Need advice for a dual Xeon setup

[Hyun]

I'm in the process of spec'ing out a dual Xeon-based system for my work. Up till now we've been building our own dual Pentium III-based rackmount servers, but want to see what kind of performance we can get with the Xeons.

The server will become either a SQL server (30 users) or a file server (160 users). As such, we don't need the latest-and-greatest video card in it.

I'd appreciate any advice on the configuration below. Thanks in advance!

Dual Intel Xeon 2GHz CPUs w/ 512KB cache
Intel SE7500CW2 motherboard
2GB DDR/266
Adaptec 3210S RAID controller with 256MB cache
6 x Fujitsu MAN3367MP 34GB U160 SCSI drives (2 for RAID-1 boot array, 4 for RAID-0/1 data array)
Intel Pro 100+ dual network connections (built-in to motherboard)
nVidia GeForce2 MX-400 w/ 64MB
Sony CD-R and separate CD-RW
Soundblaster Audigy
Rackmount chassis w/ redundant 300W power supply

Question: do they have 2GHz Xeons with bigger cache than 512KB?

 

[Daniel]

Whats with the seperate cdr and cdrw drives? And why the sound card in a server?

 

[josphII]

why a geforce2mx in there too? the mobo doesnt have integrated video?

a good server mobo will have integrated scsi, video, lan, and sound

 

[Hyun]

> Whats with the seperate cdr and cdrw drives? And why the sound card in a server

Oops, I meant CD-ROM and CD-RW drives, not separate Recordable and ReWritable.

You are right, I can't think of a good reason why I would need a soundcard in a server. Just a force of habit (from building workstations), I guess.

Thanks!

 

[Hyun]

> why a geforce2mx in there too? the mobo doesnt have integrated video?

This will teach me to read the specs of the motherboard a little bit closely before posting. Yes, the Intel motherboard comes with ATI Rage XL PCI controller built in.

> a good server mobo will have integrated scsi, video, lan, and sound

This particular motherboard has integrated LAN (two PRO/100+ connections), video, but no sound and only ATA RAID.

 

[MikeMike]

how much does that total, and where are u gettin the parts from?

edited for spelling errors

 

[dullard]

I wouldn't put in 2 GHz Xeon chips anymore. Intel has taken that chip completely off its pricelist meaning that Intel is trying to end its production. Thus if you like the results of this test computer, it will be difficult to buy more 2 GHz Xeons in the future. Instead I'd look at the 2.4 GHz Xeons which don't cost much more ($264 vs $219 at Googlegear.com). The 2.6 GHz and 2.8 GHz Xeons are quite a bit more expensive.

Intel should release the 533 MHz fsb Xeons in the next month or two. Depending on your timeframe these might prove to be a better solution. The greater fsb will match with faster memory to overcome the low 512 kB cache.

The only current Xeon with greater cache is the server Xeon MP processor. This runs at 1.6 GHz, has 1 MB cache, but costs nearly $4000 each. The Xeon MP hasn't had a speed bump in quite a long time. The Inquirer says a 1 MB cache 1.9 GHz Xeon MP will be released in the 4th quarter of this year. And a 2MB cache 2.0 GHz Xeon MP will be released at the same time (expect this to also cost $4000)

 

[Hyun]

> how much does that total, and where are u gettin the parts from?

The only parts I've priced out so far are the motherboard ($498) and the prcoessors ($250 each). Not sure where I'll be getting parts from--first I'm going to see if our local vendor can supply the parts at competitive prices, and then go from there.

 

[MikeMike]

ok but....

DONT COUNT AMD OUT

they are a ton less exspensive, and can be had just as fast as most, but the price is what is great with them!!!

and tyan makes a great server board for them

 

[dullard]

"DONT COUNT AMD OUT

they are a ton less exspensive, and can be had just as fast as most, but the price is what is great with them!!!"

AMD provides a good alternative as shown in Anand's server comparison.. The Athlon MP 2200+ and the 2.4 GHz Xeon cost about the same and from that benchmark, they would perform about the same (extrapolating the 2100+ performance to 2200+ performance). Sure the Tyan AMD motherboard is a bit cheaper than the Tyan Intel motherboard, but overall the price difference is small.

 

[Hyun]

> DONT COUNT AMD OUT

I wish I could, but my boss is an Intel die-hard and will not consider using a non-Intel CPU in the servers. Too bad, really--the past four home computers I've had were all AMDs (386/40, 486/133, K6/233, and Athlon 1.3GHz) and I'm plum happy with them.

 

[dexvx]

Do you know what kind of I/O bandwidth is required? E7500 has pretty poor I/O bandwidth performance. If you need some serious I/O power, you should look at the ServerWorks GC chipsets; i860, e7500, or 762MPX cant touch a GC chipset's I/O performance. BTW, the e7500 has build in ATI video card with seperate ram (doesnt use any off the system ram). No need for a geforceMX card. And I dont see why you need a sound card in a server either (plan to play some mp3's?).

If you want Xeons bigger than 512K Cache, then you need XeonMPs. They are currently at 1.6Ghz 1MB cache, but the new ones based off the Gallatin (or something similar name) core will come out by q4 2002. Note those are really expensive.

I think Anands server review is flawed; it takes into account the raw speed of the CPUs/memory in question. However, it lacks in the I/O department. A lot of the mid-high end servers have rather poor raw speed (cpu per cpu), but whats critical is the I/O bandwidth. Dual 1.6 XeonMP w/ 1MB on a GC platform cannot come close to dual 2.4Ghz Xeons or 2200+ MPs cpu wise, but their I/O bandwidth is nearly 10x greater. Bottleneck wise, I think I/O is more critical than raw cpu power. Hate to rant, but also note that the Anand forums server is slower than a lot of the other BBS's (such as Arstechnica). Ars actually has more traffic (upwards of 1200 during peak vs 600 here), but that could also be a software issue (FuseTalk vs Infopop) than a server issue (762MPX based MPs vs GC based Xeons), but nevertheless it is slower. If you look at SPEC based benchmarks for servers, a lot of weight is given on the I/O department rather than raw CPU power, last time I checked.

 

[MikeMike]

Originally posted by: Hyun
> DONT COUNT AMD OUT

I wish I could, but my boss is an Intel die-hard and will not consider using a non-Intel CPU in the servers. Too bad, really--the past four home computers I've had were all AMDs (386/40, 486/133, K6/233, and Athlon 1.3GHz) and I'm plum happy with them.

just search on the internet, and use the link above, to prove to him that by going with amd he will save money(he will like that) and they are just as good as intel!!!!!!!!!

just make sure, that u ddont use actuall megahertz when talking with him, use intels megahertz, but amds pr ratings! that will keep it sound identical

 

[dowxp]

just make sure, that u ddont use actuall megahertz when talking with him, use intels megahertz, but amds pr ratings! that will keep it sound identical

rofl, you sound like a compusa employee

 

[Fun Guy]

Wait another month or two for the 533Mhz bus Xeons to come out.

 

[Superwormy]

300-watt Power Supply is a little skimpy for a Dual Xeon system with 6 hard drives...

You might also consider a tape drive, if it's any kind of important data, you should be keeping another backup besides just the RAID array. Preferablly keeping it at another location.