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2GbFibreChannelDetermineMaximumThroughputSpeed|Scripthacks

Scripthacks
Braindumpinprogress

2GbFibreChannelDetermine
MaximumThroughputSpeed
PostedonMay12,2009

9Votes

Withstorageareanetworks(SAN)performanceissuessometimesarrise.Knowingthe
maximumthroughputspeedofyournetworkiskeytoremoveitasapossiblebottlekneck.
BellowIwilloutlinetherequiredcalculationsfordeterminingthemaximumthroughputspeed
of2GigabitFibreChannel.
CalculationRules
NetworkSpeeds=AlwaysinBits
Storage/DiskValues=AlwaysinBytes
Files=AlwaysinBytes
1nybble=4bits
1word=16bits
8bits=1Byte
1024Bytes=1Kilobyte
1024KB=1Megabyte
1024MB=1Gigabyte
CalculatingMaximumThroughputfor2GigabitFibreChannelinMegaBytes
2Gigabits=2/8bits=0.25GigaBytes
0.25GigaBytesx2(2HBAs)=0.5GigaBytes
0.5x1024=512MegaBytes/secthroughputor256MB/secperHBA.
DependingonthemonitoringsoftwareusedperformancenumbersmaynotbeinMBformat.
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BellowIvebrokendownthevaluesforeachcommonthroughputvalue.
256MegaBytes/sec=
262,144KiloBytes/sec
268,435,456Bytes/sec
2,147,483,648.00Bits/sec
33,554,432Bits/sec
SinceFCspeedshavetripledsinceIwrotethispostanupdateisinorder.BellowIve
outlinedspeedsfor4Gband8GbFC.
4Gb=512MB/s
8Gb=1024MB/s
NowthatwehavedeterminedthemaximumthroughputofeachHBAweneedtoruleoutany
bottlenecksfoundintheserveritselforintheSANfabric.HBAthroughputspeedisdirectly
impactedbythebusspeedofeachHBAaswellaswhethertheswitchportsutilizedby
eitherthestoragearrayFAsortheHBAitselfarededicatedbandwidthoroversubscribed
ports.
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11THOUGHTSON2GBFIBRECHANNELDETERMINEMAXIMUMTHROUGHPUTSPEED

EdZ
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onSeptember28,2010at11:22AMsaid:

Lookslikethereisanerrorinthelastcalculation.Ibelieveitshouldbe:
256MegaBytes/sec=
262,144KiloBytes/sec
268,435,456Bytes/sec
2,147,483,648bits/sec

scripthacks
onNovember20,2010at7:38PMsaid:

ThanksforpointingthisoutlookslikeIdividedinsteadofmultiplyingby8.
Doh!

AshwinPawar
onJanuary11,2011at6:18AMsaid:

Hithere,
Verynicelyexplained.Thanksalot.Ihaveonequerythough,Ihopethethreadisstill
open.
IreadsomewherethatBasedontestingandcustomerexperiences,anybandwidth
numbersfollowthe70%rule,whichdictatesthatanyspeedclaimedbythe
hardwarevendorbereducedto70%ofthetopratedspeed.Forinstance,1Gigabit
Ethernet(GbE)speedistheoretically125MB/sec,itwouldbe(125*70%=87.5
MB/sec)practically.Myquestionis,doesitalsoapplytoFibrechannels.Ifso,will
thesefigureschange:
For4Gband8GbFCwith70%rule.
4Gb=512MB/s=358MB/s
8Gb=1024MB/s=716MB/s
Thanksinadvance!
Ashwin

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scripthacks
onJanuary11,2011at10:28PMsaid:

Excellentquestion.TobequitehonestImnotsurewhetherthereisasimilar
overheadratiowithFibreChannel(FC)networks.InmosthighvolumeFCnetworks
Iveworkedintheactualfabricisntthebottleneck.Insomecasesthephysical
serverhardwareisaconstraint.AnexamplewouldbeusingaPCIvs.PCIExpress
slotwhichwouldgiveyoualimitof133MB/svs.256MB/satthemotherboardlayer.
Itsalsoimportanttokeepinmindtheportconstraintsofthefabric.Dependingonthe
switchvendorandthesizeofyourfabricdifferentoversubscriptionratiosmayexist.
Anexamplewouldbeifagroupofsay6portsshare12Gb/sofbandwidth.Ifeachof
the6portspushesasmuchI/Oaspossibleatthesametimeeachportwillmaxout
atatheoretical2Gb/s.Ifeachhostthinksithasa4Gb/sFClinkthenyoucanquickly
seewhereapotentialbottlenecklies.
Youcanseehowthespecificenvironmentcomponentscanmakeahugedifference
whenlookingatthemaximumthroughputofanFClink.Andthisisnteven
approachingapplicationlayerinefficiencies.Onelastpiecetoadd.Inordertoreally
figureoutwhetheryouhavearealbottleneckwithinyourFCnetworksetupatool
whichpollsFCportthroughputdetailswithahighfrequency.Sayonceevery5
seconds.Collectthedataforaday,week,orevenamonthandthenimportitinto
Excelandchartthefrequencyofbandwidthutilization.Useofhistogramsandpivot
tablesmakethistaskeasier.Thefrequencyofspikesdictatestheutilizationof
bandwidth.BasedonthecalculationsIvealreadypresentedyoucanalsogauge
percentutilizationetc.

AshwinPawar
onJanuary14,2011at8:12AMsaid:

Thanksatonforexplainingsowell.Ihavenoteddownyoursuggestions,and
wheneverIgetanopportunitytotestit,Iwillcertainlydothat.Veryinformational
blog,keepsharingknowledge!Youaredoingagreatjob.

Arek
onMarch1,2011at2:38PMsaid:

2GigabitHBAdeliverssomethingcloserto212.5MB/s.
PleaseseethefollowinglinkIstumbledupon:
https://scripthacks.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/2gbfibrechanneldeterminemaximumthroughputspeed/

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http://www.unifiedcomputingblog.com/?p=108
Andthelistofvariousprotocolsandtheirthroughputs(dosearchforFibre):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bandwidths

scripthacks
onMarch1,2011at9:25PMsaid:

Interestingpost,andexcellentreference.

Jay
onJuly19,2011at11:56AMsaid:

Excellentpost&learnfromit.keepupthegoodwork.

old
onNovember19,2011at2:54PMsaid:

Iamsofakingconfused..
IalwaysthoughtFCwasexpressedinGBpersecondandEthernetinGbper
second.

scripthacks
onNovember19,2011at6:03PMsaid:

NetworkingisalwaysinBits/Sec,whereasdiskisinBytes.

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Schumra
onNovember28,2011at6:11PMsaid:

Itdoesntlooklikethesecalculationincludethe8b/10bencoding,Ithinkyouhaveto
take80%offthetoptoaccountforthis.For10bitsoftransmitteddata,only8bits
aredata.

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