Mark's Blog

Episode 39: The Virtualization Principle

OK, so I don’t as a rule use my blog to comment on specific posts from others but a recent blog of Hu Yoshida on storage virtualization (What is Required to Network Storage to Storage) both intrigued and puzzled me.

First off, I completely agree with his premise and conclusion. What puzzles me is that, given this conclusion, why is HDS building TagmaStore? 

Virtualization, in my opinion (and I think Hu’s from what I read) needs to enable heterogeneity, scale, utilization, simplicity and dynamic operations – and do so in a way that provides transparency to the application and information systems functions. Basic volume managers can enable specific applications but, as Hu notes, they tend to actually increase complexity and decrease the ability to optimize a storage network across hundreds of servers and applications.

What is so confounding is that, given this premise, the only logical virtualization choice would be to use a product like EMC’s Invista. OK, maybe I jumped too fast – let me explain. 

THE key tenant to integration of virtualization is “operational transparency” meaning that the virtualization function runs within existing environments without changing the transactional interaction between applications and storage. Let’s take a simple example with VMware. The key of the base architecture is to be able to run an x86 application just EXACTLY as if it was running directly on the HW.

For network storage, the only hypervisor-like architecture that can provide this functionality is to implement an “out of band” (aka “split path”) architecture. The principle here is that while all of the benefit of network storage virtualization can be obtained, it is all done using dynamic data routing only (not storage) with out of band management. No data is stored so there is no volatile “state” for the system. In this case, the application interacts with the storage in exactly the same way and when a “complete” response comes back from the storage the application is getting the exact same level of protection as it would without virtualization. 

This principle breaks down with all so-called “in band/path” storage virtualization systems. By essentially putting another array in front of other storage arrays, to get any decent performance, the virtualization element must terminate the I/O - and store the data!

Wait a moment – we have another name for things that store stuff… 

The problems created here by this simple difference add up quickly.

First, you now have 2 systems instead of one “responsible” for storing data. If you loose either system, you risk loosing the data. I don’t care how good the reliability is; with 2 “state” systems in the chain, the risk more than doubles from whatever it was. 

Second, since all in band systems are essentially arrays, they will never be able to scale beyond a certain point. With split-path systems, the routing tables are loaded into any number of switches and, given the low latency, low overhead, and scale-out architecture – one will be able to scale systems that are larger and do so without ever needing to purchase additional memory or buy big new systems.

The one perceived advantage, maybe, for in-band systems is that they are simple and they “hide” the other array interfaces. For this problem I would say that, it you don’t like your current array interface, there are much easier ways to solve it then to put in another layer of complexity. To me, a TagmaStore is not the much different than the volume managers and it effectively hides the array’s behind it rather than actually virtualizing network storage in a way that provides transparency and the real values we want from virtualization.

Seems to me that in-band virtualization systems are just these same array (volume managers) in disguise. How does the saying go “you can dress up an array with a network-storage-virtualization moniker but it is still an array.”

Mark…

Episode 38: Spring Break

I was on vacation this week. This was the classic family vacation. I get sick of flying so one of our favorite things is to take our RV somewhere. To me, there is nothing better than the classic “road trip.”  I would never call it camping, however, as the biggest part of “roughing it” is having to connect the sewer line at the campsite. Although I did first think the movie “RV” was a documentary.

Having lived most of my life in Colorado, I have had to get used to some new driving styles. Boston and New York are always fun in an RV, but I found the greater Washington D.C. area to take the slight edge over Florida as the new “Road Warrior” capital of the world.

Remember this Mel Gibson classic? Well, I think Mel would have even found it tough on the beltway. We were just driving through but, from what I could tell, they have no actual traffic laws in Maryland or Northern Virginia. I kept looking for cameras as I thought they were filming another Fast and Furious sequel. It really got fun to watch when the traffic stopped. There were no rules; grass, medians, breakdown lanes were all were fair game. Maybe they all have diplomatic immunity.

But I digress. When I am on vacation I always have one key decision to make – what do I do with the Blackberry? Do I just leave it at home, or do I bring it but confine myself to a peak at night, or do I sneak peaks at every opportune moment? Well, you all probably know the answer. Here is a photo of a typical Blackberry moment on a different trip while waiting for a ferry (the other person is Mark Sorenson - also infected by the same disease). 

