Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis and Design

Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis and Design:

Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis and Design Alan McSweeney

Objectives:

January 9, 2011 2 Objectives To provide an understanding of the benefits of undertaking an infrastructure consolidation analysis and design exercise To describe the scope and outputs from an infrastructure consolidation analysis and design exercise

Agenda:

January 9, 2011 3 Agenda Approach to infrastructure consolidation analysis and design Consolidation options Consolidation issues Analysis and design scope Analysis and design delivery Analysis and design deliverables

Goal of Consolidation:

January 9, 2011 4 Goal of Consolidation Reduce complexity Reduce cost of operation and administration Increase flexibility and responsiveness Do more with less

Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis Objectives:

January 9, 2011 5 Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis Objectives Understand the existing application and infrastructure landscape Provide details on application and infrastructure consolidation options and costs Produce optimised system architecture Identify hardware and software options and vendors Produce implementation plan Identify issues and resolutions Produce vendor independent design Provide all the facts needed to understand if server virtualisation and consolidation will deliver you bottom-line benefits Does not conflict with implementation of virtualised infrastructure by any vendor

Consolidation Areas:

January 9, 2011 6 Consolidation Areas Consolidation and virtualisation areas Server Desktop Storage Which areas are you interested in?

Infrastructure Business Drivers:

January 9, 2011 7 Infrastructure Business Drivers

Application and Consolidation Options:

January 9, 2011 8 Application and Consolidation Options

Why Do It:

January 9, 2011 9 Why Do It Virtualisation on its own may not be the best solution Can hide some problems Same number of server images and applications, just not physical Comprehensive application and infrastructure consolidation view allows organisation see bigger picture Look at bigger picture to identify wider set of cost savings opportunities Identify all issues Provide business case for investment Provide a checkpoint before selecting implementation vendor

Sample Consolidation Reasons:

January 9, 2011 10 Sample Consolidation Reasons

Sample Information Technology Infrastructure Issues:

January 9, 2011 11 Sample Information Technology Infrastructure Issues Cost and related issues tend to dominate

Objectives of Analysis:

January 9, 2011 12 Objectives of Analysis To produce an inventory of the servers and applications and identify servers and applications eligible for virtualisation/consolidation To ensure that the implementation of any server virtualisation architectures takes into account planned and likely IT, infrastructure, organisation and operational changes and the IT strategy To audit the existing server environment including performing capacity planning and performance analysis on the Windows servers To define a server virtualisation/consolidation operational architecture and model, including disaster recovery and business continuity, data management and recovery, monitoring and reporting, capacity management, patching, To identify server virtualisation implementation options and their advantages and disadvantages To produce a cost benefit analysis for the implementation of server virtualisation To identify and document disaster recovery and business continuity requirements To understand the applications and infrastructure to be recovered To produce an implementation plan including internal and external resources required To quantify the costs associated with implementing the solution To identify any infrastructural requirements and pre-requisites such as facilities and communications network To produce material that can be included as part of any tendering process for the procurement of a server virtualisation/consolidation solution To define evaluation criteria for assessing responses to any tenders

Infrastructure Consolidation and Virtualisation Key Issues:

January 9, 2011 13 Infrastructure Consolidation and Virtualisation Key Issues Data and storage management All data on a SAN Potential for changes to backup and recovery arrangements Resource allocation and reservation Server monitoring and reporting Business continuity and disaster recovery Virtualisation is a key enabler of business continuity Server request process management Processes for managing requests for new servers and for capacity planning and management Requests for new servers and new hardware no longer connected Networking

Data and Storage Management:

January 9, 2011 14 Data and Storage Management Existing Backup Arrangements Possible New Backup Arrangements

SAN Capacity And Sizing:

January 9, 2011 15 SAN Capacity And Sizing Virtualisation of servers drives SAN storage and I/O capacity utilisation Physical server HBAs shared between virtual servers Need to know the potential impact

Resource Allocation and Reservation:

January 9, 2011 16 Resource Allocation and Reservation Reserve resources to provide capacity for Growth Recovery at main site Recovery at backup site, if implemented

Resource Allocation and Reservation:

January 9, 2011 17 Resource Allocation and Reservation

Resource Management During Recovery:

January 9, 2011 18 Resource Management During Recovery VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4 Limit Reservation Actual Usage VM5 VM6 VM7 VM8 Server 1 Server 2 HA Cluster

Resource Management During Recovery:

January 9, 2011 19 Resource Management During Recovery VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4 VM5 VM6 VM7 VM8 Server 1 Server 2 VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4 X HA Cluster

Server Monitoring and Reporting:

January 9, 2011 20 Server Monitoring and Reporting Consistent approach to hardware and software monitoring for physical and virtual infrastructure

General Monitoring Requirements:

January 9, 2011 21 General Monitoring Requirements To get a functional view of service availability that encompasses all elements of a system or application, including hardware and software To create a service oriented view of key business systems, including description of service To present management with a comprehensive view of the availability and status of a system To provide management reporting on system and application status and availability To provide an analysis, business intelligence and reporting tool for integrated system and application availability To enable end-to-end compliance with SLAs and OLAs to be determined

