EBC Core Storage

EBC storage is a fixed part of the EBC platform. The storage can be purchased at four performance levels (tiers), in the form of data stores on which VMs can be placed. The performance of the data store depends on the size of the data-store and is expressed in I/O operations per second (IOPS). The performance of each of the data stores is shared among the VMs on it.

In terms of performance, each tier has a guarantee and a limit value.

The guarantee is the value that Equinix is obligated to deliver. You can use more than the guarantee value for short periods, up to the limit value, according to the fair use principle. An Equinix account manager can advise you on which performance levels best suit your situation.

The storage performance specification of the deliverable tiers is shown in the below table.

Tier Name Use Impact

1

 High performance DB (Logs), RDS/ SBC, VDI Low-latency beneficial workloads

• IOPS guarantee: 1.000 IOPS per TB; max.

• 30.000 per data-store1

• IOPS limit: 1.500 IOPS per TB; max.

• 45.000 per data-store2

• Latency: 5 ms3

• Size: Min 250 GB, max. 30 TB per volume4, 5, 6
2 Performance (Default) Generic VMs, App / Web services, High performance File services / Object storage

• IOPS guarantee: 250 IOPS per TB. max.7.500 per data-store1

• IOPS limit: 500 IOPS per TB. max. 15.000 per data-store2

• Latency: 10 ms3

• Size: Min 250GB, max. 30TB per volume4, 5, 6
3 Standard Back-up, Generic File services / Object storage

• IOPS guarantee: 100 IOPS per TB. max. 3.000 per data-store1

• IOPS limit: 250 IOPS per TB. max. 7.500 per data-store2

• Latency: 15 ms3

• Size: Min 250 GB, max. 30 TB per volume4, 5, 6
4 Archive Archive, Cold storage

• IOPS guarantee: 50 IOPS per TB. max. 1.500 per data-store1

• IOPS limit: 75 IOPS per TB. max. 2.250 per data-store2

• Latency: 20 ms3

• Size: Min 250 GB, max. 30 TB per volume4, 5, 6
Note:

1. IOPS – Maximum value by 65% read / 35% write with 8 KB block size.

2. Limit – Based on fair use. In the event of long-term exceeding of the guarantee (fair use), Equinix reserves the right to set the guarantee as a limit.

3. Latency – Average per 5 minutes within IOPS guarantee.

4. Size – Expansion per 250 GB.

5. Rounding – GB is implemented based on multiples of 1024.

6. Rounding – 1 TB equals 1000 GB.

EBC Core Storage Features

The following features apply to the use of EBC storage –

  • The minimum recommended virtual disk size is 40 GB.

  • The maximum virtual disk size is 8 TB.

  • The performance of each data-store is shared among those VMs that use it.

  • The available IOPS performance is shared with the EBC back-up solution.

  • The storage capacity is allocated in multiples of 250 GB.

  • The storage capacity is allocated per compute cluster.

  • Capacity management of the storage is carried out by the customer.

  • Data-stores are listed per tier in their own data store cluster.

EBC Core Storage Purchase Units

EBC Core storage is purchased in data-stores per the storage policy, with purchase units of 1 GB. A minimum commit or baseline of 250 GB per data store cluster applies to each policy.

Calculation Examples EBC Core Storage

Calculation Example 1

You purchase an EBC cluster with 5 TB of tier 2 storage.

You then have access to 1 data store tier 2 since the requested capacity is less than 30 TB, with the following:

  • Guarantee – 1250 IOPS

    • Per data store: Max. 2500 IOPS

    • Per TB: 5 TB x 250 IOPS = 1250 IOPS

    The lowest value of the two above is used, in this case, 1250 IOPS.

  • Limit – 2500 IOPS

    • Per data store: Max. 15000 IOPS

    • Per TB: 5 TB x 500 IOPS = 2500 IOPS

    The lowest value of the two above is used, in this case, 2500 IOPS.

Calculation Example 2

You order an EBC cluster with 20 TB of tier 1 storage and 50 TB of tier 2 storage.

You then have access to:

Tier 1 – One data store since the requested capacity is less than or equal to 30 TB, with the following:

  • Guarantee – 20.000 IOPS

    • Per data store: Max. 30.000 IOPS

    • Per TB: 20 TB x 1000 IOPS = 20.000 IOPS

    The lowest value of the two above is used, in this case, 20.000 IOPS.

  • Limit – 30.000 IOPS

    • Per data store: Max. 45.000 IOPS

    • Per TB: 20 TB x 1500 IOPS = 30.000 IOPS

    The lowest value of the two above is used, in this case, 30.000 IOPS.

Tier 2 – Two data stores of 25 TB, as the requested capacity is larger than 30 TB, with the following:

  • Guarantee – 2500 IOPS

    • Per data store: Max. 7500 IOPS

    • Per TB: 25 TB x 250 IOPS = 6250 IOPS

    The lowest value of the two above is used, in this case, 6,250 IOPS per data store.

  • Limit – 5000 IOPS

    • Per data store: Max. 15000 IOPS

    • Per TB: 25 TB x 500 IOPS = 12,500 IOPS.

    The lowest value of the two above is used, in this case, 12,500 IOPS per data store.

EBC Core Storage Usage

Charges for Shared Storage are based on consumption of the allocated capacity of all linked virtual disks and the capacity in use. This is measured from the following, per policy:

  • VM swap files

  • Snapshots

  • Files in a Library (vApp templates and ISOs)

When you want to link more than 4 TB to one or more VMs, in some situations, it may be advisable to use the Equinix Managed Storage Service (EMSS). While using the EMSS, storage can be linked within the client’s VMs without the intervention of the EBC platform. Use cases are the use of a virtual file or back-up server.

Optional snapshots or extra copies of the data stored within the EMS service can be created in a second IBX data center.