Intel Xeon E5-2650 Is Pretty Large

We are setting up the Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC 2U unit with its processors, RAID, storage, and SAS components.

The CPU below the E5-2650 is a Cyrix by IBM. Vintage is around the Pentium II 300 time frame which was mid nineteen nineties.

And, as a comparison with a socket 775 CPU which is fairly consistent size wise through to today’s Intel Second Generation Core processors.

Moore’s law is alive and well. :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

And now for something completely different: A Geek CPU moment.

Mmmm … Dual Intel Hex Core Goodness:

This is a Dell R510 2U with dual Intel Xeon E5645 hex core CPUs and 96GB of RAM to run a new American client’s virtualized SBS 2011, RDS, SQL, and other server systems.

With this setup we can run a full 4 vCPUs in our VMs with no worries about performance issues. And so far the setup has been humming along.

We had a major choke with the iDRAC 6 Enterprise that locked us out of the IP KVM Console _and_ the local console. We hit the power button and the server eventually gracefully powered down, pulled the plug, and everything came back good. So, we changed the “Don’t show console activity” setting back to BOTH to allow the local console and the iDRAC IP KVM console to show the same thing . . . just in case.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming! ;)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Hyper-V RemoteFX: What CPU Supports SLAT (EPT VT-x)?

Intel has a White Paper here that talks about Second Level Address Translation (SLAT or EPT in Intel Lingo) here:

• Intel Virtualization Technology: Enabling Intel Virtualization Technology Features and Benefits.

Searching around for more information on the what/where/how to figure out whether we were looking at the right settings in the BIOS we found the following:

• Intel Software Forums: Nehalem always implies EPT support?

The answer from David Ott of Intel is that the VT-x BIOS setting is the one that enables EPT/SLAT. In some cases only one Intel VT setting may be shown in the server’s BIOS. It may or may not show that EPT was supported after the fact.

When we do an Intel Ark Compare of the following Intel Xeon CPUs we see that they do indeed show VT-x as being supported:

\/

So, ultimately it is up to server manufacturers that tailor their BIOS settings to allow us to enable or disable the various Intel Virtualization Technologies.

In our experience Intel makes sure to reveal _all_ of the relevant BIOS settings on their server boards that we can purchase standalone or in Intel Server Systems.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Not All UPSs Are Created Equal – Surge Let-Through

As Chris Knight pointed out in a comment on our post on a failed APC BR1500LCD and both power supplies in an SC5295BRP chassis, the Surge Let-Through value is a very important one when it comes to determining what UPS needs to be put in front of expensive and critical IT equipment.

So, here we have three APC UPS products set up in an online comparison on APC’s site:

APC Smart-UPS 1000VA SMT1000RM2U $559.00

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA SUA1500RM2U $719.00

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA SMX1500RM2U $779.00

Now, out of the above units, which unit or units would have a better Surge Let-Through number?

The answer was actually a bit surprising:

APC Smart-UPS 1000VA SMT1000RM2U 0.3%

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA SUA1500RM2U 0.3%

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA SMX1500RM2U 5.0%

What caught us off guard was the fact that it was the most expensive unit that had the lesser surge let-through rating.

Now, considering that the BR1500LCD unit also shares in the 5% rating, if we had the SMX1500RM2U in its place we probably still would have had two blown power supplies.

Thanks to Chris, we will be paying a lot more attention to that rating on any of the UPSs we supply our clients or purchase for our own use.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Primary A/C Breaker Fail – APC BR1500LCD and Intel SC5299BRP Dual PSU Fail

One of our clients had a primary breaker pop on Friday last week when an appliance was turned on while someone was running an oven’s self-clean cycle.

When the power failed it somehow managed to kill the APC BR1500LCD UPS protecting the server. The end result of the UPS being taken out was that both power supplies in the redundant PSU setup also failed.

The server was configured as follows:

• Intel Xeon X3220 Series CPU
• Intel S3210SHLX Server Board
• 4GB RAM
• Intel RAID Controller SRCSASRB + BBU
• 500GB Seagate ES series drives in dual RAID 1 arrays.
• Intel SC5299BRP with both PSUs.

Intel sent out a pair of replacement PSUs which fired up the hardware with no issues.

The BR1500LCD’s onboard display normally shows about 20 to 30 minutes of runtime on any given day. It now reads 1 minute so it will also be replaced.

