emc celerra ns20€¦ · emc solutions for microsoft sql server 2005 on esx server reference...

EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server

Reference Architecture

EMC® Celerra® NS20

EMC NAS Product Validation Corporate Headquarters

Hopkinton, MA 01748-9103 1-508-435-1000 www.EMC.com

Copyright © 2008 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Published February, 2008

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Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20

Reference Architecture P/N H4174

2 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20


Contents

About this Document ...................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 Solution Overview........................................................................................................................... 7

Business challenge .......................................................................................................................... 8 Technology solution........................................................................................................................ 8

Solution advantages ................................................................................................................8 Chapter 2 Store Architecture ........................................................................................................................... 9

Overall architecture ....................................................................................................................... 10 General characteristics..........................................................................................................12

Storage architecture....................................................................................................................... 12 Simple Configuration............................................................................................................12 Advanced Configuration.......................................................................................................14

Network architecture ..................................................................................................................... 15 Switches ...............................................................................................................................15 Virtual local area networks ...................................................................................................15 EMC Celerra NS20...............................................................................................................16

ESX server architecture................................................................................................................. 16 VMware Datastore configuration .........................................................................................17

Application server architecture (Guest OS)................................................................................... 18 Application architecture ................................................................................................................ 18 High availability and failover........................................................................................................ 19

Chapter 3 Backup Architecture...................................................................................................................... 21 Backup architecture....................................................................................................................... 22

Chapter 4 Protect Architecture....................................................................................................................... 25 Protect architecture........................................................................................................................ 26

Simple Configuration............................................................................................................26 Advanced Configuration.......................................................................................................26

Chapter 5 Storage VMotion Architecture ...................................................................................................... 29 Storage VMotion architecture ....................................................................................................... 30

Chapter 6 Hardware and Software Resources................................................................................................ 33 Hardware resources ....................................................................................................................... 34 Software resources ........................................................................................................................ 35

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 3


Contents



About this Document

This document provides an overview of the architecture of a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Solution developed by the EMC NAS Product Validation group.

Purpose

Information in this document can be used as the basis for a solution build, white paper, best practices, or training document. Information in this document can also be used by other EMC organizations (for example, the technical services or sales organization) as the basis for producing documentation for a technical services or sales kit.

Audience

This document is intended for internal EMC personnel, partners, and customers.

Scope

This document describes the architecture of an EMC Solution for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware built and tested at the EMC NAS Product Validation lab in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Implementation instructions and sizing guidelines are beyond the scope of this document.

Related documents

The following documents provide additional information. Access to these documents is based on your login credentials. If you do not have access to the content listed below, contact your EMC representative:

♦ EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 EMC Celerra NS Series – Best Practices Planning

♦ EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 − Validation Test Report

♦ Using EMC Celerra IP Storage with VMware Infrastructure 3 over iSCSI and NFS − Best Practices Planning

♦ Microsoft SQL Server 2005 presentations and white papers on EMC Powerlink (http://Powerlink.EMC.com)

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 5 Reference Architecture

http://powerlink.emc.com/

About this Document



Chapter 1 Solution Overview

This chapter presents these topics:

Business challenge .......................................................................................................................... 8 Technology solution........................................................................................................................ 8



Solution Overview

Business challenge With limited resources and increasing demands, today's midsize enterprises must address the following challenges:

♦ Consolidate multiple database applications scattered throughout the enterprise

♦ Ensure information access, availability, and continuity

♦ Maximize server and storage utilization, and deliver optimal system performance

♦ Manage upgrades and migrations

♦ Reduce the demands on limited IT resources and budgets

♦ Reduce the complexity of technology choices

In addition, these enterprises must manage IT costs and reduce the risk of business disruption.

Technology solution The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution leverages LAN connectivity to consolidate Microsoft database information. Centralization of information and consolidation of resources create economic advantages for businesses.

Solution advantages

Table 1 shows the advantages of the solution.

Table 1 Solution advantages

Benefit Details Maintain service levels This solution keeps critical and revenue-

generating Microsoft applications available and running at peak performance.

Reduce costs This solution minimizes the cost of database and information management.

Reduce risk This solution offers a reference architecture that includes tested and proven configurations that improve performance and scalability.

