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OLTP And Email Server Workloads
To read more on our test methodology visit How We Test Enterprise SSDs, which explains how to interpret our charts. The most crucial step to assuring accurate and repeatable tests starts with a solid preconditioning methodology, which is covered on page three. We cover workload performance measurements on page six, explain latency metrics on page seven, and explain QoS testing and the QoS domino effect on page nine.
The DC P3520 and the PE3110 aren’t designed specifically for heavy transaction workloads, but they will serve well in lighter applications. The DC P3520 takes advantage of its channel superiority to beat the PE3110 on the higher end of the scale, but surprisingly, the PE3110 leads at 2 and 4 OIO, which are critical measurements for mainstream workloads. The lead is slim, but it also appears in our latency and QoS sub-charts, which focus on light loading characteristics. The same pattern of lower power consumption but reduced efficiency appears for both of our value entrants, but it’s important to remember that SSDs, even the flagship variants, will rarely run under full load.
The PE3110 and the DC P3520 trade blows under light load once again, but the DC P3520 pulls out the win under heavier loads. The PE3110 does exhibit a tighter performance envelope during the tests, however, but both value SSDs fare much better than the PBlaze4, which suffers inconsistency.
The file server tests bring a challenging smattering of small file sizes into the picture, which also helps us to explore the performance of an SSD with challenging metadata-heavy workloads. The small file sizes are also important to gauge performance in EXSi, which, like the rest of the industry, has been incredibly slow to adopt the 4Kn format. A bunch of small file sizes can bring even the fastest storage subsystems to a screeching halt. The DC P3520 bears down with an impressive performance with the pesky smaller file sizes. The DC P3520 widens the gap between itself and the PE3110 under heavy load and takes a healthy lead during the lighter portions of the test.
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