We were fortunate that the spontaneous shutdown of SBS 2003 R2 Premium with ISA installed did not in some way mess up Exchange or Active Directory.

We ran a few reboot cycles and an update cycle checking to make sure that the Exchange database was happy in between each cycle which it was. We had their ShadowProtect backup on standby if there was a need to recover the server.

The final reboot happened in about 1/3 the time the first boot up after plugging in the new PSUs did. We will be keeping a close eye on this box to make sure everything stays happy.

It just goes to show that even with a good UPS in front of a system that includes line levelling that there are no guarantees.

Nothing replaces having a good backup that is known to recover without issues. The stress levels are so much lower when we know we have a fall back in the midst of a server down situation.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

160GB Pair of Intel G2 SSD’s RAID 1 and RAID 0 Performance On A W5590 Xeon Workstation

While putting together the trading station for our client, we did some bench testing of the Intel solid-state drives in two RAID array configurations.

The system configuration:

• Intel S5520SC Workstation Board
• BIOS 42, BMC 0.45, FRU/SDR 21
• Intel W5590 Xeon Processor (second is going into an identical setup)
• 12GB Kingston KVR1333 ECC Registered RAM
• 160GB Intel SSD -G2R5 Code pair of drives
• On Board Chipset LSI based RAID
• Intel SC5650WS Workstation Chassis with 1,000Watt PSU
• PNY nVidia Quadro NVS 450 PCI-E x16 (4 monitors)
• ATI FirePro 2450 PCI-E x16 (4 monitors)
• Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Edition

The Intel SSDs are using the factory default firmware and no trim tools have been installed. The RAID Web Console 2 was installed but the SSD trim tools built into it were not enabled either for both tests.

Here is the WinSat output for the RAID 1 configuration:

C:\Windows\system32>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:03.71
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:00.31
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:55.51
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:07.55
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:01.42
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:01.37
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read               504.89 MB/s         7.9
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read                  242.46 MB/s         7.9
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate     1.52 ms/IO          7.5
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs          11.60 units          6.9
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                 3.62 units          7.8
> Responsiveness: Overall                  42.01 units          7.2
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor              0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write             97.07 MB/s          6.5
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes 0.997 ms     7.6
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     1.791 ms          7.8
> Latency: Maximum                             5.227 ms          7.9
> Average Read Time with Random Writes   0.879 ms          7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:10.57

And here is the raw output for the RAID 0 configuration:

C:\Windows\system32>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:04.13
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:00.26
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:51.11
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:04.30
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:01.11
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:01.09
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.02
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read           537.33 MB/s          7.9
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read              375.88 MB/s          7.9
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate        0.76 ms/IO          7.9
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs             8.99 units          7.3
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                     1.69 units          7.9
> Responsiveness: Overall                      15.21 units          7.9
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor                0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write             197.47 MB/s          7.3
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes    0.947 ms     7.7
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     1.719 ms          7.9
> Latency: Maximum                             5.686 ms          7.9
> Average Read Time with Random Writes   0.952 ms          7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:02.78

Taking the above statistics we get:

• RAID 1 configuration:
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read        504.89 MB/s         7.9
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read           242.46 MB/s         7.9
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write         97.07 MB/s          6.5
• Total Run Time 00:01:10.57
• RAID 0 configuration:
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read         537.33 MB/s          7.9
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read            375.88 MB/s          7.9
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write        197.47 MB/s          7.3
• Total Run Time 00:01:02.78

It is pretty clear that having the SSDs in a RAID 0 or RAID 10 configuration will provide a significant performance advantage in real world usage.

The write speed more than doubled when the drives were striped and took a huge step for the random read tests as well.

So, what do the numbers translate to? They translate to extremely fast OS loads, application loads, RAM cache like behaviour for any swap file activity, and an all around great user computing experience.

For anyone that generates revenue on system setups and the speed that they accomplish their computing tasks, this is one rig to consider.

By the way, the peak power consumed by the box was 195Watts under load. The average power usage while running its various tasks was 110-120Watts as measured by the APC BR1500LCD UPS. Only the workstation was connected to the UPS.

When the components for the second workstation arrive, we will run the same tests but with an add-in RAID controller to see if that further improves disk I/O performance.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Hyper-V On Nehalem CPUs Error – CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT Critical Hotfix

Via Slashdot:

• Slashdot: Hardware: Microsoft Advice Against Nehalem Xeons Snuffed Out.

