HPE Reference Configuration for

Microsoft SQL Server 2016 on

HPE Integrity Superdome X and
HPE 3PAR StoreServ
A comparison of Data Warehouse performance
between hardware generations

Technical white paper

Technical white paper

Contents
Executive summary .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Solution overview ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Solution components............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
HPE Integrity Superdome X hardware overview .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
3PAR StoreServ 7440c overview and configuration ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11
3PAR StoreServ 8450 overview and configuration ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................11
Best practices and configuration guidance for the solution ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
SQL Server and Windows Server configuration................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Capacity and sizing .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Analysis and recommendations .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Implementing a proof-of-concept...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Appendix A: Bill of materials ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
Resources and additional links .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 17

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Executive summary
Efficiently managing large volumes of data is a big challenge for enterprise IT departments. Operational data warehousing environments, such as
ad-hoc, decision support environments (commonly referred to as a data warehouse) provide scalability for the largest, most demanding query
workloads to answer complex business questions. Reporting and operational analytics are frequently managed using historical data from that
same data warehouse and increasingly, from real-time data sources streaming through the same operational systems. As these environments
grow and include additional operational systems as well as increasing volumes of historical data (much of it online) scalability becomes a
bottleneck to success. The ability to scale up these environments, to provide the level of performance required by demanding operational
analytics customers, presents a significant challenge. To address this challenge Hewlett Packard Enterprise developed a solution utilizing the
HPE Integrity Superdome X server and HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 platform; ideally suited for solving the scalability and performance needs of
these demanding data warehousing and analytics workload environments,
The Superdome X platform can scale from a single blade solution to solutions encompassing 8 blade servers, with up to 36 CPU cores and 3TB of
memory per blade server. This environment also allows a single hardware platform to be logically partitioned to support multiple environments
and workloads adjusting resources such as processor, memory, and storage over time as required by the business. In addition, the HPE 3PAR
StoreServ enables an all-flash array configuration that can support multiple types of workload; from heavy I/O transactional applications to large
sequential access data warehouse workloads to a combination of both in a mixed workload, multi-application scenario. The 3PAR array provides
advanced service level management and quality of service for Microsoft SQL Server workloads with capabilities such as Priority Optimization
that can reduce performance contention and guarantee reliable storage performance and scalability.
This Reference Configuration provides a performance comparison of an ad-hoc, decision support workload running Microsoft SQL Server 2016
and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 on two different solutions using HPE Integrity Superdome X and 3PAR StoreServ systems. The first
workload is run on an HPE Integrity Superdome X platform (4 HPE BL920s Gen8 2.8GHz 30-core blades, 1.5 TB memory per blade), with an HPE
3PAR StoreServ 7440c storage array. The second workload configuration is the HPE Integrity Superdome X (4 BL920s Gen9 2.3GHz 36 core
blades, 1.5 TB memory per blade) and the HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array. The overall performance improvement of moving from the
Gen8 to the Gen9 blades in the HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, combined with the upgraded 3PAR storage array is on average
approximately 56%. This dramatic improvement is based upon nearly identical configurations of both hardware and software, showcasing the
significant performance advantages of the Gen9 hardware and upgraded storage platform.
This reference configuration is the first from HPE for both Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016, showcasing Microsofts new flagship
operating system and database platform. Additionally, this technical white paper builds upon earlier Reference Architectures on the HPE Integrity
Superdome X and HPE 3PAR StoreServ platforms, with Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 and SQL Server 2014. The first reference architecture,
found at http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-1676ENW, provides detailed instructions, guidance, and
performance results when running a scale-up OLTP solution alongside a consolidation solution using Hyper-V virtualization. The second
reference architecture, found at http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-3436ENW, covers mixed data
warehousing and OLTP workloads running on the HPE Integrity Superdome X and HPE 3PAR storage array platform. As shown in these earlier
reference architectures, each workload runs in complete isolation and is able to maximize hardware investment, scalability, and reliability with the
innovative HPE Integrity Superdome X and HPE 3PAR StoreServ platforms.
Target audience: Chief information officers (CIOs), chief technology officers (CTOs), line of business managers, data center managers, database
administrators, enterprise architects, database architects, storage administrators and others wishing to learn more about scaling up Microsoft
SQL Server 2016 with HPE Integrity Superdome X platform and 3PAR storage. A working knowledge of server architecture, networking
architecture, storage design, Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server is recommended.