Accelerate implementations EMC® Professional Services and ASN certified EMC partners provide a rapid assessment and efficient implementation.



Chapter 2 Store Architecture


Overall architecture ....................................................................................................................... 10 Storage architecture....................................................................................................................... 12 Network architecture ..................................................................................................................... 15 ESX server architecture................................................................................................................. 16 Application server architecture (Guest OS)................................................................................... 18 Application architecture ................................................................................................................ 18 High availability and failover........................................................................................................ 19



Store Architecture

Overall architecture Figure 1 shows the physical architecture of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX server NS20 solution, while Figure 2 shows the logical architecture of the solution. The solution consists of three modules: store, backup, and protect. These modules include the following common components:

♦ A Microsoft SQL Server 2005 host connected to the management, client, and storage networks

♦ Clients connected to the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 host and to the storage network for network file services

Figure 1 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution architecture – physical architecture



Store Architecture

Figure 2 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution architecture – logical architecture



Store Architecture

General characteristics

The solution architecture has the following general characteristics:

♦ Microsoft SQL Server 2005 resides on a VMware virtual machine.

♦ IP (Gigabit Ethernet and virtual local area network (VLAN) iSCSI) connections are designed to balance or distribute disk I/O.

♦ All database files are stored on the EMC® Celerra® NS20 storage system, which makes server replacement relatively simple.

♦ Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition SP2 (64-bit) runs on Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition 64-bit R2 SP2, which runs on VMware ESX Server 3.5.

♦ The EMC Celerra NS20 system provides network file services for other applications, to enable Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to be consolidated using iSCSI, CIFS, and NFS on the same platform.

Storage architecture In this solution, two storage architectures were tested. Users can perform storage setup using the Celerra Manager software. The software provides the ability to see every disk, design file systems, and create iSCSI LUNs or NFS exports to support specific database I/O demands.

The two storage architectures tested are described below:

Simple configuration

Figure 3 Simple configuration overview

The simple configuration is designed for ease of use and ease of management with acceptable performance. The simple configuration is ideal for environments with moderate performance requirements.

In this configuration, the VMware guest OS, SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb share the same disk spindles.

Disk layout

Figure 4 on page 13 shows a RAID 1, eight-disk, one-shelf simple configuration:



Store Architecture

Figure 4 Simple configuration disk layout

Note: The eight-disk number refers to the disks occupied by database and log files.

This particular configuration can support up to 5500 TPC-C users. Refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report for detailed test results. Figure 4 indicates which volumes are used for VMware guest OS files, database files, log files, tempdb files, the Celerra DART OS, and miscellaneous files such as Microsoft SQL Server 2005 system files.

Note: As a best practice, Microsoft recommends that a database and its logs reside on separate spindles for resiliency. The simple configuration violates this best practice.

File system

The file system is created using the Automatic Volume Management (AVM) system-defined storage pool clar_r1. The VMware guest OS, SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb are stored in this file system.

NFS export

This file system is exported via NFS. This NFS export is configured as a NFS datastore on the ESX server.



Store Architecture

Advanced configuration

Figure 5 Advanced configuration overview

The advanced configuration is designed for high scalability and high resiliency. In this configuration, the guest OS VDMK is stored in a NFS datastore while the SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb are accessed over iSCSI using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator.

In this configuration, the VMware guest OS, SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb each have dedicated disk spindles.

Disk layout

The RAID 1, eight-disk, one-shelf advanced configuration is shown below:

Figure 6 Advanced configuration disk layout

Note: The eight-disk number refers to the disks occupied by database, log, and tempdb files.

This particular configuration can support up to 4000 TPC-C users. Please refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report for



Store Architecture

detailed test results. On page 14, Figure 6 indicates which volumes are used for VMware guest OS files, database files, log files, tempdb files, the Celerra DART OS, and miscellaneous files such as Microsoft SQL Server 2005 system files.

File systems

File systems are created using AVM user-defined storage pools. AVM user-defined storage pools allow for precise placement of file systems on particular disks. A separate AVM user-defined storage pool is created for the SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb.

Please refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS Series and VMware Configuration – Build Document for specific instructions.

iSCSI LUNs

iSCSI LUNs are created within the file systems and are made available to the servers. A separate iSCSI LUN will be created for the SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 perceives the LUNs as local disks where the database and logs reside.

