Enable Greater Data Reduction and Storage Performance With Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 Series Storage Arrays

A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.
3.5x the Enable greater data reduction

data reduction*
Maximize storage
and storage performance with
efficiency
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series
storage arrays
Up to 135% Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series arrays
more bandwidth** outperformed the HPE Primera A670 in
Minimize bottlenecks
during periods of high data reduction, performance, out‑of-the-box
user traffic VM deployment, and more
Organizations face different challenges for storing and accessing data.
Some need powerful arrays to maximize performance, and some
Up to 209% want the flexibility of an infrastructure that combines storage and
more IOPS** compute in a single system. New all‑flash, NVMe™‑based Dell EMC™
Satisfy more users PowerStore™ 7000 series storage arrays help organizations meet these
with faster storage needs. PowerStore arrays deliver high data reduction and speed in a 2U
performance
form factor, and a hypervisor-enabled PowerStore array can internally
host VMware ESXi™ VMs while also providing storage resources to
external hosts.
9x faster We tested two Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series arrays against an HPE
out‑of-the-box Primera A670 storage array across a range of performance and usability
VM deployment† metrics. The Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series arrays had higher data
Save IT time and effort
reduction ratios, supported more input/output operations per second
(IOPS), had lower latency, and provided greater bandwidth than the
HPE Primera A670. In addition, the hypervisor-enabled PowerStore
array allowed our admins to start deploying a VM right out of the box.
With Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series storage arrays, organizations can
Note: The standard PowerStore model is the 7000T, maximize storage capacity and increase storage performance.
and the hypervisor-enabled model is the 7000X.
*Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T and 7000X vs. HPE Primera A670 array
**Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T vs. HPE Primera A670 array
†Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X vs. HPE Primera A670 array
Enable greater data reduction and storage performance with Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series storage arrays August 2020
Introducing the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series storage arrays
In addition to outperforming the HPE Primera A670 in our hands-on testing, Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series
storage arrays can provide the following features:
• Intelligent automation with array provisioning and cluster capacity balancing

• Always-on data reduction for storage efficiency without compromising performance
• Block, file, and VMware vSphere® Virtual Volumes™ support in a single array
• Dell EMC PowerStore (hypervisor enabled) AppsON technology for VMware-compatible
application hosting (this feature applies to the PowerStore X models only)
• PowerStore Manager, an HTML5 graphical user interface for local management, monitoring
(including VMware environments), and analysis
• NVMe-based architecture for high levels of performance and improved storage response times
Dell EMC PowerStore (7000T model) Dell EMC hypervisor-enabled PowerStore

(7000X model)
The latest storage offering from Dell EMC, the
PowerStore 7000T presents a two-node, all‑flash With this two-node offering, Dell EMC has combined
NVMe storage solution for organizations. The Intel® all-flash storage with VMware-hosted AppsON
Xeon® Scalable processor-powered array takes up application support in a single 2U array. Organizations
just 2U of rack space, enabling enterprises to save could gain a completely virtualized environment
on data center costs by delaying the need to expand ready to host VMs and applications with minimal
to new rooms or even buildings. Organizations configuration. These capabilities could decrease
can scale up and out by clustering PowerStore hardware requirements (reducing the need to buy
7000T arrays together and augmenting storage additional servers and switches), lower capital,
performance and capacity without increasing the operational, and licensing costs, and simplify
management workload. deployment and management.
Dell EMC PowerStore array
Enable greater data reduction and storage performance with Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series storage arrays August 2020 | 2
Testing data reduction, performance, and usability on the Dell EMC and HPE solutions
We used default configuration settings for all testing and followed recommendations from each vendor’s
published best practices. Both models in the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series are two-node arrays; for
consistency, we also used a two‑node HPE Primera A670 array for our testing. Below, we outline how we tested
data reduction, performance, and usability on the three arrays. For detailed results of all our testing, see the
science behind the report.
Data reduction testing

Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T and 7000X vs. HPE Primera A670
We used a storage benchmarking tool called Vdbench to measure data reduction on the Dell EMC PowerStore
arrays and the HPE Primera A670. Both Dell EMC PowerStore arrays achieved the same data reduction ratio.
Performance testing
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T vs. HPE Primera A670
Using Vdbench, we measured block storage performance on both arrays under different I/O workloads. In this
report, we present the results of performance testing on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T and HPE Primera A670.
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X vs. HPE Primera A670
We configured the hypervisor-enabled Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X to host internal VMs running Vdbench and
compared its storage performance to that of the HPE Primera A670 running Vdbench on externally hosted VMs.
Next, we ran a MongoDB workload on VMs that the PowerStore 7000X hosted internally. Simultaneously, we ran
a Vdbench workload on externally hosted VMs on both solutions. We captured several performance indicators:
• The IOPS that both solutions supported while running Vdbench on internally hosted VMs (on the Dell EMC
PowerStore 7000X) and externally hosted VMs (on the HPE Primera A670).
• The database operations per second and database application latency that the Dell EMC PowerStore
7000X delivered while running a MongoDB workload on internally hosted VMs. Because the HPE Primera
A670 lacks the capability to host VMs internally, we could not make a comparison for this test.
• The bandwidth and IOPS that both solutions supported while running Vdbench on externally hosted VMs.
Note that for this and the above scenario, the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X was simultaneously running
workloads on internal and external VMs, while the HPE Primera A670 was only running a workload on
externally hosted VMs.
Usability testing
We tested out-of-the-box VM deployment on the PowerStore 7000X versus the HPE Primera A670 (which
required separately configured VM hosts), capturing the time required to deploy a VM in a VMware environment.
We measured how quickly we could access restored data on 10 storage volumes on the PowerStore 7000T
versus the HPE Primera A670.
About the metrics we used to measure storage performance
Our Vdbench testing offers insight into storage performance by showing:
• The number of input/output operations per second (IOPS) a solution can handle, indicating
whether it can process a high volume of requests
• The speed with which a storage solution can respond (storage latency), minimizing the chance
that users and applications will experience long wait times
• The amount of data a storage solution can process per second (bandwidth), indicating how
well it can process a high volume of data

Gain more usable storage capacity with more efficient data reduction
Typically, storage administrators group storage resources into logical unit numbers (LUNs) and present them to
end users using a block storage protocol. For all of our tests, we used the Fibre Channel storage protocol. Using
Vdbench, we provisioned four 200GB LUNs and filled them with a 3:1 compressible and 2:1 dedupable 800GB
data set.1
Next, we measured how well each solution deduplicated and compressed the data; that is, how much duplicate
data it recognized and eliminated, and how much data it compressed. We did this by running a write test,
which contained an equal number of 128KB and 256KB blocks, on the data set. The Dell EMC PowerStore 7000
series arrays offered an overall 7.1:1 data reduction ratio compared to the 2.0:1 ratio of the HPE Primera A670,
meaning that the Dell arrays offered about three and a half times the data reduction of the HPE Primera A670
(see Figure 1).
If your organization is heavily utilizing storage, you need a solution that can keep up with capacity demands. As
our testing demonstrated, the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T and 7000X arrays reduced data more efficiently than
the HPE Primera A670, providing more usable storage capacity.
111.9 GB 800 GB DELL EMC
3.5x [OVERALL EFFICIENCY 7.1:1]

