Jiro(tm) Technology Enabled Management Facades Now Available for Three of VERITAS Software's Top-Selling Products
An Interview with Dr. Guy Bunker, Director of Strategic Engineering, VERITAS Software
VERITAS Software, the co-lead in the expert group that is defining the Jiro technology specification, is an innovator in the development of Management Facades (MFs), which expose core functionality of products for use by other Jiro technology enabled products. Recently, VERITAS created MFs for its three top-selling products: VERITAS NetBackup, VERITAS Volume Manager, and VERITAS File System. Dr. Bunker, whose team wrote the MFs, describes their functionality and the benefits they bring to customers and developers.
Q: Why is VERITAS such a strong proponent of the Jiro technology initiative?
A: VERITAS was one of several companies that has been involved in the Jiro technology initiative since early last year when Sun decided to create the expert group to help in defining the specification. At that time there was also an executive steering committee on which we participated.
Q; What were your initial efforts with Jiro technology?
A: At the Jiro Technology Developers Conference last year we displayed the first iterations of Jiro Technology Management Facades (MFs). The overall goal was to simplify storage management, and in that demo we showed disks, tapes, SAN fabric devices, and applications all interacting through Jiro technology.
Q: When and why did VERITAS decide to write MFs for the VERITAS NetBackup, VERITAS Volume Manager, and VERITAS File System products?
A: These products were chosen first as they are our "best sellers" and leaders in the enterprise storage management marketplace. At this time these prototypes are limited in functionality as we are waiting to find out what the marketplace is looking for. We picked the functionality we felt would be useful to other applications, but it will not be until they start to use them that we will know if we got this right and which pieces to expose next.
Q: Please tell us about their functionality.
A: The prototype MF for NetBackup exposes backup and restore functionality for any other Jiro technology enabled application to use. Jiro technology enabled applications might include a financials database or an ERP system but I'm not sure as to when these will be brought to market by other ISVs. Basically, the application can search for the 'BackupInterface' within the Jiro technology domain. Once it has been located the application can then pass a file or directory to be backed up. The prototype MF also provides monitoring for the backups and restores that have been scheduled as well as being able to remove jobs from the queue. A simple example would be for an application to backup its configuration file after a change, or perhaps proprietary data files. Ensuring a backup is taken at a convenient point after the data is changed means that if a disaster occurs, a restore can take place with minimal loss of data. The application really "knows" the optimal timing. An application might also like to be able to offer the service of being able to restore data from a particular point in time (when a backup occurred), perhaps an older version, or maybe just some legacy data. Utilizing Jiro technology and the BackupInterface they will be able to do this.
Q: What about the File System and Volume Manager MFs?
A: The File System and Volume Manager MFs also expose some of the most frequently used functionality for other Jiro technology enabled applications to use. The most common one is to grow (or shrink) a file system online. The File System MF provides functionality for monitoring file systems along with the grow/shrink functionality, but it is up to the application to write the policy that ties the file system running out of free space with growing it. This is because it is only the application, or at least someone with domain knowledge, that really understands how their application uses storage. Jiro technology is all about enabling applications to control their own storage in the most efficient manner possible. The other example is our Volume Manager prototype MF, which will allow the administrator to add disks to disk groups, allowing online expansion of the disk group, providing more to be available for the applications which sit atop of that.
Q: How do your customers benefit from the MFs?
A: With the introduction of Storage Area Networks (SANs) the storage environment is becoming more complex and the need for enhanced but flexible administration even more critical. By developing these initial prototype MFs for exploration with our products we are able to give our customers the opportunity to try Jiro technology in the future. Applications may, in the future, be able to get access to simple storage administration functionality in order to utilize it more efficiently. Of course this use will depend on the applications becoming Jiro technology aware, which could take a fair amount of time to occur. Currently, the prototype MFs are available for download from the Jiro Web site for people to try. Standardizing the interfaces to storage, including those created and used in Jiro technology, will be essential for our customers to have truly open storage architectures and is a goal VERITAS is working on along with many others in the industry.
Q: How do the MFs play into the larger role of Jiro technology?
A: If there were standard interfaces and mechanisms for controlling all storage devices, then this would not only make it easier for customers to control their environment but also for application developers. Jiro technology use within the industry is limited at this time; to become successful it will have to become pervasive across all the major operating systems. This would help ensure that when new devices came to market, they could be easily controlled by applications such as VERITAS NetBackup, VERITAS File System, and VERITAS Volume Manager. Without it, there is a requirement that devices have to be checked for compatibility and often custom code written to control particular features of the device. There are many examples of this, but perhaps the easiest to envisage is control of disk arrays, all of which have their own administrative GUI to control them--for example to create a RAID 5 volume. By standardizing the interface to some level, a single administrative GUI could be developed which would effectively control arrays from multiple vendors, making it simpler for customers (as well as developers).
Q: In general, how would you rate the Jiro technology SDK?
A: The ease of use of the Jiro technology SDK has improved! A lot of work has gone into making it easier to use. The toughest part is the creation of the downloadable Jar files--these take quite a while to create the first time and even the subsequent refreshes are not as easy as they could be. Rapid iterations of code are also hindered by having to shut down and restart the Jiro technology framework each time a new version is to be deployed. As the various demos have been created we have seen ease of use double each time, so soon it will be just as easy as any other SDK even though it deals with complex distributed management. |
