EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

Transcription

1 EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi EMC NAS Product Validation Corporate Headquarters Hopkinton, MA

2 Copyright 2008 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published May, 2008 EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS. EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi P/N H Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

3 Contents About this Document... 5 Chapter 1 Solution Overview... 7 Business challenge... 8 Technology solution... 8 Solution advantages...8 Chapter 2 Store Architecture... 9 Overall architecture General characteristics...12 Storage architecture Network architecture Switches...14 Virtual local area networks...14 EMC Celerra NS ESX Server architecture VMware datastore configuration...16 Application server architecture (guest OS) Application architecture High availability and failover Chapter 3 Backup Architecture Backup architecture Chapter 4 Protect Architecture Protect architecture Chapter 5 Testing and Development Architecture Testing and Development architecture Chapter 6 Hardware and Software Resources Hardware resources Software resources Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 3

4 Contents 4 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

5 About this Document This document provides an overview of the architecture of a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Solution developed by the EMC NAS Product Validation group. Purpose Information in this document can be used as the basis for a solution build, white paper, best practices, or training document. Information in this document can also be used by other EMC organizations (for example, the technical services or sales organization) as the basis for producing documentation for a technical services or sales kit. Audience This document is intended for internal EMC personnel, partners, and customers. Scope This document describes the architecture of an EMC Solution for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server built and tested at the EMC NAS Product Validation lab in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Implementation instructions and sizing guidelines are beyond the scope of this document. Related documents The following documents, located on Powerlink, provide additional, relevant information. Access to these documents is based on your login credentials. If you do not have access to the content listed below, contact your EMC representative: EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 EMC Celerra NS Series Applied Best Practices Guide EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over NFS EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Storage for EMC Celerra NS20 Validation Test Report EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server Data Storage for EMC Celerra NS20 Validation Test Report Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 5

6 Contents EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Protection and Replication for EMC Celerra NS Series Validation Test Report EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Backup for EMC Celerra NS Series Validation Test Report EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 EMC Celerra NS Series Applied Best Practices Guide EMC Celerra iscsi Replication Use Cases for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 A Detailed Review The following document is available for download from the VMware Infrastructure 3 Documentation ( website: Using EMC Celerra IP Storage with VMware Infrastructure 3 over iscsi and NFS Best Practices Planning 6 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

7 Chapter 1 Solution Overview This chapter presents these topics: Business challenge... 8 Technology solution... 8 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 7

8 Solution Overview Business challenge With limited resources and increasing demands, today's midsize enterprises must address the following challenges: Consolidate multiple database applications scattered throughout the enterprise Ensure information access, availability, and continuity Maximize server and storage utilization, and deliver optimal system performance Manage upgrades and migrations Reduce the demands on limited IT resources and budgets Reduce the complexity of technology choices In addition, these enterprises must manage IT costs and reduce the risk of business disruption. Technology solution Solution advantages The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution leverages LAN connectivity to consolidate Microsoft database information. Centralization of information and consolidation of resources create economic advantages for businesses. Table 1 shows the advantages of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution. Table 1 Solution advantages Benefit Maintain service levels Reduce costs Reduce risk Accelerate implementations Details This solution keeps critical and revenue-generating Microsoft applications available and running at peak performance. This solution minimizes the cost of database and information management. This solution offers a reference architecture that includes tested and proven configurations that improve performance and scalability. EMC Professional Services and ASN-certified EMC partners provide a rapid assessment and efficient implementation. 8 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

9 Chapter 2 Store Architecture This chapter presents these topics: Overall architecture Storage architecture Network architecture ESX Server architecture Application server architecture (guest OS) Application architecture High availability and failover Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 9

10 Store Architecture Overall architecture Figure 1 shows the physical architecture of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX server NS20 solution, while Figure 2 shows the logical architecture of the solution. The solution consists of four modules: store, backup, protect, and test/dev. These modules include the following common components: A Microsoft SQL Server 2005 host connected to the management, client, and storage networks Clients connected to the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 host and to the storage network for network file services Figure 1 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution architecture - physical architecture 10 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

11 Store Architecture Figure 2 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution architecture logical architecture Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 11

