Add NVMe local storage benchmark comparison
Comprehensive comparison of local-nvme-retain vs nfs-csi storage classes. NVMe shows 30-85x performance improvement over NFS for sequential operations. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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@@ -169,3 +169,243 @@ All tests were conducted using:
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- Direct I/O where applicable to minimize caching effects
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- Direct I/O where applicable to minimize caching effects
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Benchmark pod and resources were automatically cleaned up after testing, following ephemeral testing protocols.
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Benchmark pod and resources were automatically cleaned up after testing, following ephemeral testing protocols.
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---
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# NVMe Local Storage Benchmark - Comparison Analysis
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**Date:** 2026-01-19
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**Storage Class:** local-nvme-retain
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**Storage Backend:** Local NVMe SSD
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**Test Environment:** OpenShift Container Platform (OCP)
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**Tool:** fio (Flexible I/O Tester)
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## Executive Summary
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Local NVMe storage dramatically outperforms network-attached NFS storage, delivering **30-85x** higher throughput for sequential operations. Sequential read performance reaches **6845 MiB/s**, while sequential write achieves **2109 MiB/s** - compared to NFS's 80 MiB/s and 70 MiB/s respectively.
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## NVMe Benchmark Results
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### Sequential I/O (1M block size)
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#### Sequential Write
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- **Throughput:** 2109 MiB/s (2211 MB/s)
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- **IOPS:** 2108
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- **Test Duration:** 31 seconds
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- **Data Written:** 64.1 GiB
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- **Performance vs NFS:** **30x faster**
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**Latency Distribution:**
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- Median: 51 µs
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- 95th percentile: 79 µs
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- 99th percentile: 5.6 ms
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#### Sequential Read
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- **Throughput:** 6845 MiB/s (7177 MB/s)
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- **IOPS:** 6844
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- **Test Duration:** 20 seconds
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- **Data Read:** 134 GiB
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- **Performance vs NFS:** **85x faster**
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**Latency Distribution:**
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- Median: 50 µs
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- 95th percentile: 816 µs
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- 99th percentile: 840 µs
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### Random I/O (4K block size)
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#### Random Write
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- **Throughput:** 989 MiB/s (1037 MB/s)
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- **IOPS:** 253k
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- **Test Duration:** 20 seconds
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- **Data Written:** 19.3 GiB
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**Latency Distribution:**
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- Median: 1.4 µs
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- 95th percentile: 1.8 µs
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- 99th percentile: 2.2 µs
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#### Random Read
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- **Throughput:** 1594 MiB/s (1672 MB/s)
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- **IOPS:** 408k
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- **Test Duration:** 20 seconds
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- **Data Read:** 31.1 GiB
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**Latency Distribution:**
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- Median: 980 ns
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- 95th percentile: 1.3 µs
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- 99th percentile: 1.6 µs
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### Synchronized Write Test
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**Purpose:** Measure actual storage performance with fsync
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- **Throughput:** 197 MiB/s (206 MB/s)
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- **IOPS:** 196
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- **fsync latency:** 4.9ms average
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- **Performance vs NFS:** **3x faster** (197 vs 66 MiB/s)
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- **Latency vs NFS:** **3x lower** (4.9ms vs 15ms)
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The significantly lower fsync latency (4.9ms vs 15ms for NFS) demonstrates the advantage of local storage for durability-critical operations.
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### Mixed Workload (70% read / 30% write, 4 concurrent jobs)
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- **Read Throughput:** 294 MiB/s
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- **Read IOPS:** 75.2k
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- **Write Throughput:** 126 MiB/s
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- **Write IOPS:** 32.4k
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**Note:** Lower than random I/O tests due to contention from 4 concurrent jobs and mixed read/write operations.
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## Performance Comparison: NFS vs NVMe
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| Test Type | NFS (nfs-csi) | NVMe (local-nvme-retain) | Improvement Factor |
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|-----------|---------------|---------------------------|-------------------|
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| **Sequential Write** | 70 MiB/s | 2109 MiB/s | **30x** |
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| **Sequential Read** | 81 MiB/s | 6845 MiB/s | **85x** |
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| **Sync Write (fsync)** | 66 MiB/s | 197 MiB/s | **3x** |
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| **Random Write 4K** | 1205 MiB/s* | 989 MiB/s | - |
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| **Random Read 4K** | 1116 MiB/s* | 1594 MiB/s | **1.4x** |
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| **Random Write IOPS** | 308k* | 253k | - |
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| **Random Read IOPS** | 286k* | 408k | **1.4x** |
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| **fsync Latency** | 13-15ms | 4.9ms | **3x lower** |
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*Note: NFS random I/O results are heavily cached and don't represent actual NAS performance
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## Key Insights
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### 1. Sequential Performance Dominance
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NVMe's sequential performance advantage is dramatic:
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- **Write throughput:** 2109 MiB/s enables high-speed data ingestion
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- **Read throughput:** 6845 MiB/s ideal for data analytics and streaming workloads
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- **Latency:** Sub-millisecond latency for sequential operations
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### 2. Realistic Random I/O Performance
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Unlike NFS tests which show cached results, NVMe delivers:
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- **True 4K random write:** 989 MiB/s (253k IOPS)
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- **True 4K random read:** 1594 MiB/s (408k IOPS)
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- **Consistent sub-microsecond latencies**
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### 3. Durability Performance
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For applications requiring data durability (fsync operations):
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- **NVMe:** 197 MiB/s with 4.9ms fsync latency
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- **NFS:** 66 MiB/s with 15ms fsync latency
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- **Advantage:** 3x faster with 3x lower latency
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This makes NVMe significantly better for databases and transactional workloads.