The Microsoft Knowledgebase article with the hotfix:

• MS Knowledgebase 975530: Stop error message on an Intel Xeon 5500 series processor-based computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and that has the Hyper-V role installed: "0x00000101 - CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT"

We are just in the process of implementing Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 on the new Intel Nehalem architecture in both the Intel Xeon Processor 3400 and 5500 series.

So, finding out about this particular problem before the boxes went into production is a good thing.

The update begs the question though, does the hotfix really resolve the conflict with the CPU architecture?

It looks as though we will be doing a bit more testing than we normally do on new platforms to make sure that things do not blow up on us with the new soon to be deployed production Hyper-V boxes.

One of the linked articles from Slashdot is a good read:

• The H: Processor Whispers - About War and Peace

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Memory Configuration Tool – Relieve That Pain!

One of the most significant brain busters with Intel’s new Core i7 architecture as well as the new Intel Xeon Processor 3400 Series and 5500 Series architectures is trying to get a straight answer on how to come out with a certain amount of RAM in the system.

This is the Intel Server Board S3420GP Xeon 3400 series memory page out of the product’s technical product specifications manual:

There are more pages both before and after this one that get into how to configure memory for this particular server board without really making things entirely clear.

There is the Intel Server Configurator Tool that will only allow certain RAM part combinations during the configuration process, but it does not tell us why it allows or does not allow us to choose a certain amount of RAM like 24GB for one box.

In comes Intel’s new Memory Configurator Tool:

We are looking to have a Xeon 3400 series server configured with 24GB. This tool will actually show us the how/what/where/why of getting there.

• Intel Memory Configuration Tool Download 

The tool at least takes some of the guess work out of configuring servers.

The above 24GB configuration request yielded the following result:

It says we can do 6x 4GB Registered DIMMs at 800MHz up top with the bottom right quadrant indicating the DIMMs can be Single, Dual, or Quad Rank when it comes to the memory chips on the DIMMs themselves.

Now, is the tool right?

Well, we will find out in short order since we have an SR1630HGP 1U server system based on the S3420GPLC series server board with six 4GB Kingston quad ranked registered ECC RAM sitting in the shop waiting to be built.

When we run through the Intel Server Configurator Tool and come to the memory configuration portion, we get the following:

The Configurator indicates up to 4x 4GB Registered Quad Rank DIMMs which does not meet our 24GB need. So, we shall see soon enough which one is right.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Contracted to Build a Boss Dual W5580 Trading System

One of our long time clients has delved into currency trading and is using a proprietary monitoring and graphing application for the various world currencies being watched and traded.

Their current system is a high performance system we put together for them six years ago.

That system was based on a P4 with HyperThreading, Windows XP Pro and 1GB of RAM. We had our client bring the system here to the shop to run various process monitoring utilities on the PC while the proprietary application was up and running.

We were looking for a couple of specific things:

• How many simultaneous threads was the app capable of tossing towards the CPU.
• How many threads were involved in generating a new graph and what happens during the graph generation.

What we discovered was an application that is capable of taking advantage of as many “cores” as possible.

The last test we ran was the generation of a new graph with everything else going on in the background. The new graph being generated pegged one of the “cores” on the system, so that particular process was single threaded . . . maybe.

Now that we had a pretty good overview of how the application performed, we now knew some key performance needs:

• The ability to bin a core or multiple cores up for a demanding process was critical.
• The ability to handle more than 4 simultaneous threads was also a priority due to the way the software operated.
• The more RAM we had in the system, the better.
• We need the ability to drive 8 monitors.
• We need to eliminate the disk I/O bottleneck.

So, the configuration we have come up with for the system to be built to meet our client’s needs will be as follows:

• Dual Intel Xeon Processor W5580 or W5590
• Intel Workstation Board S5520SC
• 24GB Kingston Registered ECC RAM (6x 4GB Intel Tested)
• Intel RS2BL080 PCI-E 8x RAID Controller and Battery Backup
• 320GB (4x 160GB Intel 2nd Gen SSD) RAID 10
• Intel SC5650WS Workstation Chassis
• 6 Bay Hot Swap Option
• Dual ATI FirePro 2450 PCI-E Multi-View
• Up to 8 24” Wide Screen LCD Monitors
• ErgoTron Multi-Monitor Stands
• Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Edition

We expect the ability of each of the Xeon Processors to bin one or two cores upwards to gain the needed extra performance will make this rig fit our client’s needs perfectly.

