SQL Server 2016 database performance on the Dell PowerEdge R830 QLogic 16G Fibre Channel with StorFusion Technology with Dell Storage SC9000 all-flash array

JULY 2016
A PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES TEST REPORT
Commissioned by Dell, Inc.
SQL SERVER 2016 DATABASE PERFORMANCE ON THE DELL POWEREDGE R830
WITH QLOGIC 16G FIBRE CHANNEL WITH STORFUSION TECHNOLOGY
AND DELL STORAGE SC9000 ALL-FLASH ARRAY
In April 2016, Microsoft discontinued extended support for SQL Server 2005,
prompting many companies to migrate to a newer version. If your company is planning
to migrate from SQL Server 2005 to a newer version, it’s a great time to upgrade your
hardware to get the most out of the new software.
In the Principled Technologies datacenter, we ran SQL Server 2016 in a modern
Dell environment—a PowerEdge R830 server, powered by Intel Xeon E5-4650 v4
processors; QLogic® QLE2692 16Gb Fibre Channel (FC) adapter with StorFusion
Technology; and Dell SC9000 all-flash storage. We found that this configuration did
more than five times the database work of an older Dell PowerEdge R820 server with
legacy HDD SAN storage running SQL Server 2005, while delivering a storage response
time of less than 1 millisecond.
When you can use fewer servers to run your SQL Server workloads at equal or
higher levels of database performance, you boost your datacenter efficiency, which can
translate to savings.

A Principled Technologies test report 2SQL Server 2016 database performance on the Dell PowerEdge R830
with QLogic 16G Fibre Channel with StorFusion Technology and Dell
Storage SC9000 all-flash array
MODERNIZE YOUR DATACENTER WITH NEW DELL SERVERS AND
STORAGE
Streamlining your datacenter hardware by replacing older servers using HDD
storage arrays with new servers using all-flash storage has the potential to benefit your
company many ways. You can use less physical space, see your power and cooling
expenses decrease, free up time for IT admins by requiring them to manage fewer
servers, and save by paying for fewer software licenses each year.
If your company is migrating your SQL Server 2005 database workloads to SQL
Server 2016 and thinking about investing in new servers as well, consider the Dell
PowerEdge R830. SQL Server 2016 features OS-maximum cores and memory as well as
in-memory OLTP, letting it fully utilize the vast resource pools new servers offer. The
Dell PowerEdge R830 is a 2U, four-socket server that features the Intel Xeon processor
E5-4600 v4 product family, provides up to 88 cores and 176 threads, and supports up to
3 TB of DDR4 RAM. This means it has large amounts of CPU and memory resources to
handle SQL Server 2016 applications in only 2U of rack space.
Dell designed the all-flash Storage SC9000 array with large-scale storage, high-
end workloads, and distributed enterprise environments in mind. This array gives your
SQL Server applications a boost with 16Gb Fibre Channel, 12Gb SAS, and hardware
redundancy—all of which speed and protect the movement of data.
We set out to compare two solutions: (1) SQL Server 2005 workloads on a
[2012] Dell PowerEdge R820 with HDD storage and (2) SQL Server 2016 on the modern
PowerEdge R830-SC9000 platform. We set up virtual machines in both environments
and ran an online transaction processing (OLTP) workload. Figure 1 illustrates our test
environment.
Figure 1: Our testbed.

