In his blog post "13,800,000 entry Sun Directory Server 5.2 patch 6 Benchmark yields 17,000 searches per second" Terry Gardner reports that a Sun Netra x4250, dual-CPU, 8-core (2.13 Ghz), 64 GB RAM running Solaris 10 update 7 using internal disk drives and a Gigabit Ethernet accommodated 13,800,000 entries loaded into the Directory Server database in 2 hours; sustained 17,000 searches per second over 8 hours with an average latency of less than 2 milliseconds with no update (replication) traffic; and sustained 11,000 searches per second sustained over 8 hours with average latency of than 2 milliseconds in the presence of update (replication) traffic. For this benchmark, SLAMD Version 2006 was used to generate and report on LDAP load.

The consumer server node storage specifications included the use of ZFS for Directory Server database files; UFS for Directory Server logs; and Seagate 10K 300GB SAS drives.

Most tuning parameters for Sun Directory Server 5.2 patch 6 were left at default values for this benchmark, and the slab allocator libumem so was used instead of the default single-threaded memory allocation library.

Gardner notes that the data used for the database was taken from production customer Directory Servers, resulting in a very life-like benchmark. Each entry is of similar construction and is approximately 2302 bytes in size, including operational data and replication meta-data.

User data was extracted from customer production system backups and loaded into a Supplier (master) Directory Server, he continues, adding that this Directory Server Supplier was used to generate replication traffic, but was not otherwise part of the Benchmark. The user data (the output of db2ldif -r), was loaded into the Consumer Directory Server using the ldif2db command. This process took approximately 2 hours. After the database loaded into the Consumer Directory Server, the database, including the necessary index files was observed to approximately 15 GB, Gardner reports.

The test clients were five SLAMD clients (stand-alone Java clients), with two threads each generating search load from search filters constructed from actual customer data. The Benchmark consisted of the following sequence, which was repeated in order for each benchmark run to ensure a level playing field for each sequence:

• The ZFS cache was primed with data from the database using the dd command

• A database cache priming job consisting of a 1200 second (20 minute) SLAMD job comprised of a series of LDAP searches using search filters derived from customer data

• A 5 minute null job – no activity, allows Directory Server to quiesce

• Two simultaneous jobs: 1) a job generating ADDs, MODs, and DELs in the precise mixture derived from customer provided access logs from production systems. This job is schedule for 8 hours duration, but in reality takes longer because added entries are removed at job completion. 2) a job executing searches using search filters derived from customer provided data.

The benchmark results enabled Gardner to conclude that the certification search throughput was exceeded by over 3,000 searches per second, and response times were less than 1/800 of maximum tolerable response times. The combination of Sun Directory Server 5.2 patch 6, Solaris 10 update 7, dual-CPU 8-core Sun Netra x4250, and libumem so makes a very fast, memory efficient Directory Server platform, he writes, adding that the customer will deploy 8 identically configured servers, resulting in a maximum throughput of 88,000 searches per second simultaneously with updates.

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