Microsoft SQL Server 2008 on EMC VNXe Series h8286
Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published September, 2011 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. EMC2, EMC, Data Domain, RSA, EMC Centera, EMC ControlCenter, EMC LifeLine, EMC OnCourse, EMC Proven, EMC Snap, EMC Source-One, EMC Storage Administrator, Acartus, Access Logix, AdvantEdge, AlphaStor, ApplicationXtender, ArchiveXtender, Atmos, Authentica, Authentic Problems, Automated Resource Manager, AutoStart, AutoSwap, AVALONidm, Avamar, Captiva, C-Clip, Celerra, Celerra Replicator, Centera, CenterStage, CentraStar, ClaimPack, CLARiiON, ClientPak, Codebook Correlation Technology, Common Information Model, Configuration Intelligence, Configuresoft, Connectrix, CopyCross, CopyPoint, CX, Dantz, DatabaseXtender, Data Domain, Direct Matrix Architecture, DiskXtender, DiskXtender 2000, Document Sciences, Documentum, elnput, E-Lab, EmailXaminer, EmailXtender, Enginuity, eroom, Event Explorer, FarPoint, FirstPass, FLARE, FormWare, Geosynchrony, Global File Virtualization, Graphic Visualization, Greenplum, HighRoad, HomeBase, InfoMover, Infoscape, Infra, InputAccel, InputAccel Express, Invista, Ionix, ISIS, Max Retriever, MediaStor, MirrorView, Navisphere, NetWorker, nlayers, OnAlert, OpenScale, PixTools, PowerPath, PowerSnap, QuickScan, Rainfinity, RepliCare, RepliStor, ResourcePak, Retrospect, RSA, SafeLine, SAN Advisor, SAN Copy, SAN Manager, Smarts, SnapImage, SnapSure, SnapView, SRDF, StorageScope, SupportMate, SymmAPI, SymmEnabler, Symmetrix, Symmetrix DMX, Symmetrix VMAX, TimeFinder, UltraFlex, UltraPoint, UltraScale, Unisphere, Vblock, VMAX, VPLEX, Viewlets, Virtual Matrix, Virtual Matrix Architecture, Virtual Provisioning, VisualSAN, VisualSRM, Voyence, WebXtender, xpression, xpresso, YottaYotta, the EMC logo, the RSA logo, and where information lives are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to the technical documentation and advisories section on Powerlink. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 on EMCVNXe Series h8286 2
Contents Chapter 1 Introduction to EMC VNXe Series... 13 EMC VNXe series overview... 14 Software suites available... 14 Software packs available... 14 VNXe application awareness... 14 Advantages of VNXe platforms... 15 VNXe high-availability architecture... 16 Active-active clustering... 16 No single points of failure... 16 RAID group hot spares... 17 Array-based data replication... 17 VNXe storage pools... 17 Default storage pools... 17 Custom storage pools... 18 Application-based provisioning overview... 18 Chapter 2 Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe... 21 Overview of SQL Server... 22 Storage for SQL Server... 22 Performance planning for SQL Server... 22 Capacity planning for SQL Server... 24 Select the VNXe platform... 25 Summary... 26 Chapter 3 Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools... 27 Provisioning overview... 28 Create custom storage pools... 28 Chapter 4 VNXe Connectivity Configuration... 33 Overview... 34 Configure VNXe iscsi target... 34 3
Contents Configure host entry... 38 Chapter 5 SQL Server Storage Provisioning... 43 Create iscsi storage overview... 44 Configure generic iscsi storage for SQL Server... 44 Chapter 6 SQL Server Connectivity Configuration... 49 Set up a Windows host to use VNXe iscsi storage... 50 Connect host to VNXe storage... 50 Configure multiple connections per session... 54 Volume configuration... 58 Create and configure disk volumes... 58 Chapter 7 Management of SQL Server on VNXe... 63 Monitor and manage SQL Server environment... 64 Expand storage pools... 64 Extend an existing virtual disks... 66 Add virtual disks to existing deployments... 66 Extend the storage volume on the host server... 67 Chapter 8 Replicating SQL Server Data Using VNXe... 69 Protection technologies... 70 Snapshots... 70 Replication... 70 Consistency... 72 Data protection for Microsoft SQL Server... 72 Replication Manager... 73 Configure data protection... 73 Establish replication trust... 74 Create replication destination storage... 75 Install and configure Replication Manager... 79 Create an application set... 80 Create a replication job... 83 Run a replication job through Replication Manager... 87 Replication Manager replicas... 88 SQL Server disaster recovery... 93 Remote SQL Server and database... 93 Attach the database... 93 Fail back to production site... 94 Promote to production instead of failover... 94 Data protection and SQL Server performance... 95 4
Contents Appendix A Adding a Hot Spare... 97 Add a hot spare... 98 Appendix B iscsi Snapshot Sizing... 101 Snapshot overview... 102 Calculate space requirements... 102 Appendix C System Comparison and Limits... 105 Model components and limits... 106 Software configuration limits... 106 Appendix D VNXe Performance with SQLIO Tool... 109 Storage performance overview... 110 SQLIO and simulated workload... 110 5
Contents 6
Figures Figure 1. VNXe management dashboard... 18 Figure 2. Open Storage Pools page... 28 Figure 3. Opening the Disk Configuration Wizard... 28 Figure 4. Select disk configuration mode... 29 Figure 5. Specify Pool name... 29 Figure 6. Select storage type... 30 Figure 7. Select number of disks... 31 Figure 8. iscsi Server Settings... 34 Figure 9. Add iscsi Server button... 35 Figure 10. iscsi server dialog box... 36 Figure 11. Server Summary page... 36 Figure 12. iscsi Server Details... 37 Figure 13. iscsi Server Details with changes added... 38 Figure 14. Selecting the Hosts dialog box... 38 Figure 15. Hosts window... 39 Figure 16. Enter name and description... 39 Figure 17. Select operating system... 40 Figure 18. Add network address of host... 40 Figure 19. iscsi Access page... 41 Figure 20. Unisphere Dashboard... 44 Figure 21. Configure storage pool... 45 Figure 22. Select snapshot protection... 46 Figure 23. Configure snapshot schedule... 47 Figure 24. Configure protection size... 47 Figure 25. Configure host access... 48 Figure 26. iscsi Initiator Properties... 51 Figure 27. Discover Target Portal... 51 Figure 28. iscsi target added... 52 Figure 29. Connect to a target... 52 Figure 30. Connect to Target dialog box... 53 Figure 31. Advanced Settings dialog with default values... 53 Figure 32. iscsi target... 54 Figure 33. Multiple Connected Session (MCS) dialog box... 55 Figure 34. Add Connection dialog box... 55 Figure 35. MCS add connection Advanced Settings... 56 Figure 36. New connection added... 57 Figure 37. Devices: iscsi-connected disks... 58 Figure 38. Disk Management... 59 Figure 39. Select Initialize Disk... 59 7
