VMware 5.0u1, IBM v7000 - iSCSI Performance

Overview

I am performance tuning the IBM hosts today as the iSCSI has not been performing as it should, it performs lots better after my first round of tuning, the first set of upgrade I have done which can be found here. To expand on this I have come across new drivers and firmware which I am benchmarking at the moment using the same tests that I have performed in my previous post.

Tests

Using IO meter with the workloads I have, which are available here, I have merged the 2 workloads together which can be downloaded from here. These can be used to test the SAN performance with various workloads and block sizes.

The results can be found at this page VMware 5.0u1, IBM v7000, iSCSI Performance - Results.

Configuration Changes

I have applied an IBM fix pack for VMware, this can only be added to a customised version of VMware for IBM servers. Also I have applied new system firmware and new Emulex drivers downloaded from VMware.

The updates were applied in the following order

IBM Fix Pack
Emulex Drivers
IBM System Firmware (x3550M4)

IBM Fix pack the official name of the patch is:

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0.x and 5.1.x with IBM Customization Patch 7, this can be downloaded from the IBM website. This pack contains the following updates.

fupb                             5.1-7.450
concretejob                   500-2ACE19BUS
filetrans                        500-2ACE19BUS
fwupdate                      500-2ACE19BUS
immpassthru                 500-2ACE19BUS
pciinfo                          500-ESXI05ACN
hwckvm                        500-ESXI04ACN
soibms                           500-ESXI04ACN
Brcmfwup (facade)         500-2.00.20130305
Brcm                            500.2.0.3-000000
ilfu (facade)                   500-1.01.20130201
lsiprovider                     500.04.v0.38-0006
qlcnic                          5.0.750-1OEM.500.0.0.472560
scsi-qla2xxx                  934.5.6.0-1OEM.500.0.0.472560
emulex-cim-provider       3.8.15.1-01
net-be2net (5.0.x)           4.6.142.10-1OEM.500.0.0.472560
net-be2net (5.1.x)           4.6.142.10-1OEM.500.0.0.802205
be2iscsi                         4.6.142.2-1OEM.500.0.0.472629
ima-be2isci                    4.6.142.2-1OEM.500.0.0.472629
provider-cna                  1.4.7-469512
ibmpowercim                5.0-00ACN

Note: you need to be running an IBM customised install for VMware wiith the following versions, before applying the above patch.

    *VMware ESXi 5.0 build 474610
    *VMware ESXi 5.0u1 build 623860
    *VMware ESXi 5.0u2 build 914586
    *VMware ESXi 5.1 build 799733
    *VMware ESXi 5.1u1 build 1065491

Emulex Drivers

I also applied Emulex driver version be2net-4.6.247.7 this can be downloaded from VMware.

This a newer driver than the one included in the IBM Fix Pack.

Firmware changes.

These firmware updates can be download from IBM as a pack for VMware.

IMM2               3.10
IBM uEFI          1.50
IBM DSA          9.4.1

VMware Errors

If you experience any alerts or problems while doing these upgrades have a look at the page I have started, which has problems I have come accross and also how to fix. This can be found on my

VMware Errors page.