 1 LUN 0 SCSI SCSI
LUN 2 LUN 1 interconnection interconnection
layer layer
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iSCSI

iSCSI encapsulates SCSI commands and block data into TCP packets and transmits
the packets over an IP network. iSCSI uses mature IP network technologies to
implement and extend SANs.
SCSI applications (such as file systems and databases)
SCSI block instruction SCSI flow instruction Other SCSI instructions

SCSI instruction, data and status

iSCSI

TCP

IP

Physical layer

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iSCSI Initiator and Target

Initiator
iSCSI

The SCSI layer generates command descriptor
Initiator Target
blocks (CDBs) and transfers them to the iSCSI
SCSI SCSI
layer.

The iSCSI layer generates iSCSI protocol data units
iSCSI iSCSI
(PDUs) and sends them to the target over an IP
network.
TCP TCP

Target

The iSCSI layer receives PDUs and sends CDBs to IP IP

the SCSI layer.

Link Link

The SCSI layer interprets CDBs and gives
responses when necessary.
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Discussion:

We have learned the FC SAN and IP SAN. Now assume that two sites use
different networks FC SAN and TCP/IP. How can storage devices at the two
sites communicate with each other?
?
 To converge Fibre Channel and TCP?

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Convergence of Fibre Channel and TCP

Ethernet technologies and Fibre Channel technologies are both developing fast.
Therefore, it is inevitable that IP SAN and FC SAN that are complementary coexist
for a long time.

Fibre Channel over a TCP/IP network:

iFCP

FCoE

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iFCP

Internet Fibre Channel Protocol (iFCP) is a gateway-to-gateway protocol that
provides Fibre Channel communication services for optical devices on TCP/IP
networks to implement end-to-end IP connection.
iFCP gateway iFCP gateway

TCP/IP

Fibre Channel storage

system Fibre Channel storage
system
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iFCP Protocol Stack

iFCP is between Fibre Channel and TCP/IP, which means that iFCP can interwork with
either Fibre Channel or TCP/IP.

SCSI applications (such as file systems and databases)

SCSI block instruction SCSI flow instruction Other SCSI instructions

SCSI instruction, data and status

Fibre Channel

iFCP

TCP

IP

Physical layer

45 Huawei Confidential
FCoE

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) allows the transmission of LAN and FC SAN data
on the same Ethernet link. This reduces the number of devices, cables, and network
nodes in a data center, as well as power consumption and cooling loads, simplifying
management.

FCoE encapsulates FC data frames into Ethernet frames and allows service traffic on
Ethernet
a LAN and SAN to be transmitted over the same data link layer
Ethernet.
frame
Service flow IP
address
Block storage FCoE

VoIP call

Video stream VoIP

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FCoE Protocol Encapsulation

FCoE encapsulates contents in the FC-2 and above layers into Ethernet packets for
transmission.

FC-4 FC-4
FC-3 FC-3 Fibre Channel protocol layers
FC-2 FC-2
FC-1 FCoE
FC-0 MAC
Ethernet protocol layers
PHY

47 Huawei Confidential
Discussion:

What are the application scenarios of FCoE?

What are the application scenarios of iFCP?
?

48 Huawei Confidential
 Quiz

1. Which of the following statements about FC SAN are true?

A. Fibre Channel switches are required.

B. Ethernet switches are required.

C. Fibre Channel links cannot be used between storage devices.

D. Data packets comply with the Fibre Channel protocol stack.

2. The performance of SATA disks is better than that of SAS disks.

A. True

B. False

49 Huawei Confidential
 Summary

In this course, we covered:


Mainstream data storage modes and network topologies

RAID and Huawei RAID 2.0+ block virtualization technologies

Differences and relationships between centralized storage and
distributed storage

Storage protocols and their application scenarios

In the next course, we will learn the network technologies.

50 Huawei Confidential
Recommendations


Huawei iLearning

https://e.huawei.com/en/talent/#/

Huawei Support Case Library

https://support.huawei.com/enterprise/en/knowledge?lang=en

51 Huawei Confidential
 Acronyms and Abbreviations
FC: Fibre Channel

FCIP: Fibre Channel over IP

FCoE: Fibre Channel over Ethernet

iFCP: Internet Fibre Channel Protocol

iSCSI: Internet Small Computer System Interface

IPFC: IP over Fiber Channel

52 Huawei Confidential
 Acronyms and Abbreviations
IOPS: Input/Output per second

MTBF: Mean Time Between Failure

NAS: Network Attached Storage

RAID: Redundant Array of Independent Disks

SAN: Storage Area Network

SCSI: Small Computer System Interface

53 Huawei Confidential
Thank you. 把数字世界带入每个人、每个家庭、
每个组织 , 构建万物互联的智能世界 .
Bring digital to every person, home, and
organization for a fully connected,
intelligent world.

Copyright©2021 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

The information in this document may contain predictive

statements including, without limitation, statements regarding
the future financial and operating results, future product
portfolio, new technology, etc. There are a number of factors that
could cause actual results and developments to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the predictive statements.
Therefore, such information is provided for reference purpose
only and constitutes neither an offer nor an acceptance. Huawei
may change the information at any time without notice.