IBM DATA MIGRATION SERVICES

IBM Global Technology Services

December 2007

Storage migrations made simple.

Overcoming the challenges of technology refresh

Contents

2 Executive summary

4 Introduction

6 Data migration software

10 Technology refresh examples

28 Summary

Executive summary

Minimizing the impact of data migrations on business operations is a critical

part of the data center manager’s job. Studies have shown that technology

refresh—dened as replacing an older server or storage array with a new

one—is the primary driver of data migration. Storage hardware and server

replacement, as well as the expiration of storage equipment leases, means that

storage managers have to move data on a regular basis. Moving data for tech-

nology refresh can be problematic, however, due to application availability

requirements, incompatibilities between source and target systems, and time

and budget constraints. While technology refresh projects are typically sched-

uled to be performed during off-hours, today’s 24x7 environment means that

applications need to stay online, even during off-hours.

New software allows nondisruptive migration, meaning that applications

remain online during migration, without signicant performance delays. And

reliable methodologies that help plan, migrate and validate data migrations

can enable customization, speed the process and ensure data integrity—simplify-

ing the technology refresh process.

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 2

The following table presents ve key factors that show how data migration

software can simplify technology refresh and how Softek™ Transparent Data

Migration Facility (TDMF™) technology can meet these needs.

Key factors Description Softek TDMF capability

Performance Performance measurements

must take into consideration

how quickly data is copied

from the source to target,

and balanced against

network bandwidth and

system overhead.

TDMF software includes a throttling

or pacing capability that can speed

up or slow down data movement

depending on system demands in

order to easily balance migration.

Roll-back capability If something goes wrong, the

migration can be terminated

and restarted or application

processing can continue on

the source data/device.

Roll back can easily be accom-

plished with TDMF software,

although it can be problematic

with some other technologies,

such as volume managers.

Increase in

volume size

In a recent survey, 40 per-

cent of migrations involved

an increase in volume size

from the source to the target.

TDMF software can accommo-

date an increase in volume size.

Heterogeneous

source and

target hardware

While host-based prod-

ucts support unlike storage

devices, most array-based

products require that the

source and target come

from the same vendor.

TDMF software is hardware

independent.

Application downtime Applications have different

levels of business criticality

and therefore have varying

degrees of acceptable

downtime.

TDMF software allows for

nondisruptive data migration so

applications can stay online

and continue to process data

throughout the migration process.

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 3

Technology refresh is the primary

driver of data migration.

Highlights

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 4

Introduction

What drives data migration? In a recent Softek survey, technology refresh was

cited as the major reason for moving data. Technology refresh is dened as

replacing an array with a new one and most commonly occurs when:

• Theleaseonapieceofstorageequipmentends

• Dataisbeingmovedfromoldtonewstorage

• Thestoragesystemisbeingupgraded

• Theorganizationhasdecidedtostandardizeonaparticulartechnology.

Typically, most data centers lease their storage hardware under three-year agree-

ments. Once the agreement ends, the hardware needs to be replaced and the data

stored on it moved to new equipment. Data migration must be completed before

the lease expires to avoid additional monthly lease costs. In cases in which storage

hardware is purchased rather than leased, older arrays that are fully depreciated

can be expensive to maintain. Once again, purchase and implementation of new

equipment requires migrating data from the older arrays.

IT organizations justify purchase or lease of new equipment by the fact that

it is less expensive to maintain, performs better and supports advanced fea-

tures. New arrays can support larger capacities to accommodate the growth

of applications; have faster processing chips to deliver better performance; or

have new features such as snapshot copies. Finally, newer arrays are justied

to minimize the risk of hardware malfunction, as older arrays are perceived

as being less reliable.

Highlights

IT organizations justify new equip-

ment because it can accommodate

growth, process more quickly to

deliver better performance and

minimize the risk of hardware

malfunction.

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 5

Figure 1

Example annual migration requirements

Highlights

For most industries, estimates of

data growth can typically range

from 25 to 50 percent annually.

