ODX (Offloaded Data Transfer) technology, developed by Microsoft, offloads the workload of data transfer processes from the server and transfers it to compatible storage systems that support this technology. In short, the data transfer operation is handled by the storage system instead of the server.
Let us take a look at how this process works in practice through the diagram below:
- Server A sends a token (a pointer) containing information about the data to be transferred to Server B.
- Server B forwards the information contained in this token to the storage system that supports ODX.
- The storage system transfers the data internally, without using any network medium (Ethernet, Fibre Channel, or SAS).
Since all these operations take place within the storage system, the CPU load on the servers is significantly reduced, and network resources are not consumed.
ODX makes a significant difference especially in virtualized environments using Hyper-V, during operations such as VHD/VHDX creation and Live Migration. NGX Storage fully supports all Microsoft ODX command sets that enable Windows Servers to perform data transfer operations on the storage side, including:
- POPULATE TOKEN – WRITE USING TOKEN
- WRITE SAME
- UNMAP
These features can be used effectively with both iSCSI and Fibre Channel protocols.
For more detailed information about ODX, you can visit Microsoft’s official website.