Release Notes

System configuration
9 Dell EMC SC Series: Performance and Availability | 4024-BP-SC
1.7.1 FCoE (SC8000 and SC9000)
SC Series storage supports FCoE on the SC8000 and SC9000 platforms only. See the Dell EMC Storage
Compatibility Matrix for supported FCoE HBAs, CNAs, and switches.
1.7.2 NAS
SC Series storage supports NAS file shares by attaching the Dell Compellent FS8600 NAS appliance to the
SAN. For further information, refer to FluidFS technical documents and videos or contact your business
partner or a Dell EMC specialist.
1.8 Hardware capability guidelines
The following sections describe the expected performance from different SC Series hardware components.
Dell EMC does not recommend continuously operating a hardware resource near its maximum potential.
When utilization is below the maximum level, average response times will be better, the system will be able to
handle activity bursts without becoming overloaded, and performance may still be maintained during
hardware failure scenarios.
For some of the following hardware sections, both IOPS and bandwidth (MB/s) capabilities are shown.
Different types of workloads are assumed when determining IOPS capabilities compared to bandwidth
capabilities:
• IOPS workloads assume random small-block (<64KB) access containing both read and write
operations.
• Bandwidth workloads assume sequential large-block (>64KB) access containing both read and write
operations.
This data is a guideline for what most customers can expect as the maximum performance with certain
hardware. Note that individual components in your specific system may be able to provide higher or lower
numbers, based on differences in workload characteristics and environments.
Most hardware components in the SC Series system can be monitored in Dell Storage Manager using the
Charting feature.
1.8.1 Flex Ports
The Flex Port feature on the SCv2000, SCv3000, SC4000, and SC5000 Series arrays allows using a single
physical port to function as both a management port and a front-end iSCSI data port. For more information,
see the document SC Series Flex Port Functionality Reference Architecture.
1.9 Sizing an SC Series array for performance requirements
An SC Series array can be comprised of any combination of disk drives. The array can be 100% spinning
disks, 100% SSDs, or any mix of the two. Typically, I/O operations per second (IOPS) are determined to size
a system unless the application is streaming data such as video where bandwidth is used for sizing an array.
When using spinning drives, there is a near-constant IOPS capability per drive that is used in determining the
design. When designing with SSDs, the IOPS capability of a single drive is very high, but the bandwidth of the
drive needs to be considered to ensure that there is enough to meet the needs of the design.