In most cases you would not actually want to do a processor upgrade on an existing server for economic reasons, but you could if you wanted to. Having socket and chipset compatibility just means that the server vendors will be able to offer the new processor as soon as they get a supply of them from Intel.

The E5-2600 v2 series is aimed at two-socket servers, and will have at least 18 different “Ivy Bridge-EP” SKUs, ranging from the entry-level E5-2603 v2 up to the twelve-core E5-2697 v2. The 22nm processors have up to 12 physical cores, which allows them to have 24 logical cores with hyper-threading enabled.  The second series, the E5-1600 v2, works only in single-socket systems, and is going to initially have three models, the E5-1620 v2, E5-1650 v2, and E5-1660 v2. Both families will work with the Intel C600 series chipsets, and both use Socket 2011.

The second generation 22nm Intel Xeon E7 family, (which includes the Xeon E7-2800 v2, E7-4800, and E7-8800 v2) is aimed at larger, multi-processor servers, and it will be delayed until at least Q1 2014. Previous reports indicated these Ivy Bridge-EX processors would be available in Q4 2013. These processors will have triple the memory capacity of the current 32nm Westmere-EX processors, and they will require new server models from the server vendors. They will also finally have PCI-E 3.0 support, so overall they will be a huge upgrade from the current Westmere-EX.

Also in Q1 2014, Intel is going to release the 22nm Xeon E5-4600 v2 and E5-2400 v2 processors. The E5-4600 v2 will work in four-socket servers, and they use Socket 2011. The E5-2400 v2 (Ivy Bridge-EN) are for two-socket servers, have up to 10 cores, and will use Socket 1356. These Ivy Bridge-EN processors will NOT a good choice for SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014 OLTP workloads compared to higher performance Ivy Bridge-EP processors.

I really hate to see Intel slip their release schedule like this. I think a big part of why this happened is due to a lack of viable competition from AMD. After all, why should Intel rush to push out new technology when they are absolutely dominant from a performance perspective? They can continue to sell the current processors for a little longer with no real consequences.

Given the apparent delay for the Ivy Bridge-EX, a twelve-core Ivy Bridge-EP processor will be the hot ticket for a lot of people who are looking at new database servers over the next six to nine months. A new two-socket Ivy Bridge-EP system with Windows Server 2012 R2 and SQL Server 2014 will be the way to go in the near future.

The post Updates on Intel Xeon Ivy Bridge Server Processor Launch Schedules appeared first on Glenn Berry.

Figure 1: Comparative TPC-E Metrics and SQL Server 2012 License Costs

The DL385p Gen 8 system has 32 physical cores (that all must be licensed with $6872.00 SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition core licenses). The SQL Server 2012 Core Factor Table gives a 25% discount for modern AMD processors that have more than six physical cores. You can download it here (PDF warning), although Microsoft has not updated it to include the newer Opteron 6300 series of processors, which is probably just an oversight by Microsoft.

The DL 380p Gen 8 system only has 16 physical cores that must be licensed (hyper-threading is not taken into account for licensing on physical servers), so the SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition licensing cost is significantly less. Paying about 50% more to get about 33% less performance does not seem like a compelling value proposition!

I really wish that AMD was able to present some viable competition in this area for Intel, but I just don’t see that happening based on the currently available roadmaps from both companies. Lacking any real competition on the performance front, there is less incentive for Intel to meet their release schedules for new processor microarchitectures.

The post New AMD-based TPC-E Benchmark Result appeared first on Glenn Berry.

The first is the Intel 910 series that was released back in May of 2012. It is a PCI-E device that is available in 400GB and 800GB capacities. The 400GB model costs about $2000.00 while the 800GB model costs about $4000.00. As is typical with flash-based storage devices, the larger capacity model offers significantly better performance than the smaller capacity model, both for random I/O and for sequential reads and writes. Both of these come in at about $5.00/GB which is quite affordable for PCI-E flash devices.

The Intel 910 has gotten quite a number of very good reviews, and I have a couple of customers using them for SQL Server workloads already.  Here are links to some relevant reviews:

The Intel SSD 910 Review (AnandTech)

Intel SSD 910 Series Enterprise PCIe Review (Storage Review)

Intel SSD 910 Review: PCI Express-Based Enterprise Storage (Tom’s Hardware)

Intel 910 PCIe SSD Review – Amazing Performance Results In Both 400GB and 800GB Configurations (SSD Review)

One issue to keep in mind for the Intel 910 is that the 800GB model will show up as four 200GB devices (somewhat less than that after formatting) in Windows, while the 400GB model will show up as two 200GB devices. This is similar to what you see with the Fusion-io Duo product line. Another issue is these Intel 910 cards have been so popular, they are currently a little hard to find, especially if you want the 800GB model. Unless you are using a high availability technology like database mirroring or AlwaysOn Availability Groups, you will want to use Windows Software RAID 1 at the OS level across two of these cards in a database server to avoid a single point of failure.

A newer product is the Intel DC S3700 series of 6Gbps SATA SSDs. The DC S3700 series is available in 100GB, 200GB, 400GB, and 800GB capacities. The DC S3700 uses 25nm HET-MLC NAND technology, which means that you get higher write endurance than standard MLC consumer drives. The pricing for this new line is very aggressive, with the 100GB model going for $235.00, the 200GB model going for $470.00, the 400GB model going for $940.00, and the 800GB model going for $1880.00. That is $2.35/GB, which is less than half the price of the Intel 910. Of course they are different products meant for different usage.

The DC S3700 series is a 6Gbps SATA device, so it is limited less than 600MB/sec of sequential throughput due to the SATA III interface. SATA devices do not perform as well as SAS devices under extremely high queue depth workloads, and they do not have dual-port support. Intel specifically engineered this line for more reliable, consistent performance than you get with normal, consumer MLC SSDs.

I think these DC S3700 drives could be very useful as boot devices in a database server. Two of them in a RAID 1 array would give you a faster boot time than 15K magnetic drives and better reliability, along with lower power usage. According to Intel, they don’t need TRIM support to avoid having deteriorating write performance over time, so they are suitable for usage with a standard hardware RAID controller.

Here are a couple of the first reviews for the DC S3700:

The Intel SSD DC S3700 (200GB) Review (AnandTech)

Intel SSD DC S3700 Series Enterprise SSD Review  (Storage Review)

Anand Shimpi from AnandTech has has some podcasts from the recent SC12 conference where he had the chance to talk to a number of people from Intel about the DC S3700 line.

I could see building a very powerful database server for SQL Server 2012 usage with a two-socket Dell PowerEdge R720xd with a number of Intel 910 cards and up to 26 DC S3700 SSDs in the internal drive bays, based on your space needs and budget. You could use SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups as part of your HA/DR solution with a number of these servers.

These are fun times!

The post Intel Flash Storage Products for SQL Server appeared first on Glenn Berry.