The SSD Workload Performance Analysis

Test Setup And Test Procedure

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System Hardware
HardwareDetails
CPUIntel Core i7 920 (45 nm, 2.66 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache)
MotherboardSupermicro X8SAX (Socket LGA 1366), Rev. 1.0 Chipset: Intel X58 + ICH10R BIOS: 1.0B
RAM3 x 1 GB DDR3-1333 Corsair CM3X1024-1333C9DHX
System Hard DriveSeagate NL35, 400 GB ST3400832NS 7,200 RPM, SATA/150, 8 MB Cache
Power SupplyOCZ EliteXstream 800W OCZ800EXS-EU
Benchmarks
Performance measurementsh2benchw 3.12
I/O PerformanceIOMeter 2006.07.27Database -BenchmarkFileserver-BenchmarkWebserver-BenchmarkWorkserver-Benchmark
System Software and Drivers
DriverDetails
Operating SystemWindows Vista Ultimate SP1
Intel Chipset Drivers9.1.0.1007
AMD Graphics DriversRadeon 8.12
Intel Matrix Storage Drivers8.7.0.1007

Test Procedure

In an effort to really stress the flash SSDs, we ran the following cycle on all drives:

1st cycle

  • h2benchw sequential read/write test
  • IOMeter fileserver, database, webserver, workstation profile I/O test

2nd cycle

  • h2benchw sequential read/write test
  • IOMeter fileserver, database, webserver, workstation profile I/O test

3rd cycle

  • h2benchw sequential read/write test
  • IOMeter fileserver, database, webserver, workstation profile I/O test

4th cycle

  • h2benchw sequential read/write test

5th cycle

  • h2benchw sequential read/write test

6th cycle

  • h2benchw sequential read/write test

We decided to run the sequential h2benchw test and immediately switch to I/O loads three times in a row, so the drives would have to switch from maximum throughput to maximum I/O performance repeatedly. Then we ran three additional h2benchw tests to see if and when the flash SSDs returned to their initial performance levels.