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Once the I/O requirements have been defined, I/O performance should be validated and tested before putting the environment into full production mode. After the system goes into production, it is imperative to continue to collect and analyze the performance data periodically to ensure the storage system is meeting the expected performance level. Ensure that a baseline is established and recorded so that comparison can be made.
There are many tools in the market that provide a comprehensive set of features to exercise and measure the storage system and other components in the I/O stack. It is up to administrators to decide the testing requirements and which tools work best for their environment. When choosing tools, consider the capabilities in the following subsections. Several performance testing utilities are shown below:
The first item to test on a new configuration is the path between the server and the array. Running a large block sequential read test using small files should saturate the path between the server and the array. This test verifies that all paths are fully functional and can be used for I/O traffic. Run this test on a dedicated server and array; using a production system could cause significant performance issues.
To validate the I/O path, run a large block sequential read test using the following guidelines as a starting point and vary as necessary:
If the throughput matches the expected throughput for the number of HBA ports in the server, the paths between the server and Dell Unity array are set up correctly.
Once the I/O path has been validated, the next step is to test the drives. For best results when testing drives on a Dell Unity array, use the following guidelines when configuring the test.
The purpose of this type of testing is to validate that the storage design will provide the required throughput and IOPS with acceptable latency. It is important that the test does not exceed the designed capacity of the array. For example, an array designed for a workload of 5,000 IOPS is likely to perform poorly with a workload of 10,000 IOPS. If a test is generating a workload higher than the designed capacity, adjust the workload being generated by reducing the number of threads, outstanding I/Os, or both.
The results of the Live Optics analysis provide an I/O target to simulate using these tests. To get an idea of the performance capabilities of the array, run I/O tests with a range of I/O sizes commonly seen with Oracle. When testing random I/O, test with I/O sizes of 8 KB, 16 KB, and 32 KB. When testing sequential I/O, test with 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, and 64 KB. Since processes like read ahead scans and backups can issue larger sequential I/O, it is a good idea to also test block sizes larger than 32 KB. To truly test the array the designed workload should be simulated at a minimum, and slightly higher if possible. To ensure the array has headroom for load spikes the throughput should be tested slightly beyond estimated production loads.
The primary objective of I/O simulation is to stress the storage system. I/O simulation tools are typically easy to use and configure because they do not require a fully configured database. These tools generally allow workloads to increase or decrease during the tests by specifying different parameters:
Oracle ORION, Vdbench, and FIO are three IO simulation tools. The software is free to download and use. Oracle ORION has a unique advantage over others because it is explicitly designed to simulate Oracle database I/O workloads using the same I/O software stack as Oracle. It also provides both OLTP and OLAP simulation modes which simplify the setup and execution of the test. ORION has been bundled with the Oracle database software and can be found in the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.
These tools focus on generating a combination of workloads with different types of database transactions to simulate a typical OLTP, OLAP, or both. They require a higher degree of configuration and customization in the tools and databases. SLOB, HammerDB, Swingbench, and Quest Benchmark Factory are commonly used to perform database transactional I/O benchmarks. Except for Quest Benchmark Factory, all these tools are freely available for multiple operating systems.
Performance data can be monitored by the operating system, the Dell Unity system, and in Oracle databases. Ideally, monitoring the performance continuously offers the most detail and allows in-depth analysis of the environments. At a minimum, performance statistics should be captured for at least 24 hours and during the time periods when there are heaviest activities. The following subsections describe popular software and cloud-based platforms for monitoring and analyzing performance.
The following utilities are freely available from the operating system vendors and can perform basic system and I/O monitoring. See the operating system manual and the online resources for each tool to find more information.
For an Oracle database, the utilities used most are statspack and AWR. AWR is preferred to the older statspack, but either can provide abundant performance statistics of a database. Both utilities come bundled with the database software.
Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) is a separate application offered by Oracle. It provides a centralized management and monitoring platform for many Oracle applications and databases. Configuration and performance data are collected through Oracle agents running on an individual host stored in a common management database. OEM provides a plethora of performance and utilization charts and many other advanced features to manage the environment.
Additional information can be found at the Oracle Enterprise Manager page.
This web-based unified management software comes with every Dell Unity storage system and can manage every aspect of the storage. The performance dashboard in Dell Unisphere provides both real-time and historical performance charts. Administrators can easily modify existing dashboards and charts or add new dashboards and charts according to their needs.
Metric data ages over time and gets aggregated into longer sampling intervals. The data is kept for historical referencing for up to 90 days.
Additional information can be found in the Dell Unity: Unisphere Overview.
Dell’s Performance Analysis Collection Kit (DPACK) has evolved into a new product called Dell Live Optics and is a platform-agnostic analysis service freely available from Dell Technologies. It works on Linux, Microsoft Windows, and VMware environments and collects performance data such as processor utilization, memory utilization, storage utilization, IOPS, I/O throughput, and more. Live Optics analyzes these data and provides a comprehensive in-depth report on server workloads and capacity.
Find additional information at the Live Optics for Service Providers page with a download available at Live Optics - Real-world data for IT decisions : Live Optics.
Dell CloudIQ is a software as a service (SaaS) application that is freely available. When it is enabled for the Dell Unity storage system, it allows administrators to monitor multiple Dell Unity storage systems remotely. CloudIQ provides continuous monitoring of performance, capacity, configuration, and data protection, and enables administrators to manage storage proactively by receiving advanced notification for potential issues.
Find additional information, see CloudIQ: A Detailed Review | Dell Technologies Info Hub.