Ilo and Ilo2 virtual media throughput

[JKytsi]

Hi,

What are normal values for Virtual media transfer(in MB/s) using Ilo1 and Ilo2 ?

[David Claypool]

It depends on your network, the number of hops and even depends on the speed of the system the Java applet is running on (and the version of the JRE). It also depends on whether the target system is in pre-boot or the OS is booted (has a lot to do with USB efficiencies in both states). Also, generally speaking, connecting an iLO over the network to an ISO image hosted on an FTP or HTTP server is more efficient than the Java virtual media applet.

Will a locally-connected 48x CD-ROM be faster than Virtual Media? Yes.

What are you exactly trying to accomplish? There may be best practices that apply.

[JKytsi]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, the thing I was looking is the ABSOLUTE max speed virtual media can transfer data. In my test I have DIRECT connection from my laptop to Ilo board. What is the max throughput ???

[rick jones]

I guess we'll have to get netperf ported to the iLO :)

[JKytsi]

Yeah ...maybe You have to do that because tests show that 400 kb/s is kinda max speed.

[eag1e59]

I have noticed that the ILO2 virtual media performance is terrible, about 4-5 x slower than that of ILO1.

I have tried numerous different models and different firmware revisions. Even with the latest (1.29) the performance is awful.

As i have to build servers in remote datacenters that have no personnel available, i have always mounted a DVD iso locally and let the server boot from that via the ILO, but with ILO2 build time is up to 9hrs when for ILO1 servers in the same location it is about 2!

Please fix it !

[rick jones]

I'm not an iLO engineer so...

When confonted with matters of TCP performance. Some of the things to look for are:

*) window size - Tput <= Window/RTT
*) segment size - how big are the packets
*) packet losses - does anything have to be retransmitted

As I suspect there is no easy way in the field to get TCP stats out of an iLO, taking a tcpdump trace of a virtual media session - starting from _before_ the virtual media is connected I would think - would be in order.

[JKytsi]

Well... if someone could tell us is it even possible to get more troughput than ~ 3-4 Mb/s that has been seen in our tests. After THAT we can start network tracing...

[gcwn]

Are we talking about product limitation?
I have 64bit server that can be only installed via iso boot cd. It takes FOREVER.
What's the solution\workaround to speed this up?

[JKytsi]

USB DVD -drive or HP RDP

[gcwn]

I'm sorry I don't get it.
I use ilo, web virtual media option.
Are you suggesting having iso image on USB and then connecting via ilo virtual media usb drive option?

[acartes]

Sorry, do not have max performance numbers at this time.
If the question becomes, "how do I get the best performance from virtual media", the approach can vary.

The document, "Planning and configuration recommendations for Integrated Lights-Out processors" available at the iLO manuals page at this link:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual〈=en&cc=us&docIndexId=179111&taskId=101&prodTypeId=18964&prodSeriesId=397989

has helpful information. The section titled, "Creating a central repository for use with iLO's virtual media feature" has details.

Essentially:
- the network proximity and latency of the virtual media image source -> target has a dramatic impact on performance. Basically, the more hops and delay, the lower performance.

- have the virtual media image (.iso) served from a web server close to the iLO processor. (This does not imply close to the workstation). The web server can be Apache or IIS or another. Authentication and encryption are options.

- Use iLO scripting capability (either command-line or RIBCL/XML) to have iLO mount the virtual media on the host. This causes the iLO processor to fetch the data and takes your workstation out of the loop.

- If iLO is "close" to the virtual media server, the performance will be greatest.

- Stated differently, use iLO remotely to mount virtual media served locally (or at least proximally).

[gcwn]

it sounds way to complicated for my enterprise env, iis server at each site??
scripts and all, time consuming, need simple and reliable solution.

[JKytsi]

Rapid deployment pack (RDP) is the HP way in the enterprise enviroments. RDP is good, if You have the opportinity to use it.

attaching usb dvd-drive directly to blade will speed things up (not so enterprise).

Virtual media is slow where ever it is, and there is a too small timeout value for disconnections.

[gcwn]

I just downloaded RDP, I want to give it a try, not sure how complex it is to set up, will it worth evaluating, limitations, etc..
any good practice suggestions well appreciated

[acartes]

>>it sounds way to complicated for my enterprise env, iis server at each site??
scripts and all, time consuming, need simple and reliable solution.

Consider it more for a case where a London-based remote is operated from Kansas. Serving the image from Kansas is not optimal, where if it is served from the London network...

The approach works well with dispersed organizations- you have to make the call.

[gcwn]

In that scenario wouldn't you need IIS server at London site to host all images?
that's where the complexity is, robust design to accomodate requirements for both sites

[PatO_2]

I've the same problem as eag1e59 with the firmware 1.35 and 1.42.

Please fix it !!!

[Nikolai Schupbach]

We also have the same problem. We have a c7000 - the ILO2 virtual media via the OA network is unusable. The maximum speed we can get is about 200-300KB/sec.

Even if we directly attach a notebook via cross over ethernet cable to the OA the speed is no different.

ILO2 is running 1.43.

Can someone please confirm if this is normal? What speeds are other people getting?

[rick jones]

Packet traces, especially ones which include the connection establishment, are almost always useful in these sorts of situations.

[Bools]

This Rick from HP is irritating telling al the time that the problem is the network, bla bla bla, I think he never used iLO.
ilo IS SLOW , even if you are connected with a cross over cable without any switches.
HP iLO Engineers should sort this problems.
And Rick, stpo saying what you don't know properly.
Thanks

[rick jones]

I am sorry you don't think I have ever used iLO vMedia. I can assure you that I do use it on a regular basis installing Linux on BL860c, BL640c, rx2660, DL380 G5 and DL385 G2. I have used it on both WAN and LAN installs (99% LAN/Campus).

Yes it can be slow.

The reasons though can be quite varied, and not always the same from site to site, which is why getting a packet trace specific to the iLO(s) in question could be helpful.

[iloguy]

Based on my testings, iLO2 v1.50 is faster than v1.43 and even seems faster than iLO1 v1.92.
But, no matter what you do, iLO2 v1.50 CD/DVD-ROM won't give you more than 0.50Mb/sec average throughput.

[Justin Grote]

I see about the same results iloguy, there is definitely a bottleneck somewhere in the code.

[MarkE_2]

i would say for ILO 2 v1.50 is the first useable firmware version for use with Virtual Media.

Its only taken over a year to get there !
(and its still not perfect)