Trends in Data Protection. T. W. Lanzatella Distinguished Engineer Data Protection Technology Office

Transcription

1 Trends in Data Protection Distinguished Engineer Data Protection Technology Office

2 Purpose A 5-year assessment of technology trends for Data Protection Assumption: Moore s law ramp for all computer infrastructure Backdrop: Social policy issues around data Focus: Software and emerging paradigms Utility A Shared vision even without agreement is useful Context for tactical behavior Methodology Web, experts, papers, other company forecasts Expected error rates are high Contributors (Horizon 3 Opportunities [H3O] Team): Shelley Schmokel, Steve Kappel, Tim Stevens, Guido Westenberg This talk is a statement of opinion Trends in Data Protection 2

3 Recent History a Review Dawn of (commodity) Storage Area Networking late 90s Shared connectivity Tape resource sharing Disk resource sharing Replication technology Failed experiments with SCSI XCOPY Start of advancing array capabilities Backup is primary focal point for control Snapshot invocation Reduced backup windows Transactionally consistent data imaging Major initiatives around distributed data - pnfs Trends in Data Protection 3

4 Backup: Technology Lightning Rod Web-based commerce/computer enabled businesses Expansion breeds need for continuity (data protection) Dramatic increase in video data (Guilder exaflood) Nexus for storage technology Many backup improvements enabled by storage networking A driver for capacity and bandwidth Viewed as killer application for SAN Critical processes mesh with storage area networking Leading proof-point for commodity SAN Full consumer of bandwidth/connectivity Trends in Data Protection 4

5 Technology Metafactors for Backup Infrastructure improvement cycle Cheaper disks Faster networks Blade computing Many-core CPUs Storage Interfaces Virtualization Regulatory environment Changing definitions of backup/archive Application complexity Disaster recovery Changing focus on information instead of data Trends in Data Protection 5

6 Data Protection Here and Now Derived from recent survey of largest NetBackup users Business continuity dominates Primary mission is rapid recovery Data volumes continue to challenge backup windows Even with incremental techniques Finding information within data is the largest problem Customers tentatively adding smart storage devices NAS, VTL, CAS Tape is still leading preference All are burdened with common social themes Trends in Data Protection 6

7 A Reflection of Social Issues Regulatory environment Myriad retention/privacy rules Information lifespan Complex rules on destruction Complex exceptions for legal discovery Digital pack-rat society Tendency to keep everything forever Finding information is a leading problem for our customers Conflict between business continuity vs. long-term preservation Security of data Data leakage prevention based on content Security/privacy risks associated with Search/Index Secure transport of backup/archive data Trends in Data Protection 7

8 Major Trends in Data Protection Emergence of disk-to-disk (to-tape) Response to proliferating enhanced storage devices Information content mining/analysis Archiving and long-term preservation Adaptation to Web infrastructures Trends in Data Protection 8

9 Emergence of Disk-to-Disk (to Tape) Falling disk costs + faster networks Profound simplification of backup agent composition Prior mechanisms geared for tape Finite size/linear media Lots of feed/speed issues Random access/minimal latency is enabler Image synthesis without tape mounts Data scanning functions are simple and inexpensive Creative uses Deduplication Large nearline spaces with (lazy) transfer to tape Intermediate disk as structured file space Name space with filesystem semantics Trends in Data Protection 9

10 Enhanced Storage Devices Virtual Tape Libraries, Content Addressable Storage Competitive frenzy leading to proliferation Many parallels with early disk array support Vendors seeking support (in backup) for novel capabilities Leads to inconsistencies and conflict Customers expect backup to unify/enable access Building heterogeneous environments Expect backup to hide administration Some (large) customers shun VTL/CAS due to administrative overhead SNIA Extensible Access Interface (XAM) very important Promises normalized access to expanded capabilities Too early to gauge effectiveness Trends in Data Protection 10

11 Information Content Analysis Backup is a touch-point for enterprise data Convenient platform for information mining Emerging customer necessity Finding stuff inside backup images Enabled by plentiful disk resources Enabled by falling server costs Search/Index/Classification What to index: metadata and file content What to classify: documents and Vivid example of resource cost vs. administrative benefit Synchronous vs. Asynchronous services Key to data loss prevention an emerging concern Trends in Data Protection 11

12 Adapting to Web Infrastructure Protecting Web-based applications Complex data resources Example: Microsoft SharePoint Complex backup targets that require ongoing attention Web-services At present, chiefly a vehicle for GUI presentation Major question: adoption for core mechanisms? Software as a Service (SaaS) Web-resident services and web-accessible storage resources Amazon S3, Google GDrive Tradeoffs: convenience vs. privacy Major question: appropriate market segments for uptake Trends in Data Protection 12

13 Archiving and Data Preservation Backup focus: recover operational environments Half life of data value measured in hours/days Scalability and short backup/restore windows is paramount Policies geared for backup image management Archive focus: long-term preservation of data Assumption: data changes slowly or not at all Actions specific to individual files Policy objectives geared for preservation and retention control Customers are creating archives out of backup pools Issue: backup is sweeping up more than needed Interplay is a basis for competitive differentiation Resurgence of HSM? Trends in Data Protection 13

14 Some Difficult (Unsolved) Problems Data protection for clustered pnfs/pcifs servers NDMP woefully inadequate Most clusters are proprietary No backup agents inside POSIX does not support bulk metadata retrieval Trends in Data Protection 14

15 Conclusions (on a 5-Year Horizon) Backup is a term with many meanings Data protection services are dynamic Rate of change driven by technology infrastructure adoption Proven ability to consume all available resources (CPU, network, disk space) Managing enhanced platforms is significant Another data protection service Disk-to-Disk (to tape) reshaping data protection services A new means of competitive differentiation Archive services will overlay data protection Content analysis and descendant services are vital Trends in Data Protection 15