DL380 G4 Poor disk performance

[Jamie Pycroft]

Hi,
We have about 25 HP DL380 G4 Servers which have really poor disk performance when copying data:
Smart Array 6402
2x ultra320 72GB 10K Mirrored OS
4x Ultra320 146GB 10K RAID 5 Data volume
When copying data we're acheiving approx 10MB p/sec even when copying to the same volume regardless of RAID 5 or 1+0!!
I've tried changing the read/write cache on the controller and updated all firmware but have had no improvement.
I have been testing this on a new server with no apps or load at all. How can I achieve the full transfer rate that these disks are capable of? This is the same on all 25+ DL380G4 servers that we have. Please help!!
Attached is a doc showing 400MB file being copied on RAID 5 volume to same directory.

[Jamie Pycroft]

This server is running win 2003 server sp1.
Controller and server bios is latest as is software pack. Problem also occurs on Win server 2000.

[Ryan Goff]

1) what size is the cache on the controller?
2) what revision of the firmware are you using on the 6402? the latest version is 2.58 and if you see in the revision notes link'd below there was an issue where the batteries on 6th generation controllers were not charging correctly so your BBWC accelerator may not be working correctly, is a possibility

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/storage/us/revision/7717.html
3) what is the stripe size?
4) has it always been this way?
5) what driver are you using and what version? latest is here:
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/22970.html
6) what version of OS?
7) are you using HP drives?
8) any services running on server such as SQL or Exchange?
9) are you using simplex or duplex configuration on the scsi backplane? (ie: one or two scsi cables going from 6400 controller to the backplane)

you might want to look to see if this link applies to you:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;332023

[Ryan Goff]

sorry, did not see your reply on the OS.

one other important question, are you doing a fresh install of the OS or using an image?

are you running any windows updates?

if you are using an "image" to all servers, you might want to try doing a fresh install and see if the issue persists, there may be something wrong with the image.

[Prashant (I am Back)]

Hi,

Try out two things
ADU Check for any errors on the same or not.
this will confirm any error on disk subsystem write delays seek errros anything

And for performace
use PAT give you exact info
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericSoftwareDownloadIndex?lc=en&cc=us&softwareitem=co557en

Regards,
Prashant

[Jamie Pycroft]

Hi,
Thanks for your replies!
The server tested for this is a fresh install of Win 2003 server standard with no applications installed so there is no load.

Array 6400:
Firmware - 2.58
Driver - 5.68.0.32
Port 1 on the controller only.

RAID 1+0 (OS): 2x HP Ultra 320 10K 72GB
Stripe Size - 128K
Accelerator - Enabled

RAID 5 (Data): 4 x HP Ultra 320 10K 72GB
Stripe Size - 64K
Accelerator - Enabled

Attached are the results from the PAT Test copying the same 400mb file, screenshots from the ACU and the ADU results.
Thanks for your help so far! I appreciate it.
What should I be seeing as a result when copying 400MB on the same volume? Is 11MB a sec acceptable?

[Ryan Goff]

Those are not normal results. I do see though that your two 72.8 gb drives firmware is out of date. They can be updated from HPB1 to HPB3:

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/storage/us/download/23154.html

You will need this CD to run the update:

Firmware CD 7.4:
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/23331.html

Also, for testing purposes you have a 6i controller. This is compatible with the 6400, you might want to move the scsi cable to the systemboard and re-run your speed test, do the results change?

PS: if you run this test you may want to get the 6i firmware updated as well from the firmware cd.

[Ryan Goff]

By the way, i'm not sure that the PAT test program link'd above is an accurate measure of performance. I ran it locally on my workstation and only got 6mb/s myself.

I ran another utility, free download from a 3rd party site:

http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/fclick/fclick.php?fid=272

and it ran 23 mb/s for me on my workstation.

[Jamie Pycroft]

Great, I'll try this now. I'll let you know the result.
Thanks very much!!

[Jamie Pycroft]

Results attached.