QLogic 8Gb Fiber Channel HBAs for IBM Modular Systems. The next generation of Performance, Power Savings and Lower Cost of Ownership.

Transcription

1 QLogic 8Gb Fiber Channel HBAs for IBM Modular Systems The next generation of Performance, Power Savings and Lower Cost of Ownership.

2 Introduction In this highly competitive global economy, IT professionals must ensure a balance within the data center infrastructure to meet the minimum business requirements. With continued demands in the data center, it is imperative to deploy a scalable architecture to meet a full spectrum of concerns, including cost, performance, and backwards compatibility. New technologies continue to push the data center curve; server virtualization, multi-core processors, and faster server host bus architectures drive the need for increased IOPS and bandwidth requirements. The next generation 8Gb FC Host Bus adapters (HBAs) and switches provide the evolution of increased performance to exceed the speed requirements to support the Next Generation Data Centers. This paper will highlight just some of the many features that increase performance and lower power consumption of the QLogic 8Gb Fibre Channel (FC) HBAs for IBM Modular Systems, which can help lead to a lower total cost of ownership for the storage solution. Performance Put several IT professionals in the same room and ask them how do you measure performance and you are likely to get several different answers. Many will quote standard I/O measurements for reads, writes and read/writes. Other will take a more practical view of performance, how does it work in the applications my enterprise is running? Let s look at both views to give the most complete picture of the performance advantages of the new QLogic 8Gb FC HBAs. I/O Measurements 1 For this test, QLogic ran the latest available 8Gb HBA drivers from QLogic on an Intel Stoakley Dual Processor 2.66GHz Quad Core platform. The system contained 4GB RAM and the Windows Server 2003 SP1 operating system. The server was connected to an 8Gb QLogic SANbox 5802V FC switch via the QLE2562 8Gb HBA using only one port. The storage attached to the switch was a 4Gb RamSan-320 solid state disk, attached to four target ports on two Small Form factor Pluggables (SFPs). The test configuration is illustrated in the following figure. (test config 884)

3 The 4GB test setup was the same except that QLogic 4GB HBAs and a QLogic SANbox 4GB switch were substituted, the server and storage remained the same. (test config 444) A heterogeneous test set up combining 8GB HBAs with a 4GB switch was also run. (test config 844) IOmeter from Intel measured maximum IOPS on the HBA for various block sizes, from 0.5KB to 1024KB. Tests were conducted for sequential read/writes. Results The QLogic 8Gb HBA showed a significant performance increase over the 4Gb HBA, especially at smaller block sizes. Note that QLogic 8Gb FC HBA should be the product of choice for standard enterprise applications like Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange primarily uses 4KB data blocks for message traffic. In performance analysis with 8Gb, the QLogic 8Gb FC HBA had 200,000+ IOPS and 1550 MBps for throughput on a single-port 8Gb HBA. The highest performance measured on the 4Gb product was 150,000 IOPS and 800MBps. Sequential Read/Write Throughput At block sizes above 8KB, the 8Gb FC HBA demonstrated a 90 percent improvement over 4Gb HBAs. Applications including D2D, MS Exchange and data replication, and remote mirroring will benefit from the QLogic 8Gb FC HBA. QLogic 8Gb FC HBAs meet the demand of increased virtual server density. With the increased throughput in the data center, the virtual server workload need is also increased.

4 As illustrated by the following chart, there is twice the throughput in the amount of workload that can be supported with the QLogic 8Gb HBA versus the QLogic 4Gb HBA To test the scalability of virtual machines, QLogic performed tests with eight virtual machines, each trying to push a throughput of 100MBps through the I/O pipe. The test results show that 8Gb HBAs deliver twice the throughput as 4Gb HBAs; therefore, 8Gb HBAs have double the I/O scalability in virtual environments. Application Performance 2 While all the measurements are important and interesting, real world applications are where the enterprise really get to see the benefits. Let s look at a key business application (Exchange) and how the 8Gb FC HBA improve performance. 8Gb Exchange advantages Microsoft Exchange is one of the business critical applications in small, medium, and large enterprises. It is critical for IT Managers to go to great lengths to ensure delivery on the guaranteed uptimes, scalability, and performance of the Exchange services provided. For most businesses, a messaging system is one of the mission-critical tools for effective and fast communication. As heavier demands occur in the data centers, the SAN must meet minimum business requirements for higher performance. The capabilities of the QLogic 8Gb FC HBA continues the unsurpassed performance provided by 4Gb FC HBAs. The 8Gb FC HBA offers increased performance and higher efficiency over 4Gb, which in turn supports additional Exchange Seats. The improved level of performance offered by 8Gb will become increasingly necessary as the I/O performance required for database backups, data restores, and volumes increase. QLogic has historically proven scalability and performance superiority over its competitors, making it the right choice for exchange administrators. QLogic demonstrates the advantages of the 8Gb infrastructure with Exchange. The tests described in this paper were conducted with Microsoft s Jetstress utility. Jetstress has various options to generate the most commonly used data patterns of Microsoft Exchange. The tests performed were Disk Performance, Mail Box profiling, and Microsoft Exchange database backups. The following figure shows a performance increase of 26 percent using 8Gb HBAs over 4Gb HBAs, utilizing 40 threads per storage group.

