We recently announced the new I4i instance type as an addition to our VMware Cloud on AWS offerings. Here is a high-level summary of the differences between the three instance types we now offer:
So how do these instances compare when running Microsoft SQL Server, one of the most popular database applications in the world? To answer this, I ran DVD Store, an open-source benchmark (co-written by my teammate Todd Muirhead) that measures database throughput in orders per minute (OPM).
For each instance type, I created a separate SDDC, each with a single cluster of three hosts:
First, I ran a single SQL Server VM on one host on each instance type:
Key highlights:
- The new I4i instance outperformed the I3 instance by 158% (over 2.5x)
- The I3en instance outperformed the I3 instance by 52%
Next, I ran the same SQL Server VM benchmark across two hosts simultaneously in each instance:
As you can see, the performance doubled across all three, a testament to the scalability of VMware Cloud on AWS.
Finally, I put the “pedal to the metal” by saturating all of the hosts in each SDDC:
Scalability is still very impressive: a fully saturated 3-host SDDC performed 2.6-2.9x better than a single host.
As the results above show, the I4i instance achieves superior SQL Server performance. Compared to previous instances, it delivers superior value in migrating and operating both memory-bound and general-purpose workloads. It offers:
- More processing power: 128 logical processors (3.5x more than I3)
- More memory: 1 TB (2x more than I3)
- More storage: ~20 TiB NVMe storage capacity (~2x more than I3)
- More networking speed: 75 Gbps physical NIC (~3x more than I3)
This instance type can be used for general purpose workloads, database workloads like transactional databases (Microsoft SQL Server as shown above, Oracle Database and MySQL), NoSQL databases (MongoDB, Couchbase, Aerospike, Redis), and VDI workloads.
Here are details of the benchmark test environment:
| SDDC instance types | I3, I3en, I4i |
| Number of hosts per SDDC | 3 |
| VMware ESXi version / build number | VMware ESXi 8.0.0 build 20430035 |
| vCenter Server version / build number | vCenter Server 8.0.0 build 20432146 |
| VM operating system | Microsoft Windows Server 2022 |
| VM database application | Microsoft SQL Server 2019 |
| VM vCPU count | Right-sized for each instance type to use all the host’s physical cores |
| VM memory | Right-sized for each instance type to use all the host’s memory |
| VM disks | 200 GB OS 500 GB database 100 GB logs |
| Benchmark | DVD Store 3.5 |
| Database size | 100 GB (10 stores) |
Here are some resources to learn more:
