From owner-freebsd-amd64@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Nov 19 01:04:59 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: amd64@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-amd64@FreeBSD.ORG Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5AB1A16A41F for ; Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:04:59 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ray@redshift.com) Received: from outgoing.redshift.com (outgoing.redshift.com [207.177.231.8]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1017543D45 for ; Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:04:59 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ray@redshift.com) Received: from workstation (216-228-19-21.dsl.redshift.com [216.228.19.21]) by outgoing.redshift.com (Postfix) with SMTP id 4F14C98529; Fri, 18 Nov 2005 17:04:55 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.20051118170452.00a8ca08@pop.redshift.com> X-Mailer: na X-Sender: redshift.com Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 17:04:52 -0800 To: Nathan Vidican From: ray@redshift.com In-Reply-To: <437E24BE.90008@wmptl.com> References: <3.0.1.32.20051118071132.00d655b8@pop.redshift.com> <3.0.1.32.20051118060718.00d655b8@pop.redshift.com> <3.0.1.32.20051118060718.00d655b8@pop.redshift.com> <3.0.1.32.20051118071132.00d655b8@pop.redshift.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Cc: amd64@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Hardware RAID support? Which controller best to use? X-BeenThere: freebsd-amd64@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting FreeBSD to the AMD64 platform List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 01:04:59 -0000 At 02:00 PM 11/18/2005 -0500, Nathan Vidican wrote: | ray@redshift.com wrote: | > | I'm trying to get him towards ordering a 3Ware-Escalade 9500S-4 RAID | > | controller (or possibly the -8 or -12 one). | > | > The 9500S line is a good choice. You can also sometimes find them used/NIB on | > ebay at a fair price ($300 to $400). BTW, in my testing, you don't get much | > additional performance from having 8 vs 4 drives (if you want to save costs). | > Although you do get more space :) | > | > | One thing which is of importance is that their budget may not allow for | > | a really high end server, so they may have to decide to buy a semi | > | high-end server. This then may result in them taking Athlons instead of | > | Opterons, and it may result in a MoBo with 32-bits PCI slots instead of | > | 64-bits PCI slots. Judging from the pictures of the 9500S it has a | > | 64-bits PCI slot, but it looks like it might be compatible with the | > | 32-bits slots as well (at a performance penalty, of course). | > | Would you happen to know if that's indeed possible, or whether they'd | > | better choose a different RAID controller? | > | > You'd have to check the 3ware website to be sure, but a lot of times those cards | > are backwards compatible with the 32 bit slots. I just checked the manuals I | > have for the 9000 series and it says 3Ware cards will run properly in any PCI or | > PCI-X slot, but you'll get better performance in a 64 bit slot - here is the | > text from the manual: | > | > -------------------------------------------------------- | > Selecting the Slot in Which to Install the Controller | > Consider these factors when deciding on the slot in which to insert the controller: | > .. While the 3ware RAID Controller runs properly in any PCI or | > PCI-X slot, not all slots give equal performance due to the | > architecture of the PCI bus. | > These slots typically give the best performance: | > .. Slots closest to the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), if | > included. | > .. 64-bit PCI slots | > Although the controller fits in both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI or | > PCI-X slots with 5V as well as with 3.3V, install it in a 64- | > bit slot to take full advantage of the controller’s | > performance. | > -------------------------------------------------------- | > | > | Regarding the MySQL versions and their settings: tnx for giving me | > | enough comfort to indeed give heavy preference for the FreeBSD amd64 | > | version. Will (source) installing the version from the ports do, or do | > | you mean something else when you say that you compiled MySQL yourself? | > | > from the tar.gz off the mysql site. E-mail me privately for a full run