DELL Reference Configuration Microsoft SQL Server...
Transcript of DELL Reference Configuration Microsoft SQL Server...
DELL Reference Configuration Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Fast Track Data Warehouse
A Dell Technical Configuration Guide
Database Solutions Engineering
Dell Product Group
Anthony Fernandez
Jisha J
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Executive Summary Data Warehouses provide the foundation for Business Intelligence systems, such as Analysis and
Reporting Services, which are critical for an organization to be able to scan through very large amounts
of data as efficiently as possible. Data Warehouse configurations typically suffer from design principles
that were originally intended for online transaction processing systems (OLTP). As the amount of data
grows, so do scan times that affect the overall business time to gather critical information.
Dell and Microsoft provide a set of guidelines and design principles called Data Warehouse Fast Track
(DWFT) to help customers design and implement balanced configurations specifically for Data
Warehouse databases providing a hardware balanced approach and predictable out-of-box
performance.
This reference configuration describes the architecture design principles to achieve a balanced
configuration for Dell™ PowerEdge™ R710 and Dell | EMC AX4-5 Fibre Channel Storage.
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July 2010
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Contents
Executive Summary .................................................................................................... ii
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 2
Audience and Scope ................................................................................................. 2
Microsoft Fast Track Data Warehouse Overview .................................................................. 2
Dell Microsoft Fast Track Data Warehouse Reference Architecture ........................................... 2
Recommendations and Best Practices ............................................................................ 5
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 13
References ............................................................................................................. 14
Tables
Table 1. Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture List ........................................ 3 Table 2. Dell PowerEdge R7100 Configuration Details ............................................. 4
Figures
Figure 1. Dell Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture ....................................... 3 Figure 2. Dell Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture With High Availability ............ 4 Figure 3. Reference Architecture Redundant Fibre Channel Switches ........................... 5 Figure 4. Reference Architecture With Clustering ................................................... 6 Figure 5. Maximum Bandwidth Memory Configuration .............................................. 7 Figure 6. Balanced Performance Memory Configuration ............................................ 8 Figure 7. Internal Storage Configuration .............................................................. 8 Figure 8. Dell | EMC AX4-5 Chassis ..................................................................... 9 Figure 9. Disk Group Layout............................................................................ 10 Figure 10. Disk LUN Layout .............................................................................. 10 Figure 11. Storage Controller LUN Assignment ....................................................... 11 Figure 12. Switch and Zone Configuration............................................................. 12
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Introduction This reference configuration describes a reference architecture to implement a Microsoft Fast Track
Data Warehouse utilizing the Dell PowerEdge R710 and Dell | EMC AX4-5 Storage. The goal of the
Microsoft Fast Track program is to define a methodology to build a balanced and optimized hardware
and software configuration specifically for Microsoft® SQL Server® Data Warehouse deployments.
Utilizing a building block approach, a Microsoft Fast Track solution offers a cost effective and proven
platform that has been tested and optimized to offer customers faster time to deploy and configure a
data warehouse infrastructure. A data warehouse is the central component in a Business Intelligence
solution that stores large quantities of data and information. As data continues to grow at a fast pace,
optimizing data retrieval is crucial for organizations to maintain service level agreements (SLAs).
Microsoft Fast Track provides a framework which allows customers to select a reference architecture
that has been designed with those principals in mind that best fit their needs, the amount of data, and
their performance requirements.
Audience and Scope
This reference configuration is intended for customers, partners, solution architects, storage
administrators, and database administrators who are evaluating, planning, or deploying a balanced
Data Warehouse solution. The scope is limited to the main repository of data or Data warehouse and
the balanced configuration thereof. Other systems that utilize the Data Warehouse as a source of
data, such as Analysis Services or Reporting Services, are not part of the scope of Microsoft Fast Track.
Microsoft Fast Track Data Warehouse Overview The Microsoft Fast Track Data Warehouse initiative provides a framework to build and deploy a
balanced configuration for a SQL Server Data Warehouse. The initiative provides guidelines and best
practices to configure software and hardware to achieve optimal cost and performance. Microsoft Fast
Track utilizes a building block approach focused on balanced configurations that has been tested and
validated for Data Warehouse workloads.
