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3Ware Escalade 7410
Introduction
Over the last couple years, 3Ware has made quite a name for themselves in the ATA RAID market. In particular, their Escalade 6000 series (reviewed back in February) earned the company a good reputation amongst RAID enthusiasts as a manufacturer of high-performance ATA RAID cards - in fact, the Escalade 6410 handily left all the competition in the dust until the introduction of the Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A in May.
It's thus no surprise that 3Ware's successor to the 6000 series - the Escalade 7000 Series Storage Switch - has been highly anticipated. 3Ware quickly sent us an Escalade 7410 after the card's announcement, allowing us to present a first look at the card's performance.
The Hardware...
The 7000 series brings a number of additional and improved features such as 64-bit PCI support, a 64-bit ASIC, improved packet-switching, and RAID 5 hardware XOR functionality. The 7000 series also sports TwinStor and StorSwitch (the latter of which was formally known as DiskSwitch; both of these features were discussed in our Escalade 6410 review), features that the Escalade 6000 series proved were more than mere marketing. The card's full specs:
- RAID levels 0, 1, 10, 5, and JBOD
- On-board microprocessor
- Four ATA-100 channels (1 drive per channel)
- Hot swap and hot spare support
- Stripe size selectable from 64K to 1MB
- 64-bit/33MHz PCI
- TwinStor, StorSwitch support
- Windows 98/Me/NT/2000, Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux (Driver also available in open source kernel 2.2.15 and beyond), and FreeBSD support
- 3 year warranty
Included with the card:
- Four single-connector ATA cables
- Driver/utility disks
- Installation guide
- Two Y-splitter cables (used to connect two drives to a single power supply connector)
Somewhat surprisingly, the Escalade 7410 (as well as the 7810) is a half-length PCI card. Despite the fact that full-length cards are pretty darn cool looking, we suspect that most users prefer half-length cards due to space concerns. Other than that, the card looks like one would expect, with four ATA connectors, two 3Ware ATA-100 controllers, and an on-board microprocessor.
The Software...
The software that accompanies the Escalade 7410 remains virtually unchanged from that of the 6410. Its BIOS allows for standard functions such as array creation, deletion, and rebuilding. A write cache setting is also present - as with the Escalade 6410, this refers to the cache on the drives themselves.
The Escalade's software utility, 3DM, provides event notification functionality in the case of critical events such as drive failures - the utility can either send an email or trigger a local event in Windows. The adapter's rebuild rate and audible alarm may also be toggled.
The Benchmarks...
The following tests were run with the card's write cache setting enabled and a stripe size of 64k. Driver version 1.10.01.032 was used along with BIOS release 7.1.1.
WinBench Results...
Let's begin with single-drive scores to use as a baseline.
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - Baseline Scores
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No big surprises here... The 7410's access time is reported somewhat higher relative to the 6400, though one can not draw any conclusions from this.
WinBench RAID 0 Scores...
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 0 with 2 Drives
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 0 with 3 Drives
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 0 with 4 Drives
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The 7410's RAID 0 Diskmark scores come in lower than that of a single drive, something that obviously doesn't reflect reality. Unfortunately, issues with WinBench's Diskmark tests continue with the Escalade 7410. As we'll see, the Diskmark results for all RAID levels are clearly unrepresentative - we'll refrain from commenting on them further.
The adapter's sustained transfer rate is very impressive, as was the 6400's. There's no doubt that the 107MB/sec "limitation" is caused by the PCI bus (the testbed's motherboard contains only 32-bit/33MHz slots) as opposed to the card itself.
WinBench RAID 1 Scores...
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 1 with 2 Drives
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Two things are notable about the 7410's RAID 1 WinBench scores, both echoing the unit's predecessor. First, the 7410's RAID 1 access time clocks in about 2ms lower than a single-drive configuration. This indicates that the adapter load balances linear reads based on which drive's read/write head is closer to the requested data. Second, the 7410's RAID 1 STR is significantly higher than that of a single drive configuration. This is TwinStor in action.
WinBench RAID 10 Scores...
