Performance Review of Dell VxRail HCI with Broadcom 100 GbE Networking

Hyperconverged systems have become ubiquitous in datacenters, due in part to their scalable architecture, reduced management complexity and the ability to rapidly deploy or re-purpose systems when needed.  Hyperconverged systems are now used for a wide range of application deployments, including traditional datacenter uses such as VDI, databases and application clusters supporting most mainstream IT uses.  More recently, HCI systems are now being deployed to support container-native applications and in some cases AI/ML or other new initiatives. 

Hyperconverged systems promise reduced administration, due to their common modular, design.  One key aspect of HCI systems is the use of server-based storage modules together with software defined storage (aka SDS).  However, hyperconverged systems using SDS rely heavily upon inter-system communications over a shared network interface for administration, applications and the storage infrastructure.  Moreover, ensuring the network interface provides both sufficient bandwidth and low latency are critical to maintaining the performance and efficiency of HCI systems. 

In our latest Lab insight report, Performance Review of Dell VxRail HCI with Broadcom 100 GbE Networking, done in partnership with Dell Technologies, The Futurum Group Labs team independently reviewed their testing of Dell VxRail systems, comparing the performance of 25 GbE networking to configurations using 100 GbE Broadcom network interfaces.

In this paper you will see how Dell VxRail achieved: 

• OLTP applications achieved 50% lower latency, enabling 2X higher database transaction rates
• Applications performing large data transfers (above 128 KB I/O size) achieved 2X higher throughput

If you are interested in learning more about Dell VxRail and their networking efficiency, download your copy of our Lab Insight report:  Performance Review of Dell VxRail HCI with Broadcom 100 GbE Networking, today.