http://www.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/storage/powervault_iscsi/cp.aspx?refid=powervault_iscsi&s=biz&cs=555


Technical Community - Background Reading

32X0i:

PowerVault MD3200i/MD3220i Spec Sheet
PowerVault MD Storage Family Brochure

PowerVault MD3200i/MD3220i Technical Guidebook
PowerVault MD3200i/MD3220i Transition Guide

PowerVault MD32x0 and MD32x0i Data Protection Whitepaper
PowerVault MD3200i And MD3000i Mixed Workload Comparison

PowerVault MD3200i Performance Tuning Whitepaper
Dell vs HP 6GB Performance Comparison conducted by Principled Technologies

32X0i: http://www.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/storage/powervault-md3200/pd.aspx?refid=powervault-md3200&s=biz&cs=555

PowerVault MD3200/MD3220 Spec Sheet
PowerVault MD Storage Family Brochure

PowerVault MD3200/MD3220 Technical Guidebook
PowerVault MD3200/MD3220 Transition Guide

PowerVault MD32x0 and MD32x0i Data Protection Whitepaper
PowerVault MD3200 Series Hyper-V Implementation

PowerVault MD3200 Series Hyper-V Planning
PowerVault MD3200 Series Hyper-V Protection

Performance Results for 6Gb SAS vs 3Gb SAS – Principled Technology Report
Dell vs HP 6GB Performance Comparison conducted by Principled Technologies

