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Enhancing the Dell iSCSI SAN with Dell PowerVault
TM
Tape Libraries and Chelsio Unified Storage Router
iSCSI Appliance
Symantec BackupExec 2010 R3 and CommVault Simpana 9 software were also installed on the R810 to
perform the backup and restore operations.
Data sets used in the testing consisted of thousands of random data files ranging in size from 1KB to
100MB in size. These data sets were stored on LUNs created on the PowerVault MD, EqualLogic PS, and
Compellent arrays and presented to Symantec BackupExec and CommVault Simpana on the R810. The
data was used to perform continuous extended backup and restore operations to and from the
PowerVault ML6000 and TL tape devices.
Performance was measured on the PowerVault LTO5 tape drives connected to the Chelsio USR using the
values reported in the data protection software, as well as various test utilities. Evaluating the effective
throughput can be difficult as there are many factors affecting it including: file size, compression,
protocol overhead, NIC configuration, and the block size setting on the tape drive. The LTO5 tape drive
is capable of streaming data at up to 140 MB/s with 1:1 compressible data. Across various
configurations, Dell testing demonstrated performance ranging from 90% to 95% of the max LTO5
throughput. The optimal performance gains were recorded by enabling jumbo frames on the Dell
10GbE NICs and configuring the tape drive to run at 256KB block size. These settings may not work for
all environments and may need adjusting depending on your data set and hardware to obtain the
optimal throughput.
Throughout the testing, all Dell storage devices, switches, and servers connected in the iSCSI SAN were
closely monitored to evaluate the impact on the entire iSCSI solution infrastructure. The Chelsio USR
was tested to the same rigorous test procedures run on Dell’s own storage products and all
configurations tested passed all functional, reliability, and performance test scenarios.