Introduction
As demand for data warehousing performance and scale-up capabilities continues to grow, earlier platforms have reached their limits in
scalability. The HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, when running Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016 is capable of greater
single system scalability than any other HPE platform.
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 provides key private cloud capabilities and features, supporting hybrid datacenter solutions, along with
significant improvements in scalability, resilience, flexibility and high availability. In particular, Windows Server 2016 is fully capable of taking
advantage of the large amount of both processor and memory capacity of the HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, including support for up to
12 TB of addressable memory.

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Microsoft SQL Server 2016 includes increased performance for data warehousing and business intelligence, as well as key advances in advanced
analytics, in-memory workloads, and big data support. The HPE Integrity Superdome X provides a powerful architecture with up to 288 cores and
24 TB of memorydelivering high performance and low latency for your decision support and business processing workloads.

Note
While the total hardware memory of the Superdome is 24 TB, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 supports up to 4 TB per server (or per HPE
nPartition, HPE nPar for short) and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 supports up to 12 TB per server (nPar).
This platform provides support for hard partitions, which allows deploying many workloads within a single Superdome X enclosure, with each
partition/system having dedicated resources and complete logical and electrical isolation from other solutions running on the same platform. This
gives incredible flexibility and growth opportunities for SQL Server deployments, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Mission Critical HPE Integrity Superdome X with Microsoft SQL Server 2016

HPE Integrity Superdome X is an x86-based server, purposefully and exceptionally well-designed to support the largest scale-up database
workloads with up to 288 cores (576 with Hyper-Threading), 24 TB of memory (12 TB per Windows Server 2016 instance), and close to 1 TB/sec
of I/O bandwidth. Whether you have a large number of concurrent, short-lived, or large complex queriesthe powerful architecture of
Superdome X combined with an HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array will deliver high performance and low latency for your decision support
and data warehousing workloads.
Featuring a modular and well-balanced architecture, Superdome X provides the ultimate flexibility for your mission-critical environment. An
efficient bladed form factor allows you to start small and grow as your business demands increase. As your databases grow or you need to
support new applications, or when your application usage increases, you can efficiently scale up your environment by adding blades. You can
start as small as a 2-socket configuration and scale up all the way to 16 sockets, to support applications expanding beyond the limits of standard
x86 server offerings. Additionally, the HPE hard partitioning technology, HPE nPars, enables you to deploy different workloads in different
partitions that are secure and electrically isolated from one anotheran ideal environment to consolidate multiple applications.
Featuring a comprehensive set of RAS capabilities traditionally offered only on proprietary servers, Superdome X provides the ideal foundation to
run your mission-critical applications on standard x86 operating systems.
The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array allows you to store all your data on a single system that supports advanced features including
storage federation and automated tiering, enabling you to start small and grow without disruption. The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 makes
storage effortless with a range of options that support true convergence of block and file protocols, all-flash array performance, and the use of
solid-state drives (SSDs).

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This solution is the result of the long-standing relationship and technical collaboration between HPE and Microsoft, delivering the scalability and
reliability necessary to address the most-demanding mission-critical requirements of your enterprise applications.
The significant performance improvements seen between the solutions shows the continuing maturity of the platform, as well as the improved
scalability of the updated hardware solutions, both from a Superdome X and 3PAR perspective.
In short, the combination of SQL Server, HPE Superdome X and the HPE 3PAR 8450 provides a platform delivering new levels of performance,
flexibility, and scalability for your mission-critical Windows applications and SQL Server databases.

