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Review: Thecus N5550

by Parm Mann on 12 February 2013, 18:00 3.5

Tags: Thecus (4978.TWO)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabsnj

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Test Methodology

Network Storage Configurations

  Thecus N5550
CPU
1.6GHz Marvell
1.3GHz Marvell Armada CP (dual-core)
2.13GHz Intel Atom D2700 (dual-core, 1MB cache)
1.86GHz Intel Atom D2550 (dual-core, 1MB cache)
Memory
TBC
512MB DDR3
1GB DDR3
2GB DDR3
Disk drives
4x 1TB Seagate ST31000528AS
(included)
4x 1TB Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 (included)
4x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ
(optional)
5x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ
(optional)
RAID mode
RAID 5
RAID 5
RAID 5
RAID 5
Network connection
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Firmware
1.54
3.3.4.29856
3.6.0 Build 0220T
2.03.08

Benchmarks

Iometer v2008.06.18-RC2
Intel NAS Performance Toolkit v1.7.1
File Copy Test (8.83GB)
Power Consumption

Notes

All of our comparison NAS servers are tested using a single Gigabit Ethernet link with Jumbo frames disabled, and are connected to our Intel client machine and network via a Netgear GS108 switch.

Iometer, a familiar benchmark in our test suite, is an I/O subsystem measurement tool. For the purpose of our NAS testing, we set a queue depth of 16 (outstanding I/Os) and run the following three benchmarks:

  • 64KB transfer, 100% sequential, 100% read
  • 64KB transfer, 100% sequential, 100% write
  • 1MB transfer, 100% sequential, 100% read

Our second benchmark - the NAS Performance Toolkit, developed by Intel - is a file-system exerciser specifically designed to provide performance comparisons between NAS devices. Intel's utility focuses on user-level performance using real-world workload traces gathered from typical digital home applications such as HD video playback and record. Intel NASPT reproduces the file-system traffic observed in these traces onto a chosen storage solution and records performance in MB/s.

Taking a look at a simple usage scenario, our file copy test involves copying a mixed assortment of files totalling 8.83GB in size from our client to the NAS. The result is recorded in MB/s.

Last but not least, we measure NAS power draw during three states; under load, idle and standby mode if applicable.