Unlock more mixed storage performance on Dell PowerEdge R750 servers with Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID controllers

Maintain more
concurrent throughput
Up to 2.0x the GiB/s on
1MB sequential read
workloads*
Up to 1.3x the GiB/s on
1MB sequential read
workloads*
Handle more
storage requests
Up to 2.3x the raw IOPS
on 4KB random read
workloads*
Up to 1.2x the raw IOPS
on 4KB random write
workloads*
*vs. a PowerEdge R740xd server with
Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID controllers
Unlock more mixed storage
performance on Dell PowerEdge
R750 servers with Broadcom
PCIe Gen4 RAID controllers
compared to Dell PowerEdge R740xd
servers with Broadcom PCIe Gen3
RAID controllers
No matter how enticing NVMe™
performance gains are, investing
in all NVMe drives can be an expensive proposition—both
economically and operationally. So it comes as no surprise that
“IDC estimates that SAS is found in over 70 percent of enterprise
storage drives and expects it to reach more than 85 percent of
enterprise storage capacity by 2022.”1
Dell PowerEdge™
R750
servers include Broadcom PCIe®
Gen4 RAID controllers, which
not only deliver twice the bandwidth (throughput) of previous-
generation servers with Gen3 technology, but also support SAS,
NVMe, and mixed-drive environments.2
To explore the advantages of the 15G Dell PowerEdge R750
server in a mixed-storage environment, we compared its input/
output operations per second (IOPS) and throughput to those of a
14G Dell PowerEdge R740xd server.
In our 16 SAS and 8 NVMe drive mixed-storage test configuration,
the Dell PowerEdge R750 server with PCIe Gen4 RAID controllers
handled over 7.5 million more IOPS in our 4KB random read
workload and maintained over twice the gibibytes per second
(GiB/s) in our 1MB sequential read workload compared to the
previous-generation server.
Unlock more mixed storage performance on Dell PowerEdge R750 servers with Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID controllers May 2022
A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.

About the Dell PowerEdge R750 server
The Dell PowerEdge R750 is a full-featured, general purpose 2U rack server powered by 3rd
Gen Intel®
Xeon®
Scalable processors. According to Dell, this rack server is purpose-built to
optimize application performance and acceleration with PCIe Gen 4.0 compatibility, eight channels of memory per CPU, and up
to 24 NVMe drives. It also includes “improved air-cooling features and optional Direct Liquid Cooling to support increasing power
and thermal requirements.”3
What is the difference between
random and sequential
workloads?
Our FIO benchmark testing
included random and sequential
workloads, which use different
patterns for data access and
storage. For example, a read-
heavy random workload pattern
might represent a user who
browses multiple web pages in
an online store before making
a purchase. That’s because the
application may have to pull
data from multiple drives. On
the other hand, streaming video
requires that a server read data
sequentially in a single continuous
stream. The same rule applies
in data storage and retrieval.
Running both types of workloads
provides insight into how the
server solution handles data
access, retrieval, and saving.
About Broadcom PCIe
Gen4 technology in Dell
PowerEdge servers
The Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID
controller (Dell PERC H755) on the
motherboard of the PowerEdge
R750 server delivers twice the
bandwidth (from 8GT/s to 16GT/s)
of PCIe Gen3 RAID controllers.4
How we tested
We compared the server and mixed SAS/NVMe drive storage
performance of a Dell PowerEdge R750 server with a Broadcom
PCIe Gen4 RAID controller (Dell PERC H755) to that of a Dell
PowerEdge R740xd server with a Broadcom PCIe Gen3 RAID
controller (Dell PERC H740P). To measure each dual-processor
solution’s block storage performance in four mixed-drive
configurations, we captured Flexible input/output (FIO) benchmark
performance metrics, which offer insight into server and storage
performance by showing:
• The number of IOPS
a solution can handle,
indicating whether it can
process a high volume of
storage requests at once.
• The amount of information
(in GiB) a solution can
process per second
(throughput), indicating
how well it can process a
high volume of data.
In all of our FIO benchmark tests, we used the maximum number
of cores per processor: 56 cores for the Dell PowerEdge R750 and
48 for the PowerEdge R740xd. Our final mixed-drive test included
eight NVMe drives—filling all NVMe slots in the backpanes of the
servers under test. We tested the two server solutions in these
mixed drive configurations:
1. 2 SAS drives + 2 NVMe drives = 4 mixed drives
We first ran the FIO benchmark with small blocks of data (4 KB)—
once using a random read workload and again using a random
write workload. These are our IOPS results. Then, we repeated the
process on large blocks of data (1 MB)—once using a sequential
read workload and again using a sequential write workload. These
are our GiB/s results.
For detailed system and mixed-drive configuration information, FIO
benchmark parameters, and a step-by-step testing methodology,
see the science behind the report.
Unlock more mixed storage performance on Dell PowerEdge R750 servers with Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID controllers May 2022 | 2

