Home > Workload Solutions > SQL Server > Best Practices > AMD-Based SQL Server Best Practices on Dell PowerEdge R740 and PowerMax 2000 > Storage Best Practices > Day Three Best Practices > PowerMax: Adding PVSCSI controllers
Paravirtual SCSI (PVSCSI) controllers can provide greater throughput and overall lower CPU utilization. In this best practice, we tested adding multiple PVSCSI controllers to improve storage performance.
Category | PowerMax Storage |
Product | PowerMax |
Type of best practice | Performance Optimization |
Day and value | Day 3, Fine-tuning |
Overview
In the baseline configuration, we used one Paravirtual SCSI controller to connect the virtual machine to the PowerMax storage array. The PVSCSI is popular because it provides optimal throughput while using fewer CPU cycles to manage storage I/O. Before implementing multiple PVSCSI controllers we optimized the storage group configuration. The optimal storage group configuration consisted of adding multiple child storage groups for data, TempDB data, and TempDB log to create more I/O paths.
Using multiple I/O paths via the optimal storage configuration, combined with multiple PVSCSI controllers, should provide better performance. In this best practice, three additional PVSCSI controllers were added to each virtual machine for a total of four per VM.
Recommendation
Results from validating the best practice of adding additional PVSCSI controllers showed no performance gains for these metrics:
The OLTP test demonstrated no significant gains in performance in adding more PVSCSI controllers. While there were no gains in performance for this test, other workloads might benefit. For example, workloads like data warehouses and business intelligence depend upon throughput and could benefit from additional PVSCSI controllers.
Implementation Steps
This change can be made from the vCenter user interface. To add PVSCSI controllers:
Additional Resources
Configuring disks to use VMware Paravirtual SCSI (PVSCSI) controllers (1010398)