Databases have always needed to be fast and scalable, with modern databases requiring higher performance levels supporting AI and ML applications. Databases should enable real-time decision-making, which is much more common now, along with even faster queries. Business goals that require modernization around analytics typically start with databases and the infrastructure that runs them. This post will show the significant performance advantages of running SQL Server 2022 on 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors.
5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Processor Performance Gains for OLTP and OLAP
Two important workloads in data management are Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP). In the HammerDB benchmark, OLTP is measured by New Orders per minute (NOPM) throughput. Comparing 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors to 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors, Figure 1 shows performance improvements of up to 48.1% NOPM (Online Analytical Processing), and Figure 2 shows up to 50.6% faster queries.
Figure 1: Increased transactions with SQL Server 2022 running 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors.
Figure 2: Faster query response times running SQL Server 2022 on 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors.
Another benefit of the 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® processor is the increased CPU efficiency shown by the 83% utilization for OLTP and 75% for OLAP. The previous generation uses 16% more CPU resources for the OLTP workload and 13% more for the OLAP workload, as compared with the 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors
Importance of Faster Backups
Faster backups have several benefits, including increased security, easier data management, and uptime. Figures 3, 4, and 5 show the advantage of faster backups when using Intel® Quick Assist Technology with Intel® Xeon® processors. Running SQL Server 2022 Enterprise Edition on Intel® Xeon® Platinum processor delivers up to 2.72x and 3.42 faster backups for idle and peak loads when using Intel® QAT.
Some context on the comparisons: The Intel® QAT numbers for 5th Gen Xeon Gold processors are the longest because the Gold edition has fewer backup cores than the Platinum edition.
Figure 3: Backup creation times for SQL Server 2022 on 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Gold Processor with and without Intel® QAT.
Figure 4: Backup creation times for SQL Server 2022 and Intel® Xeon® processors with Intel® QAT running an idle and busy load.
Figure 5: Backup creation times for SQL Server 2022 on 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Platinum processors and Intel® QAT.
Summary
Databases are the primary engines for transactions and analytics, and having faster ones can help organizations achieve their technical and business goals. Faster backups of those databases can mean more business continuity.
Resources
Please check out the Microsoft blog on the benefits of Intel® QAT and reference designs with our partners, Dell, Lenovo, and Cisco.
Other resources include the 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Processor and SQL Server 2022 Solution Snapshot and Solution Design Brief and the 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Processor Solution Snapshot.
About the Author
Iyer Venkatesan is a Solutions Marketing Manager at Intel covering database and analytics. His responsibilities include working with software partners on joint solutions, end-user content, and sales enablement. He has a broad range of software and hardware experience with product marketing and management roles. Iyer has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the University of Michigan.
Configurations
- 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® CPU Configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Standard: Tested by Intel as of 04/12/2023. 1 Node, 2x Intel® Xeon® Gold 6444Y+ processors (12C, 3.6GHz, 225W) CPU, 1x Quanta SDP QuantaGrid D54Q-2U, Total Memory: 256GB (16 x 16 GB 4800MHz DDR5 Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM)), Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled, Turbo: Enabled, Storage (startup): 1 x Solidigm DC S4610, 960 GB, Storage (Data drive): 6x Solidigm SATA S4500 Series (3.84TB), Storage (Log drive): 2 x Intel® SSD D7-P5510 3.84TB (NVMe), Network devices: 1 x 25 GbE Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter E810-C-Q2, Network speed: 25 GbE, 1 x 10 GbE Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X550-T2, Network Speed: 1 GbE, OS/Software: Windows 2022 Standard Edition with SQL Server 2022 Standard Edition (RTM) – 16.0.1000.6 (x64), HammerDB v4.0
5th Gen Intel® Xeon® configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 STD: Tested by Intel as of 02/09/24. 1-node, 2x INTEL® XEON® GOLD 6544Y, 12 cores, HT On, Turbo On, NUMA 4, Integrated Accelerators Available [used]: DLB 0 [0], DSA 2 [0], IAA 0 [0], QAT 0 [0], Total Memory 512GB (16x32GB DDR5 5600 MT/s [5200 MT/s]), Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) 3B05.TEL4P1, microcode 0x21000161, 2x Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T, 2x Ethernet Controller E810-C for QSFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 1x 4.7G Virtual CDROM0, 1x 1024M Virtual CDROM2, 8x 3.5T INTEL® SSDPF2KX038TZ, 1x 894.3G INTEL® SSDSC2KG960G8, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk1, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk2, 1x 1024M Virtual CDROM3, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk0, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk3, 1x 1024M Virtual CDROM1, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, 6.2.0-26-generic, WORKLOAD+VERSION, COMPILER, LIBRARIES, OTHER_SW, score=?UNITS. - 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 STD: Tested by Intel as of 04/12/2023. 1-node, 2x Intel® Xeon® Gold 6444Y, 12 cores, HT On, Turbo On, NUMA 4, Integrated Accelerators Available [used]: DLB 0 [0], DSA 2 [0], IAA 0 [0], QAT 0 [0], Total Memory 256GB (16x16GB DDR5 4800 MT/s [4800 MT/s]), BIOS3A11.uh, microcode 2B000111, 4x Ethernet Controller E810-C for SFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 2x Ethernet Controller 10G X550T 1 x Solidigm DC S4610 960 GB, Storage (Data drive): 6x Solidigm® SSD S4500 3.84TB (SATA) Storage (Log drive): 2 x Solidigm® SSD D7-P5510 3.84TB (NVMe), Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, 6.2.0-26-generic, WORKLOAD+VERSION, COMPILER, LIBRARIES, OTHER_SW, score=?UNITS.