Solution overview
This Reference Configuration (RC) offers a comparison of performance of two Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016 solutions. The first
configuration is based on the Gen8 version of the HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, with an HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7440c storage array. The
second configuration is based on the Gen9 version of the HPE Integrity Superdome X platform, with an HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array.
The software configuration and the database configuration are identical, testing a large data warehousing workload using roughly 10 Terabytes
of data storage.
One of the benefits of the Superdome X platform is the ability to use HPE nPars to build different physical partitions. Each nPar is electronically
isolated, acting as a distinctly separate server, with an independent operating system, as well as processor, memory, networking, and I/O
resources. Each nPar can be adjusted to add or remove blades, as well as to reduce or expand available memory to the operating system of each
nPar. For this RC, both of the Superdome X configurations use a single nPar with 4 blades, 240 (Gen8) or 288 (Gen9) logical cores (HyperThreading enabled), and 6 TB of memory.
The reference configuration consists of both HPE hardware and software, as well as software from Microsoft and consists of the following
components.

Note
A detailed BOM is provided in Appendix A for the Gen9 solution.
Gen8 hardware configuration
HPE Integrity Superdome X
8 BL920s Gen8 Server Blades (only 4 used for the reference configuration)
6 TB of total memory, 1.5 TB per Server Blade
4x HPE 6125XLG Ethernet switches (Blade Ethernet connectivity)
2x Brocade 16Gb/16c PP+ Embedded SAN Switch
HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7440c storage array
224 cMLC SSD drives (480GB/drive)
HPE SN6000B Fibre Channel switch
HPE 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ Ethernet switch (client connectivity)
Gen8 software configuration
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 (CTP 3.3 and Release Candidate 0)
HPE BL920s Gen8 Windows Driver Bundle (September 2015 Edition)

Technical white paper

Gen9 hardware configuration

HPE Integrity Superdome X
8 BL920s Gen9 Server Blades (only 4 used for the reference configuration)
6 TB of total memory, 1.5 TB per Server Blade
4x HPE 6125XLG Ethernet switches (Blade Ethernet connectivity)
2x Brocade 16Gb/16c PP+ Embedded SAN Switch
HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array
176 SSD drives (480GB/drive)
HPE SN6000B Fibre Channel switch
HPE 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ Ethernet switch (client connectivity)
Gen9 software configuration
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4
Microsoft SQL Server 2016 (CTP 3.3 and Release Candidate 0)
HPE BL920s Gen9 Windows Driver Bundle (November 2015 Edition)

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Technical white paper

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30 core blades,
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Figure 2. Reference Configuration Solution for HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen8 Solution

3PAR
StoreServ
7450

SN6000B FC
Switch

HPE 3PAR 7440c

4 control nodes
14 drive cages
224 SSD (480GB)

Technical white paper

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CB900s i2

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Superdome X
(8 HPE BL920s
Gen9 2.3GHz
36 core blades,
1.5TB RAM/Blade)

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Figure 3. Reference Configuration Solution for HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 Solution

Note
This paper assumes that Windows Server 2016 has been installed and configured. HPE strongly recommends that you use the HPE white paper
Running Microsoft Windows Server on HPE Integrity Superdome X for configuration and guidance, with the understanding that the white paper
references Windows Server 2012 R2 at this time. It is strongly recommended that the reader be familiar with the content of this white paper
before implementing the systems as documented in this reference configuration guide.

Technical white paper

Page 9

Solution components
The following components make up the two compared reference configuration solutions presented in this paper.

HPE Integrity Superdome X hardware overview

The HPE Superdome X product consists of two main components: the HPE BladeSystem Superdome Enclosure and the HPE BL920s Gen8 or
Gen9 Server Blades. The enclosure has the capacity to accommodate eight BL920s Gen8 or Gen9 server blades each with two sockets
containing an Intel Xeon processor E7 v2 or E7 v3 respectively. The eight server blades can be part of a single hardware partition (nPar), or
optionally carved into smaller HPE nPars of one, two or four server blades each (in addition, 3 blades only for Gen9). The servers (HPE nPars) are
logically and electrically isolated from each other, so they can function independently. HPE nPars flexibility allows the server to be appropriately
sized for any workload.

