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SQL Server on VMware

Jonathan Kehayias (MCTS, MCITP)

SQL Database Administrator

Tampa, FL

Agenda

SQL Initiative Overview

Performance Metrics

I/O Metrics

Processor

Performance Counters

High Availability Configuration

Manageability Gains

SQL Initiative

Primary Objective

Disaster Recovery

Success Criteria

Immediate failover to remote data center with minimal data loss

Performance

PerformanceVMware ESX Server, 3.0.2, 63195

GENERAL

Manufacturer: HP

Model: ProLiant BL460c G1

Processors: 4 CPU x 2.666 GHz

Processor Type: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5150 @ 2.66GHz

Hyperthreading: Inactive

Total Memory: 24.00 GB

Number of NICs: 4

Virtual Machines: 7

VMotion Enabled: Yes

PerformanceSQL Virtual Machine Configuration

GENERAL

Guest OS: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition

CPU: 2 vCPU

Memory: 4096 MB

Memory Overhead: 263.96 MB

Disk Configuration: RAID 6+2

C/D 50GB XP10K

F 350GB XP10K

G 350GB XP10K

PerformanceSQLIO Benchmarks

SQLIO is a tool provided by Microsoft which can also be used to determine the I/O capacity of a given configuration.

SQL Server stores data 8K pages allocated in blocks of 8 as 64K extents. Typical SQL I/O operations involve Random Reads of extenteRs from disk.

SQLIO benchmarks on this SQL Server for 64K Random Read I/O with 2 threads simulating the recommended setting of one file per processor core for SQL Server were equivalent or better than common physical hardware.

Performance (VMWare)Random Read I/O By The Numbers

Drive Format Test IOs/sec MBs/sec

READ Default Read 8KB random 2286.33 17.86Default Read 64KB random 1940.86 121.30Default Read 128KB random 1059.25 132.40Default Read 256KB random 500.54 125.13Default Read 8KB sequential 2549.82 19.92Default Read 64KB sequential 1397.24 87.32Default Read 128KB sequential 766.72 95.84Default Read 256KB sequential 466.00 116.50

WRITEDefault Write 8KB Random 1475.78 11.52Default Write 64KB Random 609.97 38.12Default Write 128KB Random 366.03 45.75Default Write 256KB Random 210.17 52.54Default Write 8KB Sequential 1560.25 12.18Default Write 64KB Sequential 634.69 39.66 Default Write 128KB sequential 222.10 27.76 Default Write 256KB sequential 165.52 41.38

Dell PowerEdge 6650 2x 2.7 GHz 2GB RAM4x 36GB RAID 10 array


READ Default Read 8KB random 656 5.1Default Read 64KB random 258 16.1Default Read 128KB random 149 18.6Default Read 256KB random 82 20.4Default Read 8KB sequential 3246 25.4Default Read 64KB sequential 378 23.6Default Read 128KB sequential 188 23.5Default Read 256KB sequential 94 23.5

WRITEDefault Write 8KB Random 1567 12.2Default Write 64KB Random 809 50.5Default Write 128KB Random 486 60.7Default Write 256KB Random 333 83.2Default Write 8KB Sequential 7112 55.6Default Write 64KB Sequential 1889 118.1Default Write 128KB sequential 977 122.1Default Write 256KB sequential 494 123.5

Physical SQLIO outputs were obtained from the SQL Server Performance website Forums:http://sql-server-performance.com/Community/forums/t/15370.aspx

http://sql-server-performance.com/Community/forums/t/15370.aspx

Dual 3.0Ghz Xeon Dual 2GB FC HBAIBM DS4300 SAN RAID 10 (10 x 74GB 15K)

Drive Format Test IOs/sec MBs/secSQLIO 8k sector Read - Random 2096.15 16.38Read - Sequential 3651.36 28.53Write - Random 1985.08 15.51Write - Sequential 1914.68 14.96

SQLIO 32k sector Read - Random 1653.85 51.68Read - Sequential 2736.05 85.50Write - Random 1125.63 35.18Write - Sequential 1337.12 41.79

SQLIO 64k sector Read - Random 1280.91 80.06Read - Sequential 1889.55 118.10Write - Random 724.24 45.27Write - Sequential 889.01 55.56



DELL 6850 Quad Xeon 3.4ghz w/4GB RAM

EMC Clariion CX-700 RAID 10


8k random write: 14884.96 116.2864k random write: 1573.03 98.31128k random write: 1110.79 138.84256k random write: 722.48 180.62

8k seq. write: 16545.36 129.2664k seq. write: 3142.00 196.37128k seq. write: 1573.62 196.70256k seq. write: 787.21 196.80

8k random read: 5776.05 45.1264k random read: 2857.16 178.57128k random read: 1567.23 195.90256k random read: 787.22 196.80

8k seq. read: 9200.54 71.8764k seq. read: 2805.23 175.32128k seq. read: 1506.95 188.36256k seq. read: 783.07 195.76



PerformancePerformance Counter Monitoring

• To understand how well a SQL Server is performing the SQL Server as well as Windows Subsystem Performance Counters need to be Monitored.