Figures Figure 40. Initialize Disk dialog box... 60 Figure 41. Create new simple volume... 60 Figure 42. Specify Volume Size... 61 Figure 43. Select a drive letter... 61 Figure 44. Select drive format settings... 62 Figure 45. Completing the New Simple Volume Wizard... 62 Figure 46. Add drives to the existing pool... 65 Figure 47. Select number of drives to add... 65 Figure 48. Generic storage Details page... 66 Figure 49. Extend an existing volume... 67 Figure 50. Extend Volume Wizard... 68 Figure 51. Replication process... 71 Figure 52. Replication Connections page... 74 Figure 53. Add Replication Connection Wizard... 75 Figure 54. Generic iscsi Storage page... 76 Figure 55. Specify Name... 76 Figure 56. Configure Storage page... 77 Figure 57. Configure protection page... 77 Figure 58. Configure protection storage size page... 78 Figure 59. Configure host access... 78 Figure 60. Adding Hosts... 80 Figure 61. Create an application set... 81 Figure 62. Application Credentials... 81 Figure 63. Application Set Name and Objects page... 82 Figure 64. Completing the Application Set Wizard page... 83 Figure 65. Job Wizard... 83 Figure 66. Job Name and Settings page... 84 Figure 67. Target replication storage page... 85 Figure 68. Mount Options... 85 Figure 69. Starting the Job page with schedule... 86 Figure 70. Users to be notified... 87 Figure 71. Run a replication job... 87 Figure 72. View Replication Manager Snapshots... 88 Figure 73. Mount a replica... 88 Figure 74. Restore Wizard... 89 Figure 75. Objects to be Restored page... 90 Figure 76. Restore Options... 91 Figure 77. Replication Failover... 91 Figure 78. Failover dialog box... 92 Figure 79. Promote Replica dialog box... 93 Figure 80. Run a database check in SQL Server... 94 Figure 81. Storage Pools page... 98 Figure 82. Select Configuration Mode page... 99 Figure 83. Configure Spares page... 99 Figure 84. Summary page... 100 Figure 85. Results page... 100 8
Tables Table 1. Default storage pools... 18 Table 2. PerfMon parameters... 23 Table 3. RAID types available on VNXe... 23 Table 4. Impact of RAID type on IOPS... 24 Table 5. RAID type impact on capacity... 25 Table 6. Transactional performance of VNXe platforms... 26 Table 7. VNXe model components and limits... 106 Table 8. Software configuration limits... 106 Table 9. SQLIO performance for 8K random I/O in IOPS... 110 9
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About this Document This document provides an overview of the deployment options for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 with EMC VNXe series developed by the EMC Unified Storage Solutions group. Purpose This document describes how to use the VNXe wizard-driven provisioning interface to create storage for Microsoft SQL Server 2008. It covers common administrative questions in a SQL environment and provides easy-to-use sizing guidelines for such a deployment. Audience This document is intended for internal EMC personnel, EMC partners, and customers. The user is expected to have administrative-level knowledge of Microsoft SQL, and basic knowledge of IP networking. Knowledge of iscsi source-target configuration is helpful but not required. Scope This document covers the wizard-driven provisioning interface for SQL environments on the VNXe platform. It covers basic storage sizing and configuration for SQL. It does not cover server-level deployment, infrastructure design, or any non-storage sizing considerations. Related documents The following documents, located on EMC Powerlink, provide additional, relevant information. Access to these documents is based on the login credentials. If you do not have access to the following documents, contact your EMC representative: VMware vsphere 4.1 on EMC VNXe Series Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V on EMC VNXe Series EMC Unisphere for VNXe: Next-Generation Storage Management A Detailed Review Sizing Considerations for iscsi Replication on EMC Celerra Technical Note 11
About this Document 12
Chapter 1 Introduction to EMC VNXe Series This chapter presents the following topics: EMC VNXe series overview... 14 VNXe application awareness... 14 VNXe high-availability architecture... 16 VNXe storage pools... 17 Application-based provisioning overview... 18 13
Introduction to EMC VNXe Series EMC VNXe series overview The EMC VNXe series delivers exceptional flexibility for the small-to-medium business user, combining a unique, application-driven management environment with a complete consolidation for all IP storage needs. Customers can benefit from the new VNXe features such as: Next-generation unified storage, optimized for virtualized applications. Capacity optimization features including file deduplication and compression, thin provisioning, and application-consistent snapshots and replicas (only available for VNXe for File). High availability, designed to deliver five 9s availability. Multiprotocol support for file and block. Simplified management with EMC Unisphere for a single management interface for all file, block, and replication needs. Software suites available VNXe Local Protection Suite Practices safe data protection and repurposing. VNXe Remote Protection Suite Protects data against localized failures, outages, and disasters. VNXe Application Protection Suite Automates application copies and proves compliance. VNXe Security and Compliance Suite Keeps data safe from changes, deletions, and malicious activity. Software packs available Total Efficiency Pack Includes all five software suites (not available for the VNX5100 and VNXe series). VNXe application awareness Total Protection Pack Includes local, remote, and application protection suites (not available for the VNXe3100 ). Total Value Pack Includes all three protection software suites and the Security and Compliance Suite (the VNX5100 and VNXe3100 exclusively support this package). The VNXe platform features a simplified user interface that is designed for IT generalists rather than for storage specialists. Storage is a key component in the implementation of business-critical applications. Making the deployment and management of storage straightforward while automatically incorporating best practices reduces the time required to set up an environment and reduces costly mistakes. At the time of publication, application support is provided for: Microsoft Exchange 14