Note
See the HPE Integrity Superdome X QuickSpecs, for more detailed information about hardware configurations and specifications.

Note
Details of the Superdome X Gen8 hardware used in this Reference Configuration are identical to those used in the HPE Verified Reference
Architecture for Microsoft SQL Server 2014 on HPE Superdome X paper at
http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-1676ENW.
Server blade building block
The conceptual block diagram of the computing resources in the HPE BL920s Server Blade is shown in Figure 4.
This simplified diagram shows the server blade I/O (two flexible LAN on motherboard [FlexLOMs] and three mezzanine slots), two processor
sockets, and the memory associated with each processor.

Figure 4. Conceptual block diagram of the HPE BL920s Server Blade

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Superdome blade configuration

Eight server blades installed into an HPE Integrity Superdome X enclosure will result in the server structure shown in Figure 5. For the purposes
of this reference configuration, although eight blades are shown in the diagrams (and installed on the server), only a four blade configuration is
used for comparison purposes. This is true of both the Gen8 and Gen9 solutions.

Figure 5. Conceptual block diagram of eight HPE BL920s Server Blades

The Superdome X system is partitioned into a pair of eight socket servers (8S, 4 blades). In this case, for best performance, server blades 1/1, 1/3,
1/5, and 1/7 are configured as the Data Warehouse server on both the Gen8 and Gen9 Superdome X systems.
You can also create 2S (one blade) and 4S (two blades) partitions (6S (three blades) for Gen9 only). Odd or even slot loading for BL920s blades
in the same partition is required by nPar sizing rules.
You can see that the Superdome X has a modular structure. The most basic building block is the processor and its associated socket local
memory. Each processor has an embedded memory controller, through which it has extremely fast access to its local memory. The processors are
combined in pairs, connected by Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) links. Communication among server blades is facilitated through the HPE
crossbar fabric. The fabric is built upon the HPE sx3000 chipset, a newer version of the chipset that formed the backbone of HPE Integrity
Superdome 2 servers.

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This structure gives the Superdome X a non-uniform memory access (NUMA) architecturethe latency time for any given processor to access
memory depends on the relative positioning of the processor socket and the memory DIMM. The time it takes for a memory transaction to
traverse through the interconnect fabric is somewhat longer than the faster access to socket local memory.

3PAR StoreServ 7440c overview and configuration

HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Storage (including the 7440c model) extends the innovative HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage product line to the
midrange with industry-leading performance and features at the price you need. Spend less time managing storage, get more features for less
money, and do it all without sacrificing performance or future scalability. HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Storage provides high performance and
doubles your virtual machine density. With hardware-assisted thin storage, this is the only platform that guarantees a 50% reduction in capacity
requirements. HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage is also the first product family with a common architecture that meets small and medium business
(SMB) needs and spans to the largest global enterprise, giving you access to the same features as the worlds largest service providers. You can
start small and grow without painful upgrades down the road.
The HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen8 solution used in this reference configuration is connected with 16 separate connections between the HPE
3PAR StoreServ 7440c storage array and the Superdome X. There are eight 8Gb connections, and eight 16Gb connections. Physically, there are
two SAN switches on the Superdome X chassis, and four controllers on the HPE 3PAR 7440c StoreServ storage array. Each of the switches on
the Superdome X has 8 wired connections to the switches on the storage array. The switch wiring is made completely redundant to provide
double the storage bandwidth between the Superdome X chassis and the storage array, and also to provide for high availability for both the
Superdome X and the array switches. The configuration is a mix of 8 Gb and 16Gb connections.
Each switch port on the Superdome X is physically connected, as well as logically mapped back to a single port on the storage array.
Storage within the storage array is logically created under the functional access of a controller within the storage array itself. When a file is
logically created within the storage array, the file is allocated and assigned to one of these four controllers. The storage array is logically divided
in half, with half of the immediate storage access available directly from the 0, 1 controllers and half available directly from the 2, 3 controllers.
There is of course a high speed interconnect between the two sets of switches with the 3PAR storage array.
The SQL Server database configuration used four logical volumes for data files, each 12 TB in size. The transaction log was on a dedicated RAID 1
drive (6 TB drive size). Tempdb was also physically distributed among the four data file volumes. The database was split into 240 separate data
files. The database was backed up (and restored) from a separate 10 TB volume used only for storing compressed SQL Server backups.

