HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes
Reference configurations
Technical white paper
Technical white paper
Contents
Introduction to software-defined storage and HPE StoreVirtual.................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Architectural overview.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4
Moving data services into the server platform .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4
Essential data services for software-defined storage.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
Integration into hypervisor ecosystem ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................6
Introducing HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................6
Reference configurations ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................6
Performance estimates ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................7
Networking configuration ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
Storage configuration ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................10
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Small .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium Hybrid ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Large Hybrid ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Summary ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................15
Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................15
I/O Performance Testing Methodology with Vdbench............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Workload Modeling Considerations.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Medium-Hybrid Configuration................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Medium Configuration.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................18
Vdbench Test Plan and Definitions .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Appendix B ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................21
Baseline Performance Results ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Reference and additional resources ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25
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Introduction to software-defined storage and HPE StoreVirtual
Shared and highly available storage is at the center of every server virtualization project, as well as, a lot of client virtualization projects. Custom
software-defined storage solutions present a third option delivering storage to these projects, sitting between traditional IT architectures with
dedicated storage arrays, like HPE 3PAR StoreServ storage, and purpose-built virtualization solutions, like HPE Hyper Converged systems. In
contrast, software-defined storage moves data services, previously provided by external storage arrays, into the server with maintained full
control over the storage layer. HPE StoreVirtual VSA enables customers to run enterprise-class storage features on the same set of hardware
that also runs the application workload, whether it’s virtualized databases or file services, for example. By running data services on
industry-standard x86 servers side by side with virtualized application workloads to what the IT industry regards as hyperconverged, customers
can significantly reduce the overall solution componentry and its data center footprint, and lower the initial cost of deployment and of ongoing
maintenance. Small- and medium-sized businesses as well as enterprise remote offices can benefit the most from this third deployment option.
Figure 1. Traditional architectures deploy compute and storage resources separately; software-defined storage converges storage and compute.
One of the benefits of software-defined storage, having the flexibility of the underlying server platform, can also be a challenging aspect with the
vast variety of server platforms and server options. This white paper outlines recommended reference configurations for HPE StoreVirtual VSA
on the HPE ProLiant server platform, known as HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes. This paper aims to accelerate the overall deployment time
and simplify the installation of software-defined storage solutions with the HPE platform by presenting details of server configuration, software
configuration, and the performance characteristics to be expected. Based on the information provided, system architects or administrators can
build converged compute and storage for virtualization projects guided by a configuration tested by HPE.
Audience for this paper
A technical audience will gather an understanding of the HPE StoreVirtual Architecture, details of the reference configurations for
HPE StoreVirtual VSA based on HPE ProLiant platforms, and the deployment of the reference configuration.
Important
This paper assumes familiarity with the concepts and the deployment of virtualization solutions. Contact your HPE partner for more information
on how to order and install the configuration presented in this paper.
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Architectural overview
The heritage of the HPE StoreVirtual VSA software is the scale-out iSCSI StoreVirtual storage array technology. In that scale-out storage
architecture, the storage pool can start out small and grow storage capacity and performance by adding more storage systems to the pool as
illustrated in Figure 2. Each storage system contributes capacity and performance of its storage resources to the overall storage pool. This mode
of scalability by building blocks delivers predictable growth and simplicity.
Figure 2. Scale-out storage delivers linear scalability of storage capacity and performance.
HPE StoreVirtual VSA also allows storage administrators to manage multiple storage pools. Storage pools are comprised of instances of
HPE StoreVirtual VSA with homogenous storage configurations. Different storage pools within the environment can be used to accommodate
different performance, capacity, and data protection preferences. HPE StoreVirtual allows moving these workloads nondisruptively between
storage pools using the built-in HPE Peer Motion technology. Among the reference configurations presented in this paper, you will find
configurations that expose different compute and storage characteristics for different use cases. These reference configurations can be
used as the basis for custom configurations that can be created to deliver unique capacity and performance profiles.
Moving data services into the server platform
There are many environments where there are substantial benefits to moving the data services into the server. That is particularly true for
applications with a fixed compute and storage ratio. For example, when adding more users to a given application, software-defined storage
allows adding more compute and more storage in a single server building block.
To converge compute and storage into a single physical server, HPE StoreVirtual VSA is provided as a utility virtual machine (VM) that sits on
top of VMware vSphere®, Microsoft® Hyper-V or Linux® KVM, and virtualizes the storage resources inside the server. It is visible as a regular
virtual machine that is visible to the administrator, but it is a special VM that presents a block storage device (a disk resource via the iSCSI
protocol) back to the hypervisor. It uses the network resources supported by the hypervisor, such as 1GbE, 10GbE, and 25GbE Ethernet
infrastructure, to communicate with the hosts accessing the storage resources provided by the HPE StoreVirtual VSA (via iSCSI) as well as
other HPE StoreVirtual VSA instances in the HPE StoreVirtual storage pool.
The virtualized storage resources can be any RAID-protected block storage option supported by the hypervisor: solid-state drives (SSDs),
conventional hard disk drives (HDDs), or a mix of SSDs and HDDs with HPE StoreVirtual Adaptive Optimization technology. This allows
HPE StoreVirtual storage pools to deliver unique performance characteristics, ranging from high-performing all-flash performance with low
latency by using only SSDs to large capacity archive type storage pools with the use of large capacity drives. Each HPE StoreVirtual VSA
instance requires a license for the storage capacity it is virtualizing on the host it is running on.
Technical white paper
Figure 3. HPE StoreVirtual VSA virtualizes storage resources.
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Figure 4. HPE StoreVirtual VSA pools storage resources of individual servers.
In Figure 3, a single HPE StoreVirtual VSA instance is shown running on top of a server using a supported hypervisor with the resources used by
it: storage and networking. HPE StoreVirtual VSA typically has exclusive access to the built-in storage resources in the server and shared access
to the networking resources. The instance of the HPE StoreVirtual VSA represents a single storage system in the scale-out architecture.
To pool the capacity of multiple servers and to provide high availability, two or more are required to be combined in a so-called storage pool,
or storage cluster. Figure 4 shows three servers, all running HPE StoreVirtual VSA, on a single converged network that is used for applications
and storage traffic. Applications running on the three hosts can store data on the storage pool. In most cases, there are two clusters in these
environments: a hypervisor cluster like a vSphere Cluster or a Windows® Failover Cluster and a storage pool that presents storage back to
these hosts.
