The program has been designed for professional use to analyze and diagnose storage performance issues without having to run a full end-to-end workload.

At its core, it can be used to test files, partitions or physical disks on devices running supported client or server versions of the Windows operating system.

DiskSpd is a command line tool which you need to run from an elevated command prompt. You can open one with a tap on the Windows-key, typing cmd.exe, holding down Shift and Ctrl, and tapping on the enter key in the end.

It enables you to customize the parameters of the tests
While it can be argued that the lack of an interface is a setback, you should know that the application is an advanced tool that addresses professionals who commonly manage Storage Area Networks. Consequentially, following a quick setup, you are able to access the app via Command Line.

The idea behind the utility is to help you determine the overall performance of various storage solutions, such as partitions, disks or perform SQL server I/O activity. You should know that the tool allows you to customize the test according to the parameters you are interested in.

Therefore, you can set the CPU affinity, test duration, block size, balance queues, base target offset, sequential access hints and even set up the app to display a progress indicator.

Provides you with the results in a plain text file
Once the test is completed, the program supplies you with a description of the test where you can preview all the settings you opted for and most importantly, the results of the performance analysis. It is important to note that the utility provides very detailed information about the latency of the storage solution along with IOPs statistics in units of milliseconds if required.

The results are provided in a plain text file that includes data such as the test time, thresh count and the logical processor count. You can also receive a summary of the test in an XML format by inputting a -rxml request.

A handy tool for performing storage performance tests
Even though it could use a feature to help you analyze and interpret the results more efficiently, Diskspd is a handy tool that can help you perform performance diagnosis for a wide variety of storage solutions.

Download
DiskSpd Storage Performance Tool 2.2.zip – 4.9 MB