• Key Counters to monitor include:

• Processor/%Processor Time should remain below 80%.

• Processor/%Privileged Time should remain below 20%

• SQL Server General/User Connections

• Batches/Sec

• Page Life Expectancy

• Pages/Sec

• Memory Grants Pending

• Lazy Writes/sec

For further information, take a look at the following Screencast series by Kevin Kline (SQL Server MVP and Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) President):

http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid87_gci1302600,00.html

http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid87_gci1302600,00.html

PerformancePerformance Counters (%Processor Time)

< 80% average

PerformancePerformance Counters (Processor\%Privileged Time)

< 20% Average

PerformancePerformance Counters (User Connections)

This is just a reference counter to be used in tandem with other counters to view system activity.

PerformancePerformance Counters (Batches/sec)

This is a reference to the amount of activity the Server is performing. It is used along with other counters like Page Splits/sec to determine if there are problems.

PerformancePerformance Counters (Buffer Cache)

Should remain as close to 100% as possible. Consistent drops below 95-90% signals Memory Pressure

PerformancePerformance Counters (Page Life Expectance)

Page Life in the cache should ideally remain over 300 seconds. Consistent drops below this should be investigated and can signal Memory Pressure on the server.

PerformancePerformance Counters (Memory pages/sec)

The rate at which pages are read from or written to disk. If > 100 on a slow disk subsystem or > 600 on a fast disk subsystem it should be investigated.

Performance Conclusions

1: Compared to various disk configurations of physical implementations with local storage, we experience 10x performance for disk subsystem I/O

2: Critical performance counters SQL maintains industry acceptable performance

3: Ability to consolidate multiple VMs along with SQL server, ~5 to 7:1 to save costs on physical hardware, rack space, power, cooling and integrate into DR plan.

Single SQL server per ESX host

Multiple SQL Servers never reside on the same ESX host

Logical placement of VM’s to eliminate contention of resources

Web and App server never communicate with the SQL server on the same host

A v e r a g e 5 - 7 t o o n e c o n s o l i d a t i o n r a t i o

A p pS e r v e r

W e bS e r v e r

A p pS e r v e r

W e bS e r v e r

A p pS e r v e r

W e bS e r v e r

A p pS e r v e r

W e bS e r v e r

Consolidation Architecture

High Availability

SAN Storage Mirrored for Disaster Recovery to Chicago Datacenter.

Quarterly Failover Tests of key SQL Servers on Chicago Network with zero data loss at failover.

High Availability

VMotion

Eliminates need for Mirroring Solutions for Hardware redundancy. In the event of a host hardware failure the Virtual Machines can be hot migrated to another host

Allows live migration of Servers during high load operation to shift load to more powerful hosts as needed.

Manageability

Snapshot Technology

Provides a point in time recovery point for risky operations such as upgrading Server OS and or SQL Server.

Hot Add Disk Arrays

Allows Zero Down Time additions of new Storage LUNS as database grow in size

HBA Load Balancing

Allows Disk I/O Load balancing across redundant paths to the SAN storage.

Manageability

Rapid Scale Up

Adding additional vCPU’s and Memory is only a reboot away, provided the host has available resources.

Easily upsize a server for end of month processing when it requires the most power while minimizing its footprint while under minimal load.

Manageability

VMWare Infrastructure Client

Immediate shared console level access to the SQL Server provides remote administration and rapid response for critical server outages.

No risk of a BSOD requiring physical access to the server or of a stuck ILO interface on a server.

Integrated performance monitoring of processor, memory, disk and networking counters.

Manageability

VMWare Infrastructure Client (cont’d)

Running history of Events occurring through the client including Server Resets, Migrations, and Reconfigurations.

Integrated Alarms are configurable for out of tolerance counter statuses.

Lessons Learned

1: Don’t lock pages in memory if you plan to do VMotion.

2: Be cautious when implementing Microsoft Recommended Best Practices that affect system configurations and test in Development before deploying in Production. Some may not be compatible with VMotion.

3: Don’t accept a vendor’s statement that VMware is the problem – look deeper, and you can generally disprove this statement.

Conclusions

Performance MetricsI/O Metrics – 10x performance, Processor and Performance Counters

High Availability ConfigurationVMotion to load balance during end of month reconciliations keeps ahead of the business

Reduced downtime with hot add disk

Manageability GainsSOX compliance for Disaster Recovery

Virtual Center Console for team collaboration

Cost AvoidanceReduces need for Mirroring hardware and software

Consolidation of hardware both primary and DR

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