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 10/01 with 4 Drives
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The 7410's RAID 10 access time matches that of a single drive configuration. This is interesting as it suggests that TwinStor isn't load balancing linear reads in RAID 10 like it does in RAID 1. We're at a loss as to why this is the case considering that the Escalade 6400 appears to balance such reads.
WinBench RAID 5 Scores...
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 5 with 3 Drives
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Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS - RAID 5 with 4 Drives
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Access time remains about the same, while STR increases as one would expect.
IOMeter Scores...
Base Scores...
| IOMeter - Single Drive Baseline |
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| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, 1 Drive |
65.77 |
66.60 |
75.80 |
84.57 |
96.91 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, 1 drive |
65.09 |
65.55 |
74.76 |
82.76 |
95.59 |
| Abit SL6, 1 Drive |
64.11 |
66.91 |
76.83 |
86.75 |
94.68 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, 1 drive |
63.79 |
65.55 |
74.46 |
82.32 |
95.46 |
| Promise Ultra 66, 1 Drive |
65.51 |
67.85 |
78.11 |
87.72 |
96.97 |
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| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, 1 Drive |
77.43 |
77.98 |
86.38 |
95.44 |
110.31 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, 1 drive |
76.32 |
77.13 |
85.64 |
94.24 |
109.12 |
| Abit SL6, 1 Drive |
75.20 |
77.47 |
88.26 |
98.92 |
110.14 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, 1 drive |
74.83 |
77.59 |
85.07 |
95.46 |
111.00 |
| Promise Ultra 66, 1 Drive |
76.05 |
77.96 |
88.49 |
99.85 |
110.34 |
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| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, 1 Drive |
70.04 |
71.18 |
78.72 |
87.25 |
97.45 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, 1 drive |
69.83 |
70.46 |
77.99 |
85.21 |
96.46 |
| Abit SL6, 1 Drive |
68.64 |
70.33 |
79.27 |
87.89 |
95.50 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, 1 drive |
68.74 |
70.82 |
80.66 |
86.70 |
98.05 |
| Promise Ultra 66, 1 Drive |
76.05 |
77.96 |
88.49 |
99.85 |
110.34 |
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| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, 1 Drive |
109.01 |
108.73 |
108.94 |
109.37 |
116.02 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, 1 drive |
106.99 |
106.91 |
106.81 |
107.17 |
114.15 |
| Abit SL6, 1 Drive |
104.48 |
104.36 |
104.33 |
105.80 |
114.16 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, 1 drive |
131.43 |
131.07 |
130.91 |
130.61 |
131.04 |
| Promise Ultra 66, 1 Drive |
105.25 |
105.17 |
105.12 |
106.68 |
115.36 |
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| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, 1 Drive |
27.64 |
27.66 |
27.68 |
27.69 |
27.37 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, 1 drive |
27.52 |
27.50 |
27.48 |
27.50 |
27.08 |
| Abit SL6, 1 Drive |
27.54 |
27.48 |
27.48 |
27.49 |
27.15 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, 1 drive |
26.32 |
26.31 |
26.35 |
26.39 |
26.11 |
| Promise Ultra 66, 1 Drive |
27.60 |
27.63 |
27.64 |
27.62 |
27.36 |
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The Escalade 7410 delivers the expected single drive performance.
RAID 0...