Dell Microsoft Fast Track Data Warehouse Reference Architecture This reference configuration provides detailed configuration information to set up and deploy a Data
Warehouse utilizing Microsoft Fast Track guidelines on the Dell PowerEdge R710 and Dell | EMC AX4-5
Fibre Channel Storage.
Table 1, as follows, lists recommended hardware that has been tested and selected for a balanced
configuration as published by Microsoft in the Fast Track Reference Configuration Guide listed in the
“References” section of this reference configuration. This reference configuration focuses on the Dell
PowerEdge R710 with two Dell| EMC AX4-5 Fibre Channel Arrays for a capacity range of 4TB to 8TB of
compressed data.
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Table 1. Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture List
Server CPU CPU Cores
SAN Data Drive Count
Initial Capacity
Maximum Capacity
Dell PowerEdge R710 (2) Intel® Xeon® Nehalem Quad Core @ 2.66GHz
8 (2) EMC® AX4-5
(16) 300GB 15K FC
4TB 8TB
Figure 1 shows the hardware components that comprise the Data Warehouse solution published by
Microsoft. Note that component selection such as Fibre Channel HBAs, Fibre Channel Switches, and
Networking Switches are not listed in the Microsoft Fast Track Reference Configuration Guide. The
following configuration was deployed in the Dell Labs.
Figure 1. Dell Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture
Dell PowerEdge R710
Dell | EMC AX4-5 Fibre Channel Storage
Brocade SW200E Fibre Channel Switch
Dell PowerConnect™ 54XX Series
Two Dual-Port 8Gb Fibre Channel HBAs
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Figure 2 shows the reference architecture configured with High Availability.
Figure 2. Dell Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture With High Availability
Table 2. Dell PowerEdge R7100 Configuration Details
Server PowerEdge R710
CPU (2) Quad Core Intel Xeon X5550 2.66GHz 8MB Cache, 6.4GT/s Intel QPI, Turbo, HT, 95W
Number of Cores 8
Memory 48GB RAM (6x8GB DIMMS @1333MHz)
PCI-E Slots PCI-E Riser with two x4 Gen 2 slots (Slots 1 and 2)
Internal Storage Controller PERC6/I or H700 512MB Cache
Internal Drives (2) 73GB 6Gpbs SAS 15K HDD (6) 300GB 6Gbps SAS 15K HDD* * Various sizes can be configured.
Network Adapters Two Embedded Broadcom 5709C Dual-Port Gigabit Ethernet (four ports total)
Network Switch Dell PowerConnect 54XX Series
FC HBA (2) Emulex LPe-12002-E (8Gb Dual-Port FC HBA) Or (2) QLogic QLE2562 (8Gb Dual-Port FC HBA)
FC Switch (2) Brocade SW200E (8 Ports enabled each)* * High Availability Configuration requires two FC switches.
FC Storage (2) Dell | EMC AX4-5 Fibre Channel Arrays
Dell PowerEdge R710 Cluster Node 1
Dual Brocade SW200E Fibre Channel Switches
Dell | EMC AX4-5 Fibre Channel Storage
Dell PowerEdge R710 Cluster Node 2
Dell PowerConnect Series Private Switch
Dell PowerConnect Series Public Switch
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Recommendations and Best Practices
This section details the recommendations and best practices for implementing a high performing Fast
Track data warehouse on the latest Dell PowerEdge Server R710 and Dell EMC AX4-5F storage
enclosure. In this section, the hardware based optimizations are given preference compared to the
software and database parameters.
Database Availability
Based on business requirements, it may be necessary to have a highly reliable and available database
configuration with high performance for data warehousing. Dual Fibre Channel Switches provide path
redundancy and availability. In addition, they provide the flexibility to add clustered nodes with
Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) to provide server redundancy.
The complete Dell Reference Architecture may be represented as in Figure 3, as follows, for Single
Node configurations with redundant Fibre Channel switches.
Figure 3. Reference Architecture Redundant Fibre Channel Switches
The Dell Microsoft Fast Track architecture with high availability MSCS may be depicted as in Figure 4,
as follows.
