Home > AI Solutions > Gen AI > White Papers > Dell PowerScale Storage Reference Architecture for NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD > Validation methodology
Three classes of validation tests are used to evaluate a particular storage technology and its configuration for use with DGX SuperPOD: microbenchmark performance, real application performance, and functional testing. The microbenchmarks measure key I/O patterns for DL training. Real DL training applications are then run on a DGX SuperPOD to confirm that the applications meet expected performance. Beyond performance, storage solutions are evaluated for robustness and resiliency as part of functional testing.
The NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD storage validation process leverages a “Pass or Fail” methodology. Specific targets are set for the microbenchmark test. Each benchmark result is graded as good, fair, or poor. A passing grade is one where at least 80% of the tests are good, and none of the results are poor. In addition, there must be no catastrophic issues created during testing. For application testing, a passing grade is one where all cases complete within 5% of the performance set by running the same tests with data staged on the DGX RAID. For functional testing, a passing grade is one where all functional tests meet their expected outcomes.