Describe Sizing and Design Considerations (performance Parameters, Environmental Limits, Workload Characterization). MIDRANGE-STORAGE-SOLUTIONS-DESIGN Practice Questions (Page 2)

Questions 6–10

1. 6application · medium

   A retail company is consolidating its order-processing system onto a Dell PowerStore. The system currently runs on a legacy array that delivers 4,000 IOPS with an average response time of 8 ms. The new system must support a peak of 10,000 IOPS with a response time of less than 5 ms. The storage administrator is evaluating a PowerStore 500T with all-flash drives. Which performance parameter should the administrator use to validate that the new array can meet the response time requirement?

   • AThe maximum throughput of the array in MB/s
   • BThe array's sustained IOPS at the required response time
   • CThe total capacity of the all-flash drives
   • DThe number of front-end ports available for host connectivity
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 7application · medium

   A financial services firm is migrating a database workload to a Dell PowerStore. The current workload is measured at 15,000 IOPS with a 60/40 read/write ratio. The database is 2 TB, and the firm expects 30% annual growth. The storage administrator is using a sizing tool that recommends a specific number of drives based on the IOPS requirement. Which additional input is essential for the sizing tool to produce an accurate recommendation?

   • AThe average block size of the I/O operations
   • BThe network bandwidth between the servers and the array
   • CThe number of database users
   • DThe database version and vendor
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4. 8expert · hard

   A university is designing a new Dell PowerStore deployment for two distinct workloads: a research database that requires 50,000 IOPS with low latency, and a file server that requires 500 MB/s of sequential throughput. The storage administrator has a limited budget and must choose between all-flash and hybrid drive configurations. The research database is the primary workload and must meet its performance target. Which design approach best balances the performance requirements with the budget constraint?

   • AUse spinning disks for both workloads and rely on the array's cache to meet the database IOPS
   • BUse all-flash drives for the entire array to meet both workloads' performance requirements
   • CUse hybrid drives with a large flash cache to accelerate the database and rely on spinning disks for the file server
   • DUse all-flash drives for the database and a separate all-flash array for the file server
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5. 9foundation · easy

   Why is it important to consider both peak usage patterns and environmental limits together when designing a storage solution?

   • AEnvironmental limits determine the data compression ratio
   • BEnvironmental limits are only relevant for cloud storage
   • CPeak usage patterns have no effect on storage design
   • DPeak performance may require additional drives, which increases power and cooling needs
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6. 10application · medium

   A media production company is sizing a Dell PowerStore for a video editing workload. The editors work on 4K raw footage, and the storage administrator observes that the workload is 90% sequential reads during playback and 10% random writes during file saves. The peak usage occurs between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM when all 20 editors are actively working. The administrator needs to size the array for both capacity and performance. Which workload characteristic is most critical to capture for accurate sizing?

   • AThe peak throughput requirement during the 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM window
   • BThe average latency requirement for random writes
   • CThe total capacity of the raw footage and the number of projects
   • DThe total number of editors and their average file size
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first