iSCSI performance metrics - HW initiators vs SW Initiator + Jumbo frames

Environment:

1. VMware ESXi 4.1 update 1
2. Dell PowerEdge R810 Server (2 servers) and the NIC card is BroadCom II 5709 with TOE and iSCSI offload (Quad port)
(2 quadport nics per server hence total 8 nics in each server - first 2 ports from onboard NIC card and first 2 ports of additional nic card are dedicated for iSCSI. Rest of the ports are connected to regular network.)
3. Dell PowerConnect 7024 switches (2 switches) with 2 10 GbE ports in each switch.
4. Dell PowerVault MD3600i storage Dual Controller 10 GbE, RAID-5, 15k RPM, SAS


Tool used:  SQLIO


IOPS (Input/Outputs per second)
Hardware iSCSI initiator


Software iSCSI initiator with Jumbo Frames





Thoroughput (Mbps)
Hardware iSCSI initiator

Software iSCSI initiator with Jumbo Frames