3PAR StoreServ 8450 overview and configuration

The HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Storage (including the 8450 model) offers enterprise Tier 1 storage at a midrange price. HPE 3PAR StoreServ
8000 Storage delivers the performance advantages of a purpose-built, flash-optimized architecture without compromising resiliency, efficiency,
or data mobility. The HPE 3PAR Gen5 Thin Express ASIC provides silicon-based hardware acceleration of thin technologies, including inline
deduplication, to reduce acquisition and operational costs by up to 75% without compromising performance. With unmatched versatility,
performance, and density, HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Storage gives you a range of options that support true convergence of block and file
protocols, as well as all-flash array performance. HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Storage offers rich, Tier-1 data services, quad-node resiliency,
seamless data mobility between systems, high availability through a complete set of persistent technologies, and simple and efficient data
protection with a flat backup to HPE StoreOnce Backup appliances.
The HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 solution used in this reference configuration is connected with 8 separate connections between the HPE
3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array and the Superdome X. Physically, there are two SAN switches on the Superdome X chassis, and four
controllers on the HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 storage array. Each of the switches on the Superdome X has 4 wired connections to the switches
on the storage array. The switch wiring is made completely redundant to provide double the storage bandwidth between the Superdome X
chassis and the storage array, and also to provide for high availability for both the Superdome X and the array switches. All eight connections are
16Gb rated.
Each switch port on the Superdome X is physically connected, as well as logically mapped back to a single port on the storage array. Disk testing
(without SQL Server but from within Windows) showed disk I/O at about 2 Gb/Sec sustained throughput for large sequential read operations
such as those needed for the data warehousing environment. However, we were also able to observe up to 8 Gb/Sec of burst throughput when
running against multiple disks simultaneously, which greatly assisted our overall query performance.
Storage within the storage array is logically created under the functional access of a controller within the storage array itself. When a file is
logically created within the storage array, the file is allocated and assigned to one of the four controllers. The storage array is logically divided in

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half, with half of the immediate storage access available directly from the 0, 1 controllers and half available directly from the 2, 3 controllers. There
is of course a high speed interconnect between the two sets of switches with the 3PAR storage array.
SQL Server storage was identical to the 3PAR 7440c configuration.

Best practices and configuration guidance for the solution

The Reference Configuration is centered on the HPE Integrity Superdome X and the HPE 3PAR StoreServ storage array. The Superdome X does
not have any local storage; operating system and other storage is delivered via the Fibre Channel attached storage. An HPE 3PAR StoreServ
storage array was selected for both excellent storage capacity and scalable performance capabilities. The 3PAR StoreServ and the Superdome X
are connected via Fibre Channel, and both are on a shared 10 Gb Ethernet network for end user and administrative connectivity.
Data storage is very similar between the 3PAR 7440c and the 3PAR 8450 storage arrays. Data is spread across as many disks as possible by
specifying the recommended configuration parameters when creating CPGs on the 3PAR to host the virtual volumes. Additionally, data volume
ownership is spread across the storage controllers to provide locality of data storage on the 3PAR StoreServ and provide redundant access to the
storage from the Superdome X solution. The operating system is stored using RAID 1 (mirroring), while data files are stored using RAID5 (striped
with parity). The transaction log is stored using RAID 1. Thin provisioning is used for all volumes. The operating system is hosted on a single 1 TB
OS drive, and the data files for the data warehouse are spread across four 12 TB data file drives and a single 10 TB log file drive, as well as a 10 TB
backup drive.

