Dear list,
I am planning to buy a new server -because the new Core2 Duo based Xeons (5100 series) are considerably faster in some scenarios than Opteron machines while not beeing more expensive, I would like to hear some real-world experiences from people who have installed CentOS 4.3 or 4.4 on such a setup.
Specifically:
CPU: 2x Intel Xeon 5100 2GHz Board: Intel S5000 chipset RAID5: 3ware 9550SXU-4LP
I have some experience with the 3ware Adapter (new kernel module needed on install) but now nothing about compatibility, extra drivers or other problems related to the relatively new Xeon/S5000 platform and CentOS 4.3/RHEL 4.3.
Thanks for any feedback.
On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 at 3:12pm, Marc Saric wrote
I am planning to buy a new server -because the new Core2 Duo based Xeons (5100 series) are considerably faster in some scenarios than Opteron machines while not beeing more expensive, I would like to hear some real-world experiences from people who have installed CentOS 4.3 or 4.4 on such a setup.
Specifically:
CPU: 2x Intel Xeon 5100 2GHz Board: Intel S5000 chipset RAID5: 3ware 9550SXU-4LP
I have some experience with the 3ware Adapter (new kernel module needed on install) but now nothing about compatibility, extra drivers or other problems related to the relatively new Xeon/S5000 platform and CentOS 4.3/RHEL 4.3.
I've got a testbox with a Supermicro X7DVL motherboard and dual Xeon 5140s. The onboard network was *not* supported in CentOS 4.3, but is as of 4.4. Also, the 3w-9xxx received a significant upgrade in the 4.4 kernel vs. the one from 4.3. So, you *really* want to go with 4.4 on that hardware over 4.3.
Joshua Baker-LePain wrote:
I've got a testbox with a Supermicro X7DVL motherboard and dual Xeon 5140s. The onboard network was *not* supported in CentOS 4.3, but is as of 4.4. Also, the 3w-9xxx received a significant upgrade in the 4.4 kernel vs. the one from 4.3. So, you *really* want to go with 4.4 on that hardware over 4.3.
Significant upgrade for he 3ware 9xxx means just "now works out of the box" or anything else (better performance, etc.)?
Any of the stability/heat issues which where mentioned in the "Dual Opteron or Dual Xeon?" thread from 2006-10-26?
On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 at 3:46pm, Marc Saric wrote
Joshua Baker-LePain wrote:
I've got a testbox with a Supermicro X7DVL motherboard and dual Xeon 5140s. The onboard network was *not* supported in CentOS 4.3, but is as of 4.4. Also, the 3w-9xxx received a significant upgrade in the 4.4 kernel vs. the one from 4.3. So, you *really* want to go with 4.4 on that hardware over 4.3.
Significant upgrade for he 3ware 9xxx means just "now works out of the box" or anything else (better performance, etc.)?
The former -- the pre-4.4 3w-9xxx driver didn't work at all with the 9550 cards, IIRC.
Any of the stability/heat issues which where mentioned in the "Dual Opteron or Dual Xeon?" thread from 2006-10-26?
Nope.
Joshua Baker-LePain wrote:
The former -- the pre-4.4 3w-9xxx driver didn't work at all with the 9550 cards, IIRC.
Ah, yes. OK, this was an issue on installation (had to download a RHEL-kernel module from 3ware and put it on a floppy at install time).
Nope.
OK. Thanks for the info.
Hi,
Marc Saric wrote:
Any of the stability/heat issues which where mentioned in the "Dual Opteron or Dual Xeon?" thread from 2006-10-26?
Just for the case you're planning to use a BBU with your 9550 ... Don't put it into a 2U case, rather use a 3U case. I had much problems with the BBU temperature during high IO and CPU usage. Temperature went up just a little bit and syslog told me "Battery temperature HIGH" after a few minutes. HIGH means 45°C to 50°C, everything above means "TOO HIGH" which deactivates write cache. Using a 3U case solved this problem and everything works as expected, even when the system is totally busy with IO and CPU. Regards, Michael
Michael Kress wrote:
Hi,
Marc Saric wrote:
Any of the stability/heat issues which where mentioned in the "Dual Opteron or Dual Xeon?" thread from 2006-10-26?
Just for the case you're planning to use a BBU with your 9550 ... Don't put it into a 2U case, rather use a 3U case. I had much problems with the BBU temperature during high IO and CPU usage. Temperature went up just a little bit and syslog told me "Battery temperature HIGH" after a few minutes. HIGH means 45°C to 50°C, everything above means "TOO HIGH" which deactivates write cache. Using a 3U case solved this problem and everything works as expected, even when the system is totally busy with IO and CPU.
I had a similar issue, even though the 2U case had obnoxiously loud and over-engineered cooling fans. I haven't had any problems in (also obnoxiously loud) the 3RU Supermicro enclosures we've standardized on for deployment.
Cheers,
Michael Kress wrote:
Hi,
Just for the case you're planning to use a BBU with your 9550 ... Don't put it into a 2U case, rather use a 3U case. I had much problems with the BBU temperature during high IO and CPU usage. Temperature went up just a little bit and syslog told me "Battery temperature HIGH" after a few minutes. HIGH means 45°C to 50°C, everything above means "TOO HIGH" which deactivates write cache. Using a 3U case solved this problem and everything works as expected, even when the system is totally busy with IO and CPU.
Thanks for the info, but no, I don't want to use one. Currently we run Opteron Servers with the 9550 in 2HE cases, and they seem to be fine.
CPU: 2x Intel Xeon 5100 2GHz Board: Intel S5000 chipset RAID5: 3ware 9550SXU-4LP
It appears you did not encounter this problem?
http://www.3ware.com/kb/article.aspx?id=14932
With regard to the stability issues I raised in the other thread, the korean portal that did should have been in a position to provide proper power supplies and cooling or maybe not. I guess it is safe to say that Woodcrest + FB-DIMM = hot.
You may therefore want to go with the board that Joshua is using since he has not encountered stability problems. It does have 64-bit PCI-X slots for your 3ware card.
Considering the each FBDIMM uses 6-11W EACH yes it's a very hot combination.
Feizhou wrote:
CPU: 2x Intel Xeon 5100 2GHz Board: Intel S5000 chipset RAID5: 3ware 9550SXU-4LP
It appears you did not encounter this problem?
http://www.3ware.com/kb/article.aspx?id=14932
With regard to the stability issues I raised in the other thread, the korean portal that did should have been in a position to provide proper power supplies and cooling or maybe not. I guess it is safe to say that Woodcrest + FB-DIMM = hot.
You may therefore want to go with the board that Joshua is using since he has not encountered stability problems. It does have 64-bit PCI-X slots for your 3ware card. _______________________________________________ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
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