Huawei OceanStor V3 Converged Storage Systems — Using SSDs to Improve VMware Performance This document describes how Huawei OceanStor V3 converged storage systems use SSDs to improve the performance of VMware virtual desktops. The document introduces the technologies used by OceanStor V3 converged storage systems and VMware virtual desktops, verifies the performance acceleration function of SSDs in typical scenarios, and provides best practices, helping users select appropriate storage media for VMware virtual desktop deployment. Tang Xiaojuan Storage Solutions, IT, Huawei Enterprise BG 2015-10-28 V1.1 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
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Huawei OceanStor V3 Converged Storage
Systems — Using SSDs to Improve VMware
Performance
This document describes how Huawei OceanStor V3 converged storage systems use SSDs to improve the performance of
VMware virtual desktops. The document introduces the technologies used by OceanStor V3 converged storage systems and
VMware virtual desktops, verifies the performance acceleration function of SSDs in typical scenarios, and provides best
practices, helping users select appropriate storage media for VMware virtual desktop deployment.
1.6 Workload Model .................................................................................................................................................... 5
2 Products and Technologies ..................................................................................................... 6
2.1 OceanStor V3 Converged Storage Systems ............................................................................................................ 6
2.1.1 OceanStor OS ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
3.3.2 Deploying the Environment ...............................................................................................................................12
3.3.3 Starting a Boot Storm Test .................................................................................................................................15
3.3.4 Starting a Medium-level Workload Test ..............................................................................................................15
3.5 Test Procedure and Conclusion .............................................................................................................................16
3.5.1 Boot Storm Test Procedure.................................................................................................................................16
3.5.2 Boot Storm Test Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................18
3.5.3 Medium-level Workload Test Procedure .............................................................................................................18
4.1.1 Disk Domain Configuration ...............................................................................................................................23
4.1.2 Storage Pool Configuration ................................................................................................................................23
4.1.4 Host and Host Group Configuration ...................................................................................................................24
4.2.3 VM Template Configuration ..............................................................................................................................25
Huawei OceanStor V3 Converged Storage Systems — Using SSDs to Improve VMware Performance
directly provide both block and file services, thereby shortening storage resource access
paths to ensure that the two services are equally efficient.
Convergence of heterogeneous devices: Based on the built-in heterogeneous
virtualization function, OceanStor V3 converged storage systems can efficiently manage
storage systems from other mainstream vendors and unify resource pools for central and
flexible resource allocation.
Convergence of entry-level, mid-range, and high-end storage systems: OceanStor V3
converged storage systems are the only storage systems in the industry that enable
entry-level, mid-range, and high-end storage systems to interwork seamlessly with one
another. Data can freely flow among storage products of different models without the
assistance of third-party systems.
Convergence of SSDs and HDDs: The advantages of traditional and solid-state storage
media are combined, bringing the performance of different types of storage media into full play and striking an optimal balance between performance and cost.
Convergence of primary and backup storage: The built-in backup function enables
data to be efficiently backed up without additional backup software, simplifying backup solution management.
2.1.4 Virtualization, Intelligence, and Efficiency
RAID 2.0+ underlying virtualization: OceanStor V3 converged storage systems use the
RAID 2.0+ block virtualization technology. RAID 2.0+ block virtualization of the
OceanStor V3 implements virtualization for underlying disk management and
upper-layer resource management. Inside the system, the storage space of each disk is
divided into fine-grained data blocks, which comprise RAID groups. In doing so, data is
evenly distributed to all disks in the storage pool. In addition, data blocks–based resource
management largely improves the resource management efficiency.
SmartTier (intelligent storage tiering): SmartTier automatically analyzes data access
frequencies per unit time and migrates data to disks of different performance levels
based on the analysis result. (High-performance disks store most frequently accessed
data, performance disks store less frequently accessed data, and large-capacity disks
store seldom accessed data.) In this way, the optimal overall performance is achieved, and the IOPS cost is reduced.
SmartQoS (intelligent service quality control): SmartQoS categorizes service data based
on data characteristics (each category represents a type of application) and sets a priority
and performance objective for each category. In this way, resources are allocated to services properly, fully utilizing system resources.
SmartThin (thin provisioning): SmartThin allocates storage space on demand rather than
pre-allocating all storage space at the initial stage. It is more cost-effective because
customers can start business with a few disks and add disks based on site requirements. In this way, the initial purchase cost and TCO are reduced.
SmartCache (intelligent cache): SmartCache enables storage systems to use SSDs as
cache resources to improve system read performance in scenarios where read operations outnumber write operations and hotspot data exists.
Huawei OceanStor V3 Converged Storage Systems — Using SSDs to Improve VMware Performance
3 Using SSDs to Improve VMware Performance
3.1 Challenges
In the IT industry, enterprises and administration departments are faced with challenges
concerning capacity, performance, and prices in data storage. Traditional data centers are
characterized by inefficient resource utilization and high investments. Virtual data centers are
becoming the development trend. In the future, selecting storage systems and storage media
that meet critical service requirements to build or re-deploy virtual data centers is an
inevitable choice for enterprise IT to improve service efficiency and reduce TCO.