While this paper focuses on the converged deployment of HPE StoreVirtual VSA and application workloads on the same physical server,
HPE StoreVirtual VSA can also be deployed on a set of dedicated servers in environments that require separation of storage and compute
resources. In those cases, customers can achieve commonality of parts between the compute and storage systems.
Note
For large environments with many different applications, a dedicated storage system allows for fine-grained control over storage resources
independently of compute resources. This is especially true for applications with vastly different compute (CPU and memory resources) to
storage (capacity and performance) ratios. Contact your HPE presales or HPE partner about the best architectural approach.
Essential data services for software-defined storage
There are some critical data services that have traditionally been delivered on shared storage arrays, which now must be accommodated by
software-defined storage: scalability, high availability, and data mobility. For more in-depth information on the data services provided by
HPE StoreVirtual products, please see the HPE StoreVirtual Architecture white paper and the HPE StoreVirtual product documentation.
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Integration into hypervisor ecosystem
Especially when converging compute and storage into the same physical server, virtualization administrators are covering server and storage
administration. To simplify the workflow for the virtualization administrator, integration of software-defined storage management into the
virtualization management software becomes critical. Hewlett Packard Enterprise provides management integration for VMware® vCenter™
and Microsoft System Center to allow typical management operations to be performed directly from the hypervisor management software.
Storage capacity monitoring and storage provisioning are accessible for the virtualization administrators through HPE OneView for vCenter
and HPE OneView for System Center. These components connect the hypervisor management software and the storage systems (all primary
storage array families in the HPE portfolio). HPE OneView for vCenter is provided as a virtual appliance and HPE OneView for System Center is
software that is installed on the System Center server(s). Hewlett Packard Enterprise recommends these management integrations for all
HPE StoreVirtual VSA installations.
The primary management console for HPE StoreVirtual VSA is the StoreVirtual Centralized Management Console (CMC), which allows complete
control all aspects of the HPE StoreVirtual VSA systems, storage pools, and storage volumes.
Note
HPE storage integrations into Microsoft System Center and VMware vCenter are included in the price of the HPE StoreVirtual VSA product and
do not require an additional license. HPE ProLiant Server Management functionality requires an HPE OneView license, which is included in the
StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node reference configurations. HPE StoreFront Analytics for vRealize Suite provides further management and analysis
features and requires an additional license.
Introducing HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes
By running on top of vSphere, Hyper-V, or KVM, HPE StoreVirtual VSA can add data services on virtually any industry-standard x86 server
platform. This flexibility provided by the hypervisor and software-defined storage controller software allows system architects to choose from
an even greater number of options on the selected server platform. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes are reference configurations to provide
customers and partners a starting point when selecting configurations for virtualization projects on the HPE ProLiant server platform.
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes will be refreshed over time as new generations of servers and new options become available.
Important
This edition of the paper focuses on HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes on Windows Server® 2012 R2 and VMware vSphere 6.x only.
Partners and customers can make any supported changes to the hardware and software configuration to achieve different objectives.
Reference configurations
The reference configurations presented in this white paper are based on internally tested configurations of HPE ProLiant servers and
HPE StoreVirtual VSA. They represent a well-known starting point for custom configurations for software-defined storage projects.
The use cases that can be covered range from small branch office virtualization solutions to larger capacity solutions for data centers.
Selecting a reference configuration from Table 1 requires a degree of understanding of the workload that is going to be virtualized.
For technology refresh projects, it helps to monitor and metric the virtualized workload on an existing storage system or use the storage
performance counters on the hypervisor to understand the base-level target for any new deployments. To calculate the usable capacity by a
storage pool based on HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes, multiply the number of systems by the capacity per system and divide the product
by two to account for Network RAID 10 to deliver high availability.
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Table 1. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes at a glance
Configuration names
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready
Node Small
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready
Node Medium
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
Medium Hybrid
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
Large Hybrid
Primary use cases
Small and medium businesses;
remote and connected offices
Virtualization in large remote and
connected offices
Performance server
virtualization projects
High-density server
virtualization projects
HPE base server model
HPE ProLiant DL360 with 8 SFF
HPE ProLiant DL380 with 16 SFF
HPE ProLiant DL380 with 24 SFF
HPE ProLiant DL380 with 24 SFF
®
®
Processor
(2) Intel Xeon E5-2620 v4
with 10 cores @ 2.2 GHz
(2) Intel Xeon E5-2640 v4
with 10 cores @ 2.4 GHz
(2) Intel Xeon E5-2650 v4
with 12 cores @ 2.2 GHz
(2) Intel Xeon E5-2680 v4
with 14 cores @ 2.4 GHz
Memory
192 GB
256 GB
256 GB
512 GB
Networking
(8) 1GbE ports
(2) 10GbE ports +
(4) 1GbE ports
(2) 10GbE ports +
(4) 1GbE ports
(4) 10GbE ports +
(4) 1GbE ports
Storage controller(s)
HPE Smart Array P440ar with
2 GB Flash Backed Write Cache
HPE Smart Array P840ar with
2 GB Flash Backed Write Cache
HPE Smart Array P440ar with
2 GB Flash Backed Write Cache,
HPE Smart Array P840 with
4 GB Flash Backed Write Cache
HPE Smart Array P440ar with
2 GB Flash Backed Write Cache,
HPE Smart Array P840 with
4 GB Flash Backed Write Cache
Hard disk drives
(5) 1.2 TB SAS HDD
(12) 1.2 TB SAS HDD
(7) 1.2 TB SAS HDD
(18) 1.2 TB SAS HDD
Solid-state drives
None
None
(3) 400 GB SAS SSDs
(6) 800 GB SAS SSD
Usable capacity
per system
4 TB
10 TB
7.5 TB (10% flash)
18.5 TB (18% flash)
Recommended
HPE StoreVirtual
license
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 4 TB
(sold as pack of 3 licenses)
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 10 TB
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 10 TB
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 50 TB
Note
For quoting and purchasing purposes, partners and HPE presales can download the templates for SalesBuilder for Windows on the
Software-defined Storage section on the Storage Partner Portal and internal Worldwide Storage Sales Portal respectively.
Performance estimates
The performance characteristics are based on engineering estimates for the HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node on top of VMware vSphere.
The workloads in Table 2 can be used to approximate performance of databases and other highly randomized workloads like virtualization.
The numbers can be compared to generic storage performance numbers published by other storage vendors.
Important
The performance numbers in Table 2 are estimates based on HPE internal performance testing and expert opinion.
