Stephen -

If you work with your reseller they have access to modeling tools that can help. 

I really like the 8020 but keep in mind the # of PCIe slots is very limited (2 per controller) so if you were to add in flash cache cards you'll only have one slot left.  Most people order their 8020 with an extra SAS card so they can run at least two stacks (maybe a SAS stack and a SATA stack) and that last slot usually goes to a 10 Gb card - remember there's only 4 10Gb ports per controller and 2 are immediately consumed by your cluster network, leaving two for data which may or may not be enough for your environment.  The short answer is that most of the 8020s I see in the field are using Flash Pools and not Flash Cache due to the limited expansion options.

If you really want Flash Cache I would suggest working with your reseller to get a good deal on an 8040.  With the 8040 you basically have enough SAS ports built in to support two stacks and enough onboard 10Gb/UTA2 ports for flexible connectivity options, so those PCIe slots can be used for Flash Cache without feeling like you're boxed in.  

Don't get me wrong, the 8020 is a great little box, but might not be exactly what you're looking for in this particular instance, especially if you're set on using Flash Cache. 

On Jun 30, 2015, at 5:56 AM, Stephen Stocke <Stephen.Stocke@je.logicalis.com> wrote:

Greetings

 

We’re looking to upgrade two sites which consist of a FAS2020 (7.3.7) and FAS2240-2 (8.1.4-7m) at each site.  The 2240-2 systems have a FlashPool accelerated aggregate and the customer is happy with the performance.

 

The new filers will be either a FAS2552 with additional shelves or we may ditch the entry toasters and go with a FAS8020 system and shelves at each site.  If we go with the 2552 we’ll keep using FlashPool.  If we go with the 8020 we have the option of going FlashCache.

 

We’d like to evaluate the potential performance improvements of using FlashCache on the 8020 in order to help with the purchasing decision.  However, reading TR-3801 it looks like the FAS2000 and 2200 platforms don’t support Predictive Cache Statistics (PCS).  This is confirmed by trying to enable PCS:

 

toaster> options flexscale.enable on

FlexScale PCS is not active and cannot be enabled.

 

Are there any other tools which can help us estimate the performance benefits of FlashCache?  Or perhaps some key metrics we can collect and analyse?

 

Cheers

Steve

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