Our legacy environment, the Dell PowerEdge R820 using HDD-based storage,
ran 12 VMs, each handling an average of 10,180.17 orders per minute in our test
configuration. We configured the modern Dell environment to run 24 VMs, each
handling an average of 28,539.71 orders per minute. That’s twice as many VMs, each
doing more than twice the work of the original VMs. As Figure 2 illustrates, that
translates to over five times the database work that the Dell PowerEdge R830 and Dell
Storage SC9000 array could accomplish together.
Figure 2: The 24 SQL Server 2016 VMs running on the Dell modern environment performed more than five times
the work of the 12 SQL Server 2005 VMs running on the Dell PowerEdge R820 environment.
For more information on components used in our testing, see Appendix A. For
detailed hardware configuration information, see Appendix B. For details on our test
procedure, see Appendix C.
OUR RESULTS IN DETAIL
On both the Dell PowerEdge R830 and legacy R820 environments, we allocated
8 GB of RAM to the hypervisor and then sized our VMs to utilize the full remaining
amount of RAM each server offered. Each VM on the older Dell PowerEdge R820 had
four vCPUs, 9,728 MB of RAM, and a 20GB SQL Server 2005 database. Each of the VMs
on the new PowerEdge R830 had four vCPUs, 9,216 MB of RAM, and a 20GB SQL Server
2016 database. The Dell PowerEdge R830 environment could support 24 VMs while the
legacy environment could support only 12 VMs in this configuration.

Figure 3 shows the median orders per minute that the two solutions were able
to process in our testing. Each of the 24 VMs on the Dell PowerEdge R830 solution
processed more than twice as many orders per minute than each of the 12 VMs on the
legacy R820 did. The Dell PowerEdge R830 solution delivered an overall difference of
five times the output.
Dell PowerEdge R830 with Dell
Storage SC9000 array (SQL Server 2016)
Dell PowerEdge R820
with legacy HDD storage (SQL Server 2005)
VM 1 27,470 10,140
VM 2 29,137 10,172
VM 3 28,305 10,119
VM 4 27,920 10,132
VM 5 29,024 10,257
VM 6 28,202 10,294
VM 7 28,353 10,227
VM 8 28,462 10,185
VM 9 28,961 10,161
VM 10 28,987 10,110
VM 11 28,700 10,104
VM 12 29,106 10,261
VM 13 28,203
VM 14 28,647
VM 15 27,750
VM 16 27,671
VM 17 28,208
VM 18 29,496
VM 19 28,287
VM 20 28,971
VM 21 28,639
VM 22 28,270
VM 23 28,431
VM 24 29,753
Total 684,953 122,162
Figure 3: The 24 SQL Server 2016 VMs running on the Dell modern environment delivered over five times the work of the 12
SQL Server 2005 VMs running on the legacy PowerEdge R820 environment.
Latency, or response time, is a critical factor in determining consistent, fast
database performance. In our tests, the applications running on the SC9000 all-flash
storage array were able to support over 680,000 orders per minute due, in part, to the
fast response times at the disk level. According to the esxtop data captured during the
run, the device latency on the SC9000 stayed below 1ms for the duration of the run.

VMware guidelines recommend that device latency be less than 20ms for best
performance.
CONCLUSION
Nothing lasts forever. When software manufacturers discontinue support for
aging programs, as Microsoft has done for SQL Server 2005, businesses using these
applications must take the step of migrating to new, updated versions. Coupling this
upgrade with an upgrade to the hardware on which the applications run can take
performance improvements to an even higher level.
In our testing, the modern four-socket Dell PowerEdge R830 powered by Intel
Xeon processors E5-4650 v4 working with the powerful Dell Storage SC9000 array and
running SQL Server 2016 delivered over five times the database performance of a legacy
PowerEdge R820 solution running SQL Server 2005. The modern PowerEdge solution
also delivered a faster response time.
Running modern, fully featured database software on four-year-old servers is
possible, but far from optimal. Consolidating your SQL Server workloads from legacy
servers onto Dell PowerEdge R830 servers powered by the Intel Xeon processor E5-4600
v4 product family is a way to streamline and modernize your datacenter.