0
SP B
1 0
SP A
1 0
SP B
1 0
SP A
1
Dual Brocade SW200E
Fibre Channel Switches
Dell PowerEdge R710
Dual Emulex 8Gb HBAs
Dell | EMC AX4-5 FC
Storage
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Figure 4. Reference Architecture With Clustering
Figure 4 shows an active-passive SQL server configuration using Microsoft Clustering technology.
Microsoft clustering enables the passive database node to host the database service if the primary
database server (the active node) fails. This guarantees a highly available configuration at the
database, HBA, network, and SAN layers.
Server
Server selection for Microsoft Fast Track implementations is based on the principals for building a
balanced system from the storage to the server. Given the multicore capabilities of today’s servers, a
starting point to build a balanced configuration is based on the maximum CPU Core consumption rate
(MCR) a system can process. Microsoft suggests 200MB/s per CPU core as a starting point to build a Fast
Track configuration based on test results.
The Dell PowerEdge R710 is a dense 2U server with dual socket Intel Xeon 5500 series Quad-Core
processors, Intel’s 5520 I/O Hub (IOH) with QuickPath Architecture, DDR3 memory, DIMM thermal
sensors, PCI Express Generation 2, and dual-port embedded Gigabit Ethernet controllers.
CPU
The Microsoft Fast Track reference describes the balanced performance for the R710 with the Intel
Xeon 5500 Series X5550 2.66GHz Quad-Core processor.
Using a 200MB per second per Core of page-compressed data to determine the MCR of the 8 core
system, the R710 would yield an MCR of 1.6GB/s. The MCR provides a starting point to determine the
bandwidth from the storage to maximize the CPU capacity. This methodology helps define a
watermark of performance when designing a balanced configuration free of bottlenecks throughout the
data path, for example, storage spindles, storage controllers, SAN fabric, FC HBAs, and memory.
0
SP B
1 0
SP A
1 0
SP A
1 0
SP A
1
MSCS clustered nodes Active Node Passive Node
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Memory
Memory sizing for a Fast Track Data Warehouse configuration depends on the workload characteristics
of data access. Microsoft recommends the minimum amount of memory required to drive the MCR or
200MB/s per core which is 4GB of RAM per Core. For an 8 Core system, 32GB would be the minimum.
The R710 has three Memory Channels and up to 3 DIMMs per Channel. For configurations that require
maximum bandwidth but do not necessarily benefit from capacity, it is recommended to configure the
memory with 8GB RDIMMs in the following configuration. Figure 5 shows two sockets each displaying
three channels with 3 DDR3 DIMMs per channel. With the 8GB DIMMs, only the first slot per channel is
populated. This configuration provides maximum bandwidth with a total of 48GB of RAM.
Figure 5. Maximum Bandwidth Memory Configuration
For a balanced configuration that does not require higher capacities, 4GB DDR3 DIMMs offer a cost
effective solution as shown in Figure 6 below.
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
A8
A9
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
6 x 8GB DDR3 1333MHz
Total RAM 48 GB
10.6GB/s per Memory Channel
3 Memory Channels per Socket
Quad-Core Socket
1
Quad-Core Socket
2
DIMM Slots
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Figure 6. Balanced Performance Memory Configuration
Internal Storage
Customers have a choice to select from two flavors of chassis for the R710 with up to eight 2.5” 6Gbps
SAS drives or up to six 3.5” 6Gbps SAS drives.
Figure 7, as follows, shows both chassis configured with the first two drives in a RAID 1 configuration
for Operating System installation. The remaining drives are used for staging or for backup space.
Depending on the space required, customers can configure the drives in the following two
configurations.
Figure 7. Internal Storage Configuration
*Space configured with RAID5 or other RAID types can be configured depending on space or performance requirements.
Space Configured:
Operating System: 73GB
Staging/Backup*:
(6) 600GB Drives: 2.8TB
(6) 300GB Drives: 1.4TB
(6) 146GB Drives: 680GB
Space Configured: Operating System: 143GB Staging/Backup*: (4) 600GB Drives: 1.7TB (4) 450GB Drives: 1.3TB (4) 300GB Drives: 900GB (4) 146GB Drives: 400GB
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
A8
A9
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
12 x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
Total RAM 48 GB
8.5 GB/s per Memory Channel
3 Memory Channels per Socket
Quad-Core Socket
1
Quad-Core Socket
2
DIMM Slots
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It is recommended to utilize the PERC/i or PERC H700 internal storage controller. This controller
provides internal hardware RAID capabilities (0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60) and mixed RAID configurations,
for example, RAID 1 for Operating System drives, and RAID5 or RAID10 for staging/backup.
