PernixData recently announced that SEGA has chosen PernixData FVP to accelerate storage performance of its gaming service platform. According to the announcement, by removing storage performance bottlenecks, PernixData FVP is enabling SEGA to better handle player information and support playing devices like smart phones and tablets. To find out more about this news, and to better understand the procurement process, deployment process, and the benefits seen, I spoke with Kyosuke Watanabe, general manager of the IT management department at SEGA Networks.
VMblog: What issue were you
having that led to you searching for a new storage performance solution?
Kyosuke Watanabe: Our gaming platform required extraordinary
performance, and we had previously been using Fusion-IO cards as a method of storing
data on physical servers for our database systems.
We
were unable to support operational efficiency on virtualized platforms, and
also experienced excessive use of Fusion-IO cards for a single database. These
were consistent issues that we wanted to overcome.
VMblog: What was the
procurement process for selecting a solution?
Watanabe: Our database receives 80% write traffic, so a
read-only solution was unsuitable for our environment. We needed a solution
that could accelerate both read and write performance.
VMblog: And was there a test or
trial that formed part of this?
Watanabe: Yes. We did a performance test both before and
after deploying PernixData FVP.
VMblog: So have you seen any
benefits since implementation?
Watanabe: We expect to migrate at least 80% of the MySQL
databases from a physical to virtual environment. We also improved our
read/write latency and overall database performance by 50%. Additionally, we
now use vSphere HA/vMotion for our databases, and improved our infrastructure
operations.
VMblog: How simple was the
solution to install? And what was the support from PernixData like?
Watanabe: Yes, it was easy to install PernixData FVP. However,
our technology partner Networld did not say, "You only have to wait just 3
minutes." Networld was very helpful, and the PernixData team also supported
Networld throughout the process. Networld constructed a similar testing environment
at their HQ and helped us carry out some tests with PernixData FVP. PernixData
was also quick to respond when we had any issues.
VMblog: Has PernixData FVP
cut costs?
Watanabe: Yes. By combining PernixData FVP and low-end
storage, we achieved performance that was three to four times better than low-end
storage, and better than middle range storage.
Instead
of dedicating one database with Fusion-IO, our performance is now shared with the
VMs within the PernixData FVP cluster.
VMblog: Finally, what extra benefits
do you expect it to provide going forward?
Watanabe: We don't expect to buy high performance
storage any more. Since PernixData FVP provides the storage performance, we can
now focus on scaling storage capacity and we can control future storage
investments.
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Once again, thanks to Kyosuke Watanabe, GM of the IT Management Department at SEGA Networks.