SQL Server and Windows Server configuration

The reference configuration solution is running Windows Server 2016 (Technical Preview 4) and SQL Server 2016 Release Candidate. The setup
was performed following the recommended configuration in the Running Microsoft Windows Server on HPE Integrity Superdome X white paper.
Hyper-Threading is enabled on all blades.
The SQL Server 2016 setup is a default installation/configuration with the exception of the changes noted in the list below:
Allow Instant File Initialization (service account given Perform Volume Maintenance Tasks)
To allow faster database file creation
Set Max Server Memory to 5600000
The following trace flag is enabled to scale performance with large numbers of processor and large amounts of memory:
-T834 (use large page allocations in Windows)

Note
For further information and recommendations about SQL Server trace flags, please review the knowledge base article: Recommended updates
and configuration options for SQL Server 2012 and later versions with high-performance workloads
(https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2964518).

Capacity and sizing

The data warehousing (DW) solution in this reference configuration is based upon testing using a large data warehouse benchmarking model of
a traditional order system, consisting of parts, suppliers, customers, and orders. The queries used are typical business analytics questions, such as
financial reports/analysis, internal business process analysis and optimization reporting, and extracting marketing and sales information. The test
database used a 10 TB data warehouse, running a fixed query workload of representative decision support queries.
Before running the DW workload, an analysis of the storage environment was performed to confirm the capabilities of both 3PAR StoreServ
environments. This included testing the performance of Dedup vs. thinly provisioned vs. fully provisioned CPGs, and also determining optimal
CPG sizing parameters to achieve the maximum number of disks in each CPG. Note that the parameters will vary depending upon the number of
drives you are using, consult the 3PAR documentation for details. This validation is strongly recommended before beginning the SQL Server
database layout to optimize I/O performance.
A series of 22 data warehousing queries of varying complexity and query data volumes were used, and the timings for this 10 TB run for our
sample queries varied widely across queries, based upon the complexity of the query itself. The workload is very similar to those used for data

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warehousing benchmarks. However, over several runs of the results (restoring the database from a known good point and then re-running the
query sets), the results were very consistent. The query timings are presented for both the Gen8 (Figure 6) and Gen9 (Figure 7) solutions. As you
can see from the comparison of the two charts, we see an average performance improvement of 56% between the two solutions (see the query
by query comparison in Figure 8). Thus, upgrading your environment to the newer HPE Superdome X Gen9 environment with 3PAR 8450, using
a very similar configuration, will result in a dramatic performance improvement using the identical workload running Windows Server 2016 and
SQL Server 2016. The additional CPU capacity (for CPU intensive computational operations and also working with the columnstore indexes), as
well as the improved sustained I/O bandwidth, greatly improves the SQL Server query performance for longer running queries.

Gen8 Query Time in Seconds

(Average)

Gen9 Query Time in Seconds

(Average)
9000

9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Query Time (Average)

Query Time (Average)

Figure 6. Gen8 Solution Query Response Times (Seconds)

Figure 7. Gen9 Solution Query Response Times (Seconds)

Side by Side Query Time in Seconds (Average)

9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Gen8

Figure 8. Side by Side Query Comparison

Gen9

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Analysis and recommendations

As you can easily see from the charts above, the solution leveraging an HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 and HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450
storage array dramatically improves the overall performance, in particular for most long-running queries. The combination of additional CPU
capacity (6 more cores per blade server and faster cores), combined with the higher performance of the StoreServ 8450 storage array provides a
significant performance boost. Keep in mind that this is exactly the same database, with exactly the same schema and statistics being used for
both comparisons. The software is otherwise identical.
The performance of some queries, particularly the very small queries, is not impacted as much by the upgraded hardware, and for several of the
smallest queries the impact is minimal. However, for large queries which encompass queries over tens to hundreds of millions of rows of data, the
performance impact is dramatic. The schema used for these data warehousing queries does leverage columnstore indexes for the larger tables.
It should also be noted that raw disk testing performance of the 3PAR StoreServ 8450 showed significant performance improvements when
compared to the previous 7440c solution. Undoubtedly the improved throughput of the storage array was a significant factor in the performance
improvements observed in this comparison. Additionally, thin provisioning for the storage volumes was selected because it showed the best raw
disk performance in testing for this workload when compared to Dedup and/or fully provisioned volumes.