APPENDIX A – ABOUT THE COMPONENTS
About the Dell PowerEdge R830
The Dell PowerEdge R830 is a 2U, four-socket server that features the latest from the Intel® Xeon® processor E5-
4600 v4 series. Dell designed the R830 to optimize application performance for dense virtualization or scale out four-
socket workloads using resources including the following:
 48 DIMM slots—The ample number of slots help leverage cost with performance and capacity needs. It
accommodates a larger memory footprint which can be configured with smaller-capacity DIMMs for
potential cost-efficiency, or can support up to 3 TB for more memory- intensive use cases.
 16 drive bays, configurable with a mix of SAS/SATA HDDs and SSDs as well as optional NVMe PCIe® SSDs
for expanded storage capabilities. Two chassis configurations—one with eight HDD/SSD drive bays, and
one with 16 HDD/SSD drive bays—allow you to configure the PowerEdge R830 however your business
needs.
 Optional NVMe PCIe SSD drives for data that requires the fastest- available I/O throughput.
To learn more about the Dell PowerEdge R830, visit www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-R830/pd.
About the new Intel Xeon E5 v4 processor family
The latest Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v4 family contain up to 22 cores at that run at 2.2 GHz – a 20 percent
increase compared to previous generations. The Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v4 family offers features to enhance
virtualization, orchestration, and security, including cache monitoring and allocation technologies, memory bandwidth
monitoring, and enhanced key security.
To learn more about the Intel Xeon E5 processor product family, read the product brief at
http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/xeon-e5-brief.pdf
About the Dell SC9000 storage array
Dell designed the SC9000 as an ideal solution for large-scale storage, high-end workloads, and distributed
enterprise environments. According to Dell, this latest flagship array offers all the capabilities of the SC Series line in a
fully upgraded, more scalable system leveraging the Dell 13G server platform.
 16Gb Fibre Channel capability provides a massive network pipe for achieving the throughput needed to
take full advantage of the all-flash performance.
 Quick, modular expansion to over 3PB raw SAN and/or NAS storage capacity per array, and the ability to
be interconnected with other SC Series arrays in larger federated systems under unified management.
 Superior flash and hybrid performance. Comprehensive SSD integration plus a wide range of HDDs and
ultra-dense enclosures provide flexible performance.
 Always available storage with automated cost savings. Ideal for private cloud deployments, the SC Series
Live Volume feature now offers seamless disaster recovery with transparent auto-failover to fully
synchronized backup volumes on another SC series array.
 Live Volume with auto-failover keeps workloads running continuously during unplanned outages and
repairs your high-availability environment automatically when an array comes back online. No extra
hardware or software is required.

 Application Protection Manager Suite ensures server-side data integrity in Oracle, VMware and
Microsoft database environments. Optional FIPS-certified self-encrypting SSDs and HDDs protect against
data theft, loss or unauthorized access.
 Built-in efficiencies include new block-level compression on all-flash arrays and pervasive “thin”
methods. Patented auto-tiering leverages the best attributes of diverse drive types to optimize your
data throughout its lifecycle.
 Redundant, hot-swappable components make the SC9000 a resilient, easy-to-deploy and highly
available solution. Add capacity quickly with any of five supported expansion enclosures. Customize I/O
connections to multiprotocol SANs (FC, iSCSI and FCoE) and support file storage from the same pool via
the optional FS8600 NAS appliance.
Learn more at www.dell.com/us/business/p/storage-sc9000/pd
About the QLogic QLE269X series of FC adapters
QLogic provides Dell customers with future-ready I/O connectivity. According to QLogic, the QLE269x single- and
dual-port 16Gb Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) boast industry-leading native FC performance with extremely
low CPU usage with full hardware offloads, and include the following advanced features:
 Enhanced reliability, diagnostics, and accelerated deployment powered by StorFusion technology
 Up to 1.3 million IOPS to fuel high performance in all-flash arrays and high-density virtualized
environments
 Port isolation design that offers deterministic and scalable performance on each port
Learn more at www.qlogic.com/go/dell
About Microsoft SQL Server 2016
SQL Server 2016 delivers performance and security features built-in for mission-critical transactional systems
and data warehouses, along with an integrated business intelligence and advanced analytics solution for building data
analytics applications. High-performance features are key to ensuring your applications can deliver a smooth
transactional experience and also potentially support demanding real-time operational analytics.
You can experience the full features of SQL Server 2016 through the free developer edition. Visit the SQL Server
2016 webpage to learn more about new features and download the SQL Server 2016 e-book.
About DVD Store Version 2.1
To create our real-world ecommerce workload, we used the DVD Store Version 2.1 benchmarking tool. DS2
models an online DVD store, where customers log in, search for movies, and make purchases. DS2 reports these actions
in orders per minute that the system could handle, to show what kind of performance you could expect for your
customers. The DS2 workload also performs other actions, such as adding new customers, to exercise the wide range of
database functions you would need to run your ecommerce environment.
For more details about the DS2 tool, see www.delltechcenter.com/page/DVD+Store.