Table 2. Estimated HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes performance
Workload
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready
Node Small
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready
Node Medium
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
Medium Hybrid
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
Large Hybrid
8 KB random,
100% reads
550 IOPS @ 20 ms
1600 IOPS @ 20 ms
10,500 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
950 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
20,000 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
2500 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
8 KB random,
60% reads
350 IOPS @ 20 ms
1100 IOPS @ 20 ms
4200 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
650 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
8500 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
1300 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
8 KB random,
20% reads
300 IOPS @ 20 ms
900 IOPS @ 20 ms
2600 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
500 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
5200 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
900 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
8 KB random,
0% reads
400 IOPS @ 20 ms
1300 IOPS @ 20 ms
2200 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
750 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
4500 IOPS @ 5 ms (SSD)
1300 IOPS @ 20 ms (HDD)
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These numbers are estimates for per-node performance in a three-node storage pool. To roughly size for a four- or six-node storage pool,
multiply the per-node number by a factor of four or six respectively. Storage performance numbers can vary significantly by workload.
To achieve the numbers in Table 2, the workload generator needs to drive sufficient and consistent I/O to the configuration under test, and
networking components may not introduce bottlenecks.
Networking configuration
All HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes use HPE ProLiant DL300 series onboard network ports and ports on FlexLOM cards (see Figure 5).
This provides all configurations with resilient and high-bandwidth network connectivity and represents a good starting configuration for most
virtualization projects. For all HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node configurations, the HPE Aruba 2900 (especially for Small), HPE FlexFabric 5700
and HPE 5900 Switch Series (Medium, Medium Hybrid, and Large Hybrid) are recommended.
Figure 5. Network ports on HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes (Small on the left; Medium, Medium Hybrid on the right; Large Hybrid not shown).
There are at least three network functions in every virtualization project using a software-defined implementation: management, storage, and
virtual machine networking. In most environments, there will be additional virtual machine networks for further segmentation and isolation of
certain network traffic. Ideally, these network functions are supported by resilient network connectivity and do not compete for bandwidth to
ensure stable operation. As shown in Figures 6 and 7, there are sufficient network ports to team the network ports for all network functions.
Network teams provide resilience and, in some cases, increased bandwidth through bandwidth aggregation. For optimal resiliency, these network
teams are connected over two separate network switches. In some configurations, it is also possible to configure network teams across two
network cards for additional resiliency on a server component level.
Figure 6. Network ports on HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes (Small).
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Figure 7. Network ports on HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes (Medium and Medium Hybrid).
In addition to network teaming, it is recommended to separate the networking functions using virtual LANs (VLANs). For a typical
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node deployment with the network functions mentioned previously, there are VLANs to separate each of the
network functions. Table 3 outlines the number VLANs and IP addresses that need to be planned for including the subtle difference between
the hypervisors. For example, Microsoft Windows Servers will need an extra IP resource for Windows Failover Clustering, and VMware vSphere
will use two IP addresses for storage multipathing.
Table 3. Recommended VLANs and IP planning
VLAN
Network function
Description and IP planning
1
VM network
This is the primary network segment for virtual machines on the systems; in some deployments, more than one VLAN may be desired for
further separation of the virtualized workloads. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes are configured with two dedicated 1GbE ports for this
network function. Additional network adapters can be added if more bandwidth to and from virtual machines is required.
No IP addresses are required for the software components on the HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node.
2
Management network
This network segment is used for all management traffic of the system including the hypervisor management functions for each host as
well as the HPE iLO 4 server management interface. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes are configured with two dedicated 1GbE ports for
this network function. The network function is separate for security and isolation purposes.
HPE iLO 4:
(1) IP address per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
HPE StoreVirtual VSA:
(1) IP address per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
If using VMware vSphere:
(1) IP address per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
If using Microsoft Hyper-V:
(1) IP address per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node + (1) IP address per Windows Failover Cluster
3
Storage
This network is used for iSCSI storage access (hypervisor to HPE StoreVirtual traffic) as well as internal storage pool communication
(HPE StoreVirtual to HPE StoreVirtual traffic). HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes are configured with two dedicated 1GbE ports (Small),
two 10GbE ports (shared with VMware vSphere® vMotion®/Live Migration in active or standby; Medium, Medium Hybrid) or two dedicated
10GbE ports (Large Hybrid). This network function is typically exposing bursts and should therefore be separated onto its own network
segments for network performance concerns.
HPE StoreVirtual VSA:
(1) IP address per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node + (1) per storage pool
If using VMware vSphere:
(2) IP addresses per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
If using Microsoft Hyper-V:
(1) IP address per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
4
vMotion/Live Migration
This network is used for virtual machine migration across vSphere hosts. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes are configured with two
dedicated 1GbE ports (Small), two 10GbE ports (shared with storage in active or standby; Medium, Medium Hybrid) or two dedicated
10GbE ports (Large Hybrid). This network function is typically exposing bursts and should therefore be separated onto its own network
segments for network performance concerns.
If using VMware vSphere:
(1) IP addresses per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
If using Microsoft Hyper-V:
(1) IP addresses per HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node
The recommended network port configuration for these network functions in a typical HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes configuration is
outlined in Table 4. Failover networks teams are implemented in vSphere on separate virtual switches in vSphere, and VLAN separation is
implemented on port group and vmkernel. For Windows, a combination of NIC teaming in Windows and Hyper-V Virtual Networks is used.
