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Opening Remarks

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Storage Virtualization and the Evolution of Storage Networking
This session looks at the evolution of storage networking from its origins in primitive disk drives and file servers up through elaborate virtualized storage solutions. We explore how new storage functionality comes to market by inserting itself into the appropriate layers in a stack-like architecture called the Storage I/O Path, which originates with an application and ends on a piece of storage media.

The storage I/O path has been evolving quite rapidly in the last few years. New layers are appearing in the form of inline network devices, hypervisors, and object-based storage models. Meanwhile, traditional layers like logical volume managers and RAID arrays are being collapsed into all-in-one file systems. This lecture sets the stage for the remaining 3 talks at LISA Data Storage Day. It provides the foundation for understanding the various ways to integrate solid state storage, data tiering and life-cycle management, and data protection into existing storage environments.

Topics include:

• The storage I/O path
• Storage virtualization
• The evolution of SAN and NAS solutions
• Virtual I/O
• LAN-based storage virtualization and virtual file systems
• Logical volume management
• Principles of object-based storage

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Application and File System Acceleration with Solid State Storage
The data storage industry is experiencing a mini-renaissance as a flurry of new solid state storage devices come to market. SSDs are now available in a range of prices, form factors, and performance levels. The lecture will provide guidance to navigating the myriad of choices that storage architects face, while focusing in particular on the challenge of finding effective, cost-efficient SSD solutions.

We focus on practical approaches for integrating SSD technology into your existing storage infrastructure, exploring in particular different insertion points in the storage I/O path. We also explain a variety of methods of accelerating databases, email systems, virtualization platforms, content repositories, local file systems, and network file systems (NAS).

Topics Include:

• Types of flash media: SLC, MCL, eMLC, DRAM
• Packaging options for solid state storage
• Differentiating random from sequential disk I/O patterns
• SQL database acceleration
• MS Exchange acceleration
• File system tiering and acceleration
• Dynamic tiered storage in SAN arrays
• 3rd-party caching appliances
• Pairing solid state storage with deduplication

Grand Ballroom

Lunch Break in the Exhibit Hall

Visit the Vendor Exhibition
Find out more about the exhibition here.

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A Crash Course on Object-Based Storage: Massive Scalability, Cloud Stores, Deduplication, and Even Tape
The hype surrounding cloud computing has spilled over into the storage industry, inspiring tremendous innovation in the fields of object storage and large scale file management. Not only can conventional storage technologies (enterprise SAN and NAS systems) not scale limitlessly, but they are often too rigid to expand and contract with the ebb and flow of the cloud. The cloud demands a whole new class of file systems and storage management approaches. In many cases, we have found that the problems being tackled in the name of cloud storage are applicable to large scale storage management in private facilities. In other words, so-called "cloud technologies" are relevant regardless of whether one ever plans to store data in a third party cloud.

Object-based storage does not describe any one technology or type of solution. Rather, it is a generic term that describes an approach to addressing and manipulating discrete units of storage. Object-based storage is essential for deduplication, self-healing, massive scalability, geographic distribution, caching, tiering, etc. This session explains the key principles of object-based storage, and provides examples of products and technologies based on those principles.

Topics include:

• The limitations of RAID and conventional file systems
• Object addressing versus file and block addressing
• Content-based addressing
• Hashing and hash collisions
• Common types of cloud storage
• Fundamentals of deduplication: hashing, chunking, indexing
• New implementations of dedupe: primary storage, virtual desktops, rich media
• Tape-enabled file systems and "active archiving"
• Object-level data redundancy
• Erasure-coded data protection

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Designing and Optimizing Enterprise Backup Systems
Backup and restore continue to be the greatest pain points in many data centers, and to add insult to injury most IT organizations now report that they are paying more per terabyte for data protection than they are for primary storage. Before one can define the solution, one needs to get a handle on the problem, so this seminar begins by indentifying the technology snags and hidden costs of enterprise data protection.

Even the best of the enterprise software vendors are not able to deliver comprehensive data protection under a single pane of glass. For most organizations, the winning data protection strategy is likely to involve different product types, often from different vendors. The toolbox includes products such as enterprise backup software, disk backup appliances, deduplication hardware and software, tape systems, archive managers, hypervisor backup software, cloud solutions, application specific backup software, and snapshots inside the storage devices. This seminar covers some ways of identifying the right tool for the job at hand and devising a sustainable and scalable backup strategy.

Topics include:

• Identifying and eliminating common backup bottlenecks
• Scaling out traditional backups
• The role of VTLs versus conventional disk-enabled backup
• Leveraging deduplication (for what it is good for)
• CDP and granular incremental backups
• Hypervisor-enabled backup and replication
• Life cycle management solutions to offset backup costs/complexity
• Active archives and backup strategies for fixed content
• A simple model for comprehensive data protection

Grand Ballroom

Exhibit Hall Happy Hour

Join us at the Vendor Exhibition for refreshments, and take the opportunity to learn about the latest products and technologies.

Ballroom Foyer

Poster Session

Check out the cool new ideas and the latest preliminary work on display at the Poster Session. Take advantage of an opportunity to mingle with colleagues who may be interested in the same area. Find out more here.

Evening Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions

Lead or attend a BoF! Meet with your peers! Present new work! Don't miss these special activities designed to maximize the value of your time at the conference. The always popular evening Birds-of-a-Feather sessions are very informal gatherings of persons interested in a particular topic. Find out more here.