POWERSTORE 7000T
AND 7000X
THE DATA
401.0 GB 800 GB HPE PRIMERA A670
REDUCTION
[OVERALL EFFICIENCY 2.0:1]
Figure 1: Amount of physical storage used, after data reduction, while running a 50% 128KB, 50% 256KB write test.
Lower is better. Source: Principled Technologies.
Performance testing
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T vs. HPE Primera A670 232,602 DELL EMC
POWERSTORE 7000T
Support more IOPS HPE PRIMERA A670
Storage arrays employ data reduction, a feature that cuts down 171,772 (DATA REDUCTION OFF)
on overall storage utilization by reducing incoming data in real HPE PRIMERA A670
time. On the HPE Primera A670, users must make the choice of (DATA REDUCTION ON)
whether to turn data reduction on (to free storage space) or off
(to improve storage performance). On the Dell EMC PowerStore 75,160
arrays, users do not need to make this choice, since the arrays
offer always-on data reduction. We explored how enabling and
disabling data reduction might affect performance on the HPE
IOPS ON AN 8KB RANDOM
Primera A670, and how it compared to the performance of the 100% WRITE WORKLOAD
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T array. UP TO
First, we ran an 8KB random 100% write workload on the Dell 209%
MORE
EMC PowerStore 7000T. While using always-on data reduction,
the array achieved 232,602 IOPS (see Figure 2). Next, we ran the Figure 2: IOPS supported while running a
Vdbench workload, with data reduction enabled
same workload on the HPE Primera A670 with data reduction
and disabled on the HPE Primera A670. The data
turned off. The HPE array produced 171,772 IOPS. When we reduction feature on the Dell EMC PowerStore
enabled data reduction on the HPE Primera A670 and ran the arrays is always on. Higher is better. Source:
workload again, the array produced 75,160 IOPS—less than Principled Technologies.
half of what it had produced with data reduction disabled.
These results indicate that businesses using the HPE array with data reduction turned on (as is standard, to free
capacity) would see a 53 percent performance reduction compared to running the same workload with data
reduction turned off. The HPE Primera A670 produced 35 percent fewer IOPS than the Dell EMC PowerStore
7000T with data reduction disabled—a mode that also risks the array using and running out of storage space
sooner. Note that, after running this test, we enabled data reduction on the HPE Primera A670 for the remainder
of our testing.
222,865 DELL EMC Next, we wanted to determine each

POWERSTORE 7000T solution’s ability to handle a high volume
182,030 of user requests. We ran two tests: (1) a
HPE PRIMERA A670
32KB 70/30 read/write workload, and (2) an
OLTP-like mixed read/write workload, which
111,026 105,687 emulates the database I/O requests a server
would handle. The OLTP-like workload
comprised 8KB and 128KB block sizes and
a variety of random and sequential reads
and writes. (For more details about the
workloads we used, see “How we tested”
IOPS ON A 32KB IOPS ON AN OLTP-LIKE
in the science behind the report.) The Dell
MIXED WORKLOAD WORKLOAD
101% 72%
EMC PowerStore 7000T outperformed
the HPE Primera A670 on both tests,
MORE MORE
delivering 101 percent more IOPS on the
first workload and 67 percent more on the
Figure 3: IOPS supported while running two different workloads using second (see Figure 3).
the Vdbench benchmark. Higher is better.
Source: Principled Technologies.
23,239 23,238 DELL EMC
POWERSTORE 7000T
Process more data with
higher bandwidth HPE PRIMERA A670
To test how much data each array could process

per second, we ran two Vdbench workloads 10,763
9,877
with large 256KB blocks of data—one using
random reads and one using sequential reads.
Running both types of access patterns provides
insight into how an array might handle large
random and sequential block I/O. The Dell
MB/s ON A RANDOM MB/s ON A SEQUENTIAL
EMC PowerStore 7000T outperformed the HPE READ WORKLOAD READ WORKLOAD
116% 135%
Primera A670 on both workloads, supporting up
to 135 percent more bandwidth (see Figure 4).
MORE MORE
An array with high bandwidth capabilities helps
process more data for large data requests such Figure 4: Bandwidth (MB/s) provided while running two Vdbench
as streaming video or big data applications. workloads with 256KB data blocks. Higher is better.
Deliver faster response times

2.01 DELL EMC Sub-millisecond latencies under a significant I/O load indicate
POWERSTORE 7000T
that your storage is performing optimally. Starting with the
HPE PRIMERA A670 Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T, we configured a Vdbench I/O
scenario (an OLTP-like mixed read/write workload comprised
of 8KB and 128KB block sizes and a variety of read/write ratios
at a fixed IOPS rate) to deliver a latency of approximately half
a millisecond. We then ran the same parameters and workload
0.56 on the HPE Primera A670, which delivered a latency of 2.01
milliseconds (see Figure 5). These results indicate that the Dell
EMC PowerStore 7000T could process OLTP-like workloads
LATENCY IN MILLISECONDS while still delivering fast response times, potentially improving
72%
application and user experience.
LESS
Figure 5: Response time (milliseconds) delivered

while producing 107,000 IOPS. Lower is better.
Host database VMs internally while providing storage resources to external hosts
In addition to providing storage, the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X has an embedded hypervisor that enables
users to deploy, host, and manage VMs on the array itself—a capability that could reduce the initial need to
acquire separate servers for storage and compute.
We ran four scenarios to test various aspects of storage performance on both arrays.
• In Scenario 1, we ran a simple Vdbench simulation with internal Vdbench VMs hosted inside the Dell EMC
PowerStore 7000X array, versus external Vdbench VMs hosted on two-socket servers connected to the HPE
Primera A670 array.
• In Scenarios 2-4, we ran a MongoDB database workload with internal VMs hosted inside the PowerStore
7000X array as the array externally ran other Vdbench simulations simultaneously. We ran the same
external Vdbench simulations on servers connected to the HPE Primera A670. Table 1 explains this
scenario in more detail.
162,931 DELL EMC

POWERSTORE 7000X Scenario 1: Testing storage performance on the
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X (hosting Vdbench VMs
HPE PRIMERA A670
internally) vs. the HPE Primera A670 (hosting Vdbench
VMs externally)
87,856
When we ran a 4KB random write Vdbench workload on VMs
hosted internally on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and
externally on the HPE Primera A670, the Dell EMC PowerStore
7000X produced 85 percent more IOPS than the HPE Primera A670
(see Figure 6).
IOPS ON A 4KB RANDOM
WRITE WORKLOAD
85%
MORE
Figure 6: IOPS supported while running a