Network architecture This section describes the Celerra network architecture of the validated solution.

Switches

EMC recommends that the switches support Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) connections and that the ports on the switches support copper-based media. In this configuration the VMware virtual switches are set to directly connect physical network cards to their logical equivalent in the virtual machine.

Virtual local area networks

This validated solution uses VLANs to segregate network traffic of different types to improve throughput, manageability, application separation, high availability, and security. Figure 1 on page 10 shows three VLANs:

♦ A client VLAN network supports connectivity between the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 server and the client workstations. The client VLAN also supports connectivity between the EMC Celerra NS20 and the client workstations to provide network file services to the clients.

♦ Two storage VLANs provide connectivity between the ESX server and storage. The ESX server is connected to both storage VLANs and has one network interface card (NIC) dedicated to each storage VLAN.

In addition, a management VLAN supports connectivity to the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 virtual servers for server administration, and the EMC Celerra NS20 storage system for storage management.



Store Architecture

EMC Celerra NS20

The EMC Celerra NS20 contains two Data Movers. The Data Movers can operate independently, or they can operate in active/passive mode, with the passive Data Mover serving as a failover device for the active Data Mover. In this solution, the Data Movers operate in active/passive mode.

The NS20 Data Mover has four network ports. Figure 7 illustrates the ports on the rear of an EMC Celerra NS20 Data Mover.

Figure 7 EMC Celerra NS20 Data Mover ports

Ports cge0 and cge1 maintain the storage traffic. Ports cge2 and cge3 are left open for future growth.

In the simple configuration, ports cge0 and cge1 were aggregated using link aggregation.

In the advanced configuration, no Link aggregations or Ethernet channels were configured.

Note: As a best practice, the Data Mover network ports connected to the storage network (as shown in Figure 7) should be dedicated to storage traffic. However, if the ports are not heavily used, they can be shared with non-storage network traffic. EMC recommends monitoring the network to avoid bottlenecks.

ESX Server architecture This section describes the ESX Server architecture.

The physical server running VMware ESX Server has six network interfaces. One interface is connected to the management VLAN, two are connected to the iSCSI VLANs, two more are connected to the client VLAN, and the sixth is unused.



Store Architecture

The virtual server running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 has four network interfaces. Two interfaces connect to the storage VLAN, one interface connects to the management VLAN, and one interface connects to the client VLAN. Refer to Table 2 for a list of each interface and its description.

Table 2 Application server network interface configuration

ESX Server interface port ID

Virtual machine interface port ID

Description

Vmnic0 IF0 Control and administration Vmnic1 N/A Not used Vmnic2, Vmnic3 IF1, IF2 Storage connectivity Vmnic4, Vmnic5 IF3 Client connectivity

VMware datastore configuration

The following VMware datastores were created to support the solution:


Table 3 Simple configuration VMware datastores

File or activity type

VMware datastore type

RAID level

Celerra Storage Pool Total number of physical disks

Database log files NFS RAID 1 clar_r1 8 (shared spindles)

Database files NFS RAID 1 clar_r1 8 (shared spindles) tempdb files NFS RAID 1 clar_r1 8 (shared spindles) Application

server guest OS

NFS RAID 1 clar_r1 8 (shared spindles)


Table 4 Advanced configuration VMware datastores

File or activity type

VMware datastore type

RAID level

Celerra Storage Pool Total number of physical disks

Database log files

N/A (accessed via MSI) RAID 1

Logs (user-defined)

2

Database files N/A (accessed via MSI) RAID 1

Database (user-defined)

4

tempdb files N/A (accessed via MSI) RAID 1

Database (user-defined)

4

Application server guest

OS NFS RAID 5

VMDK (user-defined)

2



Store Architecture

Application server architecture (guest OS) This section describes the application server architecture (guest OS).


No additional configuration is required on the application server for the simple configuration.


For the advanced configuration of the application server architecture, the application server (guest OS) uses the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator to connect to external storage for the SQL database, logs, and tempdb.

Multiple connections per session (MC/S) provides server port failover capabilities and “Round Robin” load-balancing capabilities

EMC recommends using separate NICs and/or iSCSI HBAs on the source for each I/O path, a separate network infrastructure (cables, switches, routers, and so on), and separate target ports.