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Table 4. Recommended port mappings and network configuration in vSphere and Windows
VLAN
Role
Ports for Small configuration
Ports for Medium and Medium Hybrid
configurations
Ports for Large Hybrid configuration
1
VM network
Onboard port 1,
FlexLOM port 1
vSwitch0 with one port group
for virtual machines
Team 1 mapping to
Hyper-V Virtual Network
Onboard port 1,
Onboard port 2
vSwitch0 with one port group
for virtual machines
Team 1 mapping to
Hyper-V Virtual Network
Onboard port 1,
Onboard port 2
vSwitch0 with one port group
for virtual machines
Team 1 mapping to
Hyper-V Virtual Network
2
Management network
Onboard port 2,
FlexLOM port 2
vSwitch1 with one vmkernel for
management, port group for virtual
machines optional
Team 2, mapping to Hyper-V Virtual
Network optional
Onboard port 3,
Onboard port 4
vSwitch1 with one vmkernel for
management, port group for virtual
machines optional
Team 2, mapping to Hyper-V Virtual
Network optional
Onboard port 3,
Onboard port 4
vSwitch1 with one vmkernel for
management, port group for virtual
machines optional
Team 2, mapping to Hyper-V Virtual
Network optional
3
Storage
Onboard port 3,
FlexLOM port 3
vSwitch2 with two vmkernel for iSCSI,
port group for virtual machines
(HPE StoreVirtual VSA will connect to this
network segment)
Team 3, mapping to Hyper-V Virtual
Network (HPE StoreVirtual VSA will connect
to this network segment)
4
vMotion/
Live Migration
Onboard port 4,
FlexLOM port 4
vSwitch3 with one vmkernel
for vMotion and Fault Tolerance
Team 4, enabled for Live Migration
FlexLOM port 1,
FlexLOM port 2
The ports are used for storage and virtual
machine migration purposes
vSwitch2 with two vmkernel for iSCSI,
port group for virtual machines
(HPE StoreVirtual VSA will connect to this
network segment), one vmkernel for vMotion
Team 3, mapping to Hyper-V Virtual
Network, shared with host (HPE StoreVirtual
VSA will connect to this network segment),
enabled for Live Migration
FlexLOM port 1,
NIC port 1,
vSwitch2 with two vmkernel for iSCSI,
port group for virtual machines
(HPE StoreVirtual VSA will connect to this
network segment)
Team 3, mapping to Hyper-V Virtual
Network (HPE StoreVirtual VSA will
connect to this network segment)
FlexLOM port 2,
NIC port 2
vSwitch3 with one vmkernel
for vMotion and Fault Tolerance
Team 4, enabled for Live Migration
For implementing this networking configuration, see the HPE StoreVirtual VSA design and configuration guide white paper as well as the storage
and networking sections in the VMware vSphere or Microsoft Windows Server product documentation.
Storage configuration
All HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes use a storage configuration to maximize the performance characteristics of the system and the ease of
use of the fully configured system. As shown in Figure 8, the storage configuration is using an HPE Smart Array feature to configure multiple
logical drives on a single array of disks. This ensures reliability for the hypervisor boot disk without giving up too many storage resources and
allows for exclusive access to the remaining storage capacity by the HPE StoreVirtual VSA.
Figure 8. Graphical representation of the HPE Smart Array configuration.
Figure 9. Storage mapping on HPE StoreVirtual VSA to logical drives.
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Logical drives appear to the system as regular disk resources. Except for the hypervisor boot disk, all logical drives are mapped to HPE StoreVirtual
VSA as illustrated in Figure 9. In vSphere environments, the logical drives are presented to the HPE StoreVirtual VSA as raw device mappings
(RDMs); the additional step required is outlined in the following installation section. Hyper-V supports the use of physical disks on HPE StoreVirtual
VSA without any additional steps.
Important
Not all arrays and logical drives are created on the same HPE Smart Array controller. On the Medium Hybrid and Large Hybrid configurations,
the onboard HPE Smart Array P440ar Controller is used for the SSDs and the additional HPE Smart Array P840 used for the HDDs. See the
individual configuration for details (Page 12 for Medium and Page 13 for Medium Hybrid).
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Small
The first HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node configuration is targeted toward a typical small office environment with requirements for highly
available storage for about 20 virtual machines. While this reference configuration can scale like any other HPE StoreVirtual VSA configuration
through scale-out, the recommended HPE StoreVirtual VSA 4 TB license restricts scalability to a storage pool of three systems.
Table 5. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Small 4 TB
Quantity
SKU
SKU description
1
TC484AAE
HPE SV VSA 2014 4 TB 3pk 3yr E-LTU
1
755258-B21
HPE DL360 Gen9 8SFF CTO Server
1
818172-L21
HPE DL360 Gen9 E5-2620v4 FIO Kit
1
818172-B21
HPE DL360 Gen9 E5-2620v4 Kit
8
805349-B21
HPE 16 GB 1Rx4 PC4-2400T-R Kit
5
781518-B21
HPE 1.2 TB 12 G SAS 10K 2.5in SC ENT HDD
1
749974-B21
HPE Smart Array P440ar/2G FIO Controller
1
629135-B22
HPE 1 Gb Ethernet 4P 331FLR Adptr
1
734807-B21
HPE 1U SFF Easy Install Rail Kit
2
720478-B21
HPE 500 W FS Plat Ht Plg Pwr Supply Kit
1
P8B31A
HPE OV w/o iLO 3yr 24x7 FIO Phys 1 LTU
1
BD505A
HPE iLO Adv incl 3yr TSU 1-Svr Lic
Important
4 TB licenses come only in license packs of three HPE StoreVirtual VSA licenses. HPE StoreVirtual VSA 4 TB licenses only allow for scaling
up to three systems in a storage pool and do not support systems with mixed storage configurations with HPE Adaptive Optimization.
There are upgrade licenses available to upgrade from 4 TB to the other capacity licenses to enable more capacity in the node and
HPE Adaptive Optimization.
The storage configuration is outlined in Table 6. To verify the drive cabling and the other components installed in the server, please see the
HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen9 User Guide.
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Table 6. Storage configuration for HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Small
Array #
Controller
Logical drive
RAID type
Size
Purpose
1
All drives on
HPE Smart Array
P440ar
Logical drive 1
RAID 5
Start with the other logical disk on this array, then
assign all remaining capacity to this logical drive
Operating system boot disk
(vSphere/Windows)
Logical drive 2
RAID 5
4 TB
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 1 (capacity)
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium
The Medium configuration is targeted toward larger remote offices with requirements for highly available storage for about 40 virtual machines
and larger data sets in remote offices that cannot be centralized easily, such as manufacturing sites and mineral exploration operations.
Table 7. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium 10 TB
Quantity
SKU
SKU description
1
Q0J77AE
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 2014 Software 10 TB E-LTU
1
719064-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF CTO Server
1
817937-L21
HPE DL380 Gen9 E5-2640v4 FIO Kit
1
817937-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 E5-2640v4 Kit
16
805349-B21
HPE 16 GB 1Rx4 PC4-2400T-R Kit
1
768857-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF Cage Bay2/Bkpln Kit
12
781518-B21
HPE 1.2 TB 12G SAS 10K 2.5in SC ENT HDD
1
665243-B21
HPE Ethernet 10 Gb 2P 560FLR-SFP+ Adptr
1
783009-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF SAS Cable Kit
1
733660-B21
HPE 2U SFF Easy Install Rail Kit
1
843199-B21
HPE Smart Array P840ar/2G Controller
2
720478-B21
HPE 500 W FS Plat Ht Plg Pwr Supply Kit
1
P8B31A
HPE OV w/o iLO 3yr 24x7 FIO Phys 1 LTU
1
BD505A
HPE iLO Adv incl 3yr TSU 1-Svr Lic
The storage configuration is outlined in Table 8. To verify the drive cabling and the other components installed in the server, please see the
HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 User Guide.
