SDX Gen8 vs Gen9

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    HPE Reference Configuration for

    Microsoft SQL Server 2016 on

    HPE Integrity Superdome X and

    HPE 3PAR StoreServA comparison of Data Warehouse performancebetween hardware generations

    Technical white paper

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    Technical white paper

    Contents

    Executive summary .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    Solution overview ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

    Solution components ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    HPE Integrity Superdome X hardware overview .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9

    3PAR StoreServ 7440c overview and configuration ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11

    3PAR StoreServ 8450 overview and configuration ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1

    Best practices and configuration guidance for the solution ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

    SQL Server and Windows Server configuration................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

    Capacity and sizing .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

    Analysis and recommendations .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14

    Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14

    Implementing a proof-of-concept ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

    Appendix A: Bill of materials ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 15

    Resources and additional links .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 17

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    Executive summary

    Efficiently managing large volumes of data is a big challenge for enterprise IT departments. Operational data warehousing environments, such as

    ad-hoc, decision support environments (commonly referred to as a data warehouse) provide scalability for the largest, most demanding query

    workloads to answer complex business questions. Reporting and operational analytics are frequently managed using historical data from that

    same data warehouse and increasingly, from real-time data sources streaming through the same operational systems. As these environmentsgrow and include additional operational systems as well as increasing volumes of historical data (much of it online) scalability becomes a

    bottleneck to success. The ability to scale up these environments, to provide the level of performance required by demanding operational

    analytics customers, presents a significant challenge. To address this challenge Hewlett Packard Enterprise developed a solution utilizing the

    HPE Integrity Superdome X server and HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 platform; ideally suited for solving the scalability and performance needs of

    these demanding data warehousing and analytics workload environments,

    The Superdome X platform can scale from a single blade solution to solutions encompassing 8 blade servers, with up to 36 CPU cores and 3TB o

    memory per blade server. This environment also allows a single hardware platform to be logically partitioned to support multiple environments

    and workloads adjusting resources such as processor, memory, and storage over time as required by the business. In addition, the HPE 3PAR

    StoreServ enables an all-flash array configuration that can support multiple types of workload; from heavy I/O transactional applications to large

    sequential access data warehouse workloads to a combination of both in a mixed workload, multi-application scenario. The 3PAR array provides

    advanced service level management and quality of service for Microsoft® SQL Server workloads with capabilities such as Priority Optimization

    that can reduce performance contention and guarantee reliable storage performance and scalability.

    This Reference Configuration provides a performance comparison of an ad-hoc, decision support workload running Microsoft SQL Server 2016

    and Microsoft Windows Server® 2016 on two different solutions using HPE Integrity Superdome X and 3PAR StoreServ systems. The first

    workload is run on an HPE Integrity Superdome X platform (4 HPE BL920s Gen8 2.8GHz 30-core blades, 1.5 TB memory per blade), with an HPE

    3PAR StoreServ 7440c storage array. The second workload configuration is the HPE Integrity Superdome X (4 BL920s Gen9 2.3GHz 36 core

    blades, 1.5 TB memory per blade) and the HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array. The overall performance improvement of moving from the

    Gen8 to the Gen9 blades in the HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, combined with the upgraded 3PAR storage array is on average

    approximately 56%. This dramatic improvement is based upon nearly identical configurations of both hardware and software, showcasing the

    significant performance advantages of the Gen9 hardware and upgraded storage platform.

    This reference configuration is the first from HPE for both Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016, showcasing Microsoft’s new flagship

    operating system and database platform. Additionally, this technical white paper builds upon earlier Reference Architectures on the HPE Integrity

    Superdome X and HPE 3PAR StoreServ platforms, with Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 and SQL Server 2014. The first reference architecture,found at http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-1676ENW, provides detailed instructions, guidance, and

    performance results when running a scale-up OLTP solution alongside a consolidation solution using Hyper-V virtualization. The second

    reference architecture, found at http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-3436ENW, covers mixed data

    warehousing and OLTP workloads running on the HPE Integrity Superdome X and HPE 3PAR storage array platform. As shown in these earlier

    reference architectures, each workload runs in complete isolation and is able to maximize hardware investment, scalability, and reliability with the

    innovative HPE Integrity Superdome X and HPE 3PAR StoreServ platforms.