Vdbench workload on VMs hosted internally
(on the PowerStore 7000X) or externally (on
the HPE Primera A670, which cannot host
VMs internally). Higher is better. Source:
Principled Technologies.
Scenarios 2-4: Testing database performance on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X
(simultaneously hosting database VMs internally and VMs running Vdbench
simulations externally) vs. the HPE Primera A670 (hosting only VMs running Vdbench
simulations externally)
For these scenarios, we ran two types of workloads simultaneously: (1) Yahoo Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB),
which simulates analytics workloads, on internal database VMs, and (2) Vdbench on external VMs. This second
workload type included two variations throughout the test window, which we describe in Table 1 as Scenarios
3 and 4.
Table 1: Testing database performance on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X (simultaneously hosting database VMs
internally and VMs running Vdbench simulations externally) vs. the HPE Primera A670 (hosting only VMs running Vdbench
simulations externally).
Scenario Workload Metric VM location on VM location

the Dell EMC on the HPE
PowerStore 7000X Primera A670
2: On the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X, we ran

YCSB on VMs running the document-based N/A: The HPE
database MongoDB and measured database YCSB on VMs Database OPS and Primera A670
Internal
operations per second (OPS) and application running MongoDB application latency cannot host
latency. Simultaneously, we performed Scenarios VMs internally
2 and 3.
3: Simultaneously to performing Scenario 2, we

ran a 256KB sequential read Vdbench workload on
Vdbench Bandwidth External External
VMs that each array hosted externally, measuring
bandwidth.
4: After Scenario 3 completed, but while Scenario

2 was still running on the Dell EMC PowerStore
7000X, we ran an 8KB random write Vdbench Vdbench IOPS External External
workload on VMs that each array hosted
externally, this time measuring IOPS.
Scenario 2: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X internally hosting
MongoDB VMs running a YCSB workload
The Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X supported
188,320 database operations per second. 0.41 DELL EMC POWERSTORE 7000X
While doing so, the array
0.33
maintained submillisecond read and
update (write) database application
latencies (see Figure 7).
UP TO
188,320
DATABASE OPERATIONS
PER SECOND READ UPDATE
APPLICATION (WRITE) APPLICATION
DATABASE LATENCY (MS) DATABASE LATENCY (MS)
HPE PRIMERA A670 Figure 7: Database application latency (ms) delivered by the
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X while hosting internal VMs and
CANNOT HOST
simultaneously delivering storage to external hosts. The HPE
INTERNAL VMS, SO WE Primera A670 cannot host internal VMs, so we could not make
COULD NOT MAKE A a comparison. Source: Principled Technologies.
COMPARISON
Scenario 3: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and

DELL EMC POWERSTORE 7000X
HPE Primera A670 externally hosting VMs 13,704
running a Vdbench workload (bandwidth) HPE PRIMERA A670
Simultaneous to running Scenario 2, the Dell EMC 10,450
PowerStore 7000X also supported 31 percent

greater bandwidth for the Vdbench workloads it
hosted externally than the HPE Primera A670 did
(see Figure 8).
BANDWIDTH
(MB/S)
31%
MORE
Figure 8: Bandwidth (MB/s) provided to external hosts

running a Vdbench workload. The PowerStore 7000X
achieved these results while running Vdbench and
MongoDB simultaneously. The HPE Primera A670
was running only Vdbench. Higher is better. Source:
Principled Technologies.
Scenario 4: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and HPE Primera A670 externally hosting VMs running
a Vdbench workload (IOPS)
In addition to providing greater bandwidth, the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X produced 65 percent more IOPS
than the HPE Primera A670 (see Figure 9), even as it was simultaneously hosting MongoDB VMs internally in
Scenario 2.
The wins in Scenarios 2-4 are particularly striking when you consider that the HPE Primera A670 lacks the
capability to host internal VMs and support internal workloads. Even with applications consuming internal
compute and storage resources on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X, the performance this Dell EMC array
delivered to externally based VMs was not just adequate, but greater than that of the HPE array.
129,909 DELL EMC Figure 9: IOPS provided to external hosts running a

POWERSTORE 7000X Vdbench workload. The PowerStore 7000X achieved
these results while running Vdbench and MongoDB
HPE PRIMERA A670 simultaneously. The HPE Primera A670 was running
only Vdbench. Higher is better. Source:
78,775 Principled Technologies.
IOPS ON A 8KB RANDOM

WRITE WORKLOAD
65%
MORE
Greater versatility with a smaller
data center footprint
The Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X ran compute and
8U storage simultaneously while occupying just 2U of
rack space. If businesses using the HPE Primera
A670 wanted to host VMs in a highly available (HA)
environment, they would need to purchase additional
2U servers, increasing the total footprint of the HPE
Primera A670 array to 8U (the two-node array takes
Dell EMC HPE Primera A670 up 4U, and our testbed used two 2U servers). With its
PowerStore 7000X 2x additional 2U servers compact form factor, the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X
to host VMs
could help organizations save on data center costs by
delaying the need to expand—all while enjoying the
Figure 10: Amount of space taken up by storage
array plus any servers necessary to provide
flexibility of an AppsON infrastructure.
storage resources while hosting database VMs.
Lower is better. Source: Principled Technologies.
Usability testing
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X vs. HPE Primera A670 array
Spend less time on out-of-the-box VM deployment DELL EMC POWERSTORE 7000X
Traditionally, storage systems haven’t been able to support embedded virtual HPE PRIMERA A670
machines and serve as storage targets at the same time. The Dell EMC
PowerStore 7000X offers a virtualized VMware-based environment out of the 53s
box that allows admins to provision storage to VMs residing on the array itself
with a few clicks. The Dell EMC PowerStore array also automatically provisions 8m 15s
Tier 1 storage to the embedded VMware environment.
OUT-OF-THE-BOX
Deploying a VM that could access the HPE Primera A670 required us to add VM DEPLOYMENT
physical cable connections, configure the Fibre Channel switch, map to the
host, deploy storage LUNs, and create a VMware datastore. This expanded VM 9X
FASTER
deployment time to 8 minutes and 15 seconds, versus 53 seconds on the Dell
EMC PowerStore 7000X (see Figure 11).
Figure 11: Time to provision a
VM out of the box (minutes and
seconds). Lower is better.
Access snapshot restore data faster
Taking snapshots of storage LUNs is a common task for storage administrators.
DELL EMC POWERSTORE 7000T
Depending on the needs and policies of their data centers, admins might
be taking snapshots on a weekly, daily, or even hourly basis. When data HPE PRIMERA A670
corruption or loss occurs, the admins can then use the snapshots they have
taken to restore data to the system. Businesses typically deploy and manage 1m 7s
large numbers of LUNs—making these snapshot restores a potentially time-
consuming task. 20m 17s
We tested how long the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T and HPE Primera ACCESS SNAPSHOT
A670 took to conduct a snapshot restore of 10 LUNs mounted as raw RESTORE DATA
device mappings (RDM) onto a single VM. The Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T
accomplished this task in a little over a minute, requiring just 16 steps. The 17.1x
FASTER
HPE Primera A670 array, by contrast, required administrators to un-export
the volumes from the application VM and host.2 It took over 20 minutes (see Figure 12: Time to access
Figure 13) and 31 steps to complete this task. For more details about our snapshot restore data (minutes
and seconds). Lower is better.
testing, see the science behind the report. With faster access to snapshot
restore data, admins could get operations up and running sooner.
Conclusion
We tested two all-flash Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series arrays against an HPE Primera A670 array. In hands-on
testing, both Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series arrays reduced data more efficiently and offered greater storage
performance, as measured by IOPS, bandwidth, and latency. The hypervisor-enabled PowerStore array also
saved time and hardware on out-of-the-box VM deployment compared to the HPE Primera A670. With Dell EMC
PowerStore 7000 series arrays, organizations could get more out of their storage.
To learn more about Dell EMC PowerStore arrays, visit DellEMC.com/PowerStore
1 Vdbench uses the LZJB compression algorithm. However, Dell EMC PowerStore arrays use a different compression
algorithm, which may result in different savings. We set the deduplication unit for the HPE Primera A670 to
16 KB to follow the best practices from HPE found here: https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getdocument.
aspx?docname=a50000209enw. We set the deduplication unit for the Dell EMC PowerStore arrays to 4 KB.
2 HPE, “HPE SSMC 3.6 User Guide1SSMC,” accessed July 10, 2020, https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/
docDisplay?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-a00085217en_us.
Read the science behind this report at http://facts.pt/7nslqfq
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Facts matter.® Facts matter.®
Technologies ®
Technologies ®
Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc.

