Powerstore Design: PowerSizer Flashcards
What are the 6 sections of PowerSizer?
Help Touchpoint
ISG Sizing and Build Tools
Quick Size
Recent Projects
Information about PowerSizer
Unsaved Sizing Requests
What is ISG Sizing and Build Tools in PowerSizer?
Guidance and resources for sizing
What is the Quick Size in PowerSizer?
Direct access to Sizer Path for Powerstore and other models
What is Recent Projects in PowerSizer?
recent projects containing one or more sizing scenarios
What is the Help Touchpoint in PowerSizer?
to show context sensitive help for specific items
What does the PowerSizer output show?
system saturation and capacity utilization per workload in the selected Powerstore model
What are the components of the output screen for PowerSizer?
aggregate capacity and storage performance/saturation utilization
maximum performance representing 100% system saturation based on input parameters
How do you characterize IO workloads when sizing Powerstore?
Random vs sequential IO
large vs small IO request sizes/capacity requirements
read vs write ratios
extent of parrallelism
Live Optics
What are the IO characteristics when sizing block workloads in Powerstore?
IOPS
MB/s
read vs write
IO Size
DRR
Effective Capacity
Growth of performance/capacity
What are the IO characteristics when sizing file workloads in Powerstore?
operations per second (read + write metadata)
throughput MB/s
DRR
effective capacity
growth of performance/capacity
What are the IO characteristics when sizing VM workloads in Powerstore?
VMs
vCPUs
Memory
IOPS
CPU/memory utilization
capacity
performance growth
How do you calculate Powerstore X effective capacity?
number of VMs x capacity per VM
What is a good rule of thumb when it comes to PowerStore Storage Performance Saturation?
50-60%
Max Storage Performance Saturation should be 50-60% in the Constraints section of PowerSizer
What effect does performance saturation have on Powerstore sizing?
A very small saturation percentage can lead to oversizing of a solution.
A very large percentage could lead to undersizing, especially as new and unplanned workloads are added.
What are the input fields in PowerSizer for block workloads?
connectivity
DRR
effective capacity
performance
response time
capacity growth
performance growth
split workload
+ icon
What is the effective capacity input field in PowerSizer block?
requested capacity of cluster given DRR
What is the performance input in PowerSizer block?
input for the workload (in K IOPS) or throughput (in MiB/s)
What is the response time input in PowerSizer block?
desirable average response time or latency for solution
What is the split workload input in PowerSizer block?
where the workload is split into 2-10 separate workloads
options are Auto Optimal - Disabled - Split workload
default value is Auto Optimal
What are the minimum inputs to get a Powerstore configuration?
IOPS/MiB/s
effective capacity
What is the + icon input in PowerSizer block?
add multiple block workloads which can be split across appliances
What are workload templates in PowerSizer?
set the percentage and IO sizes of the workload assigned to random (Rand) and sequential (Seq) read (R) write (W) operations
What are the workload template options in PowerSizer?
TYPICAL
ORACLE_OLAP
Exchange_2010
CUSTOM
If you do not know the block size of a workload, what would be a good size to use?
32K
A very small block size can lead to undersizing of a solution, and a very large block size could lead to oversizing.
What are the input fields in PowerSizer for block workloads?
protocol
DRR
effective capacity
file operations (K)/sec
throughput
capacity growth
performance growth
+ icon
What are the protocol options for PowerSizer file?
SMB
NFS
default is NFS
What is the file operations (K)/sec input in PowerSizer?
file operations and data IO
What is the throughput input in PowerSizer?
required throughput/bandwidth in MiB/s
What if File Operations are entered in PowerSizer but not MiB/s?
PowerSizer translates File Operations into IOPS for cluster and appliance summary details.
The IOPS does not contribute to the summary MiB/s because no I/O size is defined.
What if MiB/s is entered but not File Operations?
PowerSizer adds the MiB/s value to block MiB/s for cluster and appliance summary details.
The block MiB/s does not contribute to the summary IOPS because no I/O size is defined.
What if Both OP/s and MiB/s are specified in the characterized workload?
