The Dell PowerEdge R7525: a Leader in Price and performance for SQL Server 2019
Mon, 07 Feb 2022 21:44:20 -0000
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The Microsoft Server team at Dell Technologies is excited to announce the recently published decision support workload benchmark (TPC-H) that has the Dell PowerEdge R7525 as the price performance leader according to the 10,000 GB results published on December 15th, 2021. The Transaction Processing Council (TPC) provides the most trusted sources of independently audited database performance benchmarks. These TPC benchmarks provide a way for customers to compare the performance of servers using different sized workloads.
The Dell PowerEdge R7525 is a two-socket server that uses AMD EPYC processors and supports up to 4TB of memory, making it a strong choice for database workloads. The AMD EPYC 73F3 processor has 16 CPU cores and a base clock speed of 3.5 GHz that can boost up to 4.0 GHz. The base clock speed of 3.5 GHz for the CPU cores enables quick data processes, which enhances database value for customers.
We configured the Dell PowerEdge R7525 with two AMD EPYC 73F3 processors for a total of 32 physical cores and with hyperthreading 64 threads. The server was configured with the maximum amount of memory (4 TB) with DDR4-3200 DRAM in a 32 by 128 GiB memory configuration. The server storage configuration included ten 1.92 TB SSD drives and eight 6.4 enterprise NVMe drives. For the complete PowerEdge R7525 configuration, see the TPC Benchmark H Full Disclosure Report.
We used Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Edition and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3 for the TPC-H workload. The decision support workload (TPC-H) is designed to examine volumes of data, execute queries with a high degree of complexity, and provide answers to critical business questions. The key performance metric is the Composite Query-per-Hour (QphH@Size) for decision support benchmarks. The PowerEdge R7525 achieved a 960,382 QphH@Size rating with a 10,000 GB database size. To determine the price performance metric the total system cost of $379,133 USD was divided by the queries per hour. The price performance metric of $394.78 $/kQphH@10000GB placed the PowerEdge R7525 a leader in this category.*
The Microsoft team at Dell Technologies has recently published best practices for SQL Server, many of which were used in this independently audited TPC-H benchmark. To review these best practices that provide insights into how organizations can optimize their SQL Server environments, see this link: AMD-based SQL Server Best Practices.
The SQL Server Best Practices program includes the following:
- VMware ESXi: Round Robin Path Policy
- PowerMax: Adding Storage Groups
- PowerMax: Storage Directors Ports and Interface Emulations
- SQL Server 2019: CPU Affinity
The solutions page for Microsoft SQL Server provides an overview of how Dell Technologies and Microsoft SQL Server can enable your company with modern infrastructure and agile operations. To learn more, see Dell Technologies Solutions for Microsoft Data Platform.
For those interested in harnessing the performance of the AMD-based PowerEdge R7525 server see, PowerEdge R7525 rack server web page. This provides an overview and technical specifications of the PowerEdge R7525 server.
Dell Technologies offers a portfolio of other rack servers, tower and modular servers that can be configured to accelerate most any business workload. To learn more about these options, see Dell Technologies PowerEdge Server Solutions.
* Based on TPC Benchmark H (TPC-H), December 15th, 2021, the Dell EMC PowerEdge R7525 rack server has a TPC-H Composite Query-per-Hour Performance Metric of 960,382 and a price/kQphH metrick of 394.79 USD when run against a 10,000 GB Microsoft SQL Server 2019 database and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3 in a non-clustered environment. Actual results may vary based on operating environment. Full results are available at tpc.org.
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Microsoft SQL Server 2019 TPC-H Performance on Dell EMC PowerEdge R7515
Mon, 14 Jun 2021 14:44:40 -0000
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Dell EMC PowerEdge R7515 servers with AMD 75F3 processors deliver impressive performance and price/performance for SQL Server 2019.
While modernizing your data center there are two very important considerations every organization must make. The first is the price of new hardware and the other is how will it perform.
The latest powerful AMD 75F3 processors change the economics of the datacenter for the better. The Dell EMC PowerEdge R7515(2U) server, with the AMD processors, delivers the balanced I/O, memory, and computing capacity needed for large-scale analytical and business intelligence applications.
The latest generation PowerEdge R7515 servers mean organizations will not have to compromise neither on performance nor cost and instead focus on realizing their IT and digital business potentials. Independent tpc.org auditing has demonstrated that these servers are top rated in performance and price/performance for @ 1,000GB scale factor Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise database with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 operating system in a non-clustered environment.[1] Powered by 3rd generation AMD® EPYC™ processors, these servers are capable of handling demanding workloads and applications, such as data warehouses, ecommerce, databases. For more details about Dell servers please visit the Dell website.
Results (Source: Tpc.org as of May 03,2021)
The Dell PowerEdge R7515 server achieved a result of 9,79,335.3 QphH@1000GB and $269.23 $/kQphH@1000GB and with system availability as of Apr 29, 2021. Results were officially published on the TPC org website on May 3,2021. *[2]
Check out the TPC-H V3 Result Highlights for additional information on the benchmark configuration. The detailed official benchmark disclosure report at TPC Results Page.
