Component-based performance modeling of a storage area network

This work explores performance issues of system-level interactions by means of performance modeling. We focus on I/O performance in a storage area network (SAN), namely, the performance of I/O interactions of host servers and storage subsystems via the SAN fabric. We present a component-based simulation performance model, which supports a rich variety of both existing and future storage subsystems, allows for some basic network configurations, and addresses the major I/O aspects of the server operating system. The model's flexibility allows for easy parameter modifications, configuration adjustments, architecture manipulations, and experimentation. The experiments presented in this paper demonstrate some of the ways this model can be utilized, such as data placement, I/O manipulation, and the evaluation of execution alternatives, and shows the types of performance insights that may be gained.