Recommended Posts

Hi,

So I've got a HP DL160 G6 running with an HP SmartArray p410i 1GB super-capacitor RAM-based cache, and am using 3*15K RPM 73GB SAS drives in a RAID5 configuration and I have a single 500GB WD enterprise SATA drive connected too...

Now I know in comparison to the Dell PERC6 that the HP SA is a steaming pile of trash, it's much slower for reasons I've never been able to work out despite having a much better spec.

But this always gets me, I back up my VMs using the SSH server in ESXi and I have downtime of 50 minutes to transfer a 22GB VM, which is absolutely bloody rediculous (it's still not finished copying) and I'm just at a loss as to why. The 500GB drive isn't anything amazing, just a standard 7200 RPM drive but to transfer a VM at less than 7MBps is just... I'm speechless. I can transfer files faster on a 32 bit SCSI card faster than this.

 

Does anyone have a similar setup or any tips for this? (It's ESXi 5.1 and both file-systems are VMFS-5) I've got 4 more VMs to backup after this then apply some system updates and it's looking like it's going to take the whole day. I don't think it's a hardware speed problem, I'm thinking it's down to ###### poor drivers from HP for the p410i (hpaucli is [in comparison to dell's PERC utilities] a complete joke) or something up with ESXi but don't really know how I can go about test either or speeding it up.

Is the vmkern network on the same or a different physical port from the interface on your primary vSwitch?

 

I read that performance is awful unless this is separated (although I have never tried).

  On 24/01/2015 at 12:18, Fahim S. said:

Is the vmkern network on the same or a different physical port from the interface on your primary vSwitch?

 

I read that performance is awful unless this is separated (although I have never tried).

Ah, I don't mean I'm coping the data over SSH, I just mean I'm connected via SSH to do the file copying. It's going direct disk-to-disk on the same host.

At 11:58 I started copying a 10GB VM, 25 minutes later it's still not finished, so this copy speed is definitely slower than 7MBps.

How exactly are you doing this copy.. Are you going to the datastore and downloading the vm disk?

 

How is your vmkern - is it shared with another nic.. I noticed a huge increase in performance when broke out vmkern to its own port group on its own nic..

 

post-14624-0-74552400-1422101386.png

 

So here I started a download of vm - clicked go at 6:07:30..  Its downloading now, This is off a HP N40L with cheap nics added, the vmkern is using the built in nic I do believe.. If I look at my network performance for my pc I downloading the file too - getting pretty decent network util

 

post-14624-0-94754700-1422101722.png

 

Ok done...  looks like 20min

 

post-14624-0-40134400-1422102622.png

 

See the time created, and then last modified time..  So lets call it 34GB / 20 min = 1.7GB a min = 28MBps, which clearly is not full speed of my network..  I normally see double or triple that from the nas on the same esxi..  But it is inline with with how the vmkern works, etc..

 

edit:  So your dong disk to disk copy on your esxi host?  via cli command..  Let me test that with this same 34GB file..  I have a SSD datastore and the 250GB disk it came with as datastore as well..  BRB

 

Ok so started at 6:38:30 and so far its copied 3.8GB in 3 minutes.. 

so at 10 min mark bit over 12GB

 

/vmfs/volumes/54c39196-0f3ec6fc-3df2-001f29541714/test # ls -la
total 12049416
drwxr-xr-x    1 root     root           420 Jan 24 12:38 .
drwxr-xr-t    1 root     root          1400 Jan 24 12:37 ..
-rw-------    1 root     root     12343582720 Jan 24 12:48 w7x64-clean-flat.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/54c39196-0f3ec6fc-3df2-001f29541714/test #

 

So I would have to say, seems like a bit slower than the download copy..  But that 250GB disk is pretty old crappy disk ;)

 

So at 20min, 24GB roughly looks like about 20MBps which yeah is like 3x what your seeing and this is just the controller that that comes with the N40L..

Not an answer to your problem but you could use ghettoVCB which is a free backup script for ESXi and works quite well. Bit fiddly to set up but once done it's fine. 

 

I have it scripted so I just log into the host and run a script to do the backup then once done I can copy the backup files without having to take down any of the servers.

I've now shut down all VMs except one (my W7 remote management VM) and I've taken a screenshot of it... Something really is not right here.

aNS6w1g.png

EDIT: Changed around the graph output (bit hard on a small VNC screen) and it's apparently reading at 6MBps from the main drive and writing to the backup drive at 15MBps... I can't understand how it's writing twice the data it's reading!