Comparing server capabilities
Dell Technologies made some big changes with the 15G refresh of its 2U workhorse. The
PowerEdge R750 server takes advantage of PCIe Gen4, which doubles the bandwidth available
on the PowerEdge R740xd server.5
While we only compared server and mixed SAS/NVMe drive
storage performance, the redesigned PowerEdge R750 chassis with its multi-vector cooling is a
major departure from its predecessor. Below, we list some of the most notable 15G performance
and storage-related features, including upgraded RAID, PowerEdge RAID controller (PERC), boot-
optimized storage subsystem (BOSS), and host bus adapter (HBA) storage controllers.
Table 1: Comparing Dell PowerEdge test server capabilities. Source: Principled Technologies.
Features PowerEdge R7506
PowerEdge R740xd7
Processor
Up to two 3rd
Generation Intel Xeon
Scalable processors, with up to 40 cores
per processor
Up to two 2nd
Generation Intel Xeon Scalable
processors, with up to 28 cores per processor
Memory
• 32 DDR4 DIMM slots, supports RDIMM
(2TB max) / LRDIMM (8TB max), speeds
up to 3200 MT/s
• Up to 16 Intel Persistent Memory 200
series (BPS) slots, (8TB max)
• Supports registered ECC DDR4
DIMMs only
• 24 DDR4 DIMM slots, supports RDIMM
/ LRDIMM, speeds up to 2666MT/s,
3TB max
• Up to 12 NVDIMM, 192GB max
• Supports registered ECC DDR4
DIMMs only
Storage
controllers
Internal controllers:
• PERC H745
• HBA355I
• PERC S150 (SWRAID)
• PERC H345, H755, H755N (HWRAID)
• BOSS-S2 (HWRAID) 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB
or 480 GB
• BOSS-S1 (HWRAID) 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB
or 480 GB
External controllers:
• PERC H840 (RAID)
• HBA355e (non-RAID)
Internal controllers:
• PERC H730P, H740P
• PERC S140 (SWRAID)
• BOSS (HWRAID) 2 x M.2 SSDs 120GB or
240 GB
• HBA330 (non-RAID 12Gbps SAS HBA)
External controllers:
• PERC H840 (RAID)
• 12Gbps SAS HBA (non-RAID)
Storage
Front bays:
• Up to 12 x 3.5-inch SAS/SATA drives
(192TB max)
• Up to 8 x 2.5-inch NVMe drives (122.88TB
max)
• Up to 16 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe
drives (245.76TB max)
Mid bay:
• Up to 24 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe
drives (368.84TB max)
Rear bays:
• Up to 2 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe drives
(30.72TB max)
(61.44TB max)
Front bays:
(153TB max) or up to 12 x 3.5-inch SAS/
SATA drives (144TB max)
Mid bay:
(25TB max) or up to 4 x 3.5-inch SAS/SATA
drives (48TB max)
Rear bays:
(25TB max) or up to 2 x 3.5-inch SAS/SATA
drives (24TB max)
PCIe
8 x PCIe Gen4 slots (up to 6 x 16) with
support for SNAP I/O modules
8 x PCIe Gen3 slots (up to 6 x 16)

