IBM® Spectrum Scale™ vs EMC Isilon for IBM® · PDF fileIBM Spectrum Scale...

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IBM® Spectrum Scale™ vs

EMC Isilon for IBM®

Spectrum Protect™

Workloads

A Competitive Test and Evaluation

Report

Printed in the United States of America

Copyright 2015 Edison Group, Inc. New York.

Edison Group offers no warranty either expressed or implied on the information contained

herein and shall be held harmless for errors resulting from its use.

The information contained in this document is based on IBM provided materials and

independent research and was aggregated and validated for Edison Group, Inc. by the Edison

Group Analyst team.

All products are trademarks of their respective owners.

First Publication: February, 2015

Produced by: Matthew Elkourie, Analyst; Manny Frishberg, Editor; Barry Cohen, Editor-in-Chief

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction to Spectrum Scale ................................................................................................. 2

Test Summary Overview and Results ...................................................................................... 4

Technology Review and Configuration .................................................................................. 8

EMC Isilon for IBM Spectrum Protect.................................................................................... 8

Spectrum Scale for IBM Spectrum Protect........................................................................... 10

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 12

Appendix A – IBM Spectrum Scale Architecture Overview ............................................. 13

Appendix B – IBM Test Reference Architecture .................................................................. 15

Edison: IBM® Spectrum Scale™ vs EMC Isilon for IBM® Spectrum Protect™ Workloads Page 1

Executive Summary

When considering enterprise storage software options, IT managers constantly strive to

find the most efficient, scalable, and high performance solutions that solve today’s

storage performance and scalability challenges, while future-proofing their investment

to handle new workloads and data types. Enterprise backup solutions can be

particularly vulnerable to issues stemming from poor network performance to the

storage array(s), and are often not designed with the scalability demanded by rapidly

changing enterprise environments.

Data backup is critical to enterprise users, and often faces challenges in network

throughput (often viewed as the key factor in how long it takes to perform a backup of

data) as well as scalability (viewed as how much the system can grow before new

solutions would be required). Using published data, Edison compared a solution

comprised of EMC® Isilon® against an IBM® Spectrum Scale™ solution. (IBM Spectrum

Scale was formerly IBM® General Parallel File System™ or IBM® GPFS™, also known

as code name Elastic Storage). For both solutions, IBM® Spectrum Protect™ (formerly

IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager or IBM® TSM®) is used as a common workload

performing the backups to target storage systems evaluated.

IBM Spectrum Protect is a data protection platform that provides a single-pane-of-glass-

style approach to data backup and recovery, helping to protect a wide range of systems,

including virtual machines, file servers, email, databases, enterprise resource planning

(ERP) systems, mainframes and desktops through a single administration interface.

Available in a range of configurations for single and multiple site installations, as well as

providing a cloud -based Disaster Recovery (DR) service, the Spectrum Protect platform

is flexible, powerful, and yet intuitively accessed and managed, making Spectrum

Protect the ideal platform to evaluate consistent performance data, such as the

performance data produced and evaluated in this paper.

As the reader will see in the benchmark results section of this paper, the Spectrum Scale

solution provided for up to 11x better throughput results, while demonstrating

superior linear scalability as additional resources are provided to the Spectrum Protect

backup infrastructure. Compared to the EMC Isilon solution, the Spectrum Scale

solution scales 11x better due to network design and capabilities using InfiniBand,

allowing enterprise users to invest significantly less funding and additional

infrastructure resources as enterprise scaling demands increase when using the

Spectrum Scale solution.


Introduction to Spectrum Scale

To better understand the IBM Spectrum Scale technology, and why this solution

performs better than competing offerings, an introduction and brief overview of

Spectrum Scale and its features is provided here.

Spectrum Scale is a proven, highly scalable and high performance solution, formerly

known as GPFS or Elastic Storage. IBM Spectrum Scale has been in the market since

1998, starting as a solution for IBM AIX systems and evolving over time as a highly

available storage solution, available for both Linux (supported version available in 2001)

and Microsoft® Windows Server (supported version available in 2008).

Spectrum Scale, a member of the IBM Software Defined Storage family, is a global file

and object -based storage solution providing high performance and storage scalability

that readily meets the demands found in enterprise storage environments.

