Tech OnTap Newsletter August 2015

August 2015 
EDITOR'S NOTE
NetApp is happy to host its second-annual Insight™ technical conference this October. In this issue of Tech OnTap, our lead story, “Flash Forward,” gives you a sneak peek at one of the show’s highlights. And there’s more on flash in our second story, which discusses the advantages of enterprise-grade All Flash FAS. Finally, our third article delves into the nuts and bolts of scaling OpenStack.
— Cynthia Bournellis, Tech OnTap Editor
Flash Forward: Get Ready to Deliver Flash as a Service
Andrew Grimes, Principal Architect for Flash, NetApp
Flash is poised to take an expanded role in the storage industry, becoming a service level of your IT infrastructure. But, that can happen only with enterprise-grade flash. Find out what “enterprise-grade flash” means and how our All Flash FAS systems are delivering it now. And join us at the NetApp Insight event in October to learn more.
View article
All-Flash Storage: Accelerated Performance for the Enterprise
Mike McNamara, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, NetApp
Sure, high performance and low latency matter. Companies are turning to all-flash storage in droves because 24/7/365 business competition demands that they coax maximum speed and responsiveness from key business operations. But when it comes to all-flash storage solutions today, high performance and low latency are a given. Your enterprise needs more.
View article
OpenStack Deployment Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
Brendan Wolfe, OpenStack Marketing Manager, NetApp
Dave Cain, Reference Architect, Converged Infrastructure Solutions, NetApp
OpenStack deployment is easy, fast, and less risky with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 6 (RHEL-OSP6) on FlexPod® Datacenter infrastructure using the RHEL-OSP installer. Enterprises can focus on delivering business value instead of building a cloud from scratch.
View article
VMworld 2015 U.S.
VMworld, a leading virtualization and cloud technology conference, takes place August 30–September 3 in San Francisco. Attend VMworld to discover NetApp’s vision for the future of data management—the Data Fabric.
Learn more
Examine the Top Purchase Criteria for Enterprise-grade All-Flash Arrays
Lee Caswell,
VP of Products and Solutions Marketing, NetApp
Finally, there's a simple checklist for evaluating vendors to see whether they address your concerns as you make investment decisions about solid-state storage arrays.
Read blog
Hear Firsthand Success Stories about Controlling Data and Turning Risks into Rewards
Get the lowdown from directors and CIOs at Blackline, Symantec, Xerox, NVIDIA, and other companies about how they reached their goals.
Watch videos
You Wanted Specific Attributes in a Flash Array, We Answered with Proven Products
Justin Parisi,
Technical Marketing Engineer, NetApp
NetApp offers flash products that deliver integrated data protection on a single storage system, unified protocol support, flash-to-disk-to-cloud, and non-disruptive operations.
Read Justin's blog
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Saluting Mike, Would you please alsoa dvice how many enterprise users are running Epic on AFF8K? Tks by Henry PAN

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  • PlayStation Plus - August 2015 Guess Thread

    Welcome to another PS Plus Guess thread!
    Sorry I was a little late this month, in all honesty I totally forgot (that's what playing Rocket League does to you).
    So first of all, last months PS Plus Guess thread - so many people were able to guess a game correctly due to the default suggestion I include every month coming up a winner. So I won't be mentioning everyone, only those who managed to correctly guess two games. So without further ado a congrats to; , , , , , , , and for all getting 2 games correct.
    I've also updated the PS Plus Points leaderboard, so if you got a game correct you got points added. 
    Now July saw the release of Rocket League on the PlayStation 4, I assume everyone is just as addicted to it as me? Be sure to share some of your best goals, saves or downright embarrassing misses for the whole world to see over in the epic moments thread. We also have our regular Platinum Challenge running all month for Styx: Master of Shadows, so if trophy hunting is your kind of thing, come join us.
    Also there should be a couple more 5th Anniversary competitions running for the duration of this month, to be sure to keep an eye out on the Plus Board.
    And if you haven't already, make sure to tell us what games you would like to see be a part of your PS Plus Instant Game Collection with the thread here. The results will be sent to the team in charge, so your input will make a difference.
    Let Us Begin
    Now if you don't know how the game works.
    The rules are simple:
    You MUST guess all 6 games in one post, further posts are discussion posts and do not count towards guesses, You CAN however edit previous posts (be quick, there is an expiry).
    The Guesses are 2 PlayStation 4 Games, 2 PlayStation 3 Games and 2 PlayStation Vita Games
    You CANNOT guess games that have been in the IGC before as the games won't be added to the IGC twice, Please crosscheck HERE if unsure
    If, in the event there is a leak, it will most likely be posted, however, don't take any leaks as the official word until it is confirmed on the blog.
    So as an example my guess might be;
    PS4: Helldivers
    PS4: Worms: Battlegrounds
    PS3: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
    PS3: Resident Evil HD
    PS Vita: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
    PS Vita: Scram Kitty DX
    So come on! Give it a go, what are your picks?

    I am going to post my reddit here so I would keep this in mind when you decide your games. It also puts a good clean picture on the indie ps plus matter. / Okay people, I think I figure out how we are getting a lot of indie games on PS Plus and how we might continue or maybe once and for all be limited to indie games on Ps Plus or what not. I know this topic will be very controversial indeed because of the subject matter, and the fact that this is sure to bring a lot of hate onto me and Sony so I am ready to take the fall for it, but I have a few conspiracy theories on the whole Playstation Plus Free Games Lineup of every single month. Now, this may not be all true and everything, but I think it is pretty much safe to say that it is true and what not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Instant_Game_Collection_games_%28North_America%29 This is a list of games that I will refer to throughout the theory mentioning so please bear with me as some of this may very well be true. Now let’s start this list. Also since I am American this is our list, but since yours is pretty much similar to ours, there is no difference really needed. Indie Released on Day One Being Free Summary: One very common thing I see on this list and after a little bit of in-depth researching on the games here, that at least one indie or Triple A Digital or what not (not big game release) that will be free will be a Day One Release. Now imagine that, a day one indie game being free on Ps Plus. I notice the list and at least one game every month in one form or another is a free Ps Plus indie Launch game. The list includes but is not limited to Rocket League, Skulls of the Shogun Bona Fire Edition, Ether One, Monsterbag, Tower of Guns, Aaru’s Awakening, OiiOii 2, Apothen, and more. The thing they all have in common is that they are indie games true, but they are also free, but the biggest thing is that they are day one games that launch on the first Tuesday of the month. Wrap your head around that. Now I will propose that the games on here get a talk from Sony to become free so they can promote their work and get them out there, but I am sure they do it as they are really cheap during this time and this is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the launch of their game so the indie developers can get out there. Imagine if I made a game for a first Tuesday launch, and I expect my game to be around 15 dollars, and then Sony comes in and say, “we want to promote your game if you sign this paper that allows it to be free to Ps Plus this month.” I would say yes, and I would sign it. It would give me exposure and I would take in the time to improve the game with patches and what not, or a day one if it needed to happen on that very day. This month alone, we got two games that were Ps Plus on Day One of their freaking release. Geo Wars 3 on Vita and Rocket League on Ps4. Last month was Skulls of the Shogun Bona Fire Edition, the month last than that was Ether One on Ps4. I can literally go into a list on how many games were Ps Plus on Day one of their release, but this is a valid theory. I look at that August 4 date and any new indies that get announced for a release on the Sony systems on that very day, if it is, at least one game will be free on opening day. Also, adding to the fact that the day one indies is the perfect chance for a developer if they approve Sony's deal to get out there and show them what they can do, and day ones are perfect in that. Tower of Guns really impressed me and it was a Day one game damnit. Perfect chance right here to get out there. And still, Rocket League really shown that well, and I thought it wasn't going to be. Cross Buy Method!Summary: Here is another valid theory on why we get a lot of indie these days. Now I have heard that certain triple A games on Ps3 and Vita have gotten a cross-buy release, but it works perfectly with AAA Digital, indies, or those smaller games that are made for multiple platforms as the cost of the game is really cheap, like 15 dollars or such. It would allow more games to be on the 3 platforms. In May alone, the PS4 got 5 Ps Plus games because of the crossbuy method that applies to the other systems. Ps3 got 3 games, and Ps Vita got 4. This allows more games to be on more systems, regardless of the cost of the game, because if you pay just one price, you get the game on all systems that it is available on. There has been exclusions like Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes on Ps4 and Geo Wars 3 on Vita but hey who cares. This month a lot Ps4 once again got 4 games, just like the previous month. Vita got 3 games, and Ps3 got 3 games as well. Notice the math here. Sony finds a way to keep the games cheap and all by using the cross-buy method, and it works great. I have a Vita and Ps4, and it is nice to play a game on the Vita occasionally. Race the Sun, Futuredim EP Deluxe or whatever you call it, Mousecraft, Entwined, Unfinished Swan, Counterspy and more are examples of cross buy games. Now funny enough Limbo has yet to be released on Ps4 as a Ps Plus game, but was already on the Ps3 and Vita, and that game could be great in my opinion if it was a Cross Buy game in general to begin with, but you can’t please everyone though. Some games work better on other platforms and what not, like Mousecraft plays better on the Vita in my opinion and feels like a game that should be on the Vita only as it is a natural fit, but I am sure you can get use to the controller on the Ps4 or Ps3 versions. Also depending if the game is made on a similar engine, then the games don’t need to be comprised as they all look the same, other than resolutions of course and what not, as the graphics are similar. More artsy if you want to call it that way. Also, here is another big thing. The cross-buy method could work in conjunction with the Day One release theory that I made to allow the game to be on more systems on the very day of its release. Aaru’s Awakening, Tower of Guns, OiiOii2, Duke Nukem Nuketon Edition are great examples of this. Now another thing to be noted is that a game like Journey could wait at one point until all the platforms or most of the platforms that it can run on are there, and then release it as a Ps Plus game. The biggest part and potential is that if the Day One theory and this works together, then it can bring a lot more exposure of the game to the audiences. Say if you have a Vita but not Ps4 or Ps3, but have Ps Plus. The 6 games are announced, but you think you only get 2 games thanks to Sony’s rule but then suddenly you get 4 games one month thanks to a technically that some of those Ps4/Ps3 games are cross-buy. A big win for you, and same goes to the other systems. I think that says enough on this theory. In May because of this, I got all 6 games, all of them. June, I got 4. I got a Ps Vita and Ps4, and sold my Ps3 when I got my Ps4. In April I got 4 games, I already got Killzone Mercenary prior, in March I got 4 games because of the crossbuy methods, in Feb I got 4 games, and in Jan, well I didn't got Swapper and Duke Nukem since I was new to the Ps Plus stuff. This month I got 5 games. Overall list of games (crossbuy or not) were Infamous First Light, (formerlly on Ps3 Ducktales) Apothen, Kick something, Transatior (need to play more of it), Rogue Legacy, Oiioii2, Vallant Hearts, Oddworld New N tasty (also now crossbuy and will be on Vita one day), Counterspy, Tower of Guns, Aaru's Awakening, Never Alone, Monsterbag since I already own Killzone before the Ps Plus, Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition, Ether One, Unfinished Swan, Race the Sun, Hokokum, Murasaki Baby, Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes, Shogun of the Skulls or whatever the hell you call it, Futuredim EP Deluxe, Super Exploding Zoo, Rocket League, Styx, Geo Wars 3, Mousecraft and Entwined. And if you count the free price game Woah Dave at one point, you can. Many if not all of the games were crossbuy, some were day one indies, and even a few of them were both. I don't own a Ps3 anymore, but if I still have to this day then I would have gotten those games on Ps3 as well. If the two work in conjunction with each other, then those indies on Ps Plus are more worth the money then. Try toping that for a list of Ps Plus games. Sony’s Blunders and Future PlansSummary: I will expect a bit of controversy on here, and I will be keeping this one shorter than the others, but let’s face it right now. Sony pretty much found an escape clause in the contract on IGC since Ps4 is required that you have Ps Plus to play Call of Duty online and all that good stuff, so Sony can pretty much get away with it to give us indies as they would not like to hand us truly big games on Ps4 so long and what not. I am sure it will come one day, but not now other than the few games that we get on Ps4, also we tend to get different types of games like Styx, Oddworld, etc. It can have the triple A feel but are not true triple A, but not indies as well, and maybe Sony is placing a limit on that on all systems. The Ps3 is beginning to die down its support and maybe be discontinued in 2017 or so to focus on Ps4 and maybe the Vita if it still stands, they are also the first to get triple A games, and they might be the last, who knows. One person on reddit commented that Ps3 might never be getting triple As again and will start to be abused by indies and that could be true. As for the Ps Vita, it tried to be a hardcore gamers machine, but is pretty much now on life support with the Ps4, although they do get a lot of JRPG games and games that Japanese people make that could come to the west, so they have some hope. But they can pretty much get their triple A games by the remote play method, and with Sony dying down support on the Vita but still not as bad though, it could become more of an indie gamers machine, and that is how I been kinda using my Vita to a degree lately, playing indie games, and it feels right at home on it. Also I felt that Driveclub could have cost a lot to put on Ps Plus thanks to the fact that it took a lot of resources and what not and you can all disagree with me on this theory on how that had an effect on the Ps Plus games this month and maybe months to come, but hey it is a theory. Also they might want us to experience games we might have never play and all and blah blah blah. But Sony is doing the best they can to please everyone and well, they can’t please everyone though. Bottom line is that, when you add all these factors. It is no wonder why we are getting tons of indies on Ps Plus, and hell, because of all the choices Sony have done, not that it is bad though, we might forever be seeing indies only on Ps Plus for good. Some view it as bad, some not at all, but it comes down to you. I don’t mind indies, but I do hope for more big games, even if it is sparingly. I became a Ps Plus member on January 2015 when I bought a Ps4, and I sold my Ps3 soon after, but I keep an eye on that August 4 date or what, and since I heard we are to get Super Meat Boy on Ps Plus at launch, that may very well prove all these points. I hope this topic can lead to a good discussion. I hope you enjoy my theories or whatever you call it. Edit: Note, cheap here doesn't mean cheap in quality. Many of the indies are actually better than the triple A games we get today and what not, but I am meaning in cheapness in the cost to purchase the game.