 

 

  On 24/01/2015 at 12:45, Depicus said:

Not an answer to your problem but you could use ghettoVCB which is a free backup script for ESXi and works quite well. Bit fiddly to set up but once done it's fine. 

 

I have it scripted so I just log into the host and run a script to do the backup then once done I can copy the backup files without having to take down any of the servers.

I can't do that as I've got snapshots disabled and have all changes written to the disk as they're performed.

Edited by n_K

Ok so it finished

 

/vmfs/volumes/54c39196-0f3ec6fc-3df2-001f29541714/test # stat w7x64-clean-flat.vmdk
  File: w7x64-clean-flat.vmdk
  Size: 34359738368     Blocks: 67108864   IO Block: 131072 regular file
Device: 831f0b1fc2871364h/9448282774282113892d  Inode: 4225796     Links: 1
Access: (0600/-rw-------)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2015-01-24 12:38:34.000000000
Modify: 2015-01-24 13:06:49.000000000
Change: 2015-01-24 13:06:49.000000000
 

 

So we got 28 min for 34GB, roughly 20MBps, which yeah is blowing you away on crappier hardware.... Hmmmmmm??

you could try dd command vs cp, doing a test now looks like 4.9GB in 3 minutes vs the 3.8 with the cp command, let me try uping the bs from 1M

 

edit:  Well using dd seems to get me the speeds I saw with download..  About 28MBps vs the 20 was seeing with cp.

 

edit2:  ok -- seems cp has really be depreciated for a while on esxi.. your suppose to use vmfsktools command..

 

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx_3p_scvcons.pdf

For performance and data placement reasons, do not use scp or cp; instead, use vmkfstools, the Virtual Machine Importer tool from VMware, or the SDK APIs to manipulate your virtual disks. You should see very significant performance improvements if you use the recommended tools.

 

So doing a copy of that same vm using

/vmfs/volumes/535605bc-d0c25a0d-7cf0-001f29541714/w7 # vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/datastore0/w7/w7x64-clean.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/test/test.vmdk
Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/datastore0/w7/w7x64-clean.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
 

was done in 4.25 min or 133MBps

 

/vmfs/volumes/54c39196-0f3ec6fc-3df2-001f29541714/test # stat test.vmdk
  File: test.vmdk
  Size: 514             Blocks: 0          IO Block: 131072 regular file
Device: 831f0b1fc2871364h/9448282774282113892d  Inode: 8420100     Links: 1
Access: (0600/-rw-------)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2015-01-24 13:38:46.000000000
Modify: 2015-01-24 13:42:57.000000000
Change: 2015-01-24 13:42:57.000000000
 

 

post-14624-0-99362500-1422107393.png

 

Argh the dd is an annoying busybox version, just started running it with all the ibs and out set to 16MB and will see what happens with an 8GB file!

Did not know that about cp on ESXi, thanks budman! I'll see if DD increases the speed and if not will retry with that command, I'm assuming it doesn't bother copying the blank space and speeds up transfer that way, the VM I'm copying now is 90% utilised so it probably wouldn't save much time.

 

EDIT: OK no there is definitely something not right, 3Gbps link speeds between the SATA/SAS disks and the controller, 0.2GB copied in 30 seconds.

Edited by n_K

Dude see my edit.. Use vmkfstools -i src dst

 

My test shows a SCREAMING difference..   What you got to loose..  It sure can not be any slower than your dd or cp commands ;)

  On 24/01/2015 at 12:52, n_K said:

I can't do that as I've got snapshots disabled and have all changes written to the disk as they're performed.

 

Curios as to why you disabled snapshots.

Just tried on a 23GB disk after the 8GB DD finished budman;

/vmfs/volumes/508aa94d-fbcf15ba-0faf-68b599b49d30/Jan 24 2015/W7 # vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/Main/Windows\ 7\ Pro
fessional-N\ x64/Windows\ 7\ Professional-N\ x64.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/Backup\ Disk/Jan\ 24\ 2015/W7/
Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/Main/Windows 7 Professional-N x64/Windows 7 Professional-N x64.vmdk'...
Failed to clone disk: The file already exists (39).
Ignore, I'm being dense and not putting in the filename!

 

  On 24/01/2015 at 14:11, Depicus said:

Curios as to why you disabled snapshots.

Uses space which I don't have that much of.

Yeah that is much better ;)  Should be a helpful thread for other people I think.. I don't normally move files between datastores

 

Now not sure on what your original was..  Was it thick, or thin?  Notice it defaults to thickzero'd -- so if was thin before, your backup isn't.  if you want to maintain thin you can do -d thin on the end.  But that took about double the time to copy..  But I would think even 10 minutes for you would be much better than what you were seeing.

