HP StoreVirtual Storage, based on the LeftHand operating system, is a scale-out storage platform that is designed to meet the fluctuating needs of virtualized environments. Remote Copy asynchronous replicates thin provisioned, reservationless snapshots between primary and remote locations.
While HP StoreVirtual provides an efficient replication solution, it is subject to limitations created by the wide area network (WAN)—e.g. network latency, packet loss, out-of-order packets, or limited bandwidth. Poor replication performance can mean missed recovery point objectives (RPOs), exposing the business to additional risk in the event of an unplanned outage.
Customer success story
A construction company using the HP StoreVirtual solution was experiencing slow replication.
- Replication traffic was consuming all of a shared Internet VPN, causing excessive bandwidth overage charges.
- The IP VPN connection typically lost 1-2 percent of packets, and delivered .2% of the packets out of order, causing retransmissions that slowed down delivery.
- Long distance between replication sites resulted in latency of up to 250ms, further slowing down replication.
Environment;
- Network: 5 Mbps Internet VPN
- Packet loss: 1-2%
- Packets delivered out of order: 0.2%
- Round trip time (RTT) latency : 250ms
|
|
Packet loss |
Out of order packets |
Actual Throughput |
Effective throughput |
Data sent across the WAN |
Time to replicate |
|
Before Silver Peak |
1-2% |
0.20% |
Using more than 5 Mbps |
n/a |
200 GB |
4.6 days |
|
After Silver Peak |
Less than 0.25% |
0.02% |
4 Mbps |
10 -50 Mbps |
40 GB |
Less than 24 hours |
|
The Silver Peak Advantage |
Silver Peak packet-level forward error correction reconstitutes lost packets at the far end of a WAN link, avoiding delays that come with multiple round-trip retransmission |
Silver Peak packet order correction reorders packets before delivering to the end device |
Silver Peak QoS policies set replication traffic to 4 Mbps, making 1 Mbps available to other applications |
Silver Peak optimization increases effective throughput, replicating more traffic using less bandwidth |
Silver Peak Network Memory reduces data sent over the WAN by 80-95% |
Reduced RPO and ability to replicate all data, not just a subset |
How Silver Peak helps
Silver Peak Replication Acceleration software fixes the problems that exist on the WAN, enabling more data to be replicated, in less time, over longer distances. Silver Peak software solves WAN problems by repairing dropped and out-of-order packets, overcoming the effects of latency, and providing real-time deduplication and compression of all data sent across the WAN. Silver Peak also provides a site-to-site AES-256 IPsec VPN that secures replication traffic without impacting performance. When the problems on the WAN have been repaired, it is easy to meet, maintain, and even reduce RPOs.
Once deployed, Silver Peak replication acceleration software enables any storage administrator to manage the Silver Peak implementation. Data is reported in storage-friendly terms, showing the data sent across the WAN in bytes instead of bits. Storage traffic is segmented by application, and device, to make management and reporting more intuitive. Reporting includes minute, hour, and daily intervals, and includes a 10 day chart to reflect performance data before and after any changes made during the weekend. With HP StoreVirtual and Silver Peak Replication Acceleration software, you can protect all of your business-critical data and replicate consistently, regardless of network problems or distance.
Benefits
- Protect more data by increasing StoreVirtual Remote Copy asynchronous replication performance.
- Increase the geographic distance between disaster recovery facilities by improving StoreVirtual remote Copy asynchronous performance in higher latency environments (up to 200 ms, for example).
- Reduce costs with one WAN for StoreVirtual Remote Copy asynchronous and other applications. Silver Peak’s advanced QOS and traffic shaping techniques prevents StoreVirtual Remote Copy asynchronous from interfering with the other applications sharing the WAN and vice versa.
- Further reduce costs by replicating across low-cost Internet VPNs and MPLS networks. Silver Peak corrects the higher rates of loss and out-of-order packets, which normally undermine performance on these networks.
- Encrypt and accelerate StoreVirtual traffic using a site-to-site AES-256 IPSec VPN
- Avoid or delay WAN bandwidth upgrades by reducing the amount of data StoreVirtual Remote Copy asynchronous transfers across the WAN
Resources
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Silver Peak VRX Replication Acceleration software makes replication acceleration easy and affordable.