Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 02:27:07 PDT From: Keith Farrar <farrar@parc.com> To: "Scott E. Campbell" <scampbel@gvpl.ca>, grg@itesm.mx Cc: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dell PowerEdge 1600SC Server Message-ID: <40BD9D6B.7070207@parc.com> In-Reply-To: <200405281156.18711.scampbel@gvpl.ca> References: <009201c444dc$4c2da450$2eca82ac@micasa.com> <200405281156.18711.scampbel@gvpl.ca>
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You might want to reconsider the PERC controllers offered with that hardware. They (PERC3/SC and PERC4/SC) use the amr (megaraid) driver, and we've had serious stability problems under FreeBSD 4.9 and 5.2.1 with that controller. Avoid RAID controllers under the Megaraid section at URL: http://linux.dell.com/raid.shtml Repeated system crashes when lots of files have been opened (more frequently with > 2 GB of RAM installed / enabled), such as during "make buildworld" or when the periodic daily cron job scans the disks... Also, the boxes fail to reboot every two or three boots, until power-cycled, apparently when interrrogating devices on the amr fails at boot time. The amr driver reports errors interrogating devices when booting succeeds, but the machine frequently simply hangs in a hard lockup. The systems (Dell PowerEdge 2650, 2 x 2.8 GHz) were fairly stable when restricted to 2 GB of RAM and the internal RAID tray (using a PERC3/DI and the aacraid driver). The instability was a serious, but survivable, problem. Unfortunately, we need multi-terabyte NFS file service from our Dell servers, but FreeBSD's rpc.lockd dies routinely, which is a showstopping bug. So, sigh, we probably will deploy our boxes with Linux 2.6 kernel distributions, as much as we would prefer to administer BSD boxes. Scott E. Campbell wrote: > On May 28, 2004 10:50 am, Ing. Gerardo Rodriguez Gutierrez wrote: > >>Hello FreeBSD Community >> >> >> >>I am planning to buy a Dell PowerEdge 1600SC server >> >> >> >>Does anyone has proven FreeBSD on this type of server? >> > > > I'm running a couple of them with FreeBSD 5.2.1 and they work great. (Both > the single and dual processors models). I currently don't have one with the > PERC controller but am ordering one within a couple weeks (Dell 1600SC with > PERC). I was also going to order a DLT drive but was just given one > yesterday from another company's salvage pile. > >> >>FreeBSD works well on this platform? >> > > > Yes. > >> >>thanks >> >> >> >>FEATURES DESCRIPTION >> >>Processors Dual IntelR XeonT at up to 3.2GHz >> >>Cache from 512KB L2 up to 2MB L3 cache >> >>Chipset ServerWorksR GC-SL chipset >> >>Front side bus 533MHz >> >>I/O channels Six total: 2 x PCI-X slots (2 x 64-bit/100MHz); >> >>4 x PCI slots (2 x 64-bit/66MHz; 2 x 32-bit/33MHz) >> >>Network interface card 10/100/1000 embedded NIC >> >>Availability Hot-plug, redundant power (optional); hot-plug hard drives >>(optional); >> >>ECC memory; easy-access chassis >> >>Maximum memory 4GB ECC DDR-266 SDRAM >> >>Internal storage scalability Up to six hot-plug (or four non hot-plug) SCSI >>drives, or up to four IDE drives. >> >>Up to 876GB SCSI internal storage >> >>Internal storage performance 10,000 and 15,000 rpm U320 SCSI drives or >>7,200 rpm IDE drives >> >>Hard Drive Controller Embedded single channel (U320) SCSI, Embedded dual >>channel ATA100, up to >> >>six (U320) SCSI hard drives plus 2 optical devices, optional PERC 3/SC, >> >>PERC 4/SC, or optional 39160 Ultra3 >> >>RAID support PERC 4/SC single channel U320 or PERC3/SC single channel U160 >>RAID >> >>controller (SCSI drives) >> >>CERC quad-channel ATA RAID (IDE drives) >> >>Tape support Internal: PowerVault 100T TR40, PowerVault 100T DDS4, >>PowerVault 110T >> >>DLT VS80 >> >>Video Embedded ATI Rage XL (8MB) >> >>USB performance 1.1 >> >>Networking Embedded Intel Gigabit NIC >> >>Optional add-in: Intel PRO/100 S NIC, Intel PRO/1000 XT NIC, >> >>BroadcomR 5703 (10/100/1000) NIC, Broadcom ModemXtreme 56KB V.92 >> >>PCI modem >> >>High availability clustering Not supported >> >>Chassis Easy-access tower (not rackable) >> >>Power supply 1 x 450W or optional 2 x 450W hot-plug redundant >> >>Systems management Integrated server monitoring (ADM1026); OpenManageT >>support >> >>Remote management Optional Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRACIII/XT) >> >>Dimensions (H xW x D) 17.61" x 8.57" x 22.53" (44.73cm x 21.77cm x 57.23cm) >> >>Weight 73 lbs., maximum configuration >> >>Rack support None >> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>freebsd-stable@freebsd.org mailing list >>http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable >>To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > >
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