All other product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
This project was commissioned by Dell EMC. For additional information, review the science behind this report.
Disclaimer:
The content on the following pages includes appendices

and methodologies from our hands-on work.
We will publish this content as a separate document

linked to the report.
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A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.
The science behind the report:
Enable greater data reduction

and storage performance with
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000
series storage arrays
This document describes what we tested, how we tested, and what we found. To learn how these facts translate
into real-world benefits, read the report Enable greater data reduction and storage performance with Dell EMC
PowerStore 7000 series storage arrays.
We concluded our hands-on testing on June 24, 2020. During testing, we determined the appropriate hardware
and software configurations and applied updates as they became available. The results in this report reflect
configurations that we finalized on June 4, 2020 or earlier. Unavoidably, these configurations may not represent
the latest versions available when this report appears.
Enable greater data reduction and storage performance with Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 series storage arrays August 2020
Our results
Table 1: Results of our testing on the Dell EMC™ PowerStore™ 7000T and HPE Primera A670.
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T HPE Primera A670 Win
Vdbench testing
Data reduction ratio
50% 128KB and 50% 256KB 7.1:1 (reduced 800 GB of data to 2.0:1 (reduced 800 GB of data to
3.5x the data reduction
write workload 111 GB) 401 GB)
Input/output operations per second (IOPS)
8KB random 100%

write workload (data 232,602 75,160 209% more IOPS
reduction enabled)
8KB random 100% write

workload (data reduction N/A 171,772 N/A
disabled)
32KB 70/30 read/write workload 222,865 111,026 101% more IOPS
OLTP-like workload 182,030 105,687 72% more IOPS
Bandwidth (MB/s)
Random read workload 23,239 10,763 116% more bandwidth
Sequential read workload 23,238 9,877 135% more bandwidth
Latency (ms)
OLTP-like workload 0.56 2.01 72% lower latency
Accessing snapshot restore data
Quiescing the application VM
Time (seconds) 11 11
Steps 5 5
Removing the LUNs from the ESXi environment
Time (seconds) N/A 55
Steps N/A 3
Unexporting the virtual volume set from the ESXi host
Steps N/A 6
Performing the snapshot restore
Steps 10 4
Exporting LUNs back to the ESXi environment
Steps N/A 5
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T HPE Primera A670 Win
Adding LUNs back to the virtualized ESXi environment
Steps N/A 2
Adding LUNs back to the VM as RDM volumes
Steps N/A 5
Restarting the application VM
Time (seconds) 4 4
Steps 1 1
Total
Time (seconds) 67 1,217 17.1x faster
Steps 16 31 15 fewer steps
Table 2: Results of our testing on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and HPE Primera A670.
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X HPE Primera A670 Win
Data reduction ratio
50% 128KB and 50% 256KB 7.1:1 (reduced 800 GB of data to 2.0:1 (reduced 800 GB of data to
3.5x the data reduction
write workload 111 GB) 401 GB)
Scenario 1: Testing storage performance on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X (hosting VMs internally) vs. the HPE Primera A670 (hosting
VMs externally)
4KB random write Vdbench

162,931 87,856 85% more IOPS
workload (IOPS)
Scenarios 2-4: Testing database performance on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X (simultaneously hosting database VMs internally and
VMs running Vdbench simulations externally) vs. the HPE Primera A670 (only hosting VMs running Vdbench simulations externally)
Scenario 2: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X internally hosting MongoDB VMs running a YCSB workload
Database operations
188,320 N/A N/A
per second**
Read application latency (ms)** 0.33 N/A N/A
Update (write) application

0.41 N/A N/A
latency (ms)**
Scenario 3: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and HPE Primera A670 externally hosting VMs running a Vdbench workload (bandwidth)
256KB Vdbench workload

13,704 10,450 31% more bandwidth
(MB/s)**
Scenario 4: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and HPE Primera A670 externally hosting VMs running a Vdbench workload (IOPS)
8KB random write Vdbench

129,909 78,775 65% more IOPS
workload (IOPS)**
**The PowerStore 7000X achieved these results while running Vdbench and MongoDB simultaneously. The HPE Primera A670 was running
only Vdbench.
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X HPE Primera A670 Win
Out-of-the-box VM deployment
Configuring Fibre Channel switch zoning
Steps N/A 7
Mapping hosts
Steps N/A 8
Creating one virtual volume
Steps N/A 6
Adding LUNs to a virtualized ESXi environment
Steps N/A 7
Creating a single VMFS datastore from a LUN
Steps N/A 6
Deploying a VM in a VMware vSphere environment
Steps 12 9
Total
Time (seconds) 53 534 9.0x faster
Steps 12 43 31 fewer steps
System configuration information
Table 3: Detailed information on the servers we tested.
Server configuration 4x Dell EMC PowerEdge™

