Hi folks, Ned here again with a quickie post. HP recently released their latest file server SMB testing results, where they used FSCT and IOMeter to collect performance and scalability data with Windows Server 2012 running on HP StoreEasy 5000 Storage NAS servers.
The whitepaper holds plenty of details, and here’s a good one to get you started:
Even the midline-drive equipped StoreEasy model handled 2,500 peak workload home folder users – and if you went for the top of the line enterprise-class disks, it stood up to 26,000 simultaneous users, staying at ~30% CPU utilization, even while anti-virus scanning.
In HP’s previous tests using Windows Server 2008 R2 on the X5000 G2 NAS , they reached 22,500 peak users with anti-virus running, and leveling at 60% CPU. The new data shows a 13.5% improvement, even before you consider that it comes with half the CPU usage. Even with no anti-malware running, the previous OS and hardware did not reach the same number of users nor the same low CPU time.
These tests focused on using Windows 7 clients, meaning SMB 2.1 and not the full gamut of SMB 3.0 features introduced in Windows 8. That’s perfectly OK; we realize that it’s early days and Windows 7 is still the 800-pound gorilla . We’re looking forward to HP’s next tests with an end-to-end SMB 3.0 stack.
- Download the report here: HP StoreEasy 5000 Storage: SMB Performance Testing Results (PDF)
- More info on Windows Server 2012 File Server capabilities here: File and Storage Services Overview
Thanks very much to our partner Hewlett-Packard Company for working with us to perform these tests and share them with the public.