Storage Performance Degradation

[rob78]

Just gunna order this: Intel EXPI9301CTBLK Network Adapter 10/ 100/ 1000 Mbps PCI-Express
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033

 

[solarisguy]

Also take a look at http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/prodbrief/320116.pdf and think why Gigabit Ethernet server cards are so much more expensive. I think that sometimes they are really faster, than desktop ones. You are looking at speed/performance, aren't you?

Whatever you buy, you have to verify whether it is compatible with your motherboard.

 

[Ericloewe]

As an alternative, perform a budgeting exercise whether to go for a motherboard that takes your Xeon, but has ECC RAM and Intel network.

This is a nice opportunity to get something decent, like a Supermicro X10. Having a Xeon with ECC RAM but an H87 PCH is as good as having a Core i7 with non-ECC RAM.

 

[joeschmuck]

Those are good values for a Realtek but Intel is better if you gotta have the extra speed. The real question is, will you get 110MB/sec out if the Intel. I doubt it, maybe 95 to 100? Cyberjock, what has been your experience for read speeds, I know you're an Intel man.

 

[cyberjock]

Well, my desktop is overpowered and full SSD. I regularly hit 110MB/sec+....

 

[rob78]

Well now that I know that it's not the pool I may setup LACP. I have a managed switch that supports 802.3ad which every PC is connected to. Even with the Realteks that should ensure at least 110MB/sec for one client and something like 75MB/sec for two clients. But if I have success with this Intel card I will most likely purchase a better motherboard with dual onboard Intel NICs and setup LACP so my original plan works. As for this Realtek motherboard I've decided to turn it into a backup server since I have enough spare parts lying around. I also have like 3 2TB drives left over after moving everything to the NAS. That would make a pretty good mirror for the backup server.

Anyway, new NIC card should be in later today, I'll post my results as soon as I get them. It's nice living 50 miles from a Newegg distribution center.

 

[solarisguy]

LACP might give you better aggregated speed to many clients, but not a better speed to a single client.

 

[rob78]

Ok well my concern about performance was directly related to the ability for multiple clients to access the NAS at the same time. I assume LACP will increase this performance so that if I'm accessing the NAS and someone else is that we would both be capable of 85MB/sec. I can live with that but I would rather have had 220MB/sec total available than 170MB/sec... Any way we look at it, I'm happy that the topic of this post is not true and my limitations are based on network issues. I'm confident that I can get the performance I'm looking for either with a new motherboard or additional NICs.

 

[solarisguy]

New motherboard...

 

[rob78]

SUCCESS!!! The new NIC worked:

Thanks again to everyone for their assistance... We can consider this issue closed!!! :)

 

[solarisguy]

Next step: ECC RAM

 

[rob78]

I have ECC ram....

RAM: 16GB Kingston DDR3 SDRAM 1600 ECC Unbuffered Server Memory KVR16E11S8/4

 

[solarisguy]

Before writing to you, I had read both ASRock published specifications http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=H87WS-DL#Specifications and the manual ftp://66.226.78.21/manual/H87WS-DL.pdf but I noticed only that you can insert ECC RAM modules, not that ECC capability would be used... What did I miss?

 

[cyberjock]

Before writing to you, I had read both ASRock published specifications http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=H87WS-DL#Specifications and the manual ftp://66.226.78.21/manual/H87WS-DL.pdf but I noticed only that you can insert ECC RAM modules, not that ECC capability would be used... What did I miss?

Precisely.

 

[rob78]

I'm not suggesting you missed anything. Apparently I don't understand that a Motherboard can say it supports ECC but not use it? How do I test to make sure it's functioning as ECC RAM?

dmidecode doesn't tell me what I need:
Handle 0x000F, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 128 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0
Bank Locator: BANK 0
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1600 MHz
Manufacturer: Kingston
Serial Number: 20027321
Asset Tag: 9876543210
Part Number: 9965432-054.A00LF
Rank: 1
Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz

The manual does say this:

Thanks

 

[solarisguy]

Try instead

Code:

dmidecode --type 16

since that gave me different output than just running

Code:

dmidecode

Although, that is asking about RAM capability, and not whether ECC lines are connected on the motherboard...

 

[solarisguy]

A better way. Read page http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1693051

Copy the file from http://pastebin.com/URExZi29 to /tmp/ecc_check.c

Then

Code:

cd /tmp
gcc ecc_check.c
./a.out

and please report the result. Mine were

Code:

# ./a.out
5004-5007h: 20 0 63 3
5008-500Bh: 20 0 63 3
#

The rightmost column of 3 means that is ECC active in both I/O and ECC logic

 

[rob78]

[root@nas] /mnt/MAINSTORE# ./ecc_check
5004-5007h: 10 10 60 0
5008-500Bh: 10 10 60 0

Okay so new motherboard...
I was thinking this one: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SAE.cfm

Is there another you could recommend? I have 6 drives, 16GB RAM 4x4, LGA1150 Xeon, and I would like 2 NICs for LACP

 

[Ericloewe]

[root@nas] /mnt/MAINSTORE# ./ecc_check
5004-5007h: 10 10 60 0
5008-500Bh: 10 10 60 0

Okay so new motherboard...
I was thinking this one: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SAE.cfm

Is there another you could recommend? I have 6 drives, 16GB RAM 4x4, LGA1150 Xeon, and I would like 2 NICs for LACP

That one's a poor choice because it has such unnecessary things as audio.

A better one would be the X10SLL-F. There's also the X10SLM-F that adds two USB 3.0 ports (if those ever get supported) and upgrades two SATA ports to SATA6Gb/s. However, it's typically more expensive than the X10SLM+-F, which has all this but upgrades the second GbE controller to an Intel i210 (from a more basic Intel controller - don't ask me what's different, I have no idea).

Of course, there's also the X10SL7-F, but that one's only interesting if you plan on expanding in the near future. It's cheaper than most combinations of individually-purchased motherboard+LSI 2008/2308-based controller.

 

[solarisguy]

I have very limited experience with motherboards, so I am unable to offer good advice.

I tend to buy whatever meets my minimum requirements and is available locally, since the days of an Amazon drone delivering in two hours my dream purchases are rather far way :)

However, I can sometimes comment on certain particulars.

Some motherboards that use Intel C22x chipset add a separate GbE controller. There is a very good reason for that. It is for those users who need maximum GbE throughput. With the built-in C22x GbE controller, when one interface is operated with maximum throughput, the other one would be able to reach less than 50-60% of possible GbE throughput. The limit comes from the speed the controller talks to the bus.

As Ericloewe wrote, try to not pay for audio, HDMI etc. It is highly unlikely that they would ever be used.

I think USB 3.0 support for Intel C22x chipset will come.

Depending on your needs, IPMI could be an essential or an unused feature, but at least think about it.