4x Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 4x Dell EMC PowerEdge R740
information R740
Testbed Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T HPE Primera A670
Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 Dell EMC PowerEdge R740
BIOS name and version
2.3.10 2.2.11 2.2.11
Non-default BIOS settings Virtualization enabled Virtualization enabled Virtualization enabled
Operating system name and VMware ESXi™ 6.7.0 Update 3 VMware ESXi 6.7.0 Update 3 VMware ESXi 6.7.0 Update 3
version/build number Build 14320388 Build 14320388 Build 14320388
Power management policy Performance Performance Performance
Processor
Number of processors 2 2 2
Vendor and model Intel Xeon Gold 6230

® ®
Intel Xeon Gold 6230 Intel Xeon Gold 6230
Core count (per processor) 20 20 20
Core frequency (GHz) 2.10 2.10 2.10
Memory module(s)
Total memory in system (GB) 256 256 256
Number of memory modules 16 16 16
Vendor and model Hynix HMA82GR7CJR8N-WM

®
Hynix HMA82GR7CJR8N-WM Hynix HMA82GR7CJR8N-WM
Size (GB) 16 16 16
Type PC4-2666 PC4-2666 PC4-2666
Speed (MHz) 2,666 2,666 2,666

Speed running in the server
2,666 2,666 2,666
(MHz)
Storage controller
Vendor and model Dell PERC H330 Dell PERC H330 Dell PERC H330
Firmware version 25.5.6.0009 25.5.6.0009 25.5.6.0009
Driver version 7.708.07.00 7.708.07.00 7.708.07.00
Local storage
Number of drives 2 2 2
Drive vendor and model Samsung® MZ-7LH480A Micron® MTFDDAK480TDC Micron MTFDDAK480TDC
Drive size (GB) 480 480 480

Drive information (speed,
6Gbps, SATA, SSD 6Gbps, SATA, SSD 6Gbps, SATA, SSD
interface, type)
Network adapter
Broadcom® Gigabit Ethernet Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet
Vendor and model
BCM5720 BCM5720 BCM5720
2x 1Gb 2x 1Gb 2x 1Gb
Number and type of ports
2x 10Gb 2x 10Gb 2x 10Gb
Driver version 21.40.25.31 21.40.22.20 21.40.22.20
Server configuration 4x Dell EMC PowerEdge™
4x Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 4x Dell EMC PowerEdge R740
information R740
Storage adapter
Vendor and model Emulex® LPe35002-M2-D Emulex LPe35002-M2-D Emulex LPe35002-M2-D
Number and type of ports 2x 2-port 32 Gb Fibre Channel 2x 2-port 32 Gb Fibre Channel 2x 2-port 32 Gb Fibre Channel
Firmware version 12.2.212.10 12.2.212.10 12.2.212.10
Power supplies
Vendor and model Dell 0PJMDNA01 Dell 05RHVVA03 Dell 05RHVVA03
Number of power supplies 2 2 2
Wattage of each (W) 750 750 750
Table 4: Detailed information on the storage we tested.
Storage configuration
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T HPE Primera A670
information
Software version 1.0.0.0.5.109 1.0.0.0.5.109 4.1.0.27
Number of storage nodes 2 2 2
Number of data drives 21 21 24
Drive part number 118000740 118000740 P02434-002
Drive size (TB) 1.92 1.92 1.92
Detailed testing procedure
We received three separate testbeds from Dell EMC: one for testing the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T, one for testing the PowerStore 7000X,
and one for testing the HPE Primera A670. In addition to the storage arrays we tested, each testbed had four Dell EMC PowerEdge R740
servers equipped with two dual-port 32GB Emulex Fibre Channel adapters and VMware ESXi 6.7. With the exception of the internal VMs
running on the PowerStore 7000X array, we performed all testing using Fibre Channel storage protocol and configured the arrays to use 16
ports connected to a 48-port Fibre Channel switch. We used 10GbE switches for testbed management and VM traffic. Where possible, we
verified that the setups on the testbeds were identical, and we configured the hosts, multipathing, and arrays as closely as possible following
best practices published by each storage vendor. For all of our testing, we used CentOS 7 VMs with Vdbench 5.04.07. We configured each
VM with eight vCPUs and 24 GB of RAM.
We performed storage efficiency tests on the HPE Primera A670 array using 16KB deduplication unit sizes, as HPE recommends (https://
h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getdocument.aspx?docname=a50000209enw). Both Dell EMC PowerStore arrays can deduplicate 4KB
deduplcation unit sizes, so we tested with this deduplication unit size on the PowerStore 7000X and 7000T arrays.

We created four 200GB volumes on all three arrays and mapped the volumes to one host in each testbed. We then added the four volumes
to a single VM on each server host as RDM disks. After creating and mapping the volumes and adding the RDM disks, we used Vdbench to
fill the volumes. Next, we checked each array’s GUI to see by how much the array had reduced the data. After recording the data reduction
rate, we deleted the RDM disks and volumes and repeated the volume provisioning and testing process twice more to get three runs per
array. We present the median results.
We used a 50/50 mix of 128KB and 256KB sequential writes with a single thread to fill the LUNs with data:
compratio=3
dedupratio=2
dedupunit=16k (4k for PowerStore arrays)
dedupsets=50%
messagescan=no
hd=default,shell=ssh,user=root,jvms=1
hd=hd1,system=vdb-001
sd=default,openflags=o_direct
sd=sd1,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdb
sd=sd2,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdc
sd=sd3,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdd
sd=sd4,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sde
wd=wd_default,sd=*
wd=wd_prefill,sd=sd*,xfersize=(128k,50,256k,50),seekpct=eof,rdpct=0
rd=default
rd=fill_1,wd=wd_prefill,elapsed=10h,interval=10,iorate=max,forthreads=(1)
rd=fill_2,wd=wd_prefill,elapsed=10h,interval=10,iorate=max,forthreads=(1)
Performance testing
We created 32 800GB volumes and mapped these to all four hosts in each testbed. After rescanning the hosts HBAs, we attached the
volumes as RDM disks to 16 Vdbench test VMs, each of which contained two RDMs. We used Vdbench to prefill the volumes and run the
test. Once the prefilling had completed, we ran through a series of Vdbench I/O simulations and collected the results. After completing the
tests, we unmapped the RDMs and volumes from the VMs and hosts and deleted the volumes on the array. We waited until the number of
uninitialized chunklets on the HPE Primera A670 array returned to zero before we repeated the volume provisioning and testing process
twice to get three runs per array. We present the median results.
Prefilling the data
We used 256KB sequential writes with a single thread to fill all 32 volumes with data:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
dedupunit=16k (4k for PowerStore array)
dedupsets=5%
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
wd=wd_prefill,sd=sd*,xfersize=256k,seekpct=eof,rdpct=0
rd=default
rd=rd_prefill,wd=wd_prefill,elapsed=10h,interval=10,iorate=max,forthreads=(1)
Running the random reads workloads

