Storage Data Migrations Made Easier

Having the responsibility of moving data from one platform to another can be difficult and challenging. Data migrations occur when storage and/or compute systems reach end of life or end of support. Other reasons for data migrations are performance issues, consolidation, multi-tiering, merger and acquisition activities, moving to a converged data center environment, or simply moving from direct-attached storage to networked storage. Data migrations require an understanding of all servers that are attached to all storage arrays and the amount of data to be moved so you can re-create the LUN (logical unit number) mappings on the new storage platform. This is critical to ensure applications and their dependencies come up successfully once the data is moved to the new platform.

Steps in Key Info’s Data Migration Methodology include planning, moving the data, and validating the work. There are four main questions to answer in the planning stage. What is the current data storage environment? How much data is there to move? What tools are available to move the data? And how much bandwidth can be used? For the current data storage environment, you need a picture of the work to be completed so you can identify the required resources to complete the migration. One main tool to use is IBM's Visual Storage Intelligence (VSI) by Blue Data Partners. VSI helps to map out the storage infrastructure. The tool produces non-disruptively an extract of the storage platform layout which specifies the LUN, the hosts, and drive mappings … everything you need to know about the configuration you plan to move from one storage platform to another. VSI supports IBM, NetApp, EMC, HP, HDS and other storage platforms.

For moving the data, the method you use depends on the operating systems, the available tools and the infrastructure. Online migration methods include volume management, replication, and host-based mirroring. Offline migrations include restore from backup tapes, FTP transfers and copy jobs. In AIX and Windows, you can use host-based volume management. You can mirror a LUN on one array to a LUN on another array, break the mirror, remove the old LUN from the existing array, and keep the new LUN resident on the new array. You can do this migration non-disruptively. If you are using VMware, you can use Storage vMotion that allows you to take a LUN and move the data to another LUN on a separate storage array. This can be done non-disruptively. If the data is unstructured, you can use ScriptLogic’s Secure Copy or Microsoft’s RoboCopy. The results of your data migration can be confirmed by using tools such as Beyond Compare.

Key Info does data migrations regularly for our clients and has the experience and expertise to minimize risk by taking steps to ensure no data loss or disruption. We see a lot of clients moving to IBM V7000 because it can virtualize storage. Like IBM SVC (SAN Volume Controller), it provides a single console and toolset for managing all the different storage platforms found in a datacenter environment.

We are also seeing a lot of our clients interested in upgrading to the IBM V7000U which is a single-management interface for both block data and file data. The V7000U with the IBM Active Cloud Engine makes data migration easier. A storage administrator can set up policies for automatic data migration between different tiers of data, from solid state drives to fibre channel drives, from one array to another. Based on business policies, the cloud engine can automatically move, restore, delete, backup or replicate data.

If you have a data migration initiative this year, contact me. The Solutions Architecture Team at Key Info can help you determine the best online or offline approach to perform your data migration, what tools to use, and will work hand-in-hand with you and your team to move and validate your data migration.

About Julie Gutierrez-Farley

Julie Gutierrez-Farley directs the Solutions Architecture Department at Key Info, responsible for solutions architecture and professional services for clients.

For more about Key Information Systems go to our website at www.keyinfo.com.