down on | > the install I use, but here is the basic idea: | > | > as root do this: | > ------------------------------------------------------ | > tar -xzf mysql-4.1.15.tar.gz | > cd mysql-4.1.15 | > pw groupadd mysql | > adduser {user you are creating is mysql} | > | > CFLAGS="-O3" CXX=gcc CXXFLAGS="-O3 -felide-constructors -fno-exceptions | > -fno-rtti" ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --enable-assembler | > --with-mysqld-ldflags=-all-static --without-debug | > | > make | > make install | > make clean | > | > ln -s /usr/local/mysql/share/mysql/mysql.server /usr/local/bin/mysql.server | > ln -s /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql /usr/local/bin/mysql | > ln -s /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe /usr/local/bin/mysqld_safe | > ------------------------------------------------------ | > | > There is more too it, but that's the basic idea. Check the readme/install files | > with the tar.gz - I will also send you my entire run down privately in a second. | > | > | Regarding the benchmark results: I'd love to receive them. Can you | > | perhaps send them off-list to me? | > | > Actually, I forgot that I put them on-line a while back. Here you go: | > | > http://www.redshift.com/~ray/mysql_bench/ | > | > | Regarding W*nd*ws vs. FreeBSD: I love your remark; I wonder if the | > | person I forwarded it to can laugh as loudly about it as I did. :D | > | > :) | > | > | Finally regarding SCSI vs. SATA: | > | >I've had far better luck using SATA over SCSI in the recent couple of years. | > | > We have several machines setup using FreeBSD and 3Ware RAID 0+1 that | > | > routinely run with no problems and uptimes of 200 to 300 days at a time. | > | | > | Very interesting to know. At present, I myself have a 754 socket AMD | > | Athlon 64 3.2 GHz (IIRC), running FreeBSD 5.4 release AMD-64, with an | > | Adaptec 2200S U320 SCSI RAID controller with 4 Maxtor Atlas 10KIV 36GB | > | drives attached to it in RAID-10 mode. So far it works a charm (though I | > | too had to effectively downgrade it to U160 due to the lack of 64-bits | > | PCI slots, grrr). I hope it'll keep performing well (so far uptimes in | > | the order magnitude you mention have been working fine for me as well on | > | SCSI - Adaptec 2100S RAID set-ups in my (now) fall-back server, and ever | > | after installing the AMD-64 one 34 days ago I haven't had to restart it | > | so far)... | > | > The file will send you with the benchmarks includes the PHP files to run the | > benchmarks, so if you feel like adding your #'s to the mix, just let me know. | > Or feel free to run the code and send me the results. I'll e-mail you privately | > in a second here. | > | > | Yet, it'll be interesting to keep an eye on the SATA RAID performance | > | and costs. With such uptimes SATA will surely become (if it hasn't | > | already become so, that is) a very good alternative for SCSI. | > | > SATA is built on top of SCSI I think (not sure exactly how it all sorts out, but | > I think some of the SATA stuff is tied into some of the SCSI stuff in the kernel | > or something). If I recall correctly, you have to leave some SCSI drivers in | > the kernel when you setup SATA on FreeBSD. I may be off, but I think that's | > what we had to do. Maybe someone more familiar with the kernel stuff can | > comment further on that count. | > | > I will e-mail you the install run down in a sec. | > | > Ray | > | > | > | Actually, that's quite wrong. S-ATA is ATA, not SCSI-like... S-ATA in fact is | almost the same as ATA (EIDE) from a code/kernel standpoint. The physical | hardware interface differs slightly and offers greater stability and performance | than standard ATA (EIDE). However, you are correct if not confusing when you | state that you must 'leave some SCSI drivers in the kernel', this is not for ATA | so much as it is for the use of the RAID card. If you're using plain old S-ATA, | no SCSI disk devices are required, but with the 3Ware Escalades, you will need: | | device scbus | device da | device twa | | | Anyhow, long story short - the only 'real' difference from S-ATA to P-ATA | (Parallel ATA aka 'ATA' or 'EIDE'), is the interface - the drive internals and | functionality are the same - but both differ from SCSI. Hi Nathan, Thanks for the run down. I was refering mainly to the drivers (specifically the ones you mention above, scbus and da, etc), not so much the hardware per se. Ray