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Flexible I/O Tester (FIO) Profiles

The following profiles run customer-representative or benchmarking scenarios using the Flexible I/O Tester (FIO) workload.

PERF-IO-FIO.json​

Runs an IO-intensive workload using the Flexible IO Tester (FIO) toolset to test performance of disks on the system. Although this profile can run on Windows, it is predominantly used on Linux systems. The profile runs the workload in-parallel on ALL disks that match the "DiskFilter" parameter (see below) by default.

Additonally this profile is designed to auto-scale to the number of cores on the system on which it runs. It uses a simple algorithm to determine 2 key aspects of the workload execution.

  • Total number of jobs/threads = <# of logical cores> / 2

    Examples:
    For a 16-core system:
    16/2 = 16 concurrent jobs/threads per DiskSpd execution (i.e. # threads to run I/O operations against the test file concurrently).

    For a 64-core system:
    64/2 = 32 concurrent jobs/threads per DiskSpd execution (i.e. # threads to run I/O operations against the test file concurrently).

  • Total I/O depth = 512 / < Total number of jobs/threads>

    Examples:
    For a 16 core system:
    total # jobs/threads = 16/2 (above) -> 512/16 = 32

    For a 64 core system:
    total # jobs/threads = 64/2 (above) -> 512/32 = 16

  • Supported Platform-Architectures

    • linux-x64
    • linux-arm64
    • win-x64

  • Dependencies
    The dependencies defined in the 'Dependencies' section of the profile itself are required in order to run the workload operations effectively.

    • Internet connection.
    • Disk mount points exist for the disks to be targeted. Virtual Client will generally ensure that mount points exist by default. Details for mount point creation procedures can be found in the 'Testing Disks' documentation above.
    • Any 'DiskFilter' parameter value used should match the set of disks desired. See the link for 'Testing Disks' above.

    Additional information on components that exist within the 'Dependencies' section of the profile can be found in the following locations:

  • Scenarios
    The following scenarios are covered by this workload profile.

    • Random Write Operations
      • 4k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 8k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 12k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 16k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 1024k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
    • Random Read Operations
      • 4k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 8k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 12k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 16k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 1024k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
    • Sequential Write Operations
      • 4k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 8k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 12k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 16k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 1024k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
    • Sequential Read Operations
      • 4k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 8k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 12k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 16k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
      • 1024k block size, multiple jobs/threads per disk
    • Disk/Data Integrity Verification, Random Write Operations
      • 4k block size, queue depth of 1, single job/thread per disk
      • 16k block size, queue depth of 1, single job/thread per disk
      • 1024k block size, queue depth of 1, single job/thread per disk
    • Disk/Data Integrity Verification, Sequential Write Operations
      • 4k block size, queue depth of 1, single job/thread per disk
      • 16k block size, queue depth of 1, single job/thread per disk
      • 1024k block size, queue depth of 1, single job/thread per disk

  • Profile Parameters
    The following parameters can be optionally supplied on the command line to modify the behaviors of the workload.

    ParameterPurposeDefault Value
    DataIntegrityFileSizeOptional. Defines the size of the file/disk space that will be used for profile disk integrity scenarios/actions.4GB
    DiskFilterOptional. Filter allowing the user to select the disks on which to test.

    See the link 'Testing Disks' at the top for more details.    		BiggestSize
    DiskFillSizeOptional. Allows the user to override the default disk fill size used in the FIO profile (e.g. 500GB -> 26GB). This enables the profile to be used in scenarios where the disk size is very small (e.g. local/temp disk -> 32GB in size).500GB
    DurationOptional. Defines the amount of time to run each FIO scenario/action within the profile.5 minutes
    EngineOptional. Defines the I/O engine to use for the FIO operations (e.g. posixaio, libaio, windowsaio).Linux = libaio, Windows = windowsaio
    FileSizeOptional. Allows the user to override the default file size used in the FIO profile (e.g. 496GB -> 26GB). This enables the profile to be used in scenarios where the disk size is very small (e.g. local/temp disk -> 32GB in size).496GB
    ProcessModelOptional. Defines how the FIO processes will be executed. The following are valid process models:

    SingleProcess
    Executes a single FIO process running 1 job targeting I/O operations against each disk. Results are separated per-disk.

    SingleProcessPerDisk
    Executes a single FIO process for each disk with each process running 1 job targeting I/O operations against that disk (higher stress profile). Results are separated per-disk.

