CacheCade whats it all about

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mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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I'll do some stuff in here on this subject, is it worth it ?

Test System:

ASUS P8Z77 WS
Core i5-3470T
16GB RAM
IBM M1015 in IR mode with 2x 60GB OCZ Solid3 in RAID0 as boot
IBM M5015 with Adv feature key
LSI9261 with SW keys enabled and CacheCade v2.0 Pro trial key.
6x2TB Hitchi 7k2000 2TB Drives in RAID5 (9TB)
CacheCade / SSD Cache done with 2x 60GB OCZ Solid3 in RAID0 (different drives to boot)
Windows Server 2k12 Datacenter with GUI
Atto benchmark, gives maximum possible speeds, real life will be greatly different.
Each test was setup and then rebooted to perform tests

Below are benchies with IBM ServeRAID M5015 and different Cache settings:
NO Read ahead, no Cached IO, Drive cache off


Read Ahead on, Cached IO, Drive Cache on

A very slight performance increase, best the M5015 can do.
Notice the 512MB cache coming into play in the above, the M5014 should peak at 256MB
The LSI with nothing of it's extra features enabled behaved exactly the same

LSI9261 CacheCade V2.0 (not the Pro version)

CC v2 does nothing by it's self, the SSDs need pairing with a Virtual drive.

LSI9261 only with SSD cache (CacheCade not enabled)

SSD cache enabling makes a huge difference to the read speeds, nearly 3GB/s is phenomenal, 500MB/s write also a good performance boost over the 110MB max (but due to caching)

LSI9261 with CacheCade V2.0 Pro, SSD cache enabled

This time round the write speed jumps to twice the normal speed, the read speed maxes out at around 1.3GB/s

SSD Cache gives a huge read boost with ATTO, gives healthy boost to writes also.
CacheCade 2.0 Pro nearly reaches 10x Write speeds over normal, and same for reads, the new write feature of CC 2.0 pro paying off nicely
CC 2.0 Pro does double the SSD-Caching write speeds, but then looses over 1/2 the read speeds, so depending on needs you may not need CC 2.0 pro
Is CacheCade 2.0 Pro worth the premium price that LSI demands of it ?
 
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NME

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Apr 7, 2011
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Thank you for the review, very nice and useful info. Do you think that Cachecade 2.0 works with SAS2208 based Controllers(especially those on Supermicro X9 motherboards)?
 

mobilenvidia

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Check with SuperMicro whether the LSI Software keys will work with the onboard controllers.
You may need a special Supermicro software key
Not looked into onboard controllers at all, but would be good to know for others looking at it.
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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Different benchie, I so need to find a version where the 'English' setting works

No SSD caching, RAID6


SSD Caching enabled, RAID6


Some interesting scores above.
But basically look like the SSD takes over mostly from the IO's.
 

mobilenvidia

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This time Anvil

SSD Cache off, RAID6


SSD Cache on, RAID6


Again interesting scores.
Sequential with SSD cache off much higher
But 4k reads/writes much higher as using the RAID0 SSD in this case, much better for Databases and not reflected in overall score.
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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What drives? Are these the Solid 3's? Scores lower than I would have expected with Anvil.
 

mobilenvidia

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LSI9261-8i
6x 2TB Hitachi 7k2000
2x 60GB OCZ Solid3 in RAID0 SSD caching/CacheCade Pro v2.0 (using trial key)

Anvil using uncompressable data is where the Sandforce falls over not helping either

Performance greatly varies, the cache getting written back to the HDD's, the SSD's doing their GCing etc

But you get the idea, 4k performance :) , Sequential Neah :(

I'll do some other test (filecopy etc) to see what happens
 
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mobilenvidia

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3.74GB
434 files
47folders

RAID6 = 6x 2TB Hitachi 7k2000 on LSI9261 with CacheCade Pro 2.0
RAID0 = 2x 60GB OCZ Solid3 SSD's on IBM M1015 (LSI9211-IR mode)

RAID6 to RAID0 (first time)


RAID6 to RAID0 (cached)



RAID0 to RAID6 (first time)


RAID0 to RAID6 (cached)


Sequential reads are pretty crap when done the first time round.
But once cached, it just flies....until cache runs out

Sequential writes are very respectable, once cached they rocket along until cache runs out.
 

NME

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Apr 7, 2011
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Thank you again mobilenvidia. Now for the optional "keys" on LSI 2208 in Supermicro motherboards:
AOC-SAS2-FSPT-ESW -LSI Fastpath for SSD only array
AOC-CHCD-PRO2-KEY -LSI CacheCade Pro 2.0 to use SSD as caching drive
AOC-CHCD-PRO2-ESW -Cachecade Suite 2.0 W/FASTPATH License for Supermicro Only
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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Try the LSI9265 key below, it may work and you could have CC pro V2.0 for nothing but you'd have to activate it every 30days.
[h=3]16629, LSI MegaRAID Advanced Software trial keys[/h]
These trial keys can be used to enable LSI MegaRAID Advanced Software Options for 30 days.


