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Deploying Microsoft SQL Server 2008 based Decision Support Systems using Dell EqualLogic 10GbE iSCSI Storage 8
3.1.2 Monitoring
We configured Windows Server® 2008 Performance Monitor (PerfMon) to monitor the utilization of
server resources – processor, memory, disk I/O and network. We also used the Dell EqualLogic SAN
HeadQuarters (“SAN HQ”) application to monitor the utilization and operation of the storage
resources: physical disks, logical volumes, network ports, member arrays and storage pool activity.
4 Best Practices
In Section 2 we discussed the need to take an end-to-end approach when designing optimal
configurations for SQL Server based DSS solutions. In this section of the paper we focus on best
practices for creating and deploying optimized configurations.
4.1 Dell EqualLogic Storage Array Configuration
You should consider the following best practices when configuring Dell EqualLogic storage arrays for
a DSS solution.
4.1.1 ChooseAppropriateDiskDriveTypeandSize
In both test configurations we used Dell EqualLogic PS6010XV storage arrays configured with 16
450GB SAS 15K RPM drives. We used the SAS 15K drives because they offer the highest level of disk I/O
throughput.
SAS 10K drives (Dell EqualLogic PS6010X) or SATA drives (Dell EqualLogic PS6010E) can also be
considered for DSS environments requiring lower levels of I/O throughput. Choice of drive size
depends on the capacity requirements of the DSS database or the data warehouse.
4.1.2 SettinganAppropriateRAIDPolicy
In both test configurations we configured RAID 50 on each array using 14 disk drives, with the
remaining 2 disk drives in each array configured as hot spares. We used RAID 50 because it offers a
good balance between capacity utilization and read performance levels.
Note: SAN HeadQuarters (SAN HQ) can be used for performance and event monitoring
across multiple EqualLogic SAN groups. It can help storage administrators monitor and
analyze configuration, performance, capacity utilization and connection status. The
information captured and provided by SAN HQ can be analyzed at a point-in-time or over a
specified time range. SAN HQ is a powerful tool for gathering array performance data. For
more details on using SAN HQ, please download the following Dell Technical Report:
“Monitoring your PS Series SAN with SAN HeadQuarters”, available at:
http://www.equallogic.com/resourcecenter/assetview.aspx?id=8749
The SAN HeadQuarters application is available for download at:
https://www.equallogic.com/support/