HPE’s Alletra array performance results have been revealed, with the top supported SAP HANA Node count rising from 64 for the clustered all-flash Nimble to 216 for the mid-range Alletra 6000, a 3.4x increase. The 6000’s supported node count is also, surprisingly, 2.25 times better than that of the high-end Alletra 9000’s 96.
These numbers come from HPE’s Dimitis Krekoukias, a global architect, in his Recovery Monkey blog. Krekoukias got them from an SAP webpage listing the SAP HANA maximum supported nodes for certified enterprise storage arrays.
The all-flash Alletra 9000, with 2 or 4 controllers, is a next-generation Primera array. The dual-controller Alletra 6000 is an all-flash reworking of the Nimble all-flash and hybrid arrays, with x86 controllers upgraded to AMD CPUs and PCIe gen 4 replacing the previous PCIe gen 3, translating into a slated “increase in PCI lane count and throughput all over the system” and “increased speeds in real-world workloads.” The 6000 can be clustered, like the Nimble arrays, for greater performance.
Charting progress
Krekoukias also used the SAP data to chart the single node Alletra 9000 and 6000’s performance vs. Dell EMC, NetApp and Pure arrays.
The Alletra 9080 beats Dell EMC’s PowerMax 2000 and the 6000 beats Dell EMC’s PowerStore, NetApp A800 and Pure’s FlashArray//X90 as well.
At single array level, the 9000 beats the 6000, with 9080 4-controller system racking up 96 supported SAP HANA nodes vs. the 6090’s 54 nodes. The actual single node Alletra 9000 and 6000 numbers are:
- 9060 (2-controller) – 34 SAP HANA nodes supported
- 9080 (2-controller) – 48 nodes
- 9060 (4-controller) – 68 nodes
- 9080 (4-controller) – 96 nodes
- 6010 – 6 nodes
- 6030 – 16 nodes
- 6050 – 24 nodes
- 6070 – 32 nodes
- 6090 – 54 nodes
What Krekoukias doesn’t reveal is that the high-end Dell EMC PowerMax 8000 scored 210 SAP HANA nodes supported. But clustering the Alletra 6000 seemingly sends its scores past that number:
- 6010 (4 arrays/group) – 24
- 6030 (4 arrays/group) – 64
- 6050 (4 arrays/group) – 96
- 6070 (4 arrays/group) – 128
- 6090 (4 arrays/group) – 216
I understand from an HPE source that an 8-engine PowerMax has 16 controllers and they need to all be working in parallel to provide the 210 number. A 4-way 6090 would be 4 active and 4 standby controllers plus Triple+ RAID, so per controller, it annihilates a PowerMax
We checked to see how the Alletra 9000 compares to the current Primera arrays:
- 630 – 20 nodes
- 650 (2-controller) – 30 nodes
- 670 (2-controller) – 36 nodes
- 650 (4-controller) – 60 nodes
- 670 (4-controller) – 72 nodes
The increase is substantial, with the top-end Primera 670 scoring 72 and the Alletra 9080 reaching 96, 33.33 per cent more. That’s not such an impressive performance gain, though, as the clustered Alletra 6090’s 3.4x increase over the clustered Nimble AF80. Perhaps the X86-powered Alletra 9000 could use an AMD processor and PCIe gen 4 boost as well?