Using the second generation Intel Solid-State Drives plus a second generation Intel RAID controller aught to help us virtually eliminate any disk subsystem bottlenecks.

The extra RAM and the 64bit capabilities of Windows 7 Ultimate round out the setup.

The workstation board S5520SC has a Trusted Platform Module version 1.2. Since we are installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Edition on this setup and due to the sensitivity of the tasks being accomplished by the user we will be encrypting the contents of any partition created with BitLocker.

In the end, the system should provide our client with exactly the responsiveness they are looking for in a system and also protect everything on the system via encryption.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

XP Pro Mode – Hardware Virtualization is Required

The Intel ProcessorFinder site is the place to go when looking up the features that a particular CPU supports.

Each CPU series shares a common feature set with some exceptions where there may be a couple of versions at the low end of the model set that have features "disabled" to augment the value at the high end.

Intel did this with the 5200 series Xeons as well as others, and still does it with the Core 2 Quad series with the amount of L2 cache being 50% smaller on the "value" versions of the CPU line. Most of the CPU lines have subtle feature differences between the entry and top end products.

Virtualization (Intel calls it VT) is a base feature. The desktop Media G series boards support VT (C2D, C2Q), while the Executive Q series (vPro) supports higher end VT-d and VT-Appliance settings for more advanced virtualization scenarios such as embedded VMs or the XP Pro Mode in Win7.

The base G series with VT enabled will also do XP Pro Mode since the hardware virtualization has been embedded in Virtual PC 2007 which is what XP Pro Mode is based on.

In the end, we always try to make sure we have the right product for the job.

Laptops have been very iffy when it comes to BIOS enabled hardware features implemented.

To get hardware virtualization on laptops, the laptop needs to have at least the Centrino Pro series chipset in our experience.

Information on the Centrino Pro chipset:

• Intel® Centrino® with vPro™ Technology (product site)
• Intel Centrino Pro Product Brief (PDF document link)

If XP Pro Mode is required by a client, we need to be particularly aware of the hardware setup Windows 7 will be running on as XP Pro Mode does require hardware level virtualization to be enabled in the system’s BIOS.

• Windows 7 XP Pro Mode posts (blog label search)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

PNY Gets A Little Plug On Intel’s Server Configurator

We use the Intel Server Configurator to create our base server configurations.

Lately, Intel has been tweaking the Configurator with third party products that have been properly tested to work with their server systems.

This is the first time we have seen a third party product within the Configurator itself:

PNY G92 GeForce 8800GT Video

For nVidia, we would run with EVGA since we have had great support from the folks there when things were not working out with their motherboard or video card products.

Note the new component requirements for the 5500 series Quad Core Xeon processors. The cooling solution is no longer included in the box with the CPU.

Also note that the new SC5650 series chassis has a bunch of new SKUs for it too.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Intel SR1625UR 1U Dual Xeon 5500 Series Configuration

The image looked good in Windows Live Writer when putting together yesterday’s post on the new Intel 5500 Series Xeons and related components (previous blog post).

But, I see now that the Intel Server Configurator screenshot turned out to be quite illegible.

So, there is that server configuration:

Description	Part Number	MM #	QTY
Intel® Server System SR1625UR (1U Passive Backplane)	SR1625URNA (Includes power cord for North America) and R1625UR	901132 (power cord included) or 900986	1
Intel® Xeon® Processor X5560 (Heat Sink not included)	BX80602X5560	901026	2
SR1625 Standard front panel accessory kit	ASR1625FP	900991	1
Quad port GbE I/O module	AXX4GBIOMOD2	901359	1
Intel® Remote Management Module 3	AXXRMM3	900961	1
Intel® RAID Controller SRCSASJV (8 internal/external SAS/SATA ports, up to 1GB cache)	SRCSASJV	892602	1
AXXRSBBU3 Intel® RAID Smart Battery Backup Module (Use with Intel® Integrated Server RAID)	AXXRSBBU3	900954	1
Slimline SATA DVD ROM - AXXSATADVDROM	AXXSATADVDROM	893637	1
Black Bezel (Standard Control Panel)	ASR1550BEZ	879406	1
Full extending Rail Kit	AXXHERAIL2	901082	1
RJ45 To DB9 Cable	AXXRJ45DB92	881944	1
650W Hot-Swap power supply module	ASR1625PS	901016	1
2.5" Hard Drive Carrier	FXX25HDDCAR	881681	2

Intel SR1625UR 1U 8 x 2.5” SAS Configuration

The above configuration would be implemented with the Hyper-V Role set up on Server Core where the VMs would have high load performance requirements.