APPENDIX B – SYSTEM CONFIGURATION INFORMATION
Figures 4 and 5 provide detailed configuration information for the test systems. Figures 6 and 7 provide detailed
configuration information for the storage array.
System Dell PowerEdge R830
General
Number of processor packages 4
Number of cores per processor 14
Number of hardware threads per core 2
System power management policy Performance
CPU
Vendor Intel
Name Xeon
Model number E5-4650 v4
Socket type LGA2011-3
Core frequency (GHz) 2.20
Bus frequency 9.6 GT/s
L1 cache 32KB + 32KB (per core)
L2 cache 256KB (per core)
L3 cache 36MB
Platform
Vendor and model number Dell PowerEdge R830
Motherboard model number 0CWF69X02
BIOS version 1.1.0 6/7/2016
Integrated LOM Intel Ethernet X540-AT2
Memory module(s)
Total RAM in system (GB) 256
Vendor and model number Samsung® M393A2K43BB1-CRC
Type PC4-19200
Speed (MHz) 2,400
Speed running in the system (MHz) 2,400
Size (GB) 16GB
Number of RAM module(s) 16
Chip organization Double-sided
Rank Dual
Fibre Channel adapter
Vendor and model number QLogic QLE2692 FC Adapter with StorFusion Technology
Number of ports 2
Speed 16G
RAID controller
Vendor and model number PERC H730
Firmware version 25.4.0.0015

Firmware
Lifecycle Controller / iDRAC 2.35.35.30
Driver Pack 16.01.08
Figure 4: Configuration information for the Dell PowerEdge R830.
General
Number of processor packages 4
Number of cores per processor 8
Number of hardware threads per core 2
System power management policy Performance
CPU
Vendor Intel
Name Xeon
Model number E5-4650
Socket type LGA2011
Core frequency (GHz) 2.70
Bus frequency 8.0 GT/s
L1 cache 32KB + 32KB (per core)
L2 cache 256KB (per core)
L3 cache 20MB
Platform
Vendor and model number Dell PowerEdge R820
Motherboard model number 0X437FX03
BIOS version 2.3.4 1/22/2016
Integrated LOM Intel Gigabit I350-t
Memory module(s)
Total RAM in system (GB) 128
Vendor and model number Hynix HMT31GR7CFR4C
Type PC3-12800
Speed (MHz) 1,600
Speed running in the system (MHz) 1,600
Size (GB) 8GB
Number of RAM module(s) 16
Chip organization Double-sided
Rank Dual
RAID controller
Vendor and model number PERC H710
Firmware version 21.3.2-0005
Figure 5: Configuration information for the legacy server.

Storage array Dell Storage SC9000
Vendor and model number Dell Storage SC9000
OS version Storage Center 6.7.5
Connection type Fibre Channel 16Gb
Number of Fibre Channel cards 1 per controller (2 total)
Fibre Channel card model QLogic® QLE2662 16G Fibre Channel Adapter
Number of SAS cards 1 per controller (2 total)
SAS card model SAS9300-8E 12G SAS Dual-Ext Port Adapter
Number of expansion enclosures 1
Expansion enclosure model number SC420
Number of disks per shelf 24
Type of disk SSD
Disk capacity 400 GB
Volumes 1
Disks per volume 24
RAID type RAID 10
Figure 6: Configuration information for the Dell Storage SC9000 storage array.
Storage array Legacy SAN
Connection type Fibre Channel 8Gb
Number of Fibre Channel cards 1
Number of SAS cards 1 per controller (2 total)
Number of expansion enclosures 2
Number of disks per shelf 24
Type of disk HDD 15k
Disk capacity 600 GB
Aggregates 2
Disks per aggregate 24
Volumes 3 (OS, data, and logs)
RAID type RAID-DP
Figure 7: Configuration information for the legacy storage system.

