DL360 G5 P400i Raid 5 SLOW

[hongman]

Hi

I have 2 DL360 G5's which were running 2x146GB SAS Drives each in Raid 1 array. All hardware identical in both servers.

I recently added an extra disk to each server and did an online migration to Raid 5.

One server completed the task in ~8hrs, the other took over around 48hrs!

The server that took the longest is having some dreadful performance issues. All drivers and firmware is up to date, including firmware for the drives themselves.

I called HP Support but unfortunately after a week of calls the answer I'm getting from this "tech" is that my Windows install is broken and I need to reinstall the OS. I mean, really.

I dont have BBWC as far as I know, but beofre people start screaming that I need this, please bear in mind that the other server is running fine without as well.

I have no idea what else to do. I used an disk speed test utility and on a 128MB file, I get 25.4Mbps on one server and 900Kbps on the bad one.

Backups are taking over 12 hrs from the 1hr 40 mins it used to, with rates on that gone from 900MB/sec to 125MB/sec (according to BEWS)

Even opening general apps (for example, ADU or ACU or anything else) takes probably 4-5 times longer on this server now than the other.

All of this happened since the Raid 5 Migration. Help please! I can provide any logs or configurations you want.

[TTr]

> I dont have BBWC as far as I know...

This tells me that you are not sure that you don't have BBWC. You should verify this with ACU/ADU.

> All of this happened since the Raid 5 Migration

Were both servers performing the same before adding the disks? Maybe both had the BBWC memory and the memory and/or battery failed on the slow server.

[hongman]

ADU/ACU do not mention anything about BBWC so Im pretty sure I dont have it!

Both servers were performing the same before the migration.

[hongman]

Actually...

Array Accelerator Present - True
Cache Status - OK
Array Accelerator (Cache) Ratio - 50%/50%
Total Cache Size - 256MB
Cache Backup Power Source - Batteries
Battery/Capacitor Pack Count - 1
Battery/Capacitor Status - OK

Does this indicate a BBWC?

[TTr]

Yes it does. Which server is this from? Probably the one that run fine.

Check the other server. It probably has the BBWC option too so check the status. If the battery fails to charge, the raid controller will disable the write cache and the result is a slow server.

[hongman]

This part is the same on both servers :(

Any other ideas?

[TTr]

> Array Accelerator (Cache) Ratio - 50%/50%

Not much comes to mind. Double check the 50/50 ratio. Also check the status of all the disks and logical drives and compare all the settings from one server to the other.

Ensure that you are accessing the right server / right ACU. Sometimes the ACU client will connect to the ACU software on another server.

[hongman]

The Cache ratio is just set there because I dont know what it should be at, in truth. I have had it on pretty much every setting and it doesnt make an awful lot of difference, so I thought halfway would be best.

Everything else has been checked through, run out of ideas.

[marcus1234]

hi hongman
as advised previously


This is how we thank in the forum

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/helptips.do?#33

[hongman]

Can you please stop harassing me for points. I issued points for your help in the other thread.

As this thread is still ongoing I think it is more appropriate to hand them out at the end, not after every post.