Not so sure its really a performance booster doing that any more.. If on SSD datastore makes no difference for sure.. So your storage is local, is it VAAI ??  Do you see hardware acceleration when you look at your datastores?

 

There are lots of variables at play when it comes to performance - a we see in this example using a deprecated common way that many people would do can have huge performance implications.. Comes down to your requirements.  I for sure have my storage over provisioned for sure.. Small datastore..  And play with lots of vms, I don't see any reason to suck up all the space with zeros ;)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • We went from a Latitude 7450 to Dell Pro 14 Plus PB14250
    • EA Sports UFC 5 is free-to-play on Xbox Series X|S this weekend by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Every Thursday Microsoft brings in a fresh slate of games for Xbox gamers to try over the weekend as a part of its Free Play Days promotion. The latest refresh that arrived today only revealed a single title for the weekend, and that's EA Sports UFC 5. This is a special occasion as well. Unlike the standard events, this one does not require any tier of Game Pass to jump in. All Xbox Series X|S owners can play the game over the weekend, even if they do not have a Core subscription. As always, any progress made during the weekend also carries over automatically if you decide to purchase the game afterward. Coming in from EA Sports, UFC 5 is the latest entry in the long-running mixed martial arts fighting games. This installment landed in 2023 for the latest generation consoles. Built on DICE's Frostbite Engine for the first time, the title event received an M rating by the ESRB for its realistic injury system, as EA wanted to make a more authentic experience akin to the real-world sport. The damage system, dubbed the Real Impact System, involves depicting blood and sweat on fighters as well as facial injuries. Having injuries like bruised eyes or broken noses can even affect the performance of a fighter due to impaired vision or breathing difficulty. A doctor stoppage may even happen if the injuries become too severe. UFC 5 offers a single-player career mode to become the top-ranked fighter, online modes for competitive action, and special events tied to real-world fights. Here are the store links for the game: UFC 5 - $27.99 (Xbox Series X|S) UFC 5 Deluxe Edition - $31.99 (Xbox Series X|S) UFC 5 Ultimate Edition - $89.99 (Xbox Series X|S) This Free Play Days promotion will end on Sunday, June 29, at 11:59 pm PT. Following this, expect another round of games to enter the program next Thursday, July 3.
    • Windows 11 KB5060826 optional update brings better Setup, new data migration tool, more by Sayan Sen Alongside KB5060829 for Windows 11 24H2, Microsoft has also released its C-release non-security preview update for Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 today. The new update is rolling out under KB5060826 (builds 22621.5549 and 22631.5549). KB5060826 brings an upgraded Setup which will now let admins choose whether to deploy critical updates during the OOBE (the initial out-of-box experience setup on Windows). Alongside that, it also adds the new PC migration experience on Windows Backup, as well as the default app changes related to the European Economic Area (EEA) region. The full changelog is given below: First up we have the changes and improvements for Gradual Rollout: [App defaults] New! We are rolling out some small changes in the European Economic Area (EEA) region for default browsers through the Set default button in Settings > Apps > Default apps: Additional file and link types will be set for the new default browser, if it registers them. The new default browser will be pinned to the Taskbar and Start menu unless you choose not to pin it by clearing the checkboxes. There is now a separate one-click button for browsers to change your .pdf default, if the browser registers for the .pdf file type. [PC Migration] New! The PC-to-PC migration experience in Windows is starting to roll out. You’ll begin to see the landing and the pairing page in the Windows Backup app, giving you a first look at what’s coming. In the full experience, you’ll be able to transfer files and settings from an old PC to a new one during setup. Support for this feature during PC setup will arrive in a future update. The rollout is being introduced in phases to support a smooth experience. [Windows Share] ​​​​​​​New! When you share links or web content using the Windows share window, you will see a visual preview for that content. Up next, we have Normal Rollout features: [Windows Setup] New! Admins can configure whether a new device gets critical updates during the out-of-box experience (OOBE). The update has a single known issue related to Noto fonts. You can view the support article here on Microsoft's official website. The update can be obtained by clicking on "Check for optional updates" inside Windows Update. You can also download it manually from Microsoft Update Catalog website.
    • American? Yer whole 120v limitation is madness.  You can still get low powered pcs , nice, that'll do the job 
    • People want a resizable taskbar, not tiny icons on a fat one. Microsoft, you've done it again.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      jfam earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      TheRingmaster earned a badge
      First Post
    • Conversation Starter
      Kavin25 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      Leonard grant earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pcdoctorsnet earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      569
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      186
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      176
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      144
    5. 5
      Xenon
      116
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!