System Monitoring and Alerting Challenges:

January 9, 2011 22 System Monitoring and Alerting Challenges No single view of the status of all infrastructure No single view of system availability No information and no measurements No collection of capacity and usage information No auditing of system access

System Monitoring and Alerting:

January 9, 2011 23 System Monitoring and Alerting Monitor all elements – hardware and software Enable monitoring and auditing of servers and clients Database of problems Pro-active alerting Online reporting Measure usage Capacity management and planning Integrated service management

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery:

January 9, 2011 24 Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Core server infrastructure virtualised for resilience and fault tolerance Centralised server management and backup SAN for primary data storage Backup to disk for speed Tape backup Two-way data replication

Resilience:

January 9, 2011 25 Resilience Virtual infrastructure in HA (High Availability) Cluster Fault tolerant primary infrastructure Failing virtual servers automatically restarted Dynamic reallocation of resources Reduces need to invoke business continuity plan

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery :

January 9, 2011 26 Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Failing servers can be recovered on other site Virtualised infrastructure will allow critical servers to run without the need for physical servers Virtualisation makes recovery easier – removes any hardware dependencies

Sample Highly Resilient Infrastructure:

January 9, 2011 27 Sample Highly Resilient Infrastructure

Sample Server Processes:

January 9, 2011 28 Sample Server Processes Processes to support the creation and management of new and existing servers Provides checklist of actions Provides transparency

Networking:

January 9, 2011 29 Networking Virtualising servers drives network usage Physical NICs shared between virtual servers Need to know the potential impact

Desktop Consolidation:

January 9, 2011 30 Desktop Consolidation Application Delivery and Management analysis ADM is an integrated set of service offerings around desktop and laptop application delivery and management, encompassing a range of solutions, depending on customer requirements ADM examines a range of server and desktop operational and management platforms Deliver the most appropriate application delivery and management solution to meet customer requirements

ADM Analysis:

January 9, 2011 31 ADM Analysis ADM model will focus on the means of delivering the application to the user Delivery models: Hosted application with user access via PC or thin client Dynamically delivered application on request Hosted virtualised desktop with user access via PC or thin client Centralised distribution of software to clients

ADM Application Delivery Points:

January 9, 2011 32 ADM Application Delivery Points Server Desktop Dynamically Server-Based Application Access Automated Distribution of Software Updates to Desktops Hosted Virtualised Desktop Hosted Applications 3 4 2 1

Traditional Application Delivery:

January 9, 2011 33 Traditional Application Delivery Applications loaded on PCs Significant management overhead and cost Applications must be updated Desktop operating system must be updated

Centralised Application Distribution and Management:

January 9, 2011 34 Centralised Application Distribution and Management Roll-out software from central application update distribution server Install new applications, based on roles Install application updates Update operating system Access via standard PC

Hosted Desktop:

January 9, 2011 35 Hosted Desktop Applications packaged and hosted on application deliver servers Access via thin client or PC PC – allows local software and data PC – still requires operating system and updates

Virtualised Desktop:

January 9, 2011 36 Virtualised Desktop Desktop virtualised and hosted Entire desktop including operating system, applications and data Access via thin client or PC PC – allows local software and data PC – still requires operating system and updates Thin client No software Full desktop experience

Storage Virtualisation:

January 9, 2011 37 Storage Virtualisation Simplify storage environment Centralisation to reduce the number of locations where data is stored to only those that are really needed Reduce the number of points of management and the number of physical devices Fewer elements to reduce the chance of error or failure, avoid the creation of islands of storage, and take better advantage of economies of scale Physical consolidation to smaller number of larger-capacity devices Application integration by moving applications from clusters or multiple linked- servers to a smaller number of storage devices

Storage Virtualisation:

January 9, 2011 38 Storage Virtualisation Increase resource utilisation by combining the storage capacity of multiple disk arrays into a single reservoir of storage Improve productivity by enabling administrators to manage their reservoir of storage from a single user interface centrally Enable a tiered storage environment where the cost of the storage can be matched to the value of the data Assist with the consolidation of resources and simplification of management to help reduce cost and complexity Enable use of heterogeneous hardware providers with common server management, storage management, and copy services software

Storage and Connectivity Technologies and Protocols:

January 9, 2011 39 Storage and Connectivity Technologies and Protocols FCP iSCSI NFS CIFS SATA

Storage Virtualisation:

January 9, 2011 40 Storage Virtualisation Common storage presentation layer across all Support multiple protocols across multiple physical devices Support multiple storage devices

Scope of Service to:

