Speeding time to insight: The Dell PowerEdge C6620 with Dell PERC 12 RAID controller for Apache Cassandra big data workloads

Speeding time to insight: The Dell PowerEdge
C6620 with Dell PERC 12 RAID controller for
Apache Cassandra big data workloads
The new PowerEdge C6620 delivered better performance—both higher
throughput and lower latency—than a previous-generation PowerEdge
C6520 with PERC 11
Overview
Every day, individuals and organizations generate massive quantities of data, from text messages to
location data to information from sensors on factory floors and beyond. This rapid proliferation of data
offers enormous opportunities: If businesses can extract insights from that data, they can use it to improve
their operations, grow their customer base, and provide a better experience to those customers.
That task is not simple, however. Much of this data is unstructured, meaning that it comes in many
formats that traditional data models, such as SQL databases, cannot process. Processing and analyzing
unstructured data may require different methods, such as utilizing a NoSQL database like Apache®
Cassandra®
. Organizations can use NoSQL databases to store, mine, and analyze unstructured data in its
many forms and gain actionable information.
To efficiently analyze such large quantities of data, however, they need a powerful computing solution
running the database system. Investing in newer server solutions with updated processing, storage,
and networking components can offer greater performance and enable companies to get to those vital
insights faster. To highlight the advantages of moving from an older server solution to a new one for big
data workloads, we tested Apache Cassandra performance on a new Dell™
PowerEdge™
C6620 with
a Broadcom®
-based Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 12 and an older Dell PowerEdge C6520
with Dell PERC 11. On multiple performance metrics, the newer Dell PowerEdge C6620 with PERC 12
delivered stronger performance than its predecessor, offering businesses the chance to increase the
value of their data and realize its benefits more quickly.
Speeding time to insight: The Dell PowerEdge C6620 with Dell PERC 12 RAID controller
for Apache Cassandra big data workloads
October 2023
A Principled Technologies report: Hands-on testing. Real-world results.

About the Dell PowerEdge C6620 server
Part of the Dell modular infrastructure PowerEdge C-Series, Dell says the PowerEdge C6620
is “designed for compute-intensive workloads” but also “ideal for IOPS-heavy workloads.”1
It features up to two 4th
Generation Intel®
Xeon®
Scalable processors, with up to 56 cores per
processor; offers memory speeds of up to 4,800 MT/s; and supports up to 16 NVMe®
drives
for workload acceleration. Optional liquid cooling is also available.
To learn more about the Dell PowerEdge C6620, visit https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/
enterprise-products/c6620-two-socket-server-node-intel/spd/poweredge-c6620.
Image provided by Dell
Testing the Dell PowerEdge C6620 with Broadcom-based
PERC 12
If you’re still relying on servers you purchased several years ago, it can be helpful to understand exactly
how much you could gain by upgrading to a newer solution. We designed our testing to quantify the
benefits of upgrading from older to latest-generation servers for organizations relying on Cassandra
workloads for critical operations.
Our configurations
To set up our test environment, we installed VMware®
vSphere®
8 on both servers. We then configured
a separate infrastructure server with VMware ESXi™
and VMware vCenter®
to manage the servers and to
host client VMs that ran our test workload against our databases. The Dell PowerEdge C6620 server with
Broadcom-based PERC 12 used two Dell U2 Gen4 NVMe®
3.84TB drives, while the Dell PowerEdge C6520
server with PERC 11 used six 960GB mixed-use SAS 12Gbps SFF drives. (See Table 1 for more details of
our configuration.)
October 2023 | 2