Spectrum Scale’s architecture allows organizations to manage ever increasing data pool

sizes, as well as scaling data throughput. By utilizing a single Spectrum Scale cluster

serving multiple IBM Spectrum Protect servers, operational simplicity keeps

management overhead low.

In addition to deployment as a high performance, scalable, and reliable backup solution,

Spectrum Scale is typically integrated as the storage infrastructure for a wide range of

products and applications. Some typical use cases with which readers of this white

paper will be familiar include integration of Spectrum Scale with Hadoop (and other

scale-out frameworks), integration with High Performance Computing (HPC)

applications, and integration with High Performance Throughput Computing (HPTC)

clustering solutions.

Spectrum Scale is also available as a service on the IBM SoftLayer Cloud, offering cloud

storage for analytics, mobile and social data. Cloud storage for these workloads must be

highly scalable and elastic in order to accommodate the dynamic requirements from

users and applications.

In 2012, IBM introduced the Active File Management feature in Spectrum Scale, which

enables asynchronous access and control of both local and remote files, enabling global

file access and use. Resiliency and performance is greatly enhanced by Spectrum Scale


native RAID, a feature that significantly reduces RAID rebuild times (in some cases up

to twenty times faster1), while at the same time reducing overhead on infrastructure in

the datacenter by significantly decreased network and disk sub-system usage and

requirements. Spectrum Scale Native RAID implements sophisticated data placement

and error correction algorithms to deliver high levels of storage reliability, availability,

and performance.

The Elastic Storage Server is a bundled Spectrum Scale software and hardware-based

solution that incorporates Spectrum Scale Native RAID, providing a scalable storage

building block that can be used by many applications (such as IBM Spectrum Protect).

Elastic Storage Server addresses a variety of client needs and use cases, ranging from

managing traditional large data sets to Hadoop cluster storage infrastructure nodes to

providing the foundation for mission critical backups. The initial version of the Elastic

Storage Server was called the GPFS Storage Server, or GSS, based on x86 technology.

This initial version was used in these evaluations.

1 http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-

bin/ssialias?subtype=WH&infotype=SA&appname=STGE_TS_DS_USEN&htmlfid=XSC03148USEN&attach

ment=XSC03148USEN.PDF

http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=WH&infotype=SA&appname=STGE_TS_DS_USEN&htmlfid=XSC03148USEN&attachment=XSC03148USEN.PDF




Test Summary Overview and Results

The focus of testing and Edison reviews centers on key principles consisting of storage

throughput capabilities and storage scalability as additional workloads are increased.

Utilizing the IBM Spectrum Protect product as a baseline for consistent workload

generation, Edison reviewed how each storage architecture performs in a variety of

published benchmarks.

The first set of results illustrates the smallest IBM Spectrum Scale workload compared to

the EMC Isilon configuration utilizing multiple servers and multiple client threads.

Figure 1: Throughput Measurement (in MB/s) Platform Comparison

Clearly, with just a single server and single thread, the Spectrum Scale demonstrates 3x

the throughput capability in the smallest workload possible compared to its

competitor. While the Figure 1 results are quite impressive on their own, let’s examine

what happens when we scale the Spectrum Protect workload up and gauge the results

on the Spectrum Scale solution.



In Figure 2, Edison kept the same maximum performance figures from the Isilon

platform, while increasing the Spectrum Protect load on the Spectrum Scale solution by

running multiple clients on the same single server. Spectrum Scale was faster by more

than 6x when performing backups, and more than 8x faster when restoring data than

its competition.

At this point, while the results produced were impressive, Edison still has not examined

the results of having the same Spectrum Protect environment as the competition tested

against Spectrum Scale. Let’s examine that now in Figure 3.



Figure 3 clearly illustrates that when scaled out in similar fashion to its competition, the

IBM Spectrum Scale solution absolutely dominates in performance numbers, showing a

better than 11x faster throughput rate than its competition.

While digesting the results of the testing, it should be mentioned and illustrated that

aside from increased IBM Spectrum Protect loads presented to the systems under test,

the underlying infrastructure of the storage solutions being evaluated was kept the

same. With this understanding, Figure 4 shows the superior scalability of IBM Spectrum

Scale.



In looking at Figure 4, a clear trend becomes obvious. As IBM Spectrum Scale faces

increased loads, the performance factor scales linearly and predictably.