January 9, 2011 41 Scope of Service to Site Discovery Server and Application Inventory Virtualisation Architecture and Implementation Options Identification of Requirements Identification of Virtualisation Exclusions Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Requirements Data Management Requirements Quantification of Cost Savings Definition of Virtualisation Benefits Information Technology Strategy Projected Server Requirements Capacity Planning Consolidation Architecture Definition of Physical Architecture Definition of System Management Model Implementation Roadmap and Schedule System Availability and Continuity of Operations Detailed Delivery Plan Infrastructure Acquisition Virtualisation Installation, Configuration and Implementation Server Migration Documentation, Training and Handover Requirements Operation, Maintenance, Support and Administration Requirements System Benefits Financial Analysis Business Case Project Costs Project Savings Draft Solution Presentation Final Solution Documentation And Presentation

Business Case Preparation:

January 9, 2011 42 Business Case Preparation

Benefits:

January 9, 2011 43 Benefits Produce design before embarking on implementation Milestone before proceeding further Allow detailed cost and time estimates for implementation project Give certainty to costs and schedule Enables controlled innovation Vendor independent analysis and design Build on proven architecture design skills and experience Backed by architecture design methodology

Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis Service Delivery Process:

January 9, 2011 44 Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis Service Delivery Process Six steps Assessment Inventory Workload Data Collection Analyse Data Design and Specify Solution Including Options Documentation and Planning Inventory Analyse Record Documentation and Planning Assessment Design and Specify

Sample Server Utilisation Analysis – Multiple Different Physical Server Models:

January 9, 2011 45 Sample Server Utilisation Analysis – Multiple Different Physical Server Models

Server Utilisation Normalisation and Consolidated Sizing – Including Business Continuity:

January 9, 2011 46 Server Utilisation Normalisation and Consolidated Sizing – Including Business Continuity

Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis Service Delivery Process:

January 9, 2011 47 Infrastructure and Application Consolidation Analysis Service Delivery Process Assessment Questionnaire Qualification of scope Inventory Install tools to gather application and server inventory Workload Data Collection Collect application and server utilisation and performance information Analyse Analyse inventory and performance data Design and Specify Identify options and architectures Documentation and Planning Produce detailed planning and financial analysis

Deliverables:

January 9, 2011 48 Deliverables Documented site audit including capacity planning and performance analysis of applications and servers A defined and documented application consolidation architecture that includes disaster recovery and business continuity, data management and recovery, monitoring and reporting, capacity management Quantified costs for implementing the solution identifying all costs: hardware, software, infrastructure, services Implementation options and plans Quantified cost savings

Sample Analysis and Design Report Contents:

January 9, 2011 49 Sample Analysis and Design Report Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Introduction, Purpose and Scope 2.1 Objectives of this Analysis 2.2 Summary of Information Sources 2.3 Definitions 3. Site Discovery 3.1 Server and Application Inventory 3.2 Server Configuration 3.3 Data Storage and Access 3.4 Existing Information Technology Structure and Operations 3.5 Software Products and Vendors 3.6 Infrastructure 4. Current Issues and Requirements 4.1 Business Requirements and Issues 4.2 Information Technology Requirements and Issues 4.3 Information Technology Strategy and Planned and Likely Developments 5. Capacity Planning and Performance 5.1 Server Performance and Capacity 5.2 Server Capacity Projections 5.3 Server Virtualisation Anomalies, Issues and Resolutions 5.4 Server Virtualisation Options and Advantages and Disadvantages 6. Server Virtualisation Architecture 6.1 Virtualisation System Architecture and Configuration 6.2 Server Virtualisation Solution Design 6.3 Definition of Physical Architecture 6.4 Virtualisation Architecture and Implementation Options Reporting and Administration Model 6.5 Identification of Virtualisation Exclusions 6.6 System Availability and Continuity of Operations 6.7 Data Management, Backup and Recovery 6.8 Definition of System Operation, Management, 7. Implementation Plan and Schedule 7.1 Project Plan and Schedule 7.2 Project Organisation and Structure 7.3 Project Resources 7.4 Project Assumptions 7.5 Project Risks 7.6 Project Issues 7.7 Project Dependencies 7.8 Testing and Cutover 8. Financial Analysis 8.1 Project Costs 8.1.1 Infrastructure Requirements and Costs 8.1.2 Software Licence Costs 8.1.3 Project Costs 8.2 Project Savings and Benefits 8.2.1 Server Reuse 8.2.2 Server Acquisition Deferral 8.2.3 Environmental Savings 8.2.4 Operations and Management Savings 8.2.5 Project Benefits 9. Tendering for Server Virtualisation 9.1 Tender Technical Material 9.2 Tender Response Evaluation 9.3 Identification of Possible Vendors

Next Steps After Analysis and Design:

January 9, 2011 50 Next Steps After Analysis and Design

Analysis and Design Effort:

January 9, 2011 51 Analysis and Design Effort Duration – 20 - 40 days – depends on Requirements Complexity of existing infrastructure Backup, recovery and data and storage management Business continuity and disaster recovery Level of design detail Include a sample tender Business case Analyse applications Include operations and support processes Complete analysis, design and documentation with options and implementation plan

More Information:

January 9, 2011 52 More Information Alan McSweeney alan@alanmcsweeney.com