ML350 G5 slow external network normal internal network

[Tom Briski Cirman]

The server is connected to a 100/100 FTTH Mbit line. On LAN the speed is normal. Everything outside the local network is extremely slow. The first thing we noticed was that the network card was working weird; when set to 100/100 it transfers data with 90% loss over the internet, about 10-15 Mbit (not MB) speed up/down. At 10/10 it's about 1-1.5 up/down. When set to Gbit or Auto the download speed is normal but upload speed is about 50%.

Next thing we tried was downloading from different lines(All same ISP, different locations). We used HTTP(Apache) and FTP(Serv-u) protocols. First we tried localy, but using the external server IP (Internet IP)but still on the same internet connection, and it was normal. On another 100/100 Mbit the speed was 5-6 MB download for the client. On a 30/8 Mbit line the speed was 1.7 MB. On a 8/512 the speed was 450 KB. That was HTTP. FTP was different, 100/100 same results, 30/8 almost max speed, 8/512 max speed.

That was with Windows Server 2008.


Then we tried Ubuntu with same results.


Windows Server 2003 with the same results.


Things were getting ugly. We used a different network card. Same thing, slow speed.

Of course we've been checking the Apache installation over and over. No luck. We tried without the router, same thing. We were not sure what was the problem until we just decided to do 1 more thing to exclude our Apache installation/settings and FTP settings.
---We took a personal computer with Vista and installed the exact same installation of Apache with the exact same configuration and tested it. Everything worked full speed. External network, internal network. Everything that was wrong with the ML350 was working on a normal low budget PC.

So here I am writing to you if you know what could be the problem or suggest anything. Feel free to ask specific questions about the Apache installation and anything you would need to know. Just please help us with this problem!

 P.S.This thread has been moved from ProLiant Servers - Netservers > to ProLiant Servers (ML,DL,SL)-HP Forums Moderat

[Tom Briski Cirman]

Hello, my name is Tom, and I/we have a problem (forgot to introduce myself before)


One thing I just thought about, maybe the LAN speed wasn't that fast after all. Maybe it should have been faster, but I didn't pay much attention due to it being a Cat5E.

And one more thing I forgot to mention, even if it went as slow as it did the speed was not consistent. For example the 100/100 line we tried it on, the speed was jumping from 4-6 or even 2-6 MB/s.

[Tom Briski Cirman]

Did some better tests on LAN. Added a Cat6 cable connected both to a gigabit router and tried transferring files over shared folders. Maximum speed achieved UPLOADING TO the server was 20MB/s. Maximum speed DOWNLOADING FROM server was 10MB/s. That isn't normal at all. The network card is: HP NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter.


The network speed is extremely slow for some reason.

[Kedd Guyton]

Have you investigated turning off the NC373i's TCP Offload Engine / TCP Chimney features?

This may need to be done in both the Network Configuration Utility and Windows itself to be effective.

[Tom Briski Cirman]

Yes. I even whent into the register to really make sure its all off.

[Tom Briski Cirman]

Just got word, that even FTP now goes half speed, or better said it always did go half speed, it just decides from time to time, sometimes it goes full speed and then half speed again. But for HTTP its always half speed or less.

Well in the end, its like this, everything is going half speed or less, never goes over 50% normal speed. Its like it has a hardware blocking system in it...

[Tom Briski Cirman]

Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that it is when put to 1gbps AUTO it might be auto negotiating?

Because if that is the reason for slow speed even on 1GBps then there is no reason for us not to buy just another network card. And I also still don't understand why in the name of God the speed at 100/100MBps full is only MAYBE 1MB/s. I totally DO NOT understand that...

[Kedd Guyton]

Are there any errors shown in the Statistics tab of the NCU (Network Configuration Utility)?

Consider updating the NIC firmware:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=1121586&swItem=MTX-e0480dd538604c8686f6abb244&prodNameId=3279711&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=5

[Robin Hotter]

Hey David,

I've had a similar problems with NC373i cards though mainly when trying to upgrade using the Proliant Service Packs on my Blade BL460c's.

What i got it down to was the version of C:\windows\system32\drivers\Storport.sys. My Windows 2003 SP2 machine had v5.2.3790.3959.

This file has something to do with the way the NC373i HP Virtual bus device functions. After some searching I found this link to a newer Storport.sys file :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957910

In then end the steps i :

1) Upgraded the NIC firmware (via the BLade Online Firmware Bundle v1.60)
2) Installed the newer storport.sys file from Microsoft.
3) Rebooted.
4) Ran cp009681.exe (from http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01684544〈=en&cc=us&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=428936)
5) Then installed the newer NIC driver and NCU (i did this via the Blade Online Firmware Bundle v1.60 - but you should be able to do it using the PSP install or manually).
6) Rebooted and all NIC software has been updated.

That should at least get the software/firmware up to date and may help address the speed issue.

Cheers,
Rob

[Robin Hotter]

Sorry i meant to say "Hi Tom" at the top there.