  • Garden Club - August 2015

    Welcome, Garden Clubbers!   
    What is gardening? Quite simply, it involves refraining from applying for new credit or seeking CLIs that require hard pulls. Soft pulls CLIs, however, are not only acceptable, but are encouraged. The idea is to allow one's current TLs to grow and mature, waiting for inq's to age or fall off, and possibly waiting for "baddies" to be removed or age off. During this time, one tends to one's current accounts and watches their AAoA grow and the new credit ding fade. Here we socialize, commiserate and support each other while waiting for baddies to fall off, new accounts and/or inq's age or just want a place to hang out to get away from the hustle and bustle of credit card talk.
    So, if you're at the stage of your credit journey where you're ready to enter the garden, please come and join us. You may pick up your complimentary watering can and garden gloves by the front door -- you can even choose your favorite color! We're proud to offer a well appointed clubhouse. There is a snack table set up. Help yourself to our drinks and appetizers. Flat-breads, sliders, pizza, buffalo wings, grilled zucchini, kale salads, pecan and apple pie Ala mode. There's also a nice selection of cold beers. Once again, please feel free to bring anything you'd like to add to the festivities. And, in the corner diagonally across from the front door, there is a fully stocked bar, along with a wide selection of soft drinks. If needed, there are some anti-itch medications stocked in our supply cabinet near the door -- Lanacaine, Benadryl, etc. If you need to place your reports in the deep freeze, we also have a freezer, located next to the bar, so go ahead and throw your reports in!
    Our club features a Friday night social. This will now be hosted by Yes-Its-Me who has recently assumed the role from Irish80 who had done a wonderful job with managing the buffet and bar. Everyone is welcome to hang out and either discuss the topic of choice or anything else that comes to mind. Feel free to kick up your heels for the evening! The goal of the Friday night social is to enjoy getting to know each other and share in some fun. You'll always find camaraderie available here as you work towards your gardening goals. Thanks to Irish80 and myjourney both for contributing to this in the past.
    So come on in and make yourself comfortable. Make a gardening plan and commit to sticking with it! Are you planning to wait six months before applying for additional credit? A year? Until the last of your baddies drop off? Whatever your goal, we're here to support you. If you feel the "app-itch" coming on, let us know and we'll try to help you through it. We even have and Emergency Response Team (ERT) available to step in and help keep you on track!
    Now, if you happen to leave the garden prematurely, that's your decision and we respect that. You are always welcome to come back, pick up your gardening tools and start over again. But please, celebrate any approvals and the discussion of which credit card to app for on another thread. While we are happy with members’ success stories, we really do want to keep this threads focus and tone to be consistent with gardening efforts. You are certainly welcome to celebrate soft CLIs on this thread, though, as they do not involve inq's or apps for new credit. GARDEN CLUB CHALLENGE AND RECOGNITIONS:
    Garden Club Challenge: Pick a firm date for staying in the garden and post it in your siggy!
    Garden Club recognition levels: To qualify, your reports must contain:
    No new tradelines of any type on one's accounts (this includes any backdated account, as they are STILL new "seedlings").
    No HPs for anything that would allow for the possibility of a new tradeline being issued or increasing the CL of an existing tradeline.
    *The Garden Club community recognizes that certain inquiries are necessary for factors beyond those listed above. Therefore, Hard Pulls/Inquiries for the following bona fide reasons are exempt but not limited to: Opening checking/savings accounts (so long as no line of credit is being opened in addition to these accounts), Employment Applications, Apartment Rentals, Utilities and other such services. These are not considered to be applications for credit per se. Also, for those who are seeking a new mortgage or refinancing an existing one, we understand that your lender will pull your CRs multiple times before closing. For those GC'ers, the first hp will set your clock, not the subsequent pulls. However, if you are simply rate shopping, then the normal hp rules apply.
    You will be able to add the following to your siggy if you have been abiding by the above for the following time periods... Less than 1 month - seedling
    1 month - bronze spade
    3 months - silver spade
    6 months - gold spade
    9 months - palladium spade
    12 months - platinum spade
    15 months - ruby spade
    18 months - emerald spade
    21 months - sapphire spade
    24 months or more - diamond spade Please note: recognition levels reset once you add an account or incur a HP. We recognize that there may be very good reasons for "leaving the garden," and we respect whatever thoughtful decisions members make. As stated previously, members are always welcome to come back, grab their gloves and start gardening once more. 
    To ensure that your graphic comes out properly on your siggy, please be certain that it has been added as the very first line of code.
    Seedling:  <img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/2760iB9166C1A493A3CBC" title="Seedling Garden Club Member" border="0" width="50" height="67" align="right"> Bronze:  <img src="http://i.imgur.com/LEYWe.png" border="0" title="Bronze Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right"> SIlver:  <img src="http://i.imgur.com/Gfc4B.png" border="0" title="Silver Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right"> Gold:  <img src="http://i.imgur.com/24xvV.png" border="0" title="Gold Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right"> Palladium:  <img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5761iE36E284CEECEA414" title="Palladium Garden Club Member" border="0" width="40" height="40" align="right"> Platinum:  <img src="http://i.imgur.com/vVRv5.png" border="0" alt="" title="Platinum Garden Club Member" width="120" height="80" align="right" /> Ruby:  <img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5625i09098E9833D7A4B2" border="0" title="Ruby Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right"> Emerald:  <img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5623i698C4BF1F9D77284" border="0" width="40" title="Emerald Garden Club Member" height="40" align="right"> Sapphire:  <img src="http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/5627iA714E0C3C98AD3FD" border="0" width="40" title="Sapphire Garden Club Member" height="40" align="right"> Diamond:  <img src="http://i.imgur.com/40nIa.png" border="0" alt="" title="Diamond Garden Club Member" width="40" height="40" align="right" />  So, please feel free to come on in and share your gardening progress. If you're new or returning, what are your goals? If you've been here for a while, how are things going? Let's all mingle, and support each other in our respective gardening efforts!
    Just a reminder, if you are new to the forum chances are you will not be able to add your seedling to your profile. Send any mod a PM and we'll add it for you  You can also report any post inappropriate in the GC and just state that you need __________ spade. (Be that seedling, bronze, etc.)

    Well, I'm still here...but I think I need to take a break from the site for awhile!  I keep up on the credit card/auto loan sections and am starting to get the itch to app.  I want to buy a car when I get back from this deployment so that is what I've been gardening for.  I'll probably mingle in some credit card apps in there(helllllloooo CSP) since I've had my eye on that one for awhile.  Currently, my highest limit is with Wells Fargo at $7k (that was my starting limit when I got the card last august.)  I have a Lowe's card with a $12k limit but really want a Visa Signature card with $10k+.  I'm trying to get that in the CSP for I can focus my efforts more on one card and weed out some of the junk/building cards I have that have never done anything for me.  Oh, on a positive note, I did partially hit my goal of the 800 club!  My TU Auto and Bank score are in the 800s and my EQ Auto/Bank scores are knocking at that door(790s.)  Here's to another month!

  • Problems with Sky Broadband and Talk services in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 05 August 2015

    If you live in Alfreton, Clay Cross North Carlton, Tickhill, Whitwell or Worksop we know you're having problems getting online and with making calls this evening.
    The problem has been caused by a break in fibre cables near to Chesterfield town centre.
    We're working with the local authorities to gain access to the site of the fault.
    The latest news we have is that repair work is likely to start late this evening once access has been granted and it could carry on overnight tonight. We'll provide our next this update if we receive any news this evening.
    Calls to emergency services are unaffected.
    We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.
    Last updated: 17:30

    MissChandler wrote:
    I want to cancel my broadband and Talk services only, keeping my Sky TV. First of all, is this possible?
    Second of all, how do I go about this? I don't have a phone and I'm not calling on my mobile with those extortionate charges to be on hold for hours and for Sky to try and "resell" their services etc.
    You can cancel your broadband and talk services and keep Sky TV but if you do this and don't have another provider lined up then you will be without both.
    Calls to Sky are charged at local rate so if you have free minutes on your mobile with your network operator then calls to Sky are free as they would use these free minutes. Sky will only accept a cancellation by speaking the the account holder.