The performance and scalability presented thus far are impressive for both storage

platforms presented. While it is easy to make assumptions based on graphs, Edison

encourages the reader to take a deeper look into the technology presented that yielded

such impressive results, as well as to understand how these results were achieved.


Technology Review and Configuration

EMC Isilon for IBM Spectrum Protect

First to be examined are the objectives of the EMC Isilon testing. In a published blog2 by

author Stefan Radtke (Field CTO, EMEA at EMC), Isilon testing is performed to

illustrate why Isilon is the right choice for Spectrum Protect as a backup target. The

stated goal of the testing was to illustrate the amount of throughput for backup and

restoration jobs an end-user could expect to achieve while running Spectrum Protect on

EMC Isilon. The Spectrum Protect server Database cannot be stored on EMC Isilon for

performance reasons, so it should be noted that the performance testing was focused on

the actual backup and restoration capabilities of the EMC Isilon platform.

Testing prior to the Isilon deployment Edison reviewed was conducted with 4 Spectrum

Protect server instances running on Microsoft Windows 2012 Server, configured to a pair

of NetApp arrays. Data throughput rates reached a maximum of approximately

150MB/s, with peak data transfer rates occurring at around 400MB/s, running IBM

Spectrum Protect. After the EMC Isilon array was implemented with the same Spectrum

Protect configuration but with a 3 node EMC Isilon NL400 cluster, data throughput rates

rose by nearly double the previous data rate sustained and peak values. The IBM

Spectrum Protect configuration was modified to use more threads, enabling the higher

test scores displayed below in the performance chart.

The published EMC Isilon test harness consisted of a three node EMC Isilon NL400

cluster. While testing was performed with a tape library as well as to hard disk, this

report will focus on the non-tape testing as Edison’s evaluation centers on throughput

on storage systems utilizing disks, not tape. Available details include the following

configuration data:

3 node Isilon NL400 storage nodes

432 TB raw capacity with 260TB usable across the 3 shelves of Isilon storage

10G network infrastructure

Microsoft Windows Server 2012, running 4 Spectrum Protect instances

2 http://stefanradtke.blogspot.de/2014/06/isilon-as-tsm-backup-target-analyses-of.html

http://stefanradtke.blogspot.de/2014/06/isilon-as-tsm-backup-target-analyses-of.html


Connected to the EMC Isilon system were four Spectrum Protect servers running on

Windows 2012 and serving an undisclosed number of Spectrum Protect backup clients.

The Spectrum Protect server where connected via a 10 Gbit Ethernet infrastructure.

According to the author of this report, runtimes with Isilon were reduced by nearly a 5x

factor compared against NetApp, reducing from 12 hours necessary for runtime down

to 2 ½ hours. In conjunction with the platform shift to EMC Isilon, the author was able to

reduce complexity in the data backup infrastructure, in addition to the benefits of

increased data throughput rates and run time reductions.

Results of the author’s testing is displayed in Figure 5, and shows the performance

increases the author was able to achieve on the EMC Isilon infrastructure once it was

configured for maximum IBM Spectrum Protect operation.

Figure 5: EMC Isilon on IBM Spectrum Protect – Throughput IBM Spectrum Protect Instances with

Multiple Sessions


Spectrum Scale for IBM Spectrum Protect

The IBM team’s testing regimen3 consists of several test runs being performed on a pair

of IBM x3650-M4 servers and a single IBM GSS26 storage system connected via

InfiniBand. The IBM team tested:

Peak backup and restore performance with multiple parallel client backup sessions

directed to a single IBM Spectrum Protect Server

Peak backup performance with multiple parallel client backup sessions directed to

two IBM Spectrum Protect Servers simultaneously

Peak backup performance using a single client backup session directed to a single

IBM Spectrum Protect Server

Similar to the testing performed with the EMC Isilon configuration, two IBM servers

running the Spectrum Protect software are directly connected to the IBM GSS Servers

(with Spectrum Scale software running as the storage infrastructure engine on them),

eliminating complexity and keeping the configuration easy to maintain and scale. The

connection was based on InfiniBand.

The published IBM test harness consisted of IBM GSS, running Spectrum Scale software.

A breakdown of the tested solution is as follows:

IBM GSS26 – Comprising two server nodes, configured with 348 drives in 6 de-

clustered arrays.

