Louis
2010-11-15 23:22:25 UTC
Hey all1
Recently I've decided to implement OpenSolaris as a target for BackupExec.
The server I've converted into a "Storage Appliance" is an IBM x3650 M2 w/ ~4TB of on board storage via ~10 local SATA drives and I'm using OpenSolaris svn_134. I'm using a QLogic 4Gb FC HBA w/ the QLT driver and presented an 8TB sparse volume to the host due to dedup and compression being turned on for the zpool.
When writes begin, I see anywhere from 4.5GB/Min to 5.5GB/Min and then it drops of quickly (I mean down to 1GB/Min or less). I've already swapped out the card, cable, and port with no results. I have since ensured that every piece of equipment on the box had it's firmware updated. While doing so, I installed Windows Server 2008 to flash all the firmware (IBM doesn't have a Solaris installer).
While in Server 2008, I decided to just attempt a backup via share on the 1Gbs copper connection. I saw speeds of up to 5.5GB/Min consistently and they were sustained throughout 3 days of testing. Today I decided to move back to OpenSolaris with confidence. All writes began at 5.5GB/Min and quickly dropped off.
In my troubleshooting efforts, I have also dropped the fiber connection and made it an iSCSI target with no performance gains. I have let the on board RAID controller do the RAID portion instead of creating a zpool of multiple disks with no performance gains. And, I have created the target LUN using both rdsk and dsk paths.
I did notice today though, that there is a direct correlation between the ARC memory usage and speed. Using arcstat.pl, as soon as arcsz hits 1G (half of c column [commit?]), my throughput hits the floor (i.e. 600MB/Min or less). I can't figure it out. I tried every configuration possible.
Recently I've decided to implement OpenSolaris as a target for BackupExec.
The server I've converted into a "Storage Appliance" is an IBM x3650 M2 w/ ~4TB of on board storage via ~10 local SATA drives and I'm using OpenSolaris svn_134. I'm using a QLogic 4Gb FC HBA w/ the QLT driver and presented an 8TB sparse volume to the host due to dedup and compression being turned on for the zpool.
When writes begin, I see anywhere from 4.5GB/Min to 5.5GB/Min and then it drops of quickly (I mean down to 1GB/Min or less). I've already swapped out the card, cable, and port with no results. I have since ensured that every piece of equipment on the box had it's firmware updated. While doing so, I installed Windows Server 2008 to flash all the firmware (IBM doesn't have a Solaris installer).
While in Server 2008, I decided to just attempt a backup via share on the 1Gbs copper connection. I saw speeds of up to 5.5GB/Min consistently and they were sustained throughout 3 days of testing. Today I decided to move back to OpenSolaris with confidence. All writes began at 5.5GB/Min and quickly dropped off.
In my troubleshooting efforts, I have also dropped the fiber connection and made it an iSCSI target with no performance gains. I have let the on board RAID controller do the RAID portion instead of creating a zpool of multiple disks with no performance gains. And, I have created the target LUN using both rdsk and dsk paths.
I did notice today though, that there is a direct correlation between the ARC memory usage and speed. Using arcstat.pl, as soon as arcsz hits 1G (half of c column [commit?]), my throughput hits the floor (i.e. 600MB/Min or less). I can't figure it out. I tried every configuration possible.
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This message posted from opensolaris.org
This message posted from opensolaris.org