VMware datastores Network file system (NFS) Introduction to EMC VNXe Series VMware vstorage Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) and Raw Device Mapping (RDM) using iscsi Hyper-V datastores using iscsi Shared folders Common Internet File System (CIFS) for Windows NFS for UNIX or Linux Generic application storage using iscsi When combined with simple wizard-driven installation and storage provisioning, along with EMC s proven track record for reliability and high availability, the VNXe platform provides a low-cost entry point into the EMC storage family. Advantages of VNXe platforms This section covers the major advantages of VNXe platforms. Accessibility The VNXe platform provides consolidated access to stored data from multiple hosts, users, and applications by using existing IP network connectivity and industrystandard protocols, including CIFS, NFS, and iscsi. Ease of management A simple-to-use, web-based user interface controls the VNXe platform operations, including tools to manage, monitor, and configure storage and system settings. High-performance and high-density storage The platform has the ability to store data using high-speed SAS and high-capacity near-line (NL) SAS storage disk drives. These disk drives accommodate most of the organizational and application requirements. Expandable capacity and flexible upgrades The platform provides SAS and NL-SAS drives to store and protect files, folders, and application data. These drives can be expanded to accommodate a variety of application, host, or organization requirements. Compliance with application storage best practices The platform has built-in best practices to provision and manage application data such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Windows Hyper-V, VMware, generic iscsi, and shared folder storage. Automatic or manual data protection The platform has built-in tools to protect valuable data by using snapshot schedules to create point-in-time images of the data from which data can be restored. Snapshots can be created manually or by using standard snapshot schedules and custom schedules. 15
Introduction to EMC VNXe Series Security Antivirus support Secure system management is provided through HTTPS communication, manageable system accounts and authentication, and user roles. Secure access to VNXe storage resources is provided through Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) for iscsi storage and compliance with NFS and CIFS access controls for storage resource security. VNXe supports VEE Common Anti-Virus Agent (CAVA). CAVA is a component of the VNX Event Enabler (VEE) 4.5.1, which is part of the Security and Compliance Suite. CAVA provides an antivirus solution to clients using the VNXe platform. CAVA uses third-party antivirus software to identify and eliminate known viruses before they infect files on the VNXe platform. File-level retention The VNXe File-Level Retention (FLR) feature provides a way to set file-based permissions to limit write access to the files for a specific period of time. FLR can ensure the integrity of data during that period by creating an unalterable set of files and directories. On VNXe, the FLR feature can be enabled for shared folders and VMware NFS data stores. FLR for VNXe is available as part of the Security and Compliance Suite. VNXe high-availability architecture The EMC VNXe family of storage arrays is designed such that there are no single points of failure. If one hardware or software component fails, the system automatically takes appropriate action to return to a normal operating condition. Active-active clustering The VNXe platform has two identical storage processors in the hardware chassis. During normal operation, both storage processors are active and serve data. This is an example of an active-active configuration. If one storage processor fails during normal operation, the other storage processor will take over the work assigned to both the storage processors until the failed storage processor is active. Although the data is available to users at all times, this may impact the overall performance of the system. Note There is a single storage processor variant of the EMC VNXe3100, which will not be able to perform active-active clustering. No single points of failure The internal hardware of the array is designed such that data is available to users at all times despite a failure. The external network is similarly protected. The VNXe platforms support Internet SCSI (iscsi) multipathing and Ethernet link aggregation to protect against network link failures. Design the network architecture for high availability by using multiple switches. However, the design of such a network is outside the scope of this paper. 16
Introduction to EMC VNXe Series It is highly recommended that the network settings of the storage processors are identical such that in case of a failover, the storage processor that is active can continue to operate. RAID group hot spares A primary feature of the Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) concept is the ability to automatically rebuild a faulted drive on a spare drive in the array. Drives allocated for this purpose are called hot spares. Hot spare recommendations Create a hot spare disk for every 30 active drives on the system. Therefore, two hot spares are required for 60 active drives. When active drives are not required, at least one hot spare is required for every type of drive on the system. For example, if there are 14 SAS drives and 12 NL-SAS drives, it is considered a best practice to have one SAS hot spare and one NL-SAS hot spare. Appendix A: Adding a Hot Spare provides the procedure to create hot spares. Array-based data replication Data replication is the process to create nonactive copies of critical data in a different location for use in case of significant