1. SAN 2001 Session 201 The Future of Storage Area Networks Milan Merhar Chief Scientist, Pirus Networks Milan@Pirus.com

2. SAN 2001 Conference Future Storage Trends Higher transport speedsHigher transport speeds –1 or 2 Gbps now, going to 10 Gbps soon –Fibre Channel, Ethernet, InfiniBand all may have applications More complex topologies and storage modelsMore complex topologies and storage models –More devices attached to the common network –Greater geographic reach –More traffic aggregation (trunks instead of home-runs) –Blurring of distinctions between block and file access models More complex security modelsMore complex security models –Increased threat profile –Impossible to depend on Physical security alone Storage Management as largest item in IT budgets?Storage Management as largest item in IT budgets?

3. SAN 2001 Conference Group 4 Group 3 Group 2 Group 1 Benefits of Intelligent Infrastructure Centralized Management Intrinsic redundancy Optimized Resource Usage Merged Common Services Vendor Independence Investment Protection

4. SAN 2001 Conference iSCSI FCIP FCIP IP MAN/WAN Unified Storage Access iSCSI Block Access SAN LAN File Access File Access SAN FC Block Access

5. SAN 2001 Conference Virtual Storage Services Clients see only “virtual” target device Storage sees only “virtual” initiators Both are isolated from changes to internal configuration. Advantages: Provides a consistent client view of storage SAN

6. SAN 2001 Conference SAN Clients see only “virtual” target device Storage sees only “virtual” initiators Both are isolated from changes to internal configuration. Advantages: Provides a consistent client view of storage Enables N+1 service redundancy Virtual Storage Services

7. SAN 2001 Conference SAN Clients see only “virtual” target device Storage sees only “virtual” initiators Both are isolated from changes to internal configuration. Advantages: Provides a consistent client view of storage Enables N+1 service redundancy Rapid provisioning Virtual Storage Services

8. SAN 2001 Conference SAN Clients see only “virtual” target device Storage sees only “virtual” initiators Both are isolated from changes to internal configuration. Advantages: Provides a consistent client view of storage Enables N+1 service redundancy Rapid provisioning Allows temporary resource allocation Virtual Storage Services

9. SAN 2001 Conference Some Predictions for the next 5 years Parity between Fibre Channel and iSCSIParity between Fibre Channel and iSCSI –Switched FC for low latency, FC-AL for direct attachment –Gigabit Ethernet iSCSI becoming a commodity solution 10 Gigabit Ethernet seen as a higher-speed alternative10 Gigabit Ethernet seen as a higher-speed alternative –Negligible increased latency from short store-and-forward interval –No special equipment needed at SAN/MAN/WAN edge InfiniBand is a viable clustering solutionInfiniBand is a viable clustering solution –But, will drive vendors support it as a native interface? SANs remain separate from LANsSANs remain separate from LANs –Although both may be Ethernet-based, each evolves to support a different form of intelligence embedded in the network Similar performance from File, Block storage serversSimilar performance from File, Block storage servers –Object-oriented storage servers available, but not mainstream yet