Benchmarking SSD-Based Lustre File System Configurations
Rick Mohr, Paul Peltz · 2014
Due to recent development efforts, ZFS on Linux is now a viable alternative to the traditional ldiskfs backend used for production Lustre file systems. Certain ZFS features, such as copy-on-write, make it even more appealing for systems utilizing SSD storage. To compare the relative benefits of ZFS and ldiskfs for SSD-based Lustre file systems, a systematic bottom-up benchmarking effort was undertaken utilizing Beacon, a Cray CS300-AC™ Cluster located at the University of Tennessee's Application Acceleration Center of Excellence (AACE). The Beacon cluster contains I/O nodes configured with Intel SSD drives to be deployed as a Lustre file system. Benchmark tests were run at all layers (SSD block device, RAID, ldiskfs/ZFS, Lustre) to measure performance as well as scaling behavior. We discuss the benchmark methodology used for performance testing and present results from a subset of these benchmarks. Anomalous I/O behavior discovered during the course of the benchmarking is also discussed.