Controller
Key Features Enabled for 30 Days
9260/9280 TIKGE5K73QX4EH7U5AT91URDQUNL9NXLVTTER72Z Fastpath, Recovery, CacheCade Pro 2.0, SafeStore
9265/9285/9266/9285CV IQ3TCNMDM6DCXGQ24J1IWR56FX2RAGWES7T822AZ Fastpath, Recovery, CacheCade Pro 1.0, SafeStore
9265/9285/9266/9285CV JEFU1LSNSKC8KG4BSSGE7KF6MTVNBLN9UPDUVGRZ Fastpath, Recovery, CacheCade Pro 2.0, SafeStore

Notes:·


  • The key should only be used on non-production systems. Once enabled, even if the CacheCade volume is deleted and not used, after 30 days the data volume will be unaccessible unless the trial key is reentered (for 30 more days of eval) or CacheCade Pro 2.0 is purchased and a permanent key is entered.
  • Information on MegaRAID Advanced Software Options can be found here.
  • After 30 days, the CacheCade volume(s) and associated Virtual Drive(s) become foreign config, and will be inaccessible.
  • You must use CacheCade compatible firmware and MegaRAID Storage Manager.
 

Irisservice

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Nov 15, 2012
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Great Read...
I just installed my 6x3tb WD red Drives and notice you did a test with ssd as cache without Cachecade..Was it just ssd or ssd CACHE FOR RAID.
LSI9261 only with SSD cache (CacheCade not enabled)

SSD cache enabling makes a huge difference to the read speeds, nearly 3GB/s is phenomenal, 500MB/s write also a good performance boost over the 110MB max (but due to caching)
 

Laugh|nGMan

Member
Nov 27, 2012
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Intel RAID RS2BL080DE+CacheCade 2.0 (LSI SAS2108 ROC)

I wanted to contribute to this great forum some results of Intel RAID RS2BL080DE Controller+CacheCade 2.0+Samsung 840 Pro 128Gb SSD

1st run after configuration CacheCade. Sorry messed up settings in ASU 0-fill for first screenshot :)


4th run
 
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Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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Nice results! Looks like you are seeing a huge improvement.
 

minimini

Member
Sep 9, 2016
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Try the LSI9265 key below, it may work and you could have CC pro V2.0 for nothing but you'd have to activate it every 30days.
Here is official list of CacheCade keys on the Broadcom website. HTH someone. I'll paste the article in case it disappears from their website.


KNOWLEDGEBASE
  • MegaRAID Advanced Software Options for 30 days.

    Controller(s)
    Keys support the following features
    Fastpath , Recovery, CacheCade Pro 2.0 , MegaRAID SafeStore Software
    9260/9261/9280 (LSISAS2108 based controllers)
    TIKGE5K73QX4EH7U5AT91URDQUNL9NXLVTTER72Z
    9265/9285/9266/9285CV/9270/9271 (LSISAS2208 based controllers)
    IQ3TCNMDM6DCXGQ24J1IWR56FX2RAGWES7T822AZ
    9265/9285/9266/9285CV/9270/9271 (LSISAS2208 based controllers)
    JEFU1LSNSKC8KG4BSSGE7KF6MTVNBLN9UPDUVGRZ
    9341 (LSISAS3008 based controllers)


    JEFU1LSNSKC8LXXNAV9MDTC285WDQKGIQTTFI92Z
    9361-4i, 9361-8i, 9380-4i4e, 9380-8e (LSISAS3108 based controllers)

    JEFU1LSNSKC8L2PNP5IV567EKASKNXIAF4VN8VRZ
    9361-16i, 9380-8i8e, (LSISAS3108 based controllers)
    19NM87CGLL5SD6CPGDQJVVCCNBTHVSRFNDPL4PAZ
    9361-24i (LSISAS3108 based controllers)
    19NM87CGLL5SDEWG34QMUJFBHSRVCN3TWIU9QGAZ
    Notes:
    • The key should only be used on non-production systems. Once enabled, even if the CacheCade volume is deleted and not used, after 30 days the data volume will be unaccessible unless the trial key is reentered (for 30 more days of eval) or CacheCade Pro 2.0 is purchased and a permanent key is entered.
    • Information on MegaRAID Advanced Software Options can be found here .
    • After 30 days, the CacheCade volume(s) and associated Virtual Drive(s) become foreign config, and will be inaccessible.
    • You must use CacheCade compatible firmware and MegaRAID Storage Manager.
 
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