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run at 256KB random reads with four threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
hd=default,shell=ssh,user=root
….
…
wd=default,sd=*
wd=wd_256k,sd=sd*,xfersize=256k,seekpct=100
rd=default
rd=read256k_test,wd=wd_256k,iorate=max,warmup=30,interval=10,forrdpct=(100),elapsed=120,forthreads=(4)
Running the sequential reads workloads

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run 256KB sequential reads with four threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
wd=wd_256k,sd=sd*,xfersize=256k,seekpct=seqnz
rd=default
Running the OLTP-like workloads

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run an OLTP-like workload with a mix of 8KB reads and writes and 128KB reads and writes with
eight threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
wd=wd_OLTP2A_RRH,sd=*,rhpct=100,rdpct=100,xfersize=8K,skew=20,range=(0,6m)
wd=wd_OLTP2A_RM,sd=*,rdpct=100,xfersize=8k,skew=45,range=(0,100)
wd=wd_OLTP2A_RW,sd=*,rdpct=0,xfersize=8K,skew=15,range=(0,100)
wd=wd_OLTP2A_SR,sd=*,rdpct=100,seekpct=seqnz,range=(0,100),xfersize=128K,skew=10
wd=wd_OLTP2A_SW,sd=*,rdpct=0,seekpct=seqnz,range=(0,100),xfersize=128K,skew=10
rd=default
rd=rd_OLTP2A,wd=wd_OLTP2A_*,iorate=max,pause=120,elapsed=120,interval=10,warmup=30,forthreads=8
Testing the 32KB 70/30 read/write mix workloads

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run a 32KB mixed 70/30 read/write workload with 16 threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
….
….
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
rd=read32k_
test,wd=wd_32k,iorate=max,pause=120,warmup=30,interval=10,forrdpct=(70),elapsed=120,forthreads=(16)
Running the 8KB random writes workloads
For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run an 8KB random writes workload with 16 threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
rd=read8k_
Running the paced OLTP-like workloads

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to generate a 107,000 IOPS OLTP-like workload using a mix of 8KB reads and writes and 128KB
reads and writes with eight threads. When the arrays reached the target IOPS, we captured latency metrics for both arrays:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
rd=rd_OLTP2A,wd=wd_OLTP2A_*,pause=120,iorate=(107000),elapsed=120,interval=10,warmup=60,forthreads=(8)
After completing these tests, we repeated the 8KB random write test on the HPE Primera A670 with deduplication and compression disabled
on 32x 250GB volumes. We repeated the volume provisioning and testing process twice more to get three test runs. We present the
median results.
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X with internal VMs vs. HPE Primera A670 with external VMs
The Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X array can allow VMs to consume compute and storage resources within the array without the need for
external server hosts. We refer to VMs using this internal storage deployment model as “internal VMs” in this report. We provisioned four
internal Vdbench test VMs on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and four external VMs on the HPE Primera A670 testbed. On the Dell EMC
PowerStore 7000X, we split these four VMs evenly across the two-node VMware PowerStore cluster. On the Primera array, we distributed the
four VMs evenly between two Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 hosts. We created 16 800GB volumes on both arrays and assigned four volumes
to each VM. We used Vdbench to prefill the volumes and run the test. Once Vdbench completed the prefilling, we ran through a series of
Vdbench I/O simulations and collected the results. After we completed the tests, we unmapped the RDMs and volumes from the VMs and
hosts and deleted the volumes on the array. We waited until the number of uninitialized chunklets on the Primera array returned to zero
before we repeated the volume provisioning and testing process twice more to get three runs per array. We present the median results.
Prefilling the LUNS with data

To fill the LUNs with data, we used 256KB sequential writes with a single thread:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
dedupsets=5%
messagescan=no
…
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
Running the 4KB random write workload

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run at 4KB random writes with 32 threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
….
…
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
rd=read4k_
Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X with internal MongoDB database VMs and external Vdbench VMs
vs. HPE Primera A670 with external Vdbench VMs
We set up a MongoDB replication set consisting of three internal MongoDB VMs on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X cluster. We used
a separate YCSB VM running on one of the Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 hosts in the PowerStore 7000X testbed to drive the MongoDB
workload. Simultaneously, we created 32 400GB volumes on each array and mapped them to four Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 hosts on each
testbed. We created RDM disks out of the 32 mapped volumes and mounted two RDMs per VM to 16 external VMs. We distributed all 16
VMs evenly between four Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 hosts. We used Vdbench to prefill the volumes and run the I/O test. Once Vdbench
completed the prefilling, we initialized the replica set on the MongoDB VMs and used the external YCSB VM to load the MongoDB database
with 100 million records. The 16 external VMs connected on the PowerStore 7000X and HPE Primera testbeds ran through 256KB and
8KB Vdbench I/O workloads. While the Vdbench tests were running on the PowerStore 7000X, the three internal VMs were also running a
workload of 50 million operations driven by the external YCSB VM, using four separate YCSB processes and 64 total threads. We collected
Vdbench results for the HPE Primera A670 and both Vdbench and MongoDB results for Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X. Below, Figure 1
demonstrates how we simultaneously ran workload on internally and externally hosted VMs on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X. Because the
HPE Primera A670 lacks the ability to host VMs internally, we only ran the external Vdbench workloads on it. After the tests completed, we
deleted all the volumes and the MongoDB databases and allowed the number of uninitialized chunklets on the HPE Primera array return to
zero. We repeated the volume provisioning and testing process twice more to get three runs per array. We present the median results.
MongoDB running on internal VMs
256KB sequential read Vdbench workload running on external VMs 8KB random write Vdbench workload running on external VMs
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TIME IN MINUTES
Figure 1: Time (minutes) it took to run two Vdbench workloads on externally hosted VMs while simultaneously running a
workload on internally hosted VMs on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X. Source: Principled Technologies.
Prefilling the data

We used 256KB sequential writes with a single thread to fill the LUNs with data:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
dedupsets=5%
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
Running the sequential reads workloads
For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run 256KB sequential reads with three threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
wd=wd_256k,sd=sd*,xfersize=256k,seekpct=seqnz
rd=default
Running the 8KB random writes workloads

For these tests, we configured Vdbench to run at 8KB random writes with 16 threads:
compratio=3
dedupratio=3
messagescan=no
…
…
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
rd=read8k_
Prefilling the MongoDB data (Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X only)