AMD EPYC 75F3 Processor:
The AMD EPYC™ 7003 Series Processors are built with leading-edge Zen 3 core, and AMD Infinity Architecture. The AMD EPYC™ SoC offers a consistent set of features across 8 to 64 cores. Each 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processor consists of up to eight Core Complex Die CCD) and an I/O Die (IOD).
Benchmarking SQL Server 2019 with Dell EMC PowerEdge R7515 Server:
Microsoft SQL Server was configured on PowerEdge R7515 server with the following configuration. The PowerEdge R7515 server was equipped with single EPYC 75F3 3.3GHz, 32C/64T, 256M Cache (280W) DDR4-3200 and 1 TB of memory (up to 2 TB supported). Storage for this system was eight 1.6TB NVME Gen3 Mixed use Express Flash Drives plus four 480GB SSD SAS mixed use drives and three 480GB SATA read intensive SSD drives. The system ran Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Edition and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. For technical information, see the R7515 rack server page for specifications, customizations, and details.
You can visit the FDR report for additional information on the benchmark configuration.
Performance:
The performance test consists of two runs:
A run consists of one execution of the Power test followed by one execution of the Throughput test.
RUN 1 is the first run following the load test. Run 2 is the run following Run 1. Below are the RUN1 and RUN2 results. For more detailed information please go through the FDR report.
Dell Technologies solutions for Microsoft SQL Server:
Dell Technologies solutions simplify the deployment, integration and management of Microsoft data platform environments and accelerate time-to-value for better service delivery and business innovation. With a broad infrastructure portfolio and a long-standing partnership with Microsoft, we provide the innovative solutions that reduce complexity and enable you to solve today’s challenges, no matter where you are in your transformation journey.
We have already released 10 TB TPC-H benchmarks on 4-S R940xa server. For More information about this the testing config and results please visit Dell EMC PowerEdge R940xa Full Disclosure Report.
In addition, Dell Technologies offers a portfolio of other rack servers, tower servers, and modular infrastructure that can be configured to accelerate most any business workload. For more details about Dell Technologies Solutions for Microsoft SQL please visit https://www.delltechnologies.com/sql
[1] *Based on TPC Benchmark H (TPC-H), May 2021, at 1,000 GB the Dell EMC PowerEdge R7515 server, priced at $263,658.00 USD, has a TPC-H (V3) Composite Query-per-Hour metric of 979,335.3 yielding a TPC-H Price/Performance of $269.23 USD / kQphH@1,000 GB with Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Edition database and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 operating system, in a non-clustered environment. Actual results may vary. Full results on tpc.org.
[2] Based on TPC Benchmark H (TPC-H), May 2021, at 1,000 GB the Dell EMC PowerEdge R7515 server, priced at $263,658.00 USD, has a TPC-H (V3) Composite Query-per-Hour metric of 979,335.3 yielding a TPC-H Price/Performance of $269.23 USD / kQphH@1,000 GB with Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Edition database and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 operating system, in a non-clustered environment. Actual results may vary. Full results on tpc.org.
New Dell EMC Ready Solution powers SQL Server, the complete performance platform
Mon, 03 Aug 2020 16:09:44 -0000
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Working on the new Dell EMC Ready Solution for SQL Server was like going from 0 to 60 mph in under 3 seconds. The exhilaration of being pushed into the seat as the road roars past in a blur is absolute fun. That’s what the combination of Dell EMC PowerEdge R840 servers and the new Dell EMC XtremIO X2 storage array did for us in our recent tests.
The classic challenge with most database infrastructures is diminishing performance over time. To use an analogy, it’s like gradually increasing the load a supercar must pull until its 0-to-60 time just isn’t impressive anymore. In the case of databases, the load is input/output operations per second (IOPS). As IOPS increase, response times can slow and database performance suffers. What is interesting is how this performance problem happens over time. As more databases are gradually added to an infrastructure, response times slow by a fraction at a time. These incremental hits on performance can condition application users to accept slower performance—until one day someone says, “Performance was good two years ago but today it’s slow.”
When reading about supercars, we usually learn about their 0-to-60 mph time and their top speed. While the top speed is interesting, how many supercars have you seen race by at 200+ mph? Top speeds apply to databases too. Perhaps you have read a third-party study that devoted a massive hardware infrastructure to one database, thereby showing big performance numbers. If only we had the budget to do that for all our databases, right? Top speeds are fun, but scalability is more realistic as most infrastructures will be required to support multiple databases.
Dell EMC Labs took the performance scalability approach in testing the new SQL Server architecture. Our goals were aggressive: Run 8 virtualized databases per server for a total of 16 databases running in parallel, with a focus on generating significant load while maintaining fast response times. To make the scalability tests more interesting, 8 virtualized databases used Windows Server Datacenter on one server and the other 8 databases used Red Hat Enterprise Linux on another server. Figure 1 shows the two PowerEdge R840 servers and the 8-to-1 consolidation ratio (on each server) achieved in the tests.
