EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 and Symmetrix V-Max: Basic

Differences
In this post we will cover some important aspects / properties / characteristics / differences
between the EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 and EMC Symmetrix -Max! It seems li"e a lot of #sers
are searchin$ on blo$ posts abo#t this information!
%rom a hi$h level& I have tried to cover the differences in terms of performance and architect#re
related to the directors& en$ines& cache& drives& etc
It mi$ht be a $ood idea to also r#n both the DMX-4 and -max systems thro#$h I'meter to
collect some basic comparisons between the front end and coordinated bac"end / cache
performance data!
(nyways en)oy this post& and possibly loo" for some more related data in the f#t#re post!
EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 EMC Symmetrix V-Max
Called EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 Called EMC Symmetrix -Max
DMX* Direct Matrix (rchitect#re -Max* irt#al Matrix (rchitect#re
Max Capacity* + ,- .aw Stora$e Max Capacity* / ,- of 0sable Stora$e
Max Drives* +122! 'n .,3* /422 max Max Drives* /422
E%D4s S#pported E%D4s S#pported
Symmetrix Mana$ement Console 5!2 Symmetrix Mana$ement Console 6!2
Sol#tions Enabler 5!2 Sol#tions Enabler 6!2
E%D* 678-& +458-& /228-& 4228- E%D* /228-& 4228-
%C Drives* 678-& +458-& 7228-& 4228-& 4928- %C Drives* 678-& +458-& 7228-& 4228-
S(:( II* 9228-& +222 8- S(:( II* +222 8-
%C Drive Speed* +2; or +9; %C Drive Speed* +9;
S(:( II Drive Speed* 6!/; S(:( II Drive Speed* 6!/;
,redecessor of DMX-4 is DMX-7 ,redecessor of -Max is DMX-4
DMX-4 mana$ement has $ot a bit easy compared to the
previo#s $eneration Symmetrix
Ease of 0se with Mana$ement < atleast with SMC 6!2 or so
called ECC lite
4 ,orts per Director = ,orts per Director
>o En$ine based concept En$ine based concept
/4 slots :he concept of slots is $one
+ System bay& 1 Stora$e bays + System bay& +2 Stora$e bays
>o en$ines = En$ines in one System ?serial n#mber@
54 %iber Channel total ports on all directors for host
connectivity
+/= %iber Channel total ports on directors/en$ines for host
connectivity
7/ %IC'> ports for host connectivity 54 %IC'> ports for host connectivity
7/ 8bE iSCSI ports 54 8bE iSCSCI ports
:otal Cache* 9+/8- with /95 8- #sable ?mirrored@ :otal Cache* +2/4 8- with 9+/ 8- #sable ?mirrored@
Drive interface speed either /8- or 48-& drives a#to
ne$otiate speed
Drive interface speed 48-
8reen color drive AED means /8- loop speed& -l#e
color drive AED means 48- loop speed
'nly 48- drive speed s#pported!
9+/ byte style drive ?format@ 9/2-byte style drive ?= bytes #sed for storin$ data chec"
info@! .emember the clarion drive styles& well the data stored
in both the cases is different! :he = bytes #sed with the
Symmetrix -Max are the data inte$rity field based on the
al$orithm D+2-:I% standard proposal
%(S:* %#lly (#tomated Stora$e :ierin$ may not be
s#pported on DMX-44s ?most li"ely since the s#pport
mi$ht come based on a microcode level rather than a
hardware level@
%(S:* %#lly (#tomated Stora$e :ierin$ will be s#pported
later this year on the -Max systems
Microcode* 966/ / 9667 r#ns DMX-44s Microcode* 9=64 r#ns -Max
.eleased in B#ly /226 .eleased in (pril /221
Concepts of Directors and Cache on separate physical
slots / cards
Concept of condensed Director and Cache on board
DMX-4 :imefinder performance has been better
compared to previo#s $eneration
722C better :Imefinder ,erformance compared to DMX-4
>o I, Mana$ement interface into the Service ,rocessor I, Mana$ement interface to the Service ,rocessor& can be
mana$ed thro#$h the c#stomer4s >etwor" < I, infrastr#ct#re
Symmetrix Mana$ement Console is not char$ed for #ntil
?free@ DMX-4
Symmetrix Mana$ement Console to be licensed at a cost
startin$ the -Max systems
(rchitect#re of DMX-4 has been similar to the
architect#re of its predecessor DMX-7
(rchitect#re of -Max is completely redesi$ned with this
$eneration and is completely different from the predecessor
DMX-4
Microcode 966/ and 9667 has be b#ild on previo#s
$eneration of microcode 966+ and 966/ respectively
Microcode 9=64 has been b#ild on base 9667 from previo#s
$eneration DMX-4
>o .(* .aid irt#al (rchitect#re Implementation of .(* .aid irt#al (rchitect#re
Aar$est s#pported vol#me is 548- per A0> Aar$e ol#me S#pport* /428- per A0> ?'pen Systems@ and
//78- per A0> ?Mainframe Systems@
+/= hypers per Drive ?l#ns per drive@ 9+/ hypers per Drive ?l#ns per drive@
Confi$#ration chan$e not as rob#st as -Max Systems -Max systems introd#ced the concept of conc#rrent
confi$#ration chan$e allowin$ c#stomers to perform chan$e
mana$ement on the -Max systems combined to wor"
thro#$h sin$le set of scripts rather than a step based process!