failures such as site-wide disaster. VNXe storage pools The VNXe platform provides array-based data replication technologies to create pointin-time copies at scheduled intervals on different storage pools or different storage arrays. This capability is the enhancement from point-in-time snapshots and provides added protection in various failure scenarios. EMC Replication Manager provides the user interface for the VNXe array-based iscsi snapshot and replication technology. The operation of the feature is outside of the scope of this document. The VNXe platform does not provision storage by using a traditional model, where users build a RAID group and then build logical disk units in that group. Instead, VNXe platform creates pools of storage. All the members of this pool have similar characteristics. Application-based storage provisioning is possible by using this approach. Default storage pools Even though the RAID group and the LUN groupings are not exposed to the user, the array is still using those mechanisms behind the scenes to ensure that data is properly protected. 17
Introduction to EMC VNXe Series Table 1 lists the three default storage pools that are available by default on VNXe platforms and it also describes their characteristics. Table 1. Default storage pools Pool name Disk type RAID type Available capacities High performance SAS RAID 10 (3+3) 300 GB 600 GB Balanced performance /Capacity SAS RAID 5 (6+1) VNXe3300 RAID 5 (4+1) VNXe3100 300 GB 600 GB Capacity pool NL-SAS RAID 6 (4+2) 1 TB 2 TB Custom storage pools The default storage pools can be augmented with custom, user-defined storage pools. In general, use custom pools for performance-sensitive applications such as SQL because the custom pool mechanism enables precise control on the number of disks used in the pool and prevents other applications from sharing the disks without explicitly provisioning application storage from the custom pool. Application-based provisioning overview The key difference between VNXe and other storage platforms is its awareness of what applications are using storage and embedding the best practices for those applications into the provisioning and management process. Figure 1 shows the first page of the Unisphere Management interface. Figure 1. VNXe management dashboard The dashboard not only displays the usable capacity of the array in terms of the applications using it, but it also provides wizard-driven mechanisms to create additional application storage using best practices. This guide focuses on provisioning for Microsoft SQL. 18
Introduction to EMC VNXe Series The provisioning process has three main steps: 1. Create a storage pool (Refer Chapter 3 Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools) 2. Configure host connectivity(refer Chapter 4 VNXe Connectivity Configuration) 3. Use the application-provisioning wizard (Refer Chapter 5 SQL Server Storage Provisioning) 4. Connect the host to the provisioned storage (Refer Chapter 6 SQL Server Connectivity Configuration) The first two steps are independent and can be performed in any order. The third step requires the first two steps to be completed. 19
Introduction to EMC VNXe Series 20
Chapter 2 Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe This chapter presents the following topics: Overview of SQL Server... 22 Storage for SQL Server... 22 Select the VNXe platform... 25 Summary... 26 21
Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe Overview of SQL Server Storage for SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management (RDBMS) server. Many applications use SQL Server to store, retrieve, and manage data. SQL Server architecture and deployment best practices are beyond the scope of this document. This chapter covers SQL Server storage best practices for the EMC VNXe series. The storage environment for a SQL Server user database consists of at least one database file and a log file. In many SQL Server implementations, there may be multiple databases and log files. The examples in this paper focus on single-file implementations. For a multi-file implementation, users can easily create additional files inside the same storage object. The database file contains the table data and other information normally associated with data stored in a database. The log file exists to maintain data consistency for write-ahead logging, data recovery, and other operations related to data management. When planning the storage for SQL Server deployments, consider the aggregate requirements for both the data and log areas. For example, if 900 GB is required for a data file and 100 GB is required for a log file, then a total storage space of 1000 GB is required to store both the database and log files. Storage capacity and performance are the two key aspects of planning storage for SQL Server. Storage capacity indicates the size of the data (in Gigabytes (GB) or Terabytes (TB)) that can be stored. The performance of a database indicates the number of I/O operations that can be accessed by a user per second. One of the most common mistakes made while provisioning SQL Server storage is to consider only the storage capacity of the database. To ensure a high-quality customer experience, EMC recommends users consider the performance requirements (IOPS) before the capacity requirements (GB). Performance planning for SQL Server To plan the performance requirements, it is important to understand how the application uses the storage. In some cases, you can assume relationships between the amount of data and the number of IOPS, or the number of users and the number of IOPS. SQL Server is an application environment, not a user-facing application. It provides services such as data storage to applications that run on it. For this reason, it is not possible to give a clear definition of what constitutes a SQL workload or a SQL user. These vary depending on the application that is running in the SQL Server environment. However, it is possible to broadly define certain types of workloads and their general characteristics. SQL Server workload The two ends of the SQL Server workload spectrum are generally considered: Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) and Data Warehousing (DW). OLTP workloads tend to have a lot of small, discrete transactions that return very quickly. A common example is a point-of-sale system. It generally works on very tightly defined sets of data rapidly and repeatedly. In contrast, DW workloads tend to have complex queries. DW 22
Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe workloads have a small number of users who access very large sets of data, which may require minutes or hours per query. For a new application deployment, the application vendor should be able to provide guidance around the number of IOPS the application may require, and if that number varies based on the number of users, the size of the data, or any other part of the environment. For existing applications, this information is available in Windows PerfMon on SQL Server. Table 2 provides the most common PerfMon parameters. Table 2. PerfMon parameters PerfMon parameter Logical Disk\Avg Disk Reads/s Logical Disk\Avg Disk Writes/s Usage Gives the number of read IOPS for the logical disk. Gives the number of write IOPS for the logical disk. RAID type selection for performance The EMC VNXe platform uses RAID protection to provide high-performance storage, and to ensure that the physical failure of a single drive does not impact data availability. The VNXe platform can provide different types of RAID protection. Each type of RAID protection has different performance implications. Three RAID types are available on the VNXe platform. Table 3. RAID type RAID 10 RAID 5 RAID 6 RAID types available on VNXe Definition The data is mirrored across two drives so that if a single drive is lost, its mirror will still contain the data. A mathematical formula is applied to the data to create a parity that is stored on a different drive. If a drive is lost, the parity information along with the data on the surviving drives can be used to re-create the data on the lost drive. In RAID 6, similar to RAID 5, a parity calculation is completed. However, in this case, it is calculated with two different formulas and designed so that the data can be rebuilt even if two drives are lost. Each RAID type has a different impact on the performance of write operations. These RAID types have different implications on the performance. RAID 10 does not require a parity calculation, but the writes must be sent to both sides of the mirror. The parity RAID types (RAID 5 and RAID 6) both require a parity calculation for every write. The old data and the parity information must be read into the array and the new parity must be calculated. All this must be written back to the disk. Read operations are not impacted. 23
Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe Table 4 explains the write performance impacts of the different RAID types. Table 4. RAID Type RAID 10 RAID 5 RAID 6 Impact of RAID type on IOPS IOPS impact Read: No impact Write: Two writes to the disk for every write request due to mirrors Read: No impact Write: Two reads from the disk and two writes to the disk for every write request. (Read old data, read parity, write new data, and write parity) Read: No impact Write: Three reads from the disk and three writes to the disk for every write request. (Read old data, read parity1, read parity2, write new data, write parity1, and write parity2) The information in the table shows that RAID 10 is the best RAID type in terms of IOPS. However, the RAID type also has an impact on the storage capacity of a set of disks. Chapter 3: Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools provides more information about the storage impacts of each RAID type. The number of IOPS that can be serviced by a disk drive is related to how fast the drive spins. The VNXe platform supports drives with the following spin rates. A longstanding rule-of-thumb is that a drive with a given spin rate can service a set average of IOPS. Drive spin rate Supported IOPS 15,000 RPM 180 10,000 RPM 120 7,200 RPM 80 Note These are approximations for random I/O operations. These are not maximum performance numbers; they are guidelines for planning. Capacity planning for SQL Server Multiple files, such as data files and log files require storage capacity in a SQL Server environment. Depending on how the application uses the log file, the storage requirement may be small (1 to 10 percent of the data file size), or large (100 percent of the data file size). The application vendor or an observation of the existing environment should provide guidance for storage capacity planning. In addition to the storage capacity used by the database, there are other potential users of space related to the database: Array-based functions such as snapshots Data file backups 24
Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe Log file backups VNXe array-based snapshots Array-based snapshots enable you to retain a view of how the data looks at a specific point in time. This can be useful for a wide variety of operations such as backups, compliance, auditing, or reporting. However, snapshots require space. The specific requirements are outlined in Appendix B: iscsi Snapshot Sizing. RAID type selection for capacity As noted earlier, the different RAID types also impact the capacity requirements. A parity RAID type requires additional disks to store parity information. In a RAID 5 implementation, one of the disks is fully devoted to parity. In RAID 6, two disks are consumed in this way. RAID 10, while the best choice for performance, requires the highest capacity. Because RAID 10 mirrors data, half of the disks have their entire capacity consumed by the mirrored data. Table 5 explains the impact of the RAID type on the capacity. Table 5. RAID type RAID 10 RAID 5 RAID type impact on capacity Capacity impact Half of the disks are dedicated to mirroring. One disk spindle dedicated for parity. RAID 6 Two disk spindles dedicated for parity. Select the VNXe platform The VNXe family consists of two models, the VNXe3100 and VNXe3300. These two models differ in hardware specifications and maximum support limits. Appendix C: System Comparison and Limits explains the differences between the two models. Because of these differences, one model may be more appropriate in a SQL environment than the other. Refer to Storage for SQL Server on page 22 to select the