In many cases, technology refresh not only means replacing storage arrays,

but also upgrading associated servers to better meet service level agreements

or because the servers, like the arrays, have reached the end of their lease. In

addition, storage and server capacity are acquired annually or more often to

accommodate data and application growth. Estimates of data growth vary, but

they typically range from 25 to 50 percent annually for most industries.

So, every year, a typical organization acquires storage technology to replace

arrays on which lease or maintenance agreements are expiring, as well as addi-

tional capacity to accommodate anticipated growth. Thus, the IT organization

must move data between servers and storage for technology refresh on a very

regular basis. The storage mantra is: You have data, therefore you will move it.

Total on Floor (TB)

New (TB)

Replaced (TB)

Purchased (TB)

2005

300

115

2006

390

150

2007

507

117

194

2008

659

152

267

115

2002

136

2003

177

2004

230

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 6

IT organizations face many challenges associated with technology refresh—

particularly deciding how to deal with data growth and determining how,

when and where to move data. Some of the key issues associated with technol-

ogy refresh include:

• Leaseoverlapcostsorduplicatemaintenancecosts,whenoldandnew

equipmentareonthedatacenterooratthesametime

• Migrationofdatabetweenarraysfromdifferentvendors,astheremay

besignicantincompatibilities

• Riskofdatalossorcorruptionthatmayoccurifthemigrationisnot

doneproperly

• Prolongedapplicationdowntime,orevenaninabilitytorestartapplications.

This paper focuses on how organizations can meet these challenges by leveraging

data migration software.

Data migration software

Depending on the criticality of applications, the quantity of data to be moved

and allowable downtime, there are a variety of tools that organizations can use

to migrate data, each with its own considerations and limitations.

Ofﬂine migration methods

Ofine migration methods require that applications be taken ofine during

data movement, and therefore are suitable only when signicant downtime can

be tolerated. While the amount of downtime required typically depends on the

quantity of data being transferred, this ofine migration mechanism is not rec-

ommended for heavily used applications or those that must be accessible outside

of normal business hours. Ofine migration typically requires manual manipu-

lation of data or les, which can increase the risk of human error and may not

scale to distributed or remote scenarios.

Highlights

Organizations can meet these chal-

lenges by leveraging various types

of data migration software.

It is an ongoing challenge to decide

how to deal with data growth and to

determine how, when and where to

move data.

Restore from backup tapes

This method involves making a backup copy of data, then taking the associated

arrays and/or servers ofine to ensure that no new data is added. Then, the data

is restored from the backup tapes to the new arrays and/or servers. Once the

restore process is complete, the systems are brought online. While this is a low-

cost solution, especially as nearly all organizations already use backup software,

it requires signicant administrative attention and application downtime.

FTP transfer

This method involves manually copying les from the source systems to the target

systems via File Transfer Protocol (FTP). As it requires le-by-le movement, the

method is not recommended when the data contains large numbers of individual

les. FTP transfer does not provide control over the network bandwidth used for

migration, which can affect other applications and users in the network environ-

ment, nor does it enable verication of the complete transfer of data.

Online migration methods

Online migration methods generally allow data movement while applications

are up and running. Depending on the method chosen, however, these methods

can be limited to a single vendor environment. Other methods may consume

signicant central processing unity (CPU) overhead, potentially resulting in

application slowdown or other disruptions.

Array-based replication

While this method allows for high service level guarantees, it requires moving

between similar storage devices, increasing costs and limiting the data center

to a single vendor.

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 7

Highlights

Offline migration methods include

restore from backup tapes and

FTP transfer.

Online migration methods include

array-based replication, volume

management or replication, and

host-based mirroring.

Volume management or replication

Volume management is used primarily to control disk resources by mapping

the logical view of storage space with the actual physical disks. While it can

be used to move small amounts of data, it can be slow. This solution requires

a heterogeneous storage environment over an IP network and may require the

costly installation of additional software.

Host-based mirroring

Host-based mirroring or replication solutions generally focus on le-by-le

data movement to create a secondary data copy for disaster recovery purposes.

When used for data migration, this approach may put an additional burden on

application servers and may require high-cost management, especially in het-

erogeneous environments.