DMX-4 does present some challen$es with mirror
positions
.ed#ced mirror positions $ivin$ c#stomers $ood flexibility
for mi$ration and other opport#nities
>o irt#al ,rovisionin$ with .(ID 9 and .(ID 5
devices
irt#al ,rovisionin$ allowed now with .(ID 9 and .(ID 5
devices
>o (#toprovisionin$ $ro#ps Concept of (#toprovisionin$ $ro#ps introd#ced with -Max
Systems
Minim#m siDe DMX-4* ( sin$le stora$e cabinet system&
s#pportin$ /42 drives can be p#rchased with a system
cabinet
Minim#m siDe -Max SE ?sin$le en$ine@ system can be
p#rchased with + en$ine and 752 drive max!
>o concepts of En$ine& architect#re based on slots Each En$ine consists of 4 3#ad Core Intel Chips with either
7/8-& 548- or +/=8- cache on each en$ine with +5 front-
end ports with each en$ine! -ac"end ports per en$ine is 4
ports connectin$ System bay to stora$e bay
,ower ,C chips #sed on directors Intel 3#ad Core chips #sed on En$ines
,owerpath E s#pport for sphere < irt#al machines
for DMX-4
,owerpath E s#pported for sphere < irt#al machines for
-Max
Concept of -ac"plane exists with this $eneration of
stora$e
-Max fits in the cate$ory of Mod#lar Stora$e and eliminates
the bottle nec" of a bac"plane
DMX-4 was tr#ly sold as a $eneration #p$rade to DMX-
7
-Max systems have been sold with a bi$ mar"etin$ b#DD
aro#nd h#ndreds of en$ines& millions of I',s& :-4s of cache&
irt#al Stora$e
Systems cannot be federated :he concept of %ederation has been introd#ced with -Max
systems& b#t systems are not federated in prod#ction or
c#stomer environments yet
Directors are connected to the system thro#$h a le$acy
bac"plane ?DMX < Direct Matrix (rchitect#re@!
En$ines are connected thro#$h copper .(,ID I'
interconnect at /!98- speed
>o s#pport for %C'E or +28- Ethernet >o s#pport for %C'E or +28- Ethernet
>o s#pport for =8- loop interface speeds >o s#pport for =8- loop interface speeds
Stron$ Mar"etin$ with DMX-4 and $ood s#ccess irt#al Mar"etin$ for irt#al Matrix ?-Max@ since the
prod#ct was introd#ced with %(S: as a sales strate$y with
%(S: not available for at least #ntil the later part of the year!
