Intel Server RAID Q1 2009 boot camp training lab workbook

Q1 2009 Intel

Server RAID Boot Camp Training

e. Set Disk Cache Policy to Disabled.

f. Click Go.

g. In IOmeter, click the Results Display tab, then click the Green Flag button to start the test and

wait for 10 seconds for the test to complete.

h. Record the Total MBs per Second result into the corresponding cell in the table below.

4. Measure sequential write performance with Write Back and Disk Cache Enabled

a. In the RAID Web Console, click the Logical tab and select Virtual Disk 0.

b. On the Operations tab, select Set Virtual Disk Properties.

c. Set Disk Cache Policy to Enabled and click Go.

d. In IOmeter, click the Results Display tab, then click the Green Flag button to start the test and

wait for 10 seconds for the test to complete.

e. Record the Total MBs per Second result into the corresponding cell in the table below.

5. Compare the results

Disk Cache Disabled Disk Cache Enabled

Write Through _________ MB/s _________ MB/s

Write Back

_________ MB/s _________ MB/s

Questions

1. Which RAID Read Policy between No Read Ahead mode and Adaptive Read Ahead mode

provides better sequential read performance and why?

2. Why does Write Back mode provide larger performance benefits than Write Through mode

during a sequential write performance test?

3. Why is SATA 2.0 disk write cache unnecessary if we set RAID Write Policy to Write Back

mode during a sequential write performance test?

Summary

A. Speed of copying files (as well as FTP, HTTP, backup, media streaming) can be substantially

improved by setting Adaptive Read Ahead mode.

B. Write Back mode provides huge performance benefits for many applications.

C. While increasing risk of data loss, enabling disk cache in Write Back mode provides limited

performance benefits.

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