    SingleProcessAggregated
    Executes a single FIO process running 1 job per disk targeting I/O operations against that disk. Results are provided as an aggregation across all disks (i.e. a rollup).    		SingleProcess
    QueueDepthOptional. Defines the I/O queue depth to use for the operations512/the thread count
    RawDiskOptional. Set to true to run the FIO operations against the raw disk (e.g. /dev/sdc) instead of a mounted file system (e.g. /dev/sdc1/fio-test.dat).

    WARNING
    Executing I/O operations against a physical disk corrupts or destroys any file system partitioning and formatting leaving the disk unusable with a file system. The disk must be partitioned and formatted again to be usable as a file system thereafter.    		false
    ThreadCountOptional. Specifies the number of distinct parallel operations/threads to run per job.# logical processors / 2

  • Profile Component Parameters
    The following section describes the parameters used by the individual components in the profile.

    ParameterPurposeAccepted Values
    ScenarioScenario used to define the given action of profile. This can be used to specify exact actions to run or exclude from the profile.Any string
    MetricsScenarioThe name to use as the "scenario" for all metrics output for the particular profile action.
    CommandLineThe command line parameters for FIO tool set.Any Valid FIO arguments
    DiskFilterFilter allowing the user to select the disks on which to test.See the link 'Testing Disks' at the top for more details.
    DurationDefines the amount of time to run each FIO scenario/action within the profile.integer or time span
    EngineOptional. Defines the I/O engine to use for the FIO operations (e.g. posixaio, libaio, windowsaio).Linux = libaio, Windows = windowsaio
    PackageNameThe logical name for FIO package downloaded and that contains the toolset.
    ProcessModelDefines how the FIO processes will be executed.SingleProcess
    Executes a single FIO process running 1 job targeting I/O operations against each disk. Results are separated per-disk.

    SingleProcessPerDisk
    Executes a single FIO process for each disk with each process running 1 job targeting I/O operations against that disk (higher stress profile). Results are separated per-disk.

    SingleProcessAggregated
    Executes a single FIO process running 1 job per disk targeting I/O operations against that disk. Results are provided as an aggregation across all disks (i.e. a rollup).
    QueueDepthDefines the I/O queue depth to use for the operationsinteger
    RawDiskDefines true/false whether to run the FIO operations against the raw disk (e.g. /dev/sdc) instead of a mounted file system (e.g. /dev/sdc1/fio-test.dat).

    WARNING
    Executing I/O operations against a physical disk corrupts or destroys any file system partitioning and formatting leaving the disk unusable with a file system. The disk must be partitioned and formatted again to be usable as a file system thereafter.    		true, false
    TagsTags useful for telemetry dataAny comma-separated string
    ThreadCountSpecifies the number of distinct parallel operations/threads to run per job.

  • Profile Runtimes
    See the 'Metadata' section of the profile for estimated runtimes. These timings represent the length of time required to run a single round of profile actions. These timings can be used to determine minimum required runtimes for the Virtual Client in order to get results. These are often estimates based on the number of system cores.

  • Usage Examples
    The following section provides a few basic examples of how to use the workload profile. See the documentation at the top on 'Testing Disks' for information on how to target select disks on the system.

    # Run the workload on the system (default = largest disks)
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440

    # Run the workload directly against the raw/physical disks.
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --parameters="RawDisk=true"

    # The example above runs on the same disks as having DiskFilter=BiggestSize
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --parameters="DiskFilter=BiggestSize"

    # Run the workload against the operating system disk
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --parameters="DiskFilter=OSDisk"

    # Run the workload against all of the disks except the operating system disk.
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --parameters="DiskFilter=OSDisk:false"

    # Run the workload on specific drives/disks
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --parameters="DiskFilter=DiskPath:/dev/sdc1,/dev/sdd1"

    # Run against smaller disks on the system
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --parameters="DiskFilter=OSDisk:false&smallestSize,,,DiskFillSize=26G,,,FileSize=26G"

    # Run specific scenarios only. Each action in a profile as a 'Scenario' name.
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO.json --system=Demo --timeout=1440 --scenarios=RandomWrite_4k_BlockSize,RandomWrite_8k_BlockSize,RandomRead_8k_BlockSize,RandomRead_4k_BlockSize

PERF-IO-FIO-OLTP.json​

Runs an IO-intensive workload using the Flexible IO Tester (FIO) toolset. Multi-throughput OLTP-C workload to emulate a SQL Server OLTP disk workload by running four workload compononents in-parallel: random reads, random writes, sequential reads and sequential writes each with an overall weight/percentage.

