System Disk I/O Gradual Slowdown

[Ayman Altounji]

We have noticed lately that our Proliant 1650 R with a Smart Array 3200 Controller (Storage System UE 8X18.2 Ultra Wide) running Windows NT Server, Service Pack 6a, operating an Oracle 7.3 database. We find that we get good performance for 3 to 5 days and then it gradually slows down until it is difficult to get disk I/O. We restart the server and the system speeds up again. We monitor CPU and Memory Utilizations and they never seem to run high. We have check Oracle and NT processes but cant seem to find a source to the problem. We ran the Array diagnostics and come back clean. Any ideas?

[Ayman Altounji]

H Lewis,

I'd suggest upgrading the 3200 firmware to the latest of 4.48 with SP16276.EXE at www.compaq.com. Before upgrading the 3200 firmware, I'd first update the 3200 NT driver using SP14439.EXE. You should also check to make sure that your Proliant servers' firmware is up to date. I believe that you ment to say that you had a PL1850R instead of a 1650R. The latest firmware for the PL1850R is dated 11/8/2000. You can verify this as your server boots up. You can download SP15904.EXE if your server isn't up to date. I would perform the updates in this order: 3200 NT driver, 3200 firmware then the PL1850R firmware.

Have a nice day,