IBM System Storage DS3300 Express

For performance testing, we installed the DS3300 in the Labs' gigabit network and direct attached three Windows Server 2003 R2 systems loaded with Microsoft's iSCSI initiator 2.05. With one server logged into a dual-drive RAID0 stripe, we saw the Iometer utility reporting a speedy raw read rate of 112MB/sec. With the second server direct-attached and using its own dedicated RAID0 stripe, Iometer reported a cumulative read performance of 221MB/sec. With three servers in the mix and all using their own dedicated virtual disks, performance settled to an impressive 276MB/sec.

Comparing our test results with those of the MD3000i shows there's nothing between Dell and IBM for performance. However, IBM wins the day with its support for both SAS and SATA drives, the RAID cache memory upgrade options and a superior expansion potential.

Author: Dave Mitchell