Figure 1: PowerEdge R840 servers
Quest Benchmark Factory was used to create the same TPC-E OLTP workload across all 16 virtualized databases. On the storage side, XtremIO X2 was used to accelerate all database I/O. The XtremIO X2 configuration included two X-Brick modules, each with 36 flash drives for a total of 72. According to the XtremIO X2 specification sheet, a 72-drive configuration can achieve 220,000 IOPS at .5 milliseconds (ms) of latency with a mixture of 70 percent reads and 30 percent writes using 8K blocks. Figure 2 shows the two X-Brick configuration of the X2 array with some of key features that make the all-flash system ideal for SQL Server databases.
Figure 2: XtremIO X2
Before we review the performance findings, let’s talk about IOPS and latency. IOPS is a measure that defines the load on a storage system. This measurement has greater context if we understand the maximum recommended IOPS for a storage system for a specific configuration. For example, 16 databases running in parallel don’t represent a significant load if they are only generating 20,000 IOPS. However, if the same databases generated 200,000 IOPS, as they did on the XtremIO X2 array that we used in our tests, then that’s a significant workload. Thus, IOPS are important in understanding the load on a storage system.
Response time and latency are used interchangeably in this blog and refer to the amount of time used to respond to a request to read or write data. Latency is our 0-to-60 metric that tells us how fast the storage system responds to a request. Just like with supercars, the lower the time, the faster the car and the storage system. Our goal was to determine if average read and write latencies remained under .5 ms.
Looking at IOPS and latency together brings us to our overall test objective. Can this SQL Server solution remain fast (low latency) under a heavy IOPS load? To answer this question is to understand if the database solution can scale. Scalability is the capability of the database infrastructure to handle increased workload with minimal impact to performance. The greater the scalability of the database solution, the more workload it can support and the greater return on investment it provides to customers. So, for our tests to be meaningful we must show a significant load; otherwise, the database system has not been challenged in terms of scalability.
We broke the achievable IOPS barrier of 220,000 IOPS by more than 55,000 IOPS! In large part, the PowerEdge R840 servers enabled the SQL Server databases to really push the OLTP workload to the XtremIO X2 array. We were able to simulate overloading the system by placing a load that is greater than recommended. In one respect we were impressed that XtremIO X2 supported more than 275,000 IOPS, but then we were concerned that there might have been a trade-off with performance.
The average latency for all physical reads and writes was under .5 ms. So not only did the SQL Server solution generate a large database workload, the XtremIO X2 storage system maintained consistently fast latencies throughout the tests. The test results show that this database solution was designed for performance scalability: The system maintained performance under a large workload across 16 databases. Figure 3 summarizes the test findings.
Figure 3: Summary of test findings
The capability to scale without having to invest in more infrastructure provides greater value to customers. Would I recommend pushing the new SQL Server solution past its limits like Dell EMC Labs did in testing for scalability? No. Running database tests involves achieving a steady state of performance that is uncharacteristic of real-world production databases. Production databases have peak processing times that must be planned for so that the business does not experience any performance issues. Dell EMC has SQL Server experts that can design the Ready Solution for different workloads. In my opinion, one of the key strengths of this solution is that each physical component can be sized to address database requirements. For example, the number of servers might need to be increased, but no additional investment is necessary on XtremIO X2, thus, saving the business money.
If I were to address just one other topic, I would pick the space savings achieved with a 1 TB SQL Server database. In figure 4, test results show a 3.52-to-1 data reduction ratio, which translates to a 71.5 percent space savings for a 1 TB database on the XtremIO X2 array. Always-on inline data reduction saves space by writing only unique blocks and then compressing those blocks to storage. The value of inline data reduction is the resulting ability to consolidate more databases to the XtremIO X2 array.
Figure 4: XtremIO X2 inline data reduction
Are you interested in learning how SQL Server performed on Windows Server Datacenter edition and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server? I recommend reading the design guide for Dell EMC XtremIO X2 with PowerEdge R840 servers. The validation and use case section of that guide takes the reader through all the performance findings. Or schedule a meeting with your local Microsoft expert at Dell EMC to explore the solution.
Why Ready Solutions for Microsoft SQL?
The Ready Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server team at Dell EMC is a group of SQL Server experts who are passionate about building database solutions. All of our solutions are fully integrated, validated, and tested. Figure 5 shows how we approach developing database solutions. Many of us have been on the customer or consulting side of the business, and these priorities reflect our passion to develop specialized database solutions that are faster and more reliable.
Figure 5: Our database solutions development approach
I hope you enjoyed this blog. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Additional Resources:
- Microsoft SQL Server Info Hub—A list of recent Dell EMC solutions for SQL Server
- Dell EMC Ready Solutions for Microsoft SQL—A good resource for all Dell EMC solutions for SQL Server