Chat Transcript



Dell-JeffS This week's chat is on the Dell PowerVault MD32x0 and MD32x0i. Dennis put up a page on Dell TechCenter linking to the various MD3200/MD3200i info: http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/powervault+md3200i+%26+md3220i+iscsi+san+storage+array
Dell-JeffS We have Alec Schwartz and Kyle Walcak from our Product Management and Product Engineering groups on hand to help with your questions.
Dell-JeffS so Alec and Kyle, what's the major differences with the new models?
dell-kylew Basically it’s 2x the performance, capacity and hosts over the Dell PowerVault MD3000 series.
CGreenTX I see the additional NICs in each controller. Is this the primary reason for the performance improvement?
Dell-JeffS We were able to get our hands on a Dell PowerVault MD3200i here in the lab a bit early.
Dell_AlecS For iSCSI, yes double the host ports are part of the reason. The biggest impacts to performance are architectural changes. We have improved throughput and IOP (latency) of the controllers.
Dell-JeffS Dennis did that video, and Scott has Doubletake coming in here tomorrow for some Dell PowerVault 3200i related content.
Doug What is being used as an HBA (Host Bus Adapters) for the SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) version?
Dell_AlecS The SAS HBA is the '6Gbps SAS HBA'.
keithprice We are Dell EqualLogic users. I know this isn't a Dell EqualLogic discussion, but where does this product fit within Dell's storage family compared to Dell EqualLogic
CGreenTX Any word on MPIO (Multipath IO) support on VMWare beyond MRU (Most Recently Used) with this version?
DaveStacy I thought the new HBA was Dell PERC (PowerEdge RAID Controller) H700 or something, replacing the Dell PERC 6/e 6/e stuff.
Doug I thought it was Dell PERC H200.
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. MRU is the only supported option at RTS (Request to Send). We are working on supported fixed.
Dell_AlecS The PERC H200 is the 'internal' SAS HBA; the Dell PowerVault MD3200 uses the 'external' HBA
dell-kylew @keith. The Dell EqualLogic is for customers who need the advance features that our Dell EqualLogic products offer, but our MD does similar replication.
Dell_AlecS @ Dave Stacy. The 6th gen PERC cards didn't refresh the external Hba. So the '6gbps SAS HBA' replaces the SAS5e.
keithprice Kylew. So these products are a less costly entry point, with San functionality, but not the full feature support of Eq.
Emptyone How is speed compared to Dell EqualLogic?
dell-kylew @keith. Correct.
CGreenTX dell_alecs. No plans for Round Robin?
DritRider146 Is it required to have a remote team to install it?
DaveStacy Alec, it needs a better name.
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. Fixed is our priority. Long term we are looking for a hybrid fixed-rr.
CGreenTX Slightly off-topic, but what does fixed offer over MRU?
ceri Davestacy. As someone who specifies hardware, "6Gbps SAS HBA" is a pretty reasonable name ;-)
dell-kylew @emptyone. MD performance is comparable to Dell EqualLogic, but Dell EqualLogic has the advance features.
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. Failback will happen automatically with fixed.
CGreenTX I can certainly see the value in that vs. the big failure light on the MD when it is only a pathing issue. :)
dell-kylew @diretrider146. Not a requirement but is offered as an option
keithprice Kylew. Can you give 3-4 features that EqualLogic provides that this doesn't? I don't want to down this product in anyway; I am just getting a feel for its fit. Maybe this is the wrong forum for this question.
CGreenTX Will the price point be similar to the Dell PowerVault MD3000i's price point today?
DaveStacy Dell EqualLogic has replication, and more physical host attachments.
Dell_AlecS One other new feature with the product set is with MDSM (Modular Disk Storage Manager). There is now an 'enterprise Management Window' and a Physical and a Logic View page.
DaveStacy I have a quote for a full 12 disk Dell PowerVault MD3200 and we're in the mid-teens.
dell-kylew @keithprice. I am not a Dell EqualLogic expert, but there is replication, peer to peer scaling, snapshot scheduling, automatic tier storage.
hmuchmo1 Dell EqualLogic has things like autosnap manager for VMWare, Sql, Microsoft Exchange as well.
Dell-JeffS The video Dennis did (on this page http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/powervault+md3200i+%26+md3220i+iscsi+san+storage+array) shows the new interface.
DaveStacy Keith, you can price one out on the website today if you want.
CGreenTX I was disappointed to see the drop in drive capacity on the 3.5" version.
dell-kylew @keithprice. It varies base on configuration. Our ordering on the web went live today, but basically it about 10-15%.
Doug Can you mix Dell PowerVault MD1200 & MD1220s with these?
CGreenTX However, the 2.5" version looks nice if bigger 2.5" drives start coming out.
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. I can understand that POV. A 12 HDD in 2U does allow for higher HDDs/u which is consistent with this generation of storage products.
Dell_AlecS @doug. Yes, mixing the 2.5" and 3.5" chassis in a stack is fully supported.
Dell_AlecS Note that like the prior generation, expansion is via the JBODs (Just a Bunch of Disks). In this case they are the Dell PowerVault MD1200 and MD1220.
CGreenTX Still a max of 2 additional chassis?
Dell_AlecS No, up to 96 HDDs (slots) are supported.
CGreenTX So the limit is by drive qty, and not shelves?
Dell_AlecS The limit is on slots. Not drives in use.
CGreenTX Very nice.
CGreenTX I actually hit the shelf limit on the Dell PowerVault MD3000i recently.
Dell_AlecS The 96 is exactly what you need. :)
CGreenTX Is there a ship date on the Dell PowerVault MD32 yet?
dell-kylew We release the product today, so once you place the order we will ship.
DritRider146 What kind of clustering will this support?
dell-kylew On our product web page, we have quite a few whitepapers to help you out with the Dell PowerVault MD32000 configuration, performance, etc.
Dell_AlecS @dirtrider146. Both win (2k8 and 2k8r2) and Linux (RHEL and SLES)
dell-kylew Such as Microsoft Hyper-V, migration , performance, VMWare, tuning, advance cabling, IP SAN best practice and more to come.
DaveStacy Is Jumbo frame support new in the Dell PowerVault MD32x0? I would have thought that the md3k had it too.
keithprice Any gotchas on using this product set with Microsoft Hyper-V?
Dell_AlecS Yes, Jumbo frames are supported.
dell-kylew Permanent cache retention instead of the 72 hours battery, like in the Dell PowerVault MD3000.
Dell_AlecS @keithprice. None that I am aware of.
DaveStacy Didn't the Dell PowerVault MD3000 have jumbo frames as well?
Dell_AlecS I believe it does, yes.
