I once heard someone say that storage architecture can be more of an art than a science. To some point, I do believe this. So many variables exist when it comes to storing our hot and cold data.
To the IT department, the movement and storing of data can have a huge outcome on performance for our end users. Because of this, IT departments will tend to overspend on storage. Using a best guess or "shot across the bow" method of measuring performance needs can have disastrous effects. This is why we use a tool called DPACK (Dell Performance Analysis Collection Kit).
DPACK is a free tool. It is a simple executable that will run from an administrators desktop that measures many aspect of server/storage metrics. By removing as much of the guess work as possible, our storage architects are able to pinpoint storage solutions and go forward budgets down to the nearest degree. For those that may worry about DPACK interfering with production systems, there is no need to worry. It is completely agentless technology. I would estimate that we have ran over 350 DPACKs since the tool has been released, and we are yet to see it take any system down or harm production.
Metrics that DPACK will tell us is as follows:
- Capacity
- Disk Throughput and I/O
- Memory Utilization
- Aggregate CPU cycles consumed
- Disk Queue
- System Latency
- Application I/O transfer size
Below is an example of one page of output:
Cyber Advisors would love to assist you running your first DPACK. We will deliver you a comprehensive report of your current storage systems and guide you in future storage endeavors. There is no cost to do this, and we can almost always guarantee that there is a ghost in your storage that you may not know about.
Need assistance before running DPACK? Please Contact us.