appropriate VNXe platform for your SQL Server deployment. Because defining users and workloads for SQL Server environments is multi-faceted, it is common to consider benchmark workloads that tightly define certain things like data layout and transactions patterns, and allowthe discussion of database workloads in a context that is more familiar to application users. These are not directly related to a specific application workload.they are representative of broad application categoriesto validate that a configuration is able to provide certain levels of usability. For the VNXe platform one important benchmark is the TPC-C -like workload. This benchmark attempts to simulate a small OLTP environment similar to a point-of-sale system. To validate the platform in an OLTP environment, a synthetic workload was configured using the Microsoft SQLIO tool. This synthetic workload mimics an industry-standard TPC-C-like workload. Table 6 shows that both VNXe platforms can achieve significant levels of transactional performance. 25
Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe Table 6. OLTP users Transactional performance of VNXe platforms VNXe3100 (Transactions per second) 1,000 50 50 3,000 150 150 5,000 250 250 6,000 300 300 7,000 350 350 8,000 400 400 VNXe3300 (Transactions per second) In this test case, both systems were configured for RAID 10 storage because the OLTP benchmark requires a high percentage of write operations. In addition to standard benchmarks, EMC also examined VNXe performance using the SQLIO tool. This tool is commonly used to simulate different I/O patterns when designing a storage configuration. The results are presented in Appendix D: VNXe Performance with SQLIO Tool. Summary SQL Server is an application environment. Creating a reasonable storage layout is not a simple task. However, by understanding both the IOPS and storage requirements for the SQL Server application, you can provision the appropriate storage resources for your environment. 26
Chapter 3 Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools This chapter presents the following topic: Provisioning overview... 28 27
Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools Provisioning overview The first step to provision storage to SQL Server is to create a storage pool. Create custom storage pools To create custom storage pools, complete the following steps: Note Refer Chapter 2: Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe to identify the appropriate number of disks and RAID type for your SQL environment. 1. Log in to Unisphere as an administrator. 2. In Unisphere, select System > Storage Pools. The Storage Pools window appears. Figure 2. Open Storage Pools page 3. Click Configure Disks. The Disk Configuration wizard appears. Figure 3. Opening the Disk Configuration Wizard 4. In the Select Configuration Mode page, select the storage pool configuration mode: a. Select Manually create a new pool. b. Select the appropriate application from the Select application list box. NOTE Although the Automatically configure pools option allows the implementation of application-specific best practices creating the storage pool manually provides a higher level of control and workload isolation for SQL Server. 5. Click Next. The Specify Pool Name window appears. 28
Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools Figure 4. Select disk configuration mode The procedure to add disks to an existing pool is covered in Chapter 7: Management of SQL Server on VNXe. 6. Specify a name for the storage pool: a. In the Name field, type a name for the storage pool. b. In the Description field, optionally enter a description for the storage pool. Figure 5. Specify Pool name 29
Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools 7. Click Next. The Select Storage Type page appears. 8. Select a disk type for the storage pool: a. Select the storage profile identified earlier. The identified profile should be the one with the highest rating, but that is not always the case. NOTE NL-SAS drives are not recommended for SQL deployments. Figure 6. Select storage type 9. Click Next. The Select Amount of Storage window appears. Note For the following step, it is crucial to understand the balance between database size and snapshots. 10. Select the amount of storage to use for the storage pool: a. Refer to Chapter 2: Microsoft SQL Server Planning on VNXe for recommended amount of storage. b. Select the number of disks to use. Note Separate dropdown lists appear for 300 and 600 gigabyte drives. 30
Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools Figure 7. Select number of disks Note This option for the profile shows the number of selected disks out of the available disks in the system. In the example shown in Figure 7, the system has 13 disks, which fit the profile that is selected. However, the RAID 10(3+3) protection level can only use groups of six disks. Therefore, there is a provision to use six or 12 disks. For this example, Use 6 of 13 Disks is selected. 11. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 12. Verify the details, and then click Finish. 31
Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools 32
Chapter 4 VNXe Connectivity Configuration This chapter presents the following topics: Overview... 34 Configure VNXe iscsi target... 34 Configure host entry... 38 33
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Overview This chapter describes how to configure the VNXe for connectivity to the SQL server host. The configuration process requires two independent steps: Configure VNXe iscsi target Create iscsi target: Configure the VNXe storage processor network interface to accept connections from the SQL server host. Create host entry: Identify the intended SQL server host to the VNXe. The VNXe iscsi Storage Server is the software component that performs storage management and monitors operations associated with the iscsi-based storage. To use VNXe iscsi storage, the system requires at least one iscsi server to be configured. VNXe3100 and VNXe3300 can each have up to 12 iscsi servers per storage processor (SP). The SQL server deployment described in this guide utilizes a single iscsi server with redundant network paths configured on SP A. Multiple iscsi servers must be balanced across the SPs for load-balancing. In addition to the public IP address and its associated DNS alias used for login purposes, two additional IP addresses, their subnet mask, and their VLAN ID (if applicable) are required. EMC recommends that the IP addresses, subnet mask, and VLAN ID be in the same IP subnet as the iscsi initiator addresses that will be configured on the SQL server host in Chapter 6: SQL Server Connectivity Configuration. To create an iscsi server, complete the following steps: 1. Log in to Unisphere as an administrator. 2. Click the Settings tab and click iscsi Server Settings. The iscsi Server Settings page appears. Figure 8. iscsi Server Settings 3. Click Add iscsi Server. The iscsi Server wizard appears. 34
