Online transaction processing (OLTP) applications – ranging from web-based e-commerce sites, to accounting systems, to customer support programs – are at the heart of today’s business functions. As the foundation for a wide range of mission-critical applications, OLTP operations depend on exceptional storage performance and reliability. Moreover, data generated by OLTP applications can grow exponentially over time. Thus, designing and managing storage that can effectively accommodate performance, capacity and future growth requirements for OLTP databases is a key challenge for customers like you today.
Today’s launch of the next generation Dell™ EqualLogic™ arrays includes a hybrid option – EqualLogic PS6210XS – that has seven high performance SSDs and seventeen high capacity 10K rpm SAS HDDs – within a single chassis. The on-board intelligence of the EqualLogic firmware provides automatic tiering and balancing of stored data between the SSD and HDD tiers.
This data tiering within the array creates a flexible and powerful balance between performance and responsiveness provided by the low latency SSD tier and capacity provided by the HDD tier. The working data set – frequently accessed data that needs fast access time – of an OLTP environment is typically a relatively small percentage of the OLTP system total capacity. Consequently, the performance and capacity balance provided by the hybrid array, coupled with EqualLogic’s scale-out virtual storage architecture, makes EqualLogic PS6210XS exceptionally well suited for OLTP environments.
How does EqualLogic hybrid SAN array compare with other OLTP storage solutions in the market? To answer this question, Principled Technologies evaluated two storage solutions—EqualLogic PS6210XS and another from a leading SAN storage solution provider in the industry—in a realistic OLTP scenario.
They used an EqualLogic PS6210XS hybrid array for one configuration and a comparable SAN storage solution from a top competitor for the other configuration. All other elements of the two configurations were identical. To make a fair comparison, the SAN storage solution from the top competitor contained a similar number of SSDs and HDDs with approximately the same usable storage capacity, as well as a software-based caching solution that tiers data for OLTP workloads similar to the EqualLogic automatic data tiering.
Principled Technologies tested both configurations using the DVD Store Version 2 tool, which simulates an online ordering system; it measures database performance in orders per minute (OPM). They also compared response times as well as power consumption for both solutions.
What did they find?
EqualLogic PS6210XS delivered up to 160% better application operations per minute (OPM), up to 49% faster application response times and consumed up to 72% less power with the DVD Store OLTP database benchmark in comparison with this similarly configured competitive system from the market-leading storage vendor.
Pretty impressive!!!
Now, don’t take my word for it. Check out all the details – database configurations, system set-ups, performance metrics, test results – from the Principled Technologies’ report here.
Reach out to me @chhandomay on Twitter if you want to discuss your OLTP environment challenges and goals. Or follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out the latest storage news.