This trip was to Disney World, still one of my favorite places to hang out even as an “old man” (as described by my son Jeff). This visit was even better since we lucked out and missed a miserable week of weather up here in Boston.

So, as far as I can tell, my roles on a family vacation are: driver, entertainment advisor, set-up and tear-down guy, activity planner and, of course, ATM machine. Actually, it may sound funny but I enjoy these roles very much and wouldn’t want to change it a bit - except maybe the ATM machine part…. 

So, even with the FastPass systems (which are a great improvement – thanks Mickey), I have found that an amusement park vacation will always give me plenty of “line time” to catch up on Email. There are lines for everything: to get in, to get out, to go on a ride, to catch a bus, to eat -- so reading email is almost like sitting in the office except that there are some short breaks to launch into space, take on an uncharted river, or capture a dinosaur. You know the drill.

I justify my reading email as a win-win as I hate lines, so catching an Email or two makes them more tolerable (hey everyone needs to rationalize it somehow). Also it is a lot safer than trying to sneak a peak while driving. I think I even get “cool” points from the other kids in line as they think I have a cool video game. I just tell them it is the new Nintendo; why spoil the moment – they will soon learn the truth…  

So, with all of this technology and time, was I actually that productive? I am not so sure.

The revelation hit me when my wife said (after I ignored the whole conversation in a particularly long line) “OK you just read 200 Emails; how many were important?” I thought about it and had to admit that no more than 10 were even worth reading. So what were the other 190? Well there was some SPAM, but actually, not that much. There were, of course, the threads that we all somehow get cc’d on that never seem to go away. Far and away though, the bulk of the email was automated newsletters, and notifications. 

To generalize I call it Stupid Trivial Unnecessary Fluff and Fodder or “STUFF” for short.

It all started out as a good idea – let’s just send an Email if “X” occurs or if “Y” doesn’t happen. Heck, let’s just send a daily note giving you basically the same info as yesterday. Let’s send out 5 reminders instead of 2. Let’s cc everyone on this just in case. We know it is good to have STUFF and it is good to know STUFF so, it is logical, that we should always want more STUFF. If you don’t need certain STUFF, it only takes a few seconds to delete it – no big deal. What I realized was that, when viewed individually, this is great logic but the problem comes when we start to get hundreds of these Emails every day; those seconds, and the STUFF, adds up. 

As I have written before – there has to be a better way. Yes, we all want the information available but, more importantly, we need more efficient ways to manage all of the data streams that are hitting us.

Something to think about… 

And yes, I am working on my Email addiction and looking for a 12 step program.

Mark…

Episode 37: Please Do Not Reply

As a customer; I have to laugh when companies send me Email correspondence where the first thing they say is “please do not reply to this message.” What this means to me is “we have something to tell you but we couldn’t give a s#@* about what you have to say to us.”  Please go through the more complicated channels like calling and waiting an hour on the phone because, we know it is too hard and you will give up. . 

Email is clearly a useful tool for interaction and I can’t understand why a company would not want to converse with their customers in this medium. It is less expensive than having live phone support and allows for “asynchronous” communications. Granted, there is a written record but that should be a good thing for most companies (legal that is). I have asked a few folks about this issue; my favorite answer (for not allowing Email replies) was that they fear too much junk Email. Welcome to our world.

It is frustrating for me not to have an easy way to respond to these Emails so I have a simple way to avoid the frustration – I just don’t read them. With filtering, I can just declare them SPAM and the security software takes care of the rest. No more issues. No more frustration.  Problem solved. 

There is a great promise of efficiency with new electronic forms of communication like Email and paperless delivery of information. I believe the risk we face today is that companies are corrupting and biasing the value of technology - making it less effective for the consumer (me) while making it easier for them. That is really sad.

Have you ever noticed that, because automated Email is essentially "free" to send - that companies now can push reminders out with an incredible ferocity. In the old days, if I was late turning in my expenses, I might get a two week grace period. Today, I will get an email maybe 1 minute after the time runs out and will continue to get them usually daily – until I comply.  This is great if you are trying to insure compliance but probably not that productive if you are on the receiving end.

Let’s take another simple example. I have signed up for the so-called “paperless delivery” for billing/statements with a few companies. So far, even with low expectations, the experience has been horrific. I don’t think I set my sights very high; I expected to get a copy of my bill/statement in an Email instead of my postal mail (like in a simple PDF).  I had no hope that I would receive a spreadsheet where I could filter or sort information. I know it was not even remotely possible that I could link bills from month to month to look at trends. 