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## Storage Class Selection Guide
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### Use NVMe (local-nvme-retain) For:
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1. **Database Workloads**
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- High IOPS requirements (>10k IOPS)
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- Low latency requirements (<1ms)
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- Transactional consistency (fsync-heavy)
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- Examples: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra
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2. **High-Performance Computing**
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- Large sequential data processing
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- Analytics and data science workloads
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- Machine learning training data
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3. **Application Cache Layers**
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- Redis, Memcached
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- Application-level caching
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- Session stores
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4. **Build and CI/CD Systems**
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- Fast build artifacts storage
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- Container image layers
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- Temporary compilation outputs
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### Use NFS (nfs-csi) For:
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1. **Shared Storage Requirements**
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- Multiple pods accessing same data (ReadWriteMany)
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- Shared configuration files
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- Content management systems
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2. **Long-Term Data Storage**
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- Application backups
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- Log archives
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- Media file storage (videos, images)
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3. **Cost-Sensitive Workloads**
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- Lower priority applications
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- Development environments
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- Acceptable 65-80 MiB/s throughput
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### Hybrid Approach (Recommended):
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Implement a tiered storage strategy:
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```
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
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│ Tier 1: NVMe (Hot Data) │
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│ - Databases │
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│ - Active application data │
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│ - High-IOPS workloads │
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│ Performance: 2000-7000 MiB/s │
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└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
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↓ Archive/Backup
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
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│ Tier 2: NFS (Warm Data) │
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│ - Shared files │
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│ - Application backups │
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│ - Logs and archives │
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│ Performance: 65-80 MiB/s │
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└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
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↓ Long-term storage
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
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│ Tier 3: Object Storage (Cold Data) │
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│ - Long-term archives │
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│ - Compliance data │
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│ - Infrequently accessed backups │
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└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
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```
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## Cost Considerations
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### NVMe Local Storage:
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- **Pros:** Exceptional performance, low latency, no network overhead
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- **Cons:** Node-local (no pod mobility), limited capacity per node
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- **Best for:** Performance-critical workloads where cost-per-IOPS is justified
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### NFS Network Storage:
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- **Pros:** Shared access, unlimited capacity, pod mobility across nodes
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- **Cons:** Network-limited performance, higher latency
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- **Best for:** Shared data, cost-sensitive workloads, large capacity needs
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## Final Recommendations
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1. **For New Database Deployments:**
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- Use NVMe (local-nvme-retain) for primary storage
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- Use NFS for backups and WAL archives
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- Expected 30x performance improvement over NFS-only approach
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2. **For Existing NFS-Based Applications:**
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- Migrate performance-critical components to NVMe
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- Keep shared/archival data on NFS
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- Measure application-specific improvements
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3. **For High-Throughput Applications:**
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- NVMe sequential read (6845 MiB/s) enables near-real-time data processing
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- Consider NVMe for any workload exceeding 100 MiB/s sustained throughput
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4. **Network Upgrade Still Valuable:**
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- Even with NVMe available, upgrading to 10 Gbps networking benefits:
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- Faster pod-to-pod communication
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- Better NFS performance for shared data
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- Reduced network congestion
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## Conclusion
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Local NVMe storage provides transformational performance improvements over network-attached NFS storage, with 30-85x higher throughput for sequential operations and consistent sub-millisecond latencies. This makes NVMe the clear choice for performance-critical workloads including databases, analytics, and high-IOPS applications.
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However, NFS remains essential for shared storage scenarios and cost-sensitive workloads where 65-80 MiB/s throughput is sufficient. The optimal strategy combines both: use NVMe for hot data requiring high performance, and NFS for shared access and archival needs.
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The benchmark results validate that storage class selection should be workload-specific, with NVMe delivering exceptional value for performance-critical applications while NFS serves broader organizational needs for shared and persistent storage.
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