| IOMeter - RAID 0 with 2 Drives |
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| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 2 Drives |
71.71 |
109.55 |
122.64 |
135.94 |
157.68 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 2 drives |
71.70 |
108.91 |
121.16 |
135.26 |
157.58 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 2 drives |
70.84 |
109.12 |
116.24 |
139.95 |
157.76 |
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| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 2 Drives |
84.93 |
130.58 |
144.55 |
158.87 |
183.84 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 2 drives |
84.11 |
129.07 |
143.26 |
157.34 |
184.41 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 2 drives |
82.85 |
130.44 |
137.74 |
168.92 |
186.64 |
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| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 2 Drives |
82.21 |
121.60 |
133.57 |
146.21 |
165.85 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 2 drives |
81.55 |
119.73 |
131.70 |
145.12 |
166.58 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 2 drives |
82.34 |
121.68 |
131.35 |
153.51 |
168.13 |
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| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 2 Drives |
191.39 |
191.77 |
191.68 |
192.77 |
199.15 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 2 drives |
188.66 |
188.68 |
189.16 |
190.10 |
195.83 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 2 drives |
223.87 |
223.23 |
223.29 |
223.70 |
222.86 |
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| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 2 Drives |
55.28 |
55.37 |
55.37 |
55.39 |
55.13 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 2 drives |
54.95 |
54.88 |
54.94 |
54.79 |
49.67 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 2 drives |
46.63 |
52.63 |
52.81 |
52.90 |
52.03 |
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| IOMeter - RAID 0 with 3 Drives |
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| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
73.46 |
146.34 |
174.30 |
194.35 |
227.12 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
74.00 |
146.36 |
173.98 |
195.31 |
227.42 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 3 drives |
72.20 |
150.71 |
166.38 |
203.78 |
227.37 |
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| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
86.20 |
166.87 |
205.43 |
227.60 |
263.69 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
86.77 |
167.64 |
205.88 |
228.66 |
266.08 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 3 drives |
83.31 |
174.56 |
198.25 |
242.50 |
269.35 |
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| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
84.31 |
170.70 |
190.08 |
209.49 |
235.98 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
84.63 |
172.11 |
190.77 |
210.96 |
242.41 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 3 drives |
84.23 |
173.84 |
186.01 |
224.89 |
242.12 |
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| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
280.47 |
281.26 |
281.78 |
284.74 |
289.87 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
281.99 |
282.63 |
282.69 |
284.88 |
291.77 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 3 drives |
322.94 |
321.84 |
322.43 |
322.76 |
321.90 |
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| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
57.87 |
61.93 |
61.89 |
61.83 |
61.71 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 3 Drives |
63.07 |
65.71 |
65.72 |
65.74 |
65.45 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 3 drives |
5.77 |
5.18 |
4.92 |
5.19 |
5.19 |
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| IOMeter - RAID 0 with 4 Drives |
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| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
74.87 |
169.28 |
225.49 |
251.12 |
293.66 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
74.74 |
168.94 |
224.15 |
251.67 |
296.02 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 4 drives |
73.23 |
172.93 |
214.46 |
261.87 |
296.13 |
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| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
87.28 |
188.96 |
265.44 |
294.50 |
338.69 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
88.06 |
189.49 |
265.57 |
296.22 |
344.50 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 4 drives |
85.30 |
196.68 |
253.88 |
313.81 |
346.24 |
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| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
85.71 |
192.41 |
245.70 |
272.60 |
308.59 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
87.28 |
192.80 |
245.28 |
274.34 |
312.80 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 4 drives |
82.73 |
208.56 |
240.27 |
294.58 |
317.20 |
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| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
372.29 |
372.26 |
374.17 |
375.69 |
381.89 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
367.00 |
368.86 |
365.54 |
373.11 |
378.17 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 4 drives |
416.83 |
415.66 |
416.07 |
417.31 |
416.69 |
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| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
57.97 |
62.07 |
62.08 |
62.09 |
62.02 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 0, 4 Drives |
61.44 |
65.78 |
65.77 |
65.78 |
65.48 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 0, 4 drives |
3.75 |
3.14 |
3.16 |
3.14 |
3.15 |
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The 7410's RAID 0 scores are very, very similar to that of the Escalade 6400. In 2 and 3-drive configurations, scores remain virtually identical save for the 7410's slight lead in sequential write performance with 3 drives. With 4 drives, the 7410 is 1-2% faster than the 6400 under the Workstation, File Server, and Database tests. In Random Write tests, the 7410's performance is actually a bit worse, while its Sequential Write performance comes in about 3MB/sec higher.
The Escalade 7410's 1-2% performance increase relative to the Escalade 6400 - a minor one - is enough to tie the Adaptec 2400A for the ATA RAID 0 performance crown. Scores for the two cards are nearly identical in the Workstation, File Server, and Database tests, with the 2400A pulling ahead in the Random Write test while the 7410 returns the favor in Sequential Writes.