    Target audience: Chief information officers (CIOs), chief technology officers (CTOs), line of business managers, data center managers, database

    administrators, enterprise architects, database architects, storage administrators and others wishing to learn more about scaling up Microsoft

    SQL Server 2016 with HPE Integrity Superdome X platform and 3PAR storage. A working knowledge of server architecture, networking

    architecture, storage design, Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server is recommended.

    IntroductionAs demand for data warehousing performance and scale-up capabilities continues to grow, earlier platforms have reached their limits in

    scalability. The HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, when running Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016 is capable of greater

    single system scalability than any other HPE platform.

    Microsoft Windows Server 2016 provides key private cloud capabilities and features, supporting hybrid datacenter solutions, along with

    significant improvements in scalability, resilience, flexibility and high availability. In particular, Windows Server 2016 is fully capable of taking

    advantage of the large amount of both processor and memory capacity of the HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, including support for up to

    12 TB of addressable memory.

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    Microsoft SQL Server 2016 includes increased performance for data warehousing and business intelligence, as well as key advances in advanced

    analytics, in-memory workloads, and big data support. The HPE Integrity Superdome X provides a powerful architecture with up to 288 cores and

    24 TB of memory—delivering high performance and low latency for your decision support and business processing workloads.

    NoteWhile the total hardware memory of the Superdome is 24 TB, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 supports up to 4 TB per server (or per HPE

    nPartition, HPE nPar for short) and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 supports up to 12 TB per server (nPar).

    This platform provides support for hard partitions, which allows deploying many workloads within a single Superdome X enclosure, with each

    partition/system having dedicated resources and complete logical and electrical isolation from other solutions running on the same platform. This

    gives incredible flexibility and growth opportunities for SQL Server deployments, as shown in Figure 1.

    Figure 1. Mission Critical HPE Integrity Superdome X with Microsoft SQL Server 2016

    HPE Integrity Superdome X is an x86-based server, purposefully and exceptionally well-designed to support the largest scale-up database

    workloads with up to 288 cores (576 with Hyper-Threading), 24 TB of memory (12 TB per Windows Server 2016 instance), and close to 1 TB/sec

    of I/O bandwidth. Whether you have a large number of concurrent, short-lived, or large complex queries—the powerful architecture of

    Superdome X combined with an HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array will deliver high performance and low latency for your decision support

    and data warehousing workloads.

    Featuring a modular and well-balanced architecture, Superdome X provides the ultimate flexibility for your mission-critical environment. An

    efficient bladed form factor allows you to start small and grow as your business demands increase. As your databases grow or you need to

    support new applications, or when your application usage increases, you can efficiently scale up your environment by adding blades. You canstart as small as a 2-socket configuration and scale up all the way to 16 sockets, to support applications expanding beyond the limits of standard

    x86 server offerings. Additionally, the HPE hard partitioning technology, HPE nPars, enables you to deploy different workloads in different

    partitions that are secure and electrically isolated from one another—an ideal environment to consolidate multiple applications.

    Featuring a comprehensive set of RAS capabilities traditionally offered only on proprietary servers, Superdome X provides the ideal foundation to

    run your mission-critical applications on standard x86 operating systems.

    The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array allows you to store all your data on a single system that supports advanced features including

    storage federation and automated tiering, enabling you to start small and grow without disruption. The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 makes

    storage effortless with a range of options that support true convergence of block and file protocols, all-flash array performance, and the use of

    solid-state drives (SSDs).

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    Gen9 hardware configuration

    •  HPE Integrity Superdome X

    –  8 BL920s Gen9 Server Blades (only 4 used for the reference configuration)

    –  6 TB of total memory, 1.5 TB per Server Blade

    •  4x HPE 6125XLG Ethernet switches (Blade Ethernet connectivity)

    •  2x Brocade 16Gb/16c PP+ Embedded SAN Switch

    •  HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array

    –  176 SSD drives (480GB/drive)

    •  HPE SN6000B Fibre Channel switch

    •  HPE 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ Ethernet switch (client connectivity)

    Gen9 software configuration

    •  Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4

    •  Microsoft SQL Server 2016 (CTP 3.3 and Release Candidate 0)•  HPE BL920s Gen9 Windows Driver Bundle (November 2015 Edition)

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    Solution components

    The following components make up the two compared reference configuration solutions presented in this paper.

