MySQL on S3: performance with storage located across the continent

MySQL on S3: performance with storage located across the continent:
Can OLTP database workloads use Amazon S3 as primary storage? Now they can, thanks to the Cloud Storage Engine (ClouSE), but the question is: how fast?

• ClouSE on “across the street” vs. “across the continent” cloud storage


• ClouSE vs InnoDB


• ClouSE benefits

To answer the question about performance, we decided to run db_STRESS benchmark on a MySQL database in Amazon EC2.  We compared 3 configurations:

• “Across the street storage”: ClouSE with data stored in S3 in the same region (US Standard)


• “Across the continent storage”: ClouSE with data stored in S3 in another region (US West-2)


• “Local storage”: InnoDB (the default MySQL storage engine)  with data on an EBS volume

Each configuration was tested with 2, 8, and 64 concurrent users.  Each run was 9 minutes long with 1 minute sleep in between runs.  The transaction mix was biased towards writes, which put the I/O subsystem to test. For data collection and reporting we used Zabbix 2.0.

ClouSE on “across the street” vs. “across the continent” cloud storage

The following graph shows the number of MySQL operations that the database can process per second.  The db_STRESS benchmark sets autocommit on, so each operation runs in its own transaction.  For each 2 select queries db_STRESS executes 1 insert + 1 delete + 1 update, so there are 3 modifying transactions for each 2 read-only transactions.

Graph 1: “across the street” ops on MySQL w/ClouSE.
The data on graph 1 corresponds to MySQL with ClouSE that stored data in Amazon S3 in the US Standard region, located in N. Virginia.  The Amazon EC2 instance ran in the US Standard region as well, so the storage was “across the street”.
Now, here is graph 2 that depicts the processing rate for MySQL with ClouSE that stored data in Amazon S3 in the US West-2 region, located in Oregon.  The Amazon EC2 instance ran in the US Standard region, so the storage was located across the continent.

Graph 2: “across the continent” ops on MySQL w/ClouSE.
The data shows that moving storage away didn’t slow the database server down.  ClouSE was indeed able to hide network latency when working with remote storage.  Designed and optimized for cloud storage from the ground up, ClouSE was able to process the same amount of data with cloud storage across the street as with cloud storage across the continent.
Why is it interesting?  With ClouSE, cloud storage becomes a true utility that can be used from anywhere, not just inside the cloud.   ClouSE makes cloud storage a viable drop-in replacement for good old SAN.  Moreover, it does so in a fully secure manner: ClouSE encrypts the data and customers are in charge of encryption key management, so they fully control who has access to their data, if anyone.

ClouSE vs InnoDB

We ran the same benchmark with InnoDB as well.  InnoDB is the default storage engine for MySQL 5.5 that uses local disk.

Graph 3: local storage ops on MySQL w/InnoDB.
On graph 3, it easy to see that ClouSE with storage across the continent works just as well as InnoDB with local disk.

ClouSE benefits

The benchmark showed that the I/O performance on local vs cloud storage is a close match. This test demonstrates how ClouSE makes the cloud storage that is on the other side of the continent as fast as a local disk for database workloads.
You can now use cloud storage with your existing MySQL applications and tools – cloud vs. local storage becomes a simple deployment choice. Note that the data can be stored in the cloud regardless of where the application runs: on premise, private cloud or EC2.
Without changing a line of code MySQL databases can enjoy all the benefits of cloud storage – scaling cost with usage, high storage availability and reliability, quick and easy disaster recovery. Using cloud storage has never been this easy – the app stays operational during migration, the adoption can be both gradual and partial, and you can just as easily go back to the local storage.

The full performance report with detailed configuration, statistics, and side-by-size performance comparisons is available for download.
Ready to check out the new Cloud Storage Engine for MySQL? ClouSE 1.0b.1.2 Beta is available for FREE download from http://www.oblaksoft.com/downloads/.
Can we assist you in migrating your database to cloud? We’d love to.
See also:
WordPress on S3: run it anywhere.
Making the Cloud Work for You.

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