12 Store Architecture General characteristics The general characteristics of the solution architecture are as follows: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 resides on a VMware virtual machine. IP (Gigabit Ethernet and virtual local area network (VLAN) iscsi) connections are designed to balance or distribute disk I/O. All database files are stored on the EMC Celerra NS20 storage system, which makes server replacement relatively simple. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition SP2 (64-bit) runs on Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition 64-bit R2 SP2, which runs on VMware ESX Server 3.5. The EMC Celerra NS20 system provides network file services for other applications, to enable Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to be consolidated using iscsi, CIFS, and NFS on the same platform. Storage architecture In this solution, storage from the NS20 array is presented to the ESX server using both iscsi and NFS protocols. Users can perform storage setup using the Celerra Manager software. The software provides the ability to create disk groups, design file systems, and export those file systems via NFS and CIFS, or create iscsi LUNs to support specific database I/O demands. The storage architecture tested is described below: Figure 3 Storage architecture overview This configuration is designed for high scalability and high resiliency. The guest operating system (OS) VDMK is stored in a NFS datastore while the SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb are accessed over iscsi using the Microsoft iscsi Software Initiator. 12 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

13 Figure 4 shows that the VMware guest OS, SQL database, and SQL logs have dedicated disk spindles in this configuration. Disk layout The RAID 1, 14-disk, one-shelf configuration is shown below: Figure 4 Configuration disk layout Note: The 14-disk number refers to the disks occupied by the SQL Server database and log files. These are grouped into user-defined storage pools, which are described in the following section. This particular configuration can support up to 9000 TPC-C users. For detailed test results, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server Data Storage for EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report. Figure 4 indicates the volumes that are used for VMware guest OS files, database files, log files, Temporary Database (tempdb) files, the Celerra DART OS, and miscellaneous files such as Microsoft SQL Server 2005 system files. Each database workload in the environment should be considered individually based on the workload. In some cases, the tempdb will benefit from being placed on the dedicated spindles. For more information, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 EMC Celerra NS Series - Applied Best Practices Guide. File systems There are several important file system areas in this configuration. The first is the area for the guest OS VMDK. Testing found minimal differences in placing this file in shared storage on Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 13

14 Store Architecture NFS, instead of local storage on the ESX server. However, shared storage presents many additional features that are not available on directly attached storage. As one example, with the running OS image on shared storage, it can be backed up by using the same array-based technologies that protect the other shared file systems in the environment. File systems for the database are created using AVM user-defined storage pools. AVM userdefined storage pools allow precise placement of file systems on particular disks. A separate AVM user-defined storage pool is created for the SQL database and SQL logs. For more information, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS Series and VMware Configuration Build Document. iscsi LUNs iscsi LUNs are created within the file systems and are made available to the servers. A separate iscsi LUN will be created for the SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 perceives the LUNs as local disks where the database and logs reside. Network architecture Switches Virtual local area networks This section describes the Celerra network architecture of the validated solution. EMC recommends that the switches support Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connections and that the ports on the switches support copper-based media. In this configuration, the VMware virtual switches are set to directly connect physical network cards to their logical equivalent in the virtual machine. This validated solution uses VLANs to segregate network traffic of different types to improve throughput, manageability, application separation, high availability, and security. Figure 1 on page 10 shows three VLANs: A client VLAN network supports connectivity between the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 server and the client workstations. The client VLAN also supports connectivity between the EMC Celerra NS20 and the client workstations to provide network file services to the clients. Two storage VLANs provide connectivity between the ESX server and storage. The ESX server is connected to both storage VLANs and has one network interface card (NIC) dedicated to each storage VLAN. In addition, a management VLAN supports connectivity to the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 virtual servers for server administration, and the EMC Celerra NS20 storage system for storage management. EMC Celerra NS20 The EMC Celerra NS20 contains two Data Movers. The Data Movers can operate independently, or they can operate in the active/passive mode, with the passive Data Mover serving as a failover device for the active Data Mover. In this solution, the Data Movers operate in active/passive mode. 14 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