  • How do i find out how much my termination fee will cost me? i have 2 lines. my contact is up on aug 2015, my wifes line is up on feb 2016.. trying to find out how much i would owe to cancel?

    how much will it cost me to cancel my lines that go out of contact on august 2015 and feb 2016? is there a flat cancellation fee? is it prorated per month of completed payments?

    The fee is based on the phone purchased under contract:
    Basic phone it's $175 less $5 for each month of completed contract
    Smart phone it's $350 less $10 for each month of completed contract
    So for the Aug. 2015 line, it would be either $240 or $120. The Feb. 2016 would be $300 or 150.

  • [ANN] Changes in the Java Newsletter subscription process

    We have changed the mechanism for subscribing to the Monthly Java Newsletter - if you want to keep (or start) getting this monthly Java newsletter please follow these instructions:
    http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/jdev/java_newsletter.html
    For an archive of the newsletters check out:
    http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/java/newsletter/archive.html

    Hi
    If you want to use client VM for any purpose and want to specify this in server.xml in native-library-path-prefix I would suggest using the full path instead of JAVA_HOME.
    eg. in place of JAVA_HOME put /usr/j2se.
    Then it will pick up client jvm.

  • Upgrade information in august

    Hello,I want to ask that what did you mean by the "Upgrade Information" (August 2015) on windows 10 upgrade link. Does sony can take more time to deliver windows 10 compatible drivers? Regards P.S:image is attched for you refrence.

     
    Hi mudasir_khn, 
    Thank you for considering Sony Community! 
    Yes, this announcement is actually posted on eSupport website: http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/os10upgrade.pl 
    Upgrade information, possibly updated drivers and software, or other announcement. Unfortunately I cannot confirm that right now since we still have limited information about this specific matter. I am also not sure if Sony, in your location, will release the drivers and software on the same date. If you're using a U.S. model of Vaio, then stick with the date posted, otherwise contact Sony's support based on your location or from where you purchased the computer. 
    For further assistance, we kindly recommend visiting our Sony Global Web site for information on contacting the Sony Support Center in your region at http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/Support/.
    Regards,
    Vincent 
    If my post answers your question, please mark it as "Accept as Solution"
     

  • TopLink—10 Years of Persistence (Java Developer Newsletter)

    This month's Java Developers Newsletter features the 10th anniversary of TopLink. There are articles attached that discuss the history of TopLink, Caching and Locking, Object-XML, and preparing for EJB 3.0. You can also get details of some upcoming web seminars.
    http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/java/newsletter/november04.html
    Enjoy,
    Doug

    user13703072 wrote:
    <h2>Hello, let me introduce myself to more understanding of my question.</h2>
    Valery 32 years old started this study for a change.... My main is PE and coaching (basketball).
    I`m good PC user with 10-15years of experience in : (did make some website from scratch ) html c++ know adoby tool set and can use it, also I know pc`s as a technician can truck and solve most of the problem in PC`s.
    So I`m saying I have some skills mostly like user with knowledge and passion to learning something new. Newer worked for any IT company.Good to know and good luck.
    Now back to my question now I do better then anyone in our group (may be cause I know English better and can study at home or I have more experience in MySQL that providing me with some push that helping me).
    We soon have to chose direction of study one DBA another one Java and Weblogic but im 32 already and rest of the group relatively young.
    1) First what shall I pick with my previous experience to have any chances get job.Your experiences in web, will be useful if you want to expand to Java Technology and Weblogic, especially you have MySQL stuff.
    2) Dose I have any chances at all get job in IT cause i believe im too old to start new career in IT , all this study at least will be 1,5 year long may be this is just wast of time and money ?Age is no problem, depend on yourself, however there is no shortcut for IT career, experiences always tell the truth about your skills. People say no pain no gain.

  • I did not get my july 2015 playstation lineup collection

    PlayStation please explain. At the very least tell me the date of July 2015 that i can get the collection, after all i am a loyal playstation plus gamer.

     Mulletino wrote:
    Mckingster wrote:
    PlayStation please explain. At the very least tell me the date of July 2015 that i can get the collection, after all i am a loyal playstation plus gamer. July 2015 shall be between June 2015 and August 2015. How do you like those apples?
     PlayStation gamer since PlayStation 1

  • Maryland Tax Lien Success 2015 - Vacated/Withdrawn/Deleted

    I want to thank everyone on the board. I have learned a lot over the past couple of months since I joined, and aggressively working to fix my credit profile and drastically increase my FICO scores. I have a great success I want to share since I owe the success to several people here who gave very succinct and accurate information on getting a tax lien removed. I know every state is different, but my dealing with the state of MD was fast and easy.  After reading here how and whom to contact in MD, I wrote a very detailed email to the Comptoller of MD on Sunday 6/5/15, asking for a 2008 released tax lien ($1196) to be VACATED AND WITHDRAWN. On Monday the next day, I received a very nice reply stating that my email had been forwarded to the Comptroller Compliance section, and that I should here from a particular person soon. In the email, the responsder gave me the name and email of the person in charge in Compliance. I then resent my orignal email to her on Monday morning. On Tuesday the next day, I received a reply that a letter to VACATE and WITHDRAW the lien had been sent to the respective court, AND the same letter would be sent to all three CRAS, and I should receive my copy in ten days. I received the lpromised etter on 6/17 or 6/18. It was actually dated 6/5/15, the day of my original email request.  Talk about a quick response time.  On Wednesday 6/22/15, I braced myself for what I assumed would be a herculean task in dealing with the CRAs. It was not. I contacted Experian first and explained I had a letter to VACATE and WITHDRAWN a tax lien from the MD Comptroller, which had also sent them the letter. The Experiean associate was very polite and said that my tax lien would fall off in August 2015. I told her I wanted it OFF my record ASAP, and that they needed to delete it ASAP since it was no longer valid or on the public record. I asked for a fax # to send Experian the letter (which I did) AND she gve me the website location to also upload the letter. I faxed and uploaded the letter to Experian. I followed the same process with Equifax and Tansunion. The Equifax associate said the lien would fall off in February 2016. I politely stated, I wanted it OFF my record ASAP, and that they needed to delete it ASAP since it was no longer valid or on the public record. I asked for a fax # to send EQ and TU the letter (which I did) AND was given each website location to also upload the letter as part of the dispute process. I faxed and uploaded the letter to both EQ and TU. Great news: I received an email from TU on 6/30/15, stating that my dispute had been resolved and the lien had been deleted from my credit profile. I called EQ on 6/29 and was told that the lien had been deleted on 6/27.  On 7/1 I received a letter from EX stating that the lien had been deleted.  The great news for me and my take away for everyone else in a similar situation, particularly if you have a released or paid MD tax lien is that the process is very easy and doable. In little over 3 weeks I was able to get it Vacated/Withdrawn/Deleted, after thinking it might be on my record for quite some time.  P.S. I would also like to encourage everyone in a similar situation to not be discouraged and dejected. I believe you might have an unpaid, but released tax lien, which you can still get Vacated/Withdrawn/Deleted. Why? In learning about tax liens, I noticed a released lien, might mean it was paid, or it might mean the state dropped the case, or decided to not pursue it for some statuatory, time or other reason. But if it is released, it is released. Period. And the reason for the release is stated on the MD Court Registry. So pursue the process and be free!  My EX went up 5 points. TU went up 3. EQ went down 28. When I called EQ they could not explain the fall. I will be pestering them on Monday after the holiday. I want those hard earned 28 points back now.  P.S.S. I learned a lot, read a lot, and found out a lot about other people's past public records in working to get my public record 7 year tax lien disappeared.  I'm free and rejoicing!  P.S.S. I have only 1 other negative thing on my credit profile, and just this Wednesday  (1 week after contacting the CRAs to delete the lien) it too was resolved shockingly. Once it is removed I will update with my story. I really prayed a lot in the days leading up to contacting the biggest telecom/wireless carrier to have the wisdom and opportunity to talk with someone friendly and with an open mind and ear, about how to deal with getting a $149 chargeoff deleted or PFD if the bill was mine.  Happy 4th of July Holiday. 

    Hi, I read your story and I have a very similar situation. I just paid off my MD tax lien and received a Release of Lien letter from the state. I sent a copy of the letter to all credit bureaus and followed up with a phone call. I was able to get in touch with TU, EX, but EQ does not have a phone number I can find. While speaking to the other bureaus  they informed me that although the lien may be satisfied, it would be on my credit reports for 7 years. I'm not sure what I did or not do but where do I go from here? Your response is greatly appreciatedRedeyz wrote:
    I want to thank everyone on the board. I have learned a lot over the past couple of months since I joined, and aggressively working to fix my credit profile and drastically increase my FICO scores. I have a great success I want to share since I owe the success to several people here who gave very succinct and accurate information on getting a tax lien removed. I know every state is different, but my dealing with the state of MD was fast and easy.  After reading here how and whom to contact in MD, I wrote a very detailed email to the Comptoller of MD on Sunday 6/5/15, asking for a 2008 released tax lien ($1196) to be VACATED AND WITHDRAWN. On Monday the next day, I received a very nice reply stating that my email had been forwarded to the Comptroller Compliance section, and that I should here from a particular person soon. In the email, the responsder gave me the name and email of the person in charge in Compliance. I then resent my orignal email to her on Monday morning. On Tuesday the next day, I received a reply that a letter to VACATE and WITHDRAW the lien had been sent to the respective court, AND the same letter would be sent to all three CRAS, and I should receive my copy in ten days. I received the lpromised etter on 6/17 or 6/18. It was actually dated 6/5/15, the day of my original email request.  Talk about a quick response time.  On Wednesday 6/22/15, I braced myself for what I assumed would be a herculean task in dealing with the CRAs. It was not. I contacted Experian first and explained I had a letter to VACATE and WITHDRAWN a tax lien from the MD Comptroller, which had also sent them the letter. The Experiean associate was very polite and said that my tax lien would fall off in August 2015. I told her I wanted it OFF my record ASAP, and that they needed to delete it ASAP since it was no longer valid or on the public record. I asked for a fax # to send Experian the letter (which I did) AND she gve me the website location to also upload the letter. I faxed and uploaded the letter to Experian. I followed the same process with Equifax and Tansunion. The Equifax associate said the lien would fall off in February 2016. I politely stated, I wanted it OFF my record ASAP, and that they needed to delete it ASAP since it was no longer valid or on the public record. I asked for a fax # to send EQ and TU the letter (which I did) AND was given each website location to also upload the letter as part of the dispute process. I faxed and uploaded the letter to both EQ and TU. Great news: I received an email from TU on 6/30/15, stating that my dispute had been resolved and the lien had been deleted from my credit profile. I called EQ on 6/29 and was told that the lien had been deleted on 6/27.  On 7/1 I received a letter from EX stating that the lien had been deleted.  The great news for me and my take away for everyone else in a similar situation, particularly if you have a released or paid MD tax lien is that the process is very easy and doable. In little over 3 weeks I was able to get it Vacated/Withdrawn/Deleted, after thinking it might be on my record for quite some time.  P.S. I would also like to encourage everyone in a similar situation to not be discouraged and dejected. I believe you might have an unpaid, but released tax lien, which you can still get Vacated/Withdrawn/Deleted. Why? In learning about tax liens, I noticed a released lien, might mean it was paid, or it might mean the state dropped the case, or decided to not pursue it for some statuatory, time or other reason. But if it is released, it is released. Period. And the reason for the release is stated on the MD Court Registry. So pursue the process and be free!  My EX went up 5 points. TU went up 3. EQ went down 28. When I called EQ they could not explain the fall. I will be pestering them on Monday after the holiday. I want those hard earned 28 points back now.  P.S.S. I learned a lot, read a lot, and found out a lot about other people's past public records in working to get my public record 7 year tax lien disappeared.  I'm free and rejoicing!  P.S.S. I have only 1 other negative thing on my credit profile, and just this Wednesday  (1 week after contacting the CRAs to delete the lien) it too was resolved shockingly. Once it is removed I will update with my story. I really prayed a lot in the days leading up to contacting the biggest telecom/wireless carrier to have the wisdom and opportunity to talk with someone friendly and with an open mind and ear, about how to deal with getting a $149 chargeoff deleted or PFD if the bill was mine.  Happy 4th of July Holiday.  

