The Dell PowerVault ME5 Series SAN/DAS Storage Series is optimized to run a variety of mixed workload applications - physical and virtual - for small businesses.
Based on the family of Intel processors, Dell PowerVault ME5 Series storage implements a block architecture with VMware virtualization integration and concurrent support for native iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and SAS protocols. Additional storage capacity is added through disk expansion units, such as the ME484, while Distributed RAID (ADAPT) delivers faster drive re-build times. And all ME5 Series storage systems are managed by an integrated HTML5 web-based GUI.
The test objective is to maintain constant capture of video traffic during select storage failure scenarios, such as disk rebuild and controller failure. During these scenarios, frame loss was observed on the ME5 platform as tier 1 storage.
Dell Technologies recommends using ME5 platforms for:
- Small implementations
- Installations that include noncritical cameras where some video frame loss is acceptable during storage recovery activities, such as controller outages that are required for maintenance and upgrades
Behavior can vary per video management software product and implementation decisions, such as selected infrastructure hardware, camera setup, and so forth.
The following tests were performed to ensure a worst-case scenario for all sizing parameters:
- Disk drive failures
- Storage controller failures
- NIC failures
We performed all tests using 1 Mb/s and 5 Mb/s cameras. The total bandwidth is balanced across both controllers and provides constant bandwidth.
The following table provides bandwidth-sizing guidelines based on our test results:
Configuration details
Component | Description |
Storage | ME5084 |
Firmware | ME5.1.0.1.0 |
Disk Type | SAS MDL |
Disk Pools | 2 |
Disk count per Pool | 42 |
Disk capacity | 16TB |
RAID | Adapt Linear |
Protocol | ISCSi |
LUN capacity | 120TB |
Component | Description |
Server Model | Dell PowerEdge R640 |
Hypervisor version | VMware ESXi, 7.0.3, 20328353 |
Processor Model | Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5318Y CPU @ 2.10GHz |
Number of Processors | 2 |
Cores per socket | 24/CPU |
Memory | 256 |
Component | Description |
Guest OS | Windows Server 2019 Standard |
vCPU | 6 |
Memory | 12 GB |
NIC type | VMXNET3 (10 Gbps) |
Video disk size | 1 TB |
Video Disk block size | 64K |
Component | Description |
Camera Type | Virtual Camera |
Codec | H.264 |
Bitrate | 1 Mbps, 5 Mbps |
FPS | 30 fps |
Resolution | 720p |