The economic and performance benefits of disk
Disk Aggregation is a process to combine more than one physical disk or logical disk drive and duly change into comparatively more larger disk drive. The purpose of such combination is mainly to create one single physical disk which has more capacity than any other physical disk, which is currently available. Thus it provides an easy to use way in such a way that the performance increases considerably. Virtualization of storage helps in achieving the location independence simply by abstracting the physical location of any data.
It helps in providing a logical space to the user for storage of data. Further, it also provides for the process of mapping the data to the actual physical location available to the user. Thus the virtualization software or device always uses meta-data i. e. mapping information that enables to re=direct the VO request (Toigo, 2004). The main function of this device is first to receive an incoming VO request which contains several information regarding location of the data in reference to the logical disk.
Thereafter it translates such disk into a new VO request to the physical disk location. All this system is so smooth as well as fault-less that without any special effort the whole sets of performances work wonderfully to the entire satisfaction of the user. Thus the virtualization device receive a read request for logical disk such as LUN ID =1 LBA=32. It can also perform a meta-data look up for above logical disk and transcend it into physical disk LUN D-7, LBAD.
Again virtualization device can also receive the data back to the originating place as if it had received from virtual disk LUN ID=1. LBA 32. The main performance benefits are that for implementation of this device no additional hardware is required. Similarly, no other drastic change in infrastructure is needed for such virtualization. Since we are using logical volume manager,{LUM or LINUX } as Windows, which is called logical disk manager or CDM which are effective in performing the virtualization task, it is very simple to design and also easy to code.
Its implementation also helps in supporting any storage type. Its usefulness more felt by the user such performance benefits. Thus user can install virtualization and its economic benefits are the avoidance of multiple virtual servers as a single server is enough for the best performance. It helps in cost reduction in following ways:
1. Software license fee avoidance.
2. Lesser space for date centre.
3. Less power for unnecessary controllers.
4. Reductions in overtime and better utilization of resources,
5. Reduction in overall cost as it helps in overall curtailment in 20-60% of many common management tasks.
The advantages which are derived by the users are so many and the advantage of faultless working of such virtualization is so alluring that it is becoming very popular and user-friendly. The usages e enormous and as explained earlier the performance as well as economic benefits are making this device indispensible in present days. With growing demand of virtualization the system is so designed that the user always find its implementation an asset to his growing need.
Reference:
Toigo Jon William, The holy grail of network storage management, illustrated, 2004, Prentice Hall PTR, ISBN: 0130284165, 9780130284167