  • Flash Forward: Get Ready to Deliver Flash as a Service

    August 2015
    Andrew Grimes
    Principal Architect for Flash
    NetApp
    You've probably seen the headlines announcing that "flash changes everything" in the storage industry. The truth is that the fundamentals of storage remain unchanged. You still need to serve data with reliability, to protect your data, and to deliver IT services across a range of requirements, regardless of the media under the data. But as flash technology matures, it lets us change the way we deliver those services: with greater efficiency and performance, and with the potential for major savings for your organization.
    The evolution of flash goes hand in hand with other changes sweeping through our industry, most obviously the migration of data to the cloud. Any storage solution using flash shouldn't isolate you from that change. Today, most flash solutions are silos with a few features that take you back to the days of stand-alone servers and external backup software. To drive business value, flash must support your enterprise data management, both on premises and in the cloud—without compromises.
    At this October's NetApp® Insight™ conference in Las Vegas, I'll be sharing some ideas for how to make that happen.
    Flash Matures Beyond Silos
    Initially, flash was all about raw speed. If you had an application that couldn't tolerate high latency, it was worth the high price and single-purpose performance focus to use flash media. But disk prices are reaching a tipping point. NetApp estimates that by 2016, flash solid state disk (SSD) prices will drop below prices for serial-attached SCSI (SAS) hard disk drives (HDDs).
    As a result, flash technology is rapidly replacing traditional 10k spinning HDDs. The problem with the current iterations of these new arrays, however, is that they are just silos of flash with limited features and tools for data management.
    Early adopters of flash were willing to overlook the inadequate data management and data protection features of flash arrays to gain the benefits for database acceleration, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), real-time apps, and other performance-driven applications. But as more enterprise operations move to cloud or hybrid cloud environments, it's no longer realistic to expect enterprises to work around flash arrays' limitations.
    The era of the shared flash storage array is here. Yes, this new class of flash array is fast. But it doesn't make you go without the features you expect from enterprise storage.
    Figure 1) Enterprises use flash technology for a variety of applications (customer use cases).
    Source: 451 Research LLC, July 2015
    What "Enterprise-Grade" Flash Really Means
    Flash arrays that run a range of applications are becoming the norm. In fact, they are considered table stakes for the flash space. Shared multi-tenant flash arrays are going to be the standard, and if a vendor can't innovate to that standard, its days are numbered.
    To support these changes, IT consumers of flash will need all the tools and features of traditional HDD arrays merged with all the benefits of flash. The performance is already in place. Now it's a race to give the enterprise the rest of what it needs for enterprise-grade flash.
    But what, exactly, is "enterprise-grade flash"? In addition to the assumed capability of superb storage efficiencies, it must also deliver:
    A unified architecture that supports both networked-attached storage (NAS) and storage-area network (SAN) protocols
    Scale-out storage with dynamic capacity additions
    Built-in backups
    Cloud-enabled operations for the complete data life cycle
    Quality of Service (QoS) to manage and enforce service levels
    Automation and orchestration
    Application integration
    Secure multi-tenancy
    Snapshot copies for on-array backups
    Storage-reduction techniques, such as deduplication and thin provisioning
    Synchronous and asynchronous replication
    Storage encryption
    All of these capabilities are available today in NetApp All Flash FAS systems, thanks to the powerful data management capabilities of our Data ONTAP® storage operating system (OS). Because our AFF8000 All Flash FAS systems run the Data ONTAP OS, they automatically inherit the full complement of enterprise-grade capabilities within their all-flash architecture.
    "Our dealership customers expect a live market view of vehicle inventory and pricing. To provide dealers with real-time data, we've moved a 15 terabyte Oracle database to a NetApp FAS8080 EX all-flash array with outstanding results. Database latency now averages a mere 370 microseconds, helping us provide consistently excellent performance and maintain the attention of the dealer community. And our IT operations team can use all the NetApp software features they have come to rely on, such as deduplication, replication, snapshot copies, and thin clones."
    — Chris Prosceno, Manager of Enterprise Data Storage, Cox Automotive (parent company of Autotrader.com, Kelley Blue Book, vAuto)
    Flash as a Service
    As flash adoption becomes mainstream, flash will become a service level of your infrastructure—a way to deliver multi-tier performance, all from the same media types.
    Enterprise IT is now about delivering services to the organization. Those services can be co-located off site or delivered on premises, or by a service provider, or in the cloud. Modern IT has to support all methods of service delivery so that your data is not stranded.
    Flash must be a part of this service delivery model, providing tier 0, tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, data recovery (DR), archive, and cloud data support. Your flash storage can't imprison your data. Your shared multi-tenant flash arrays must work with everything in your IT environment. For example, you need:
    Replication from flash to capacity drives for cost savings, development/test, DR, and archive
    Replication from flash to cloud for cost savings, development/test, DR, and archive
    Efficient flash storage management across both sites and platform sizes, and as your IT environment grows, evolves, and scales
    Benefits of Enterprise-Grade Flash
    Is enterprise-grade flash really that important? Does it deliver real benefits? Our answer is a resounding YES. Here are a few examples:
    Increased storage efficiency. Achieve higher petabyte (PB) per full-time equivalent (FTE) data administrator, up to 2PB to 3PB per admin.
    Power and space-cooling savings. Replace three floor tiles by 8U of rack space, or more.
    Improved organizational efficiency. Use fewer technologies, and have fewer people to manage.
    Scalability. Migrate easily between underlying technologies as your IT environment evolves.
    Reduced costs. Reuse your expensive assets for years to come, with nondisruptive operation (NDO) and scale-out capabilities. NetApp customers report an average disk age of seven years with our technology. This longevity allows you to reuse and keep your disk even as you upgrade.
    Figure 2) Oracle Database performance excels on NetApp AFF8080 EX All Flash FAS systems.
    Source: "NetApp AFF8080 EX Performance and Server Consolidation with Oracle Database, TR-4415"; June 2015
    Figure 3) Microsoft SQL Server performance excels on NetApp AFF8080 EX All Flash FAS systems.
    Source: "NetApp AFF8080 EX Performance and Server Consolidation with Microsoft SQL Server 2014, TR-4403"; June 2015
    Let's Talk More
    By now, I hope you're convinced that the flash revolution is real and that there's much to be gained by putting enterprise-grade flash to work for you.
    Unfortunately, however, the revolution has caught many storage vendors off guard. They're scrambling to invent the features NetApp has been providing all along. Our All Flash FAS systems prove that enterprise-grade flash is available today, not as some future promise.
    The Data Fabric, enabled by NetApp, is another big part of the story of our evolving industry. The Data Fabric works with our flash solutions to give you cradle-to-grave, on-premises-to-cloud life-cycle support for your data.
    I hope you'll join us at the NetApp Insight conference in Las Vegas in October. We can talk about how NetApp enterprise-grade flash, with cloud enablement, can help address your current and future data issues.
    The market is changing. Are you ready?
    Andy Grimes has been in the IT industry for 15 years. He worked as a business systems architect, systems engineer, and chief technology officer for healthcare at NetApp before becoming NetApp's principal architect for flash. Previously, he worked for IBM developing and testing storage technology, generating four storage technology patents.
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    Saluting Andrew, Would you please alsoa dvice the top 3 reason AFF8080 is better than M Series from Pure Storage? Tks from Henry PAN