Note that there are a few typos in the actual Server Configurator results. Make sure to verify the part numbers with distribution. We corrected the mistakes in the above grid.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Intel Releasing New 5500 Series Xeons and Components

Intel is releasing a bunch of new technology for Intel branded servers over the next number of weeks.

Here is an overview of some of the new components coming down the pipe:

• Intel® Server Chassis SC5600 Family (performance pedestal)
• Intel® Server Chassis SC5650 Family (volume pedestal)
• Intel® Server Board S5520HC (pedestal-optimized performance)
• Intel® Server System SR1630BC (1U value rack)
• Intel® Server System SR1600UR (1U rack optimized performance)
• Intel® Server System SR1625UR (1U rack optimized performance)
• Intel® Server System SR2600UR (2U rack optimized performance)

As always, when it comes time to put a server configuration together, there is the Intel Server Configurator tool.

One of our more eagerly anticipated models is this one:

• Intel® Server System SR1625UR (1U rack optimized performance)

The unit runs a passive midplane to allow us to install a high performance RAID controller to configure a RAID 5+0 or RAID 1+0 array for high load virualization needs. With the addition of a Quad Port Gigabit I/O module, the second power supply for redundancy, and a couple of 2.5” drive carriers to utilize the full 8 drive bays, we are set to rock! :)

It looks as though the Server Configurator has had a bit of a revamp too as it now includes compatible, which means properly tested, third party hard drives, memory and more.

Below is a screenshot of the new 1U’s configuration as we would put it together with the exception of the drives:

SR1625UR Server System

Good things are coming down the pipe since we will receive a lot more bang for our power and cooling consumption dollars!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Intel SRCSASBB8i Firmware 1.20.72-0572 = Fatal Firmware Error

We have just started to implement the SRCSASBB8i RAID controller. The system this particular one is in is our bench SBS 2008 box.

• Intel SR153HSH 1U Hot Swap.
• Intel S3200SH Server Board.
• Intel Xeon X3350 2.66GHz Quad Core CPU.
• Intel SRCSASBB8i RAID Controller.
• 320GB Seagate ES Series SATA RAID 1 + 1 Hot Spare.

We stress test any new RAID controller firmware for a couple of weeks prior to implementing the update in any client environment where it is applicable.

This is what we have been seeing with the newest firmware update on the SRCSASBB8i:

Intel SRCSASBB8i (shows SRCSASRB)

[Fatal, 3] … Fatal firmware error: Line 156 in ../../raid/1078in.c

The server will be completely locked up with either one or both of the RAID 1 array drive lights being solid green.

The 320GB Seagate drives have been tested and are in the clear.

The Intel SRCSASRB and SRCSASBB8i share the same engine, though the boards are completely different as the 8i has a PCI-E 8x where the RB has a PCI-E 4x interface.

In our testing of what seems to be the same firmware on the SRCSASRB, we have not seen an error like this at all.

We will back the SRCSASBB8i off to the previous firmware revision 1.12.172_0470 and run things up again to see if we run into the same problem. If we do, then we may be dealing with a problematic RAID controller and not bad firmware.

UPDATE 2009-03-05: Please note that the RAID controller we are dealing with is not the SRCSASBB8i, it is the SRCSASRB. My bad for that. We had two identical boxes on the bench, one with each model of RAID controller and I got them mixed up!

My apologies for the mistaken identification.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac!

Windows Live Writer

Need: Intel Fan Kit for Intel Desktop Board DX58SO or 2U Passive Heatsink for LGA771?

Intel recently went through a manufacturing hiccup with their SC5299 and SC5400 series server chassis.

We had already placed an order with our supplier for a server configured on the SC5299BRP series chassis when we found out a week or so later that they would not be available until the manufacturing problem had been worked out.

Once we found that out, we searched to find any Intel server chassis and ended up with an SC5400BRP series and the additional power supply.

Now, one thing that got missed was the fact that we had two Intel Xeon E5430 Quad Core series processors with the Active heat sink/fan combination. The SC5400BRP requires the 2U passive heat sink for the CPU as there is a fan and duct setup to keep them cooled.