So far, the experience has not only been underwhelming, by my analysis, it is significantly LESS EFFICIENT (for me that is) than the old mail process. All of the places where I have signed up for paperless “delivery” now send me an Email to let me know that I have a bill. Go figure; even I realize that almost every 30 (or 31) days, I will get a bill. I’m sorry but I just am not ready to go “wow, what a revolution – look honey I got this Email that says we have a new bill from the phone company. This technology is amazing!”

Really folks, if I wanted that, I could write a script to send myself a mail each month saying “pay your phone bill” – not exactly a cure for cancer here. 

Maybe what I could use is the actual bill!

Instead, I have the “opportunity” to log into their web site, remember another password, and navigate their site through their advertising, all to find my statement (which might not even be easy to print or download). Most of these bill reminder Emails don’t even provide a direct link to my bill or pre-enter my username; they point to their home page! This is arcane. What used to take 10 seconds (opening an envelope) now takes 10 minutes – what a nightmare – all just to find out that I owe the phone company the exact same amount as last month. 

Technology holds great promise to make our lives easier but we all need to also insure that we evaluate these innovations to insure that they actually have value.

I can’t believe I am saying this as a futurist but I am going back to paper. I am going back until folks can build a process that makes it easier for me as opposed to easier for them.

Mark...

Episode 36: Stupid Process Tricks

My wife is a wonderful person. She takes life in stride and is so amazingly tolerant of life’s little annoyances. I am sure she is a much happier person for it.

Not me.

I am one of those folks that is constantly analyzing processes and wondering why people don’t try to make them better. I don’t like to wait and, yes, I would consider myself impatient. I did try once or twice to offer folks some suggestions to improve their processes but that generally gets met with a mixture of indifference and offense such that I no longer make any suggestions.

Here are six of my favorites – I call them my “stupid process tricks”  (yes - taken from “Stupid Pet Tricks” from Letterman if anyone didn’t catch it....).

Trick One: The Space Queue - Standing in airport security lines where there is one line that has 2 people in it and one with 25 but the guard makes you stand in the one with 25 because there is more “space.” Hey, if they have a gun, I don’t push back!

Trick Two: Equal rights - Going to the toll roads in New Hampshire where, when they first automated the toll roads, they had every lane allowing cash or “fastpass” – this effectively served to blow any possible efficiency by forcing anyone with an electronic token to wait in line anyway. It also required the same number of toll takers even though they were doing nothing – your tax $ at work. To their credit, I think they did figure this one out - eventually.

Trick Three: Keeping the insurance rates the highest in the nation process - Going though the toll booths on “the Pike” in Mass where they randomly put the fasspass lanes across the lanes so that everyone winds up in the wrong lane and traffic snarls anyway.

Trick Four: Profiting from process failure - Getting a “free” phone for my son only to find out it is “free – after rebate.” Getting this rebate entails, making a copy of the receipt, cutting 3 UPS codes off the box, going on the internet and filling out a form, waiting 6 weeks for a reply only to wind up getting a gift card that you must call another 800-number to activate but you still can’t get the cash, you have to go buy something else – my guess is that most people just give up… Unfortunately, I think this one is intentional so I just now ignore rebates in my cost comparisons.

Trick Five: The make-work process: You call the phone company and get their automated system and go through inputting your phone number, account number, zip code, password, request category, shirt size, date you lost your virginity, and about 12 others items – 30 minutes later, when they finally answer, their first question is – can I get your name and phone number please?

Trick Six: The Red Carpet Club: I walk into the Red Carpet Club at the airport in Boston. There is only one person working at the desk and they are sticklers about swiping the membership cards so I jump in line. The guy in front of me has decided that this would be a good time to book his whole family on a trip to Tanzania and wanted to compare 16 alternatives or some such thing. Ten minutes later, with the line to just get in the club stretching out the door we all revolted and just went in. I thought the United guy was going to try to have us arrested he was so upset. He saw nothing wrong with us waiting .

Geeze…

My point for all of this (yes there is one) is – don’t forget about process innovation!! Process innovations, in general, will have more competitive impact than most technology innovations. Technology in the absence of competitive processes is like handing the keys to your new Vette to your 16 year-old who has never driven before – it sounds exciting (for him or her) but will probably end up badly…

Mark…