We used an externally hosted YCSB VM to load our MongoDB replica set with 100 million records using four YCSB processes each loading
25 million records:
(./bin/ycsb load mongodb-async -s -P ./workloads/workloadb -p mongodb.url=”mongodb://MongoD_

vm1:27017,MongoD_vm2:27107,MongoD_vm3:27017/ycsb?w=1” -p recordcount=100000000 -p insertstart=0 -p
insertcount=25000000)&
(./bin/ycsb load mongodb-async -s -P ./workloads/workloadb -p mongodb.url=”mongodb://
MongoD_vm1:27017,MongoD_vm2:27107,MongoD_vm3:27017/ycsb?w=1” -p recordcount=100000000 -p
insertstart=25000000 -p insertcount=25000000) &
insertstart=50000000 -p insertcount=25000000) &
insertstart=75000000 -p insertcount=25000000)
Running the MongoDB test (Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X only)
We used an externally hosted YCSB VM to run 50 million operations against our MongoDB replica set using four separate YCSB processes:
(./bin/ycsb run mongodb-async -s -P ./workloads/workloadb -threads 16 -p mongodb.url=”mongodb://

MongoD_vm1:27017,MongoD_vm2:27107,MongoD_vm3:27017/ycsb?w=1” -p operationcount=50000000 2>&1 |tee
driver1.out) &
driver2.out) &
driver3.out) &
driver4.out)
Usability testing
Out-of-the-box VM deployment
This testing scenario assumed that the user had initialized both arrays but not performed Fibre Channel zoning or host mapping. Our
scenario also assumed that the HPE Primera A670 could use an available target VMware ESXi host and that the user had deployed a VMware
vCenter® VM on the Dell EMC PowerStore and HPE Primera testbeds.
Deploying VMs in a VMware vSphere® environment on the PowerStore 7000X

1. Open a browser, and navigate to vCenter’s vSphere client.
2. Enter credentials, and click Login.
3. Expand the PS7000X Data Center.
4. Expand the PS7000X Cluster.
5. Right-click an ESXi host, and select New Virtual Machine.
6. Select Create a new virtual machine, and click Next.
7. Enter a virtual machine name, and click Next.
8. On Select Storage screen, select PowerStore PS7000X storage, and click Next.
9. On compatibility screen, select ESXi 6.7 and later, and click Next.
10. Select appropriate OS details, and click Next.
11. On Customize hardware screen, click Next.
12. On Ready to complete screen, click Finish. vSphere will create the VM.
Configuring Fibre Channel switch zoning on the HPE Primera A670

1. Log into the Fibre Channel switch UI.
2. Click ConfigureZone Admin.
3. Click Zone tabNew Zone.
4. Create new Fibre Channel zones with the appropriate host’s HBAs and storage ports.
5. Click Zone Config tab, and add all the new zones to Zone Config Members.
6. Click Save Config.
7. Click Enable config, and select the appropriate configuration to enable.
Mapping hosts on the HPE Primera A670

1. Open a browser, and navigate to the HPE Primera and 3PAR StoreServ Management Console (SSMC).
3. Under Primera and 3PAR SSMC dropdown, select Hosts.
4. Click Create host.
5. On General screen, enter a host name, and select a host OS.
6. Under Paths, click Add FC.
7. On Add FC screen, select all host initiators, and click Add.
8. On Create Host screen, click Create.
Creating one virtual volume on the HPE Primera A670
1. Under Primera and 3PAR SSMC dropdown, select Virtual Volumes.
2. Click Create Virtual Volume.
3. On General screen, enter a virtual volume name, switch dedup and compression to Yes. For volume size, enter 1 TiB.
4. Expand Export screen, and click Add.
5. On Add screen, select the appropriate host, and click Add.
6. On Create Virtual Volume screen, click Create.
Adding LUNs to a virtualized ESXi environment on the HPE Primera A670

1. Open a browser, and navigate to the vCenter vSphere client.
3. If necessary, expand Datacenter and cluster.
4. Select the target host.
5. Click the Configure tab.
6. To discover newly added storage, under StorageStorage adapters, click Rescan Storage.
7. Select Scan for new Storage Devices, and click OK.
Creating a single VMFS datastore from a LUN on the HPE Primera A670
1. Right-click the target host, and select StorageNew Datastore.
2. On the Type screen, select VMFS, and click Next.
3. On the Name and device selection screen, enter a datastore name, and select a LUN for provisioning the datastore. Click Next.
4. On the VMFS version screen, select VMFS 6, and click Next.
5. On the Partition configuration screen, use default settings, and click Next.
6. On the Ready to complete screen, click Finish.
Deploying a VM in a VMware vSphere environment on the HPE Primera A670

1. On vCenter UI, expand the Data Center.
2. Right-click the ESXi host, and select New Virtual Machine.
3. Select Create a new virtual machine, and click Next.
4. Enter a virtual machine name, and click Next.
5. On Select Storage screen, select the newly created VMFS datastore, and click Next.
6. On compatibility screen, select ESXi 6.7 and later, and click Next.
7. Select appropriate OS details, and click Next.
8. On Customize hardware screen, click Next.
9. On Ready to complete screen, click Finish.

Accessing snapshot restore data
This scenario assumed that both arrays provided storage resources to a single host and that the administrator had deployed 10 100GB
volumes and mounted them as RDMs onto a single CentOS application VM on each testbed. Prior to the baseline manual snapshot, we filled
all RDM volumes to 60 percent capacity using Vdbench with 256KB sequential writes. After executing the baseline snapshot, we ran a mixed
I/O workload for one hour before attempting a restore from the snapshot procedure on 10 RDMs on each testbed.
Prefilling RDM data on the PowerStore 7000T and HPE Primera A670
For these tests, we used Vdbench to prefill RDM data:
compratio=2
dedupratio=2
dedupsets=5%
messagescan=no
hd=hd1,system=CB_command
sd=sd5,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdf
sd=sd6,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdg
sd=sd7,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdh
sd=sd8,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdi
sd=sd9,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdj
sd=sd10,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdk
wd=default,sd=*
wd=wd_prefill,sd=sd*,xfersize=256k,range=(0,60),seekpct=eof,rdpct=0
rd=default
Taking a manual snapshot of RDM volumes on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T
1. In the PowerStore Manager UI, choose StorageVolume Groups.
2. Select the name of the volume group containing the RDM volumes.
3. On the volume group properties screen, click the Protection tab.
4. Under the Protection tab, click Take Snapshot.
5. On the Take Snapshot screen, keep the defaults, and click Take Snapshot.
Taking a manual snapshot of RDM volumes on the HPE Primera A670