APPENDIX C – HOW WE TESTED
Note: On May 30, 2016, we finalized the hardware and software configurations we tested. Updates for current and
recently released hardware and software appear often, so unavoidably these configurations may not represent the
latest versions available when this report appears. For older systems, we chose configurations representative of typical
purchases of those systems. We concluded hands-on testing on July 11, 2016.
Installing VMware vSphere onto the servers
Before installing VMware vSphere, we set the System Profile to Performance on both servers. We installed the
VMware vSphere 6.0 U2 hypervisor onto the servers’ local hard drives, which we placed in a RAID1 pair.
1. Insert the VMware vSphere 6.0 U2 installation media into the optical drive.
2. Boot the server to the VMware vSphere installer.
3. To begin the installation wizard, press F11.
4. As the installation location, select the RAID1 pair.
5. As the keyboard type and language, select US English.
6. Enter the root password for the host.
7. To start the installation, press Enter.
8. When the installation completes, to reboot the host, press Enter.
9. After the host reboots, set the management network IP address.
10. Add the host to vCenter, and enable SSH and ESXi shell.
Configuring the Fibre Channel networking
We used a Brocade 6505 16Gb Fibre Channel top-of-rack switch for the storage network. We left the switch
ports at factory settings and created zones for traffic isolation.
Configuring zoning on the Brocade M6505 switch
1. In a web browser, connect to the Brocade M6505 switch, and log in as the admin user.
2. Click Configure→Zone Admin.
3. In the Zone tab, create the following zones:
a. All visible physical ports on the SC9000
b. All visible virtual ports on the SC9000
c. Server Port 1 and all four visible virtual ports
i. Repeat Step C for remaining server ports.
4. In the Zone Config tab, click New Zone Config, and give it a name.
5. Add the newly created Zones to the Zone Config.
6. Click Save Config.
7. Click Enable Config.
8. Repeat the zoning process for the legacy server, creating one zone for all Fibre Channel ports associated
with the legacy environment.

Configuring the storage
After initial cabling and configuration of the Dell Storage SC9000, we disabled the read and write caches and
then created a single large volume, using all 24 disks. On the legacy storage, we created a first RAID aggregate using 24
disks, and within that aggregate, we created a single volume for OS and Data VMDKs. We then created a second RAID
aggregate using the remaining 24 disks, and within that aggregate, we created a single volume for Log VMDKs.
Creating a server cluster and connecting the volumes
1. In a web browser, connect to the Storage Center virtual IP address, and log in as the Admin user.
2. Click Storage Management→Servers→Create Server. Select the four HBA WWNs that correspond to the Dell
PowerEdge R830. Give the server a name, and click Continue.
3. Click Storage Management→Servers→Create Server Cluster. Click Add Existing Servers to Cluster. Select all
servers, and click Continue.
4. Click Storage Management→Volumes→Create Volume. When prompted to specify a size for the volume,
select Use All Space.
5. Click Storage Management→Volume→Map volume to server. Select the volume, and click Continue. Select
the server cluster, and click Continue.
6. Using VMware vCenter, ensure that the volume is showing as connected to the server. Rebooting the
servers and chassis may be necessary to propagate all changes.
Creating the workload virtual machines
We created and cloned out 12 Windows Server 2008 R2 VMs on the legacy environment, and 24 Windows
Server 2012 R2 VMs on the Dell PowerEdge R830 environment. We installed SQL Server 2005 on the legacy VMs and SQL
Server 2016 on the Dell PowerEdge R830 VMs. All VMs had the same virtual hardware specifications, with the exception
of VM memory. The legacy VMs had slightly more memory assigned to each VM to use the host memory fully.
Creating the base VM
1. In VMware vCenter, navigate to Virtual Machines.
2. Click the icon to create a new VM.
3. Leave Create a new virtual machine selected, and click Next.
4. Enter a name for the virtual machine, and click Next.
5. Place the VM on a host with available CPUs, and click Next.
6. Select the Dell Storage SC9000 datastore for the 60GB OS VMDK, and click next.
7. Click Next.
8. Select the guest OS as Windows Server 2012 R2 for the Dell PowerEdge R830 environment, and Windows
Server 2008 R2 for the legacy environment, and click Next.
9. In the Customize Hardware section, make the following changes:
a. Increase the vCPUs to 4.
b. Increase the VM memory to 9,216 MB on the Dell PowerEdge R830 environment, and to 9,728 MB
on the legacy environment, in order to fully utilize the host memory.
c. Add a 100GB VMDK for SQL data, and select the VMware Paravirtual controller and Thick
Provisioned Eager Zeroed.