Application architecture The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 binary files are installed on the application servers. Database files, database log files, tempdb files, and other system database files reside on EMC Celerra NS20 file systems.


In the simple configuration, the VMware guest OS, SQL database, SQL logs, and SQL tempdb all reside in the same Celerra file system. This file system is created across four RAID 1, two-disk storage pools.


In the advanced configuration, each type of file resides on a separate file system.

The file system and LUNs for the system database files, and optional Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) files reside in the same RAID 1, two-disk storage pool.

The On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) database is divided into four database files (based on the best practice guideline of one database file per processor). Each database file resides on a separate LUN. All of the LUNs reside on the same Celerra file system. The file system is striped across two RAID 1 sets (four disks).

The database log files reside on a single LUN. The LUN resides on its own Celerra file system. The file system resides on a single RAID 1 set (two disks).

The tempdb database and its log files reside on a single LUN. The LUN resides in the same file system as the OLTP database.



Store Architecture

High availability and failover The validated solution provides protection at the storage layer, the connectivity layer, and the host layer.

Storage layer — The Celerra can have multiple Data Movers to provide high availability and load balancing. In the SQL 2005 NS Series solution, primary and standby Data Movers provide seamless failover capabilities for the Celerra storage. This minimizes end-user disruption during routine Celerra maintenance such as upgrading the DART operating system (OS).

The RAID disk configuration on the Celerra back end provides protection against hard disk failures.

Connectivity layer — The advanced networking features of the Celerra, such as Fail-Safe networks and link aggregation, provide protection against network connection failures.

In the case of the advanced configuration, multiple connections per session (MC/S) provides high availability, failover, and load balancing. MC/S supports multiple TCP/IP connections from the initiator to the target within the same iSCSI session. If a connection fails, another connection can continue processing I/O without interrupting the application. In the validated solution, MC/S also provides “Round Robin” load-balancing capabilities.

The solution configuration also includes separate NICs at the source of each I/O path, a separate network infrastructure (cables, switches, routers, and so on), and separate target ports.

Host layer —The application hosts have redundant power supplies and network connections to reduce the impact of host hardware failure. In the validated solution, the application host is clustered, providing further redundancy.

Virtual Host layer – Several native VMware features (that are beyond the scope of this document) protect the virtual host.

Note: When VMware supports MSCS clusters of 64-bit guest operating systems, users can use MSCS clustering at the Virtual Host layer to further increase the availability of the system. Alternatively, the system can be implemented as a 32-bit operating system although there are additional performance implications that are beyond the scope addressed in this document.



Store Architecture



Chapter 3 Backup Architecture

This chapter presents this topic:

Backup architecture....................................................................................................................... 22



Backup Architecture

Backup architecture The backup module provides a proven solution to create full, differential, and log backups of a SQL Server 2005 system.


For the simple configuration Celerra NDMP was used with EMC NetWorker® to create a fully encapsulated backup of the whole system that is recoverable to a specific point in time. Since the entire system, including the database files, reside on a single NFS file system; EMC NetWorker can use Celerra SnapSure™ to create a point in time view of the file system, then create a backup using that view. When this backup is restored to a system the OS will be able to boot, then SQL database recovery will bring the database online.

Figure 8 shows the validated backup configuration:

Figure 8 SQL 2005 NS20 backup architecture – logical view



Backup Architecture


For the advanced configuration, two backup scenarios were validated. In the first case, SQL native backup is used to create a database backup to a backup file system. The destination file system for the backup was a shelf of ATA drives with a file system exported via the CIFS protocol.

In the second case, EMC Replication Manager was used to create an application-consistent snapshot of the database environment. This environment can then be used by a third-party backup application for processing. This solution did not explicitly validate a particular third-party application.

Figure 9 shows the validated advanced backup configuration.

Figure 9 SQL 2005 NS20 backup architecture – logical view

Note: For more details on the backup architecture validated for this solution, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report.



Backup Architecture



Chapter 4 Protect Architecture


Protect architecture........................................................................................................................ 26



Protect Architecture

Protect architecture The protect module provides a proven solution to protect an SQL 2005 environment.


For the simple configuration, Celerra Replicator for file systems was used to protect the NFS datastore. Figure 10 shows the logical view of the validated configuration. Celerra Replicator was used to replicate the datastore from one NS20 to another NS20. This creates a crash-consistent replica from which the SQL environment can be restored.

