Dell PowerEdge R7625 Rack Server & Emulex LPe36002 Host Bus Adapter: 64G Fibre Channel Microsoft SQL Server
Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:19:02 -0000
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Dell PowerEdge R7625 Rack Server & Emulex LPe36002 Host Bus Adapter
64G Fibre Channel Microsoft SQL Server Performance – NVMe/FC vs. SCSI/FC
Tolly Report #224107
Tolly test report demonstrating that Dell PowerEdge R7625 Rack Server outfitted with the Emulex LPe36002 Host Bus Adapter using NVMe/FC can improve application performance vs older generation SCSI/FC.
Executive Summary
New generation servers can bring higher performance across a range of areas. This is certainly the case with Dell’s 16th-generation server line. Similarly, newer protocols like NVM Express (NVMe) over Fibre Channel (FC) can provide greater throughput and efficiency than older SCSI over FC. Dell is unique in offering an end-to-end NVMe/FC connectivity solution in the mid-range storage marketplace with the PowerStore line.
Dell commissioned Tolly to benchmark the performance of the Broadcom Emulex LPe36002 64G Fibre Channel dual-port host bus adapter (HBA) running in the Dell PowerEdge R7625 Rack Server with AMD EPYC processors by testing using actual database applications rather than simulated I/O microbenchmarks. Testing focused on evaluating the database throughput, latency, and CPU efficiency of accessing Microsoft SQL Server 2019 for Linux systems over older SCSI/FC and newer NVMe/FC. Databases were stored on a Dell PowerStore 9200T storage appliance.
Tests showed significant improvements in transaction throughput, latency reduction, and CPU efficiency. See Figure 1 for a summary of relative improvements.
The Bottom Line | |
Dell PowerEdge R7625 with AMD EPYC processors & Emulex LPe36002 64G HBA using NVMe/FC: | |
1 | Improved database transactions by 38% |
2 | Reduced database stored procedure latency by 35% |
Overview
The goal of this test was to illustrate the performance benefits of using the newer, more-efficient NVMe/FC protocol in lieu of the older, less-efficient SCSI/FC protocol in conjunction with Emulex 64G FC HBAs running under Linux in a Dell PowerEdge R7625 Rack Server. (Dell sells the Emulex 64G FC HBA for the same price as the Emulex 32G FC HBA.)
The test was run using Microsoft SQL Server 2019 for Linux accessing the database via SCSI and then via NVMe.
While low-level component benchmarks are instructive, ultimately system architects are rightly most interested in how network-level improvements can translate into application performance improvements. This benchmarking was done with HammerDB which generates actual user transactions against an actual database. The test was focused on TPROC-C which is the HammerDB, database-oriented implementation of the de facto standard TPC-C online transaction processing benchmark.
Tests showed significant improvements in key benchmarks.
Test Results
Microsoft SQL Server 2019 for Linux
Transaction Processing. The NVMe/FC results were significantly better than the SCSI/FC results. When run over NVMe/FC, 38% more transactions per minute were processed.
CPU Efficiency. The NVMe/FC results were significantly better than the SCSI/FC results. When run over NVMe/FC, the CPU efficiency was improved by 50%.
P95 Stored Procedure Latency. Similarly, the NVMe/FC results were significantly better than the SCSI/FC results. When run over NVMe/FC, the latency was reduced by 35%.
Test Setup & Methodology
The HBA under test used current production drivers that are publicly available. Default settings were used. Details of the test environment and systems under test are found in Tables 1-5. Figure 2 shows a composite test environment.
Database Test
The goal of this test was to benchmark the database transaction performance of each HBA running the HammerDB “TPROC-C” workload which, as noted earlier, is the HammerDB, database version of the Transaction Processing Council’s TPC-C OLTP benchmarked
A Dell PowerEdge R7625 server, powered by AMD EPYC processors, was configured with the HBA under test. The Broadcom Emulex LPe36002 64G HBA connected to a Dell PowerStore 9200T via a Dell Connectrix 64G Fibre Channel switch. The test utilized a single 64G FC port of the Emulex HBA.
The server ran RHEL 8.9. SCSI Device Mapper and NVMe native multipath were enabled for the respective devices. NUMA was set to off and “transparent huge pages” was disabled.
For storage, path selection policy for NVMe native multipath was set to “round-robin". For SCSI Device mapper multipath was set to "queue-length 0”.
This test was run using Microsoft SQL Server 2019 for Linux,
The open source HammerDB test tool was used to populate the database schema and run the workload.
Table 1. HBA Under Test
Vendor | Product Name | Firmware | Driver |
Broadcom | Emulex LPe36002 (64G) (PCIe 4.0) | 14.0.539.26 | 14.0.0.15 |
Table 2. Server Configuration
Vendor/System | Dell PowerEdge R7625 |
CPU | 2 socket AMD EPYC 9374F 32-Core Processor @ 3.8 GHz |
Number of CPUs | 128 logical processors. Profile: Performance, Logical Processors: Enabled, Sub Numa Clustering: Disabled |
Memory (RAM) | 256 GB |
Power Mode
| Performance |
OS | Red Hat Ent. Linux 8.9 (RHEL8) |
Kernel | 4.18.0-425.3.1 |
Table 3. Microsoft Database Configuration
Database | Microsoft SQL Server 2019 for Linux |
Storage | Single volume, XFS |
Dataset Size | 100 GB |
DB Memory Allocation | 10G |
Table 4. Database Test Tool
Vendor | Open Source |
Application | HammerDB 4.7 |
TPROC-C settings | Total # of Warehouses = 1,000 Transactions per user = 1 million Ramp-up time: 2 minutes Run time: 5 minutes |
Table 5. Storage Configuration
Vendor/Device | Dell PowerStore 9200T v3.5 |
Ports | 8 x 32G FC |
Volume Size | 1,024GB volume each for NVMe/FC and SCSI/FC |
Namespace/LUN | 8 x 32G target ports (single namespace) |
Network Fabric | Dell Connectrix 64G FC switch v9.0.1a |
About AMD
For over 50 years, AMD has been at the forefront of driving innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. Their products are relied upon by billions of people, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research institutions worldwide. AMD's mission is to build exceptional products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences and power solutions for the world's most important challenges. Visit http://www.amd.com for more information about AMD.
Broadcom Emulex LPe36002
The Broadcom Emulex LPe36000-series Gen 7 Fibre Channel HBAs are designed for demanding mission-critical workloads and emerging applications. The family of adapters features Silicon Root of Trust security, designed to thwart firmware attacks aimed at enterprises and governments.
Gen 7 64G provides seamless backward compatibility to 32G and 16G networks.
Dell sells the LPe36002 64G HBA for the same price as the 32G model.
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