Random read
testing results
Based on the raw IOPS output
we saw in random read
workload testing, upgrading
from 14G Dell PowerEdge
R740xd servers to 15G Dell
PowerEdge R750 servers
could help companies grow
their user base or achieve
performance gains for
I/O‑intensive applications.
Figure 1: 4KB random read FIO benchmark results with 2 SAS and
2 NVMe drives. Higher is better. Source: Principled Technologies.
Over
3.3 million
IOPS
Over
6.5 million
IOPS
Over
9.8 million
IOPS
Over
13.2 million
IOPS
Handle more
outgoing storage
requests
Up to 2.3x the
raw IOPS
4KB random read FIO results with 2 SAS and 2 NVMe drives
Dell PowerEdge R750
3.305
1.893
IOPS (millions) | Higher is better
Dell PowerEdge R740xd
Dell PowerEdge R750
6.597
3.790
Dell PowerEdge R750
9.869
5.300
Dell PowerEdge R750
13.230
5.533

Handle more
incoming
storage requests
Up to 1.2x the
raw IOPS
Figure 5: 4KB random write FIO benchmark results with 2 SAS and
Over
2 million
IOPS
Over
4 million
IOPS
Over
6 million
IOPS
Over
9 million
IOPS
Random write
testing results
In our random write workload-
based FIO benchmark testing,
we found that the more SAS
drives we used in the mixed
SAS/NVMe configuration,
the bigger the performance
differences were between
the PowerEdge R750 and
the PowerEdge R740xd. We
credit this IOPS jump, in part,
to the next-gen Broadcom
RAID controller.
4KB random write FIO results with 2 SAS and 2 NVMe drives
Dell PowerEdge R750
2.054
1.827
Dell PowerEdge R750
4.098
3.653
Dell PowerEdge R750
6.113
5.432
Dell PowerEdge R750
9.068
7.074

Achieve
42.2 GiB/s
Achieve
28.2 GiB/s
Figure 9: 1MB sequential read FIO benchmark results with 2 SAS and
Achieve
14.1 GiB/s
Achieve
62.4 GiB/s
Why concurrent
throughput matters
Upgrading to server
solutions with high
throughput and IOPS
could have a direct
impact on a company’s
profit margin. According
to Data Center
Knowledge, “Throughput
is the result of IOPS,
and the block size for
each I/O being sent or
received. Since a 256KB
block has 64 times the
amount of data as a
4K block, size impacts
throughput. In addition,
the size and quantity
of blocks impacts
bandwidth on the fabric
and the amount of
processing required on
the servers, network and
storage environments.”8
All of these items have a
big impact on application
performance.
Sequential read testing results
Based on the higher volume of outgoing large blocks of data (1 MB) we
saw in the sequential read workload testing, upgrading to the 15G Dell
PowerEdge R750 server could benefit applications that stream video, allow
end users to import large amounts of data in less time, and enable staff to
access large files more quickly.
Maintain more
outgoing concurrent
throughput
Up to 2.0x the GiB/s
1MB sequential read FIO results with 2 SAS and 2 NVMe drives
Dell PowerEdge R750
14.1
8.2
Throughput (GiB/s) | Higher is better
Dell PowerEdge R750
28.2
16.5
Dell PowerEdge R750
42.2
24.6
Dell PowerEdge R750
62.4
30.1

