Verifying the Napatech Link-Storage™ Software Configuration

Use this information to test writing from the host to the attached disks on the target server using the fio tool.

1. On the host, load the drivers.

   host# modprobe virtio-pci
   host# modprobe virtio-blk

   Loading these drivers enables the kernel on the host to connect to the virtio block devices.
2. Verify block devices.

   host# lsblk

   An output example:

   NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
   sda      8:0    0 447.1G  0 disk 
   ├─sda1   8:1    0   600M  0 part /boot/efi
   ├─sda2   8:2    0     1G  0 part /boot
   ├─sda3   8:3    0   400G  0 part /
   └─sda4   8:4    0  45.5G  0 part [SWAP]
   vda    251:0    0 931.5G  0 disk 
   vdb    251:16   0 931.5G  0 disk 
   vdc    251:32   0 931.5G  0 disk 
   vdd    251:48   0 931.5G  0 disk 
   vde    251:64   0   256M  0 disk 
   vdf    251:80   0   256M  0 disk 
   vdg    251:96   0   256M  0 disk 
   vdh    251:112  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdi    251:128  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdj    251:144  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdk    251:160  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdl    251:176  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdm    251:192  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdn    251:208  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdo    251:224  0   256M  0 disk 
   vdp    251:240  0   256M  0 disk

   Block devices vd*, where * is a,b,c ..., p are present in the output.
3. Install the fio tool.
   For example:

   host# dnf group install "Development Tools"
   host# dnf install libaio-devel
   host# git clone git://git.kernel.dk/fio.git
   host# cd fio
   host#  ./configure
   host#  make
   host#  make install

4. On the host, create a job file.

   host# vim fio_nvme.config

   An example of the job file:

   [global]
   thread=1
   direct=1
   invalidate=1
   ioengine=libaio
   norandommap=1
   group_reporting=1
   bs=4k
   rw=randwrite
   iodepth=256
   numjobs=1
   time_based=1
   runtime=30
   ramp_time=10
   size=5000G
   [test0]
   filename=/dev/vda
   filename=/dev/vdb
   filename=/dev/vdc
   filename=/dev/vdd
   filename=/dev/vde
   filename=/dev/vdf
   filename=/dev/vdg
   filename=/dev/vdh
   filename=/dev/vdi
   filename=/dev/vdj
   filename=/dev/vdk
   filename=/dev/vdl
   filename=/dev/vdm
   filename=/dev/vdn
   filename=/dev/vdo
   filename=/dev/vdp

   This configuration sets up a fio test to perform random write I/O operations on multiple block devices (/dev/vda to /dev/vdp) simultaneously for 30 seconds. For detailed information on the parameters, see Job file parameters.
5. Run the test using the fio tool.
   For example:

   host# ./fio fio_nvme.config

   An output example:

   test0: (g=0): rw=randwrite, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=256
   fio-3.34-302-g5ae4
   Starting 1 thread
   Jobs: 1 (f=0): [f(1)][100.0%][w=870MiB/s][w=223k IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
   test0: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=30905: Thu Feb 29 16:48:23 2024
     write: IOPS=223k, BW=871MiB/s (913MB/s)(25.5GiB/30001msec); 0 zone resets
       slat (nsec): min=868, max=119179, avg=2035.79, stdev=2039.17
       clat (usec): min=377, max=2547, avg=1146.55, stdev=207.60
        lat (usec): min=378, max=2548, avg=1148.59, stdev=207.57
       clat percentiles (usec):
        |  1.00th=[  717],  5.00th=[  824], 10.00th=[  881], 20.00th=[  963],
        | 30.00th=[ 1020], 40.00th=[ 1090], 50.00th=[ 1139], 60.00th=[ 1205],
        | 70.00th=[ 1254], 80.00th=[ 1336], 90.00th=[ 1418], 95.00th=[ 1500],
        | 99.00th=[ 1631], 99.50th=[ 1680], 99.90th=[ 1778], 99.95th=[ 1811],
        | 99.99th=[ 1926]
      bw (  KiB/s): min=853469, max=911951, per=100.00%, avg=892469.60, stdev=14746.85, samples=60
      iops        : min=213367, max=227987, avg=223117.12, stdev=3686.68, samples=60
     lat (usec)   : 500=0.01%, 750=1.66%, 1000=24.45%
     lat (msec)   : 2=73.88%, 4=0.01%
     cpu          : usr=10.26%, sys=45.74%, ctx=88631, majf=0, minf=294
     IO depths    : 1=0.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=100.0%
        submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
        complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.1%
        issued rwts: total=0,6685438,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
        latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=256
   
   Run status group 0 (all jobs):
     WRITE: bw=871MiB/s (913MB/s), 871MiB/s-871MiB/s (913MB/s-913MB/s), io=25.5GiB (27.4GB), run=30001-30001msec
   
   Disk stats (read/write):
     vda: ios=261/555143, sectors=2088/4441144, merge=0/0, ticks=380/549161, in_queue=549541, util=99.68%
     vdb: ios=256/555141, sectors=2048/4441128, merge=0/0, ticks=390/540597, in_queue=540987, util=99.70%
     vdc: ios=89/555146, sectors=712/4441168, merge=0/0, ticks=218/559405, in_queue=559624, util=99.71%
     vdd: ios=0/555150, sectors=0/4441200, merge=0/0, ticks=0/560313, in_queue=560313, util=99.71%
     vde: ios=0/555150, sectors=0/4441200, merge=0/0, ticks=0/561803, in_queue=561804, util=99.77%
     vdf: ios=0/555146, sectors=0/4441168, merge=0/0, ticks=0/582119, in_queue=582120, util=99.78%
     vdg: ios=0/555146, sectors=0/4441168, merge=0/0, ticks=0/613747, in_queue=613748, util=99.82%
     vdh: ios=0/555146, sectors=0/4441168, merge=0/0, ticks=0/615689, in_queue=615689, util=99.81%
     vdi: ios=0/555146, sectors=0/4441168, merge=0/0, ticks=0/625745, in_queue=625745, util=99.84%
     vdj: ios=0/555144, sectors=0/4441152, merge=0/0, ticks=0/632929, in_queue=632930, util=99.89%
     vdk: ios=0/555144, sectors=0/4441152, merge=0/0, ticks=0/656894, in_queue=656894, util=99.93%
     vdl: ios=0/555144, sectors=0/4441152, merge=0/0, ticks=0/651981, in_queue=651981, util=99.97%
     vdm: ios=0/555149, sectors=0/4441192, merge=0/0, ticks=0/637146, in_queue=637147, util=99.99%
     vdn: ios=0/555149, sectors=0/4441192, merge=0/0, ticks=0/623780, in_queue=623780, util=100.00%
     vdo: ios=0/555150, sectors=0/4441200, merge=0/0, ticks=0/521661, in_queue=521661, util=100.00%
     vdp: ios=0/555149, sectors=0/4441192, merge=0/0, ticks=0/517681, in_queue=517682, util=100.00%

   The output indicates the performance of the write test (random writes) conducted on the specified block devices. The Run status group 0 section provides an overview of the statistics for all jobs in group 0, including the write bandwidth, total I/O size and duration of the test. For detailed information on the output, see Interpreting the output.