PowerEdge: How to test Storage performance Iometer
Yhteenveto: How to test the Storage performance of Dell PowerEdge servers using IOMeter.
Ohjeet
Iometer is both a workload generator (it performs I/O operations in order to stress the system) and a measurement tool (it examines and records the performance of its I/O operations and their impact on the system). It can be configured to emulate the disk or network I/O load of any program or benchmark. It can also be used to generate entirely synthetic I/O loads. It can generate and measure loads on single or multiple (networked) systems.
1. Description
The tool consists of two programs, Iometer and Dynamo.
- Iometer is the controlling program. Using Iometer's user interface, configure the workload, set operating parameters, and start and stop tests. Iometer tells Dynamo what to do, collects the resulting data, and summarizes the results in output files. Only one copy of Iometer should be running at a time; it is typically run on the server machine.
- Dynamo is the workload generator. It has no user interface. At Iometer 's command, Dynamo performs I/O operations and records performance information, then returns the data to Iometer. There can be more than one copy of Dynamo running at a time; typically one copy runs on the server machine and one additional copy runs on each client machine.
2. Documentation
For testing the performance on Windows systems, Iometer can be installed and started directly.
An additional installation of Dynamo is not necessary. Below you find instructions for installing the tool and for starting the test procedure.
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First, you have to download Iometer from Iometer.org.
Note: For Windows 2008 and above, download Version 1.1.0. For older Windows editions, use Version 2006.07.27.
Figure 1.1: Iometer download page
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Right-click the setup file and then click Run as administrator
Figure 1.2: Iometer file on the desktop
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Accept the UAC request.
Figure 1.3: UAC request
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Click Next > on the Welcome screen.
Figure 1.4: Welcome screen
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Agree license agreement
Figure 1.5: License agreement
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Select the components that should be installed and click Next
Figure 1.6: Choose Components
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Select the installation destination and click Install
Figure 1.7: Define the destination folder
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When installation is done, click Finish
Figure 1.8: Finished installation
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Start Iometer
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Agree to the license conditions
Figure 2.1: License conditions
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Click the folder button
Figure 2.2: Folder button in the upper left corner
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Download a test configuration file or create one and open it with Iometer.
Figure 2.3: Choose a configuration file
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Choose the device to be tested
Warning: Unless instructed otherwise, use Iometer only on filesystems or data loss might occur!
Figure 2.4: Choose the device to be tested
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Start the test by clicking the green flag button
Figure 2.5: Green flag button in the upper middle
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Define the destination where to save the results file
Figure 2.6: Choose a destination for results
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Now the test starts and will run for about 10-15 minutes
Figure 2.7: Running test
The program Iometer only runs on Windows OS. So on Linux systems the tool Dynamo is used for sending the relevant information to a Windows system, where Iometer is installed.
This means that an installation of Iometer on a Windows system or Windows emulator is necessary for testing a system with Linux installed. Download Iometer from Iometer.org.
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First Install Iometer on a windows system in the same network as the server that you want to test.
If there is no Windows client available to run the Iometer .exe, it can be run with WinE emulator as well.
Figure 3.1: Iometer GUI
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Connect using SSH to a Linux server (for example using Putty)
Figure 3.2: Putty
Figure 3.3: Click Yes
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Login into the server
Figure 3.4: Console using Putty
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To receive information about the hardware platform, which is necessary to choose the right version of Dynamo, you can run the command:
uname -i
Figure 3.5: Check hardware version -
With the following command you can check the installed version of glibc
rpm -qa|grep -i glibc
Note: glibc 2.15 or above is needed to run with Iometer 1.1.0. Otherwise, use 2006.07.27
Figure 3.6: Command output
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Switch to the
/tmpfolder
Figure 3.7: /tmp folder
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Uncompress the downloaded Iometer file with:
tar xvf Iometer-1.1.0-linux.x86_64-bin.tar.bz2
Figure 3.8: Uncompress the dynamo file
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Check the IP address of the Windows system by using the CLI command:
ipconfig
Figure 4.1: Check IP of Windows system
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Check the IP addresses of the Linux system with:
ip addr show or ifconfig -a
Figure 4.2: Check IP of Linux system
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Stop the Linux firewall to allow communication between Dynamo and Iometer
Note: Commands to stop the Linux Firewall are:
SuSE based:rcSuSEfirewall2 stop
RHEL based:service iptables stoporsystemctl stop firewalld
Debian based:service iptables stop
Ubuntu based:ufw disable
Figure 4.3: Stop firewall on Linux system
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Use an editor such as "vi" to change the host file for the name resolution:
vi /etc/hosts
Figure 4.4: Edit /etc/hosts file
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Add the IP address and the name of the Linux system
Figure 4.5: Add IP and name
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Now connect dynamo to Iometer by using the command:
dynamo -i <IP of machine with Iometer = windows system> -m <IP of machine to run workload = linux system>
Figure 4.6: Connect dynamo to Iometer
Figure 4.7: Connection established
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In Iometer now the Linux server is visible
Figure 4.8: Linux system listed in Iometer
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Before loading the test template some changes must be done on the file.
Open the file in an editor (for example Notepad). Change the Manager name and Manager network address by using the information that you used in step 5. Save the file when the changes are done.
Figure 4.9: Search "MANAGER LIST"
Figure 4.10: Add Linux server name
Figure 4.11: Add Linux server IP address and save the file
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Load the changed template
Figure 4.12: Load the configuration file
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Choose the device to be tested
Warning: Unless instructed otherwise, use Iometer only on filesystems or data loss might occur!
Figure 4.13: Choose the device to be tested
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Start the test by clicking the green flag button
Figure 4.14: Green flag in the upper middle
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Choose the destination where the results shall be saved after testing.
Figure 4.15: Choose a destination for results
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Now the test starts
Figure 4.16: Running test
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When the test is done..
Figure 4.17: Finished test in the console view
…do not forget to re-activate the firewall, delete the information from /etc/host (undo step 5) andexit.
Figure 4.18: Exit console