For configurations in which RAID 1 is sufficient for the staging/backup area, the SAS6/iR or H200 offers
RAID 0 and RAID 1 capabilities. Note that the SAS6/i and H200 offer a maximum of two RAID 1 sets.
Database
Microsoft has definite configuration guidelines and best practices for deploying a Data Warehouse using
the Fast Track approach. This configuration includes minimum indexing, table partitioning, and table
compression considerations. The major database settings that would enable the SQL Server database to
be optimized for a sequential database workload may include the following:
Database startup parameters
–E : Increases the number of extends allocated to a database table
–T1117: Ensures the even growth of all files in the file group
For the complete configuration guidelines, please refer to the Microsoft Fast Track Reference
Configuration Guide listed in the “References” section of this reference configuration.
Storage Attached Network
The storage attached network (SAN) configuration plays a major role in the database performance.
This section discusses storage Disk Group, Logical Unit (LUN) and Data file layout, switch and HBA
cabling, and Multipath I/O configuration.
Storage
The Microsoft Fast Track Reference Configuration Guide provides the strict guidelines for creating the
RAID configurations and storage LUNs on the external storage array. In addition, the distribution of the
storage LUNs between the storage processors of the array plays a significant role in delivering the
optimum output out of the array.
Figure 8, as follows, shows the front and back of the chassis. Note that Disk 0 through Disk 3 contains
software flares installed on the MBR.
Figure 8. Dell | EMC AX4-5 Chassis
Figure 9 shows the physical Disk Group layout across both storage arrays. Microsoft specifies utilizing
RAID1 mirrored sets for database data and Log files. Each AX4-5 is divided into four Data Disk Groups
and one Log Disk Group per Array.
Front
Back
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Figure 9. Disk Group Layout
Figure 10, as follows, shows the LUN layout recommendations. Two volumes (LUNs) are carved out of
each of the RAID groups created for data files, and a single LUN utilizes the entire disk group for a Log
file. Lab tests showed that the EMC storage processor is able to maximize performance per spindle
within the mirrored set by dedicating a LUN to a spindle.
Figure 10. Disk LUN Layout
In this case, the storage processor (SP) is able to manage the requests to the backend disks in a more
streamlined manner to reduce the overall seek time of both the mirrored member disks. This
streamlining results in an overall improvement in the disk throughput.
Hot Spares
Hot Spares
Data
LUN
10
Data
LUN
9
Log LUN 2
Data
LUN
12
Data
LUN
11
Data
LUN
14
Data
LUN
13
Data
LUN
16
Data
LUN
15
Data
LUN
2
Data
LUN
1
Data
LUN
4
Data
LUN
3
Data
LUN
6
Data
LUN
5
Data
LUN
8
Data
LUN
7
Log LUN 1
LOG
Data1 Data2 Data3 Data4
Hot Spares
LOG
Data5 Data6
Data7 Data8
Hot Spares
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Figure 11. Storage Controller LUN Assignment
To ensure maximum performance, both LUNs from the same Disk Group should be assigned to the same
Storage Processor. The Log volumes in each of the arrays may be assigned to either SP A or SP B.
Storage Cache Configuration
The Dell | EMC AX4-5 has a total of 2GB of cache, 1GB of cache per processor. Some performance
gains may be achieved by configuring 100% of cache to writes during data load windows. Temporary
files may also benefit from storage cache configuration. However, since tempdb files share the same
spindles with database files, it is recommended to increase the available memory to allow sorts to
happen in memory as opposed to disk which may affect the overall performance. For more in depth
discussion of storage cache configuration recommendations, refer to “Configuring cache memory for
DW/DSS workloads” in the following white paper at http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-
papers/h5548-deploying-clariion-dss-workloads-wp.pdf.
