Flash-Based MaxIQ Accelerates Web Server Performance by Up to 10x

Adaptec, Inc. released the results of third-party performance benchmark testing of its new MaxIQ SSD Cache Performance Solution in Web server environments.

AppLabs, an independent testing, quality management and certification solutions company, found that Adaptec MaxIQ (with MaxIQ SSD cache enabled) improved user response rates by six times, increased Web server throughput by four times, improved the ‘Time to First Byte’ by five times, and boosted average web page response times by more than 10 times when compared with a non-cached environment.

Adaptec’s MaxIQ SSD Cache Performance Solution integrates up to four tuned 32GB Intel X25-E Extreme SATA SSDs, with Adaptec’s MaxIQ SSD caching software and its Series 5Z, Series 5 or Series 2 Storage Controllers to provide I/O intensive data center and cloud computing customers with cost-effective scalability and increased performance without disrupting existing operations. It is the first solution for building and managing High-Performance Hybrid Arrays (HPHAs) – storage arrays using both solid-state drives and hard disk drives – which dramatically increase I/O performance, reduce capital and operating expenses by as much as 50 percent, and can deliver significant savings in power consumption over hard disk drive-only arrays.

AppLabs evaluated the performance of MaxIQ in its Web Server Testing Environment and found that throughput in megabits per second (Mbps) increased 4 times with MaxIQ SSD cache enabled. ‘Time to First Byte,’ the amount of time for a Web browser to initiate a request to the server and respond with data back to the browser, improved by five times. In addition, average web page response times and user response times saw a performance gain of up to 10 times that of similar environments without MaxIQ SSD caching installed. These improvements result in higher levels of system resource utilization and enable as many as two times more users per Web server, improving system level return-on-investment (ROI) and reducing data center sprawl.

AppLabs evaluated the performance of MaxIQ in its Web Server Testing Environment and found that throughput in megabits per second (Mbps) went from 29.4 Mbps with MaxIQ SSD cache disabled, to 107.0 Mbps with MaxIQ SSD cache enabled. ‘Time to First Byte,’ the amount of time for a Web browser to initiate a request from a Web server and for the Web server to respond with data back to the Web browser, also improved significantly. With 1,500 WebLoad users, performance jumped from 2.5 seconds with MaxIQ SSD cache disabled to 0.5 seconds with MaxIQ SSD cache enabled for a gain of five times over the non-cached environment. In addition, average web page response times with 1,500 WebLoad users for pages to be served went from 42.2 seconds with MaxIQ SSD cache disabled to 4.1 seconds with MaxIQ SSD cache enabled resulting in over 10 times increased performance. And, user response times for 2500 WebLoad users improved from 15.7 seconds with MaxIQ SSD cached disabled, to 2.6 seconds with MaxIQ SSD cache enabled for an improved response rate of up to six times.

"With the growth of Web data showing no signs of slowing, Adaptec’s MaxIQ SSD Cache Performance Solution is an ideal way for data center and enterprise IT managers to cost-effectively accelerate Web server performance and host more users with fewer servers," said Marc Lowe, Adaptec vice-president of marketing and business development. "AppLab’s testing confirms MaxIQ’s performance advantages and underscores its value in today’s competitive global economy."

The Adaptec MaxIQ SSD Cache Performance Solution is the latest product within Adaptec’s Data Conditioning Platform strategy, an innovative approach to deliver business value to data center managers by intelligently routing, optimizing and protecting data as it moves through the I/O path. The Data Conditioning Platform is at the core of the company’s strategic goal of lowering costs, maximizing performance and achieving Green IT objectives in next generation enterprise and cloud data centers. Adaptec customer solutions built on the Data Conditioning Platform provide data center managers, system integrators, and storage and server OEMs with improved hardware and software utilization, along with non-intrusive technology integration to lower the risks traditionally associated with adopting new data center technologies.