Table 1: System configurations we used in our testing. Source: Principled Technologies.
Server configuration information Dell PowerEdge C6520 Dell PowerEdge C6620
Processors
2x Intel Xeon Gold 6330
28 cores, 2GHz
2x Intel Xeon Platinum 8452Y
36 cores, 2GHz
Storage controller PERC H750 Adapter, 8GB cache PERC H965i Adapter, 8GB cache
Disks
6x 960GB Toshiba PX05SVB096Y
(12Gb SAS SSDs)
2x 3.84TB Dell Enterprise NVMe v2
AGN RI U.2 (NVMe SSDs)
Total memory in system (GB) 512
OS and version number VMware ESXi 8.0.0, 20513097
On each server, we created a Cassandra gold VM and cloned it five times to create a total of six VMs,
which we joined in a cluster configuration. We then used the Yahoo Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB) to
create a 100GB database across the six VMs to take advantage of the distributed database functionality
of Cassandra, ran YCSB workload B for 30 minutes, and recorded the results. In the results we highlight
below, we provide two perspectives on the performance of each setup: the total throughput and the
average read and write latency. Both results reflect the performance across all six VMs.
Why YCSB?
YCSB is an industry-standard benchmark for NoSQL databases. In 2010, a group from Yahoo! Research
created it with “the goal of facilitating performance comparisons of the new generation of cloud data
serving systems.”2
It is open source, meaning that anyone can access and modify the source code.
In a recent interview, contributors to the YCSB open-source community note that it “is rather largely
accepted by users” and “represents a series of scenarios that can be abstracted from the real world.”3
Apache Cassandra was one of the first four databases that the YCSB creators tested with the benchmark
in 2010, and YCSB remains a good fit for testing Cassandra performance today.4
YCSB functions by letting users create a database populated with synthetic data on their database
system of choice. Users can then run a pre-defined or customized workload against the database to
gauge system performance. YCSB offers six core workloads, each of which represents a different type
of database work. Our testing used the read-intensive workload B. This workload is 95 percent reads
(pulling data from a database) and 5 percent writes (adding to or changing data in a database). YCSB
gives one application example as photo tagging, where a user might occasionally add a tag to a photo
(write) but will mostly search a library of tagged photos (read).5
A solution that offers higher performance
on YCSB workload B is likely to improve performance on other read-intensive workloads, such as data
analysis. We chose this workload to focus on reading and analyzing a database.
October 2023 | 3

See higher throughput and lower latency with the Dell
PowerEdge C6620 with Broadcom-based PERC 12
Our testing with YCSB yielded three metrics: read
latency, update (or write) latency, and throughput
(measured in operations per second). The Dell
PowerEdge C6620 with Broadcom-based PERC 12
offered stronger performance than the PowerEdge
C6520 with PERC 11 on all three metrics, indicating that
an upgrade can help speed your Cassandra workloads.
On the first and second metrics, read latency and
update latency, the Dell PowerEdge C6620 was
significantly faster than its previous-generation
counterpart. Read latency measures the delay between
the application requesting a piece of data and the
database system delivering it; update latency measures
the delay between the application changing or adding
a piece of data and the database system completing
the action. The shorter these delays, the faster a
solution will be at completing user-facing requests,
such as retrieving a customer’s buying history when a
store manager searches for it, and larger workloads,
such as running analysis on a set of tens of thousands
of data points.
On the surface, the differences in latency between
the two solutions are very small: 0.49 milliseconds
for read latency and 0.57 milliseconds for update
latency. On a single operation, a delay of less than
a millisecond would be impossible for a human to
notice. But the database system isn’t handling just
one operation—it’s handling thousands or millions of
operations all at once. Our YCSB testing, for example,
set the maxexecutiontime variable (or how long the
benchmark should run) to 30 minutes. This means that
at the Dell PowerEdge C6620 server’s rate of 249,210
operations per second (which we show in Figure 3),
it executed over 400 million operations during the
30-minute test. As tiny differences in latency scales up,
they become very significant indeed. And the shorter
these delays, the faster a solution will be at completing
both user-facing requests, such as retrieving a
customer’s buying history when a store manager
searches for it, and larger workloads, such as running
analysis on a set of tens of thousands of data points.
About the Dell PERC 12
RAID controller
The Dell PowerEdge C6620 we tested
features the PERC 12, which offers a single
front controller with full RAID support for
both NVMe and SAS.6
It brings 3,200MHz
cache memory speed and a 16-lane host
bus type and supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5,
6, 10, 50, and 60.7
The Dell PERC 12 is based on the
Broadcom SAS4116W series chip.
According to Broadcom, “this eighth-
generation SAS RAID-on-Chip (ROC) is
based on the industry-leading Fusion-MPT
architecture and features Tri-Mode SerDes
technology that enables a seamless
operation of up to 16-wide direct-connect
NVMe, SAS or SATA storage devices from
any system design.…The Tri-Mode ROC
device with 16-wide PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes
provides SAS data transfer rates of 22.5,
12, 6Gb/s per lane and 6Gb/s SATA data
transfer rates per lane. The high-port count
ROC helps eliminate storage bottlenecks
with support of x8, x4, x2, and x1 PCI
Express®
lanes and complies with the PCIe
4.0 specification, offering up to 6 million
IOPS (random reads) and up to 900,000
IOPS in RAID (random writes).”8
To learn more about the Dell PERC 12, visit
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/p/
dell-poweredge-raid-controller-12/.
October 2023 | 4