d. Add a 20GB VMDK for SQL logs, and select the VMware Paravirtual controller and Thick Provisioned
Eager Zeroed. Place the VMDK in the LOGS datastore.
10. Connect the VM to the test network.
11. Click Next.
12. Click Finish.
13. Follow the instructions below to install the guest OS.
Installing Windows Server 2012 R2 onto the Dell PowerEdge R830 VMs
1. Attach the Windows Server 2012 R2 ISO to the virtual machine.
2. Open the VM console, and start the VM.
3. When prompted to boot from DVD, press any key.
4. When the installation screen appears, leave language, time/currency format, and input method as default,
and click Next.
5. Click Install now.
6. When the installation prompts you, enter the product key.
7. Select Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Edition (Server with a GUI), and click Next.
8. Check I accept the license terms, and click Next.
9. Click Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
10. Select Drive 0 Unallocated Space, and click Next. This starts Windows automatically, and Windows will
restart automatically after completing.
11. When the Settings page appears, fill in the Password and Reenter Password fields with the same password.
12. Log in with the password you set up previously.
Installing .NET Framework 3.5
1. In the VM, open Server Manager.
2. Click Manage→Add Roles and Features.
3. Select Role-based or feature-based installation, and click Next.
4. Under Server pool, select the local server, and click Next. Click Next.
5. Under Features, select .NET Framework 3.5 Features, and click Next.
6. Click Install.
7. Upon completion, click Close.
Installing SQL Server 2016
1. Attach the installation media ISO for SQL Server 2016 to the VM.
2. Click Run SETUP.EXE. If Autoplay does not begin the installation, navigate to the SQL Server 2016 DVD, and
double-click it.
3. In the left pane, click Installation.
4. Click New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation.
5. To accept the license terms, click the checkbox, and click Next.
6. Click Use Microsoft Update to check for updates, and click Next.

7. To install the setup support files, click Install.
8. If there are no failures displayed, click Next.
9. At the Setup Role screen, choose SQL Server Feature Installation, and click Next.
10. At the Feature Selection screen, select Database Engine Services, Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for
Search, Client Tools Connectivity, Client Tools Backwards Compatibility, Management Tools – Basic, and
Management Tools – Complete.
11. Click Next.
12. At the Instance configuration screen, leave the default selection of default instance, and click Next.
13. At the Database Engine Configuration screen, select the authentication method you prefer. For our testing
purposes, we selected Mixed Mode.
14. Enter and confirm a password for the system administrator account.
15. Click Add Current user. This may take several seconds.
16. Click Next.
17. At the Error and usage reporting screen, click Next.
18. At the Installation Configuration Rules screen, check that there are no failures or relevant warnings, and click
Next.
19. At the Ready to Install screen, click Install.
20. Close the installation window.
Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition on the legacy VMs
1. Attach the installation media ISO to the VM.
2. Open the VM console, and boot to the DVD.
3. At the Language Selection Screen, click Next.
4. Click Install Now.
5. Select Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (Full Installation), and click Next.
6. Click the I accept the license terms check box, and click Next.
7. Click Custom.
8. Click Drive options (advanced).
9. Delete all partitions, if they exist.
10. Click New.
11. Click Apply.
12. Click Next.
13. At the User’s password must be changed before logging on warning screen, click OK.
14. As the new password in both fields, type Password1. To continue, click the arrow.
15. At the Your password has been changed screen, click OK.
Installing SQL Server 2005
1. Attach the installation media ISO to the VM.
2. Inside the VM, if AutoPlay does not begin the installation, navigate to the SQL Server 2005 DVD, and double-
click Autorun.