Switch and HBA Configuration
The Microsoft Fast Track Reference Configuration Guide describes a basic approach for HBA-SAN
configuration. Dell reference architecture proposes value additions at the SAN Configuration to
provide availability to the Fast Track architecture.
Several tests were conducted in Dell labs to determine the optimized SAN Configuration to complement
the Fast Track concepts. The proposed Dell Microsoft Fast Track SAN Configuration may be represented
as in Figure 12.
Hot Spares
Hot Spares
Data
LUN
10
Data
LUN
9
Log LUN 2
Data
LUN
12
Data
LUN
11
Data
LUN
14
Data
LUN
13
Data
LUN
16
Data
LUN
15
SP A SP B
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Figure 12. Switch and Zone Configuration
The use of at least two switches to the setup adds high availability at the switch layer. Switch zoning
should be configured properly to make sure that all the HBA ports are able to access the storage ports.
In the proposed configuration, high availability is ensured at the HBA layer and the switch layer. In
other words, the failure of a single HBA or switch will not result in downtime of the configuration.
Multipathing Options and Settings
Customers have the choice of implementing Microsoft Multipath I/O (MPIO) or EMC PowerPath® for
storage connectivity and multipathing, depending on their preference and expertise. Both solutions
are fully tested and supported by Dell Fast Track Solutions.
Microsoft MPIO
Microsoft references MPIO as the multipathing solution for fast track implementations as a fully
integrated solution for external SAN connectivity. Note that the use of EMC PowerPath is required to
initialize and format the external LUNs presented to the Operating System as disks. When the disks
have been fully configured, Microsoft MPIO can be utilized for multipathing.
Microsoft recommends the use of the Round Robin with Subset function as the preferred load balancing
policy.
EMC PowerPath
EMC PowerPath provides a number of load balancing policies for routing I/O requests. The default
setting is the Clariion® Optimized (ClarOpt) setting. ClarOpt processes I/O requests across multiple
paths based on reads and writes. ClarOpt also allows users to define priority on specific paths.
In lab testing, a 4-5% improvement was observed with the load balancing policy set to Least I/Os when
compared with ClarOpt setting. This setting assigns I/Os to paths with the fewest number of requests
in the queue.
Dell recommends to experiment with various settings for a specific workload to find optimal
performance.
Database Server
HBA 1 HBA 2
A B A B
SW1 SW2
StorageArray 1 StorageArray 2
Zone1 Zone2
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Conclusion Microsoft Fast Track Architecture presents a balanced configuration of processor core and disk
performance capabilities, optimized for a sequential workload. Dell, as an efficient hardware partner,
adds value to the configuration by providing the best practices and recommendations at all the
hardware layers. Following these recommendations will help ensure a complete balanced configuration
with optimized performance specifically designed for a sequential workload.
To summarize, Dell Microsoft Fast Track Reference Architecture provides the following value additions
and advantages along with a powerful, high performing configuration:
Best practices at all the hardware and software layers
Tested and Validated Configuration with proven methodology
High Availability at every level of the Fast Track configuration
Dell and Microsoft together provide expertise at the hardware and software layers to design and build
balanced reference architectures for Data Warehouse Fast Track deployments ensuring better out-of-
box performance.
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References
Dell SQL Server Solutions
www.dell.com/sql
Dell Services www.dell.com/services
Dell Support
www.dell.com/support
Microsoft Fast Track Data Warehouse
www.microsoft.com/fasttrack
An Introduction to Fast Track Data Warehouse Architectures
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd459146.aspx
Implementing a SQL Server Fast Track Data Warehouse
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd459178.aspx
Microsoft Fast Track Reference Configuration Guide
http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/B/D/DBDE7972-1EB9-470A-BA18-
58849DB3EB3B/FTRARefConfigGuide.docx
Microsoft Dell Data Sheet
http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/F/A/DFAAD98F-0F1B-4F8B-988F-
22C3F94B08E0/Dell%20Fast%20Track%202.0%20Datasheet.pdf
Introduction to New Data Warehouse Scalability Features in SQL Server 2008
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc278097(SQL.100).aspx
Best Practices for Data Warehousing with SQL Server 2008
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/cc719165.aspx