Our suppliers and Intel's site, along with some extensive searching turned up absolutely nothing for 2U passive heat sinks for the LGA771 socket.

We phoned into the Intel Channel Partner Program Support line to find out if we had an alternative to purchasing two additional CPUs with the passive heat sinks! We were beyond the 30 day exchange for the CPUs, and the packages had been opened. :(

They pointed us to the following site:

Intel Spares: LGA771-F 2U Passive Fan Heat Sink Solution.

The site did not come up in any of our search engines that we used while looking for the heat sinks!

This site has a number of hard to find Intel related spare parts:

Intel Spares: Fan Kit for Intel Desktop Board DX58SO.

Note the prices! They are definitely out to make a killing.

Other spare parts include things like motherboard configuration labels, I/O shields, active heat sinks, 1U/2U fans, and a lot more.

For us, the site has turned a bad mistake that could have been very costly (purchase two E5430 Passive CPUs) into a very reasonably priced mistake.

The site's direct link: Industry Education.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Answer the Intel Xeon Questions & Win an Intel Boxed E6750

This one is pretty simple: We can't seem to get a clear answer out of anyone on the front line in the Intel Reseller Program.

What we want to know: What does the "X" denote in front of the Intel Xeon 5400 Processor Series Number.

Example: Intel X5450 Product Specs:

Intel Xeon Processor X5450 Specifications

And here, we have the Intel Xeon E5440 Product Specs:

Intel Xeon Processor E5450 Specifications

And here they are side by side:

Intel Xeon Processor Specifications Side by Side

So, yes, we do see that the "X" series has a higher Thermal Design Power (TDP).

Since we are not processor engineers, what does that mean too?

The questions again:

1. What does the "X" in front of the 5400 Processor Series number stand for (versus the "E")?
2. What does the difference in TDP between the two processors mean?

While we will try our best to verify with Intel what the actual answers are, it may end up being a "best answer" kind of deal.

Please post your answer in the comments section ... and have fun with it.

We will choose the best answer two weeks from now: March 21, 2008 at 17:30hrs Mountain Standard Time. We request that all eligible commenters not be anonymous.

We will Expidite via Canada Post a Boxed Intel E6750 processor (new in the box) to the winner anywhere Canada Post can deliver. Please verify that before hand.

Happy Friday and have a good weekend! ;)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS on dual Xeon E5345 Quad vs. 5130 Dual Core + Symantec EndPoint Memory Costs

Initially, when we were offered a choice between the Dual Core 5100 series Xeons and the 5300 series Quad Core Xeon processors, we generally aimed for the 5100 series due to cost differences.

Not too long ago, Intel lowered the 5300 series Quad Core Xeon price to the point where there was very little difference in cost between Dual and Quad Core Xeon processors.

That is when we started to implement Quad Core 5300 and now 5400 series Xeon processor rigs.

As a side note: We never supply a dual socket server with only one processor installed. There are a number of very important reasons:

1. In this day and age of consumer level power house servers the "upgrade path" no longer exists
2. 18 months from now when the client would otherwise want to "upgrade", one must source a processor with the correct stepping. One cannot just install a Xeon 5150 with stepping B2 with a Xeon 5150 with stepping G0 onto the same server board.
3. In the case of Tier 1/2, the cost of an extra processor at the time of server build is relatively small compared with plugging the "upgrade" CPU in later. Check with Teir 1/2 and their Post Sale CPU prices. We are generally talking two to three times the initial cost.

A screen shot of the Xeon 5130 2.00GHz:

Intel Xeon 5130 2.00GHz Dual Core Series

And, a screen shot of the Xeon E5345 2.33GHz:

Intel Xeon E5345 2.33GHz Quad Core Series

Both parts share the same Front Side Bus speed of 1,333MHz (MT).

In this case, there is a little difference in the Core speed between the two parts.

In our experience, the GHz/MHz rates are a limiter on raw speed for events such as booting the server. Generally, the higher the GHz, the faster (incremental) the server will boot. The number of cores on the CPU does not seem to make too much difference one way or another here.

There is, however, one place we are seeing a marked improvement in performance between the Xeon Dual Core and Xeon Quad Core servers where the Quad Cores triumph: Database driven applications.

For those of us who work with SBS 2K3 R2 on an ongoing basis, a question for you: How long does the R2 integrated WSUS that has been upgraded to V3 take to come up on an older box? The older the machine, the longer it can take. In some cases, we are talking minutes.

