White Papers

Configuration
9 Dell EMC PowerVault ME4 Series and Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 | 3925-BP-EX
At a minimum, the database and log volumes should be balanced across the pools (see Table 3). Each pool
should contain a relatively equal number of log and database copies. This will help balance the I/O across the
storage. Using the built-in performance monitoring will provide insight into how the storage traffic is balanced.
Balanced pool placement of database and log volumes
Controller A
Controller B
Database1&Logs1
Database2&Logs2
Database3&Logs3
Database4&Logs4
2.3 SSD read cache
When SSD drives are added to an HDD pool, they can be used as a read cache. When the drives are
configured as a read-cache disk group, they will intelligently cache pages from the entire pool.
2.4 Data tiering
ME4 Series storage supports data tiering when using virtual storage.
Refer to the following information from the ME4 Series Administrator’s Guide (available on Dell.com/support):
Automated tiered storage (ATS) is a virtual storage feature that automatically moves data residing in one
class of disks to a more appropriate class of disks based on data access patterns. Frequently accessed, hot
data can move to disks with higher performance, while infrequently accessed, cool data can move to disks
with higher capacity, lower performance, and lower costs.
Each virtual disk group, depending on the type of disks it uses, is automatically assigned to one of the
following tiers:
• Performance: This highest tier uses SSDs.
• Standard: This middle tier uses enterprise-class HDD SAS disks, which provide good performance
with mid-level cost and capacity.
• Archive: This lowest tier uses midline HDD SAS disks, which provide the lowest performance with
the lowest cost and highest capacity.
2.5 Resilient File System for Exchange 2016 database volumes (JBOD)
In The Exchange 2016 Preferred Architecture, Microsoft recommends using Resilient File System (ReFS) for
JBOD volumes and not SAN volumes. ReFS should not be used for Exchange 2016 database and log
volumes on ME4 Series arrays. Each disk that houses an Exchange database is formatted with ReFS (with
the integrity feature disabled) and the DAG is configured such that Auto-Reseed formats the disks with ReFS.
2.6 Default allocation unit size
Exchange reads and writes to the database in 32 KB amounts. Formatting volumes with the correct default
allocation unit size is an important best practice, and the default allocation unit size of 64 KB is
recommended.