CONTENTS
2HOW TO CHOOSE EXACTLY THE BESTSUPERMICRO DWFT REFERENCEARCHITECTURE?

2ENTERPRISE DATA WAREHOUSING ISEVOLVING RAPIDLY

3SUPERMICRO 2U ULTRA SERVER PLATFORM

42U ULTRA FOR SQL SERVER REFERENCEPERFORMANCE

5SUPERMICRO MICROSOFT CERTIFIEDSOLUTIONS

5SUPERMICRO SQL DWFT CERTIFIEDREFERENCE ARCHITECTURES

WHITE PAPER

CERTIFIED 2U ULTRAREFERENCE ARCHITECTURESFOR DATA WAREHOUSE USINGMICROSOFT SQL SERVER
Supermicro has partnered with Microsoft to deliver industry's best performing,
certified reference architecture for SQL Server® Data Warehouse Fast Track (DWFT)
based on the 2U Ultra dual-socket server systems, and utilizing low latency andhigh throughput NVMe SSDs.
Microsoft® Data Warehouse Fast Track (DWFT) for SQL Server 2016 is designed toprovide customers optimized and validated system architectures for addressing
data warehouse workload challenges including exponential growth of data,
demands of lower data latency and faster query response times.

White Paper
December 2016Mark Marr
Technical Marketing Engineer
Manman Zhang
Systems Engineer
Super Micro Computer, Inc.
980 Rock Avenue
San Jose, CA 95131 USAwww.supermicro.com

SQL Server
Supermicro recommends Windows.

2016 Standard

Certified 2U Ultra Reference Architectures
For Data Warehouse Using Microsoft SQL Server

HOW TO CHOOSE EXACTLY THE BEST SUPERMICRO DWFTREFERENCE ARCHITECTURE?
Supermicro offers three reference architectures (RAs) in the 2U dual-processor
category, that are certified for Microsoft DWFT for SQL Server 2014 and 2016 basedon the 2U Ultra 2028U-TNR4T+ and 2028U-TN24R4T+ SuperServer platforms, at22TB, 40TB and 70TB rated user data capacity tiers.
The baseline performance for each certified RA is validated by Microsoft. Some key
performance merits that should be considered are as follows,Benefits of SupermicroTurn-key Solutions•

Evident savings of time and moneyfrom the process in hardware
validation, performance tuning andsoftware parameter configurations.

•Upgrade process is made simple
and flexible as Supermicro regularly
releases new certified solutions
validated by Microsoft on newer
generations of hardware.

•Turn-key solutions can minimizerisks, surprises and maximize return ofinvestment.

The Supermicro 2U Ultra is a platform
optimized for data warehouse workloads
that is certified by Microsoft DWFT
program for SQL Server 2014 and 2016,
which are designed as turnkey solutions
suitable for data warehouse of all sizes.

•Rated User Data Capacity (in terabytes, higher is better)
Calculated from formulas used by Microsoft with coefficients derived fromthe throughput performance, it does not indicate raw disk capacity.

•Row Store Relative Throughput(relative to Microsoft’s reference configuration*, higher is better)•Column Store Relative Throughput(relative to Microsoft’s reference configuration*, higher is better)

Apart from the primary metrics above, a certificate also includes measuredthroughputs in Queries/Hour/Terabyte, physical and logical scan rates, raw I/O
throughput, and CPU utilization for both row and column store for comparing withcustomer’s own results.

ENTERPRISE DATA WAREHOUSING IS EVOLVING RAPIDLY
Due to the complexity, cost and scale of designing and deploying data
warehousing solutions, many IT managers, only after wasting a lot of time andmoney, usually found a poorly performed system at execution time. This frustration
is mainly attributed to the lack of knowledge on the baseline performance andcapabilities of the underlying hardware platforms, in addition to the optimal
software parameter, with regards to data warehouse specific workloads.
With today’s rapid growth in size and complexity of data that require fast
and timely analytics and reporting driven by mobile computing, the overall
performance and responsiveness of a data warehousing system can greatly delay
on-the-spot critical business decisions, and ultimately affect revenue and customer
expectations in a negative way.
Fortunately IT managers now only need to focus on designing their database
workload when deploying new data warehousing instances with absoluteconfidence that the validated query performance baselines can be met
immediately after the system is put online. Supermicro and Microsoft havecollaborated extensively in the lab to fine-tune each part of the system to its
optimal state. Thus, DWFT reference architectures can save IT managers days if not2

Certified 2U Ultra Reference Architectures
For Data Warehouse Using Microsoft SQL Server

weeks spent previously on solving the performance puzzles resulting from various
hardware combinations and software packages.