3.2 Huawei Solution
3.2.1 Solution Architecture
The solution employs Huawei OceanStor V3 converged storage systems using SSDs to
balance the performance and cost requirements when services grow or data changes within the
life cycle.
This solution is verified in two scenarios:
Boot Storm Test
When virtual desktops are being started, the operating systems and applications need to read
massive data from disks. A large number of I/Os are produced in a short period, requiring the
storage system to have the capability of processing such intensive I/Os. The test is performed
in the following procedure: 1. Ensure that all virtual desktops are shut down. 2. Use View
Administrator to batch power on VMs. 3. Compare how long it takes for virtual desktops
deployed on SAS disks and on SSDs to be started, and the disk usage, CPU usage, and IOPS
on the storage systems during the startup.
Medium-level Workload Test
This test is performed when daily office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, and 7-Zip are running. The disk usage, CPU usage, IOPS, and latency of
the storage systems using SAS disks and SSDs are compared when there are 250 users.
Huawei OceanStor V3 Converged Storage Systems — Using SSDs to Improve VMware Performance
3.3 Verification Procedure
3.3.1 Verification Network
Figure 3-1 Network diagram
[1] OceanStor 5500 V3 configuration: 1 x controller enclosure, 24 GB cache, 2 x 10 Gbit/s ETH module, 2 x disk enclosure, 25 x 600 GB SAS disks, 5 x 600 GB SSDs, 1 x disk domain (contains all SAS disks and SSDs, with a total capacity of 15.432 TB and free capacity of 1.301 TB), 1 x storage pool (RAID 5-9 and a capacity of 10 TB at the SAS disk layer; RAID 5-5 and a capacity of 1.6 TB at the SSD layer), 4x1 TB thick LUNs (as the operating system disks of desktop VMs)
[2]E9000 CH140 configuration: 96 GB memory, 12 x E5-2620 CPU, 1 x QLogic 8 Gbit/s HBA, 1x10 Gbit/s Ethernet HBA
[3] RH2288 V2 configuration: 256 GB memory, 16 x E5-2660 CPU, 1 x QLogic 8Gbit/s HBA, 1x10 Gbit/s Ethernet HBA
3.3.2 Deploying the Environment
Table 3-3 Environment deployment procedure
Step Sub-step Operation
1 Prepare the physical environment (hardware and networks).
2 Install and configure operating systems.
2.1 Install VMware vSphere on three RH2288 servers and the 12 blades
Huawei OceanStor V3 Converged Storage Systems — Using SSDs to Improve VMware Performance
[1] Disk configuration: scenarios 1: 25 SAS disks; scenario 2: 25 SAS disks and 5 SSDs
[2] Disk domain configuration: scenario 1: Add all SAS disks to one disk domain and set its hot spare policy to High (default); scenario 2: Add 5 SSDs to the existing disk domain.
[3] Storage pool configuration: create a storage pool, set the RAID policy of the SAS layer to RAID 5-9, Usage to Block Storage Service (default), add an SSD layer and set its RAID policy to RAID 5-5.
[4] LUN configuration: Evenly distribute LUNs to controllers A and B. In Advanced area of the LUNs, set Initial Capacity Allocation Policy to Allocate from the high-performance tier first. Retain the default values of other parameters.
[5] VM configuration: operating system disk: 25 GB, 2 GB memory, 1 x 2-core CPU
4.1.1 Disk Domain Configuration
A disk domain is a combination of multiple disks. After disks are consolidated and a certain
amount of hot spare capacity is reserved, a disk domain provides storage resources for storage
pools in a unified manner.
One or more disk domains can be created in the OceanStor V3.
Multiple storage pools can be created in a disk domain.
A disk domain can consist of SSDs, SAS disks, and/or NL-SAS disks.
Disk domains are isolated from each other in terms of performance, storage resources, and
faults.
The best practices use 2.5-inch 600 GB SAS disks and 2.5-inch 600 GB SSDs to provide
storage space for virtual desktops. As user data storage requires modest performance and
large capacity, NL-SAS disks are recommended.
Based on VMware View, you are advised to:
Use different disk domains to provide storage space for system disks and data disks to
facilitate management and maintenance.
Deploy not more than 100 disks on each layer of a disk domain to ensure performance and
reliability.
Retain the default (high) hot spare policy of the disk domain for the sake of reliability.
4.1.2 Storage Pool Configuration
A storage pool, a container that stores storage space resources, is created in a disk domain. A
storage pool can dynamically allocate resources from a disk domain and define the RAID
level of each storage tier.
A storage tier is a collection of storage media providing the same performance level in a
storage pool. Different storage tiers manage storage media with different performance levels
and provide different storage spaces for applications whose performance requirements vary.
Storage tiers are classified into three types: high-performance tier composed of SSDs,
performance tier consisting of SAS disks, and capacity tier made of NL-SAS disks.
OceanStor V3 supports six RAID levels: RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 3, RAID 50, and
RAID 1. The most commonly used RAID levels are RAID 6, RAID 10, and RAID 5. From
the perspective of disk usage, RAID 6 and RAID 5 are classified into RAID 6-4 (2D+2P),