Table 8. Storage configuration for HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium
Array #
Controller
Logical drive
RAID type
Size
Purpose
Logical drive 1
RAID 6
1
All HDDs on
HPE Smart Array
P840ar
Start with the other logical disk on this array, then
assign all remaining capacity to this logical drive
Operating system boot disk
(vSphere/Windows)
Logical drive 2
RAID 6
10 TB
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 1 (capacity)
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Page 13
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium Hybrid
Medium Hybrid is a high-performance version of the Medium configuration with 10% of flash storage for increased performance.
The design center for this configuration used typical server virtualization in medium-sized businesses with storage requirements for
about 60 virtual machines.
The configuration is designed to use scale-up capabilities of the HPE StoreVirtual VSA. With the use of two HPE Smart Array storage
controllers, another set of 10 drives (seven HDDs and three HDDs) can easily be added to the system. When extending the capacity of the
HPE StoreVirtual VSA, a license upgrade (HPE StoreVirtual VSA Upgrade 10 TB to 50 TB E-LTU) will be required to virtualize the storage
capacity of the additional drives.
Table 9. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium Hybrid 7.5 TB
Quantity
SKU
SKU description
1
Q0J77AE
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 2014 Software 10 TB E-LTU
1
767032-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 24SFF CTO Server
1
817943-L21
HPE DL380 Gen9 E5-2650v4 FIO Kit
1
817943-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 E5-2650v4 Kit
8
805351-B21
HPE 32 GB 2Rx4 PC4-2400T-R Kit
3
779168-B21
HPE 400 GB 12G SAS ME 2.5in EM SC H2 SSD
7
781518-B21
HPE 1.2 TB 12G SAS 10K 2.5in SC ENT HDD
1
665243-B21
HPE Ethernet 10 Gb 2P 560FLR-SFP+ Adptr
1
749974-B21
HPE Smart Array P440ar/2G FIO Controller
1
726897-B21
HPE Smart Array P840/4G Controller
2
783009-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF SAS Cable Kit
1
786092-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF H240 Cable Kit
1
733660-B21
HPE 2U SFF Easy Install Rail Kit
2
720478-B21
HPE 500 W FS Plat Ht Plg Pwr Supply Kit
1
BD505A
HPE iLO Adv incl 3yr TSU 1-Svr Lic
The storage configuration is outlined in Table 10. To verify the drive cabling and the other components installed in the server, please see the
HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 User Guide.
Table 10. Storage configuration for HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Medium Hybrid
Array #
Storage type
1
All HDDs on
HPE Smart Array
P840
3
All SSDs on
HPE Smart Array
P440ar
Logical drive
RAID type
Size
Purpose
Logical drive 1
RAID 5
200 GB
Operating system boot disk
(vSphere/Windows)
Logical drive 2
RAID 5
Start with the other logical disk on this array, then
assign all remaining capacity to this logical drive
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 1 (capacity)
Logical drive 3
RAID 5
All available capacity
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 0
(performance)
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HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Large Hybrid
The largest HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes is the Large Hybrid configuration maxing out the drive configuration of the underlying server
platform with 24 drives and a ratio using 18% of flash storage. The processor and memory configuration allows for high-density virtualization
projects with about 80 virtual machines per node.
Table 11. HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Large Hybrid 18.5 TB
Quantity
SKU
SKU description
1
Q0J78AE
HPE StoreVirtual VSA 2014 Software 50 TB E-LTU
1
767032-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 24SFF CTO Server
1
817951-L21
HPE DL380 Gen9 E5-2680v4 FIO Kit
1
817951-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 E5-2680v4 Kit
16
805351-B21
HPE 32 GB 2Rx4 PC4-2400T-R Kit
6
779172-B21
HPE 800 GB 12G SAS ME 2.5in EM SC H2 SSD
18
781518-B21
HPE 1.2 TB 12G SAS 10K 2.5in SC ENT HDD
1
665243-B21
HPE Ethernet 10 Gb 2P 560FLR-SFP+ Adptr
1
749974-B21
HPE Smart Array P440ar/2G FIO Controller
1
726897-B21
HPE Smart Array P840/4G Controller
2
783009-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF SAS Cable Kit
1
786092-B21
HPE DL380 Gen9 8SFF H240 Cable Kit
1
665249-B21
HPE Ethernet 10 Gb 2P 560SFP+ Adptr
1
733660-B21
HPE 2U SFF Easy Install Rail Kit
2
720478-B21
HPE 500 W FS Plat Ht Plg Pwr Supply Kit
1
P8B31A
HPE OV w/o iLO 3yr 24x7 FIO Phys 1 LTU
1
BD505A
HPE iLO Adv incl 3yr TSU 1-Svr Lic
The storage configuration is outlined in Table 12. To verify the drive cabling and the other components installed in the server, please see the
HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 User Guide.
Table 12. Storage configuration for StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node—Large Hybrid
Array #
Storage type
1
HDD 1–9 on
HPE Smart Array
P840
Logical drive
RAID type
Size
Purpose
Logical drive 1
RAID 6
200 GB
Operating system boot disk
(vSphere/Windows)
Logical drive 2
RAID 6
Start with the other logical disk on this array, then
assign all remaining capacity to this logical drive
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 1 (capacity)
2
HDD 10–18 on
HPE Smart Array
P840
Logical drive 3
RAID 6
All available capacity
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 1 (capacity)
3
All SSDs on
HPE Smart Array
P440ar
Logical drive 4
RAID 5
All available capacity
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Tier 0
(performance)
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Summary
As customers are looking to simplify virtualization solutions by using converged compute and storage building blocks, HPE StoreVirtual VSA
presents a proven option to deliver data services that seamlessly integrate into virtualized environments. With the heritage of an enterprise
storage system, converged solutions based on the HPE StoreVirtual technology work with existing information lifecycle products and other
arrays in the HPE storage array family. By selecting HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes, customers and partners can significantly simplify the
platform decisions for virtualization solutions and maintain full control over their storage systems.
