All Flash Arrays + Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 = Exadata for SQL-Server

Microsoft has a problem. Many of their larger customers have created a Blueprint for deploying their Infrastructure components that limit the scope for deploying SQL-Server. In many Enterprises the Blueprint for an Oracle deployment is for it to be deployed on a Tier 1 FC Block Mode Array, for SQL-Server the Blueprint often recommends NAS Filers or Tier 2 FC Arrays.

This immediately rules out SQL-Server for deployments that it would otherwise be suitable for because the underlying Storage infrastructure severely limits SQL-Server scalability as it would for Oracle if it had to use the Storage recommended for SQL-Server.

SMB3 Direct to the Rescue sort of

Possibly in response to SQL-Server and Hyper-V being deployed on NAS Microsoft developed SMB3 Direct. This allows SMB clients to access Shared NAS storage using Remote Direct Memory Access over Ethernet or Infiniband. RDMA provides low latency and high bandwidth with a reduced CPU overhead on the NAS clients. 3^rd party testing has shown that SMB3 Direct achieves similar performance to Fibre Channel with low host overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source http://www.esg-global.com/lab-reports/microsoft-windows-server-20121/

Additional features such as SMB Multichannel, SMB Scale Out, SMB Transparent Failover and SMB Encryption allow a fully SMB3 compatible NAS device to provide a very high performance, secure and fully resilient service.

SMB3 Delivers on the Promise but Microsoft’s Partners don’t deliver SMB3.

Now here is the rub. Most Enterprise NAS vendors do not support the full SMB3 suite. NetApp and EMC support the SMB3 protocol but they don’t support RDMA or Multichannel. SMB3 clients can access NetApp or EMC file servers but do so without having access to the features that put SMB3 on a par with Block mode SAN storage. This is because EMC and Netapp have implemented SMB3 their own OS’s such as Ontap not Windows.

Windows Storage Server to the Rescue

First introduced as part of Windows Server 2008, WSS 2012 now provides a complete NAS Server Soft Appliance solution for Microsoft OEM’s and Vendors such as HP, Fujitsu and Dell have packaged Storage Server with one or more of their commodity x86 servers to provide a NAS solution where JBOD and Block Mode Storage can be served up by the Windows Storage Server heads to NAS clients.

WSS 2012 R2 is configured as a SMB3, CIFS and NFS Server plus it has iSCSI target support. WSS includes a wide range of data services including: bPost process deduplication, thin provisioning, replication, encryption, snapshots, clones and quality of service. All managed by Microsoft System Centre.

Windows Storage Server on Flash

A number of Windows Storage Server OEM’s package up Commodity Server’s with Storage Server and SSD’s to provide Flash Accelerated SMB3 services. However like most standard Operating Systems WSS is not built specifically to support Flash and although SSD based systems work, WSS does not provide efficient Wear Levelling nor does it manage Garbage Collection or Write Amplification all issues when using Flash Storage.

Windows Storage Server on Violin

Violin 6000 Arrays have 2 x86 Memory Gateways; the Gateways can run WSS 2012 R2, Flash Management, GC, Wear Leveling and Flash optimized V-RAID run in the Arrays Array Controller Modules and V-RAID Controllers. This packaged solution is called the Violin Windows Memory Appliance.

Each pair of Memory Gateways presents a shared pool of high performance Flash Memory without the GC, Wear Levelling and Write Amplification issues associated with SSD’s.

Violin 6000  Arrays are fully redundant and all components are hot pluggable.

WSS running on the Gateways presents this highly available, high performance storage as SMB3, CIFS or NFS shares to Windows and Linux Clients over Ethernet or Infiniband.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Exadata for SQL-Server

SQL-Server + Violin Windows Memory Appliance is not a like for like Exadata clone but is does have some similarities.

Similarities

Exadata is an all Oracle Appliance managed from Storage to Database by a new class of administrator called an Oracle Database Machine Administrator. Exadata Machines are pre-configured but can be managed using Oracle Enterprise Manager

SQL-Server plus Violin WMA is an all Windows Platform Managed from Storage to Database using System Centre.

Exadata configurations use Oracle x86 servers with a hybrid PCIe Flash + SAS disk storage subsystem and an Infiniband interconnect.

SQL-Server + Violin WMA uses the customers choice of x86 server with All Flash Storage, optionally customers can have spinning disk storage using additional WSS Storage Servers with standard drives.

Exadata includes Database and Storage Servers connected via Infiniband.

SQL-Server + Violin WMA includes Database Servers and the Violin WSS based Array connected via Ethernet or Infiniband.

Exadata uses a Flash Storage Layer to accelerate IO’s this is particularly useful for OLTP.

SQL-Server +  Violin WMA uses Flash Storage to accelerate OLTP and Decision Support.

Differences

Exadata is able to offload table scans onto the Exadata Storage Server, this can provide benefits for DSS/DW applications.

Exadata has a single Scaleout model, SQL-Server has five different Scaleout options customers have to chose the most suitable option for their application.

Exadata is pre-integrated but is a closed system.

SQL-Server + Violin WMA is not pre-integrated but allows customers to use their preferred Servers.

WSS can provide storage for other clients including Sharepoint, Hyper-V and Exchange.

Exadata uses Flash as a Write Through Cache, Violin ” WMA uses Flash as a Read Write Storage service allowing WSS on Violin to sustain larger numbers of writes at lower latency.

Exadata Storage is managed and protected by Oracle ASM which requires 2 or 3 way mirroring. Violin + WMA uses V-RAID with protects SQL Data using 4 Data and 1 Parity, this is a much more efficient use of storage.

The biggest difference of all.

The Price. Microsoft are not after you for every ounce of flesh you have, unlike Oracle you are not going to have to fork out for additional per CPU licensed products such as Advanced Compression.