Dell EqualLogic FS7500 Manual
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Dell EqualLogic FS7500 Manual

Dell EqualLogic FS7500 Manual

Unified block and file storage for virtual workload
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Dell EqualLogic FS7500 –
Unified block and file storage
for virtual workloads
A Dell Technical White Paper
Document Version 1.1
ABSTRACT:
This white paper examines the common storage challenges faced by IT for virtualized application
workloads and describes why the Dell™ EqualLogic™ FS7500 unified block and file storage is an ideal
solution for hosting a VMware environment with virtual workloads. Using results from testing conducted
at Dell Labs, this white paper also provides a performance-based proof point for hosting multiple
virtual workloads on EqualLogic FS7500 over NFS.

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Summary of Contents for Dell EqualLogic FS7500

  • Page 1 This white paper examines the common storage challenges faced by IT for virtualized application workloads and describes why the Dell™ EqualLogic™ FS7500 unified block and file storage is an ideal solution for hosting a VMware environment with virtual workloads. Using results from testing conducted at Dell Labs, this white paper also provides a performance-based proof point for hosting multiple virtual workloads on EqualLogic FS7500 over NFS.
  • Page 2 Possession, use, or copying of the documentation or the software described in this publication is authorized only under the license agreement specified herein. Dell, Inc. will not be held liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information in this document is subject to change.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Figure 1. Unified Scale-out Dell EqualLogic FS7500 Storage System .......... 7 Figure 2. Multiple Virtual Workloads in a VMware environment on Dell EqualLogic FS7500 .... 10 Figure 3. Logical Network Connectivity Diagram of the Test Environment ........ 11 Figure 4.

  • Page 4: Introduction

    This white paper provides an overview of storage options for VMware virtualization and describes the benefits you can gain from using the EqualLogic FS7500 in conjunction with VMware. It also provides a performance-based proof point that the EqualLogic FS7500 can meet the demanding I/O needs of multiple virtual workloads running in VMware environments over the NFS protocol.

  • Page 5: Sections

    Dell EqualLogic FS7500 – Unified block and file storage for virtual workloads Sections This white paper contains the following sections: • Storage Options for VMware • The Dell EqualLogic FS7500 storage solution for VMware • Storage Performance • Test Methodology •...

  • Page 6: Vmware I/O Stacks

    Dell EqualLogic FS7500 – Unified block and file storage for virtual workloads Both NAS and SAN infrastructures offer viable alternatives for network storage that may be appropriate for hosting multiple virtual workloads in VMware environments. So how do you know which consolidated storage solution is best for you? It depends upon the application, your workload characteristics, and your datacenter circumstances.

  • Page 7: Figure 1. Wmware I/O Stacks

    VMware files. The VMFS file system logic runs on the VMware server. Unlike SAN, in a FS7500 NAS, when the VMware hypervisor is using the NFS protocol, the NFS services running on the FS7500 controllers are responsible for running the file system logic.

  • Page 8: The Dell Equallogic Fs7500 Storage Solution For Vmware

    ESXi hosts. While VMFS is limited to 2TB per volume in vSphere 4.x, and 64TB per volume in vSphere 5, the Dell EqualLogic FS7500 may enable you to exceed these boundaries to provide substantially more contiguous space than block-based solutions. At present, the EqualLogic FS7500 has been tested with volumes up to 509TB in size.

  • Page 9: Figure 2. Unified Scale-Out Dell Equallogic Fs7500 Storage System

    While many traditional NAS systems have limitations on scalability and file system size based on architecture, the Dell EqualLogic FS7500 has no such restrictions. It can scale to the limit of the backend storage arrays in a single namespace; currently tested up to 509 TB of usable NAS space. This means you can surpass the limitations of traditional file systems, providing contiguous space for even your most demanding applications.

  • Page 10: Storage Performance Metrics

    Active Directory, LDAP and NIS, and high availability features are all included in the base price of the FS7500 system. File-based snapshots (separate from iSCSI snapshots), enable users to restore their own files without IT involvement. As with all EqualLogic products today, all future EqualLogic firmware enhancements are available at no cost to customers with valid support contracts.

  • Page 11: Test Methodology

    VMware-specific virtual infrastructure operations. In this test environment, we deployed a pair of FS7500 controllers and the VM host servers with sufficient CPU, memory and network resources to avoid any bottlenecks in these subsystems. In terms of hardware, we varied only the storage configuration to understand the impact of increasing storage capacity in the configuration.

  • Page 12: Test Hardware Configurations

    SAS drives in a RAID 10 configuration with approximately 3.66TB of usable space each. Arrays were added one at a time to test performance scalability. Six shared datastores were configured on each ESXi server; three were using NFS exports on the FS7500 and the other three were using block I/O using VMFS.

  • Page 13: Test Network Configuration

    Dell EqualLogic FS7500 – Unified block and file storage for virtual workloads Test Network Configuration The network configuration consisted of two dedicated Dell PowerConnect 6248 Gigabit Ethernet switches. The iSCSI and NFS traffic was isolated and differentiated from the VM traffic through the use of VLANs and physical switch segmentation.

  • Page 14: Virtual Workload Description

    Dell EqualLogic FS7500 – Unified block and file storage for virtual workloads Virtual Workload Description To ensure that we simulated a real life situation for our performance measurement, we chose to run a virtual workload mix based on a set of typical datacenter workloads including business applications as well as operations associated with managing the virtual environment.

  • Page 15: Test Results

    Figure 5 shows the simulation test results for three hardware configurations where the CPU, memory, and network subsystems were kept constant and only the storage capacity in the EqualLogic FS7500 was increased by adding additional PS6000XV arrays. The height of each bar in this chart shows the normalized application throughput in a VMware environment via NFS.

  • Page 16: Conclusion

    This flexibility means that whether your company expands into new ventures or simply adds more users, your storage can scale with you when using the EqualLogic FS7500. The Dell EqualLogic FS7500 enables you to start small and grow as required; without taking a hit in your operations or efficiency.

  • Page 17: Appendix A

    Dell EqualLogic FS7500 – Unified block and file storage for virtual workloads Appendix A Test System Components The hardware configuration used in the testing process is outlined below: Hostname Mgmt IP Version CPUs Quad Socket, 12- 192.168.100. ESX01 cores each (48...
  • Page 18 Dell EqualLogic FS7500 – Unified block and file storage for virtual workloads There were 8 1 Gbit NICs in each ESXi host server as outlined below: Upstream Upstream VMNIC vSwitch Subnet(s) Purpose Port type Connection vmnic0 TRUNK (Switch #2) VLAN...

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