ML330 & MegaRAID IDE Controller DISGUSTINGLY SLOW!?

[Bill Unger]

I just unboxed a brand new Proliant ML330 Server with 2 80GB, 7200rpm ATA drive, the integrated MegaRAID controller, 2.8GHz Processor, and 1GB of RAM. I *attempted* to install Windows 2003 Server this afternoon, but it took well over an HOUR to do the initial file copy?!?!?! That performance is so pathetic it is almost unusable. It occurs on the initial installation, so there is no drivers to update yet.

I have a 2 year old Dell Dimension workstation using an Adaptec PCI RAID controller and 2 IDE hard drives that blows this new ML330 out of the water.

What am I missing here? I am a big fan of the Proliant Server ( I actually just put in a ML330 with a 641 controller and it worked great ), but this is so pathetic and unacceptable that I am still in a state of disbelief.

Is there a known issue with this controller or a firmware fix ( I literally just got the server yesterday ) or something I can do? There is simply no way I will release this unit to a production environment with this kind of performance... and the sad part is that I have an identical server still boxed and waiting to be setup for another client??!

I know people have posted that it is an entry level server that shouldn't be used for much throughput, but the performance I am seeing with this machine is far worse than anyting I have ever seen.... over an hour to do the inital file copy for Win2k3 setup?! Something ain't right...

thanks in advance ( and for you patience while I rambled ),
B

[Ben Conrad]

I have the exact same setup and the exact same isues. I think it took about 2 hours to get the OS files copied onto the disk before the GUI installation started.

I've got an Adaptec SATA raid kit setup on the system and have been doing disk xfers from C: to E: (and vise versa), something is wrong. When copying a 2GB file from the Adaptec raid to the MegaRaid I'm getting about 4.6MB/s, not very good.

I'm going to investigate any firmware/driver issues and report back in a few days.

Ben

[Sean Boylan_1]

Same issues here...This helps a little:
Hit F8 and go into the RAID setup... Hit F7 and turn on the cache. It's off by default from what I understand.

[Ben Conrad]

After applying the latest PSP and enabling the write cache, things get better. I actually did some disk transfer tests and put that info in an attachment in another post (can't see to find it). Performance is decent.

Ben

[Tim_361]

Me too... the ML330 G3 running SBS 2k3 is slow... now enabling the write cache... is this practice safe on a server? TIA - Tim