Summary

In today's ever-changing world of IT, the performance of servers is crucial for keeping businesses running smoothly and customers happy. As companies look to enhance their systems, they often wonder: Are older servers still up to the task or is it time to embrace newer technology? 

To start with, both the Dell PowerEdge T160 and R260 powered by Intel Xeon E-2400 series CPUs boost up to double the compute performance compared to the prior generations. ⁽¹⁾ Moreover, customers gain up to 1.6x the performance per every dollar spent on the latest E-series CPUs. ⁽²⁾

The rest of the report is to help answer the question of embracing newer technology. We aim to do this by comparing the components and the performance of the previous generation Dell servers, the PowerEdge T150/R250, and our latest PowerEdge server models: our innovative PowerEdge T160/R260. We will explore everything from memory, hardware specifications, performance per watt and workload capabilities, and real-world scenarios like web servers. By the end, you will have the insights to make informed decisions about upgrading your servers and improving your business operations.

Performance Metrics

Table 1. Performance Comparison for T160/R260 Workloads with earlier generations Internal benchmarking Tests

In our evaluation at Dell Technologies labs, we examined the performance of the PowerEdge T150/R250 and T160/R260 servers using three industry-relevant benchmarks. The Phoronix Test Suites, an open-source tool, were used for this purpose. The table below presents the configurations of each system that was tested. Notably, the PowerEdge T160 was equipped with the latest DDR5 memory and a next-generation Intel CPU, with an equal number of cores.

1. Testing Configurations  

Table 2. Testing configurations for the T160/R260

If you would like to replicate our findings, refer to the Appendix of this report, which contains the necessary terminal commands to perform each of the Phoronix Test Suites discussed in the subsequent sections.

The key workload for T160/R260 is database and webserver hosting. So, we decided to evaluate the T150/R250 performance with our T160/R260. Benchmarking plays a crucial role in helping businesses assess their performance, identify areas for improvement, and gain competitive insights. Let's delve into why databases, cache operations, and web servers are important for business and how our PowerEdge T160/R260 outperforms the previous generation of products. 

Database benchmark         

Databases are critical for businesses because they store, organize, and manage essential data. Whether it is customer information, sales transactions, inventory levels, or employee records, databases ensure efficient data retrieval, accuracy, and security. Businesses rely on databases to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and comply with regulations. Without robust databases, managing and analyzing large volumes of data would be challenging, and error databases are the backbone of modern business operations, enabling growth, efficiency, and data-driven strategies.

We ran PostgreSQL, an open-source SQL relational database benchmark, on the T160/R260 to compare it with the T150/R250. The figures below show the results from the PostgreSQL tests we conducted on T160/R260 and T150/R250 with a scaling factor of 1000, 100 clients, and read-only mode. The figure on the left shows the transfers per second, and the figure on the right shows the decrease in latency with our new generation products. 

 i. PowerEdge T160: PostgreSQL performance, Scaling factor 1000:

ii. PowerEdge R260: PostgreSQL performance, Scaling factor 100: The tests on R260 and R250 were conducted with a scaling factor of 100, 250 clients, and in read-only mode. The figure on the left shows the transfers per second, and the figure on the right shows the decrease in latency with our latest products.

Regarding the figures above, the PowerEdge T160 helps gain up to 90% improvement in transfers per second. It minimizes read latency by up to 50% and the PowerEdge R260 gains up to 85% improvement in PostgreSQL transactions per second and latency reduction up to 50%.

Cache Bench benchmark
Cache bench operations are crucial for businesses seeking optimal cache performance. Cache bench is a benchmark and stress testing tool that evaluates cache behavior using hardware and actual cache workloads. By assessing hit ratios, businesses can choose the most effective caching strategy. The cache bench helps identify the maximum throughput for different cache setups.

Customers can achieve up to 2x boost in Cache bench read operations with the PowerEdge T160 as compared to the PowerEdge T150 and 1.5x boost in cache bench operations with the PowerEdge R260 as compared to the PowerEdge R250. Better cache bench operations mean faster data retrieval, enhanced user experience, and compelling returns on investments.

Web server benchmark

To showcase how our customers will benefit from our new T160/R260, we ran the Apache HTTP Server benchmark with the configuration of 20 and 100 concurrent requests. 

The T160 showed a 60% boost for 100 concurrent requests, and the R260 showed a 69% boost for 20 concurrent requests as compared to the earlier generations. Apache HTTP Server is a versatile solution that empowers businesses to deliver reliable web hosting with scalable and secure web services.

Conclusion

Whether handling database workloads, cache benchmarks, or web server tasks, the PowerEdge T160 and R260 servers demonstrate remarkable performance improvements over their predecessors. The clear winner in this battle is our T160/R260 model. To delve deeper into the advantages of upgrading to PowerEdge servers, you can explore more information on the PowerEdge Servers page.

References

• http://infohub.delltechnologies.com/en-us/p/poweredge-t160-r260-entry-level-marvels-where-performance-meets-compact-yet-aesthetic-design
• https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/en-us/p/unleash-up-to-2x-performance-on-the-poweredge-t160-r260-with-the-latest-intel-r-xeon-r-e-series-processors
• Phoronix Test Suite - Linux Testing & Benchmarking Platform, Automated Testing, Open-Source Benchmarking (phoronix-test-suite.com)
• https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/en-us/l/videos-102/get-to-know-the-dell-poweredge-t160-r260/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeco4h_u3uU

Legal Disclosures

1. Based on SPEC CPU® 2017 benchmarking of the floating-point rates of the E-2378 and E-2478 Intel Xeon E2400 processors with the PowerEdge T350 and T160, respectively. Testing was conducted in April 2024 on the T160 by Dell Performance Analysis Labs, available on spec.org/cpu2017/. Actual results will vary, subject to change. 
2. Pricing is based on Dell US list prices for Intel Xeon E-series processors and varies by region. Contact your local sales representative for more information.
3. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge T150 and T160 tower servers to a PostgreSQL benchmark with a scaling factor of 1000 and 100 clients, using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.
4. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge T160 and T150 tower servers to a PostgreSQL benchmark with a scaling factor of 1000 and 100 clients, read-only mode using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.
5. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge T160 and T150 tower servers to an Apache Webserver benchmark with 100 concurrent requests using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.
6. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge T150 and T160 tower servers to a Cache Bench benchmark in the read-only mode using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.
7. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge R250 and R260 rack servers to a PostgreSQL benchmark read-only mode with a scaling factor of 100 and 250 clients, using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.
8. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge R250 and R260 rack servers to a PostgreSQL benchmark read-only with a scaling factor of 100 and 250 clients, read-only mode using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary. 
9. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge R250 and R260 rack servers to an Apache Webserver benchmark with 20 concurrent requests, R260 handles up to 67403.22 requests per second as compared to R250 that handles 39661.53 requests per second in the read-only mode using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.
10. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge R250 and R260 rack servers to a Cache Bench benchmark in the read-only mode using Phoronix Test Suite. The R260 can handle up to 17,142 megabytes per second, and the R250 can handle up to 6671 megabytes per second. Actual results will vary.
11. Based on March 2024 Dell labs testing subjecting the PowerEdge R250 and R260 rack servers to a Cache Bench benchmark in the write-only mode and read/write mode using Phoronix Test Suite. Actual results will vary.

Appendix

Note: If you do not have the required dependencies for each test, they will automatically be installed after running the command above. You will be prompted to enter "Y" for yes to kick-off the installation before testing resumes. To download Phoronix Test Suite go to Phoronix Test Suite - Linux Testing and Benchmarking Platform, Automated Testing, Open-Source Benchmarking (Phoronix-test-suite.com)