Some level of the OP/s might contribute to the MiB/s and vice versa; that is, there are file operations that aren’t reads or writes.
The workload can be specified as a single workload or two workloads; both inputs impact the performance and capacity utilization differently.
What are the input characteristics for Powerstore X VMs?
Total VMs
vCPU per VM
Memory per VM
IOPS per VM
CPU Utilization
Memory Utilization
Capacity per VM
What is memory per VM measured by in Powerstore X?
memory allocation in GiB
What is CPU utilization inputs in Powerstore X?
expected level of sustained CPU utilization by VMs
What are the CPU utilization options for Powerstore X VMs?
Very Low: CPU utilization 0-25%, vCPU:CPU ratio 8:1
Low: CPU utilization 26-50%, vCPU:CPU ratio 6:1
Medium: CPU utilization 51-75%, vCPU:CPU ratio 4:1
High: CPU utilization 76-90%, vCPU:CPU ratio 2:1
Very High: CPU utilization 91-100%, vCPU:CPU ratio 1:1
Default value: 8:1 (very low)
What are the sizing considerations specific to Powerstore X?
physical CPU and memory resources are finite constraints
different Powerstore models have different cores for VM use
memory allocation affects the maximum VM count allowed
What do the physical CPU and memory resource constraints affect on Powerstore sizing?
number of VMs
vCPU per VM
CPU utilization
memory
storage performance consumed by aggregate workload of each VM and discrete block workloads
How many cores are available for use by Powerstore X for VMs?
50% of total cores
How does memory allocation affect Powerstore X configurations?
more memory per VM reduces total number of VMs allowed
aggregate IOPS may reduce the total number of VMs allowed
How do you calculate VMs allowed on a Powerstore X?
number of cores per proc x CPU Util ratio first number x .50
What is true about running block workloads on Powerstore X?
higher performance saturation per workload than Powerstore T since fewer CPU cores are available for block workloads
Which of the following values can you override in VM workloads for PowerStore X?
Sizer allows you to override the Effective Capacity and Performance fields and workload definition of VM profiles in PowerStore X solutions.
When is it best to use Quick Sizer on PowerSizer?
you have capacity/performance requirement but not sure what system model to use
you know the system model to use and have capacity/performance requirements but you want to know how sutiable the system is to handle those requirements
What are the recommended PowerSizer settings for availability and performance?
if solution spans multiple appliances may be desirable to limit the Max Capacity Utilization or Max Storage Performance Saturation so system generates alerts when capacity is reached
if you want to prevent node failure from impacting max performance set Max Storage Perf Saturation to 50% - default is 100%
When sizing a mixed workload solution, why should you create separate workloads?
To customize criteria such as block size and DRR
Why would you want to split a workload in PowerSizer?
split across multiple appliances to achieve the latency target - eases entry of high workload counts by consolidating characteristics in Sizer
Sizer balances performance saturation across appliances
Where are sizing scenarios stored after completing?
saved in Recent Projects/Sizing Projects
What is the CONNECTIVITY tab in PowerSizer?
enables connectivity of each appliance to be selected
each appliance configured with one Mezzanine card and two optional IO modules
What is the POWER tab in PowerSizer?
displays power connections of the selected system and associated enviornmental specifications and energy costs
What is the POWER OUTPUT tab in PowerSizer?
displays power consumption and associated circuit breaker/voltage for the selected model
What is the ENVIRONMENTAL tab in PowerSizer?
displays ground clearance - energy dissipation
What is the ENERGY COST tab in PowerSizer?
displays estimated power cost depending on region power charges
What is true about an exported configuration in PowerSizer?
locked and cannot be deleted
What is important to know about capacity and performance growth in PowerSizer?
Capacity and performance growth add an incremental value to the characteristics that Sizer uses to propose a solution.
For example, if the desired capacity is 20 TiB and performance is 200K IOPS workload with 10% growth, Sizer uses 220K IOPS.
What can be customized in the MODIFY IN SYSTEM EDITOR feature of PowerSizer?
Drive configuration
Workloads
Proposed appliance system saturation
Capacity utilization
Workload distribution