Each de-clustered array features 1 metadata and 1 vdisk

Single File System presented to Spectrum Protect for the Spectrum Protect

database and storage pool data

RAID arrays were established in an 8+2 array configuration for file system data,

and a 3-way replicated configuration for file system metadata

The underlying software version for the Operating System is Red Hat RHEL 6.5

installed with GSS release version 2.0 for the storage software

56 Gbps InfiniBand cross connections between the GSS26 installation and the two

Spectrum Protect servers utilized for testing

3https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/storageneers/entry/scale_out_backup_with_tsm_

and_gss_performance_test_results?lang=en

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/storageneers/entry/scale_out_backup_with_tsm_and_gss_performance_test_results?lang=en

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/storageneers/entry/scale_out_backup_with_tsm_and_gss_performance_test_results?lang=en


Connected to the IBM GSS system were two IBM x3650-M4 servers, each hosting one

Spectrum Protect server and multiple Spectrum Protect client instances. The Spectrum

Protect servers with version 7.1 were running on Red Hat Linux 6.5 and configured as

Spectrum Scale nodes along with the GSS storage server.

Performance increases gained during testing, similar to the EMC Isilon testing regiment,

is shown as increased performance throughput as additional workloads were

introduced with first additional client threads, and then finally with a similar

environment to the EMC Isilon workload where multiple servers and clients were

utilized. This is show in Figure 6.

Figure 6: IBM Spectrum Scale on IBM Spectrum Protect – Varied Servers and Sessions


Conclusions

Enterprise backup solutions, and the storage systems that provide the necessary

infrastructure to achieve tight deadlines for backup and recovery of data, can be a

challenging subject for users trying to decide what makes the most sense when

evaluating budgets against performance and scalability.

The evaluations in this white paper illustrate the comparison of two commercially

available storage solutions in a backup and retrieval scenario, and focus on the

throughput and scalability they both bring to the table. As retained data needs grow in

size, the ability to access that data and recover from loss becomes equally critical.

As shown throughout the whitepaper, the IBM Spectrum Scale platform outperforms

the competition, in some cases by up to 11x in throughput. It is especially notable that

the smallest, non-scaled implementation of IBM Spectrum Protect yields better than 3x

the performance of the competition when run on IBM Spectrum Scale. Scaling from 3x

the throughput to 11x the throughput of the competing system demonstrates the clear

workload scalability advantage IBM Spectrum Scale provides.

In conclusion, the benchmarks clearly show that IBM Spectrum Scale is the right

solution for companies requiring out-of-box system performance and future proofed

platform scalability.


Appendix A – IBM Spectrum Scale Architecture

Overview

Figure 7: Basic Spectrum Scale Architecture

A Spectrum Scale cluster can be a single node, two nodes or thousands of nodes used for

applications, such as the modeling of weather patterns. The largest existing

configurations exceed 40,000 nodes, for example as found in the Argonne National Labs

Supercomputer Cluster4. Nodes in a cluster are connected via a cluster network

providing communication among the cluster nodes. The file systems configured in

Spectrum Scale represent a global name space where files are accessible on all cluster

nodes. Files in the Spectrum Scale file systems are stored on one or more storage systems

4 http://www.alcf.anl.gov/mira

http://www.alcf.anl.gov/mira


connected to the cluster nodes via a storage network. Spectrum Scale nodes have access

to the entire storage. The storage system can provide RAID technology whereas in a GSS

system, Spectrum Scale software performs the RAID operations (Spectrum Scale native

RAID) with simple JBODs (just a bunch of disk).

A single Spectrum Scale cluster can be scaled up in many ways. Each component of the

cluster – server (node), network, server, storage – can be individually scaled to match

individual and changing requirements.


DCL12398USEN-00

Appendix B – IBM Test Reference Architecture

For visual purposes, a diagram is provided, showing a typical IBM Spectrum Protect

and Spectrum Scale deployment stack. This is the same stack referenced in the testing

referred to in this review.

Figure 8: Typical IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Spectrum Scale Deployment Stack

The components found in the stack are as follows:

2 x Spectrum Protect Server

IBM x3650-M4 with Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 6.5

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager 7.1

1 x IBM System x GPFS Storage Server - GSS26

6 x 4U-60 with 58 x 2 TB NL-SAS disks drawer

In total 348 disks

1 x Mellanox 32 Port InfiniBand FDR switch

Each Spectrum Protect server is connected with a 56 GBit/s link to the GSS

system

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