Red Hat Puts Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 to the Test

When we released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 in November 2010, we discussed the many performance improvements featured in the release – these included improvements in network rates, multi-user filesystem workloads and virtualization I/O enhancements allowing for increased consolidation while simultaneously reducing I/O overhead in comparison to baremetal.

Today, we’re excited to announce that in internal testing conducted by Red Hat engineering, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 has set a new standard in storage performance. The combination of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Intel-based systems and Fusion-io Solid State Storage devices delivered results measuring 30 percent faster performance than previously published results* based on proprietary systems.

Database performance is often dependent on fast data throughput from storage. In order to test the capabilities of the latest hardware and operating system, Red Hat engineering simulated scaling up of a database workload on the some of the latest industry-standard systems. Our internal results showed 1.32 million IO/second for 8KB reads, a 30 percent jump over previously reported results.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 is optimized for managing complex systems with increased core counts, large memory and high-throughput networking. Red Hat engineering tested the scalability and balance of the platform and operating system by systematically increasing both the workload and the storage. Running on commercially available Intel Boxboro EX 32-core (64 way with HT) and 128GB of memory, the raw performance scaled with eight Fusion-io ioDrive Duo cards to match the peak capabilities of the cards at 2. Million IO/sec at 1KB to achieve a sustained throughput of 12.5GB/s at transfer sizes greater than 16KB.

Pushing systems to their limits during internal testing benefits our customers in multiple ways. This offers customers an example of how to get the most from their hardware investments, while also demonstrating the stability offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux under extreme loads. The results of this internal performance test place Red Hat Enterprise Linux among the leaders in operating platform data performance.

We worked closely with Fusion-io on the performance testing, and Tyler Smith, vice president of Alliances at Fusion-io, said this:
Close collaboration with Red Hat in the early engineering phases has helped to leverage Fusion’s ioMemory to deliver optimized application performance on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. We expect the Red Hat Enterprise Linux community will benefit greatly from these efforts and we’re proud that our work with Red Hat’s outstanding team is delivering such impressive results.

For more information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux, visit www.redhat.com.

*As reported in Enterprise Storage Forum