431-POOR PERFORMANCE QUESTION

[Ayman Altounji]

We have a dl380 with a 431 and the disk performance is terrible. Running SQL server7 on win2k with a test query we use (the test query creates a group of databases and then cyclically inserts data into each of them and at the end drops them all) and the resulting time was 1:06. This same query on my 3 year old standard desktop dell - ide drive - takes 20 seconds. Some of the other pc-s do it in about 10-12 seconds. We replaced the controller with another 431 with the same results. We replaced it with a 3200 and the time went to 9 seconds. The compaq repair person stated the data throughput differences and was satisfied - but I'm not. A 50 second degradation attributed to throughput does not seem plausible when weighed against the "old desktop pc" tests we ran.

Any ideas? (Firmware was latest rev, dl380 bios was latest rev).

[Ayman Altounji]

The biggest difference between these controllers is that the 431 is single channel Ultra3 capable with only 16MB read/write cache while the 3200 is dual channel Ultra2 capable with 64MB read/write cache (only 54MB usable w/8MB dedicated to xfer buffer and scripts). The 431 is also described as an entry level controller. The only other culprit might be the firmware version on the 431. The latest is 1.22 for this controller. Good luck.