5 QLogic continues to provide scalability and performance as demonstrated with the IOmeter in the following figure, identifying the through-put performance differences between the QLogic 4Gb and 8Gb HBAs. IOmeter was configured to place the maximum possible load on the 4Gb and 8Gb HBA. As customers purchase and utilize the 8Gb HBA and integrate into 8Gb SANs and infrastructure, they expect optimum throughput through both channels. Power Savings 3 Today s IT managers are under more pressure than ever to reduce the power consumption of the data center. The never ending need to handle more transactions and store more data constantly strains the existing power grid. Many local areas are literally running out of power. As we are able to put more and more computing capability in the same (or smaller) footprints, managing the power footprint becomes increasing critical. QLogic s new 8GB FC HBAs incorporate the latest in power saving technology. Power Optimized Design The core of QLogic s FC HBAs are their QLogic-designed I/O controller ASICs. These components consume the majority of the HBA s power and represent the best opportunity for reducing overall HBA power consumption. For that reason, QLogic has designed all of their Fibre Channel I/O controllers for minimal power draw. For instance, they have employed a multi-vt (threshold voltage) design that mixes a low Vt design process for high performance circuitry (such as I/O buffers and memory) with a high Vt design process for circuitry with slow switching requirements. Using a high Vt design process in ASIC areas that do not require high performance reduces leakage current and provides a good solution for balancing speed requirements with power savings. QLogic products also employ a practice known as clock gating. Through this design feature, the I/O controller ASIC can selectively turn off internal clocks to areas of the

6 ASIC that have no work pending. Eliminating unnecessary internal activity results in reduced power consumption and reduce waste. QLogic has further reduced HBA power consumption by integrating external Synchronous SRAM (SSRAM) memory components into the I/O controller ASIC. This reduces the number of components needed on each FC HBA and shrinks overall power consumption. Peak Load Management An important feature for green data center equipment is the ability to adaptively adjust power consumption, either manually or automatically. One of QLogic s latest innovations (patent pending) for reducing power consumption in the data center is a StarPower feature named Peak Load Management (PLM). PLM gives data center administrators the option to reduce power consumption on QLogic HBAs. This is done using QLogic s easy-to-use SANsurfer GUI, a Storage area Network (SAN) management tool that can configure and manage QLogic s entire product line of FC and iscsi HBAs. This power conservation is achieved through performance throttling. This feature can be programmed to turn on during specific events. In addition to lowering HBA power consumption, reducing data rates will save power in the server root complex and the attached SAN switches. QLogic gives administrators the flexibility to choose either maximum performance or minimal power consumption to meet their data center needs. Intelligent Link Training QLogic has also implemented a new StarPower technology, Intelligent Link Training (ILT). This feature automatically reduces power consumption without IT administrator interaction. QLogic 8Gb HBAs are compliant with the PCIe Gen2 specification and are wired to transfer data over eight (x8) PCIe lanes. When the root complex to which QLogic s 8Gb FC HBA connects supports Gen2 rates and x8 lanes, QLogic s HBA and the root complex negotiate a x4-lane width instead of a x8-lane width. As the following graph shows, using fewer lanes does not compromise the bandwidth required to support full duplex, dual port, 8Gb FC HBAs. However, using fewer lanes requires significantly less power for the HBA as well as the server root complex. Gen 1 PCIe: QLogic HBA Powers all Eight Lanes for Maximum Performance Gen2 PCIe: QLogic HBA Powers Down Four Lanes for Maximum Performance and Maximum Energy Efficiency Establishing a link of x8 lanes of PCIe at the Gen2 rate is power inefficient because the HBA continues to consume power on the additional lanes, which are not required to meet the bandwidth requirements. The StarPower approach enables potential power savings of up to 400mW per QLogic 8Gb FC HBA. Conclusions: The QLogic 8Gb FC HBAs for IBM Modular System provide higher performance and lower power consumption for a lower total cost of ownership. The ability to handle more I/O traffic with lower power consumption is an ideal combination to lower the total cost of ownership of a typical data center. Handling more I/O with fewer HBAs can reduce overall hardware costs. Managing power consumption, either during peak system load or during peak / off-peak power consumption periods can also reduce utility bills. As we saw above, each HBA can save up to 400mW, which can quickly add up. A 1000 node

7 server cluster with redundant HBAs in each node can save up to 800W. When you add in any power savings from the systems and storage attached, the savings increase. Over the course of a year significant power cost savings can achieved. QLogic 8Gb FC HBAs are without a doubt the ideal solution for the data centers of the future. Footnotes 1 Testing conducted by QLogic Corporation and originally published in their White Paper: QLogic 2500 Series 8Gb FC HBAs Offer Performance Benefits 2 Testing conducted by QLogic Corporation and originally published in their White Paper: QLogic 2500 Series FC HBAs Accelerate Application Performance 3 Testing conducted by QLogic Corporation and originally published in their White Paper: 8GB Power Optimized Solution Lowers Data Center Power and Cooling Costs