Key features of 2U Ultra••Best performance-per-watt with dualIntel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 v4/v3
product families with up to 3TB ECC
DD4 memory to support the mostdemanding workloads.
Up to 24 high-throughput, lowlatency NVMe SSDs with industry's
first-to-market true hot-swap
capabilities for better query response
times and data capacities (optional
SAS3 support via add-on-card forbalanced dollar per gigabyte andIOPs).

•2 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots and 1 PCI-E 3.0x8 slots for storage add-on-cards or
100Gb/s or 40GB/s network interface
cards in addition to the 4 onboard
10GBase-T ports.

•Fully support Microsoft WindowsServer 2016 and SQL Server 2016.

SUPERMICRO 2U ULTRA SERVER PLATFORM
Supermicro’s certified SQL Server solutions are based on the highly efficientand highly expandable Ultra Server platform, one of the most popular 2U dualprocessor platforms that Supermicro offers today. In terms of versatility, the 2U
Ultra is thermally optimized for the best-in-class compute performance andstability supporting the latest generation of Intel® Xeon® processors and 24 DDR42400MHz DIMM slots. This ensures sustained low latency querying performance in24/7 environments under high utilizations.
In addition, the 2U Ultra is also known for its storage and I/O expansion capabilities.
The latest SYS-2028U-TN24R4T+ model supports up to 24 hot-swap NVMe SSDs,plus additional 2 hot-swap SATA3 drive bays located on the back of chassis for log
files or operating system (2 SATA DOM ports are also present on the motherboard).

Figure 1. Supermicro 2U Ultra SuperServer 2028U-TN24R4T+. Featuring 24 hotswap NVMe/SAS3 hybrid drive bays.
There are 4 onboard 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, and 4 PCI-E 3.0 slots for storage
add-on-cards and network interface cards.

Figure 2. Back of SYS-2028U-TN24R4T+. Featuring 2 hot-swap SATA3 drive bays,
redundant Titanium-level power supplies, 2 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots and 1 PCI-E
3.0 x8 LP slot, 4x 10GBase-T ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a dedicated IPMI LANport, a serial port and a VGA port.

3Certified 2U Ultra Reference Architectures
For Data Warehouse Using Microsoft SQL Server

2U ULTRA FOR SQL SERVER REFERENCE PERFORMANCE
DWFT Certification#2016-006

Supermicro 2028U-TN24R4T+System Provider

System Name

Processor TypeSupermicro 2028U-TN24R4T+

Intel Xeon E5-2690 v4
2.6 GHz (2S/28C/56T)

Operating System

10x 3.2TB NVMe for data and tempdb
2x 400 GB SATA-3 SSD for OS (RAID 1)
4x 2 TB SAS3 SSD for log (RAID 10)

339

T

Row Store
Relative

Capacity

Throughput

RE

225

Measured

Maximum
User Data

Throughput

Capacity

31

Measured

Measured

Measured I/O

MeasuredThroughput

Scan Rate
PhysicalScan Rate
LogicalThroughput

CPU (Avg.)(Queries/Hr/TB)
274(MB/Sec)(MB/Sec)(MB/Sec)(%)

Row Store

5,820

7,409

Column Store

6,614

92

MeasuredMeasured

Measured

Measured I/O

MeasuredThroughput

Scan Rate
PhysicalScan Rate
LogicalThroughput

CPU (Avg.)(Queries/Hr/TB)(MB/Sec)(MB/Sec)(MB/Sec)

2,206

3,033

N/A

The 2U Ultra DWFT certified RAs offer exactly the best solutions to match eachcustomer's unique requirements by providing 22TB, 40TB and the highest 70TB
rated capacities tiers. Each capacity tier implies not only the scale of the data
warehouse instance that can be hosted, but also the relative row and column store
performance merits.

RA

RATED USERDATA CAPACITY1ROW STORE RELATIVE
THROUGHPUT2COLUMN STORE RELATIVE
THROUGHPUT3Good22TB

166

196

Better

40TB

210

213

Best70TB

225

339(TB)

103

C702

Column Store
Relative

339

Relative
Throughput22

Primary Metrics

Rated
User Data(TB)

Throughput

IFI

Storage Information

1

DE

SQL Server 2016 Enterprise Edition

Storage Provider

Relative

Memory1024 GBSQL Server Edition

Windows Server 2012 R2

225

Report Date:
8/10/2016

DWFT Reference Architecture

DWFT Rev. 5.4

N/A

(%)

100

The reference configuration is a 2 socket system rated for 25TB using SQL Server 2014 and the DWFT V4 methodology
1Assumes a data compression ratio of 5:1
2
Percent ratio of the throughput to the row store throughput of the reference configuration.
3
Percent ratio of the throughput to the column store throughput of the reference configuration.
*
Reported metrics are based on the qualification configuration which specifies database size and SQL Server memory.