  • OpenStack Deployment Doesn't Have to Be Hard

    August 2015
    Explore
    NetApp OpenStack Involvement
    NetApp has a longstanding history with the open source and OpenStack communities. We've been a contributing member and a summit sponsor in the OpenStack community since 2011. We've released significant amounts of code upstream to provide Cinder drivers and Manila (fileshare service) incubation. And, we're constantly introducing new features and value adds in our contributions to other OpenStack projects such as Manila.
    You don't need to download the code from our site; just get it from whoever's providing your OpenStack distribution. Red Hat is but one example.
    Because of our involvement in the community, we've been recognized in the OpenStack User Survey Insights, 2014  results as being the number-one enterprise-class storage system used in OpenStack environments. And, since 2014 we've experienced 1) a growth in NetApp deployments to OpenStack environments by more than four systems, and 2) an increase of more than 1.5 in unique customers.
    We're also a customer and a consumer of OpenStack, deploying it internally for multiple environments—production, test-development, and engineering. So we're using OpenStack or involved in OpenStack in every layer and in every possibility. And, we've just announced fibre channel protocol support in our Cinder driver.
    Brendan Wolfe
    Senior Marketing Manager,
    NetApp
    David Cain
    Technical Marketing Engineer,
    NetApp
    Think OpenStack deployment is difficult? A confusing, overwhelming mess? You're not alone. Common wisdom says OpenStack is too complicated with too many manual steps. Too many log files to go through to figure out what's broken. And, OpenStack is changing too fast to keep up with.
    Thinking like this puts enterprises in analysis-paralysis mode—unable to decide whether to begin an OpenStack deployment, or not. The complexities of OpenStack breed more investigation than implementation. Companies spend more time second-guessing their OpenStack deployment than getting production workloads up and running.
    We think there's a better way.
    Easier OpenStack with FlexPod
    The standardized, validated FlexPod® platform can help speed and smooth the kinks out of your OpenStack deployment.
    A joint, collaborative technical engineering effort between NetApp and Cisco, FlexPod delivers proven technology with best-of-breed components to:
    Reduce OpenStack risk and total cost of ownership (TCO)
    Accelerate and streamline deployment
    Make administration more efficient
    The solution incorporates NetApp® FAS and/or E-Series storage, Cisco® UCS servers, and Cisco Nexus switches. Our co-engineering effort with Cisco over the past seven years has produced more than 70 published documents—Cisco Validated Designs or NetApp Verified Architectures.
    Now FlexPod has expanded its extensive validated design portfolio to include an OpenStack solution. NetApp teamed up with Red Hat and Cisco to deliver cloud-ready, enterprise-grade converged infrastructure with Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform (RHEL-OSP)—smoothing the way to deploy an open Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) for your hybrid cloud environments.
    Watch this video to see how easy it is to deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 6 (RHEL-OSP6) on FlexPod Datacenter infrastructure using the RHEL-OSP installer.
    The Proof Is in the Pod
    We took an existing FlexPod in our Deployment Lab—reasonably spec'ed hardware, not artificially designed infrastructure geared to inflate results for demonstration purposes—rolled it together in a rack, and deployed on it Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 6, taking advantage of NetApp integrations and enhancements in OpenStack.
    Then we scaled up the number of instances in this resulting OpenStack cloud. We started with eight nodes, four of them being computer hypervisor nodes. How far were we able to scale? 1,000 instances? 2,000? 5,000? More?
    Figure 1) Physical storage, networking, and compute components of the FlexPod Deployment Lab.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    Figure 2 shows how RHEL-OSP on FlexPod  scales in comparison with a competitor's published numbers.
    Figure 2) Spinning media provides the ability to clone and boot 1,000 persistent instances in 31 minutes—an 83% decrease over a competitor's published all-flash numbers.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    But wait, there's more: OpenStack scaled to nearly 10,000 instances after adding an additional 12 compute nodes.
    Figure 3) Overview of scaled instances using reasonably spec'ed hardware in FlexPod Deployment Lab.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    Integrations That Lead to Scale
    Integration of the Glance image repository with NetApp clustered Data ONTAP® enables two important benefits:
    First, copy offload eliminates the initial network copy from a Glance image repository to a Cinder (block storage) repository. So instead of copying through the network, we clone the first volume from within the storage system itself. It's near instantaneous, and it avoids that first copy through the network.
    Second is space efficiency: Our deduplication technology enables common 4K blocks to coalesce into a single block, which translates to serious space savings on the underlying volume holding all of your images. Most of the images in that Glance data store are either renditions or variations of operating systems, so they can share some of the same blocks. Deduplication stores only the deltas between the images stored in the Glance image store.
    With other hypervisor platforms—VMware, Hyper-V—we've seen almost 90% deduplication rates. And that's not just internally; that's out in the field.
    Create a Storage Service Catalog
    Map features of underlying NetApp storage let you create classes of service, via Cinder volume types, that are aligned to workloads.
    When creating Cinder volumes, you can specify a volume type and give it any name you wish—for example, disaster_recovery, test_development, or transactional_db. The names are arbitrary.
    In the case of a transactional database: Suppose you have a workload where the customer specifies that data to be backed by solid-state disks or flash disks in the NetApp storage device. Through the extra-specs functionality in OpenStack, we can create these volume types and associate those extra specs with that volume type.
    Whenever a customer uses Cinder and specify a volume type, either through the command line or through the Horizon dashboard, he or she can get Cinder volumes that are created on those back-end NetApp FlexVols. So if you have three different FlexVols with different associated features (for example,, one with deduplication, one with mirroring, one with a NetApp SnapMirror® relationship), whenever the user makes a request for a new Cinder volume, the resulting Cinder volumes will be stored on NetApp FAS FlexVols that meet the defined characteristics of the Storage Service Catalog.
    Watch Integrating NetApp Technology with OpenStack Block Storage Cinder to learn how to utilize the OpenStack Cinder volume-type functionality to leverage NetApp technology (deduplication, compression, thick provisioning, and mirroring) for OpenStack deployments.
    Robust, Scalable Instance Caching
    Once a Cinder volume is created from a Glance image, it's automatically cached in the network file system (NFS) image cache locally on the NetApp FlexVol. Future volumes are then cloned—not copied—from this NFS image cache for instant replication without additional storage space. The new volumes share the same blocks as the cached image, and only deltas take up new blocks on the disk.
    When you're using NetApp storage for Glance data, rapid instance cloning via NetApp FlexClone® becomes possible—dramatically reducing the creation time for Cinder volumes that are used for persistent images.
    Reduce Disk Rebuild Time by 90%
    Swift object storage takes advantage of the NetApp E-Series storage systems to deliver resiliency and scalability. With E-Series Dynamic Disk Pools, each volume's data, parity information, and spare capacity are distributed across all drives in the disk pool. The intelligent algorithm defines which drives are used for segment placement, ensuring full data protection. All drives are active within the storage system; none are idle, meaning you have no hot spares just sitting there.
    This integration delivers major advantages, including:
    Data is reconstructed throughout the disk pool
    All drives share responsibility for writes
    Dynamic rebuild operations run in parallel
    You experience up to eight times faster return to optimal condition
    By default, Swift replicates data three times across the cluster, and the weight of replication traffic can become a limitation to scale; as Swift scales, hardware requirements increase linearly. With E-Series, internal drive requirements for storage nodes are reduced, and only operating system storage is required. The E-Series storage array supplies disk space for Swift account, container, and object data.
    Since a single storage subsystem provides storage space for multiple Swift nodes, smaller and possibly lower power IU nodes can be used in the cluster—resulting in reduced rack space, power, cooling, and footprint requirements.
    Figure 4) NetApp E-Series Swift delivers major advantages over Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Swift.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    FlexPod for Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 6
    Because of our community integration and industry partnerships, we're a leader in developing open source initiatives and in driving collaborative solutions and support for enterprises. The proven FlexPod infrastructure delivers the best of both worlds:
    Standard OpenStack interfaces
    Enterprise-class storage tuned for tier-1 applications and workloads
    You can build private, public, and hybrid clouds on our data ONTAP and SANtricity operating systems for efficient and scalable services.
    By leveraging best practices developed in hands-on engineering validations, FlexPod enables rapid time to value for enterprise deployments. So, if you've been putting off your deployment because you thought OpenStack was hard, think again.
    As OpenStack Marketing Manager for NetApp, Brendan Wolfe works closely with developers, product management, alliance partners, and customers to package and communicate NetApp's OpenStack solutions and technology to the market. Prior to joining NetApp, Brendan was an enterprise storage expert for SanDisk and Fusion-io (a SanDisk company).
    Dave Cain, a reference architect and technical marketing engineer with NetApp's Converged Infrastructure Solutions team, produces validated reference architectures that promote the benefits of NetApp storage and software into datacenter and cloud environments. Prior to joining NetApp, he spent 10 years at IBM, focusing on network, storage, and virtualization IT infrastructure. Dave holds a B.S. in computer science from North Carolina State University. He has coauthored five IBM Redbooks, and holds two U.S. patents and various invention disclosures in computer networking.
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    No, music does not have to be in the iTunes Music folder or necessarily in any other particular folder. You can have the track files located anywhere on the system you wish. iTunes will by default copy tracks you import or rip from CDs wherever the location is set in the Advanced preference. Perhaps the option is set to the root of the iTunes folder in your case. And if you turn off the option to "copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" in the the iTunes -> Advanced preferences, you can have your tracks anywhere on the system in whatever organization you like; iTunes will leave them where they are and quite happily link to them.
    Regards.

  • All-Flash Storage: Accelerated Performance, Yes, but Is It Enterprise-Grade?