3. If prompted with a .NET installation prompt, to enable the .NET Framework Core role, click Yes.
4. At the SQL Server Installation Center screen, click Installation.
5. Click New installation or add features to an existing installation.
6. At the Setup Support Rules screen, click OK.
7. At the Product Key screen, specify the free Enterprise edition evaluation, and click Next.
8. At the License Terms screen, accept the license terms, and click Next.
9. At the Setup Support Files screen, click Install.
10. At the Setup Support Rules screen, click Next.
11. At the Setup Role screen, choose SQL Server Feature Installation, and click Next.
12. At the SQL Server 2005 Feature Selection screen, select the following features: Database Engine Services,
Full-Text Search, Client Tools Connectivity, Client Tools Backwards Compatibility, Management Tools – Basic,
Management Tools – Complete. Click Next.
13. At the Installation Rules screen, click Next.
14. At the Instance Configuration screen, leave the defaults, and click Next.
15. At the Disk Space Requirements screen, click Next.
16. At the Server Configuration screen, choose the service account, fill in a password if necessary, and click Next.
17. At the Database Engine Configuration screen, select Mixed Mode, fill in a password for the system
administrator (sa) account, click Add Current User, and click Next.
18. At the Error Reporting screen, click Next.
19. At the Installation Configuration Rules screen, click Next.
20. At the Installation screen, click Install.
21. At the Complete screen, click Close.
Enabling Lock pages in memory
1. Inside the VM, click Start, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. In the Local Group Policy Editor, expand Computer Configuration→Windows Settings→Security
Settings→Local Policies.
3. Select User Rights Assignment, and in the right pane, scroll down to Lock pages in memory.
4. Right-click Lock pages in memory, and click Properties.
5. Click Add User or Group, and add your SQL user account.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for the legacy base VM.
Configuring the DVD Store 2 benchmark
Data generation overview
We generated the data using the Install.pl script included with DVD Store version 2.1 (DS2), providing the
parameters for our 20GB database size and the Microsoft SQL Server 2016 platform. We ran the Install.pl script on a
utility system running Linux®. The Install.pl script also generated the database schema.
After processing the data generation, we transferred the data files and schema creation files to a Windows-
based system running SQL Server 2005. We built the 20GB database in SQL Server 2005, then performed a full backup,

storing the backup file on the C: drive for quick access. We used that backup file to restore the server between test runs.
In the SQL Server 2005 database build, we did not include the WITH(FORCESEEK) clause in the BROWSE_BY_ACTOR and
BROWSE_BY_TITLE stored procedures, as the feature did not exist in SQL Server 2005. When we restored the backups
for use in SQL Server 2016, we added those clauses back to the stored procedures.
The only modification we made to the schema creation scripts were the specified file sizes for our database. We
explicitly set the file sizes higher than necessary to ensure that no file-growth activity would affect the outputs of the
test. Apart from this file size modification, we created and loaded the database schema according to the DVD Store
documentation. Specifically, we followed the steps below:
1. Generate the data and create the database and file structure using database creation scripts in the DS2
download. Make size modifications specific to 20GB database and the appropriate changes to drive letters.
2. Transfer the files from the Linux data generation system to a Windows system running SQL Server 2005.
3. Create database tables, stored procedures, and objects using the provided DVD Store scripts.
4. Set the database recovery model to bulk-logged to prevent excess logging.
5. Load the data you generated into the database. For data loading, use the import wizard in SQL Server
Management Studio. Where necessary, retain options from the original scripts, such as Enable Identity
Insert.
6. Create indices, full-text catalogs, primary keys, and foreign keys using the database-creation scripts.
7. Update statistics on each table according to database-creation scripts, which sample 18 percent of the table
data.
8. On the SQL Server instance, create a ds2user SQL Server login using the following Transact-SQL (T-SQL)
script:
USE [master]
GO
CREATE LOGIN [ds2user] WITH PASSWORD=N’’,
DEFAULT_DATABASE=[master],
DEFAULT_LANGUAGE=[us_english],
CHECK_EXPIRATION=OFF,
CHECK_POLICY=OFF
GO
9. Set the database recovery model back to full.
10. Create the necessary full text index using SQL Server Management Studio.
11. Create a database user and mapped this user to the SQL Server login.
12. Perform a full backup of the database. Note: This backup allowed us to restore the databases to a pristine
state relatively quickly between tests.
13. We used the backup created in Step 12 in the legacy environment, as SQL Server 2005 does not support
FORCESEEK. To enable FORCESEEK on the database used in the Dell PowerEdge R830 environment, we
restored the backup from Step 12 in a SQL Server 2016 instance. We then edited the stored procedures

