The new record-breaking performance results for a hyper-converged solution demonstrates the effectiveness of Parallel I/O technology in harnessing the untapped power of multi-core processors and disrupting the status quo of the storage industry.
The
Results Speak for Themselves
Using the industry's most recognized storage benchmark for driving enterprise database workloads - the Storage Performance Council's SPC-1 - the company took on the classic high-end external storage arrays with a fully redundant, dual-node FC Server SAN solution, running itsSANsymphony software-defined storage services Platform on a pair of off-the-shelf Intel-based servers.
"With our first SPC-1 Price-Performance record [1], we set out to prove what could be accomplished with Parallel I/O in a single server, combining the benchmark's database workload and our storage stack in a single, atomic, hyper-converged system," said Ziya Aral, chairman, DataCore. "Now just a few months later, we are showcasing our progress and the effectiveness of multi-node scaling."
The new
results put DataCore SANsymphony at number five on the SPC-1 Top Ten List for
Performance[4], ranking only behind million-dollar mega-arrays including
Huawei, Hitachi, HP XP7, and Kaminario, as well as DataCore's own Parallel
Server hyper-converged configuration. The total price for the DataCore
hyper-converged high-availability solution was $115,142.76, including three
years of support.
"We
see the Server SAN architecture at the intersection of the hyperscale,
convergence and flash trends. Storage intelligence has been moving back
adjacent to compute, and Server SANs should be deployed as a best practice to
enable low latency, high bandwidth and high availability in enterprise
applications," said David Floyer, Chief Technology Officer of Wikibon. "The move to Server SAN
architectures (aka hyper-converged infrastructure) has simplified operations by
creating repeatable rack level deployments. DataCore with Parallel I/O
software is demonstrating why these powerful multicore rack servers are
becoming the basis for driving new levels of system performance and
price-performance, and is a foundation for next generation system
architecture."
Aral
adds, "With these new benchmark results, we up-scaled the configuration to
two nodes, connected by Fibre Channel fabric, and reconfigured it for full
high-availability with mirrored everything (mass storage, cache and software).
Our objective was not only to set the performance record for hyper-converged
systems, but to establish the corners of our performance envelope for the
purposes of sizing and configuring what is otherwise an extremely flexible Software-Defined
Storage scheme."
Unlike
competitive solutions, DataCore's mirroring comes standard with the capability
to support local and stretched/metro clusters with automatic failover and
failback protection across active-active synchronized copies of data located in
geographically separate locations.
Size
Matters: Compact Server SAN for Lowest Total Cost of Ownership
In terms
of lowering the total cost of ownership, it is also important to look at
environmental and space considerations. Competitive storage solutions take up
multiple 42U racks and many square feet of floor space, whereas the DataCore
configuration occupies a mere fraction (12U) of one rack.
Unlike
traditional storage arrays, the DataCore nodes had the combined responsibility
for running the database workloads and handling their I/O demands in the same
servers - a much more challenging scenario. DataCore's compact Server SAN
solution collapses the infrastructure needed and significantly reduces the
networking and administrative complexity and cost. It can also be
non-disruptively upgraded at any time with more powerful servers and storage
technology available in the open market.
SANsymphony software availability an benchmark report detailsDataCore's latest software release has improved performance of SANsymphony and Hyper-converged Virtual SAN software solutions by up to 50%. The new software that was used as the basis for the SPC-1 benchmarking is available in June at no charge to current customers under support contracts.
The SPC-1 performance testing is designed to demonstrate a system's performance capabilities for business-critical enterprise workloads typically found in database and transaction processing environments. The audited configuration that was tested and priced includes SANsymphony Parallel I/O software on two standard Intel-based servers.
For complete configuration, pricing and performance details, see the SPC-1 Full Disclosure report.