Home > Workload Solutions > SQL Server > White Papers > Dell EMC PowerMax Storage for Mission-Critical SQL Server Databases > Test case 3: Performance upgrade test
Test case 3 demonstrates that application performance can be upgraded on demand using PowerMax service levels.
We ran a single SQL Server database OLTP workload with a SQL Server buffer pool size of 4 GB. Starting at the Silver service level, we gradually upgraded the service level to Gold and then to Diamond while the test ran. We monitored host IOPS, SQL Server TPM, and read and write response times during the test.
As the test results in the following figure show, as application demand changed, the service level was upgraded to Gold which allowed PowerMaxOS to promote very active extents to SCM.As demand increased even further, these workloads attained the highest level of priority when the service level was changed to Diamond. At the Diamond service level featuring the availability of larger SCM capacity, the highest level of performance was achieved with unrivaled response times.
Figure 9. Single SQL Server database performance upgrade test
Table 2 below shows the response times, IOPS, and TPM for each of the three service levels tested.
Table 2. Test case 3: Service levels and response time
Service level |
Read response time (ms) |
Write response time (ms) |
Host IOPS |
SQL Server TPM |
Silver |
1.88 |
1.78 |
96K |
890K |
Gold |
0.27 |
0.27 |
226K |
2.2M |
Diamond |
0.17 |
0.17 |
247K |
2.3M |
PowerMax automated data placement uses real time ML and AI which effectively prioritized the workloads as the workload demand changed. Therefore, when the service level was changed, PowerMax used the limited SCM drive capacity very effectively for a highly active workload. Because of this ability, the performance benefits were realized very quickly.
The PowerMax system with automated data placement using AI/ML and service levels effectively manage workload performance of demanding applications.