  • Distribution of I/O Operations:

    • Random Read Weight = 54.16%
    • Random Write Weight = 42.55%
    • Sequential Read Weight = 0%
    • Sequential Write Weight = 3.29%

  • Supported Platform-Architectures

    • linux-x64
    • linux-arm64
    • win-x64

  • Dependencies
    The dependencies defined in the 'Dependencies' section of the profile itself are required in order to run the workload operations effectively.

    • Internet connection.
    • Disk mount points exist for the disks to be targeted. Virtual Client will generally ensure that mount points exist by default. Details for mount point creation procedures can be found in the 'Testing Disks' documentation above.
    • Any 'DiskFilter' parameter value used should match the set of disks desired. See the link for 'Testing Disks' above.

    Additional information on components that exist within the 'Dependencies' section of the profile can be found in the following locations:

  • Profile Parameters
    The following parameters can be optionally supplied on the command line to modify the behaviors of the workload.

    ParameterPurposeDefault Value
    DiskFilterOptional. Filter allowing the user to select the disks on which to test.

    See the link 'Testing Disks' at the top for more details.    		BiggestSize
    DiskFillSizeOptional. Allows the user to override the default disk fill size used in the FIO profile (e.g. 500GB -> 26GB). This enables the profile to be used in scenarios where the disk size is very small (e.g. local/temp disk -> 32GB in size).500GB
    DurationOptional. Defines the amount of time to run each FIO scenario/action within the profile.5 minutes
    EngineOptional. Defines the I/O engine to use for the FIO operations (e.g. posixaio, libaio, windowsaio).Linux = libaio, Windows = windowsaio
    FileSizeOptional. Allows the user to override the default file size used in the FIO profile (e.g. 496GB -> 26GB). This enables the profile to be used in scenarios where the disk size is very small (e.g. local/temp disk -> 32GB in size).496GB
    RawDiskOptional. Set to true to run the FIO operations against the raw disk (e.g. /dev/sdc) instead of a mounted file system (e.g. /dev/sdc1/fio-test.dat).

    WARNING
    Executing I/O operations against a physical disk corrupts or destroys any file system partitioning and formatting leaving the disk unusable with a file system. The disk must be partitioned and formatted again to be usable as a file system thereafter.    		false

  • Profile Component Parameters The following section describes the parameters used by the individual components in the profile.

    ParameterPurposeAccepted Values
    ScenarioScenario used to define the given action of profile. This can be used to specify exact actions to run or exclude from the profile.Any string
    MetricsScenarioThe name to use as the "scenario" for all metrics output for the particular profile action.
    CommandLineThe command line parameters for FIO tool set.Any Valid FIO arguments
    DiskFilterFilter allowing the user to select the disks on which to test.See the link 'Testing Disks' at the top for more details.
    DurationDefines the amount of time to run each FIO scenario/action within the profile.integer or time span
    EngineOptional. Defines the I/O engine to use for the FIO operations (e.g. posixaio, libaio, windowsaio).Linux = libaio, Windows = windowsaio
    PackageNameThe logical name for FIO package downloaded and that contains the toolset.
    ProcessModelDefines how the FIO processes will be executed.SingleProcess
    Executes a single FIO process running 1 job targeting I/O operations against each disk. Results are separated per-disk.

    SingleProcessPerDisk
    Executes a single FIO process for each disk with each process running 1 job targeting I/O operations against that disk (higher stress profile). Results are separated per-disk.

    SingleProcessAggregated
    Executes a single FIO process running 1 job per disk targeting I/O operations against that disk. Results are provided as an aggregation across all disks (i.e. a rollup).
    RawDiskDefines true/false whether to run the FIO operations against the raw disk (e.g. /dev/sdc) instead of a mounted file system (e.g. /dev/sdc1/fio-test.dat).

    WARNING
    Executing I/O operations against a physical disk corrupts or destroys any file system partitioning and formatting leaving the disk unusable with a file system. The disk must be partitioned and formatted again to be usable as a file system thereafter.    		true, false
    TagsTags useful for telemetry dataAny comma-separated string

  • Profile Runtimes
    See the 'Metadata' section of the profile for estimated runtimes. These timings represent the length of time required to run a single round of profile actions. These timings can be used to determine minimum required runtimes for the Virtual Client in order to get results. These are often estimates based on the number of system cores.

  • Usage Examples
    The following section provides a few basic examples of how to use the workload profile.

    # Run the workload on the system
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO-OLTP.json --timeout=1440

    # Run the workload directly against the raw/physical disks.
    ./VirtualClient --profile=PERF-IO-FIO-OLTP.json --timeout=1440 --parameters="RawDisk=true"