The following is a screen shot of the Xeon 5130 Cores:

Intel Xeon 5130 Cores

The above screen shot was taken during a regular work day for about 20 clients.

The following is a screen shot of the Xeon E5345 Cores:

Intel Xeon E5345 Cores

The above screen shot was taken during a regular work day for about 30 clients.

On this particular dual Xeon E5345 Quad Core server, the R2 WSUS V3 will come up quite quickly. When the Update Services link is clicked, we can actually watch SQL work across all 8 cores setting things up for the console. Relative to the Xeon 5130 Dual Core, the Quad Core is not quite twice as fast, but there sure is a marked difference.

Symantec EndPoint Security

Note the huge step in memory usage on the Xeon E5345 Quad Core based system. The Xeon 5130 Dual Core system has Symantec AntiVirus Enterprise 10.2 and all of the management facilities installed. The memory footprint for this product on the server is relatively minimal.

The Xeon E5345 has Symantec's new EndPoint product and management system installed. Note that EndPoint is hogging up almost 1.0GB more RAM than the previous version. The new system is almost entirely database driven.

Here is a screen shot of the Processes:

Symantec EndPoint Security Memory Usage

Take note of the number of EndPoint related services running:

• SMSUtilityService.exe 158MB
• SemSvc 140MB
• dbsrv9 80MB
• SAVFMSETask 58MB
• SAVFMSESp (x 9) 56MB (~500MB total)

There are also a number of lesser services tied to EndPoint that are not itemized above.

For smaller SBS boxes with less than 4GB of RAM, EndPoint will definitely be a struggle to run comfortably along side the standard SBS services.

Keep this in mind for clients that request a Symantec EndPoint solution on the SBS box and desktops.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

System Builder Tip: New Xeon 3000 Series CPUs ...

We are receiving three new Xeon 3000 series Dual Core processors with 1,333 MHz Front Side Bus down the distribution (disti) pipe shortly:

• Intel Xeon 3065 2.33 GHz BX805573065
• Intel Xeon 3075 2.66 GHz BX805573075
• Intel Xeon 3085 3.00 GHz BX805573085

Distribution is showing SKUs and in some cases, we can actually purchase them.

But, one major caveat: There is no server board for them yet. At least, not for us pedestal/5U system builders. There is an interesting 1U half sized server board available that enables one to cram two of the server boards into one standard 1U server chassis. Hmmm.... :D

This situation is identical with the release of the 3000 series Dual Core Xeons last summer. We had processors, but no S3000AH series boards to plug them into.

So today, on the phone with Intel we go. The representative we spoke with indicated that we should be seeing an X38 series replacement for the S3000AH SKU up soon.

Actual product flow will probably mirror our experience with the S3000AH too: Disti was reluctant to carry them and the processors while Pentium D processors and the SE7230NH1 were still prevalent in their own supply pipe at that time. So, the same may be true while the S3000AH and the current 3000 series Dual Core Xeons are available.

This time around though, it is not a big deal. An extra boost on the Front Side Bus will not break us.

But, things were not the same during last year's CPU/Motherboard tech shift.

Like our experience transitioning the desktop to Core 2 Duo from Pentium D, server performance jumped leaps and bounds ahead when we got our hands on our first Xeon 3050 and an S3000AH server board and could compare that server box pound for pound with a Pentium D server we had just finished building. The Xeon 3050 put the Pentium D 950 to shame hands down.

And so, we wait. :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

System Builder Tip: Server processor/CPU caveats when Intel server system building.

Yesterday, I mentioned that we had a bit of a struggle getting some Xeon 5130s working on what turned out to be a pre-production S5000PSL server board back when the Xeon 5130s were newly released. Blog post here: System Builder Tip: Intel S3000AH Server Board Series BIOS Updates Available.

When we sell server product, one of the selling "features" should be future upgrades to the server to meet further growth of the company. Yet, in today's server world, this is not the case.

How is that?

Let's say that in the case of the above S5000PSL we only installed a single Xeon processor. Say, the Intel Xeon 5130 SL9RX. We note that the Core Stepping is B2.

So, a year and a half down the road we need to add a second processor. The Xeon 5130 processor may still be in production, but we can only install a CPU with the same stepping code as the existing one, that is B2. More than likely, the stepping code on the then in production Xeon 5130 would be B3 or B4 or even higher! So, we would need to comb the Internet looking for the right one. Or, we would have to buy two (2) processors from our supplier anyway.

