Dell EMC Storage Manager Scalability Solutions Dell Storage Engineering April 2017 Dell EMC Best Practices
Revisions Date Description April 2017 Initial release Acknowledgements Author: Darin Schmitz The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.
Table of contents Revisions.............................................................................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................................................2 Executive summary.....................................................................................................................
Executive summary Dell EMC™ Storage Manager (DSM) contains features on the Data Collector server that are a crucial piece to managing the SAN infrastructure. With that said, it is important to keep the Data Collector running efficiently so that transactions complete in a timely manner and prevent administrative delays. This guide provides highlevel techniques and strategies for deploying the DSM Data Collector servers in a way that promotes acceptable transactions times to execute storage management tasks.
1 Deployment guidance With the release of DSM 2016 R3, the release notes communicate that to maintain acceptable performance, a Data Collector should manage no more than ten Dell EMC SC Series arrays. This recommendation was due to detailed data analysis indicating that limiting a Data Collector to ten arrays should offer a responsive client experience for most customers. However, ensuring adequate performance of the Data Collector is more complicated than simply limiting the number of arrays it manages.
Graph showing approximate transaction times with various configurations While the development teams work to improve scalability with each software release, the current data indicates that with a high quantity of volumes per array, the more likely that transaction times exceed the transaction time testing goal of <10 seconds. The darkest blue areas of the graph are where admins can expect the most responsiveness from the client.
1.4 Geographic distance When the Data Collector is separated from the arrays by distance, the added network latency can possibly magnify the transaction times, reducing the total number of volumes and arrays that can be managed by a single Data Collector. While certain client transactions can tolerate up to 75 ms of network latency before crossing the 10-second threshold testing goal, other types of transactions can exceed the goal with just 30 ms of latency separating them.
2 Conclusion For more information about the various replication scenarios specific to each application, refer to the best practices guides on Dell TechCenter at Dell.com/StorageResources. A Technical support and resources Dell.com/Support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and support. Dell TechCenter is an online technical community where IT professionals have access to numerous resources for Dell software, hardware and services.
