Midrange Storage Performance Planning: System Configuration Considerations Flashcards

1
Q

How are SPs configured in Unity XT?

A

dual SPs w/ mirrored write cache

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2
Q

What does each Unity XT SP have?

A

both contain primary cached data for its own LUNs and secondary copy of the cache for its peer SP

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3
Q

What are CMI channels used for in Unity XT?

A

for inter-SP communications

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4
Q

How are CMI channels configured in Unity XT 380?

A

single CMI channel per SP

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5
Q

How are CMI channels configured in Unity XT 480 or higher?

A

two CMI channels per SP

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6
Q

What is the CPU in the Unity 380 XT?

A

single socket Intel 6 cores

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7
Q

What is the CPU in the Unity 480 XT or higher?

A

dual socket Intel between 16 and 32 cores

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8
Q

What does the bus do in a Unity XT?

A

controls how much write bandwidth can be ingested by the system

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9
Q

What are CMI channels mostly used for in Unity?

A

mirroring writes between SPs

passing data from nonpreferred to preferred paths

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10
Q

What is the maximum write bandwidth on Unity XT 380?

A

5.5GB/s - lower than 480 since it only has single CMI channel

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11
Q

What is the maximum write bandwidth on Unity XT 480 or higher?

A

9.3GB/s

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12
Q

What is typically the bottleneck for write bandwidth on Unity?

A

the onboard SAS chip (if SAS IO Module isn’t installed)

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13
Q

What does the Unity XT architecture do for CPU utilization?

A

results in nonlinear CPU utilization as workload scales

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14
Q

What can Unity models with more CPU power do?

A

deliver higher performance reducing the IOPS bottleneck

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15
Q

What can Unity models with larger buffer caches per SP do?

A

improve certain Unity features like data reduction

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16
Q

What does buffer cache assist with in Unity?

A

helps cache metadata IOs

reduces backend reads/writes

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17
Q

why does buffer cache affect data reduction on Unity?

A

enough memory and CPU cycles are important to conduct the reduction algorithms

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18
Q

What is the relationship between resource utilization and performance?

A

when utilization is below the max level average response time is better

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19
Q

Why is it better to be underutilized on storage platforms?

A

system can handle activity bursts without becoming overloaded

performance can be maintained during hardware failure scenarios

20
Q

What is best for SP utilization in Unity?

A

want it roughly equivalent across both SPs

21
Q

What is low utilization considered on Unity SPs?

A

below 50%

system can accept extra workload

single SP should be able to service whole workload and maintain IOPS/response time

data reduction can be enabled

snapshots/replication can be enabled

22
Q

What is normal utilization considered on Unity SPs?

A

50-70%

system operating normally and possible accept extra workloads

single SP should be able to service whole workload and maintain IOPS/response time

choose best candidates for data reduction and do it on only a few objects at a time

enable snapshots/replication on a few objects

23
Q

What is high utilization considered on Unity SPs?

A

between 70-90%

system nearing saturation - carefully consider extra workloads

single SP should be able to service whole and existing IOPS but response time may slow

enable snapshots/replication on a few objects

24
Q

What is extremely high utilization considered on Unity SPs?

A

above 90%

system saturated - cannot except new workloads

single SP not able to maintain existing IOPS

no data reduction

no snapshots

25
Q

What is Dell Unity VSA?

A

software defined stroage version of Unity

26
Q

How is UnityVSA deployed?

A

deployed in VMWare infrastructure as single or dual node

27
Q

What should you do if you’re using ESXI 7.0 and want to install UnityVSA?

A

use OVA package from Unity 5.1

28
Q

How should you provision storage in UnityVSA?

A

use thick provision eager zeroed disk format

29
Q

What is the only Powerstore model that doesn’t have an X equivalent?

A

Powerstore 500T

30
Q

What are the commonalities among all Powerstore models?

A

use common base enclosure and IO modules

31
Q

Where do the Powerstore models differ?

A

CPU core count/speed

memory

number of NVMe NVRAM drives

32
Q

What Powerstore system has no NVRAM?

A

Powerstore 500T

33
Q

How many NVMRAM drives are in Powerstore 1200T-3200T?

A

2 per system

34
Q

How many NVMRAM drives are in Powerstore 5200T-9200T?

A

4 per system

35
Q

What are NVRAM drives used for in Powerstore?

A

provide persistent storage for cached write data

36
Q

What is Powerstore T Unified configuration?

A

can provide access to block and file storage resources simultaneously - the default deployment

CPU and memory resources used for both block and file IOPS

37
Q

What is Powerstore T Block Optimized configuration?

A

disables file capabilities

can deliver more block IOPS than the same model deployed as a unified system

can increase amount of block workload the system can handle since CPU/memory resources all for block

38
Q

What is Powerstore X configuration?

A

run the PowerstoreOS as a virtual machine on an ESXi hypervisor

allows storage system to service external host IO

reserves portion of CPU/memory for hosting user VMs

39
Q

How are VMs serviced on Powerstore X?

A

guest VMs run directly on Powerstore hardware

fewer resources available for serving external storage

less capability for block IOPS is used because some of the reserved compute resources

40
Q

How does Powerstore X performance compare to Powerstore T?

A

expected to be less performance for the same Powerstore T model

41
Q

Is it possible to cluster Powerstore X and T together?

A

No - can only contain all T or all X

42
Q

What are the network requirements for a Powerstore cluster?

A

should be physically located in the same data center and must be connected to the same LAN

43
Q

What are recommendations for setting up a Powerstore cluster?

A

all appliances should be same model with similar physical capacities

any host connected to cluster must have equivalent connectivity to all appliances in the cluster

when deploying multiple appliances for file access plan to have multiple clusters

44
Q

Why should all appliances in a Powerstore cluster be the same model?

A

provides consistent performance across country

45
Q

How are volumes serviced in a Powerstore cluster?

A

volumes can be migrated between appliances

single volume is serviced by only one appliance at a given time

46
Q

Why should you plan for multiple clusters if you plan to have multiple appliances w/ file access?

A

migration of storage resources between clusters is applicable to block resources only

file services can’t migrate to a different appliance within a cluster

In Powerstore T unified mode file services restricted to primary appliance

47
Q

What is the amount of CPU and memory resources that are reserved to run user virtual machines on PowerStore X appliances?

A

50%