Sequential write
testing results
In this FIO benchmark
comparison, the higher
volume of incoming large
blocks of data processed
by the Dell PowerEdge
R750 server could speed
applications that render
video, allow end users
to export large amounts
of data in less time, and
enable staff to copy
information from one file to
another more quickly.
Achieve
9.2 GiB/s
Achieve
18.5 GiB/s
Achieve
27.8 GiB/s
Achieve
42.5 GiB/s
Maintain more
incoming concurrent
throughput
Up to 1.3x
the GiB/s
1MB sequential write FIO results with 2 SAS and 2 NVMe drives
Dell PowerEdge R750
9.2
7.8
Dell PowerEdge R750
18.5
15.7
Dell PowerEdge R750
27.8
23.6
Dell PowerEdge R750
42.5
31.6

Hands-on testing, real-world benefits
In today’s digital era, big data—which includes unstructured media, imaging, audio, sensor, and text
data—has dramatically increased the need for efficient storage and computing capabilities. 15G
Dell PowerEdge servers with PCIe Gen4 capabilities have the potential to help companies deal with
evolving demands.
Real-world example #1: With worldwide retail commerce sales estimated “to grow by 50 percent
over the next four years, reaching about 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025,”9
the higher IOPS processing
capabilities we found in the Dell PowerEdge R750 server with a Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID controller
can enable retail data centers to handle more orders at once. This could, in turn, reduce the number of
discarded shopping carts and increase the number of successful sales.
Real-world example #2: The insurance market’s need to constantly improve the customer experience
is driving innovation and changing the way companies do business. PwC reports that 63 percent of
insurance company CEOs think the internet of things (IoT) is important in their business strategy.10
The
PCIe Gen4 capabilities (doubled bandwidth per lane) in the Dell PowerEdge R750 server can enable
companies to handle more or heavier traffic from connected devices already in place.

Conclusion
Upgrading to or investing in the latest generation of servers can help you better deal with evolving demands,
grow your business, and keep customers happy. We found that a 15G Dell PowerEdge R750 server with a
Broadcom PCIe Gen4 RAID controller processed significantly more storage requests and sustained more
concurrent throughput in four mixed SAS/NVMe drive configurations than a 14G Dell PowerEdge R740xd server
with a Broadcom PCIe Gen3 RAID controller.
1. Data Center Dynamics, “SAS or NVMe? That is the question,” accessed April 21, 2022,
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/sas-or-nvme-that-is-the-question/.
2. MiniTool Partition Wizard, “PCIe 3.0 vs. 4.0: What’s the Difference and Which is Better [Clone Disk]”, accessed April 21,
2022, https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/pcie-3-vs-4.html.
3. Dell, “Dell EMC PowerEdge R750 Spec Sheet,” accessed April 21, 2022,
https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/Product_Docs/en/poweredge-R750-spec-sheet.pdf.
4. MiniTool Partition Wizard, “PCIe 3.0 vs. 4.0: What’s the Difference and Which is Better [Clone Disk]”, accessed April 21,
2022, https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/pcie-3-vs-4.html.
5. MiniTool Partition Wizard, “PCIe 3.0 vs. 4.0: What’s the Difference and Which is Better [Clone Disk].”
6. Dell, “Dell EMC PowerEdge R750 Spec Sheet,” accessed April 21, 2022,
https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/Product_Docs/en/poweredge-R750-spec-sheet.pdf.
7. Dell, “Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd Spec Sheet,” accessed April 21, 2022,
https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/Shared-Content_data-Sheets_Documents/en/poweredge-r740xd-spec-sheet.pdf.
8. Data Center Knowledge, “The Impact of Block Sizes in a Data Center,” accessed April 21, 2022,
https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2016/05/04/impact-block-sizes-data-center.
9. Statista, “Retail e-commerce sales worldwide from 2014 to 2025,” accessed April 28, 2022,
https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales/.
10. Tipalti, “Chart-Topping FinTech Stats for 2022,” accessed April 28, 2022, https://tipalti.com/fintech-stats-for-2022/.
Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc.
All other product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
For additional information, review the science behind this report.
Principled
Technologies®
Facts matter.®
Principled
Technologies®
Facts matter.®
This project was commissioned by Dell Technologies.
Read the science behind this report at https://facts.pt/XG5ijq6

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