On the third metric, throughput, the Dell PowerEdge C6620 delivered 1.25 times as many operations
per second as the previous-generation PowerEdge C6520. This increase in throughput is what we would
expect to see based on the lower latencies: If a system is able to process operations faster (i.e., with
lower latency), it will also boost how many operations the system can handle in a given time (i.e., better
throughput). With greater throughput, depending on what read-intensive workloads your organization is
running, you might see faster video streaming, quicker recommendations for customers, or an increase
in the speed of users pulling up data.
NoSQL databases and Cassandra in today’s business landscape
For this study, we tested with Apache Cassandra, a widely used NoSQL database system. NoSQL,
or non-relational, databases are a category of database system that store and query data that do not
have a traditional data structure. Traditional SQL databases organize data in a column-row format for
finding or creating relationships across the data. To store data in a SQL database, all data in each table
must have the same structure and fit a pre-defined schema, with every row in each table including
the same columns and formats every time. NoSQL databases, however, can organize data more
dynamically. They can deal with data from documents, graphs, key-values, and more. This flexibility
lets people use them to analyze documents or data that don’t follow identical structuring formats. For
organizations that need to store and analyze unstructured data—which may include data from Internet
of Things (IoT) applications, audio, video, text files, social media posts, and more—a NoSQL database is
a great option.
Figure 3: Total operations per second the two solutions achieved on YCSB workload B. Higher is better.
Source: Principled Technologies.
Total operations per second on YCSB workload B
Higher is better
Dell PowerEdge C6620 with PERC 12 Dell PowerEdge C6520 with PERC 11
249,210.0
198,161.3
Figure 2: Average update latency the two solutions achieved on YCSB workload B. Lower is better. Source: Principled Technologies.
Average update latency on YCSB workload B
Milliseconds | Lower is better
1.29
1.86
Figure 1: Average read latency the two solutions achieved on YCSB workload B. Lower is better. Source: Principled Technologies.
Average read latency on YCSB workload B
Milliseconds | Lower is better
1.82
2.31
October 2023 | 5

There are many types of NoSQL database systems; Apache Cassandra is a type of key-value and wide-
column store. These databases have essentially two fields: One is the key, and the other is the value. The
value can be any type of data (text, numbers, etc.). Taking our previous example, a key-value database
could have some keys that correspond to a date, others that are numbers, and so on. A wide-column
database, which Cassandra uses, is a two-dimensional key-value database, where instead of mapping to
just one value, the keys can map to several columns of values.
Apache Cassandra is a distributed database, meaning that it can run on multiple nodes while acting as
a single entity. This makes it resilient and highly scalable. Its scalability, combined with the flexibility
afforded by its hybrid key-value/tabular model, allows it to handle many types of big data work very
well. Cassandra is also open-source and free, a compelling benefit for organizations seeking to save on
licensing fees.
The flexibility of Cassandra makes it suitable for a very large range of use cases. For example, Instagram
uses Cassandra to support its content feed, Spotify uses it to store playlist metadata, and Intuit uses it as
part of their largest production clusters supporting TurboTax.9,10,11
Common uses of Cassandra include:
• Analysis of customer data for personalization and recommendation, such as in ecommerce
environments and content sharing or streaming websites
• Storage and analysis of IoT data, such as data gathered from mobile and wearable devices,
environmental sensors, and edge devices
• Fraud detection, especially for financial organizations
• Messaging, such as for organizations’ internal messaging platforms
We chose to test with Cassandra in part because so many organizations rely on it for everyday
operations. Approximately 90 percent of Fortune 100 companies use Apache Cassandra in some
capacity.12
If your organization uses Cassandra or is considering doing so, to get the most value from it,
you will want to ensure that the solution backing your implementation offers high performance. As our
testing highlights, the Dell PowerEdge C6620 with Broadcom-based PERC 12 can deliver just that.
Dell PowerEdge servers: A proven history of strong Apache
Cassandra performance
In this study, we tested the Apache Cassandra performance of a new Dell PowerEdge C6620
server compared to an HPE ProLiant XL170r Gen9 server, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen
strong Cassandra performance on a latest-generation Dell server.
In 2019, we tested Apache Cassandra performance on a 14th
generation PowerEdge C-series
server, the Dell EMC PowerEdge C6420. Pitted against an older modular solution of HPE
ProLiant XL170r Gen9 server nodes, the PowerEdge C6420 accomplished double the amount
of work in the same amount of rack space.13
Two years prior, in 2017, we assessed a different
product line from the 14th
generation of PowerEdge servers—the Dell EMC PowerEdge FC640
server—and found that it delivered dramatically more throughput and consistently lower latency
than a legacy solution of PowerEdge R710 servers.14
October 2023 | 6