DaveStacy Some of the whitepapers were touting that and Toe, as if that was a new feature, just wondering.
Dell-JeffS www.dell.com/md3200 & www.dell.com/md3200i for those papers.
dell-kylew We do support SED (Self Encrypting Drives) drives, too, to protect your data.
Dell_AlecS And SSD (Solid State Drives)!
DaveStacy I know the controllers have 2Gb of cache memory, but what processors do the controllers use, and how is the controller processor and architecture different/better than the Dell PowerVault MD3k?
Dell-JeffS There was a recent blog on SED's -- http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/b/tech-center/archive/2010/06/04/self-encrypting-drives-sed-with-dell-servers-and-storage.aspx.
Dell_AlecS @davestacy. Correct 2GB of cache; the architecture has changed from an x86 to a PPC (PowerPC) processor that is integrated into a SAS ASIC. That and changing to a PCIE (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) interconnect provide about 80% of the horsepower increase.
Dell_AlecS The iSCSI target chips also have increased performance over the Dell PowerVault MD3000i's.
CGreenTX Will there be any calculators/configurators that will provide IOPs based on drive configurations?
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. I am not aware of anything specific. Performance is too configuration/application specific for such a concrete tool. There will be some performance WH's that will have some specific performance numbers.
dell-kylew @cgreentx. No calculator/configurators at this time besides the WP's.
CGreenTX I ask because we use a lot of Dell EqualLogic and Dell PowerVault MD with VMWare ESX. We found we needed faster drives with MD to get adequate performance, but your information has me optimistic that the new system will make up for some of those shortcomings.
dell-kylew Only nearline SAS, SAS and SSD's will be supported, not SATA with the Dell PowerVault MD32000 series of arrays.
gkeller Any hope for an IB adapter?
dell-kylew @gkeller. No plan for an IB (InfinBand) adapter.
Dell_AlecS @cgreen. Understood. Storage performance is dependent on HDD limitation.
CGreenTX To confirm earlier, the product is shipping today?
dell-kylew You can place your order today and we will ship with the normal lead times.
DaveStacy So if you had 12 disks and a mix of production and non-production VM's to store on the Dell PowerVault MD32x., would it be better to segregate them with 2 RAID groups of 6 disks each, or have one big RAID group of 12 to get the maximum spindles? What would you guys do?
dell-kylew For the Dell PowerVault MD32000i series you can now have up to 32 host as compared to 16 with the Md3000i.
CGreenTX That reminds me, what is the max recommended number of VD's (Virtual Disk) per disk group? It was only 4 on the Dell PowerVault MD3ki.
gkeller Is 32 hosts competing for 8Gb a bit too heavily oversubscribed?
Dell_AlecS @davestacy. The best answer to that question is to make sure the data flows equally through both controllers.
gkeller Is the 32 host limit the number of configurable nodes, or the number supported at a given moment in time?
dell-kylew @cgreentx.Maximum of 256 VD's.
DaveStacy @dell-kylew. That's plenty.
Dell_AlecS @cgrenntx. Four host ports on Dell PowerVault MD3k, but it still supported 16 hosts, via an Ethernet switch.
CGreenTX What’s the max recommended though? I can create more than four LUN's (Logical Unit Number) per RAID group on Dell PowerVault MD3000i, but it’s not recommended.
Dell_AlecS @gkeller. Yes, you can easily swamp out the 8 lanes with 32 hosts.
CGreenTX To do multi-path with Dell PowerVault MD3000i you needed two subnets. I assume we need 4 now if we use all 8 ports?
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. There isn't a max recommended. It really is more of a function of how many HDDs are in the DG. If you have only a 5 drive RAID5, I wouldn’t put more than 4 LUN’s on there. But if you have a 30 drive RAID5, you can go beyond 4 LUN’s.
gkeller Any limit to the number of 3200's I can attach to a single Host? Assuming 2 ports per SAS controller and 4 PCI slots?
Dell_AlecS @cgreentx. Yes, now 4 subnets.
Dell_AlecS @gkeller. I think the support limit from the HBA POV is 4 max in a server.
Dell-JeffS Wow, tons of great questions. Any quick must-have answers in our last 5 minutes?
Budrumi I skimmed through the chat history and have a question. Will Dell PowerVault 3200i officially support Microsoft Hyper-V Server (unlike 3000i, although technically possible)?
gkeller @dell_alecs. So then 8 SAS ports = 8 x 3200's max per system?
CGreenTX What is the Turbo option?
Dell_AlecS @budrumi. Yes Dell PowerVault MD3200(i) will support Microsoft Hyper-V (including stand alone).
Dell_AlecS @gkeller. That is possible, but you would be in a non-HA (High Availiability) configuration.
dell-kylew @cgreentx. Turbo is an optional feature that boosts the performance of arrays that have a high drive count, Solid State Drives (SSDs) or data transfer intensive workload.
itpro77 In what way does the Turbo performance license key limit performance for those who do not have it?
Dell_AlecS @gkeller. Correction, we will only support 4 arrays per server. That is our published limit.
gkeller @dell_alecs. Yes, I am good with that. The point would be to have failover via STONITH (Shoot The Other Node in the Head) to a second server
gkeller 4 per server is less helpful. I’m thinking of High Speed Backend for GPFS (General Parallel File System) / lustre like Filesystem over IB.
dell-kylew @itpro77. It does not limit the normal user who has not maxed out their bandwidth.
Dell_AlecS @gkeller. 4 arrays per host is the official support limit, but there isn't a lock out.
gkeller Really, we would be stuck at 6, need a slot for QDR IB (Quad Data Rate Infiniband).
Dell_AlecS @gkeller. Ib = infiniband?
itpro77 Can you change the read and write cache on the Dell PowerVault MD3200i? If so, what are the options and are they in the CLI (Command Line Interface) or the storage manager interface?
Dell-JeffS Alec/kyle. Thanks for moderating and all the excellent answers!
gkeller @dell_alecs. Yes, infiniband.
dell-kylew @itpro77. We will have a WP (WhitePaper) by the end of the week or so around turbo that will provide more details.
Dell_AlecS @itpro77. You can change the cache segment size, but not the MB of memory reserved for cache.
gkeller @dell_alecs. My Dell PowerConnect 6248's hold up pretty well, but they signed a petition against high speed Filesystems.
Dell-JeffS Next week we've got the experts on hand to cover the new Dell PowerEdge M710HD blades. A video can be found on the Dell TechCenter home page.
Dell_AlecS Thanks Jeffs, this was a fantastic chat!
Dell-JeffS Thanks again and see you all next week!