RAID 1...
| IOMeter - RAID 1 with 2 Drives |
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| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
74.43 |
116.88 |
126.98 |
135.37 |
152.29 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
74.19 |
116.26 |
125.48 |
131.86 |
152.15 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
65.78 |
115.10 |
119.16 |
138.96 |
151.85 |
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| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
87.17 |
131.54 |
137.33 |
149.93 |
169.88 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
87.38 |
130.60 |
135.79 |
146.33 |
169.10 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
68.70 |
117.66 |
123.59 |
146.68 |
159.35 |
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| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
81.77 |
109.63 |
113.54 |
122.89 |
139.90 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
80.60 |
109.01 |
112.13 |
120.13 |
140.01 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
70.95 |
115.48 |
121.78 |
137.32 |
145.32 |
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| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
106.62 |
106.59 |
106.78 |
107.48 |
113.70 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
104.88 |
105.10 |
105.13 |
105.57 |
112.46 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
131.55 |
130.66 |
130.58 |
130.32 |
129.33 |
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| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
27.71 |
27.70 |
27.71 |
27.71 |
27.40 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
25.18 |
27.40 |
27.33 |
27.09 |
27.09 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 1, 2 Drives |
25.16 |
26.29 |
26.37 |
26.40 |
26.09 |
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The 7410's scores again virtually match those of the 6400. The only difference is the 7410's extremely high CPU utilization in the Sequential Write test. As outlined the table below, there's some type of issue (a driver issue, most likely) with CPU usage in this particular test.
| IOMeter - Sequential Write Pattern - CPU Utilization |
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The 7410's 6400-like RAID 1 performance may disappoint some, yet it's probably unreasonable to expect significantly higher RAID 1 random IO performance than that delivered by these two cards. It may seem that the optimal case would be a 2x performance improvement relative to a single drive; however, this is an impossibility since all SR IOMeter tests include a certain percentage of writes. Before a write can occur in a RAID 1 array, both drives must seek to the location of the write. This is an issue since, when a given write isn't preceded by a write (the usual case in our IOMeter tests since a large majority of IO's are reads), each drive's read/write head sits at a different location before the write. Therefore, since the write cannot complete until 2 separate read/write heads seek to the proper location (as opposed to a just single head in a single-drive configuration), the average access time for such a write in a RAID 1 array is higher than that of a single drive.
With the above in mind, the Escalade 7410 scores no better than the 6400 in RAID 1 due to the very nature of RAID 1 itself as opposed to any shortcomings of the adapter. Testing this theory, we took our Workstation access pattern (normally 80% reads and 20% writes), changed it to 100% reads, and ran it on a both a RAID 1 array and a single drive. Comparing these results to the Workstation results given above (which, of course, used an 80/20 read/write ratio) should shed some light on this issue.
| Intel IOMeter - 3Ware Escalade 7410 |
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Results above confirm our suspicions. Note that when all IO's are reads and multiple IO's are outstanding, the Escalade 7410 performs twice as well in RAID 1 than it does with a single drive. This indicates that the 7410's RAID 1 load balancing feature (a.k.a. TwinStor) is capable of delivering a "perfect" 2x performance increase in RAID 1. Adding writes to the access pattern, however, reduces the card's RAID 1 performance significantly.
RAID 10...