    August 2015
    Explore
    All-Flash Vendors Should Meet These Criteria
    Here's our checklist to help you evaluate the enterprise-grade capabilities of all-flash storage solutions you may be considering. It helps you assess what you should be most concerned about as you invest in solid-state storage arrays for critical application environments.
    Your enterprise should settle for no less.
    AFF Enterprise-Grade Checklist
    Performance
    Audited performance benchmarks
    Quality of service
    Management Simplicity
    Single pane-of-glass management
    Seamless scale-out and scale-up
    NAS and SAN
    Data Protection / Security
    Synchronous / asynchronous replication
    Secure multi-tenancy
    F2D2C integrated data protection
    Application Integration
    Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, VMware, Citrix
    Veeam, Commvault, Veritas, TSM
    OpenStack, CloudStack integration
    When you've gone through the list, contact your NetApp sales rep or reseller to see if you qualify for our free All Flash FAS try-before-you-buy offer—it's a risk-free way to get a taste of what true enterprise-grade, all-flash storage has to offer.
    Mike McNamara
    Senior Manager, Product Marketing
    NetApp
    Sure, high performance and low latency matter. Business competition—relentless 24/7/365—demands that you coax maximum speed and responsiveness from key business operations. Faster time to market translates to greater customer satisfaction and competitive advantage.
    That's why your forward-looking IT peers increasingly embrace all-flash storage: By speeding performance and reducing latency, flash accelerates business value—driving revenue, enhancing the customer experience, and reducing costs through consolidation.
    But when it comes to all-flash storage solutions today, high performance and low latency are not enough. Your enterprise needs more.
    Turn on a Dime—Without Compromise
    In an enterprise context, "agility" refers to how well and rapidly a company can adapt to market and environmental changes—and do it in productive, cost-effective ways. Robust data management and enterprise-grade capabilities are key to staying on top of today's dynamic marketplace.
    Accordingly, astute IT bosses are asking questions around all-flash storage solutions: How available is my data? How much flexibility do I have to move that data over its lifecycle? What about data protection? Does the solution offer native support for cloud?
    In essence, they're saying, "Okay, Mr. Storage Vendor, you can accelerate my performance and reduce my latency. But can you wrap that in the enterprise-grade package that I need to run my business?"
    NetApp® All Flash FAS (AFF) answers all these questions. It's an enterprise-grade storage solution.
    Figure 1) Powered by clustered Data ONTAP, All Flash FAS is built for virtualized, shared environments requiring high performance plus robust data management.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    Powered by Clustered Data ONTAP
    Driving All Flash FAS is NetApp clustered Data ONTAP®, the #1 storage operating system (OS).* It's the foundation of the Data Fabric, our vision for the future of data management. We architected Data ONTAP to have enterprise-grade, unified, scale-out capabilities that deliver nondisruptive operations, storage and operational efficiency, and scalability over the lifetime of the system. Data ONTAP is the basis for virtualized shared storage infrastructures.
    Backed by Data ONTAP FlashEssentials, AFF simplifies flash deployment, eliminates flash silos, accelerates database performance with 20x faster response times, and reduces your total cost of ownership. Enhanced native capabilities of the OS bring integrated inline efficiencies to AFF. These include newly enhanced compression, inline zero-block and always-on deduplication for 5x–10x average space savings.
    All Flash FAS employs the Data ONTAP log-structured file system WAFL® (Write Anywhere File Layout). It's optimized for flash media to minimize latency, reduce wear, and maximize usable capacity. The solution's optimized write, read, and parallel processing results in consistent submillisecond latency and high performance.
    Figure 2) Flash-optimized write architecture reduces latency and increases the longevity of SSDs.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    Flash-to-Disk Agility
    All Flash FAS supports live workload migration between flash and hard disk drive (HDD) tiers—on premises or in the cloud. As data characteristics and application environments change, data that's no longer performance-driven doesn't need to be in flash. All Flash FAS gives you the flexibility to move that data nondisruptively within the same cluster to other nodes that are just spinning media for cost-effective backup or archival for example—quickly and easily.
    Flash-to-Cloud Data Protection
    NetApp is the first all-flash system to support integrated snapshots and cloning to a software instance running on Amazon Web Services. You can move your data securely across your choice of clouds—enabled by Cloud ONTAP™ and NetApp Private Storage for Cloud.
    Enterprise-grade Data Protection Delivers Resiliency
    Industry-leading, advanced data protection technologies in AFF improve your resiliency. Core features include RAID DP, in-core checksums, lost write protection, read-after write verification, and media scans that verify that data written to the solid state drive (SSD) is written correctly and regenerated.
    For enterprise-grade data availability, NetApp MetroCluster™ is the only high-availability and disaster recovery software integrated into an all-flash array. With MetroCluster, you recover from failures with zero data loss, maintaining continuous data availability for mission-critical applications—at half the cost and complexity of competitive solutions. All Flash FAS with MetroCluster is one of the only all-flash arrays that supports integrated synchronous mirroring with a single management view. And, according to Forrester Research estimates, organizations can achieve up to 143% return on investment (ROI) through MetroCluster.
    NetApp SnapMirror® software replicates to any type of FAS system—all flash, hybrid, or HDD, on premises or in the cloud—reducing overall system costs.
    Enhancements that improve SSD durability and life include metadata and user data that are coalesced in memory before being destaged intelligently to the SSD subsystem. This ability minimizes wear by reducing the amount of writes dispatched to the SSDs. Data is never overwritten in place and writes are striped across multiple SSDs, resulting in more even wear.
    Furthermore, where other storage vendors compete, we partner. One road leads to vendor lock-in; the other leads to interoperability. Through strong data protection partnerships, All Flash FAS delivers integrated support for Veeam, Commvault, Veritas, and Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) solutions.
    Leading Application Integration Covers All the Bases
    Deep application integration sets All Flash FAS apart from other all-flash solutions on the market today.
    Delivering tight assimilation with Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, SAP, Citrix, VMware, and OpenStack and CloudStack environments, AFF streamlines your management and data protection chores—saving you time and cycles. Application-consistent backup and recovery is integrated and automated.
    Storage Management Made Easy
    All Flash FAS includes the NetApp OnCommand® family of management software for automated tools that further simplify management of storage operations. Setting up and configuring AFF typically takes less than 15 minutes leveraging preconfigured systems for SAN deployments. OnCommand Workflow Automation automates common storage tasks such as provisioning and data protection for environments such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.
    To optimize storage for peak performance and to keep everything running smoothly, OnCommand Performance Manager automatically monitors and analyzes performance. It's an integrated component of OnCommand Unified Manager.
    With multiprotocol support—Fibre Channel (FC), FCoE, iSCSI, NFS, pNFS, CIFS/SMB—AFF delivers a common look and feel across your entire heterogeneous enterprise. Network-attached storage (NAS) is especially useful for VDI workloads typical in Citrix XenDesktop and VMware Horizon View installations.
    The Need for Speed
    All Flash FAS accelerated performance enables server consolidation and can reduce database license costs by 50%.
    In a recent SPC-1 benchmark, the All Flash FAS8080EX delivered 685,000 SPC-1 IOPS, ranking in the top 5. For database environments, AFF delivers 309K IOPS at 1ms latency for Oracle database 12c and 280K IOPS at 1ms latency for Microsoft SQL Server. VDI performance is equally impressive with 160K IOPS at ~1ms latency (80% write, 20% read).
    Like every FAS controller, AFF supports all the same protocols and features as FAS hybrid arrays. This includes the ability to scale up and out to 8 nodes for FC, or 24 nodes for NAS. With multi-tenancy built in and quality of service to protect important workloads, All Flash FAS is more than capable of meeting the demands of enterprise IT—scaling up to 384TB all-flash capacity per high availability (HA) pair or up to 5PB all-flash capacity in a cluster.
    Free Try Before You Buy
    If you're evaluating all-flash storage arrays for your enterprise, you'll want to consider the questions in the All Flash Array Checklist for Enterprise Buyers (see sidebar, "All-Flash Vendors Should Meet These Criteria"). Compare NetApp AFF against all-flash storage solutions other vendors are offering. If their solutions don't meet these criteria, you will end up setting up a storage silo with all of the management challenges involved.
    NetApp is currently offering a free All Flash FAS trial for qualified enterprises. It's a risk-free way to put all-flash storage performance with enterprise-grade capabilities through its paces in your own environment. Contact your NetApp sales rep or reseller to find out more
    The NetApp AFF8000 product line delivers on all the elements in the checklist. Because yes, high performance and low latency matter—but for enterprise IT mavens, that's just the beginning.
    *IDC Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker 2015 Q1, June 2015 (Open Networked Disk Storage Systems revenue)
    Mike McNamara, senior manager of product marketing at NetApp, has 25 years of storage and data management marketing experience. Prior to NetApp, Mike worked at Adaptec, EMC, and HP. He helped lead the launch of the industry's first unified scale-out storage system, iSCSI and SAS storage system, and Fibre Channel storage system. Mike is a former marketing chairperson for the Fibre Channel Industry Association, and current member of the Ethernet Technology Summit Conference Advisory Board and the Ethernet Alliance. He frequently contributes to industry journals and speaks at industry events.
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    Saluting Mike, Would you please alsoa dvice how many enterprise users are running Epic on AFF8K? Tks by Henry PAN

