HP StorageWorks SAN Virtualization Services Platform Best Practices Guide (5697-0935, May 2011)

1 Sizing the SVSP configuration
Sizing the SVSP configuration is important to meet the following needs:
• Availability
• Performance
• Stability
• Ease of operation
Understanding the environment is critical when configuring SVSP. Although the process is iterative,
taking time up front to analyze and monitor initial configurations can significantly improve the
SVSP and its ability to deliver increased capability. HP Services can help you; contact your HP
representative for more information.
The following factors must be considered when sizing the configuration:
• Determine what traffic besides SVSP will be on the SAN.
• Determine the sequential or random nature of the overall workload, taking into account that
the profile may change throughout the day, week, or month.
• Determine the data transfer sizes employed by each workload.
• Determine the bursty nature of all workloads, considering the time of day and the duration of
the higher than the average workloads.
Sizing the domain
Sizing the domain requires looking at the several elements of the environment and weighing
performance requirements against available capacity. As a general rule of thumb, resources should
never be more than 80% utilized. Any resource that is saturated or congested should be addressed
before implementing the SVSP.
When possible, plan for the expected maximum SVSP configuration when first deploying a SVSP
solution. Field experience has shown that failure to do so results in suboptimal configurations that
are frequently the cause of problems.
Determining current performance
A common technique for determining the total workload in the current environment is to do the
following:
• Calculate the total host adapter performance considering both throughput (MB/s) and data
transfer rates (IOPS).
• Calculate the total storage performance considering both throughput (MB/s) and data transfer
rates (IOPS).
• Remember to account for peak workloads (measure and duration) and add margin above
these numbers.
When you have these measurements, use the smaller of these results as a general SVSP domain
guideline.
As you are analyzing your environment, be aware of any Fibre Channel links that are approaching
congestion or saturation. Consider solutions to reduce link utilization to improve overall performance.
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