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Delphix

Delphix Support for AWS i3 and r4 Instances (KBA1731)

 

 


Note

Note:

This document is no longer relevant, due to changes in AWS Instance support; i3.* instance types are unsupported from 6.0.2.0 onward

This document is maintained for historical reference.

KBA

KBA# 1731

Applicable Delphix Versions

This article applies to the following versions of the Delphix Engine:

Major Release

All Sub Releases

5.2 5.2.5.0, 5.2.5.1, 5.2.6.0, 5.2.6.1

Issue 

Customer benefits of AWS i3 and r4 instances

In the 5.2.5 release, Delphix has added support for the AWS i3 and r4 instances. These instance types are the next-generation of the AWS i2 and r3 instance types respectively and are more cost-effective in addition to several performance benefits for our customers.

Customers leveraging these next-generation instances i3 and r4 with the Delphix Dynamic Data Platform will notice performance improvements and faster product operations in most scenarios. However, there are some known issues with the network performance/throughput. Following is the recommended remediation plan.

Troubleshooting 

What are the areas customers would see performance regressions?

As stated earlier, network performance/throughput is the only area with a performance impact. Based on a review of performance data by the Delphix R&D team, we have found out the following:

  1. AWS i[3.2|3.4]xlarge and r[4.2|4.4]xlarge instances would meet the network performance requirements of the majority of our Oracle and SQL Server customers use cases.

  2. Network intensive applications/workloads can leverage [r4|i3].8xlarge instances. However, Delphix may not be able to achieve the advertised 10Gbps network bandwidth for these larger instance types.

Customers may see an impact on the following applications/use cases:

  1. Data Warehouse used for year/quarter/month-end reporting due to a spike in network traffic to access and transfer data.

  2. SAP BW systems: Based on historical data, we believe that this problem may be more frequent with some Oracle and HANA use cases, and less frequent with SQL Server.

  3. Bulk data load use cases such as those during mergers or acquisitions, which often include several concurrent database updates.  

  4. High volume workloads and read/write intensive applications such as those seen in financial services dealing with market changes, or credit card transactions.  

 

We wanted to reiterate that the Delphix team is ready to assist you. If you have questions about your specific workload and performance characteristics, please reach out to your Account Team for next steps.

Resolution 

How can customers maximize their network performance?

Our recommendations to maximize network performance when using these instances with Delphix is as below:

  • Jumbo frames must be enabled

  • Use dNFS with Oracle databases

 

Delphix is considering the following enhancements in future versions

  • For SQL Server databases, we are looking to certify the Multiple Connector Service (MCS) for iSCSI.

  • Support for Amazon enhanced networking.

For specific time frames, please reach out to your Account Team to set up a roadmap session with Product Management.

 

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