    HPE Integrity Superdome X hardware overview

    The HPE Superdome X product consists of two main components: the HPE BladeSystem Superdome Enclosure and the HPE BL920s Gen8 orGen9 Server Blades. The enclosure has the capacity to accommodate eight BL920s Gen8 or Gen9 server blades each with two sockets

    containing an Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v2 or E7 v3 respectively. The eight server blades can be part of a single hardware partition (nPar), or

    optionally carved into smaller HPE nPars of one, two or four server blades each (in addition, 3 blades only for Gen9). The servers (HPE nPars) are

    logically and electrically isolated from each other, so they can function independently. HPE nPars flexibility allows the server to be appropriately

    sized for any workload.

    Note

    See the HPE Integrity Superdome X QuickSpecs, for more detailed information about hardware configurations and specifications.

    Note

    Details of the Superdome X Gen8 hardware used in this Reference Configuration are identical to those used in the “HPE Verified Reference

    Architecture for Microsoft SQL Server 2014 on HPE Superdome X” paper at

    http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-1676ENW. 

    Server blade building block

    The conceptual block diagram of the computing resources in the HPE BL920s Server Blade is shown in Figure 4.

    This simplified diagram shows the server blade I/O (two flexible LAN on motherboard [FlexLOMs] and three mezzanine slots), two processor

    sockets, and the memory associated with each processor.

    Figure 4. Conceptual block diagram of the HPE BL920s Server Blade

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    Superdome blade configuration

    Eight server blades installed into an HPE Integrity Superdome X enclosure will result in the server structure shown in Figure 5. For the purposes

    of this reference configuration, although eight blades are shown in the diagrams (and installed on the server), only a four blade configuration is

    used for comparison purposes. This is true of both the Gen8 and Gen9 solutions.

    Figure 5. Conceptual block diagram of eight HPE BL920s Server Blades

    The Superdome X system is partitioned into a pair of eight socket servers (8S, 4 blades). In this case, for best performance, server blades 1/1, 1/3,

    1/5, and 1/7 are configured as the Data Warehouse server on both the Gen8 and Gen9 Superdome X systems.

    You can also create 2S (one blade) and 4S (two blades) partitions (6S (three blades) for Gen9 only). Odd or even slot loading for BL920s blades

    in the same partition is required by nPar sizing rules.

    You can see that the Superdome X has a modular structure. The most basic building block is the processor and its associated socket local

    memory. Each processor has an embedded memory controller, through which it has extremely fast access to its local memory. The processors are

    combined in pairs, connected by Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) links. Communication among server blades is facilitated through the HPE

    crossbar fabric. The fabric is built upon the HPE sx3000 chipset, a newer version of the chipset that formed the backbone of HPE Integrity

    Superdome 2 servers.

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    This structure gives the Superdome X a non-uniform memory access (NUMA) architecture—the latency time for any given processor to access

    memory depends on the relative positioning of the processor socket and the memory DIMM. The time it takes for a memory transaction to

    traverse through the interconnect fabric is somewhat longer than the faster access to socket local memory.

    3PAR StoreServ 7440c overview and configuration

    HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Storage (including the 7440c model) extends the innovative HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage product line to the

    midrange with industry-leading performance and features at the price you need. Spend less time managing storage, get more features for less

    money, and do it all without sacrificing performance or future scalability. HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Storage provides high performance and

    doubles your virtual machine density. With hardware-assisted thin storage, this is the only platform that guarantees a 50% reduction in capacity

    requirements. HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage is also the first product family with a common architecture that meets small and medium business

    (SMB) needs and spans to the largest global enterprise, giving you access to the same features as the world’s largest service providers. You can

    start small and grow without painful upgrades down the road.

    The HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen8 solution used in this reference configuration is connected with 16 separate connections between the HPE

    3PAR StoreServ 7440c storage array and the Superdome X. There are eight 8Gb connections, and eight 16Gb connections. Physically, there are

    two SAN switches on the Superdome X chassis, and four controllers on the HPE 3PAR 7440c StoreServ storage array. Each of the switches on

    the Superdome X has 8 wired connections to the switches on the storage array. The switch wiring is made completely redundant to provide

    double the storage bandwidth between the Superdome X chassis and the storage array, and also to provide for high availability for both the

    Superdome X and the array switches. The configuration is a mix of 8 Gb and 16Gb connections.

    Each switch port on the Superdome X is physically connected, as well as logically mapped back to a single port on the storage array.

    Storage within the storage array is logically created under the functional access of a controller within the storage array itself. When a file is

    logically created within the storage array, the file is allocated and assigned to one of these four controllers. The storage array is logically divided

    in half, with half of the immediate storage access available directly from the 0, 1 controllers and half available directly from the 2, 3 controllers.

    There is of course a high speed interconnect between the two sets of switches with the 3PAR storage array.

    The SQL Server database configuration used four logical volumes for data files, each 12 TB in size. The transaction log was on a dedicated RAID 1

    drive (6 TB drive size). Tempdb was also physically distributed among the four data file volumes. The database was split into 240 separate data

    files. The database was backed up (and restored) from a separate 10 TB volume used only for storing compressed SQL Server backups.

    3PAR StoreServ 8450 overview and configuration

    The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Storage (including the 8450 model) offers enterprise Tier 1 storage at a midrange price. HPE 3PAR StoreServ

    8000 Storage delivers the performance advantages of a purpose-built, flash-optimized architecture without compromising resiliency, efficiency,

    or data mobility. The HPE 3PAR Gen5 Thin Express ASIC provides silicon-based hardware acceleration of thin technologies, including inline

    deduplication, to reduce acquisition and operational costs by up to 75% without compromising performance. With unmatched versatility,

    performance, and density, HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Storage gives you a range of options that support true convergence of block and file

    protocols, as well as all-flash array performance. HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Storage offers rich, Tier-1 data services, quad-node resiliency,

    seamless data mobility between systems, high availability through a complete set of persistent technologies, and simple and efficient data

    protection with a flat backup to HPE StoreOnce Backup appliances.

    The HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 solution used in this reference configuration is connected with 8 separate connections between the HPE

    3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array and the Superdome X. Physically, there are two SAN switches on the Superdome X chassis, and four

    controllers on the HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array. Each of the switches on the Superdome X has 4 wired connections to the switches

    on the storage array. The switch wiring is made completely redundant to provide double the storage bandwidth between the Superdome X

    chassis and the storage array, and also to provide for high availabil ity for both the Superdome X and the array switches. All eight connections are

    16Gb rated.

    Each switch port on the Superdome X is physically connected, as well as logically mapped back to a single port on the storage array. Disk testing

    (without SQL Server but from within Windows) showed disk I/O at about 2 Gb/Sec sustained throughput for large sequential read operations

    such as those needed for the data warehousing environment. However, we were also able to observe up to 8 Gb/Sec of burst throughput when

    running against multiple disks simultaneously, which greatly assisted our overall query performance.

    Storage within the storage array is logically created under the functional access of a controller within the storage array itself. When a file is

    logically created within the storage array, the file is allocated and assigned to one of the four controllers. The storage array is logically divided in

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    half, with half of the immediate storage access available directly from the 0, 1 controllers and half available directly from the 2, 3 controllers. There

    is of course a high speed interconnect between the two sets of switches with the 3PAR storage array.

    SQL Server storage was identical to the 3PAR 7440c configuration.

    Best practices and configuration guidance for the solutionThe Reference Configuration is centered on the HPE Integrity Superdome X and the HPE 3PAR StoreServ storage array. The Superdome X does

    not have any local storage; operating system and other storage is delivered via the Fibre Channel attached storage. An HPE 3PAR StoreServ

    storage array was selected for both excellent storage capacity and scalable performance capabilities. The 3PAR StoreServ and the Superdome X

    are connected via Fibre Channel, and both are on a shared 10 Gb Ethernet network for end user and administrative connectivity.

    Data storage is very similar between the 3PAR 7440c and the 3PAR 8450 storage arrays. Data is spread across as many disks as possible by

    specifying the recommended configuration parameters when creating CPGs on the 3PAR to host the virtual volumes. Additionally, data volume

    ownership is spread across the storage controllers to provide locality of data storage on the 3PAR StoreServ and provide redundant access to the

    storage from the Superdome X solution. The operating system is stored using RAID 1 (mirroring), while data files are stored using RAID5 (striped

    with parity). The transaction log is stored using RAID 1. Thin provisioning is used for all volumes. The operating system is hosted on a single 1 TB

    OS drive, and the data files for the data warehouse are spread across four 12 TB data file drives and a single 10 TB log file drive, as well as a 10 TB

    backup drive.

