SQL SOLUTION BRIEF. NexGen N5 for Microsoft SQL Server: Performance, Control and Consolidation

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Solution Brief: NexGen N5 Hybrid Flash Array for Microsoft SQL Server | January 2015 | 1

SOLUTION BRIEF

NexGen N5 for Microsoft SQL Server: Performance, Control and Consolidation

Database/OLTP applications today are typically a mission critical component of an organization and

outages or delays equate to a loss of revenue. Many organizations are looking towards flash

technology to alleviate application performance issues. According to a recent survey by Enterprise

Strategy Group, 52% of respondents indicated that Database/OLTP was the business application

driving flash storage deployment. When architecting a storage subsystem to meet the challenges of

a Tier-1 SQL environment, it is important to consider the unique storage requirements of SQL

Server.

1. Performance: High throughput and low latency are key to a successful SQL

deployment. SQL best practices require the segregation of database, log and tempdb files while at the same time handling the unique I/O requirements of each.

2. High Availability and Clustering: For any organization with a Tier-1 SQL application, the need to design and implement HA and DR is critical. To minimize downtime and maximize availability, SQL Instance Failover Clustering is still the best choice and shared storage is a critical component of this solution. The combination of Failover Clustering for HA and SQL Availability Groups for DR is a very powerful solution that allows organizations to meet their RTO and RPO objectives.

3. Cost: Flash storage can solve the performance requirements of SQL, but cost can put the project out of reach. The right hybrid flash array can be an affordable solution.

4. Flexible Scalability: Confidence that your storage system can scale to meet SQL demands is reassuring. Being able to scale performance and capacity independently allows your storage system to grow in the dimension needed without having to incur unnecessary costs. Furthermore, the ability to scale performance without swapping out controllers and scale capacity without adding flash makes scaling less cumbersome and less costly.

5. Storage Sprawl: While not an obvious

consideration, the ability to run SQL alongside other applications on the same storage platform would be a desirable capability for most companies, especially mid-sized or small-to-medium enterprises. Consolidation reduces the costs and management complexity

associated with storage sprawl across the organization.

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Why Choose the NexGen N5 Hybrid Flash Array for SQL

The NexGen N5 Hybrid Flash Array makes performance affordable by combining high performance PCIe flash

and disk capacity. With storage Quality of Service (QoS), customers can granularly prioritize and control

application performance.

Figure 1. NexGen N5 in a Clustered SQL Environment

1. Deliver Consistent SQL Application Experience: Storage QoS and service levels guarantee performance even in the event of competing application IOPS or component failure.

2. Ensure Accurate Storage Performance Provisioning: The NexGen N5 utilizes thin provisioning and real-time data placement which equates to hot data placement in flash and cold data placement in disk. This results in more granular performance and capacity provisioning as well as lowering the cost per GB & IOPS.

3. Increase Application and Data Availability: Dual-active controllers along with built-in array redundancy guarantee data availability and application performance. Fusion-io utilizes chip level Adaptive Flashback Protection; this patent-pending technology

eliminates the need for traditional RAID protection at flash tier, resulting in a massive performance gain along with improved fault tolerance.

4. Scale Performance and Capacity: Volumes can be moved between performance policies on the fly to address priority changes or

unexpected workloads. The NexGen N5 array can be upgraded via performance packs and disk shelves, along with receiving software upgrades without application downtime. 5. Reduce Costs: Storage QoS allows the NexGen

N5 array to guarantee performance to heterogeneous applications, enabling greater data center consolidation and reduced storage costs. Mission critical applications can be serviced alongside less critical applications without compromising performance or availability.

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Why Choose the NexGen N5 SPX Hybrid Flash Array for SQL

NexGen N5 Server Performance Extensions (SPX) is an end-to-end flash storage solution combining

the NexGen N5 hybrid array with server-based PCIe flash and server-side caching software (Fusion

ioTurbine). The integrated solution combines intelligent PCIe flash and server cache for maximum

application performance and minimal latency with NexGen N5’s flash-first architecture, ensuring

that both reads and writes gain the benefits of flash performance.

Figure 2. NexGen N5-SPX Direct

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Solution Brief: NexGen N5 Hybrid Flash Array for Microsoft SQL Server | January 2015 | 4 1. Optimize SQL Response Time: Combining

server-side flash along with the high performance of the NexGen N5 array dramatically reduces SQL Server response times.

2. Achieve Significant Consolidation: As

documented during independent testing with Enterprise Strategy Group1_{, the addition of} server-side flash resulted in a 30% SQL performance gain while array IOPS were reduced by up to 90%. The end to end benefit of this is the ability to improve application performance while simultaneously increasing application density and extending storage QoS to more applications across data centers

Figure 4: NexGen N5 dashboard presents meaningful performance data in real-time

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Solution Brief: NexGen N5 Hybrid Flash Array for Microsoft SQL Server | January 2015 | 5 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 2 24 48 84 108 144 180 216 2 24 48 84 108 144 180 216 To ta l OLTP A pp lic ation IOPS

Concurrent User Count

The NexGen N5 SPX Advantage

Array IOPS 30% more application IOPS

N5

N5 SPX

Array IOPS available for servicing additional SQL workloads or other applications 90% less array IOPS

Figure 5: NexGen N5 SPX End-to-End Flash Performance Advantage based on independent testing with Enterprise Strategy Group, 30,000 aggregate user database.

NexGen N5 Hybrid Flash Array: The Right Solution for SQL Environments

The combination of end-to-end flash technology along with SQL provides a demonstrated highly robust and scalable environment for the most demanding enterprise SQL deployments. NexGen offers three N5

appliances and two SPX offerings. Both NexGen N5 and NexGen N5 SPX utilize PCIe flash to address the high performance needs of Tier-1 SQL environments.