| IOMeter - RAID 10/01 with 4 Drives |
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| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
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| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
75.01 |
176.90 |
197.87 |
216.07 |
247.23 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
75.71 |
175.31 |
198.03 |
212.61 |
248.84 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 01, 4 Drives |
65.75 |
174.74 |
191.14 |
226.44 |
247.90 |
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| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
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| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
86.34 |
198.34 |
228.41 |
249.93 |
283.44 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
86.41 |
196.96 |
227.13 |
245.82 |
284.57 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 01, 4 Drives |
68.41 |
179.67 |
198.49 |
237.18 |
258.64 |
|
| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
81.18 |
178.29 |
192.74 |
208.61 |
238.42 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
80.97 |
176.52 |
190.55 |
203.78 |
238.25 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 01, 4 Drives |
72.16 |
180.54 |
194.88 |
225.38 |
242.80 |
|
| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
185.73 |
186.26 |
186.38 |
187.52 |
193.09 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
180.68 |
180.83 |
181.90 |
183.11 |
191.90 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 01, 4 Drives |
179.04 |
181.98 |
181.84 |
183.27 |
192.58 |
|
| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
30.29 |
31.46 |
31.47 |
31.45 |
31.38 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 10, 4 Drives |
24.94 |
31.26 |
31.22 |
26.94 |
26.93 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 01, 4 Drives |
1.74 |
1.60 |
1.60 |
1.61 |
1.58 |
|
|
As the 7410 scores performs identically to the 6400 in both RAID 0 and RAID 1, logic predicts similarity in RAID 10. Indeed this is the case - there are no significant performance differences between the two cards save for somewhat lower sequential write performance for the 7410 under certain loads. Unfortunately, high CPU usage is also present here, as shown by the table below.
| IOMeter - Sequential Write Pattern - CPU Utilization |
|---|
|
|
|
|
RAID 5...
| IOMeter - RAID 5 with 3 Drives |
|---|
|
|
|
| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
54.82 |
98.35 |
105.63 |
112.76 |
138.97 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
56.44 |
100.12 |
106.70 |
113.50 |
142.53 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
66.32 |
122.21 |
130.61 |
151.12 |
164.25 |
|
| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
62.84 |
112.45 |
119.90 |
127.68 |
154.92 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
64.22 |
115.61 |
123.74 |
129.52 |
156.32 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
76.09 |
141.62 |
150.58 |
179.30 |
190.23 |
|
| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
51.04 |
83.21 |
88.12 |
92.54 |
113.08 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
52.89 |
85.09 |
90.11 |
93.16 |
116.71 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
73.08 |
116.90 |
125.97 |
141.94 |
148.81 |
|
| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
35.52 |
42.22 |
43.10 |
45.90 |
55.24 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
39.27 |
44.08 |
44.92 |
47.50 |
58.80 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
93.43 |
93.33 |
93.44 |
93.07 |
93.85 |
|
| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
3.51 |
5.00 |
4.74 |
4.77 |
4.86 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
4.56 |
28.48 |
30.43 |
25.95 |
25.94 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
12.44 |
13.74 |
13.82 |
13.82 |
12.98 |
|
|
| IOMeter - RAID 5 with 4 Drives |
|---|
|
|
|
| File Server Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
55.75 |
115.98 |
134.94 |
141.66 |
175.44 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
57.26 |
118.00 |
137.73 |
145.23 |
179.86 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
66.28 |
139.72 |
154.54 |
179.89 |
191.18 |
|
| Workstation Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
63.37 |
127.75 |
154.47 |
161.40 |
196.46 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
65.42 |
130.68 |
156.99 |
163.34 |
198.57 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
75.69 |
155.76 |
175.87 |
208.73 |
219.65 |
|
| Database Access Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
52.35 |
104.08 |
112.22 |
116.31 |
142.01 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
54.27 |
106.92 |
113.91 |
118.18 |
146.63 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
72.85 |
131.06 |
142.63 |
160.55 |
167.44 |
|
| Random Write Pattern - Total I/Os per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
37.81 |
53.79 |
55.00 |
57.61 |
69.41 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
40.83 |
55.34 |
56.44 |
59.38 |
73.42 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
95.45 |
95.11 |
95.19 |
95.54 |
95.57 |
|
| Sequential Write Pattern - Total MBs per second |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
3.12 |
5.59 |
5.38 |
5.39 |
5.40 |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
4.69 |
12.66 |
25.92 |
23.01 |
21.82 |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
12.33 |
13.73 |
13.71 |
13.70 |
13.54 |
|
|
In the Workstation, File Server, Database, and Random Write tests, scores between the two Escalades are very similar: the 7410 consistently comes in about 2% higher than the 6400. Sequential write performance is another story, as the 7410 scores upwards of 5 times higher than the 6400 overall. This very impressive increase propels the 7410 far above any other tested ATA RAID adapters.
