IBM SAN Volume Controller and IBM FlashSystem 820: Best Practices and Performance Capabilities

Abstract

This IBM® Redpaper™ publication provides information about the best practices and performance capabilities when implementing a storage solution using IBM System Storage® SAN Volume Controller (SVC) with IBM FlashSystem™ 820. SVC is a member of the IBM Storwize® family, and FlashSystem 820 was formerly known as the Texas Memory Systems® RAMSAN Model 820.

This paper describes a typical system configuration, and a maximum system configuration that can return over 1,400,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) at less than 1 millisecond average response time.

This paper also provides detailed performance information for a typical system configuration with the IBM Real-time Compression™ functionality available with SVC, including the recent hardware upgrade to enhance Real-time Compression throughput. This includes response curve information, and some examples of long-running, 100% write workloads, which are usually the most difficult workload for any “not and” (NAND) flash-based storage system.

This paper aims to provide guidance for those implementing a similar system, in addition to evidence that a similarly configured system should be capable of extreme, sustainable I/O throughput.