Oliver Reeh
VMware Communities User Moderator

My idea is to create an open thread with uniform tests whereby the results will be all inofficial and w/o any
warranty.

If anybody shouldn't be agreed with some results then he can make own tests and presents
his/her results too.

I hope this way to classify the different systems and give a "neutral" performance comparison.

Additionally I will mention that the performance is one of many aspects to choose the right system.

The others could be e.g.
- costs for storage system and infrastructure, etc.

There are examples of IOMETER Tests:
=====================================

######## TEST NAME: Max Throughput-100%Read
size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
32768,100,100,0,0,1,0,0

######## TEST NAME: RealLife-60%Rand-65%Read
size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
8192,100,65,60,0,1,0,0

######## TEST NAME: Max Throughput-50%Read
size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
32768,100,50,0,0,1,0,0

######## TEST NAME: Random-8k-70%Read
size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
8192,100,70,100,0,1,0,0

The global options are:
=====================================

Worker
Worker 1
Worker type
DISK
Default target settings for worker
Number of outstanding IOs,test connection rate,transactions per connection
64,ENABLED,500
Disk maximum size,starting sector
8000000,0

Run time = 5 min

For testing the disk C is configured and the test file (8000000 sectors) will be created by
first running - you need free space on the disk.

The cache size has direct influence on results. By systems with cache over 2GB the test
file should be increased.

LINK TO IOMETER:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/iometer/

Significant results are: Av. Response time, Av. IOS/sek, Av. MB/s
To mention are: what server (vm or physical), Processor number/type; What storage system, How many disks

Here the config file *.icf
####################################### BEGIN of *.icf

Version 2004.07.30
'TEST SETUP ====================================================================
'Test Description
IO-Test
'Run Time
' hours minutes seconds
0 5 0
'Ramp Up Time (s)
0
'Default Disk Workers to Spawn
NUMBER_OF_CPUS
'Default Network Workers to Spawn
0
'Record Results
ALL
'Worker Cycling
' start step step type
1 5 LINEAR
'Disk Cycling
' start step step type
1 1 LINEAR
'Queue Depth Cycling
' start end step step type
8 128 2 EXPONENTIAL
'Test Type
NORMAL
'END test setup
'RESULTS DISPLAY ===============================================================
'Update Frequency,Update Type
4,WHOLE_TEST
'Bar chart 1 statistic
Total I/Os per Second
'Bar chart 2 statistic
Total MBs per Second
'Bar chart 3 statistic
Average I/O Response Time (ms)
'Bar chart 4 statistic
Maximum I/O Response Time (ms)
'Bar chart 5 statistic
% CPU Utilization (total)
'Bar chart 6 statistic
Total Error Count
'END results display
'ACCESS SPECIFICATIONS =========================================================
'Access specification name,default assignment
Max Throughput-100%Read,ALL
'size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
32768,100,100,0,0,1,0,0
'Access specification name,default assignment
RealLife-60%Rand-65%Read,ALL
'size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
8192,100,65,60,0,1,0,0
'Access specification name,default assignment
Max Throughput-50%Read,ALL
'size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
32768,100,50,0,0,1,0,0
'Access specification name,default assignment
Random-8k-70%Read,ALL
'size,% of size,% reads,% random,delay,burst,align,reply
8192,100,70,100,0,1,0,0
'END access specifications
'MANAGER LIST ==================================================================
'Manager ID, manager name
1,PB-W2K3-04
'Manager network address
193.27.20.145
'Worker
Worker 1
'Worker type
DISK
'Default target settings for worker
'Number of outstanding IOs,test connection rate,transactions per connection
64,ENABLED,500
'Disk maximum size,starting sector
8000000,0
'End default target settings for worker
'Assigned access specs
'End assigned access specs
'Target assignments
'Target
C:
'Target type
DISK
'End target
'End target assignments
'End worker
'End manager
'END manager list
Version 2004.07.30

####################################### ENDE of *.icf

TABLE SAMPLE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TABLE oF RESULTS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SERVER TYPE: VM or PHYS.
CPU TYPE / NUMBER: VCPU / 1
HOST TYPE: Dell PE6850, 16GB RAM; 4x XEON 51xx, 2,66 GHz, DC
STORAGE TYPE / DISK NUMBER / RAID LEVEL: EQL PS3600 x 1 / 14+2 Disks / R50

##################################################################################
TEST NAME-------------------Av. Resp. Time ms------Av. IOs/sek-------Av. MB/sek------
##################################################################################

Max Throughput-100%Read........__________..........__________.........__________

RealLife-60%Rand-65%Read......__________..........__________.........__________

Max Throughput-50%Read..........__________..........__________.........__________

Random-8k-70%Read.................__________..........__________.........__________

EXCEPTIONS: CPU Util.-XX%;

##################################################################################

I hope YOU JOIN IN !

Regards
Christian

A Google Spreadsheet version is here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p2IFgyUF_v5Jn-7QobgY9Fw

Message was edited by:
ken.cline@hp.com to remove ALL CAPS from thread title

Message was edited by:
RDPetruska
Added link to Atamido's Google Spreadsheet