Figure 10 Simple configuration Celerra Replicator protect architecture – logical view

Note: For more details on the protect architecture validated for this solution, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report.


For the advanced configuration, several protection options exist that are documented elsewhere. Please see the following documents for validated solutions for protecting this configuration.




♦ EMC NAS Celerra Network Server Replication Manager 5.0.3 iSCSI Nonclustered Disaster Recovery Solution Implementation Guide

♦ EMC Celerra iSCSI Replication Use Cases for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 – A Detailed Review

♦ Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database Mirroring – Applied Technology Guide

Note: For more details on the protect architecture validated for the physical solution, refer to the EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 EMC Celerra NS20 over iSCSI - Reference Architecture.



Chapter 5 Storage VMotion Architecture


Storage VMotion architecture ....................................................................................................... 30



Storage VMotion Architecture

Storage VMotion architecture This module uses VMware Storage VMotion to provide a migration solution.

VMware Storage VMotion enables the live migration of running virtual machine disk files within and across storage arrays. This is a new feature introduced in VMware ESX 3.5.

In the validated solution, Storage VMotion was used to migrate a live SQL 2005 environment from a NFS datastore to a VMFS iSCSI datastore without interruption to the end user.

Note: VMware does not officially support Storage VMotion from or to NFS datastores. However, EMC's testing has shown that Storage VMotion will work with NFS datastores in the appropriate environments. For implications of using VMware Storage VMotion with a NFS datastore please refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 Series - Validation Test Report.

The logical view of the validated architecture is shown in Figure 11:

Figure 11 VMware Storage VMotion architecture – logical view




Note: For more details on the Storage VMotion architecture validated for this solution, refer to EMC Solutions for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on ESX Server EMC Celerra NS20 - Validation Test Report.



Hardware and Software Resources

Chapter 6 Hardware and Software Resources


Hardware resources....................................................................................................................... 34 Software resources ........................................................................................................................ 35




Hardware resources The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on VMware ESX Server NS20 solution uses the hardware resources listed in Table 5.

Table 5 Hardware specifications

Hardware Quantity Configuration Notes Store 4U server 1

• Four 2.8-GHz AMD Opteron

dual-core processors

• 32 GB of memory • Two 146 GB 15k internal

SCSI disks • Two on-board 10/100/1000

MB Ethernet NICs • Four additional 10/100/1000

MB Ethernet NICs

Dell 5324 switch 3 Copper GbE ports N/A EMC Celerra NS20 1 • Two Data Movers

• Four GbE network connections

• Fifteen 146 GB (15k) FC disks

DART OS revision 5.5.30.5

Backup (in addition to hardware listed under Store) 1U server 1 • Two 3.0-GHz Intel Xeon

processors

• 4 GB of memory • Two on-board 10/100/1000

MB Ethernet NICs

RM server and mount host

ATA disks 15 • Fifteen 500 GB (7.2k) ATA disks

Backup destination

Protect – Celerra Replicator (in addition to hardware listed under Store) EMC Celerra NS20 EMC

Celerra NS20

• EMC Celerra NS20 EMC Celerra NS20

Storage VMotion (in addition to hardware listed under Store) No additional hardware required

No additional hardware required

• No additional hardware required

No additional hardware required




Software resources Table 6 lists the software resources for the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 NS Series iSCSI solution.

Table 6 Software specifications

Software Number of licenses

Configuration

Store VMware VirtualCenter Management Server 2.5

1

VMware ESX Server 3.5 1 Licensed for four physical processors Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition, 64-bit R2 Hotfixes KB891957, KB898790, KB903650

1 Please see the support policies listed: http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/897615

Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 64-bit SP2

1 N/A

Microsoft iSCSI Initiator 2.0.5 1 For advanced configuration Backup (in addition to software listed under Store) EMC Replication Manager 5.0 SP3

1

EMC NetWorker 7.4 1 Protect – Celerra Replicator (in addition to software listed under Store) Celerra Replicator for file systems

2 One for each Celerra

Storage VMotion (in addition to software listed under Store) VMware VI Remote CLI 1.5.0 1 Required for Storage VMotion



http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/897615

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