4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 STD: Tested by Intel as of 02/09/2024. 1-node, 2x INTEL® XEON® GOLD 6544Y, 12 cores, HT On, Turbo On, NUMA 4, Integrated Accelerators Available [used]: DLB 0 [0], DSA 2 [0], IAA 0 [0], QAT 0 [0], Total Memory 512GB (16x32GB DDR5 5600 MT/s [5200 MT/s]), Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) 3B05.TEL4P1, microcode 0x21000161, 2x Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T, 2x Ethernet Controller E810-C for QSFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 1x 4.7G Virtual CDROM0, 1x 1024M Virtual CDROM2, 8x 3.5T INTEL® SSDPF2KX038TZ, 1x 894.3G INTEL® SSDSC2KG960G8, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk1, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk2, 1x 1024M Virtual CDROM3, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk0, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk3, 1x 1024M Virtual CDROM1, Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS, 6.2.0-26-generic, WORKLOAD+VERSION, COMPILER, LIBRARIES, OTHER_SW, score=?UNITS. - 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 ENT: Tested by Intel as of 11/27/2023. 1 Node, 2x Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8562Y+ (32C, 2.8GHz, 300W) CPU, 1x Quanta SDP QuantaGrid D54Q-2U, Total Memory: 512GB (16x32GB DDR5 5600 MT/s [5600 MT/s), Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled, Turbo: Enabled, Storage: 1x 894.3G INTEL® SSDonSC2KG960G8, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk0, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk1, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk3, Network devices:2x Ethernet Controller E810-C for QSFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 2x Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T, OS/Software: Windows 2022 Datacenter Edition with SQL Server 2022 Enterprise Edition.
4th Gen Intel® Xeon® configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 ENT: Tested by Intel as of 03/07/2023. 1 Node, 2x Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8460Y+ (32C, 2.3GHz, 300W) CPU, 1x Quanta SDP QuantaGrid D54Q-2U, Total Memory: 256GB (16x16GB DDR5 4800 MT/s [4800 MT/s]), Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled, Turbo: Enabled, Storage:1x 894.3G INTEL® SSDSC2KG960G8, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk0, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk1, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk3, Network devices: 2x Ethernet Controller E810-C for QSFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 2x Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T, OS/Software: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Edition with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise Edition - 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 ENT: Tested by Intel as of 11/27/2023. 1 Node, 2x Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8562Y+ (32C, 2.8GHz, 300W) CPU, 1x Quanta SDP QuantaGrid D54Q-2U, Total Memory: 512GB (16x32GB DDR5 5600 MT/s [5600 MT/s), Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled, Turbo: Enabled, Storage: 1x 894.3G INTEL® SSDSC2KG960G8, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk0, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk1, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk3, Network devices:2x Ethernet Controller E810-C for QSFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 2x Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T, OS/Software: Windows 2022 Datacenter Edition with SQL Server 2022 Enterprise Edition
4th Gen Intel® Xeon® configuration with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 ENT: Tested by Intel as of 03/07/2023. 1 Node, 2x Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8460Y+ (32C, 2.3GHz, 300W) CPU, 1x Quanta SDP QuantaGrid D54Q-2U, Total Memory: 256GB (16x16GB DDR5 4800 MT/s [4800 MT/s]), Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled, Turbo: Enabled, Storage:1x 894.3G INTEL® SSDSC2KG960G8, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk0, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk1, 1x 0B Virtual HDisk3, Network devices: 2x Ethernet Controller E810-C for QSFP, 1x Ethernet interface, 2x Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T, OS/Software: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Edition with Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Enterprise Edition
Notices and Disclaimers
Performance varies by use, configuration, and other factors. Learn more at www.Intel.com/PerformanceIndex
Performance results are based on testing as of dates shown in configurations and may not reflect all publicly available updates. See backup for configuration details.
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Your costs and results may vary.
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