15 Store Architecture The NS20 Data Mover has four network ports. Figure 5 shows the ports on the rear of an EMC Celerra NS20 Data Mover. Figure 5 EMC Celerra NS20 Data Mover ports Ports cge0 and cge1 maintain the storage traffic. Ports cge2 and cge3 are left open for future growth. The Data Mover supports several types of link aggregation for IP traffic. However, in this configuration, No Link aggregations or Ethernet channels were configured, because Celerra also supports iscsi Multiple Connections per Session (MC/S), which is recommended by Microsoft. Note: As a best practice, the Data Mover network ports connected to the storage network (as shown in Figure 5) should be dedicated to storage traffic. However, if the ports are not heavily used, they can be shared with non-storage network traffic. EMC recommends monitoring the network to avoid bottlenecks. ESX Server architecture This section describes the ESX Server architecture. The physical server running VMware ESX Server has six network interfaces. One interface is connected to the management VLAN, two are connected to the iscsi VLANs, two more are connected to the client VLAN, and the sixth is unused. The virtual server running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 has four network interfaces. Two interfaces connect to the storage VLAN, one interface connects to the management VLAN, and one interface connects to the client VLAN. Table 2 lists and describes each interface. Table 2 Application server network interface configuration ESX Server interface port ID Virtual machine interface port ID Description Vmnic0 IF0 Control and administration Vmnic1 N/A Not used Vmnic2, Vmnic3 IF1, IF2 Storage connectivity Vmnic4, Vmnic5 IF3 Client connectivity Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 15

16 Store Architecture VMware datastore configuration The following VMware datastores were created to support the solution: Table 3 VMware datastores File or activity type VMware datastore type RAID level Celerra Storage Pool Total number of physical disks Database log files N/A (accessed via MSI) RAID 1 Logs (user-defined) Four Database files N/A (accessed via MSI) RAID 1 Database (user-defined) 10 tempdb files N/A (accessed via MSI) RAID 1 Database (user-defined) 10 Application server guest OS NFS RAID 5 VMDK (user-defined) Five Application server architecture (guest OS) This section describes the application server architecture (guest OS). For this configuration the application server (guest OS) uses the Microsoft iscsi Software Initiator to connect to external storage for the SQL database, logs, and tempdb. Multiple connections per session (MC/S) provides server port failover capabilities and Round Robin load-balancing capabilities. EMC recommends using separate NICs and iscsi HBAs on the source for each I/O path, a separate network infrastructure (cables, switches, routers, and so on), and separate target ports. Application architecture The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 binary files are installed on the application servers. Database files, database log files, tempdb files, and other system database files reside on EMC Celerra NS20 file systems. The file system and LUNs for the system database files, and optional Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) files reside in the same RAID 5, five-disk storage pool. The On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) database is divided into four database files (based on the best practice guideline of one database file per processor). Each database file resides on a separate LUN. All of the LUNs reside on the same Celerra file system. The file system is striped across five RAID 1 sets (ten disks). The database log files reside on a single LUN. The LUN resides on its own Celerra file system. The file system is striped across a pair of RAID 1 sets (four disks). The tempdb database and its log files reside on a single LUN. The LUN resides in the same file system as the OLTP database. 16 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

17 Store Architecture High availability and failover The validated solution provides protection at the storage layer, the connectivity layer, and the host layer. Storage layer The Celerra can have multiple Data Movers to provide high availability and load balancing. In the SQL 2005 NS Series solution, primary and standby Data Movers provide seamless failover capabilities for the Celerra storage. This minimizes the end-user disruption during routine Celerra maintenance such as upgrading the DART OS. The RAID disk configuration on the Celerra back end provides protection against hard disk failures. Connectivity layer Multiple connections per session (MC/S) provides high availability, failover, and load balancing. MC/S supports multiple TCP/IP connections from the initiator to the target within the same iscsi session. If a connection fails, another connection can continue processing I/O without interrupting the application. In the validated solution, MC/S also provides Round Robin load-balancing capabilities. The solution configuration also includes separate NICs at the source of each I/O path, a separate network infrastructure (cables, switches, routers, and so on), and separate target ports. Host layer The application hosts have redundant power supplies and network connections to reduce the impact of host hardware failure. In the validated solution, the application host is clustered, providing further redundancy. Virtual Host layer Several native VMware features (that are beyond the scope of this document) protect the virtual host. Note: When VMware supports MSCS clusters of 64-bit guest OSs, users can use MSCS clustering at the Virtual Host layer to further increase the availability of the system. Alternatively, the system can be implemented as a 32-bit operating system, although there are additional performance implications that are not described in this document. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 17

18 Store Architecture 18 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

19 Chapter 3 Backup Architecture This chapter presents this topic: Backup architecture Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 19

