Suboptimal performance due to unbalanced architecture and improper system level settings

The system performance depends on the IBM Storage Scale cluster architecture components like servers, network, storage, disks, topology, and balance-factor. The performance is also dependent on the performance of the low-level components like network, node, and storage subsystems that make up the IBM Storage Scale cluster.

Problem identification

Verify whether all the layers of the IBM Storage Scale cluster are sized properly to meet the necessary performance requirements. The things to be considered in the IBM Storage Scale cluster include:
  • The servers
  • The network connectivity and the number of connections between the NSD client and servers
  • The I/O connectivity and number of connections between the servers to the storage controller or subsystem
  • The storage controller
  • The disk type and the number of disks in the storage subsystem

In addition, get the optimal values for the low-level system components used in the IBM Storage Scale stack from the vendor, and verify whether these components are set to their optimal value. The low-level components must be tuned according to the vendor specifications for better performance.

Problem resolution and verification

It is recommended that the customer involves an IBM Storage Scale architect during the setup to ensure that the underlying layers of IBM Storage Scale cluster are capable of delivering the necessary I/O performance for the expected I/O workload.