  • Increase Performance and ROI for SQL Server Environments

    May 2015
    Explore
    The Buzz from Microsoft Ignite 2015
    NetApp was in full force at the recent Microsoft Ignite show in Chicago, talking about solutions for hybrid cloud, and our proven solutions for Microsoft SQL Server and other Microsoft applications.
    Hot topics at the NetApp booth included:
    OnCommand® Shift. A revolutionary technology that lets you move virtual machines back and forth between VMware and Hyper-V environments in minutes.
    Azure Site Recovery to NetApp Private Storage. Replicate on-premises SAN-based applications to NPS for disaster recovery in the Azure cloud.
    These tools give you greater flexibility for managing and protecting important business applications.
    Chris Lemmons
    Director, EIS Technical Marketing, NetApp
    If your organization runs databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle DB, you probably know that these vendors primarily license their products on a "per-core" basis. Microsoft recently switched to "per-core" rather than "per-socket" licensing for SQL Server 2012 and 2014. This change can have a big impact on the total cost of operating a database, especially as core counts on new servers continue to climb. It turns out that the right storage infrastructure can drive down database costs, increase productivity, and put your infrastructure back in balance.
    In many customer environments, NetApp has noticed that server CPU utilization is low—often on the order of just 20%. This is usually the result of I/O bottlenecks. Server cores have to sit and wait for I/O from hard disk drives (HDDs). We've been closely studying the impact of all-flash storage on SQL Server environments that use HDD-based storage systems. NetApp® All Flash FAS platform delivers world-class performance for SQL Server plus the storage efficiency, application integration, nondisruptive operations, and data protection of clustered Data ONTAP®, making it ideal for SQL Server environments.
    Tests show that All Flash FAS can drive up IOPS and database server CPU utilization by as much as 4x. And with a 95% reduction in latency, you can achieve this level of performance with half as many servers. This reduces the number of servers you need and the number of cores you have to license, driving down costs by 50% or more and paying back your investment in flash in as little as six months.
    Figure 1) NetApp All Flash FAS increases CPU utilization on your SQL Server database servers, lowering costs.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    Whether you're running one of the newer versions of SQL Server or facing an upgrade of an earlier version, you can't afford not to take a second look at your storage environment.
    End of Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is Rapidly Approaching
    Microsoft has set the end of extended support for SQL Server 2005 for April 2016—less than a year away. With support for Microsoft Windows 2003 ending in July 2015, time may already be running short.
    If you're running Windows Server 2003, new server hardware is almost certainly needed when you upgrade SQL Server. Evaluate your server and storage options now to get costs under control.
    Test Methodology
    To test the impact of flash on SQL Server performance, we replaced a legacy HDD-based storage system with an All Flash FAS AFF8080 EX. The legacy system was configured with almost 150 HDDs, a typical configuration for HDD storage supporting SQL Server. The AFF8080 EX used just 48 SSDs.
    Table 1) Components used in testing.
    Test Configuration Components
    Details
    SQL Server 2014 servers
    Fujitsu RX300
    Server operating system
    Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Standard Edition
    SQL Server database version
    Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition
    Processors per server
    2 6-core Xeon E5-2630 at 2.30 GHz
    Fibre channel network
    8Gb FC with multipathing
    Storage controller
    AFF8080 EX
    Data ONTAP version
    Clustered Data ONTAP® 8.3.1
    Drive number and type
    48 SSD
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    The test configuration consisted of 10 database servers connected through fibre channel to both the legacy storage system and the AFF8080 EX. Each of the 10 servers ran SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition.
    The publicly available HammerDB workload generator was used to drive an OLTP-like workload simultaneously from each of the 10 database servers to storage. We first directed the workload to the legacy storage array to establish a baseline, increasing the load to the point where read latency consistently exceeded 20ms.
    That workload was then directed at the AFF8080 EX. The change in storage resulted in an overall 20x reduction in read latency, a greater than 4x improvement in IOPS, and a greater than 4x improvement in database server CPU utilization.
    Figure 2) NetApp All Flash FAS increases IOPS and server CPU utilization and lowers latency.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    In other words, the database servers are able to process four times as many IOPS with dramatically lower latency. CPU utilization goes up accordingly because the servers are processing 4x the work per unit time.
    The All Flash FAS system still had additional headroom under this load.
    Calculating the Savings
    Let's look at what this performance improvement means for the total cost of running SQL Server 2014 over a 3-year period. To do the analysis we used NetApp Realize, a storage modeling and financial analysis tool designed to help quantify the value of NetApp solutions and products. NetApp sales teams and partners use this tool to assist with return on investment (ROI) calculations.
    The calculation includes the cost of the AFF8080 EX, eliminates the costs associated with the existing storage system, and cuts the total number of database servers from 10 to five. This reduces SQL Server licensing costs by 50%. The same workload was run with five servers and achieved the same results. ROI analysis is summarized in Table 2.
    Table 2) ROI from replacing an HDD-based storage system with All Flash FAS, thereby cutting server and licensing costs in half.
    Value
    Analysis Results
    ROI
    65%
    Net present value (NPV)
    $950,000
    Payback period
    six months
    Total cost reduction
    More than $1 million saved over a 3-year analysis period compared to the legacy storage system
    Savings on power, space, and administration
    $40,000
    Additional savings due to nondisruptive operations benefits (not included in ROI)
    $90,000
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    The takeaway here is that you can replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs, with the majority of the savings derived from the reduction in SQL Server licensing costs.
    Replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs.
    Maximum SQL Server 2014 Performance
    In addition to the ROI analysis, we also measured the maximum performance of the AFF8080 EX with SQL Server 2014. A load-generation tool was used to simulate an industry-standard TPC-E OLTP workload against an SQL Server 2014 test configuration.
    A two-node AFF8080 EX achieved a maximum throughput of 322K IOPS at just over 1ms latency. For all points other than the maximum load point, latency was consistently under 1ms and remained under 0.8ms up to 180K IOPS.
    Data Reduction and Storage Efficiency
    In addition to performance testing, we looked at the overall storage efficiency savings of our SQL Server database implementation. The degree of compression that can be achieved is dependent on the actual data that is written and stored in the database. For this environment, inline compression was effective. Deduplication, as is often the case in database environments, provided little additional storage savings and was not enabled.
    For the test data used in the maximum performance test, we measured a compression ratio of 1.5:1. We also tested inline compression on a production SQL Server 2014 data set to further validate these results and saw a 1.8:1 compression ratio.
    Space-efficient NetApp Snapshot® copies provide additional storage efficiency benefits for database environments. Unlike snapshot methods that use copy-on-write, there is no performance penalty; unlike full mirror copies, NetApp Snapshot copies use storage space sparingly. Snapshot copies only consume a small amount of storage space for metadata and additional incremental space is consumed as block-level changes occur. In a typical real-world SQL Server deployment on NetApp storage, database volume Snapshot copies are made every two hours.
    First introduced more than 10 years ago, NetApp FlexClone® technology also plays an important role in SQL Server environments. Clones are fully writable, and, similar to Snapshot copies, only consume incremental storage capacity. With FlexClone, you can create as many copies of production data as you need for development and test, reporting, and so on. Cloning is a great way to support the development and test work needed when upgrading from an earlier version of SQL Server. You'll sometimes see these types of capabilities referred to as "copy data management."
    A Better Way to Run Enterprise Applications
    The performance benefits that all-flash storage can deliver for database environments are significant: more IOPS, lower latency, and an end to near-constant performance tuning.
    If you think the performance acceleration that comes with all-flash storage is cost prohibitive, think again. All Flash FAS doesn't just deliver a performance boost, it changes the economics of your operations, paying for itself with thousands in savings on licensing and server costs. In terms of dollars per IOPS, All Flash FAS is extremely economical relative to HDD.
    And, because All Flash FAS runs NetApp clustered Data ONTAP, it delivers the most complete environment to support SQL Server and all your enterprise applications with capabilities that include comprehensive storage efficiency, integrated data protection, and deep integration for your applications.
    For complete details on this testing look for NetApp TR-4303, which will be available in a few weeks. Stay tuned to Tech OnTap for more information as NetApp continues to run benchmarks with important server workloads including Oracle DB and server virtualization.
    Learn more about NetApp solutions for SQL Server and NetApp All-flash solutions.
    Quick Links
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    Archive
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    May 2015
    Explore
    The Buzz from Microsoft Ignite 2015
    NetApp was in full force at the recent Microsoft Ignite show in Chicago, talking about solutions for hybrid cloud, and our proven solutions for Microsoft SQL Server and other Microsoft applications.
    Hot topics at the NetApp booth included:
    OnCommand® Shift. A revolutionary technology that lets you move virtual machines back and forth between VMware and Hyper-V environments in minutes.
    Azure Site Recovery to NetApp Private Storage. Replicate on-premises SAN-based applications to NPS for disaster recovery in the Azure cloud.
    These tools give you greater flexibility for managing and protecting important business applications.
    Chris Lemmons
    Director, EIS Technical Marketing, NetApp
    If your organization runs databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle DB, you probably know that these vendors primarily license their products on a "per-core" basis. Microsoft recently switched to "per-core" rather than "per-socket" licensing for SQL Server 2012 and 2014. This change can have a big impact on the total cost of operating a database, especially as core counts on new servers continue to climb. It turns out that the right storage infrastructure can drive down database costs, increase productivity, and put your infrastructure back in balance.
    In many customer environments, NetApp has noticed that server CPU utilization is low—often on the order of just 20%. This is usually the result of I/O bottlenecks. Server cores have to sit and wait for I/O from hard disk drives (HDDs). We've been closely studying the impact of all-flash storage on SQL Server environments that use HDD-based storage systems. NetApp® All Flash FAS platform delivers world-class performance for SQL Server plus the storage efficiency, application integration, nondisruptive operations, and data protection of clustered Data ONTAP®, making it ideal for SQL Server environments.
    Tests show that All Flash FAS can drive up IOPS and database server CPU utilization by as much as 4x. And with a 95% reduction in latency, you can achieve this level of performance with half as many servers. This reduces the number of servers you need and the number of cores you have to license, driving down costs by 50% or more and paying back your investment in flash in as little as six months.
    Figure 1) NetApp All Flash FAS increases CPU utilization on your SQL Server database servers, lowering costs.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    Whether you're running one of the newer versions of SQL Server or facing an upgrade of an earlier version, you can't afford not to take a second look at your storage environment.
    End of Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is Rapidly Approaching
    Microsoft has set the end of extended support for SQL Server 2005 for April 2016—less than a year away. With support for Microsoft Windows 2003 ending in July 2015, time may already be running short.
    If you're running Windows Server 2003, new server hardware is almost certainly needed when you upgrade SQL Server. Evaluate your server and storage options now to get costs under control.
    Test Methodology
    To test the impact of flash on SQL Server performance, we replaced a legacy HDD-based storage system with an All Flash FAS AFF8080 EX. The legacy system was configured with almost 150 HDDs, a typical configuration for HDD storage supporting SQL Server. The AFF8080 EX used just 48 SSDs.
    Table 1) Components used in testing.
    Test Configuration Components
    Details
    SQL Server 2014 servers
    Fujitsu RX300
    Server operating system
    Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Standard Edition
    SQL Server database version
    Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition
    Processors per server
    2 6-core Xeon E5-2630 at 2.30 GHz
    Fibre channel network
    8Gb FC with multipathing
    Storage controller
    AFF8080 EX
    Data ONTAP version
    Clustered Data ONTAP® 8.3.1
    Drive number and type
    48 SSD
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    The test configuration consisted of 10 database servers connected through fibre channel to both the legacy storage system and the AFF8080 EX. Each of the 10 servers ran SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition.
    The publicly available HammerDB workload generator was used to drive an OLTP-like workload simultaneously from each of the 10 database servers to storage. We first directed the workload to the legacy storage array to establish a baseline, increasing the load to the point where read latency consistently exceeded 20ms.
    That workload was then directed at the AFF8080 EX. The change in storage resulted in an overall 20x reduction in read latency, a greater than 4x improvement in IOPS, and a greater than 4x improvement in database server CPU utilization.
    Figure 2) NetApp All Flash FAS increases IOPS and server CPU utilization and lowers latency.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    In other words, the database servers are able to process four times as many IOPS with dramatically lower latency. CPU utilization goes up accordingly because the servers are processing 4x the work per unit time.
    The All Flash FAS system still had additional headroom under this load.
    Calculating the Savings
    Let's look at what this performance improvement means for the total cost of running SQL Server 2014 over a 3-year period. To do the analysis we used NetApp Realize, a storage modeling and financial analysis tool designed to help quantify the value of NetApp solutions and products. NetApp sales teams and partners use this tool to assist with return on investment (ROI) calculations.
    The calculation includes the cost of the AFF8080 EX, eliminates the costs associated with the existing storage system, and cuts the total number of database servers from 10 to five. This reduces SQL Server licensing costs by 50%. The same workload was run with five servers and achieved the same results. ROI analysis is summarized in Table 2.
    Table 2) ROI from replacing an HDD-based storage system with All Flash FAS, thereby cutting server and licensing costs in half.
    Value
    Analysis Results
    ROI
    65%
    Net present value (NPV)
    $950,000
    Payback period
    six months
    Total cost reduction
    More than $1 million saved over a 3-year analysis period compared to the legacy storage system
    Savings on power, space, and administration
    $40,000
    Additional savings due to nondisruptive operations benefits (not included in ROI)
    $90,000
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    The takeaway here is that you can replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs, with the majority of the savings derived from the reduction in SQL Server licensing costs.
    Replace your existing storage with All Flash FAS and get a big performance bump while substantially reducing your costs.
    Maximum SQL Server 2014 Performance
    In addition to the ROI analysis, we also measured the maximum performance of the AFF8080 EX with SQL Server 2014. A load-generation tool was used to simulate an industry-standard TPC-E OLTP workload against an SQL Server 2014 test configuration.
    A two-node AFF8080 EX achieved a maximum throughput of 322K IOPS at just over 1ms latency. For all points other than the maximum load point, latency was consistently under 1ms and remained under 0.8ms up to 180K IOPS.
    Data Reduction and Storage Efficiency
    In addition to performance testing, we looked at the overall storage efficiency savings of our SQL Server database implementation. The degree of compression that can be achieved is dependent on the actual data that is written and stored in the database. For this environment, inline compression was effective. Deduplication, as is often the case in database environments, provided little additional storage savings and was not enabled.
    For the test data used in the maximum performance test, we measured a compression ratio of 1.5:1. We also tested inline compression on a production SQL Server 2014 data set to further validate these results and saw a 1.8:1 compression ratio.
    Space-efficient NetApp Snapshot® copies provide additional storage efficiency benefits for database environments. Unlike snapshot methods that use copy-on-write, there is no performance penalty; unlike full mirror copies, NetApp Snapshot copies use storage space sparingly. Snapshot copies only consume a small amount of storage space for metadata and additional incremental space is consumed as block-level changes occur. In a typical real-world SQL Server deployment on NetApp storage, database volume Snapshot copies are made every two hours.
    First introduced more than 10 years ago, NetApp FlexClone® technology also plays an important role in SQL Server environments. Clones are fully writable, and, similar to Snapshot copies, only consume incremental storage capacity. With FlexClone, you can create as many copies of production data as you need for development and test, reporting, and so on. Cloning is a great way to support the development and test work needed when upgrading from an earlier version of SQL Server. You'll sometimes see these types of capabilities referred to as "copy data management."
    A Better Way to Run Enterprise Applications
    The performance benefits that all-flash storage can deliver for database environments are significant: more IOPS, lower latency, and an end to near-constant performance tuning.
    If you think the performance acceleration that comes with all-flash storage is cost prohibitive, think again. All Flash FAS doesn't just deliver a performance boost, it changes the economics of your operations, paying for itself with thousands in savings on licensing and server costs. In terms of dollars per IOPS, All Flash FAS is extremely economical relative to HDD.
    And, because All Flash FAS runs NetApp clustered Data ONTAP, it delivers the most complete environment to support SQL Server and all your enterprise applications with capabilities that include comprehensive storage efficiency, integrated data protection, and deep integration for your applications.
    For complete details on this testing look for NetApp TR-4303, which will be available in a few weeks. Stay tuned to Tech OnTap for more information as NetApp continues to run benchmarks with important server workloads including Oracle DB and server virtualization.
    Learn more about NetApp solutions for SQL Server and NetApp All-flash solutions.
    Quick Links
    Tech OnTap Community
    Archive
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  • Making Effective Use of the Hybrid Cloud: Real-World Examples