Appendix A
I/O Performance Testing Methodology with Vdbench
Introduction
The benchmarking of virtualized systems has always proved challenging for a variety of reasons stemming from understanding the network
topology and capability, to workload modelling, and scaling for future growth. Commonly, the desire is simply to implement a solution to meet an
immediate need, as quickly as possible. Shortly thereafter however, the realization sets in that the solution will need to scale in order to continue
receiving benefit from the investment already made.
There are no shortcuts to designing and implementing an effective solution. Due diligence in planning, proof of concept/testing, adaptability, and
best practice implementation are critical to delivering solutions that satisfy needs. To be successful requires a base level of knowledge on the
solution being considered. This knowledge can then be translated into an effective design for a specific use and tailored for the environment.
Testing the design provides the necessary knowledge to adapt and grow solutions both for the initial implementation and future growth scaling.
This section provides a method to determine the specific level of knowledge required in order to effectively plan, test, and deploy a virtualized
solution on either Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware ESXi hypervisors with HPE StoreVirtual VSA that can be replicated and measured using the
HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes built on HPE ProLiant server platforms. It is also possible to replicate these steps on more general x86
platforms in order to baseline performance expectations using the same software stack but your performance results will vary based on the
components in the platform chosen.
We will detail our approach using Vdbench, a freely available testing tool, to benchmark the two medium-sized HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready
Node reference configurations described previously. A complete guide to implementing the test bed and running tests is provided with the intent
that partners and customers can replicate HPE’s experience for themselves in their own environments with a reasonable expectation of achieving
the same performance results with the reference configurations.
Benchmarked reference configurations provide a measured way to build solutions from a modular perspective. A framework for providing
solutions that meet costs effectively, and scale predictably.
Methodology
HPE’s approach to using Vdbench revolves specifically around the reference configurations for the HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Nodes. It is
important to know in advance that every single component within the reference configurations has the potential to impact performance. Virtual
machine memory management, application protocols (i.e., TCP/UDP), disk configuration and mapping, network infrastructure, and compute
resources all either add or subtract from the ability of any solution to perform to expectations. A shortfall indicated in a specific area does not
invalidate the approach but does point out an area that needs to be addressed in order to achieve the desired results. It is for this reason that
benchmarking is so critical to successful deployments. If this test process is run on any other hardware/software combination, results will vary;
however, the process will still be just as valid for helping to establish that critical base level of knowledge.
Workload Modeling Considerations
I/O Queue Depth
I/O performance can be increased via multiple simultaneous host requests, as well as, asynchronous applications. Taking advantage of this is of
critical importance for the usage of RAID array subsystems like the StoreVirtual VSA where a virtual disk is supported by multiple physical disks.
The submission of multiple, simultaneous I/Os causes the array to access multiple physical disks simultaneously upping the throughput capability
of the SAN.
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Transfer Size
A variety of block sizes should be used during testing to represent not only the specific size you intend to use as a primary transfer size but also
to gauge system performance when a more generalized workload is processed. Applications and operating systems are generally the
determining factor in knowing block size and documentation for those items should be referenced to understand the solution requirements. Hard
drives have their own requirements for sector size, commonly 512 bytes unless using the Advanced Format which could be 4096 bytes as an
example and this is specified in their respective product specifications. All I/O operations take a given block of data and either read it from, or
write it to some number of disk sectors. There is a direct correlation between block size and I/O throughput or Input/Outputs per Second (IOPS).
Changing one impacts the other directly.
Example: A single 4 KB block size must access 8 different 512-byte disk sectors; an 8 KB block size would access 16 512-byte disk sectors and
so on. Each additional disk sector requires seek time, cache time, etc.
Logic may suggest that the smaller block size is more efficient and if the only concern was for the throughput of data at the iSCSI to disk level
this would be true but applications insert their own requirements that influence end to end performance and efficiency.
Read/Write Ratio
To completely test a useful range of read/write characteristics the plan incorporates 8k, 16k, 32k, and 256k block sizes in 0%, 60%, 80%, and 100%
read configurations. Other block sizes and percentages can be tested optionally if desired but are not part of the provided test plan. The 256k
block size equates to a sequential read which is detailed below.
Sequential vs. Random
Random reads are the normal mode process for using StoreVirtual to virtualize data for clients. Random is based on some number of clients all
sending data packets at unknown intervals to the StoreVirtual cluster. In normal operation the use of the Multipathing Extension Module (MEM)
helps to ensure the locality of these packets but does not explicitly reduce the potential for congestion across busy NIC ports or virtual switches
without further workload planning for the individual clients or workgroups. Random operations are more affected by seek time and the rotational
latency of the disk (or array) being written to but balance this performance hit with being able to accommodate large numbers of diverse blocks
simultaneously.
Sequential reads are ordered sets of packets arriving linearly and are thus less dependent on the seek time and rotational latency of the disk
(or array). These reads and writes tend to be common with applications for backup and archiving which is why they are included here. It is always
good practice to plan for the backup and archiving of your data.
Test Environment Configuration
The management server for your HPE StoreVirtual VSA Ready Node cluster will need the following additional software components installed
with the appropriate permissions and services.
1. Java (jre-8u121-windows-x64)
2. Secure Shell (or the built-in Vdbench version included in the next step)
3. Vdbench (v5.04.06) installed to the root of the administrator’s user space for convenience (other locations are possible but complicate
command line and scripting paths).
Each physical server node of the 3-node cluster will run the chosen hypervisor (Hyper-V or ESXi), and have two guest VMs and (4) datastores:
1. Two Windows 2012 R2 datacenter server VMs. Each VM will be created from a 40 GB datastore via the OneView storage management
plug-in.
2. An additional datastore will be provided for each VM as the storage repository to be tested and the size varies depending on the cluster
configuration chosen.
