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This newer solution processed more operations per minute than a previous-generation Dell EMC PowerEdge R930 with VMware vSphere 6.7
If your organization is using previous-generation servers, you might be tempted to think that the performance you’re getting is good enough. But upgrading to the latest hardware and software can provide better performance and new features that can help you better manage your environment.1 To quantify the benefits of a newer solution, we tested a Dell EMC™ PowerEdge™ R940, which comes equipped with the latest edition of VMware vSphere® 7.0, against a previous-generation Dell EMC PowerEdge R930 with VMware vSphere 6.7.
We used Oracle® Database 19c and the benchmark DVD Store 3 to test online transactional processing (OLTP) performance. The Dell EMC PowerEdge R940 processed 30 percent more operations per minute than the Dell EMC PowerEdge R930. It also offered additional hardware and software features such as 2nd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors (with up to 16 percent more cores per processor), 30 percent more PCIe capacity, up to 28 percent more DDR4 memory, and new update capabilities with vSphere Lifecyle Manager and Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter®.2 By upgrading the previous-generation solution we tested to Dell EMC PowerEdge R940 servers with VMware vSphere 7.0, organizations could support more customers when running transactional database workloads.
1 For an example of how new software features could provide performance benefits, see the August 2020 Principled Technologies report, “New VMware vSphere 7. features reduced the time and complexity of routine update and hardware compliance tasks,” https://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/vSphere- 7.0-update-compatibility-check-0820-v3.pdf. For an example of how newer hardware could provide performance benefits, see the July 2019 Principled Technologies report, “Elevate your e-commerce business by upgrading to the Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd with 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors,” https://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/PowerEdge-R740xd-2nd-Intel-Xeon-Scalable-0719.pdf.
2 We made our calculations based on information availabe in datasheets for the Dell EMC PowerEdge R930 (https://i. dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/PowerEdge_R930_spec_sheet-FINAL.pdf) and R940 (https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/Shared-Content_data-Sheets_Documents/en/aa/poweredge-r940- spec-sheet.pdf).