Conclusion
The vast amounts of unstructured data that people and organizations generate daily have the potential
to bring incredible value to companies that can utilize it quickly and correctly. Buried in the data are
insights about consumer preferences, product performance, environmental trends, and more—but to
access those insights at the speed of business, you need high-performing NoSQL databases. Aging
servers may be holding you back from the full value of your data.
We found that the new Dell PowerEdge C6620 with Broadcom-based PERC 12 RAID controller can
speed read-intensive Apache Cassandra database workloads compared to an older server solution.
Faster read and update latencies and higher throughput, as we saw the PowerEdge C6620 deliver,
can speed the retrieval, processing, and analysis of your unstructured data, enabling you to more
effectively extract its value. To more fully utilize your data to inform your everyday business operations,
consider the Dell PowerEdge C6620 with Broadcom-based PERC 12 RAID controller.
October 2023 | 7

This project was commissioned by Dell Technologies.
1. “PowerEdge C6620,” accessed June 23, 2023, https://www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/products/servers/
technical-support/poweredge-c6620-spec-sheet.pdf.
2. Brian F. Cooper, Adam Silberstein, Erwin Tam, Raghu Ramakrishnan, Russell Sears, “Benchmarking Cloud Serving
Systems with YCSB,” accessed June 23, 2023, https://courses.cs.duke.edu/fall13/compsci590.4/838-CloudPa-
pers/ycsb.pdf.
3. “The Ultimate YCSB Benchmark Guide (2021),” accessed June 23, 2023, https://benchant.com/blog/ycsb.
4. Brian F. Cooper, Adam Silberstein, Erwin Tam, Raghu Ramakrishnan, Russell Sears, “Benchmarking Cloud Serving
Systems with YCSB,” accessed June 23, 2023, https://courses.cs.duke.edu/fall13/compsci590.4/838-CloudPa-
pers/ycsb.pdf.
5. “brianfrankcooper/YCSB,” accessed June 23, 2023,
https://github.com/brianfrankcooper/YCSB/blob/master/doc/coreworkloads.html.
6. “Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller 12 User’s Guide PERC H965i Adapter, PERC H965i Front, and PERC H965i
MX,” accessed June 27, 2023, https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/perc-h965i-front/perc12/dell-tech-
nologies-poweredge-raid-controller-12?guid=guid-5889415d-b297-43a0-9197-113a56c33c79&lang=en-us.
7. “SAS4116W 24G SAS Tri-Mode RAID-on-Chip (ROC),” accessed June 27, 2023,
https://www.broadcom.com/products/storage/raid-on-chip/sas-4116w.
8. “SAS4116W 24G SAS Tri-Mode RAID-on-Chip (ROC).”
9. Instagram Engineering, “Open-sourcing a 10x reduction in Apache Cassandra tail latency,” accessed June 27,
2023, https://instagram-engineering.com/open-sourcing-a-10x-reduction-in-apache-cassandra-tail-latencyd-
64f86b43589.
10. Kinshuk Mishra and Matt Brown, “Personalization at Spotify using Cassandra,” accessed June 27, 2023,
https://engineering.atspotify.com/2015/01/personalization-at-spotify-using-cassandra/.
11. Denson Pokta, “Pronto! Intuit Releases First Open Source Cassandra Cluster Manager,” accessed June 27, 2023,
https://thenewstack.io/pronto-intuit-releases-first-open-source-cassandra-cluster-manager/.
12. Jeff Carpenter, “How the world caught up with Apache Cassandra,” accessed June 27, 2023,
https://techcrunch.com/sponsor/datastax/how-the-world-caught-up-with-apache-cassandra/.
13. “Move your private cloud to Dell EMC PowerEdge C6420 server nodes and boost Apache Cassandra database
analysis,” accessed June 23, 2023, https://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/Power-Edge-C6420-Apache-
Cassandra-1019-v2.pdf.
14. “Update your private cloud with 14th
generation Dell EMC PowerEdge FC640 servers and do more work in
less space,” accessed June 23, 2023, https://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/PowerEdge_FX2s_FC640_
Apache_Cassandra_1117.pdf.
Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc.
All other product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
For additional information, review the science behind this report.
Principled
Technologies®
Facts matter.®
Principled
Technologies®
Facts matter.®
Read the science behind this report at https://facts.pt/A5YAzMh
October 2023 | 8

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