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A Principled Technologies test report 6
Virtualized database performance comparison: Dell PowerEdge
R815 vs. IBM System x3850 X5
$50,101. To determine price-performance for each server, we divided the servers’ OPM scores by the price of
the respective servers to see how many OPM per dollar each server returned.
As Figure 5 shows, in a
virtualized environment, the Dell
PowerEdge R815, with a price-
performance score of 16.1,
achieved 96 percent better price-
performance than the IBM
System x3850 X5, which had a
price-performance score of 8.2.
4
Figure 6 shows the active
and idle power usage results, by
watts, for the Dell PowerEdge
R815 server and for the IBM System x3850 X5 server. Lower numbers are better. In a virtualized environment,
the Dell PowerEdge R815 server had up to 25 percent lower active power than the IBM System x3850 X5
server.
5
Power usage
Dell PowerEdge R815
IBM System x3850 X5
Active power (W)
716
962
Idle power (W)
284
597
Figure 6: Power usage results, in watts, for the test servers. Lower numbers are better.
HOW WE TESTED
Setting up and configuring the Dell storage
We used six Dell EqualLogic™ PS5000XV storage arrays with 16 disks each for this testing. Each array
was equipped with a Dell EqualLogic Control Module 4 with three Ethernet ports. We cabled each of the three
Ethernet ports to a Dell PowerConnect™ 6248. We used an Intel PRO/1000 PT quad-port NIC in each server for
testing. We cabled all four Ethernet ports to the Dell PowerConnect 6248.
4
Based on DVD Store Version 2 testing conducted by Principled Technologies, Inc., and reported in “Virtualized database performance comparison: Dell PowerEdge
R815 vs. IBM System x3850 X5,” comparing Dell PowerEdge R815 server with AMD Opteron processors Model 6174 (12 cores per processor package) and IBM System
x3850 X5 server with Intel Xeon Processor X7560s (8 cores per processor package), an August, 2010 report commissioned by Dell Inc. For details, see
http://principledtechnologies.com/clients/reports/Dell/PowerEdge_R815_vs_IBM_virt_database_0810.pdf.
5
Ibid.
16.1
8.2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Dell PowerEdge R815
IBM System x3850 X5
price-performance score
Price-performance results
Figure 5: Price-performance scores for the test servers. Higher numbers are better.