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Note The Add iscsi Server button is available only for administrators. Figure 9. Add iscsi Server button 4. Specify the network details for the iscsi server: a. Click Show advanced to expose all fields. b. In the Server Name field, type a name specific to this iscsi server. Note Since the server is associated with a specific SP, it may be helpful to use that SP in the name. For example, SQL-spA-1 for the first instance of an iscsi server for SQL server on storage processor A. c. In the IP Address field, type the IP address of the iscsi server. Note The address entered here is dedicated for iscsi storage connectivity. Do not use the public (logon) address. d. In the Subnet Mask field, type the subnet mask. e. In the Gateway field, type the gateway address. f. In the Storage Processor list box, select the storage processor for the iscsi server. Ensure consideration is given to current and expected processor loads. g. In the Ethernet Port list box, select the desired port. h. If VLAN tagging is in use, click the click to edit to expose the entry: i. Acknowledge the warning popup. ii. In the VLAN ID field, type the VLAN. Note The associated VLAN ID for iscsi server ranges from 0 to 4095. The default value is 0. 35
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Figure 10. iscsi server dialog box 5. Click Next. The Server Summary page appears. 6. Verify the iscsi Server settings, and click Finish. Figure 11. Server Summary page 7. Verify that the iscsi server is created successfully, and click Close. 8. Select the new server, and click Details. The iscsi Server Details page appears. 36
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Figure 12. iscsi Server Details 9. Click Add network interface (red arrow) to expose the fields to enter secondary network information: a. In the IP Address field, type a secondary IP address. b. In the Subnet Mask field, type the subnet mask. c. Click Show advanced. d. In the Ethernet Port list box, select an Ethernet port that is different from the one selected in step 4g on page 35. e. If VLAN tagging is in use, click the click to edit and do the following: i. Acknowledge the warning popup. ii. In the VLAN ID field, type the VLAN. f. Click Apply Changes. The iscsi Server creation process is complete. Note No confirmation window will appear after the new interface information is added. Unisphere returns to the iscsi Server Details window with the new changes as shown in Figure 13. 37
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Configure host entry Figure 13. iscsi Server Details with changes added In Configure VNXe iscsi target on page 34, an iscsi server, also known as an iscsi target, was configured to receive incoming requests from an SQL server. This section provides steps to identify a SQL server as a valid user, or iscsi initiator, of the VNXe. Note The process to configure the SQL server to access the VNXe storage is covered in Chapter 6: SQL Server Connectivity Configuration. To configure a host on the VNXe platform, perform the following steps: 1. Log in to Unisphere as an administrator. 2. Select Hosts > Hosts. Figure 14. Selecting the Hosts dialog box The Hosts window appears. 38
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Figure 15. Hosts window 3. Click Create Host. The Specify Name window appears. Figure 16. Enter name and description 4. Type a name and description for the host configuration: a. In the Name field, type a name for the host configuration. b. In the Description field, optionally type a description for the host configuration. 5. Click Next. The Operating System page appears. 6. Specify the host operating system. For SQL server deployments, different versions of Microsoft Windows are available to choose from: a. In the Operating System list box, select a version of Windows. 39
VNXe Connectivity Configuration Figure 17. Select operating system 7. Click Next. The Network Address page appears. Figure 18. Add network address of host 8. Specify the host network interface: Note If you are using VLANs to isolate traffic, specify the interface that is visible from the VNXe platform. a. Select Network Name or IP Address. b. In the appropriate field, type the network name or IP address. Note In this example, the public (login) IP is used. The IP identifies the host to the VNXe; dedicated addresses will be configured on the host for actual iscsi connectivity. c. Click Next. The iscsi Access page appears. 9. Specify the iscsi access details: a. In the IQN field, type the SQL server host s IQN. To obtain the IQN, complete the following steps: i. Log in to the SQL host. ii. In the Start > Search programs and files field, type iscsi Initiator. iii. Click the program to start it. A prompt to start the service will appear on first access. 40
iv. The iscsi Initiator Properties window appears. v. Click the Configuration tab. vi. Copy the IQN from the Initiator Name field. vii. Paste the IQN into the IQN field. VNXe Connectivity Configuration b. In the CHAP Secret field, type the password (12 to 16) characters if CHAP is configured: c. In the Confirm CHAP Secret field, re-type the CHAP password. Note Optional CHAP authentication may require additional infrastructure resources, and is not covered in this guide. Figure 19. iscsi Access page 10. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 11. Verify the details, and then click Finish. 41
VNXe Connectivity Configuration 42
