[6/18 11:17 AM] Katherine Spencer (Collabera)

"We're setting up this time for you to discuss with our experts on Graph. Could you please provide us with a rough list of questions prior to the meeting to help us prepare and steer you in the right direction."

SQL Server Remote Storage (SMB3)Eric Bortei-Doku, Steve Smith

Agenda

Overview

Configuration

Documentation

Code examples

Overview

Adapting SQL Server to run on SMB3 storageTypically, deployments have been direct-attached or, have been based on Storage Area Networks (SANs).

Support of CIFS/SMB has been a gray zone

Apps on fileservers

Typical apps for fileservers Document repositories, user file storage etc.

o High volume/IO ratio

o More full file writes than write-in-place

o Not typically IO bound

Databases on fileservers Higher IO/volume ratio

Mostly write-in-place

More likely to be IO bound

May have hotspots

Why Not?

Historically, CIFS/SMB-based storage has been perceived as having:o Unreliable connections

o Unreliable storage on the fileserver

o Poor Performance

o Lack of integrity guarantees.

The world has changedo Ethernet hardware is more reliable

o Speeds are competitive

o Fiber channel over Ethernet (FCoE) – an example of Ethernet maturity

o Robust storage behind the file server

Simpler management

End-user self-service

Performance gap between Ethernet & Fiber Channel is shrinking

0.1

1

10

100

1997 2001 2005 2008 2011

FC Performace

Gb/sec

Ethernet

PerformanceGb/sec

Windows SMB3 Implementation has improved Performance

Efficiency

Resiliency

Interop offerings bring SQL into play

Resiliency

What are the considerations?

Reliability

Performance

SQL IO Requirementso Stable Media

o Write ordering

o Torn I/O Prevention

Compatibilityo NTFS compatibility – alternate data streams etc.

Testing Infrastructureo Automated provisioning of file servers etc.

SQL Server with SMB3 fileshare storage

• Starting with SQL Server 2012 (11.x), system databases

(Master, Model, MSDB, and TempDB), and Database

Engine user databases can be installed with Server

Message Block (SMB) 3 file server as a storage option

• Applies to both SQL Server stand-alone and SQL

Server failover clustering instances (FCI)

Installation and Configuration Options

Installation Considerations

• Supported Universal Naming Convention (UNC) Path

formats for standalone and FCI databases:

• \\ServerName\ShareName\

• \\ServerName\ShareName

• Unsupported UNC path formats:

• Loopback path, e.g., \\localhost\..\ or \\127.0.0.1\...\

• Administrative shares, e.g., \\servername\x$

• Other UNC path formats like \\?\x:\

• Mapped network drives.

Installation Options

• Set the parameter “Data root directory as “\\fileserver1\share1\

• In command prompt installation, specify the “/INSTALLSQLDATADIR” as

\\fileserver1\share1\

• Sample syntax to install SQL Server on a Standalone server using SMB3

file share option

Setup.exe /q /ACTION=Install /FEATURES=SQL

/INSTANCENAME=MSSQLSERVER /SQLSVCACCOUNT="<DomainName\UserName>"

/SQLSVCPASSWORD="<StrongPassword>"

/SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="<DomainName\UserName>"

/AGTSVCACCOUNT="<DomainName\UserName>"

/AGTSVCPASSWORD="<StrongPassword>"

/INSTALLSQLDATADIR="\\FileServer\Share1\"

/IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS

Supported DDL

• Transact-SQL DDL statements and database engine

stored procedures support SMB3 file shares:

• CREATE DATABASE (SQL Server Transact-SQL)

• ALTER DATABASE (Transact-SQL)

• RESTORE (Transact-SQL)

• BACKUP (Transact-SQL)

OS System considerations

Operating System SMB3 protocol dialect Benefits to SQL Server

Windows Server 2008 2.0.2 Improved performance over

previous CIFS/SMB versions.

Durability, which helps

recover from temporary

network glitches.

Windows Server 2008 R2,

including Server Core

2.1 Support for large MTU,

which benefits large data

transfers, such as SQL

backup and restore.

Significant performance

improvements, specifically

for SQL OLTP style

workloads

OS System considerations

Operating System SMB3 protocol dialect Benefits to SQL Server

Windows Server 2012,

including Server Core

3.0 Support for transparent

failover of file shares

providing.

Support for IO using

multiple network interfaces

simultaneously.

Support for network

interfaces with RDMA

capabilities.

Support for Scale Out File

Server (SoFS) with

continuous availability.

OS System considerationsOperating System SMB3 protocol dialect Benefits to SQL Server

Windows Server 2012 R2,

including Server Core

3.0.2 Support for RDMA

capabilities using SMB Direct

[MS-SMBD].

.

Optimized for small random

read/write I/O common to

SQL Server OLTP.

Maximum Transmission Unit

(MTU) is turned on by

default

OS System considerationsOperating System SMB3 protocol dialect Benefits to SQL Server

Windows Server 2016,

including Server Core,

Windows Server 2019

3.1.1 Supporting the negotiation

of encryption and integrity

algorithms.

Supporting the compression

of messages between client

and server.

Security Considerations

• The SQL Server service account and SQL Server agent service

account should have FULL CONTROL share permissions and

NTFS permissions on the SMB3 share folder

• The FULL CONTROL share permissions and NTFS permissions

on the SMB3 share folders should be restricted to: SQL Server

service account, SQL Server Agent service account and

windows users with admin server role

Documentation

[MS-SQLRS] Profile Document

[MS-SQLRS] : SQL Server Remote Storage Profile

• Specifies information regarding the implementation for

hosting Microsoft SQL Server databases on Server Message

Block (SMB) 3 shares

• Describes the files associated with the storage of databases.

These include data files, transaction log files, and other

associated on-disk artifacts.

• Clarifies the level of support that SQL Server requires from

SMB3 servers that host these types of files.

[MS-SQLRS]: Associated Protocol Docs

• [MS-FSA] Microsoft Corporation, "File System Algorithms".

• [MS-FSCC] Microsoft Corporation, "File System Control

Codes".

• [MS-SMB2] Microsoft Corporation, "Server Message Block

(SMB) Protocol Versions 2 and 3".

Code examples

[MS-SQLRS] : File System Control Codes example 1:

• Scenario: You want SQL Server to issue a query on the stream

to retrieve file system integrity information. Possible if:

• Server supports the FSCTL_FILESYSTEM_GET_STATISTICS

control code

-and, in that case…-

• Server responds with a FILESYSTEM_STATISTICS structure,

with a FileSystemType field value of

FILESYSTEM_STATISTICS_TYPE_REFS

[MS-SQLRS] : File System Control Codes example 4:

• Scenario: SQL Server can query properties of the volume that

are underlying the remote file share if:

• Server supports the IOCTL_VOLUME_GET_GPT_ATTRIBUTES

control code

Resources

• [MS-SMB2]: Server Message Block Protocol v2

• [MS-SMBD]: SMB2 Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) Transport Protocol

• [MS-SQLRS]: SQL Server Remote Storage Profile

Questions?

© Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Thank you!