>o s#pport for Infini-and expected with DMX-4 Eo#ld Infini-and be s#pported in the f#t#re to connect
en$ines at a short or lon$ distance ?several meters@
>o %ederation Eith %ederation expected in the #pcomin$ versions of -
Max& how wo#ld the cache latency play a role if yo# had
federation between systems that are +2 to +2 meters awayF
8lobal Cache on 8lobal Memory Directors 8lobal Cache on local en$ines chips* a$ain as cache is shared
between m#ltiple en$ines& cache latency is expected as
m#ltiple en$ines reG#est this I'
DMX-4 is a monster stora$e system :he -Max b#ildin$ bloc"s ?en$ines@ can create a m#ch
lar$er stora$e monster
/958- total va#lt on DMX-4 systems /228- of va#lt space per En$ine& with = en$ines& we are
loo"in$ at +!5:- of va#lt stora$e
,erformance on DMX-4 has been $reat compared to its
previo#s $eneration DMX& DMX/& DMX-7
I',S per ,'.: of -Max Systems
+/= M-/s Hits
7=9 .ead
7=9 Erite
I',S for / ,'.: of -Max Systems
+/=M-/s Hits
579 .ead
542 Erite
-Max performs better compared to DMX-4 %IC'> /!/ x ,erformance on %IC'> compared to DMX-4 Systems!
/ ,orts can have as many as +6222 I',S on %IC'>
Aar$e Metadata overhead with the amo#nt of vol#mes&
devices& cache slots& etc& etc
( red#ction of 92 to 69C overhead with the -Max related to
metadata
S.D% :echnolo$y S#pported >ew S.D%/ED, ?extended distant protection@
Dis"less ./+ passthro#$h device& no dis" reG#ired for this
passthro#$h
Symmetrix Mana$ement Console 5!2 s#pported& no
templates and wiDards
:emplates and EiDards within the new SMC 6!2 console
:otal S.D% 8ro#ps s#pported +/= :otal S.D% 8ro#ps s#pported /92
+5 8ro#ps on Sin$le ,ort for S.D% 54 8ro#ps on Sin$le ,ort for S.D%
-Max comparison on Connectivity /X Connectivity compared to the DMX-4
-Max comparison on 0sability ?Stora$e@ 7X #sability compared to the DMX-4
DMX-4 was the first version of Symmetrix where
.(ID5 s#pport was rolled o#t
.(ID 5 is 7!5 times better than the DMX-4
.(ID5 s#pport on DMX-4 is and was a little premat#re .(ID 5 on -Max ?performance@ is eG#ivalent to .(ID + on
DMX-4
S(:( II performance on DMX-4 is better than -Max S(:( II drives do not s#pport the 9/2-byte style! EMC ta"es
those = bytes ?9/2 < 9+/@ of calc#lation for data inte$rity
:+2-DI% standard proposal and writes it in bloc"s or ch#n"s
of 54; thro#$h o#t the entire drive ca#sin$ performance
de$radation!
S(:( II performance on DMX-4 is better than -Max :he performance of S(:( II drives on -Max is bad the
DMX-4 systems
%iber Channel performance better compared to DMX
and DMX-/4s!
%iber Channel performance compared to DMX-4 improved
by abo#t 75C
DMX-4 start s#pportin$ 48- interface host connectivity %iber Channel performance 9222 I',S per channel
.( not available on DMX-4 platforms .(* .aid irt#al (rchitect#re allows to have one mirror
position for .(ID vol#mes allowin$ c#stomers to #sed the
rest of the 7 positions for either -C4s& S.D%& Mi$ration&
etc& etc!
>o MI-E and SI- with DMX-4! .ather the DMX-4
directors are connected thro#$h a common bac"plane!
MI-E* Matrix Interface -oard Enclos#re connects the 'dd
and the Evens or ?%abric ( and %abric -@ Directors to$ether!
:he SI- ?System Interface -oard@ connects these en$ines
to$ether #sin$ .apid I'
Director co#nt $oes from Director + on the left to
Director += ?Hex@ on the ri$ht
Director co#nt $oes from + on the bottom to +5 ?%@ on the
top& based on each en$ine havin$ / directors! = En$ines& +5
Directors!
/ Directors fail#res if not in the same fabric or b#s&
rather are not DI4s ?D#al Initiators@ of each other will not
ca#se a system o#ta$e or data loss / data #navailable
Sin$le en$ine fail#re ?/ Directors@ will not ca#se Data Aoss /
Data 0navailable and the system will not ca#se an o#ta$e!
%ailed components can be Directors& En$ines& MI-E& ,S4s&
%an& Cache in a sin$le En$ine or / directors!
Sin$le loop o#ta$es will not ca#se D0 Sin$le loop o#ta$es will not ca#se D0