And therein lies a very serious caveat: The earlier revision of the server board may not support the newer stepping code CPUs or more Cores even with a BIOS update!

Here is a practical example based on an experience we just had with a server upgrade:

Here is a picture of the PBA code on the existing S3000AH that we attempted to upgrade yesterday to a Xeon X3210 Quad Core processor:


Note that the last three digits in the PBA number are -204. This is the board's revision level.

Now, here is what Intel's Web site states for X3210 compatibility:


In the last column we have some Notes numbers.

Here they are:

Our Intel Xeon X3210 CPU in note 7 requires a server board revision of -206 or above.

Thus, our installed S3000AH board at revision -204 does not qualify. Even with a BIOS update, the -204 board will not support the X3210 or X3220 Xeon Quad Core processors as indicated in the above Notes. In every other way, they are essentially identical!

We were fortunate that we had an S3000AH with a newer revision level here in the shop:


Our in-shop server board was revision -207.

When doing a straight across upgrade like this, that is, one S3000AH -204 for one S3000AH -207 one must make sure to flash the -204 to the newest BIOS version FIRST. Then boot the system up into the BIOS to verify the settings, then boot into the OS, with the -204 board still in the system, to make sure the OS doesn't take a fit over the BIOS update. Everything should work out okay up to this point.

To rephrase: Before making any physical changes to the server:

1. Update the BIOS.
2. Boot into the BIOS and verify settings especially the RAID controller LSI vs. Intel Matrix, save, and reboot if any changes were made by the BIOS update.
3. Boot into the OS to verify its acceptance of the new BIOS.
4. Shutdown the system.

Begin the hardware swap after that.

As soon as the server board swap is complete, boot directly to your BIOS update thumb drive and update the -207 to the S3000AH BIOS version as above (revision 42 as of this post).

Once the BIOS update is complete verify your BIOS settings as above!

There are two (2) RAID controllers built into this server board: The LSI based one and the Intel Matrix Technology one. Your OS may choke and not boot if the wrong one is configured.

If you had RAID array(s) configured on the previous server board, they will be picked up by the newer server board RAID controller with no issues. At least, that is what happened here with us as we verified the RAID controller type beforehand. Take note, both RAID controller versions picked up the RAID arrays, but the OS may still choke on the wrong controller!

When explaining to the client what may happen, we qualify our quote with options as far as what may happen if we run into this situation. Best case scenario and worst case scenario. We get approval for both as we provide costs for both.

Due to the complexity of inter-CPU stepping compatibility along with CPU type to server board revision level compatibility we always build our dual processor servers with two processors installed.

If our client is planning on having a large influx of employees over the life of the server, then we will install faster CPUs and more RAM too. We will build a server that will meet our client's needs for a minimum of two years as best as we can based on their budget.

If we are dealing with a smaller client with a rather static employee pool that only needs a one processor based server, we will sell a uniprocessor server system.

Given the above S3000AH server board revision compatibility situation, as well as the S5000PSL revision compatibility situation we were in before, we are careful about adopting new server technology.

In the case of early adopting, there are no guarantees that the server board revision purchased will be compatible with future CPUs. Thus, virtually no future upgrade scenarios will exist.

Some S3000AH specific Intel links:

• Intel Server Board S3000AH Qualified and supported Intel Processors.
• Intel Server Board S3000AH Technical Links.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

System Builder Tip: Intel S3000AH Server Board Series BIOS Updates Available

The Intel S3000AH series server board has received a recent BIOS update to version 42.

Product page can be found here: Intel S3000AH Server Board.

Gotta make sure that BIOS is up to date, especially in this case as we are installing a Xeon X3210 Quad Core processor into an existing server that had a Xeon 3050 installed.

Previous BIOS versions may not be compatible with Quad Core, so the BIOS should be updated before hand if possible.

For new system builds, having a Xeon 3000 series processor around can facilitate that.

That goes for any server board BTW.

A while back, we got caught with an early revision S5000PSL board that did not support the 5100 series processors we were installing into it. It was not a known issue at that time as the 5100 series Xeons were just released and we happened to get a couple of the early ones. It took a BIOS update to get things to spec, but we did not have a 5000 series processor to install in the board to update the BIOS!

It worked out in the end, as we were fortunate our supplier had later revision boards in stock, so we were no further behind on our build time! We had the replacement board next day.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists