SQLIO测试 SAN

Downloading and Configuring SQLIO

SQLIO Video Tutorial： http://sqlserverpedia.com/wiki/SAN_Performance_Tuning_with_SQLIO

[Download SQLIO from Microsoft]

Notice that I said SQLIO, not SQLIOSIM. Experienced database administrators will often direct you to SQLIOSIM because it's easier to use and mimics SQL Server's disk activity patterns. Here's the catch: it won't necessarily test your SAN to its maximum potential. Your SAN team may indicate that if your SQLIOSIM results aren't fast enough, it's a SQL-related problem, not a SAN-related problem. They may use testing utilities from vendors that mimic results closer to what SQLIO will give you. We want to push the SAN's pedal to the metal and find out how fast it'll go in any situation.

After installing SQLIO, edit the param.txt file and change these two parameters:

• First parameter - the physical location of the testing file. Change the drive letter to point to the SAN drive you want to test, like T:\testfile.dat.
• Last parameter - the size of the testing file in megabytes. Increase this to 20480 or larger. Ideally, you want it to be larger than your SAN's cache, because your real databases will be larger than the SAN's cache.

After saving param.txt, run this at the command line in the same directory where SQLIO is installed in order to create the test file:

sqlio -kW -s10 -fsequential -o8 -b8 -LS -Fparam.txt timeout /T 10

When it finishes, your test file is created, and it's time to run our real tests.

Testing Your SAN Performance

Instead of picking and choosing individual parameters to use, I like to take the shotgun approach: try every possible combination of random versus sequential, low and high numbers of threads, read versus write, etc. The below batch file will take all of the possibilities and run 'em all. Copy/paste this into a text file called SANTest.bat:

sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o2 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o4 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o8 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o16 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o32 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o64 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o128 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t4 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t8 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t16 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t32 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kW -t64 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t2 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t4 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t8 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t16 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t32 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o1 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o2 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o4 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o8 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o16 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o32 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o64 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat
sqlio -kR -t64 -s120 -dM -o128 -fsequential -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

Whew! And that's just one pass - if you want to do multiple passes of the same tests for consistency's sake, like to eliminate the chance that other servers are running on the same SAN and affecting your performance results, you would want to paste that same set of 200+ lines multiple times into your batch file.

Let's take the first line of the batch file and analyze what it's doing:

sqlio -kW -t2 -s120 -dM -o1 -frandom -b64 -BH -LS Testfile.dat

The most important parameters are:

• -kW means writes (as opposed to reads)
• -t2 means two threads
• -s120 means test for 120 seconds
• -dM means drive letter M
• -o1 means one outstanding request (not piling up requests)
• -frandom means random access (as opposed to sequential)
• -b64 means 64kb IOs

Do a find & replace in your text file and replace -dM with the drive letter of your choice. If you're testing on your S drive, for example, you would replace -dM with -dS.

Then go to the command prompt in the same directory as SQLIO is installed and type:

SANTEST.BAT > RESULTS.TXT

This will run our newly created batch file and dump the results into a text file. This will take a long time, like six hours or more, and it will be hammering your SAN. Don't run this on a production server, and don't even run it on the same SAN as a production server when the production server is under load because it may time out. I've had instances where this batch file has actually caused a SAN to restart itself, so use this with caution - preferably in a test lab or before your SAN goes live.

Hours later, when it finishes, you'll have a RESULTS.TXT file with lots of juicy metrics about your storage performance.

Importing SQLIO Results into SQL Server

Those text file results are cryptic - time to bring them into our favorite data analysis platform, Microsoft Access. Wait, I'm kidding, put the axe down - we'll import them into SQL Server.

Script to Create the Tables and and ETL Stored Procedure

Before we start, create a database that you'll use for SQLIO data storage or designate an existing utility database that you'll use. This script requires SQL Server 2005 or newer, since it uses the varchar(max) field.

In that database, run the below script to create the tables for results storage:

001.SET ANSI_NULLS ON

002.GO

003.SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON

004.GO

005.CREATE TABLE [dbo].[SQLIO_Import](

006.[RowID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,

007.[ParameterRowID] [int] NULL,

008.[ResultText] [varchar](max) NULL,

009.CONSTRAINT [PK_SQLIO_Import] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED

010.(

011.[RowID] ASC

012.))

013.GO

014.CREATE TABLE [dbo].[SQLIO_TestPass](

015.[TestPassID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,

016.[ServerName] [nvarchar](50) NOT NULL,

017.[DriveQty] [int] NOT NULL,

018.[DriveRPM] [int] NOT NULL,

019.[DriveRaidLevel] [nvarchar](10) NOT NULL,

020.[TestDate] [datetime] NOT NULL,

021.[SANmodel] [nvarchar](50) NOT NULL,

022.[SANfirmware] [nvarchar](50) NULL,

023.[PartitionOffset] [int] NULL,

024.[Filesystem] [nvarchar](50) NULL,

025.[FSClusterSizeBytes] [int] NULL,

026.[SQLIO_Version] [nvarchar](20) NULL,

027.[Threads] [int] NULL,

028.[ReadOrWrite] [nchar](1) NULL,

029.[DurationSeconds] [int] NULL,

030.[SectorSizeKB] [int] NULL,

031.[IOpattern] [nvarchar](50) NULL,

032.[IOsOutstanding] [int] NULL,

033.[Buffering] [nvarchar](50) NULL,

034.[FileSizeMB] [int] NULL,

035.[IOs_Sec] [decimal](18, 0) NULL,

036.[MBs_Sec] [decimal](18, 0) NULL,

037.[LatencyMS_Min] [int] NULL,

038.[LatencyMS_Avg] [int] NULL,

039.[LatencyMS_Max] [int] NULL,

040.CONSTRAINT [PK_SQLIO_TestPass] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED

041.(

042.[TestPassID] ASC

043.))

044.GO

045. 

046.CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[USP_Import_SQLIO_TestPass]

047.@ServerName         NVARCHAR(50),

048.@DriveQty           INT,

049.@DriveRPM           INT,

050.@DriveRaidLevel     NVARCHAR(10),

051.@TestDate           DATETIME,

052.@SANmodel           NVARCHAR(50),

053.@SANfirmware        NVARCHAR(50),

054.@PartitionOffset    INT,

055.@Filesystem         NVARCHAR(50),

056.@FSClusterSizeBytes INT

057.AS

058.SET nocount off

059. 

060.IF @TestDate IS NULL

061.SET @TestDate = Getdate()

062. 

063./* Add a blank record to the end so the last test result is captured */

064.INSERT INTO dbo.SQLIO_Import

065.(ParameterRowID,

066.ResultText)

067.VALUES

068.(0,

069.'');

070. 

071./* Update the ParameterRowID field for easier querying */

072.UPDATE dbo.sqlio_import

073.SET    parameterrowid = (SELECT   TOP 1 rowid

074.FROM     dbo.sqlio_import parm

075.WHERE    parm.resulttext LIKE '%\%'

076.AND parm.rowid <= upd.rowid

077.ORDER BY rowid DESC)

078.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import upd

079. 

080./* Add new SQLIO_TestPass records from SQLIO_Import */

081.INSERT INTO dbo.sqlio_testpass

082.(servername,

083.driveqty,

084.driverpm,

085.driveraidlevel,

086.testdate,

087.sanmodel,

088.sanfirmware,

089.partitionoffset,

090.filesystem,

091.fsclustersizebytes,

092.sqlio_version,

093.threads,

094.readorwrite,

095.durationseconds,

096.sectorsizekb,

097.iopattern,

098.iosoutstanding,

099.buffering,

100.filesizemb,

101.ios_sec,

102.mbs_sec,

103.latencyms_min,

104.latencyms_avg,

105.latencyms_max)

106.SELECT   @ServerName,

107.@DriveQty,

108.@DriveRPM,

109.@DriveRaidLevel,

110.@TestDate,

111.@SANmodel,

112.@SANfirmware,

113.@PartitionOffset,

114.@Filesystem,

115.@FSClusterSizeBytes,

116.(SELECT REPLACE(resulttext,'sqlio ','')

117.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impsqlio_version

118.WHERE  imp.rowid + 1 = impsqlio_version.rowid) AS sqlio_version,

119.(SELECT LEFT(resulttext,(Charindex(' threads',resulttext)))

120.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impthreads

121.WHERE  imp.rowid + 3 = impthreads.rowid) AS threads,

122.(SELECT Upper(Substring(resulttext,(Charindex('threads ',resulttext)) + 8,

123.1))

124.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impreadorwrite

125.WHERE  imp.rowid + 3 = impreadorwrite.rowid) AS readorwrite,

126.(SELECT Substring(resulttext,(Charindex(' for',resulttext)) + 4,

127.(Charindex(' secs ',resulttext)) - (Charindex(' for',resulttext)) - 4)

128.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impdurationseconds

129.WHERE  imp.rowid + 3 = impdurationseconds.rowid) AS durationseconds,

130.(SELECT Substring(resulttext,7,(Charindex('KB',resulttext)) - 7)

131.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impsectorsizekb

132.WHERE  imp.rowid + 4 = impsectorsizekb.rowid) AS sectorsizekb,

133.(SELECT Substring(resulttext,(Charindex('KB ',resulttext)) + 3,

134.(Charindex(' IOs',resulttext)) - (Charindex('KB ',resulttext))- 3)

135.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impiopattern

136.WHERE  imp.rowid + 4 = impiopattern.rowid) AS iopattern,

137.(SELECT Substring(resulttext,(Charindex('with ',resulttext)) + 5,

138.(Charindex(' outstanding',resulttext)) - (Charindex('with ',resulttext)) - 5)

139.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impiosoutstanding

140.WHERE  imp.rowid + 5 = impiosoutstanding.rowid) AS iosoutstanding,

141.(SELECT REPLACE(CAST(resulttext AS NVARCHAR(50)),'buffering set to ',

142.'')

143.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impbuffering

144.WHERE  imp.rowid + 6 = impbuffering.rowid) AS buffering,

145.(SELECT Substring(resulttext,(Charindex('size: ',resulttext)) + 6,

146.(Charindex(' for ',resulttext)) - (Charindex('size: ',resulttext)) - 9)

147.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impfilesizemb

148.WHERE  imp.rowid + 7 = impfilesizemb.rowid) AS filesizemb,

149.(SELECT RIGHT(resulttext,(Len(resulttext) - 10))

150.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impios_sec

151.WHERE  imp.rowid + 11 = impios_sec.rowid) AS ios_sec,

152.(SELECT RIGHT(resulttext,(Len(resulttext) - 10))

153.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impmbs_sec

154.WHERE  imp.rowid + 12 = impmbs_sec.rowid) AS mbs_sec,

155.(SELECT RIGHT(resulttext,(Len(resulttext) - 17))

156.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import implatencyms_min

157.WHERE  imp.rowid + 14 = implatencyms_min.rowid) AS latencyms_min,

158.(SELECT RIGHT(resulttext,(Len(resulttext) - 17))

159.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import implatencyms_avg

160.WHERE  imp.rowid + 15 = implatencyms_avg.rowid) AS latencyms_avg,

161.(SELECT RIGHT(resulttext,(Len(resulttext) - 17))

162.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import implatencyms_max

163.WHERE  imp.rowid + 16 = implatencyms_max.rowid) AS latencyms_max

164.FROM     dbo.sqlio_import imp

165.INNER JOIN dbo.sqlio_import impfulltest

166.ON imp.rowid + 20 = impfulltest.rowid

167.AND impfulltest.resulttext = ''

168.WHERE    imp.rowid = imp.parameterrowid

169./*AND (SELECT Substring(resulttext,(Charindex('size: ',resulttext)) + 6,

170.(Charindex(' for ',resulttext)) - (Charindex('size: ',resulttext)) - 9)

171.FROM   dbo.sqlio_import impfilesizemb

172.WHERE  imp.rowid + 7 = impfilesizemb.rowid) > 0 */

173.ORDER BY imp.parameterrowid

174. 

175./* Empty out the ETL table */

176.DELETE dbo.sqlio_import

177. 

178.SET nocount off

179.GO

The script creates three things:

• A table called SQLIO_Import where our results will first be dumped from the text file before they're processed
• A table called SQLIO_TestPass where our results will be permanently stored in a report-friendly format
• A stored procedure called USP_Import_SQLIO_TestPass. The stored procedure takes the data from our imported text file, parses it, and inserts records into the SQLIO_TestPass table.

The stored procedure expects these parameters, which it uses when inserting into SQLIO_TestPass. None of these have to be formatted a specific way - as long as they fit the SQL Server field definitions, they're fine:

• @ServerName NVARCHAR(50) - the name of the server you're using for testing. This is mostly useful for servers with locally attached storage as opposed to SAN storage.
• @DriveQty INT - the number of drives in the array you're testing.
• @DriveRPM INT - you might be testing 10k and 15k variations of the same setup. I suggest lumping drives into categories - don't try to differentiate between drives that report 10,080 RPM or other odd numbers - just stick with 5400, 10000, 150000, etc. For SSD, I prefer to use a number for the generation of SSD, like 1 or 2.
• @DriveRaidLevel NVARCHAR(10) - raid 5, raid 0, raid 10, raid DP, etc. (Yes, there are vendor-specific RAID implementations that use letters instead of numbers.)
• @TestDate DATETIME - the date you're running the tests. I include this as a parameter because sometimes I've run the same tests on a quarterly basis and I want to track whether things are changing over time.
• @SANmodel NVARCHAR(50) - the type of SAN, such as an IBM DS4800 or EMC CX300.
• @SANfirmware NVARCHAR(50) - the version of firmware, which can impact SAN performance.
• @PartitionOffset INT - Windows systems can use DISKPART to offset their partitions.
• @Filesystem NVARCHAR(50) - usually NTFS. Can be used to track testing different filesystems.
• @FSClusterSizeBytes INT - the file system cluster size.

Now that our framework is in place, let's import our first round of results.

Importing the Text File into SQL Server 2005

• In SQL Server Management Studio, right-click on the database where you want to store the SQLIO performance data and click Tasks, Import Data.
• For Data Source, choose "Flat File Source". Browse to your results.txt file, and set the Format to Delimited, Text Qualifier to None, Header row delimiter to {CR}{LF}, and Header Rows to Skip to 0.
• Click on the Advanced tab on the left, and there should only be one column, Column 0. Set the DataType to text stream. Click Next.
• Your database server and storage database should be shown. Click Next.
• For the Destination Table, choose SQLIO_Import and click Edit Mappings. Set the Column 0 destination to be ResultText. Click OK, and click Next.
• Click Next until the wizard finishes and imports the data, and then close the wizard.

Open a new query and verify that the data was successfully imported by typing:

1.SELECT * FROM dbo.SQLIO_Import

If there's no rows, something went wrong with the import process. Stop here and troubleshoot. Otherwise, execute the stored procedure to move the data into the reporting table, like this:

01.EXECUTE [dbo].[USP_Import_SQLIO_TestPass]

02.'MyServerName'

03.,10

04.,15000

05.,'RAID 10'

06.,'2008/5/6'

07.,'IBM DS4800'

08.,'6.62'

09.,1024

10.,'NTFS'

11.,'64000'

The data will be parsed and inserted into the reporting table, which we can query:

1.SELECT * FROM dbo.SQLIO_TestPass

Now, the data is arranged in a way that's easier for reporting.

Analyzing the SQLIO Results

Start by analyzing the data to find the fastest SAN throughput:

1.SELECT * FROM dbo.SQLIO_TestPass ORDER BY MBs_Sec DESC

That column is the SAN's throughput. Notice the LatencyMS_Avg column, though, which indicates the milliseconds of latency. A high throughput number is not necessarily good if the system is taking a long time to respond. Look for five or so of the highest throughput numbers that represents a good balance of high throughput and low latency.

Then, look at the parameters that were used in order to achieve that throughput. Make a note of these, because if you need to do repeated throughput testing on your SAN to test different configurations, you can use these high-throughput configurations to run a much shorter testing pass. Instead of testing your SAN overnight, you can get a quick idea in a matter of minutes because you'll know what parameters tend to drive very high throughput on your SAN. You'll still want to test all parameters when possible, because changes to the SAN may affect how it handles other parameters, but this will give you a quick estimate of whether things are getting better or worse.

More Reading About SQLIO

Here's a few interesting links about other bloggers' experience with SQLIO:

• Linchi Shea's Blog on SQL Server Storage - Linchi Shea does in-depth storage testing with different SANs and settings in order to wring the most performance out, and he explains his testing methodologies.
• Solid State Drives and SQL - Chad Boyd tests a few drive configurations.
• Storage Area Networks 101 Video - podcast on SQLServerPedia explaining the basics of SAN technology for database administrators.
• Microsoft whitepaper on Disk Subsystem Performance for Windows - explains different raid methods, drive types, etc and how they impact performance
• Resolving hangs and errors when using SQLIO - especially on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7.