Comprehensive Analysis of Enterprise Server I/O Optimization

In today's society, the pressure on servers to process data is increasing. The popularization of virtualization applications has become the biggest culprit in server I/O optimization. This article will give you a detailed introduction on how to make server optimization simple and quick.

Integration of infrastructure (Experience Sharing: Five experiences of data center integration in medical institutions), this solution can significantly save the cost of the current data center, however, in the future, virtual super data centers will be useless.

The success of server virtualization is the result of running the same application software and operating system as the physical server on the virtual machine. The same is true for virtual I/O.

After I/O virtualization, you still have a device similar to your current storage and network adapter (ingress and HBAs), but it becomes a software device rather than a hardware device. You still have multiple physical ports to connect to a separate LAN and SAN, but now the adapters (drivers and HBAs) can be allocated to those software ports instead of physical ports.

◆ Server I/O optimization 1. Total Cost addition: You need to calculate your I/O cost first, and you may find that the ignored cost is less than enough space. Costs of servers, switches, NICS, and cables are taken into account. Do not forget the time spent on energy, Rack Space, and infrastructure management. Before you understand the cost saving space, you must first understand the seriousness of the problem.

◆ Server I/O optimization 2. Estimation of flexibility requirements: Are your enterprise needs subject to periodic changes? Do you consider implementing management services or cloud computing models for enterprise IT system operations? If so, increasing flexibility will have a huge return. When a new connection is assigned to the server, you may get a greater return from these devices. Unexpected costs must be taken into account when estimating device interconnection requirements. Assume that any server must obtain any resources at a time point. You can quickly respond to unexpected changes and better meet your needs.

◆ Server I/O optimization 3. Find the bottleneck: Is your server I/O restricted? This will lead to a decrease in device utilization and unnecessary costs. If you have a monitoring tool, such as a VMwareESX device, check the I/O utilization. You may find that I/O is a limiting factor and you can deepen integration.

◆ Server I/O optimization 4, simplified: Because the I/O cost is almost the same as the cost of the server itself, you need to simplify the configuration in the next step. The purchase and installation costs of a simplified I/O infrastructure will be reduced, and the risk of downtime caused by human error will be reduced.

◆ Server I/O optimization 5. Continue to find the possibility of cost saving: one cost saving may lead to another cost saving. The simplified I/O infrastructure will make the servers less expensive. This saves thousands of dollars per server.

◆ Server I/O optimization 6. innovation, innovation, and re-Innovation: using the same method in the future will not change your cost structure. Find high-cost fields that can be improved through innovation. Innovative technologies (such as server virtualization, iSCSI storage, and I/O virtualization) provide more cost savings than mandatory savings. The core of virtualization is to do more things with the minimum cost.

◆ Server I/O optimization 7. Trial Run: investment return for new technology adoption takes time, while cost saving results quickly. To accelerate this process, we will consider developing new cost-saving methods in some enterprise IT environments. In this way, you can optimize this method before launching it in a large scope. And you have daily data to prove that the implementation of this method is beneficial, and you will also gain experience to ensure success.

We hope that the readers of this Article can clearly understand the server optimization methods and steps.

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