Figure 3. Certificate for 70TB rated user
capacity on 2U Ultra by Microsoft.
The performance, expandability and upgradeability of the 2U Ultra platform
provides customers the freedom and flexibility to acquire best hardware andsoftware combinations matching their growing business needs, whether with theall-flash NVMe model or the hybrid NVMe/SAS storage option, customers can enjoy
proven SQL Server data warehouse solutions out of the box for lower startup costand better return-on-investment in a longer term.
1. Rated User Data Capacity
In terabytes, higher is better.
This is calculated from a formula usedby Microsoft with coefficients derived
from the throughput performance, itdoes not reflect directly to raw disk
capacity.
2. Row Store Relative Throughput
Percent ratio of the throughput to therow store throughput of Microsoft’sreference configuration. Higher isbetter.
3. Column Store Relative Throughput
Percent ratio of the throughput tothe column store throughput ofMicrosoft’s reference configuration.
Higher is better.

339

196

210

213

225

166

22TB

40TB

70TB

Row Store Relative Throughput
Column Store Relative Throughput

4Certified 2U Ultra Reference Architectures
For Data Warehouse Using Microsoft SQL Server

FOR MORE INFORMATIONSUPERMICRO MICROSOFT CERTIFIED SOLUTIONSSupermicro® SuperServer®
SYS-2028U-TNR4T+ Hybrid Datasheet
www.supermicro.com/products/system/2u/2028/sys-2028u-tnr4t_.cfm

Supermicro and Microsoft have partnered together to deliver industry leading"fully certified solutions" on highly optimized and flexible Supermicro serverand storage Systems. Supermicro systems are designed to provide significant
advantage in the areas of power efficiency, performance and overall system
optimization. These design principles coupled with bringing innovativetechnologies at an accelerated pace drives time to market value for MicrosoftSolutions. In case of some of these disruptive technologies like NVMe, Supermicro
is an established leader with the broadest range of products that customers canchoose from.

Supermicro® SuperServer®
SYS-2028U-TN24R4T+ All-Flash Datasheet
www.supermicro.com/products/system/2u/2028/SYS-2028U-TN24R4T.cfm
Microsoft Data Warehouse FastTrackwww.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/
data-warehouse-fast-track
Microsoft SQL Server 2016www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/
sql-server
Microsoft Windows Server 2016www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/
windows-server

Microsoft Certified Solutions running on Supermicro hardware include Windows
Server, SQL Server Data Warehouse, Exchange Server, Hyper converged solutions
like Storage Spaces Direct, Storage Server and Azure Stack. These solutions areoptimized for Enterprise, Hybrid Cloud, Private and Public Cloud markets. We alsodeliver the Windows operating system software preloaded for fast growing SMB
and Enterprise customers.
Supermicro has consistently innovated in the areas of designing server boards,
chassis, highly efficient power supplies, networking equipments and storage
systems. The building block approach is one of the key innovations to server systemarchitecture. This vertically integrated design approach accelerates the delivery ofapplication optimized Microsoft Solutions based on customer requirements.

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2600 v4 Product
Familywww.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/xeon/xeon-e5-solutions.html

SUPERMICRO SQL DWFT CERTIFIED REFERENCE
ARCHITECTURES

Intel® NVMe SSDs
www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/solidstate-drives/solid-state-drives-ssd.html

Drive impact in your business using the power of a robust, cloud-enabled SQL
Server 2016 database solution that offers enhanced performance, robust security,
cloud enablement, and deeper insights across multiple types of data.
•70TB DWFT For Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Using 2U Ultra 2028U All NVMe
www.supermicro.com/white_paper/70TB_DWFT.pdf•40TB DWFT For Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Using 2U Ultra 2028U All NVMe
www.supermicro.com/white_paper/40TB_DWFT.pdf•22TB DWFT For Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Using 2U Ultra 2028U Hybrid
NVMe/SAS
www.supermicro.com/white_paper/22TB_DWFT.pdf

5About Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Supermicro® (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology is a premier provider ofadvanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and Embedded
Systems worldwide. Supermicro is committed to protecting the environment through its “We Keep IT Green®” initiative and provides
customers with the most energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly solutions available on the market.
www.supermicro.com

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Supermicro, the Supermicro logo, Building Block Solutions, We Keep IT Green, SuperServer, TwinPro™, TwinPro²™, SuperDoctor are
trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Microsoft, Encarta, MSN, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or
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© Copyright 2016 Super Micro Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in USA

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