Opteron Server suggestions

[skar]

Hi,

I'm currently managing a heavily loaded mail server, with the following spec:

Tyan Tiger M/B
Dual opteron 240s
2X512 MB of DDR400 ECC RAM
3 Western Digital SATA HDD in s/w RAID1(reliability is critical here)
Using the onboard Gig-E which is routed through PCI, so its crap, particularly when I try USB backup, the LAN has to be disconnected, so that the LAN doesn't decrease the PCI bandwidth.

OS:Gentoo 64-bit

Since its been more than 2 years, and the current email load is like around 25-35 users each with 3-5 GB of data on maildir IMAP, both the HDD and the LAN thoughput seems to be hit, as the LAN, HDD etc on this board seems to be routed through PCI.

Now, I want to replace this machine with a newer machine, perhaps with the followin spec:

Dual Opteron 240s
Nvidia nforce pro based server board
1 GB ECC RAM
3 X 74GB(or 147 GB) SCSI drives on s/w RAID1
on-board(or add-in) SCSI320 adapter
PCI-E or PCI-X Gig-E(if possible dual Gig-E would be a bonus)

Please note that the server M/B brands available here in India are Tyan and Asus only. So, please limit your M/B suggestions to Tyan, Asus, and maybe MSI. I want the input regarding the Gig-E thoughput, does native SB based Gig-E provide around 60-90MBs instead of the current 15-25 this board gives. Also, can I use USB for backup when using the Gig-E also?

Thanks in advance

 

[cbehnken]

Why not just put PCI-X ethernet cards in the server you have. Other than that you aren't really upgrading much other than the drives. Swap in the same scsi drivers and a PCI-X Scsi card and your good. I'd suggest 2 GB of Ram though if this thing is under heavy load.

 

[imported_Kensai]

If you've got the money to spend:

Tyan K8WE
Dual Opteron 275
4GB ECC DDR400
4 X 74/148GB 15000RPM SCSI drives in RAID 0+1

 

[skar]

I've got no PCI-X slots on my current MB, so that option is out. Also memory usage is always below 1 GB only, as the swap partition has never been used. Also load avg is also low only, meaning dual 240s are more than enough. However, the HDDs and LAN has been the real pain for long. Thats why I want to upgrade these 2(or buy a complete server and use this as a backup server, for both email and db).

Kensai, is the MB you're suggesting K8W-S2895UA2NR with onboard dual-channel SCSI? Is that scsi chip good enough for performance(say around 60-70 MBps) without slowdown to LAN and USB, or do I need some PCI-X or PCI-E SCSI addon adpater? Please suggest some decent performance U320 scsi card(from ASUS, MSI,or Gigabyte or Tyan) which supports 4 scsi drives, no need for h/w raid though, s/w raid is good enough for me

Thanks a lot for your help

 

[imported_Kensai]

Not the K8W. It's the K8WE S2895UA2NRF. The onboard SCSI is relatively fast but if you've got extra money.opt for an LSI PCI-E SCSI RAID controller card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816118027

Actually for such a loaded server, you'll want the extra performance gained by a hardware raid.
As always, PCI-E >> PCI-X in terms of overall bandwidth.

 

[skar]

What will be the speed difference between the onboard SCSI and the add-on card? Also, does this LSI add-on card has Linux drivers, what chipset does it use?

Also, I am planning to use 3 SCSI disks of 74GB each. What brand and model do you suggest for this? If I can get higher than 74 GB capacity disks for a little more price, let me know that too.

 

[skar]

I seached for some cheaper SCSI cards on newegg and I found the following:

LSI Logic LSI21320B PCI-X SCSI Dual Channel Host Adapter HBA - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816118025

LSI Logic LSI21320RB PCI-X SCSI Dual-Channel Host Bus Adapter Card IR Support - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816118018

adaptec 29320A-R 64-bit/133MHz PCI-X SCSI Adaptec Card - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816103159

adaptec 2060500 PCI-X SCSI Controller Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816103172

LSI Logic LSI20320RKIT PCI-X SCSI Controller Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816118019

LSI Logic LSI22320RB PCI-X 133MHz SCSI Controller Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816118020


What is the difference between single and dual channel. Also, how reliable are the h/w RAID0 on these cards and how much more performance will I get(in terms of b/w and latency), because s/w RAID0 has been very reliable, manageable and also h/w independent.

 

[imported_Kensai]

I would *NEVER* use RAID 0 for a needed server.
Single channel being that there's only one channel, thus one usable/active connector. But you can chain roughly up to 15 drives per channel.

 

[skar]

Oops, I meant RAID1 not RAID0. So, if there's only one channel, the data transfer is limited by this channel, much like in IDE, where if I connect 2 HDDs one each to the primary and the secondary, the transfer is faster, than when I connect both the HDDs to the same channel?

So, does the above SCSI cards are good enough to give data transfer around 55-70 MBps with some decent SCSI disks?

Also, any idea about some SCSI disks which have good price/performance ratio?

 

[imported_Kensai]

Hell U320 will give you more bandwidth that you'll ever need for a while. Your RAID bandwidth is completely dependant on your hard drives since the speed of the interface removes practically all the other limits.

 

[skar]

so, even a single channel scsi shouldn't be a problem? Also, are maxtor scsi drives better than seagate ?

Or can i go with WD raptor with the onboard sata II, and skip this scsi add-on?

 

[imported_Kensai]

Single is okay, but I always prefer more channels. Dunno about drives, you'll probably want to do some research.

You could go with WD Raptors but SCSI drives will be faster.