    SQL Server and Windows Server configuration

    The reference configuration solution is running Windows Server 2016 (Technical Preview 4) and SQL Server 2016 Release Candidate. The setup

    was performed following the recommended configuration in the Running Microsoft Windows Server on HPE Integrity Superdome X white paper.

    Hyper-Threading is enabled on all blades.

    The SQL Server 2016 setup is a default installation/configuration with the exception of the changes noted in the list below:

    •  Allow Instant File Initialization (service account given “Perform Volume Maintenance Tasks”)

    –  To allow faster database file creation

    •  Set Max Server Memory to 5600000

    •  The following trace flag is enabled to scale performance with large numbers of processor and large amounts of memory:

    –  -T834 (use large page allocations in Windows)

    Note

    For further information and recommendations about SQL Server trace flags, please review the knowledge base article: Recommended updates

    and configuration options for SQL Server 2012 and later versions with high-performance workloads

    (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2964518).

    Capacity and sizing

    The data warehousing (DW) solution in this reference configuration is based upon testing using a large data warehouse benchmarking model of

    a traditional order system, consisting of parts, suppliers, customers, and orders. The queries used are typical business analytics questions, such asfinancial reports/analysis, internal business process analysis and optimization reporting, and extracting marketing and sales information. The test

    database used a 10 TB data warehouse, running a fixed query workload of representative decision support queries.

    Before running the DW workload, an analysis of the storage environment was performed to confirm the capabilities of both 3PAR StoreServ

    environments. This included testing the performance of Dedup vs. thinly provisioned vs. fully provisioned CPGs, and also determining optimal

    CPG sizing parameters to achieve the maximum number of disks in each CPG. Note that the parameters will vary depending upon the number of

    drives you are using, consult the 3PAR documentation for details. This validation is strongly recommended before beginning the SQL Server

    database layout to optimize I/O performance.

    A series of 22 data warehousing queries of varying complexity and query data volumes were used, and the timings for this 10 TB run for our

    sample queries varied widely across queries, based upon the complexity of the query itself. The workload is very similar to those used for data

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    warehousing benchmarks. However, over several runs of the results (restoring the database from a known good point and then re-running the

    query sets), the results were very consistent. The query timings are presented for both the Gen8 (Figure 6) and Gen9 (Figure 7) solutions. As you

    can see from the comparison of the two charts, we see an average performance improvement of 56% between the two solutions (see the query

    by query comparison in Figure 8). Thus, upgrading your environment to the newer HPE Superdome X Gen9 environment with 3PAR 8450, using

    a very similar configuration, will result in a dramatic performance improvement using the identical workload running Windows Server 2016 and

    SQL Server 2016. The additional CPU capacity (for CPU intensive computational operations and also working with the columnstore indexes), as

    well as the improved sustained I/O bandwidth, greatly improves the SQL Server query performance for longer running queries.

    Figure 6. Gen8 Solution Query Response Times (Seconds) Figure 7. Gen9 Solution Query Response Times (Seconds)

    Figure 8. Side by Side Query Comparison

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    Analysis and recommendations

    As you can easily see from the charts above, the solution leveraging an HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 and HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450

    storage array dramatically improves the overall performance, in particular for most long-running queries. The combination of additional CPU

    capacity (6 more cores per blade server and faster cores), combined with the higher performance of the StoreServ 8450 storage array provides a

    significant performance boost. Keep in mind that this is exactly the same database, with exactly the same schema and statistics being used forboth comparisons. The software is otherwise identical.

    The performance of some queries, particularly the very small queries, is not impacted as much by the upgraded hardware, and for several of the

    smallest queries the impact is minimal. However, for large queries which encompass queries over tens to hundreds of millions of rows of data, the

    performance impact is dramatic. The schema used for these data warehousing queries does leverage columnstore indexes for the larger tables.

    It should also be noted that raw disk testing performance of the 3PAR StoreServ 8450 showed significant performance improvements when

    compared to the previous 7440c solution. Undoubtedly the improved throughput of the storage array was a significant factor in the performance

    improvements observed in this comparison. Additionally, thin provisioning for the storage volumes was selected because it showed the best raw

    disk performance in testing for this workload when compared to Dedup and/or fully provisioned volumes.

    Summary

    Demand for a Tier 1 mission critical environment that provides the high availability, reliability, and capacity needed to address challengingenterprise workloads running Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and Microsoft SQL Server 2016 continues to grow. The HPE Integrity Superdome X

    and HPE 3PAR StoreServ platform provides an optimal environment for supporting mixed workloads to meet these needs. The Superdome X

    provides excellent CPU and memory capacity and resources to support workloads ranging from high-end OLTP CPU-intensive transaction

    processing to I/O and memory-intensive data warehousing environments. The platform is flexible enough to support other workloads, including

    as a consolidation platform. The 3PAR StoreServ platform capabil ities, as shown in this reference configuration, easily support the large, block

    sequential throughput nature of the DW workload, and is an ideal platform for a mixed-workload environment, providing optimal storage

    capacity, transfer speeds, and storage optimization.

    As shown in both the results of the testing for this reference configuration as well as the earlier mentioned data warehousing tests, the

    combination of HPE Integrity Superdome X and Microsoft SQL Server 2016 provides an excellent data warehousing environment, with the

    storage capacity, performance, and flexibility of the HPE 3PAR StoreServ array providing the scalabi lity needed for the most challenging scale-up

    data warehousing workloads on the Microsoft SQL Server platform. The abili ty of Windows Server 2016 to take advantage of greater than 4 TB of

    memory makes the platform ideal for the Superdome X environment.

    This reference configuration demonstrated the significant performance improvements that have been delivered by the latest generation of HPE

    server and storage technologies. Selecting the HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 blade infrastructure, combined with the HPE 3PAR StoreServ

    8450 storage array, can provide dramatic performance improvements and business optimization without having to invest in expensive or

    complex application tuning or redesign.

    Offering high performance, built-in reliability, and streamlined manageability—delivered in a standards-based package—the HPE Superdome X

    and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 / SQL Server 2016 solution is a performance winner for data warehousing workloads. HPE and Microsoft

    solutions excel at handling OLTP, data warehousing, and business intelligence workloads, and for companies using memory-intensive

    applications, the HPE Superdome X Server has the balanced scaling required for highly efficient processing. With up to 288 cores and the ability

    to handle up to 24 TB of memory, you can trust the joint HPE and Microsoft solution to scale right along with your growing business.

    This Reference Configuration describes solution testing performed in February and March 2016.

    Implementing a proof-of-concept

    As a matter of best practice for al l deployments, HPE recommends implementing a proof-of-concept using a test environment that matches as

    closely as possible the planned production environment. In this way, appropriate performance and scalability characterizations can be obtained.

    For help with a proof-of-concept, contact an HPE Services representative (hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html) or your HPE partner.

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    Appendix A: Bill of materials

    For the Reference Configuration, the following bill of materials was used.

    The following BOMs contain electronic license to use (E-LTU) parts. Electronic software license delivery is now available in most countries. HPE

    recommends purchasing electronic products over physical products (when available) for faster delivery and for the convenience of not trackingand managing confidential paper licenses. For more information, please contact your reseller or an HPE representative.

    Note

    Part numbers are at time of testing and subject to change. The bill of materials does not include complete support options or other rack and

    power requirements. If you have questions regarding ordering, please consult with your HPE Reseller or HPE Sales Representative for more