Summary
Demand for a Tier 1 mission critical environment that provides the high availability, reliability, and capacity needed to address challenging
enterprise workloads running Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and Microsoft SQL Server 2016 continues to grow. The HPE Integrity Superdome X
and HPE 3PAR StoreServ platform provides an optimal environment for supporting mixed workloads to meet these needs. The Superdome X
provides excellent CPU and memory capacity and resources to support workloads ranging from high-end OLTP CPU-intensive transaction
processing to I/O and memory-intensive data warehousing environments. The platform is flexible enough to support other workloads, including
as a consolidation platform. The 3PAR StoreServ platform capabilities, as shown in this reference configuration, easily support the large, block
sequential throughput nature of the DW workload, and is an ideal platform for a mixed-workload environment, providing optimal storage
capacity, transfer speeds, and storage optimization.
As shown in both the results of the testing for this reference configuration as well as the earlier mentioned data warehousing tests, the
combination of HPE Integrity Superdome X and Microsoft SQL Server 2016 provides an excellent data warehousing environment, with the
storage capacity, performance, and flexibility of the HPE 3PAR StoreServ array providing the scalability needed for the most challenging scale-up
data warehousing workloads on the Microsoft SQL Server platform. The ability of Windows Server 2016 to take advantage of greater than 4 TB of
memory makes the platform ideal for the Superdome X environment.
This reference configuration demonstrated the significant performance improvements that have been delivered by the latest generation of HPE
server and storage technologies. Selecting the HPE Integrity Superdome X Gen9 blade infrastructure, combined with the HPE 3PAR StoreServ
8450 storage array, can provide dramatic performance improvements and business optimization without having to invest in expensive or
complex application tuning or redesign.
Offering high performance, built-in reliability, and streamlined manageabilitydelivered in a standards-based packagethe HPE Superdome X
and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 / SQL Server 2016 solution is a performance winner for data warehousing workloads. HPE and Microsoft
solutions excel at handling OLTP, data warehousing, and business intelligence workloads, and for companies using memory-intensive
applications, the HPE Superdome X Server has the balanced scaling required for highly efficient processing. With up to 288 cores and the ability
to handle up to 24 TB of memory, you can trust the joint HPE and Microsoft solution to scale right along with your growing business.
This Reference Configuration describes solution testing performed in February and March 2016.

Implementing a proof-of-concept
As a matter of best practice for all deployments, HPE recommends implementing a proof-of-concept using a test environment that matches as
closely as possible the planned production environment. In this way, appropriate performance and scalability characterizations can be obtained.
For help with a proof-of-concept, contact an HPE Services representative (hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html) or your HPE partner.

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Appendix A: Bill of materials

For the Reference Configuration, the following bill of materials was used.
The following BOMs contain electronic license to use (E-LTU) parts. Electronic software license delivery is now available in most countries. HPE
recommends purchasing electronic products over physical products (when available) for faster delivery and for the convenience of not tracking
and managing confidential paper licenses. For more information, please contact your reseller or an HPE representative.

Note
Part numbers are at time of testing and subject to change. The bill of materials does not include complete support options or other rack and
power requirements. If you have questions regarding ordering, please consult with your HPE Reseller or HPE Sales Representative for more
details. hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html
Table 1. Bill of materials Gen9
QTY

PART NUMBER

DESCRIPTION
Rack and Network Infrastructure Superdome X

H6J66A

HPE 11642 1075mm Shock Intelligent Rack (with Factory Express)

