how architecture design can lower hyperconverged...
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Economic Insight Paper
How Architecture Design Can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) By Eric Slack, Sr. Analyst
December 2017
Enablingyoutomakethebesttechnologydecisions
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 1
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How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 2
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Totalcostofownership(TCO)inITsystemsisafunctionoftheircapacitytodowork,whichinturn,isafunctionofstorageandcomputeperformance.InaHyperconvergedInfrastructure(HCI),thiscapacityisexpressedintermsofthenumberofvirtualmachines(VMs)thatcanbesupportedforanygivenconfiguration.TCOisalsoaffectedbyarchitecturaldesign,asHCIscombinestorageandcomputeresourcesintoascale-outcluster.
InthisTCOanalysiswecalculatethestorageandcomputeperformanceofNetAppHCIandtwoleadingcompetitivesystemsandcomparehowtheirdifferentarchitecturesimpacttotalcostatvaryinglevelsofscale.
BenefitsofHyperconvergedInfrastructure
HCItechnologycombinescomputepowerwithlocalstorageandstoragenetworking,runningoneoftheavailablehypervisorplatformsinaclusteredarchitecture.Aturnkeysolution,HCIshavebeenpopularforspecificapplicationsthatrequiredanewordedicatedinfrastructuresuchasVDIorforisolatedenvironments,likebranchofficesorremotedepartments.
Asascale-outsolution,HCIsaredesignedtobedeployedquickly,besimpletooperateandbeeasilyexpanded,makingthemagoodfitforITgeneralistsorevennon-ITpersonnel,insomecases.Thesecomprehensiveinfrastructuresareflexibleenoughtosupportavarietyofdifferentapplicationsandcanbeconfiguredtomeetthespecificresourcerequirementsofadiverseworkloadmix–toacertainextent.
ChallengesofHyperconvergedInfrastructure
Hyperconvergedclustersexpandeasily,butthemeanunitofscaleisthenodeitself.And,oftennodesintheclustermusthavethesamestorageconfigurations.Thislackofresourceflexibilityrunscountertoaprimarybenefitofthehyperconvergedinfrastructure,theabilitytosupportawidevarietyofworkloads.
Companieswanttoconsolidateapplications,andtheinfrastructuresupportingthoseapplications,intoanHCIcluster(oneofthefindingsofastudyconductedbyEvaluatorGroup,“HCIintheEnterprise”).Thisconsolidationcreatesanon-homogeneouscollectionofworkloadsthatcanrequireadynamicmixofcomputeandstorageresources.Unfortunately,mostHCIclustersforceyoutoaddtheseresourcesinlock-stepwitheachother,basedupontheconfigurationoftheappropriatenodes.Butinadditiontoscaling,there’samorefundamentalchallengeinsizingHCIthatcreatesinefficiencyandincreasescost.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 3
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StorageandComputePerformance
HCIhavetwoperformancecomponents,storageandcompute,thatmustbesuppliedinsufficientamountstosupportagivennumberofapplicationVMs.Storageperformanceisameasureofasystem’sabilitytosupplystorageIOtoaVMworkloadwithinanacceptableresponsetime,basedonthestoragedevicesandstoragesoftwarestack.Computeperformanceisthesystem’sabilitytoprocessprograminstructionsbasedontheproductofasystem’sclockspeedandavailableCPUcores,foragivenclassofprocessors.Formoreinformationonthetestingprocess,seetheIOmarklinkinthenextsection.
ComputeandstorageperformanceshouldbecalculatedindependentlyforHCIsystemssincetheyrepresentdifferentperformancecapabilitiesandaredrivenbydifferentsubsystemswithinthehyperconvergedarchitecture.Themostappropriatemetricforexpressingthis“performancecapacity”isthenumberofVMssupportedbyeachnode,sinceitallowsbothstorageandcomputeperformancerequirementstoberepresentedinasingleper-nodespec.ThefollowingsectionexplainshowstorageandcomputeperformanceweredeterminedforthisTCOcomparison.
ExplanationofPerformanceTesting
InordertoevaluatestorageperformancetheIOmarkbenchmarktoolwasused,withtheIOmark-VMworkload,whichcalculatesthenumberofVMssupportedforagivenconfiguration.IOmark-VMusesreal-worldworkloadsbasedontheVMmarkspecdevelopedbyVMware.Theseservervirtualizationworkloadsareacompositeofapplicationserverstypicallyfoundinamoderndatacenter,includingthefollowing:
• Exchangedatabaseserverwitha1,000-userworkloadrunningontheExchangeserver.• DVDstoredatabaseapplicationwiththreeDVDstorewebapplicationserversgenerating
workloads• OliodatabaseandOliowebapplicationservers• Hypervisorautomationworkloads
Forstorageperformance,thetwoCompetitorHCIsystemswerefoundtosupport80VMspernodeandtheNetAppHCI230VMsperstoragenode,asshowninTable1.Thisalmost3:1differentialisonefactorfortheNetAppHCI’slowertotalcost.(seesectionbelow“WhyNetAppHCICostsLess”).