Online nondisruptive migration — Softek data migration products

There are a few products available in the marketplace today that were designed

to provide nondisruptive data migration—meaning that data movement occurs

without causing application outages or slowdowns. Softek’s data migration soft-

ware is the proven standard for online, heterogeneous data movement, meeting

the challenges of application availability and technical compatibility between

source and target storage. Softek’s TDMF software moves data while maintain-

ing application availability, making it easy to upgrade to new storage, improve

application performance and manage information availability through the

information lifecycle. So, whether the organization needs to upgrade to new

storage hardware (from any vendor to any vendor) or needs a more effective

way to migrate data based on cost/performance, TDMF software can provide

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 8

Highlights

Softek’s TDMF software makes it

easier to upgrade to new storage,

improve application performance

and manage information availability

through the information lifecycle.

the solution. Together with Softek Logical Data Migration Facility (LDMF™)

software for moving mainframe data at the dataset level, Softek TDMF tech-

nology provides the solution to meet a wide range of technology refresh and

other data migration needs.

An examination of real-world scenarios can demonstrate how Softek’s data

migration products are used to simplify technology refresh:

• Amanufacturingcompanyrunningamission-criticalOraclecustomer

orderandtrackingsystemonSolarisconductinglocalUNIX®array-to-

arraymigration.

• Alargebankrunningacreditanddebittransactionapplicationon

IBMz/OS®conductinglocalmainframearray-to-arraymigration.

• AmajorsavingsandloaninstitutionrunninganIBMDB2®,IBMCICS®and

VirtualStorageAccessMethod(VSAM)applicationwithhigh-availability

requirementsconductingmainframemigrationwithvolumeconsolidation.

• AFortune500nancialservicesrmrunningamission-criticalDB2

datawarehouseconductingmultiserverUNIXarray-to-arraymigration

withconsolidation.

• AFortune1000bankrunningaSybasenancialapplicationconducting

aglobalmigrationtonewstorageoverdistance.

• Aninsurancecompanywithamission-criticalclaimsprocessingapplication

onOracleconductingaglobalmigrationtonewserversandnewstorage.

• AFortune500bankrunningakeyenterprisecompliancemanagement

applicationconductingalocalMicrosoft®Windows®array-to-arraymigration.

The detailed descriptions of these scenarios that follow show how Softek

capabilities can meet technology refresh needs and streamline technology

refresh projects.

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 9

Softek’s software capabilities

can meet technology refresh

needs and streamline technology

refresh projects.

Highlights

A discussion of real-world imple-

mentations can illustrate how

Softek technology simplifies tech-

nology refresh.

Technology refresh examples

Local UNIX array-to-array migration

In this example, a manufacturing company running a mission-critical Oracle

customer order and tracking system on Solaris needed to move 3TB of legacy

data from an old storage array to a new storage array.

The challenges that the company faced were as follows:

• Limiteddowntime — Downtimewaslimitedtofourhoursontheweekend.

• Largevolumeofdata—Applicationstoragespannedten300GBvolumes.

• Increaseinvolumesize—Theplannedcapacitygrowthrequiredanincrease

involumesizeduringmigration.

The company considered the pros and cons of several different migration

options, including:

• Restorefrombackuptapes—Thisoptionwouldhaverequiredmorethan

fourhourstocopythedata,exceedingapplicationdowntimerestrictions.

• SunSolsticeVolumeManager—Thiswouldnotsupporttheincreasein

volumesize.

• Array-basedreplication—Thisoptionwouldhavebeenexpensivetoinstall,

andthecompanydidnotplantouseitfollowingthemigration.Inaddition,

rmwareupgradesrequiredonthelegacyarraystosupportthecurrent

array-basedreplicationversionwouldhaveaddeddowntimeandcomplex-

itytotheproject.

• VERITASVolumeReplicator(VVR) —Thisoptionwouldhaverequired

installingtheprerequisiteVERITASVolumeManager.

Storage migrations made simple.

Page 10

Highlights

In the first example, Softek software

helped a manufacturing company

move 3TB of legacy data from an

old storage array to a new one,

without significant downtime.

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