Chapter 5 SQL Server Storage Provisioning This chapter presents the following topic: Create iscsi storage overview... 44 43
SQL Server Storage Provisioning Create iscsi storage overview The next step when creating the storage resource is to run the Generic iscsi wizard to create iscsi storage for SQL Server. This chapter provides directions to provision storage from the high performance pool (RAID 10 (3+3) pool) created in Chapter 3: Physical Storage Allocation on VNXe: Storage Pools and present it to the SQL Server that was added in Chapter 4: VNXe Connectivity Configuration. Configure generic iscsi storage for SQL Server To configure generic iscsi storage for SQL Server, complete the following steps: 1. Log in to Unisphere as an administrator. 2. Select Storage > Create storage for generic iscsi. The Generic Storage Wizard appears. Figure 20. Unisphere Dashboard 3. Click Create. 4. Specify a name and description for this instance: a. In the Name field, type a name for the SQL storage resource. b. In the Description field, optionally type a description for the SQL storage resource. 44
SQL Server Storage Provisioning Figure 21. Configure storage pool 5. Click Next. The Configure Storage page appears. 6. In the Size field, type the amount of storage to be allotted. Note If the recommended pool is not the one you set up for the SQL resource, select the correct pool. The Thin: Enabled option, shown in Figure 21, can be used to provision storage on-demand for the SQL resource. In this mode, the array creates all the proper objects to support the required storage and their full allocated space. However, only a small amount of that space is consumed. The remaining space is available for additional provisioning needs. This option is recommended for shared file systems and other areas where requests for space and actual usage may not converge for some time. This option is not recommended for SQL Server. 45
SQL Server Storage Provisioning Figure 22. Select snapshot protection 7. Click Next. The Configure Protection page appears. 8. Specify the protection options for the storage pool: Note Optionally configure snapshots for the SQL storage. Snapshots allow the array to maintain a point-in-time view of the storage. This is very useful for various recovery options. The storage sizing specified earlier does not account for snapshots. If snapshots are required in the environment, the storage creation step helps you configure the required space. With Configure protection storage, do not configure a snapshot protection schedule to enable snapshot protection, the Configure Protection Storage Size page appears to configure the space reservation. Note Using the selected option, you are able to schedule snaps at a later point in time. You can immediately configure the protection size for the snapshots. The configured protection size can be increased at a later point intime, but it cannot be decreased. With Configure protection storage, protect data using snapshot schedule, the VNXe will create snapshots according to the schedule created. Default Protection keeps the snaps for two days, More protection keeps it for seven days, and Less Protection keeps the snaps for one day. Note Use the Customize Schedule button to customize the schedule. This provides the flexibility to modify and add rules to set the time and frequency of snaps to be taken, and the duration to preserve the snaps. 46
SQL Server Storage Provisioning Figure 23. Configure snapshot schedule Note Appendix B: iscsi Snapshot Sizing explains how to configure iscsi snapshots. Figure 24. Configure protection size 47
SQL Server Storage Provisioning Figure 25. Configure host access 9. Click Next. The Configure Host Access page appears. Note Click Create New Host if no host is available. 10. In the Access list box, select Virtual Disks and Snapshots to provide host accessfor snapshot protection. Note Choose the Virtual Disk option if snapshots are not desired. 11. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 12. Verify the details, and then click Finish. 48
Chapter 6 SQL Server Connectivity Configuration This chapter presents the following topics: Set up a Windows host to use VNXe iscsi storage... 50 Volume configuration... 58 49
SQL Server Connectivity Configuration Set up a Windows host to use VNXe iscsi storage In Chapter 4: VNXe Connectivity Configuration, an iscsi server (also known as an iscsi target) was configured to receive incoming requests for stored data. This chapter describes configuration of the corresponding iscsi initiator, which connects the SQL host to the target through Ethernet. The steps in this section have the following dependencies: 1. The SQL host is running Windows Server 2008 R2. Note The overall procedure is applicable to other versions of Microsoft Windows, however other versions may have different interfaces. The product documentation from Microsoft for iscsi configuration provides more information. 2. Two network connections on the SQL host (in addition to the public user login connection) are dedicated to iscsi connectivity. Note EMC recommends assigning either dedicated gigabit Ethernet NICs or TCP offload adapters (ToE adapters) to handle iscsi traffic. It is not advisable to share the user-facing network connection for storage traffic. This procedure assumes the VNXe is configured with two connections, which is the minimum requirement for high availability. However, the VNXe supports 1 to 4 connections. 3. Two IP addresses in the same subnet as the addresses configured on the VNXe iscsi target in Chapter 4: VNXe Connectivity Configuration. Note Ideally, the iscsi connections are on a separate, private network dedicated to storage traffic. By placing storage traffic on its own network that is routed separately from the main network, the overall security of the storage infrastructure increases, and the overall configuration is simpler. Connect host to VNXe storage To connect the SQL host to VNXe storage configured in Chapter 5: SQL Server Storage Provisioning, complete the following steps: 1. From the Start menu, open iscsi Initiator. The iscsi Initiator Properties dialog box appears. Note When accessing the iscsi initiator for the first time, a popup will appear noting that the service must be started. Click Yes to start the service. 50