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Medium-Hybrid Configuration
Table 13: Medium-Hybrid Storage Configuration
Storage Configuration
Details
HPE StoreVirtual OS version
v12.6
HPE StoreVirtual CMC version
v12.6
Jumbo frames
No
iSCSI offload
No
TOE offload
No
Disk type, Model; firmware version
(3) SSD disks (per node), Model—MO0400JEFPA; Firmware version HPD2
(7) HDD disks (per node), Model—EG1200JEHMC; Firmware version HPD3
Raw capacity per disk/logical array
400 GB/Tier-0, LD-01 RAID 5, 745 GiB
1200 GB/Tier-1, LD -01 RAID 5, 199 GiB
1200 GB/Tier-1, LD -02 RAID 5, 6506 GiB
Controller model, firmware version
Smart Array P480 4.52
Smart Array P440ar 4.52
Flash-backed Write cache (P480)
4194304 KB
Encryption
Not Enabled
Multipath Extention Module (MEM)
MetadataVUM-hpe-lh-mem_6.0.0-12.6.0.14-offline_bundle
Table 14: Medium-Hybrid Host Configuration
Host Configuration
Details
hypervisor version
VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-Update2-3620759-HPE-600.9.6.0.49-Oct2016
iLO 4 management, firmware version
Yes
2.50, Sep 23, 2016
Jumbo frames
No
iSCSI offload
No
TOE offload
No
TPM Status
Not Present
SD-Card status
Not Present
ProLiant System ROM, Date
P89 v2.30
Sep 13, 2016
Number of clients
2 per node—Windows 2012 R2
Number of LUNs per client
2 per client
Table 15: Medium-Hybrid Network Switch Configuration
Network Switch Configuration
Details
Compute and storage 10GbE switch model, Firmware version
HPE 5900-CP-48XG-4QSFP+
iLO 1GbE switch model, firmware version
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Medium Configuration
Table 16: Medium Storage Configuration
Storage Configuration
Details
HPE StoreVirtual OS version
v12.6
HPE StoreVirtual CMC version
v12.6
Jumbo frames
No
iSCSI offload
No
TOE offload
No
Disk type, Model; firmware version
(12) HDD disks (per node), Model—EG1200FDJYT; Firmware version HPD4
Raw capacity per disk/logical array
1200 GB, LD -01 RAID 5, 199 GiB
1200 GB, LD -02 RAID 5, 6506 GiB
Controller model, firmware version
Smart Array P840ar 4.52
Flash-backed Write cache (P840)
2097152 KB
Encryption
Not Enabled
Multipath Extention Module (MEM)
MetadataVUM-hpe-lh-mem_6.0.0-12.6.0.14-offline_bundle
Table 17: Medium Host Configuration
Storage Configuration
Details
Hypervisor version
VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-Update2-3620759-HPE-600.9.6.0.49-Oct2016
iLO 4 management, firmware version
Yes
2.50, Sep 23, 2016
Jumbo frames
No
iSCSI offload
No
TOE offload
No
TPM Status
Not Present
SD-Card status
Not Present
ProLiant System ROM, Date
P89 v2.30
Sep 13, 2016
Number of clients
2 per node—Windows 2012 R2
Number of LUNs per client
2 per client—1. OS, 2. Storage
Table 18: Medium Network Switch Configuration
Storage Configuration
Details
Compute and storage 10GbE switch model, Firmware version
HPE 5900-CP-48XG-4QSFP+
7.1.045, Release 2311P01
iLO 1GbE switch model, firmware version
HPE OfficeConnect 1950
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Vdbench Test Plan and Definitions
Create a “parmfile”
The parameter file is made up of 3 sections.
Storage Definition—Identifies each physical or logical volume or file system file to be used.
Workload Definition—Defines what kind of workload will be executed using the storage definitions listed above.
Run Definition—Defines what I/O rate to be generated, and how long the workload will run.
Notes and Custom Parmfile Definitions:
These can be used to run consecutive runs across all three nodes in the cluster with a consolidated output on the management server.
hd=default,vdbench=/home/usr/vdbench,user=administrator
hd=one,system=system1
hd=two,system=system2
hd=three,system=system3
sd=sd1, host=*,lun=XXXXX
wd=wd1, sd=sd*, xfersize=8k, rdpct=100
wd=wd2, sd=sd*, xfersize=8k, rdpct=80
wd=wd3, sd=sd*, xfersize=8k, rdpct=60
wd=wd4, sd=sd*, xfersize=8k, rdpct=0
wd=wd5, sd=sd*, xfersize=32k, rdpct=100
wd=wd6, sd=sd*, xfersize=32k, rdpct=80
wd=wd7, sd=sd*, xfersize=32k, rdpct=60
wd=wd8, sd=sd*, xfersize=32k, rdpct=0
wd=wd9, sd=sd*, xfersize=256k, rdpct=100
wd=wd10, sd=sd*, xfersize=256k, rdpct=80
wd=wd11, sd=sd*, xfersize=256k, rdpct=60
wd=wd12, sd=sd*, xfersize=256k, rdpct=0
rd=run1, wd=wd1,iorate=100, elapsed=XXX
Leveraging Performance Results
Performance results can be viewed in one of two locations depending on how you approached the testing process but will always be in the
“output” directory beneath the installation location for Vdbench itself. For example “C:\Vdbench\output\”. Please note that Vdbench will not
automatically create a new output folder with successive tests so it is important to remember to change your original output folder name to
something else prior to beginning any new test runs.
If you are running tests for multiple nodes from your management server then the output files and data will be located on that system. If however,
you have chosen to run the test locally on each node there would be a corresponding “Vdbench/output” folder on that system where the output
files and data are located.
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The easiest way to engage with the resulting data is to open the C:/Vdbench/output folder and select the summary.html file. This opens the
page in a web browser that conveniently and interactively links to all of the other collected data that pertains to this particular test run and also
indicates if the test plan was completed successfully at the very bottom. The page provides a higher level summary of the test just performed to
include: I/O, MB/sec, bytes, read percentage, response time (latency), read response (latency), write response (latency), maximum response time
(latency), response time standard deviation, queue depth, and cpu utilization numbers in the bottom half of the page.
Additional depth can be investigated by selecting a link from the top half of the page. Selecting the “logfile” link will show a detailed and time
stamped log which is useful in the event tests are not completing as expected for troubleshooting. The “status” link can be selected at any time
after the test has been initiated to see where in the process the test is currently. The “parmfile” link will show you the specific parameters used to
perform the test and is dependent on the definitions provided by the user. The link to “host reports” would show each of the hosts included in
the test individually if more than one was included in the parmfile used to run the test. The “skew” report is of benefit only after having run
multiple workloads with different characteristics (i.e. r/w %, blk sizes, etc.) on multiple hosts to compare results across the different workloads and
hosts for consistency. The “SD reports” will show for each storage definition (“sd”) defined in the parmfile and can be accessed individually via
these links here. Likewise, the different workloads defined (“wd”) in the parmfile will be listed and can be accessed in the workload report sections.
Lastly, the run definitions (“rd”) are also listed and can be selected.
Assuming the tests ran completely and successfully the most important items to focus on are the ‘‘summary.html’’; the ‘‘totals’’; ‘‘histogram’’;
and the ‘‘skew’’ reports; with additional information being leveraged from the individual host reports only if the skew report indicates significant
differences on any of the hosts.