1. In the Primera and 3PAR StoreServ Management Console (SSMC), under the Primera and 3PAR SSMC dropdown, click Show All.
2. Click Virtual Volume Sets.
3. Select the Virtual Volume Set.
4. Click the Actions button, and click Create Snapshot.
5. Keep the defaults, and click Create.
Running steady state I/O to RDM volumes on the PowerStore 7000T and HPE Primera A670
For these tests, we used Vdbench to run steady state I/O to RDM volumes:
compratio=2
dedupratio=2
dedupsets=5%
messagescan=no
hd=hd1,system=CB_command
sd=sd5,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdf
sd=sd6,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdg
sd=sd7,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdh
sd=sd8,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdi
sd=sd9,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdj
sd=sd10,hd=hd1,lun=/dev/sdk
wd=default,sd=*
rd=default
rd=rd_OLTP2A,wd=wd_OLTP2A_*,iorate=max,elapsed=1h,interval=10,warmup=30,forthreads=(1)
Quiescing the CentOS application VM on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T and HPE Primera A670
1. Open a browser, and navigate to the vCenter vSphere client.
3. Expand the data center.
4. Expand the cluster.
5. Right-click the VM, and choose PowerPower Off.
Performing a snapshot restore on the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T

1. Open a browser, and navigate to the PowerStore Manager UI.
3. Click StorageVolume Groups.
4. Click the name of the volume group containing the RDM volumes.
5. On the Volume group properties screen, click the Protection tab.
6. Check the snapshot timestamp of the snapshot you will restored.
7. Click on More ActionsRestore Using Snapshot.
8. On the Restore Using Snapshot screen, uncheck Take a backup snapshot…, and click Restore.
9. Confirm the restore process by clicking Restore.
10. On the volume group’s Protection tab, review the snapshot restore success message.
11. In the vCenter UI, right-click the CentOS application VM and choose PowerPower On.
The HPE Primera A670 cannot promote snapshots if the user exports the target virtual volumes to a host (see https://support.hpe.
com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-a00085217en_us). The HPE Primera A670 requires the user complete
the following steps to restore a snapshot successfully:
Removing the LUNs from the ESXi environment on the HPE Primera A670
1. In the vCenter UI, right-click the VM, and choose Edit Settings.
2. Expand Hard Disks.
3. Remove each RDM from the VM, choose to delete files from the datastore, and click OK.
Unexporting the Virtual Volume Set from the ESXi host on the HPE Primera A670
1. In Primera and 3PAR StoreServ Management Console (SSMC), under the Primera and 3PAR SSMC dropdown, click Show All.
2. Click Virtual Volume Sets.
3. Select the virtual volume set containing the base volumes.
4. Click Actions, and choose Unexport.
5. On the Unexport screen, select the volume set, and click Unexport.
6. Check the I have read and understand… checkbox, and click Yes, unexport.
Performing a snapshot restore on the HPE Primera A670

1. In Primera and 3PAR SSMC, select the virtual volume set containing the snapshot volumes.
2. Click Actions, and click Promote snapshot.
3. On the promote screen, select the Time Stamp of the snapshots you are restoring, and click Promote.
4. To confirm the snapshot promotion, click Yes, promote.
Exporting LUNs back to the ESXi environment on the HPE Primera A670
1. In Primera and 3PAR SSMC, select the virtual volume set containing the base volumes.
2. Click Actions, and choose Export.
3. On the Export screen, in the Export To section, click Add.
4. On the Add screen, choose the ESXi host.
5. On the Export screen, click Export.
Adding LUNs back to the virtualized ESXi environment on the HPE Primera A670
1. In the vCenter UI, if necessary, expand the data center and cluster.
2. To discover newly added storage, right-click the target host, and select StorageRescan Storage.
Adding LUNs back to the VM as RDM volumes on the HPE Primera A670
1. In the vCenter UI, right-click the VM, and choose Edit Settings.
2. Click Add New Device, and click RDM Disk.
3. Select one of the 100GB LUNS, and click OK.
4. Repeat step 2 until you have added all 10 LUNs as RDMs.
5. On Edit Settings screen, click OK.
6. Right-click the CentOS application VM, and choose PowerPower On.
Read the report at http://facts.pt/nb98lrd
This project was commissioned by Dell EMC.
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Enable Greater Data Reduction and Storage Performance With Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 Series Storage Arrays

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Enable Greater Data Reduction and Storage Performance With Dell EMC PowerStore 7000 Series Storage Arrays

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A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.

3.5x the Enable greater data reduction

• Intelligent automation with array provisioning and cluster capacity balancing

Dell EMC PowerStore (7000T model) Dell EMC hypervisor-enabled PowerStore

Dell EMC PowerStore array

Data reduction testing

Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X vs. HPE Primera A670

Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T vs. HPE Primera A670

Data reduction testing

111.9 GB 800 GB DELL EMC

3.5x [OVERALL EFFICIENCY 7.1:1]

222,865 DELL EMC Next, we wanted to determine each

To test how much data each array could process

Deliver faster response times

Figure 5: Response time (milliseconds) delivered

162,931 DELL EMC

Figure 6: IOPS supported while running a

Scenario Workload Metric VM location on VM location

2: On the Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X, we ran

3: Simultaneously to performing Scenario 2, we

4: After Scenario 3 completed, but while Scenario

Scenario 3: Dell EMC PowerStore 7000X and

running a Vdbench workload (bandwidth) HPE PRIMERA A670

Simultaneous to running Scenario 2, the Dell EMC 10,450

PowerStore 7000X also supported 31 percent

Figure 8: Bandwidth (MB/s) provided to external hosts

129,909 DELL EMC Figure 9: IOPS provided to external hosts running a

IOPS ON A 8KB RANDOM

To learn more about Dell EMC PowerStore arrays, visit DellEMC.com/PowerStore

Read the science behind this report at http://facts.pt/7nslqfq

Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc.

The content on the following pages includes appendices

We will publish this content as a separate document

We must receive your approval on both the report and

The science behind the report:

Enable greater data reduction

Dell EMC PowerStore 7000T HPE Primera A670 Win

Data reduction ratio

Input/output operations per second (IOPS)

8KB random 100%

8KB random 100% write

32KB 70/30 read/write workload 222,865 111,026 101% more IOPS

OLTP-like workload 182,030 105,687 72% more IOPS

Random read workload 23,239 10,763 116% more bandwidth

Sequential read workload 23,238 9,877 135% more bandwidth

OLTP-like workload 0.56 2.01 72% lower latency

Accessing snapshot restore data

Quiescing the application VM

Removing the LUNs from the ESXi environment

Time (seconds) N/A 55

Unexporting the virtual volume set from the ESXi host

Time (seconds) N/A 32

Performing the snapshot restore

Time (seconds) 52 991

Exporting LUNs back to the ESXi environment

Time (seconds) N/A 25

Adding LUNs back to the virtualized ESXi environment

Time (seconds) N/A 7

Adding LUNs back to the VM as RDM volumes

Time (seconds) N/A 92

Restarting the application VM

Time (seconds) 67 1,217 17.1x faster

Steps 16 31 15 fewer steps