BROWSE_BY_ACTOR and BROWSE_BY_TITLE to use FORCESEEK. We then made a new backup of the
database in SQL Server 2016.
Figure 8 shows our initial file size modifications.
Logical name Filegroup Initial size (MB)
Database files
primary PRIMARY 4
cust1 DS_CUST_FG 8,500
cust2 DS_CUST_FG 8,500
ind1 DS_IND_FG 5,120
ind2 DS_IND_FG 5,120
ds_misc DS_MISC_FG 500
orders1 DS_ORDERS 4,015
orders2 DS_ORDERS 4,015
Log files
ds_log Not applicable 16,384
Figure 8: Our initial file size modifications.
Configuring the database workload client
For our testing, we used a virtual client for the Microsoft SQL Server client. To create this client, we installed
Windows Server 2008 R2, assigned a static IP address, and installed .NET 3.5.
Running the DVD Store tests
We created a series of batch files, SQL scripts, and shell scripts to automate the complete test cycle. DVD Store
outputs an orders-per-minute metric, which is a running average calculated through the test. In this report, we report
the last OPM that each client/target pair reported.
Each complete test cycle consisted of general steps:
1. Clean up prior outputs from the target system and the client driver system.
2. Drop the database from the target.
3. Restore the database on the target.
4. Shut down the target.
5. Reboot the host and client system.
6. Wait for a ping response from the server under test and the client system.
7. Let the test server idle for 10 minutes.
8. Start the DVD Store driver on the client.
We used the following DVD Store parameters for testing:
ds2sqlserverdriver.exe --target=<target_IP> --ramp_rate=10 --run_time=30 --
n_threads=24 --db_size=20GB --think_time=0 --detailed_view=Y --warmup_time=15 --
report_rate=1 --csv_output=<drive path>

ABOUT PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES
Principled Technologies, Inc.
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Durham, NC, 27703
www.principledtechnologies.com
We provide industry-leading technology assessment and fact-based
marketing services. We bring to every assignment extensive experience
with and expertise in all aspects of technology testing and analysis, from
researching new technologies, to developing new methodologies, to
testing with existing and new tools.
When the assessment is complete, we know how to present the results to
a broad range of target audiences. We provide our clients with the
materials they need, from market-focused data to use in their own
collateral to custom sales aids, such as test reports, performance
assessments, and white papers. Every document reflects the results of
our trusted independent analysis.
We provide customized services that focus on our clients’ individual
requirements. Whether the technology involves hardware, software, Web
sites, or services, we offer the experience, expertise, and tools to help our
clients assess how it will fare against its competition, its performance, its
market readiness, and its quality and reliability.
Our founders, Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings, have worked
together in technology assessment for over 20 years. As journalists, they
published over a thousand articles on a wide array of technology subjects.
They created and led the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, which
developed such industry-standard benchmarks as Ziff Davis Media’s
Winstone and WebBench. They founded and led eTesting Labs, and after
the acquisition of that company by Lionbridge Technologies were the
head and CTO of VeriTest.
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Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability:
PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. HAS MADE REASONABLE EFFORTS TO ENSURE THE ACCURACY AND VALIDITY OF ITS TESTING, HOWEVER,
PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE TEST RESULTS AND
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