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Appendix B
Baseline Performance Results
Keeping in mind that performance will vary according to settings and network environment the following graphs demonstrate the HPE StoreVirtual
Ready Node Medium configuration results for a variety of block sizes and Read/Write (R/W) percentages. We focus on the 8k and 32k block sizes for
random reads and writes and then finish with the 256k sequential results that should be relevant when considering backup performance
expectations.
The blue line represents our all spinning disk (HDD) configuration results and the yellow line represents our tier-0 SSD tier performance on the
Medium Hybrid configuration. All results from one of two 3-node DL380 Gen9 server clusters running VMware ESXi 6.0U2 and HPE StoreVirtual
VSA 12.6.
IO/sec vs. RT(ms)
random; Blocksize=8192; %R/W-Ratio=100
45
40
35
RT(ms)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
IO/sec
60000
70000
80000
90000
VSA_ReadyNode_NR10_R6_ 36HDD_1.2 TB_iSCSI10GbE_v12.6_RR_8K_T1x.xlsx:random; Blocksize=8192; %R/W-Ratio=100; Dev iceCount:6
VSA_ReadyNode_Hybrid-Cluster__RR_8K—Copyx.xlsx: random; Blocksize=8192; %R/W-Ratio=100; DeviceCount:6
100000
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IO/sec vs. RT(ms)
random; Blocksize=8192; %R/W-Ratio=80
45
40
35
RT(ms)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
10000
20000
40000
30000
50000
60000
70000
IO/sec
VSA_ReadyNode_NR10_R6_ 36HDD_1.2 TB_iSCSI10GbE_v12.6_RMIX80_8K_T1x.xlsx:random; Blocksize=8192; %R/W-Ratio=80; Dev iceCount:6
VSA_ReadyNode_Hybrid-Cluster__RMIX8 0_8K2—Copyx.xlsx: random; Blocksize=8192; %R/W-Ratio=80; DeviceCount:6
IO/sec vs. RT(ms)
random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=100
45
40
35
RT(ms)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
IO/sec
50000
60000
70000
VSA_Rea dyNode_NR10_R6_ 36HDD_1.2 TB_iSCSI10GbE_v12.6_RR_32K_T1x.xlsx:random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=100; Dev iceCount:6
VSA_Rea dyNode_Hybrid-Cluster__RR_32K—Copyx.xlsx: random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=100; DeviceCount:6
80000
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IO/sec vs. RT(ms)
random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=60
50
45
40
35
RT(ms)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
IO/sec
30000
35000
40000
45000
VSA_Rea dyNode_NR10_R6_ 36HDD_1.2 TB_iSCSI10GbE_v12.6_RMIX60_32K_T1x.xl sx:random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=60; DeviceCount:6
VSA_Rea dyNode_Hybrid-Cluster__RMIX60_32K2—Copyx.xlsx:ra ndom; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=60; DeviceCount:6
IO/sec vs. RT(ms)
random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=80
45
40
35
RT(ms)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
10000
20000
30000
IO/sec
40000
50000
60000
VSA_Rea dyNode_NR10_R6_ 36HDD_1.2 TB_iSCSI10GbE_v12.6_RMIX80_32K_T1x.xl sx:random; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=80; Dev iceCount:6
VSA_Rea dyNode_Hybrid-Cluster__RMIX80_32K2—Copyx.xlsx:ra ndom; Blocksize=32768; %R/W-Ratio=80; DeviceCount:6
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IO/sec vs. RT(ms)
Sequential; Blocksize=262144; %R/W-Ratio=100
50
45
40
35
RT(ms)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
IO/sec
VSA_ReadyNode_NR10_R6_ 36HDD_1.2 TB_iSCSI10GbE_v12.6_SR_256K_T1x.xlsx:Sequential(segmented-method); Blocksize=262144; %R/W-Ratio=100; Dev iceCount:6
VSA_ReadyNode_Hybrid-Cluster_SR_256K—Copyx.xlsx:Sequential(segmented-method); Blocksize=262144; %R/W-Ratio=100; DeviceCount:6
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Reference and additional resources
This section is an overview of all the resources used in this document. See the following documentation for more background or detail on product
features and steps described at a very high level earlier in this document.
Table 19. List of relevant documents and product documentation
Product
HPE StoreVirtual
VSA
HPE ProLiant
Server
HPE OneView for
vCenter
HPE OneView for
System Center
VMware vSphere
Windows Server
Document
Link
HPE StoreVirtual VSA QuickSpecs
hpe.com/h20195/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c04111621
HPE StoreVirtual Architecture
hpe.com/h20195/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA3-0365ENW
HPE StoreVirtual VSA design and configuration
hpe.com/h20195/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA4-8440ENW
HPE StoreVirtual documentation
hpe.com/storage/docs/storevirtual
HPE StoreVirtual VSA downloads
hpe.com/storage/downloads/storevirtual
StoreVirtual Peer Motion
hpe.com/h20195/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA4-0304ENW
HPE StoreVirtual Storage network design
considerations and best practices
hpe.com/h20195/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA2-5615ENW
HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen9 User Guide
hpe.com/support/dl360gen9_ug_en
HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 User Guide
hpe.com/support/dl380gen9_ug_en
HPE ProLiant Recipe for VMware vSphere
vibsdepot.hpe.com/hpq/recipes/HPE-VMware-Recipe.pdf
Service Pack for ProLiant Quick Start Guide
hpe.com/support/SPP_UG_en
Service Pack for ProLiant download
hpe.com/servers/spp/download
Integrated Lights-On documentation
hpe.com/support/ilo4_ug_en
Intelligent Provisioning documentation
hpe.com/support/IPGen9_UG_en
HPE Smart Storage Administrator User Guide
hpe.com/info/smartstorage/docs
HPE OneView for vCenter information
hpe.com/us/en/product-catalog/detail/pip.4152978.html
HPE OneView for vCenter download
h20392.www2.hpe.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=HPVPR
HPE OneView for vCenter documentation
hpe.com/info/ovvcenter/docs
HPE OneView for System Center information
hpe.com/us/en/product-catalog/detail/pip.5390822.html
HPE OneView for System Center download
h20392.www2.hpe.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=System_Center
HPE OneView for System Center documentation
hpe.com/info/ovsc/docs
HPE custom VMware® ESXi™ ISO images
hpe.com/info/esxidownload
VMware vSphere 6.0 documentation
pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp
Windows Server 2012 R2 documentation
technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh801901
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