H6J85A

HPE Rack Hardware Kit

BW906A

HPE 42U 1075mm Side Panel Kit

TC472A

HPE Intelligent Inft Analyzer SW v2 LTU

JC772A

HPE 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ Switch

16

JD092B

HPE X130 10G SFP+ LC SR Transceiver

JG326A

HPE X240 40G QSFP+ QSFP+ 1m DAC Cable

JC681A

HPE A58x0AF 650W DC Power Supply

JC682A

HPE 58x0AF Bck(pwr)-Frt(ports) Fan Tray

Superdome X

AT147A

HPE Superdome X Base Enclosure

HPE Superdome X 4 Wire 3 Phase PDU
Factory Express

AT152A

HPE Superdome X Advanced PAR LTU

711307-B21

HPE 6125XLG Blade Switch

C8S45A

Brocade 16Gb/16c Embedded SAN Switch

H7B40A

HPE BL920s Gen9 2.3GHz 36c Svr Blade

96

H7B38A

HPE DDR4 128GB (4x32GB) Mem Module

700065-B21

HPE Ethernet 20Gb 2P 630FLB Adapter

710608-B21

HPE QMH2672 16Gb FC HBA

BD505A

HPE iLO Adv Incl 3yr TS U 1-Svr Lic

Rack and Network Infrastructure 3PAR

BW904A

HPE 642 1075mm Shock Intelligent Rack (with Factory Express)

TK808A

HPE Rack Front Door Cover Kit

H5M58A

HPE 4.9kVA 208V 20out NA/JP bPDU

BW906A

HPE 42U 1075mm Side Panel Kit

AP879A

HPE 6m Expansion Cable Kit

QR481B

HPE SN6000B 16Gb 48-port/48-port Active Power Pack+ Fibre Channel Switch

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QTY

PART NUMBER

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DESCRIPTION
Storage

H6Z25A

HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8450 4N Storage Base (with Factory Express)

176

K2Q95A

HPE 3PAR 8000 480GB SAS MLC SFF SSD

14

H6Z26A

HPE 3PAR 8000 SFF (2.5in) SAS Drive Enclosure

14

QK734A

HPE Premier Flex LC/LC OM4 2f 5m Cbl

BD362A

HPE 3PAR StoreServ Mgmt/Core SW Media

BD363A

HPE 3PAR OS Suite Latest Media

L7C17A

HPE 3PAR 8450 OS Suite Base LTU

TC472A

HPE Intelligent Inft Analyzer SW v2 LTU

L7C18A

HPE 3PAR 8450 OS Suite Drive LTU

176

QK735A

HPE Premier Flex LC/LC OM4 2f 15m Cbl

176

QK724A

HPE B-series 16Gb SFP+SW XCVR

Microsoft Software

Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4 Release

Microsoft SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.3 and Release Candidate 0

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Resources and additional links

Information about the HPE Integrity Superdome X, hpe.com/servers/SuperdomeX and hpe.com/info/superdomex
HPE Integrity Superdome X Server documentation is accessible through the manuals tab under the following URL
http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/psi/home/?sp4ts.oid=7161269
HPE Integrity Superdome Onboard Administrator documentation
HPE Integrity Superdome X and Superdome 2 Onboard Administrator User Guide
http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04389052
HPE Integrity Superdome X and Superdome 2 Onboard Administrator Command Line Interface User Guide
http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c04389088
HPE 3PAR information
HPE 3PAR StoreServ Architecture
http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA3-3516ENW
HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000 Product information
hpe.com/storage/storeserv8000
HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Product Information
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/disk-storage/product-detail.html?oid=5335712
HPE 3PAR StoreServ All Flash and Microsoft SQL Server Brochure
http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA6-3248ENW
Other useful resources
HPE 3PAR Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 Implementation Guide
http://h20628.www2.hpe.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c03290621-14.pdf
Implementing Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 4 on HPE ProLiant servers
http://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA5-5841ENW
Microsoft Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2012 R2
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn529133
HPE Converged Infrastructure Library, hpe.com/info/convergedinfrastructure
HPE Servers, hpe.com/servers
HPE Storage, hpe.com/storage
HPE Networking, hpe.com/networking
HPE Technology Consulting Services, hpe.com/us/en/services/consulting.html
To help us improve our documents, please provide feedback at hpe.com/contact/feedback.

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Copyright 2016 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
The only warranties for HPE products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and
services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HPE shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors
or omissions contained herein.
Microsoft, Windows Server, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries. Intel and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
4AA6-5205ENW, April 2016