Controlling Costs and Reducing Risk Through the SAN Maturity Model

Agenda
SAN Maturity Model Overview SMM and Business Value SMM Levels
Description Management Characteristics

Steps to SAN Maturity Measuring SAN Maturity Progress Q&A

2

SMM Overview

SAN Maturity Model (SMM) - Introduction

The SAN Maturity Model is a management framework designed to systematically improve SAN business value through the continuous improvement of people, processes, and technology. The objectives of the framework are to:
1. 2. 3. 4. Increase the availability and reliability of business applications Drive down the overall number of SAN-related problems Optimize the use of SAN capacity and minimize over-provisioning Ensure that the design and capacity of the SAN infrastructure is costeffectively aligned with the needs of the business by leveraging performance-based metrics

Developed by Virtual Instruments and the Enterprise Strategy Group and derived from ESGs Data Center Efficiency Maturity Model
http://www.virtualinstruments.com/docs/WP_ESG_Brief_Virtual_Instruments_SAN_Maturity_Model.pdf

Background of Maturity Models

Maturity models have been around for over 20 years Initially develop by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in the late 1980s to address the complexity of large software development projects This first model was called the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) CMM was later revised in the 1990s to CMMI (CMM Integrated) to reflect the changes in software development Other more IT-focused maturity models have been developed over time including: Gartners IT Infrastructure Operations and Maturity Model and ESGs Data Center Efficiency Maturity Model In these maturity models, the key elements that must be developed are: People, Process and Technology
5

State of the SAN at Each SMM Level

Measured and IT Optimized Operational Excellence SAN is cleaned up for a point-in-time Business Impact

5
Optimizing

4
Quantitatively Managed

HELP! You dont want to be here

3
Defined Applications instrumented and well-understood Recurring application baselines Current infrastructure optimized Performancebased SLAs TACTICAL OPTIMIZATION

Businessaligned design and architecture Infrastructure optimization Technology assessments Optimized spending on future purchases

2
Managed Continuous stability Baseline measured Monitoring and alerting Proactively avoid problems PROACTIVE

1
Initial Point-in-time stability Reactive to problems Physical layer issues addressed REACTIVE

Unmanaged Many risks Unsustainable

CHAOS

STRATEGIC OPTIMIZATION

Things to Consider about SMM Levels

SMM is an operational framework Most SANs span multiple levels of SMM Determining where you are requires measurement Progress is measured by defining specific KPIs and measuring and reporting on those KPIs SMM aligns with ITILs IT Service Management which focuses on fit for purpose and fit for use IT services This is not rocket science! Most SAN/storage managers will recognize these SMM steps and activities.

SMM and Business Value

SMM and Business Value

5 4 3 2
Reduced ISLs Reduced targets Reduced cabling Reduced downtime Reduced resolution time Improved personnel efficiency Reduced re-work Performance-based storage tiering Increased VM adoption and density Broad SLA use Business-aligned infrastructure Further disk tiering Optimized SAN capacity VM optimization

CapEx

Metric-based provisioning Reduced performance events

OpEx

Reduced trouble tickets Reduced downtime

Maximizing Business Value at each SMM Level

 Level 3
Most OpEx savings Stable, proactively managed SAN; business risks minimized Personnel efficiency, reduced outages and downtime
3
Defined

 Level 4
Defer CapEx by optimizing existing SAN/storage capacity Balance existing servers, ISLs and storage target connectivity Performance and response time metrics integrated into provisioning processes
4
Quantitatively Managed

 Level 5
Performance-based SLAs Minimize CapEx through optimized infrastructure design
Performance-based tiered storage Server consolidation and virtualization Storage consolidation and virtualization

5
Optimizing

10

SMM Levels

11

Level 1 - Description
SAN is not managed as an important IT asset High risk during moves/adds/changes Inconsistent performance and reliability Time-consuming/costly troubleshooting Over-provisioned and areas of congestions Frequent performance and availability issues
12

1
Initial

Level 1 Management Characteristics

No dedicated management staff Individual heroics No management tools No workload or performance monitoring No error monitoring No alerting of critical SAN events and conditions No planning around moves/adds/changes
13

1
Initial

Level 2 - Description
Point-in-time SAN stability Unpredictable behavior during moves/adds changes Performance and reliability inconsistent Time-consuming/costly troubleshooting Over-provisioned and areas of congestion Performance and availability issues occur regularly Eventually slips back to Level 1
14

2
Managed

Level 2 - Management Characteristics

Periodically the SAN is cleaned up SAN management style is reactive Problem resolution is hit or miss Snapshot of SAN workload No management tools No workload or performance monitoring No error monitoring No alerting of critical SAN events and conditions
15

2
Managed

Level 3 - Description
Managed as critical IT infrastructure Storage transaction performance consistent and reliable Move/adds/changes are low risk and predictable Reduced problems and downtime Tool-based troubleshooting and root cause analysis Less re-work is required Balanced workload across infrastructure resources
16