20 Backup Architecture Backup architecture The backup module provides a proven solution to create full, differential, and log backups of a SQL Server 2005 system. In a SQL Server environment there are many tools that can be used to back up the database. In testing this solution SQL native backup is used to create a database backup to a backup file system. The destination file system for the backup was a shelf of ATA drives with a file system exported through the CIFS protocol. In addition to SQL native backup there are many third-party tools including EMC NetWorker, that provide similar functionality. Figure 6 shows the validated iscsi backup configuration. Figure 6 SQL 2005 NS20 backup architecture logical view Note: For more details on the backup architecture validated for this solution, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Backup for EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report. 20 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

21 Chapter 4 Protect Architecture This chapter presents this topic: Protect architecture Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 21

22 Protect Architecture Protect architecture The protect module provides a proven solution to protect an SQL 2005 environment. For this configuration, several protection options exist that are documented elsewhere. For information on validated solutions for protecting this configuration, refer to the following documents: EMC NAS Celerra Network Server Replication Manager iscsi Nonclustered Disaster Recovery Solution Implementation Guide EMC Celerra iscsi Replication Use Cases for Microsoft SQL Server A Detailed Review Note: For more details on the protect architecture validated for the solution, refer to the EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Protection and Replication for EMC Celerra NS Series - Validation Test Report 22 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

23 Testing and Development Architecture Chapter 5 Testing and Development Architecture This chapter presents this topic: Testing and Development architecture Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 23

24 Testing and Development Architecture Testing and Development architecture This module uses Celerra Replicator for iscsi writeable snapshot technology to provide a solution for testing and development tasks. It is common in SQL Server environments for application changes to be tested with production data, before being deployed into the production environment. In this scenario, it is critical to be able to provide a consistent view of the production data that can be modified, but not allow those modifications to commit to the production database. In this configuration, all of the application data is stored on Celerra iscsi, which allows EMC Replication Manager to create point-in-time views and copies of the data for use in testing, development, reporting, and other cases. The logical view of the validated architecture is shown in Figure 7: Figure 7 VMware Storage VMotion architecture - logical view 24 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

25 Hardware and Software Resources Chapter 6 Hardware and Software Resources This chapter presents these topics: Hardware resources Software resources Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 25

26 Hardware and Software Resources Hardware resources The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 over iscsi solution uses the hardware resources listed in Table 4. Table 4 Hardware specifications Hardware Quantity Configuration Notes Store 4U server One Four 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron dual-core processors 32 GB of memory Two 146 GB 15k internal SCSI disks Two on-board 10/100/1000 MB Ethernet NICs Four additional 10/100/1000 MB Ethernet NICs Dell 5324 switch Three Copper GbE ports N/A EMC Celerra NS20 One Two Data Movers Four GbE network connections Fourteen 300 GB (15k) FC disks (SQL Data) Six 300 GB (15k) FC disks (Celerra system) DART OS revision Disk spindles for the Celerra system area also contain backup file system. Backup (in addition to hardware listed under Store) no additional requirements Protect Celerra Replicator (in addition to hardware listed under Store) EMC Celerra NS20 EMC Two Data Movers Destination Celerra Celerra Four GbE network NS20 connections Fourteen 300 GB (15k) FC disks Six 300 GB (15k) FC disks (Celerra system) Testing and development (in addition to hardware listed under Store) 1U server 1 Two 3.0-GHz Intel Xeon processors 4 GB of memory Two on-board 10/100/1000 MB Ethernet NICs Testing and Development SQL Server 26 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi

27 Hardware and Software Resources Software resources Table 5 lists the software resources for the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 over iscsi solution. Table 5 Software specifications Software Store Number of licenses Configuration VMware VirtualCenter One Management Server 2.5 VMware ESX Server 3.5 One Licensed for four physical processors Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition, 64-bit R2 Hotfixes KB891957, KB898790, KB One Please see the support policies listed: Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 64-bit SP2 One Backup (in addition to software listed under Store) - no additional requirements Protect Celerra Replicator (in addition to software listed under Store) Celerra Replicator for iscsi Two One for each Celerra Testing and development (in addition to software listed under Store) VMware ESX Server 3.5 One Host for Test/Dev Virtual Machine Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition, 64-bit R2 Hotfixes KB891957, KB898790, KB One Please see the support policies listed: Microsoft SQL Server 2005, One 64-bit SP2 Celerra Replicator for iscsi One Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 over iscsi 27