However, the Escalade 7410's RAID 5 performance in the other 4 tests may disappoint most readers given 3Ware's claims of superior RAID 5 for the 7410 relative to the 6400. As it stands, the 7410's overall RAID 5 performance trails that of the ATA RAID 2400A by a significant margin.
Interestingly, the CPU usage issue witnessed in RAID 1 and RAID 10 is also present in RAID 5:
| IOMeter - Sequential Write Pattern - CPU Utilization |
|---|
|
|
|
| RAID 5 with 3 Drives |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
3.93 % |
6.32 % |
98.19 % |
98.58 % |
99.27 % |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
5.30 % |
43.52 % |
46.51 % |
100.00 % |
100.00 % |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 3 Drives |
1.07 % |
1.46 % |
1.16 % |
1.09 % |
1.31 % |
|
| RAID 5 with 4 Drives |
|---|
| All Loads | Linear | Very Light | Light | Moderate | Heavy |
|---|
|
| 3Ware Escalade 6400, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
3.43 % |
7.06 % |
98.42 % |
98.75 % |
99.31 % |
| 3Ware Escalade 7410, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
5.23 % |
17.69 % |
39.18 % |
100.00 % |
100.00 % |
| Adaptec ATA RAID 2400A, RAID 5, 4 Drives |
1.13 % |
1.49 % |
1.15 % |
1.16 % |
1.36 % |
|
|
This issue should be resolved in a future driver and/or firmware release.
RAID 5 + Writes = Performance Disaster?
How much can increased RAID 5 write speeds improve the 7410's overall RAID 5 performance? Quite a bit... We believe that write performance prevents the 7410's RAID 5 performance from matching (or even exceeding) that of the ATA RAID 2400A. To get an idea of the extent to which the inclusion of writes negatively effect the 7410's RAID 5 performance, we ran our Workstation access pattern on a 4-drive RAID 5 array with varying read/write ratios. Normally, this access pattern entails an 80/20 read to write ratio. In the tests below, we ran this access pattern 10 times - starting with a 100/0 ratio and concluding with a 0/100 ratio. So, the first run used a 100/0 ratio (all reads), the second run used a 90/10 ratio (90% reads, 10% writes), and so on up until the 10th run which was all writes.
For each of the 5 graphs below (1 graph per load level), the X axis represents the percentage of writes while the Y axis represents the number of IO's per second achieved.
Note that, particularly as load increases, the largest decrease in performance occurs when going from 0% writes to 10% writes. For example, under heavy load, going from 0% to 10% writes decreases performance by an amazing 26%. Adding another 10% worth of writes (bringing the mix of reads/writes back to the usual 80/20) does another 22% worth of damage. However, as the percentage of writes continues to increase, performance begins to level off. This, quite simply, is because most of the damage has already been done by that point.
Conclusion...
The Escalade 7410 is somewhat of a mixed bag. Those who demand high sequential IO performance will appreciate the adapters's 64-bit PCI support. Although we weren't able to test the card in a 64-bit PCI slot, there's little doubt that it can deliver sequential transfer rates significantly higher than what a 32-bit/33MHz PCI bus allows.
When it comes to random IO performance, the Escalade 7410 currently brings very little performance improvement relative to Escalade 6400. In RAID 0, 1, and 01, this may not be too surprising. (Hindsight is always 20/20, no?) After all, it may not be unreasonable to take a "The Escalade 6400 performs so well that we can't fault the Escalade 7410 for not doing better" type of attitude for these RAID levels.
RAID 5, however, is another story. Although the 7410 features significantly higher RAID 5 sequential write performance relative to the 6400, its overall RAID 5 performance remains disappointing. We hoped for significantly improved scores - what we received, however, was a performance increase averaging only 2%. We are hopeful that these numbers can be improved sometime in the future by new firmware and/or drivers. If this turns out to be the case, we'll take another look at the 7410's performance at that time.
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|
