HP PROLIANT BL20P G3 User Manual
Enhancing performance of HP ProLiant servers containing
Smart Array 6i controllers
best practice
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2
Factors affecting array controller performance......................................................................................... 2
RAID stripe size ............................................................................................................................... 2
Benchmarks used ............................................................................................................................. 3
Bus speed ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Recommendations................................................................................................................................ 4
For more information............................................................................................................................ 6
Call to action ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Abstract
Benchmark testing in HP laboratories has shown that with optimized configuration settings, HP
ProLiant servers with Smart Array 6i controllers can match or exceed the performance of ProLiant G3
servers using Smart Array 5i controllers. This paper presents results of that testing and defines some
best practices for upgrading from Smart Array 5i controllers and for optimizing performance of
ProLiant servers containing Smart Array 6i controllers.
Introduction
The HP Smart Array 6i controller is an Ultra320 intelligent array controller for entry-level, hardwareÂbased fault tolerance. At this writing, it is integrated on the system board of ProLiant DL360 G4/G4p,
ProLiant DL380 G4, ProLiant DL385, ProLiant DL580 G3, and ProLiant BL20p G3 servers. HP
designed this controller specifically to provide a highly cost-effective alternative to software-based
RAID for protection of OS, applications, and logs.
In response to inquiries about performance of Smart Array 6i controllers, HP launched a program to
compare performance of Smart Array 6i controllers with performance of Smart Array 5i controllers
and to analyze possible affects on storage system performance in various computing environments.
This paper summarizes results of benchmark tests conducted in HP laboratories. It also defines some
best practices for upgrading from Smart Array 5i controllers and for optimizing performance of
ProLiant servers containing Smart Array 6i controllers.
Factors affecting array controller performance
HP engineers tested several benchmarks on different server configurations using Smart Array 5i and
Smart Array 6i controllers. The test configurations were selected from customer cases submitted for
review. In many cases, a simple change of either the RAID stripe size or the test benchmark improved
the performance of the Smart Array 6i controller. In other cases, due to the nature of the application
workloads, there was little or no performance difference between the Smart Array 5i controllers and
the Smart Array 6i controllers.
The tables in this section summarize results obtained in four types of tests conducted in HP
laboratories. Each test was run five times. The tables show the average results from the respective test
series.
RAID stripe size
HP tests revealed that one significant factor affecting performance of the Smart Array 6i controller is
the drive data block size (the stripe size) used by the controller. For Smart Array 6x controllers
original default stripe size for RAID 5 was 16 KB. However, the controller performed better in many
tests with a stripe size of 64 KB. In some cases, performance improved quite significantly when the
stripe size was manually changed from 16 KB to 64 KB.
As a result of this test program,
Configuration Utility (ACU) Version 7.20 or later and by HP Option ROM Configuration for Arrays
(ORCA) Version 2.54 or later. The new default stripe size is 64 KB.
HP has changed the default stripe size used by the HP Array
1
, the
1
Smart Array 6x controllers include the Smart Array 6i, 642, 6402, and 6404 controllers.
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