3
Defined

Level 3 Management Characteristics

Appropriate staffing Culture of continuous improvement Proactive monitoring and alerting Performance monitoring of critical applications Moves/add/changes de-risked Rapid root and efficient cause analysis Problem remediation is data-driven
17

3
Defined

Level 4 - Description
Focus on workload measurement and optimization Over-provisioning of infrastructure capacity is reduced Server virtualization and tiered storage optimization Regular baselines of utilization Performance-based service level agreements (SLAs) Data-driven technology decisions

4
Quantitatively Managed

18

Level 4 Management Characteristics

Continuous operational improvement

4
Quantitatively Managed

Data-driven move/adds/changes

Regular workload reporting

Proactive re-balancing of workload

Proactive performance mgmt and capacity planning

19

Level 5 - Description
Focus is on SAN capacity and technology alignment

5
Optimizing

Business-aligned infrastructure

Technology benchmarking

Measurement for consolidation and virtualization projects

Wide-spread adoption of performance-based SLAs

20

Level 5 Management Characteristics

5
Optimizing

Customized workload and performance data collection

Broad use of response time monitoring and alerting based on SLAs

Design Build Operate integration

21

Steps to SAN Maturity

22

Maturity Steps: Level 1

Level 2

Update inventory of SAN components Update firmware Decommission obsolete components Identify and resolve: physical errors, C3Ds and SCSI errors Develop a baseline analysis Remediate areas of congestions Identify areas of poor performance and remediate Improve definition of personnel roles and responsibilities

23

Maturity Steps: Level 2

Level 3

Deploy monitoring and alerting tools Integrate with Operations mgmt console Monitor and alert ISL utilization Define staff roles and responsibilities and train Develop KPIs to measure progress Create key periodic reports Integrate workload metrics in storage provisioning process Proactively remediate areas of potential congestion Develop a process for proactive SAN maintenance Integrate workload metrics in moves/adds/changes processes
24

Maturity Steps: Level 3

Level 4

Develop repeatable process to avoid congestion Develop repeatable process to load-balance workload Develop performance baselines for key applications Define SLAs for key applications Develop periodic SLA reports Develop additional KPIs to track baselines and SLAs
25

Maturity Steps: Level 4

Level 5

Broaden the use of performance-based SLAs

Develop additional reporting based on business needs

Support technology and benchmarking assessments

Data-based technology and solution design process

26

Measuring SAN Maturity Progress

27

Measuring Progress
Measurements are needed to assess SMM progress; How are we performing? Key Process Areas (KPAs): Related set of functions and processes within IT associated with managing a technology Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Specific measurements
Quantitative: Absolute number associated with the Directional: Indicates the direction that a KPI is heading Actionable: Trigger organizational changes

28

Key Process Areas

Item
1

KPA Incident Resolution and Prevention

Processes Description
Processes that begin problem identification, root cause analysis, resolution and evolve to predicting and preventing incidents. Processes that start with the physical infrastructure of the SAN up through performance-utilization tradeoff management, including availability and reliability. Processes to measure, monitor and track the SAN infrastructure, provide cross functional transparency, and perform internal and external benchmarking. Processes for acquiring and deploying assets. Evolve to incorporate better information on performance, usage, utilization, and business requirements to optimize cost QoS tradeoffs. Processes that ensure SAN optimization to business requirements, SLAs, and costs.

Performance, Capacity, and Availability Management

Measurement and Analysis

Acquisition and Provisioning

Business Alignment and Financial Optimization

29

Key Performance Indicators

Key Process Area Incident Resolution and Prevention Performance, Capacity, and Availability Management Measurement and Analysis Key Performance Indicator
KPI Total Number of Trouble Tickets KPI Average Time to Problem Resolution KPI Average Cost Per Resolved Problem KPI Application downtime/availability KPI Average Application I/O Response Time KPI Average Utilization per Storage Target Port KPI Number of Servers with a Defined Baseline SCSI ECT KPI Number of Servers with a Defined Baseline IOPs Workload KPI Number of Servers with a Defined Baseline Bandwidth Workload KPI Number of Storage Target Ports with a Defined Baseline IOPs Workload KPI Number of Storage Target Ports with a Defined Baseline Bandwidth Workload KPI Growth Rate of Usable Tier 1 Disk Capacity KPI Growth Rate of Fibre Channel Ports Deployed KPI Virtual Machine Density KPI Number of Applications with Performance-based SLAs

Required at SMM Level

3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4

Acquisition and Provisioning Business Alignment and Financial Optimization

4 4 4 4

30

Using KPIs to Measure Performance

31

Are the tools in place to measure and track the KPIs? Does a problem management system exist? How are problems categorized? How are problem handoffs managed? Is time-to-resolution accurately tracked? Is cost-of-resolution accurately tracked? Is root cause accurately defined? Are outages properly tracked? Do before metrics exist? Can problem tickets be modified to support KPIs? How is non-problem ticket level-of-effort tracked?

Q&A

32