Homogeneous queue depth calculation in iSCSI hosts

You must set the homogeneous queue depth to a calculated value in iSCSI hosts.

Queued commands in the homogeneous queues must be shared among all paths rather than providing servers with additional resources.

Set the queue depth for each volume on the servers by using the calculation

where

Therefore, q = (4000/(v * c)) * 0.75.

Example

Consider a system with 20 host servers (c = 20), each with 20 volumes mapped (v = 20). For this configuration, the value of the queue depth is q = (4000/(20 * 20)) * 0.75 = 7.5 (or the lower boundary limit of 7)

Use the minimum value of 2 if the value of derived queue depth exceeds the maximum allowed value on a particular host operating system.

Some common host server configurations are summarized in Common queue depth configurations, considering 20 volumes mapped to each host server.

Table 1. Common queue depth configurations
Number of iSCSI hosts per I/O group <20 20-40 64
Recommended queue depth Seven (or the maximum number that is allowed by the host OS, whichever is smaller) Three to four (or the max number that is allowed by the host OS, whichever is smaller) Two