    May 2015
    Explore
    The Buzz from Microsoft Ignite 2015
    NetApp was in full force at the recent Microsoft Ignite show in Chicago, and it was clear that NetApp's approach to hybrid cloud and Data Fabric resonated with the crowd. NetApp solutions such as NetApp Private Storage for Cloud are solving real customer problems.
    Hot topics at the NetApp booth included:
    OnCommand® Shift. A revolutionary technology that allows you to move virtual machines back and forth between VMware and Hyper-V environments in minutes.
    Azure Site Recovery to NetApp Private Storage. Replicate on-premises SAN-based applications to NPS for disaster recovery in the Azure cloud.
    Check out the following blogs for more perspectives:
    Microsoft Ignite Sparks More Innovation from NetApp
    ASR Now Supports NetApp Private Storage for Microsoft Azure
    Four Ways Disaster Recovery is Simplified with Storage Management Standards
    Introducing OnCommand Shift
    SHIFT VMs between Hypervisors
    Infront Consulting + NetApp = Success
    Richard Treadway
    Senior Director of Cloud Marketing, NetApp
    Tom Shields
    Senior Manager, Cloud Service Provider Solution Marketing, NetApp
    Enterprises are increasingly turning to cloud to drive agility and closely align IT resources to business needs. New or short-term projects and unexpected spikes in demand can be satisfied quickly and elastically with cloud resources, spurring more creativity and productivity while reducing the waste associated with over- or under-provisioning.
    Figure 1) Cloud lets you closely align resources to demand.
    Source: NetApp, 2015
    While the benefits are attractive for many workloads, customer input suggests that even more can be achieved by moving beyond cloud silos and better managing data across cloud and on-premises infrastructure, with the ability to move data between clouds as needs and prices change. Hybrid cloud models are emerging where data can flow fluidly to the right location at the right time to optimize business outcomes while providing enhanced control and stewardship.
    These models fall into two general categories based on data location. In the first, data moves as needed between on-premises data centers and the cloud. In the second, data is located strategically near, but not in, the cloud.
    Let's look at what some customers are doing with hybrid cloud in the real world, their goals, and the outcomes.
    Data in the Cloud
    At NetApp, we see a variety of hybrid cloud deployments sharing data between on-premises data centers and the cloud, providing greater control and flexibility. These deployments utilize both cloud service providers (CSPs) and hyperscale public clouds such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
    Use Case 1: Partners with Verizon for Software as a Service Colocation and integrated Disaster Recovery in the Cloud
    For financial services company BlackLine, availability, security, and compliance with financial standards is paramount. But with the company growing at 50% per year, and periodic throughput and capacity bursts of up to 20 times baseline, the company knew it couldn't sustain its business model with on-premises IT alone.
    Stringent requirements often lead to innovation. BlackLine deployed its private cloud infrastructure at a Verizon colocation facility. The Verizon location gives them a data center that is purpose-built for security and compliance. It enables the company to retain full control over sensitive data while delivering the network speed and reliability it needs. The colocation facility gives Blackline access to Verizon cloud services with maximum bandwidth and minimum latency. The company currently uses Verizon Cloud for disaster recovery and backup. Verizon cloud services are built on NetApp® technology, so they work seamlessly with BlackLine's existing NetApp storage.
    To learn more about BlackLine's hybrid cloud deployment, read the executive summary and technical case study, or watch this customer video.
    Use Case 2: Private, Nonprofit University Eliminates Tape with Cloud Integrated Storage
    A private university was just beginning its cloud initiative and wanted to eliminate tape—and offsite tape storage. The university had been using Data Domain as a backup target in its environment, but capacity and expense had become a significant issue, and it didn't provide a backup-to-cloud option.
    The director of Backup turned to a NetApp SteelStore cloud-integrated storage appliance to address the university's needs. A proof of concept showed that SteelStore™ was perfect. The on-site appliance has built-in disk capacity to store the most recent backups so that the majority of restores still happen locally. Data is also replicated to AWS, providing cheap and deep storage for long-term retention. SteelStore features deduplication, compression, and encryption, so it efficiently uses both storage capacity (both in the appliance and in the cloud) and network bandwidth. Encryption keys are managed on-premises, ensuring that data in the cloud is secure.
    The university is already adding a second SteelStore appliance to support another location, and—recognizing which way the wind is blowing—the director of Backup has become the director of Backup and Cloud.
    Use Case 3: Consumer Finance Company Chooses Cloud ONTAP to Move Data Back On-Premises
    A leading provider of online payment services needed a way to move data generated by customer applications running in AWS to its on-premises data warehouse. NetApp Cloud ONTAP® running in AWS proved to be the least expensive way to accomplish this.
    Cloud ONTAP provides the full suite of NetApp enterprise data management tools for use with Amazon Elastic Block Storage, including storage efficiency, replication, and integrated data protection. Cloud ONTAP makes it simple to efficiently replicate the data from AWS to NetApp FAS storage in the company's own data centers. The company can now use existing extract, transform and load (ETL) tools for its data warehouse and run analytics on data generated in AWS.
    Regular replication not only facilitates analytics, it also ensures that a copy of important data is stored on-premises, protecting data from possible cloud outages. Read the success story to learn more.
    Data Near the Cloud
    For many organizations, deploying data near the hyperscale public cloud is a great choice because they can retain physical control of their data while taking advantage of elastic cloud compute resources on an as-needed basis. This hybrid cloud architecture can deliver better IOPS performance than native public cloud storage services, enterprise-class data management, and flexible access to multiple public cloud providers without moving data. Read the recent white paper from the Enterprise Strategy Group, “NetApp Multi-cloud Private Storage: Take Charge of Your Cloud Data,” to learn more about this approach.
    Use Case 1: Municipality Opts for Hybrid Cloud with NetApp Private Storage for AWS
    The IT budgets of many local governments are stretched tight, making it difficult to keep up with the growing expectations of citizens. One small municipality found itself in this exact situation, with aging infrastructure and a data center that not only was nearing capacity, but was also located in a flood plain.
    Rather than continue to invest in its own data center infrastructure, the municipality chose a hybrid cloud using NetApp Private Storage (NPS) for AWS. Because NPS stores personal, identifiable information and data that's subject to strict privacy laws, the municipality needed to retain control of its data. NPS does just that, while opening the door to better citizen services, improving availability and data protection, and saving $250,000 in taxpayer dollars. Read the success story to find out more.
    Use Case 2: IT Consulting Firm Expands Business Model with NetApp Private Storage for Azure
    A Japanese IT consulting firm specializing in SAP recognized the hybrid cloud as a way to expand its service offerings and grow revenue. By choosing NetApp Private Storage for Microsoft Azure, the firm can now offer a cloud service with greater flexibility and control over data versus services that store data in the cloud.
    The new service is being rolled out first to support the development work of the firm's internal systems integration engineering teams, and will later provide SAP development and testing, and disaster recovery services for mid-market customers in financial services, retail, and pharmaceutical industries.
    Use Case 3: Financial Services Leader Partners with NetApp for Major Cloud Initiative
    In the heavily regulated financial services industry, the journey to cloud must be orchestrated to address security, data privacy, and compliance. A leading Australian company recognized that cloud would enable new business opportunities and convert capital expenditures to monthly operating costs. However, with nine million customers, the company must know exactly where its data is stored. Using native cloud storage is not an option for certain data, and regulations require that the company maintain a tertiary copy of data and retain the ability to restore data under any circumstances. The company also needed to vacate one of its disaster-recovery data centers by the end of 2014.
    To address these requirements, the company opted for NetApp Private Storage for Cloud. The firm placed NetApp storage systems in two separate locations: an Equinix cloud access facility and a Global Switch colocation facility both located in Sydney. This satisfies the requirement for three copies of critical data and allows them to take advantage of AWS EC2 compute instances as needed, with the option to use Microsoft Azure or IBM SoftLayer as an alternative to AWS without migrating data. For performance, the company extended its corporate network to the two facilities.
    The firm vacated the data center on schedule, a multimillion-dollar cost avoidance. Cloud services are being rolled out in three phases. In the first phase, NPS will provide disaster recovery for the company's 12,000 virtual desktops. In phase two, NPS will provide disaster recover for enterprise-wide applications. In the final phase, the company will move all enterprise applications to NPS and AWS. NPS gives the company a proven methodology for moving production workloads to the cloud, enabling it to offer new services faster. Because the on-premises storage is the same as the cloud storage, making application architecture changes will also be faster and easier than it would be with other options. Read the success story to learn more.
    NetApp on NetApp: nCloud
    When NetApp IT needed to provide cloud services to its internal customers, the team naturally turned to NetApp hybrid cloud solutions, with a Data Fabric joining the pieces. The result is nCloud, a self-service portal that gives NetApp employees fast access to hybrid cloud resources. nCloud is architected using NetApp Private Storage for AWS, FlexPod®, clustered Data ONTAP and other NetApp technologies. NetApp IT has documented details of its efforts to help other companies on the path to hybrid cloud. Check out the following links to lean more:
    Hybrid Cloud: Changing How We Deliver IT Services [blog and video]
    NetApp IT Approach to NetApp Private Storage and Amazon Web Services in Enterprise IT Environment [white paper]
    NetApp Reaches New Heights with Cloud [infographic]
    Cloud Decision Framework [slideshare]
    Hybrid Cloud Decision Framework [infographic]
    See other NetApp on NetApp resources.
    Data Fabric: NetApp Services for Hybrid Cloud
    As the examples in this article demonstrate, NetApp is developing solutions to help organizations of all sizes move beyond cloud silos and unlock the power of hybrid cloud. A Data Fabric enabled by NetApp helps you more easily move and manage data in and near the cloud; it's the common thread that makes the uses cases in this article possible. Read Realize the Full Potential of Cloud with the Data Fabric to learn more about the Data Fabric and the NetApp technologies that make it possible.
    Richard Treadway is responsible for NetApp Hybrid Cloud solutions including SteelStore, Cloud ONTAP, NetApp Private Storage, StorageGRID Webscale, and OnCommand Insight. He has held executive roles in marketing and engineering at KnowNow, AvantGo, and BEA Systems, where he led efforts in developing the BEA WebLogic Portal.
    Tom Shields leads the Cloud Service Provider Solution Marketing group at NetApp, working with alliance partners and open source communities to design integrated solution stacks for CSPs. Tom designed and launched the marketing elements of the storage industry's first Cloud Service Provider Partner Program—growing it to 275 partners with a portfolio of more than 400 NetApp-based services.
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    Dave:
    "David Scarani" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:3ecfc046$[email protected]..
    >
    I was looking for some real world "Best Practices" of deploying J2EEapplications
    into a Production Weblogic Environment.
    We are new at deploying applications to J2EE application servers and arecurrently
    debating 2 methods.
    1) Store all configuration (application as well as Domain configuration)in properties
    files and Use Ant to rebuild the domain everytime the application isdeployed.
    I am just a WLS engineer, not a customer, so my opinions have in some
    regards little relative weight. However I think you'll get more mileage out
    of the fact that once you have created your config.xml, checking it into src
    control, versioning it. I would imagine that application changes are more
    frequent than server/domain configuration so it seems a little heavy weight
    to regenerate the entire configuration everytime an application is
    deployed/redeployed. Either way you should check out the wlconfig ant task.
    Cheers
    mbg
    2) Have a production domain built one time, configured as required andalways
    up and available, then use Ant to deploy only the J2EE application intothe existing,
    running production domain.
    I would be interested in hearing how people are doing this in theirproduction
    environments and any pros and cons of one way over the other.
    Thanks.
    Dave Scarani

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