boisvert.guy@videotron.ca wrote:
Hi all,
I have a CentOS 4.5 server running on a workstation mainboard (PCI Slots only). We have now one 200 Gigs IDE disk dedicated for e-mail server storage. We use Communigate Pro and the server has 45 Outlook clients with the MAPI connector (All mailboxes on the server). When a user opens Outlook, a refresh of the local cache is performed for his data. There is a big "Public" area (about 50 Gigs) where all the projects data/infos are stored (all that on the same IDE hard disk). Clients cache updates are performed on e-mail folder access. We noticed server response slowdown as the number of user increased (quite normal!).
Now we want to upgrade the server to get better performance. I'd like to know if, as a temporary cheap upgrade, software RAID with a Sil 3124 and 2 x Raptor WD740ADFD (74 Gigs with NCQ) in Software RAID 0 would bring a significant performance boost. If it is the case, that would permit to phase out this server in 1-2 years and we'd upgrade the whole server after.
Here a the specs of the actual "server": Asus A7V600 (I know, that's bad but it just works!!!) Athlon 2500+ 1 Gig RAM (we'll probably put 1 more gig soon if it can help) System Hard Disk: WD 80 Gigs Mail hard disk: Western Digital WD2000JB (IDE 200 Gigs) EXT3 on LVM Backups hard disk: 1 x 200 Gigs IDE, 1 x 320 Gigs SATA, 1 x 750 Gigs SATA --> LVM Total of 1270 Gigs
Any help / experience would be appreciated.
TIA,
Guy Boisvert
if you are planning to do a full upgrade ... in future .. try out zimbra from zimbra.com