ComputeperformancewasdeterminedthoroughananalysisofpublishedVMmarktestsfortheserversystemsemployedbythethreeHCIproductscompared(seeTable1).TheNetAppHCIComputenodes,whichusean18-coreprocessor,werefoundtohavelowercomputeperformancethanthetwoCompetitorsystemswhichuse22-coreCPUs.Thespecsforthesesystemsarelistedbelow.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 4
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HCISystem StoragePerformance ComputePerformance
NetAppHCI 230VMspernode 88VMspernode
Competitor1 80VMspernode 128VMspernode
Competitor2 80VMspernode 128VMspernode
Table1
HCISystemsUsedinthisComparison
BothoftheCompetitorHCIsystemswerecomprisedofaclusterof2Unodes.EachnodecontaineddualIntelE5-2699v4CPUswith22-cores,512GBofmemoryand3TBofall-flashstorage.Theclusterwasscaledbyaddingsinglenodes,fromaminimumoffournodes.
NetAppHCIconsistedofaclusterofComputenodesandStoragenodes,eachoccupyingone-halfof1Urackspace.TheComputenodeswerecomprisedofdualIntelE5-2695v4,18-coreCPUswith768GBofmemory.TheStoragenodeswerecomprisedof8-coreCPUswith384GBofmemoryand2.88TBofflashstorage.TheclusterwasscaledbyaddingsinglenodesfromaminimumoffourStorageandtwoComputenodes.
ForthiscomparisonweusedVMwarevSphereESXi6.0onallthreeHCIsystems.
Datareduction,compressionanddeduplication,increaseeffectivestoragecapacitybutcanalsoreducestorageperformance.BothCompetitorsystemshadcompressionanddeduplicationdisabledforthestoragetests.Conversely,intheNetAppHCIin-linecompression,in-linededuplicationandpost-processcompressionarealwaysenabled.Toprovideadirectcomparison,bothcompetitorswouldneedtoenablecompressionanddeduplication,mostlikelyfurtherreducingthenumberofVMspernodesupported.
Foran800-VMenvironmenttheconfigurationsshowninFigure1arerequired,basedontheperformancenumbersfromTable1.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 5
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Figure1
BoththeCompetitorsystemclustershaveatotaloftennodes,eachnodeoccupyinga2Uchassis.TheNetAppclusteriscomprisedoffourteennodes,eachconsiderablysmaller,withfournodesineach2Uchassis.ThebottomchassishasthebezelremovedtoshowtwoStorageandtwoComputenodes,asanexample.
ForthetotaldeployedHCIcluster,thedatacenterfootprintwasreducedfrom20Uto8UwithNetAppHCI,areductionof60%.Acquisitioncostisalsolower(seebelow)forNetAppHCI.AlthoughtheNetAppclusterhas14nodes,bothStorageandComputenodesarelessexpensivethanthecombinationHCInodesoftheCompetitorsystems,resultingina25%loweracquisitioncostthanCompetitor1anda57%loweracquisitioncostthanCompetitor2.
Thetotalcostofownership(TCO),showninTable1below,foreachoftheHCIsolutionstestediscomprisedofthefollowingcomponents:
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 6
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Acquisition-includesthemanufactures’listpriceofeachHCInode,oneVMwarevSphereEnterpriselicenseforeachnode,anymanagementsoftwarelicensesnotincludedinthebasenodeprice,deploymentcostspluscables.
Support-comprisedofapplicablehardwareandsoftwaremaintenancecostsforoneyear.
Overhead-includesAdministration,PowerandSpace:
Administrationiscomprisedofclustermanagementandhypervisormanagement.Clustermanagementrequiresonehourperweekforadminsupportofthehardwareinfrastructure(includingstorage),regardlessofthenumberofnodesdeployed.Hypervisormanagementrequiresone-halfhourperweekforeachnodethatrunsahypervisor.ThisiseveryHCInodeforCompetitorHCIsandjusttheComputenodesfortheNetAppHCI.Acostof$75perhourwasusedforanITadmin(basedonafullyburdenedcostof$150,000peryear).
Powerwascalculatedat$0.15perkWh,basedon300WperNetAppnodes(StorageorCompute)and450WperHCInode.
Spacewascalculatedat$2000per42Urackpermonth.