    details. hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html

    Table 1. Bill of materials – Gen9

    QTY PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION

    Rack and Network Infrastructure – Superdome X

    1 H6J66A HPE 11642 1075mm Shock Intelligent Rack (with Factory Express)

    1 H6J85A HPE Rack Hardware Kit

    1 BW906A HPE 42U 1075mm Side Panel Kit

    1 TC472A HPE Intelligent Inft Analyzer SW v2 LTU

    1 JC772A HPE 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ Switch

    16 JD092B HPE X130 10G SFP+ LC SR Transceiver

    4 JG326A HPE X240 40G QSFP+ QSFP+ 1m DAC Cable

    1 JC681A HPE A58x0AF 650W DC Power Supply

    2 JC682A HPE 58x0AF Bck(pwr)-Frt(ports) Fan Tray

    Superdome X

    1 AT147A HPE Superdome X Base Enclosure

    HPE Superdome X 4 Wire 3 Phase PDU

    Factory Express

    1 AT152A HPE Superdome X Advanced PAR LTU

    4 711307-B21 HPE 6125XLG Blade Switch

    2 C8S45A Brocade 16Gb/16c Embedded SAN Switch

    8 H7B40A HPE BL920s Gen9 2.3GHz 36c Svr Blade

    96 H7B38A HPE DDR4 128GB (4x32GB) Mem Module

    8 700065-B21 HPE Ethernet 20Gb 2P 630FLB Adapter

    8 710608-B21 HPE QMH2672 16Gb FC HBA

    8 BD505A HPE iLO Adv Incl 3yr TS U 1-Svr Lic

    Rack and Network Infrastructure – 3PAR

    1 BW904A HPE 642 1075mm Shock Intelligent Rack (with Factory Express)

    1 TK808A HPE Rack Front Door Cover Kit

    4 H5M58A HPE 4.9kVA 208V 20out NA/JP bPDU

    1 BW906A HPE 42U 1075mm Side Panel Kit

    2 AP879A HPE 6m Expansion Cable Kit

    1 QR481B HPE SN6000B 16Gb 48-port/48-port Active Power Pack+ Fibre Channel Switch

    http://www.hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.htmlhttp://www.hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html

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    Technical white paper Page 16

    QTY PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION

    Storage

    1 H6Z25A HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 4N Storage Base (with Factory Express)

    176 K2Q95A HPE 3PAR 8000 480GB SAS MLC SFF SSD

    14 H6Z26A HPE 3PAR 8000 SFF (2.5in) SAS Drive Enclosure

    14 QK734A HPE Premier Flex LC/LC OM4 2f 5m Cbl

    1 BD362A HPE 3PAR StoreServ Mgmt/Core SW Media

    1 BD363A HPE 3PAR OS Suite Latest Media

    1 L7C17A HPE 3PAR 8450 OS Suite Base LTU

    1 TC472A HPE Intelligent Inft Analyzer SW v2 LTU

    1 L7C18A HPE 3PAR 8450 OS Suite Drive LTU

    176 QK735A HPE Premier Flex LC/LC OM4 2f 15m Cbl

    176 QK724A HPE B-series 16Gb SFP+SW XCVR

    Microsoft Software

    1 Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4 Release

    1 Microsoft SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.3 and Release Candidate 0

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    Technical white paper Page 17

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    © Copyright 2016 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

    The only warranties for HPE products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and

    services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HPE shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors

    or omissions contained herein.

    Microsoft, Windows Server, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States

    and/or other countries. Intel and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

    4AA6-5205ENW, April 2016

    Resources and additional links

    Information about the HPE Integrity Superdome X, hpe.com/servers/SuperdomeX and hpe.com/info/superdomex

    HPE Integrity Superdome X Server documentation is accessible through the “manuals” tab under the following URL

    http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/psi/home/?sp4ts.oid=7161269

    HPE Integrity Superdome Onboard Administrator documentation

    • HPE Integrity Superdome X and Superdome 2 Onboard Administrator User Guide

    http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04389052

    • HPE Integrity Superdome X and Superdome 2 Onboard Administrator Command Line Interface User Guide

    http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04389088

    HPE 3PAR information

    • HPE 3PAR StoreServ Architecture

    http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA3-3516ENW

    • HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Product information

    hpe.com/storage/storeserv8000

    • HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Product Information

    http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/disk-storage/product-detail.html?oid=5335712

    • HPE 3PAR StoreServ All Flash and Microsoft SQL Server Brochure

    http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-3248ENW

    Other useful resources

    • HPE 3PAR Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 Implementation Guide

    http://h20628.www2.hpe.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c03290621-14.pdf 

    • Implementing Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4 on HPE ProLiant servers

    http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA5-5841ENW

    • Microsoft Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2012 R2http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn529133

    • HPE Converged Infrastructure Library, hpe.com/info/convergedinfrastructure

    • HPE Servers, hpe.com/servers

    • HPE Storage, hpe.com/storage

    • HPE Networking, hpe.com/networking

    • HPE Technology Consulting Services, hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html

    To help us improve our documents, please provide feedback at  hpe.com/contact/feedback. 

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