DiskXtender
Encyclopedia
EMC DiskXtender is an automated, policy-based, file system-centric solution for migrating inactive data off higher-cost storage to lower-cost disk, tape, or optical devices (hierarchical storage management
).
DiskXtender is produced by EMC Corporation
and is supported on Windows
, Linux
, and Unix
environments. As of August 2011 DXUL-SM (DiskXtender Unix/Linux Storage Manager) will see this product become end-of-life.
The Windows version of DX implements a file-system filter driver that intercepts user mode I/O requests. These intercepted requests are then processed by DX components. If necessary, files are fetched off of secondary storage media and then passed back to the calling applications. Otherwise, if no processing is necessary, the filter driver does nothing and simply passes the request through the stack of lower level drivers. Other applications that implement similar architecture in terms of file system filters include anti-virus and file system replication software.
Information Lifecycle Management
As of 2003, DiskXtender is one of the three ILM offerings from EMC after EMC acquired Legato and focusing on File System archiving. The remaining two products include EmailXtender and DatabaseXtender which archive emails and database correspondingly.
In any environment, a majority of data can be categorized as inactive (either not modified nor accessed for a long period of time) but yet still stored on primary storage. This results in a multifolded growth in capacity for production storage which increase costs for storage, protection, disaster recovery and management. For example, a file system of 1TB with annual growth of 25%. Every year, 25% data will need to be stored, protect, DR etc. which means 25% growth in all the storage, protection and DR systems. If, supposed 60% of the data is inactive and can be moved safely off the production, with the same growth rate, changes to the production system is only 40% * 25% =10% which is much easier to cope with.
DiskXtender, by intercepting I/O from operating system, is capable of detecting inactive data and then migrating those data to secondary and/or tertiary storage with lower cost/GBs while still maintaining transparency to both applications and end users. Applications and end users have full visibility of migrated data and when access is requested, those migrated data will either be redirected to users and applications or copied back to the production system.
Hierarchical storage management
Hierarchical storage management is a data storage technique which automatically moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-speed storage devices, such as hard disk drive arrays, are more expensive than slower devices, such as optical discs and magnetic...
).
DiskXtender is produced by EMC Corporation
EMC Corporation
EMC Corporation , a Financial Times Global 500, Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, develops, delivers and supports information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure hardware, software, and services. EMC is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.Former Intel executive Richard Egan and his...
and is supported on Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
environments. As of August 2011 DXUL-SM (DiskXtender Unix/Linux Storage Manager) will see this product become end-of-life.
The Windows version of DX implements a file-system filter driver that intercepts user mode I/O requests. These intercepted requests are then processed by DX components. If necessary, files are fetched off of secondary storage media and then passed back to the calling applications. Otherwise, if no processing is necessary, the filter driver does nothing and simply passes the request through the stack of lower level drivers. Other applications that implement similar architecture in terms of file system filters include anti-virus and file system replication software.
Information Lifecycle Management
Information Lifecycle Management
Information Lifecycle Management refers to a wide-ranging set of strategies for administering storage systems on computing devices. Specifically, four categories of storage strategies may be considered under the auspices of ILM.-Policy:...
As of 2003, DiskXtender is one of the three ILM offerings from EMC after EMC acquired Legato and focusing on File System archiving. The remaining two products include EmailXtender and DatabaseXtender which archive emails and database correspondingly.
In any environment, a majority of data can be categorized as inactive (either not modified nor accessed for a long period of time) but yet still stored on primary storage. This results in a multifolded growth in capacity for production storage which increase costs for storage, protection, disaster recovery and management. For example, a file system of 1TB with annual growth of 25%. Every year, 25% data will need to be stored, protect, DR etc. which means 25% growth in all the storage, protection and DR systems. If, supposed 60% of the data is inactive and can be moved safely off the production, with the same growth rate, changes to the production system is only 40% * 25% =10% which is much easier to cope with.
DiskXtender, by intercepting I/O from operating system, is capable of detecting inactive data and then migrating those data to secondary and/or tertiary storage with lower cost/GBs while still maintaining transparency to both applications and end users. Applications and end users have full visibility of migrated data and when access is requested, those migrated data will either be redirected to users and applications or copied back to the production system.
External links
- DiskXtender Family (official site)