Competitor#1
Clusterof10HCInodesasdescribedabove
Acquisition $879,830
Support 78,033
Overhead 40,661
_________
Total–800VMs $998,524
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 7
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Competitor#2
Clusterof10HCInodesasdescribedabove
Acquisition $1,526,160
Support 62,848
Overhead 40,661
_________
Total–800VMs $1,629,669
NetAppHCI
Clusterof4Storagenodesand10Computenodes
Acquisition $655,240
Support 71,599
Overhead 32,843
_________
Total–800VMs $759,682
TheTCOforthesethreesystemsareshowninFigure2.Itshouldbenotedthatatlistprices,Acquisition(mostlyhardwarecost)dominatesthesecostcalculations.Ifadiscountisapplied,theSupportandOverheadcomponentswouldmakeupalargerpercentageofthetotalcost.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 8
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Figure2
NetAppHCIis24%lessexpensiveforan800-VMenvironmentcomparedwithCompetitor1and53%lessthanCompetitor2.WhentheinfrastructureisscaledtosupportmoreVMs,thiscostdifferentialgrows,asshowninFigure3.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 9
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Figure3
WhentheenvironmentgrowstheinfrastructurehastoscaletosupportmoreVMs.ThisgrowthisbasedonthestorageandcomputeperformanceshowninTable1.NetAppHCIaddsaComputenodeforevery88VMsbutonlyneedsanewStoragenodeforevery230VMswhiletheCompetitorsystemsmustaddanewHCInodeevery80VMs.
Theseper-nodeperformancedifferencescreatemorecostdisparitybetweenHCIsolutions.At1500VMstheNetAppHCIis28%lessthanCompetitor1and56%lessthanCompetitor2.At2500VMstheNetAppHCIcansave33%overCompetitor1and59%comparedwithCompetitor2.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 10
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Analysis-WhyNetAppHCIHasaLowerTCO
StoragePerformance
NetAppHCItestingshowstheirsystemhas3xthestorageperformanceoftheothertwosystems,onaper-nodebasis.WhilethereasonbehindtheseperformanceresultsisbeyondthescopeofthisTCOanalysis*,themanufacturerpointsoutthattheSolidFireElementOSsoftwarethatrunsthestoragenodeswithinNetAppHCIwasdesignedtomaximizeflashperformance,unlikeothersoftwaredefinedstoragetechnologiesthatweremostlydesignedfordiskstorage.
BetterstorageperformancemeanstheNetAppHCIclusterrequiresfewerstoragenodestosupportagivennumberofVMs.This,inturn,driveslowercostsofacquisitionandsupport(softwarecostsarebasedonthehypervisor,whichdoesn'trunonStoragenodes).
DisaggregatedArchitecture
TheotherfactorbehinditslowertotalcostistheNetAppHCIarchitecture.Sincemosthyperconvergedinfrastructurescombinestorageandcomputefunctionsineachnode,thelowerofthesetwoperformancenumbersbecomesthedeterminantofthatproduct’sabilitytosupportVMs.InthiscaseeachofthecompetitorHCIsystemsislimitedto80VMspernodebasedontheirstorageperformance.
NetAppHCIhasseparatestorageandcomputenodessoclusterscanbebuiltbasedonthenumberofeachnodetyperequired,insteadofinafixedratioofstorageandcompute.ThisdisaggregatedarchitectureallowsaNetAppHCIclustertotakeadvantageofitsstorageperformance(230VMsperStoragenode)withoutstrandingtheseresourcesbyscalingbasedonthelowercomputeperformance.Italsoallowstheclustertoexpandstorageorcomputecapacityinamoregranularfashion,andbettermeettherequirementsoftheaggregateworkloadsitsupports.
Summary/Conclusions
Historically,HCIshavetradedsimplicityforefficiency.Bycombiningstorageandcomputeresourcesintothesamephysicalnodestheymakedeploymentandexpansioneasier,butmakesizingandscalinglesspreciseandmoreexpensive.TheNetAppHCIarchitectureseparatesthesetworesourcessotheycanscaleindependently,allowingclusterstobeconfiguredwithlesswasteandenablingthemtoleveragetheirmuchgreaterstorageperformance.TheresultisanHCIsolutionwithaTCObetween24%and59%lessthanthatoftwoleadingcompetitors.
How Architecture Design can Lower Hyperconverged Infrastructure TCO 11
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AboutNetApp
NetAppisthedataauthorityforhybridcloud.Weprovideafullrangeofhybridclouddataservicesthatsimplifymanagementofapplicationsanddataacrosscloudandon-premisesenvironmentstoacceleratedigitaltransformation.Togetherwithourpartners,weempowerglobalorganizationstounleashthefullpotentialoftheirdatatoexpandcustomertouchpoints,fostergreaterinnovationandoptimizetheiroperations.Formoreinformation,visitwww.netapp.com.#DataDriven
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