RE: BE disk config
- From: Monika Rabarison <monika.k.rabarison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "[ExchangeList]" <exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 09:51:42 -0500 (CDT)
Al,
Greg said that my question was like a test question :)
Apparently your response is almost a whole chapter.
Thanks a lot. I'll do my homework and will get further help as
needed.
Cheers,
Monika
On Wed, 15 Sep 2004, Mulnick, Al wrote:
> http://www.MSExchange.org/
>
> Unfortunately, that configuration is based on too little information for
> sizing. For example, what kind of user profile are we dealing with? Are
> they all pop users? Are they all IMAP users? Are they all MAPI users? How
> much mail is being dealt with and how large is the average message?
>
> Why is this all important? Because in order to size a disk subsystem to
> work, you need to distill your user performance information down to a number
> that represents the average user IOPS required. Something like 1 IOPS per
> user is required to sustain the performance expected during normal operating
> times. That allows you to figure out how many spindles of what speed you
> need to support your implementation.
>
>
> Obviously, IMAP, OWA and POP clients require different IOPS characteristics
> than a MAPI client does due to the differing nature of their protocols.
> 15000 user density on a mailbox server is enough to want to thoroughly test
> this scenario IMHO.
>
> Since all spindles are not created equal, you have to try to estimate the
> IOPS capability of each. For example, a 10K spindle is often able to
> perform in the range of 90-120 IOPS depending on fragmentation, I/O
> characteristics etc. A 15K drive is often able to perform at 140 - 160 IOPS
> etc. Size matters, since the more data you put on a spindle, the more
> likely you are to go after that data and the more likely that spindle is to
> be busy. I.E. disk contention.
>
> Since you have to worry about 4 types of I/O, the usual recommendation is to
> split the I/O types across different spindle sets. In Greg's suggestion,
> you see he put logs on a separate set of spindles and that's because log
> files tend to have sequential write characteristics. One block after
> another gets written with lower read requests made to those spindles.
>
> The SMTP characteristics tends to be a heavy write with some read.
> Something like 80/20 w/r characteristics would not be uncommon. That's
> because the SMTP service will spool the incoming message to disk before
> acting on it. When it does, it then needs to read it and move it to it's
> queues or delivery.
>
> Database drives tend to be random r/w in nature. This gives SAN vendors
> fits because they tend to want to size based on space, but random I/O is
> cache-unfriendly in nature. That means you need the spindles and there
> isn't much magic that will help. If you put Exchange on a SAN you're likely
> to use the same number of spindle else spread it so far across your
> spindles, that you have 128 disk sets in your volumes. The only problem
> there is that there are limits to what the underlying OS will deal with, so
> you have to be careful to present in a way that you don't affect the OS
> ability to address the devices. Not difficult, just has to be contended
> with.
>
> Database drives tend to have a 3:1 r/w characteristic. The problem with
> RAID 5 in this situation is twofold: RAID 5 typically gives diminishing
> returns after about 7 spindles due to the nature of RAID 5. Adding a mirror
> only gives you the ability to withstand the loss and some of the controllers
> will also allow you smartly write the I/O from either spindle in the mirror
> set resulting in better performance. It still can be a 4x cost for write
> operations on RAID 5 vs. RAID 0. RAID 1 is often recommended because it
> gives decent protection (tolerance of phys failures) while not sacrificing
> performance.
>
> Also, sizing the space: the typical recommendation is to use Greg's formula
> + multiplying it by 1.6 as a factor for other processes such as deleted
> items retention.
>
> If you want to see more about sizing (and there is plenty more data
> available) check out the whitepapers from Microsoft, HP, and EMC. The 2003
> stuff is pretty good at articulating the information.
>
> If it helps, let us know the usage characteristics and we'll see if we can
> help further.
>
> HTH,
>
> -Al
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Sutton [mailto:t.sutton@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 7:30 AM
> To: [ExchangeList]
> Subject: [exchangelist] RE: BE disk config
>
> http://www.MSExchange.org/
>
> I'd go with Greg's layout personally. Does he get a little gold star for it?
> :)
>
> The only other problem I can see is that you've got a lot of people all
> dependant on one server, so if it falls / fails you could be in trouble.
> Speaking from personal experience over the last few weeks having a single
> point of failure for any critical (or even just mildly important) systems is
> bad thing. Well, unless you like the stress and overtime ;)
>
>
> Regards
> Tim Sutton
> IT Systems Manager
>
> Troup Bywaters & Anders
> Eastgate House
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> On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 13:54:34 -0500 (CDT), Monika Rabarison
> <monika.k.rabarison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> >
> > Great! Thanks again,
> >
> > Monika
> >
> > On Tue, 14 Sep 2004, Lara, Greg wrote:
> >
> > > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> > >
> > > I'd agree with the hot spare idea as well. To figure your quota,
> > > simply
> >
> >
> > > multiply the mailbox size by the number of users. If it exceeds your
>
> > > available disk space, lower the quota. Leave yourself a 15-20%
> > > margin of error to be safe. 15000 mailboxes at 50 megabytes each
> > > equals 750 gigabytes, which is more than you'll have available even
> > > if you allocate all 8 72 gig drives to your RAID 5.
> > >
> > > It sounds like you're doing this for a school. I'd recommend a
> > > relatively low mailbox size, which forces people to keep their house
>
> > > clean. 15000 mailboxes at 25 megs requires 300 gigs, which would be
> > > within your comfort level.
> > >
> > > Greg Lara
> > >
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> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Monika Rabarison [mailto:monika.k.rabarison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 1:10 PM
> > > To: [ExchangeList]
> > > Subject: [exchangelist] RE: BE disk config
> > >
> > > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> > >
> > >
> > > Shawn,
> > >
> > > The hot spare idea is a good one.
> > >
> > > Thanks a lot,
> > >
> > > Monika
> > >
> > > On Tue, 14 Sep 2004, Shawn Moua wrote:
> > >
> > > > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> > > >
> > > > I would vote for Greg's setup as well. However, you may want to
> > > > leave a 72GB drive as a hot spare (assuming your system is
> capable).
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Shawn.
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Lara, Greg [mailto:GLara@xxxxxxx]
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 9:42 AM
> > > > To: [ExchangeList]
> > > > Subject: [exchangelist] RE: BE disk config
> > > >
> > > > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> > > >
> > > > This sounds like a test question. Here's how I'd do it:
> > > >
> > > > "C" drive = 2 x 18 mirrored
> > > > "D" drive = 2 x 36 mirrored
> > > > "E" drive = 8 x 72 RAID 5 (or)
> > > > "E" drive = 4 x 72 RAID 5 x 2 (RAID 5+1, that is mirrored RAID 5
> > > > drives)
> > > >
> > > > The last option is the most secure, and costly, cutting your
> > > > possible database storage in half, and is probably a little over
> > > > the top for your needs.
> > > >
> > > > Install your system and boot files on C, Exchange logs on D,
> > > > private and public databases on E. Drive lettering for D and E
> > > > could be interchangeable.
> > > >
> > > > Greg Lara
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------
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> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Monika Rabarison [mailto:monika.k.rabarison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 12:19 PM
> > > > To: [ExchangeList]
> > > > Subject: [exchangelist] BE disk config
> > > >
> > > > http://www.MSExchange.org/
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > I will have 15000 users and one BE server.
> > > > What would be the best configuration for the
> > > > (8 x 72 GB, 2 x 36 GB, 2 x 18 GB) disks on the BE?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Monika
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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