If your organization uses VMware virtualization software, you want to make sure that you’re getting optimal performance from your VMware vSphere datastores. Benchmarking tools can help you assess the performance of your storage infrastructure, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions to enhance efficiency. In this blog post, we’ll explore three powerful tools that you can use to benchmark your VMware vSphere datastores: HCI Bench, IOmeter, and VDBench.
There are more tools out there but, in this article, I’m focusing on those three only. Additionally, you can also use your native platform tools to test performance of your storage. Many, if not all, storage vendors have built-in tools to do performance monitoring or capacity planning.
HCI-Bench
HCI-Bench (Hyper-converged Infrastructure Benchmark) is an automation wrapper around popular open-source benchmark tools like VDBench and Fio. It simplifies and accelerates performance testing across hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) clusters, making it an excellent choice for benchmarking VMware vSphere datastores.
Features:
Automation – HCI-Bench automates the end-to-end process of deploying test VMs, coordinating workload runs, aggregating test results, and performing performance analysis.
Custom Workloads – Users can create highly customizable workloads to simulate various I/O operations, including random and sequential reads and writes.
Detailed Metrics – The tool provides detailed performance metrics, including IOPS, latency, and throughput.
Cross-Platform Compatibility – HCI-Bench can be used on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Data Integrity – It helps validate storage performance and data integrity, making it useful for troubleshooting and identifying data corruption issues.
How to Use:
Download the HCI-Bench appliance from the Github website and deploy it in your vSphere environment.
Configuration – Configure the tool by specifying the target datastore, workload parameters, and test VMs.
Running Tests – Execute the benchmarking tests and monitor the performance metrics.
Analysis – Analyze the results to identify any performance issues and optimize your storage configuration.
Use Cases:
- Performance Validation – Validate the performance of your VMware vSphere datastores and ensure they meet the required performance standards.
- Troubleshooting – Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks and data integrity issues.
- Optimization – Fine-tune your storage configuration to achieve optimal performance.
IOmeter
Overview – IOmeter is an open-source benchmarking tool that has been widely used in the IT industry for many years. It is probably one of the oldest tools out there.
It is highly versatile and can be used to benchmark various types of storage systems, local disks, in-guest disks or VMware vSphere datastores.
Key Features:
Flexibility – IOmeter supports a wide range of storage protocols and configurations, making it suitable for diverse benchmarking scenarios.
Custom Workloads – Users can create custom workloads to simulate different types of I/O operations, such as random or sequential reads and writes.
Detailed Reporting – The tool provides detailed performance reports, including metrics like IOPS, latency, and throughput.
How to Use:
Installation – Download and install IOmeter on a virtual machine within your vSphere environment.
Configuration – Make sure to read the tool’s manual before trying some configs. Configure the tool by specifying the target datastore and workload parameters.
Running Tests – Start the benchmarking tests and monitor the performance metrics.
Analysis – Review the detailed performance reports to identify any performance issues and optimize your storage configuration.
Use Cases:
- Performance Benchmarking – Measure the performance of your VMware vSphere datastores under different workloads.
- Comparative Analysis – Compare the performance of different storage configurations to determine the best setup for your environment.
- Capacity Planning – Evaluate the impact of adding new workloads or expanding your storage infrastructure.
One last tool I wanted to talk today. It’s called VDBench.
VDBench
VDBench is a command-line utility designed to generate synthetic disk I/O workloads for benchmarking storage performance. It is highly customizable and can be used to validate and optimize the performance of VMware vSphere datastores.
VDBench can generate a wide variety of controlled storage I/O workloads, allowing control over workload parameters: I/O rate, LUN or file sizes, transfer sizes, thread count, volume count, volume skew, read/write ratios, read and write cache hit percentages, and also random or sequential workloads.
Screenshot from the user manual.
Key Features:
- Custom Workloads – VDBench allows users to create highly customizable workloads to simulate various I/O operations, including random and sequential reads and writes.
- Detailed Metrics – The tool provides detailed performance metrics, including IOPS, latency, and throughput.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility – VDBench can be run on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
- Data Integrity – It helps validate storage performance and data integrity, making it useful for troubleshooting and identifying data corruption issues.
How to Use:
Download VDBench from the official Oracle website and install it on a virtual machine within your vSphere environment.
VDBench comes packaged as a zip file which contains everything you need for Windows and Linux.
Configuration – Configure the tool by creating input files that define the storage devices, workloads, and test parameters.
Running Tests – Execute the benchmarking tests and monitor the performance metrics.
Analysis: Analyze the results to identify any performance issues and optimize your storage configuration.
Use Cases:
- Performance Validation – Validate the performance of your VMware vSphere datastores and ensure they meet the required performance standards.
- Troubleshooting – Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks and data integrity issues.
- Optimization – Fine-tune your storage configuration to achieve optimal performance.
Final Words
Benchmarking your VMware vSphere datastores is essential for maintaining optimal performance and ensuring a smooth operation of your virtualized environment. HCI-Bench, IOmeter, and VDBench are three powerful tools that can help you achieve this goal.
By using these tools, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your storage infrastructure, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions to optimize your VMware vSphere datastores.
As I said, depending on your virtualization platform and storage you are using, you might need other tools, but those one mentioned here should fit most environments. I hope you find this updated blog post helpful.
