Need help with a slow server

Communities Gaming
1

I am managing a 2008 small business server for a company of 8 people (12 computers including the server). From the day the server was installed its has been painly slow.


The specs you ask?


Systemax SO 2 Server

SuperMicro X8DTL-I Dual Xeon Server Motherboard

2x Intel Xeon E5506 Quad Core 2.13GHz (Thats eight cores)

8GB DDR3 1333 ECC Memory (4x2GB)

2x Seagate 500GB SATA 300 Hard Drive

850 Watt EPS 80 PLUS Power Supply

Microsoft SBS 2008 Standard 64-Bit


What does this server do?

It handles ingoing/outgoing email (using Exchange and POP3 Connector), backs up user data, its handles DHCP/DNS, and active directory.


Network Config?

Windows IP Configuration


Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : SERVER

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : omega.local

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : omega.local


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:


Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-25-90-02-D7-4D

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3249:6478:bc47:f5f1%10(Preferred)

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::a929:226a:62d3:837e%10(Preferred)

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.5(Preferred)

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fe80::3249:6478:bc47:f5f1%10

192.168.1.5

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled


Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:


Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:


Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{3C13D20A-76E0-44B3-A041-7440E403D

5B1}

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Hard Drives?

Setup in RAID 1 with Cache Enabled.

Intel Rapid Storage reports both drives are operating Normally before and after initiation and verification. I want to test both drives using Seagate Tools outside of Windows. The only time I can do that is on a weekend.


Memory?

Ok here is the part I that has me concerned. The memory is running 400MHz (according to CPUz) when it should be running at 1333MHz.


[url=http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1630638]CPUz Validation[/url]


I can't take the server down until after 5pm and it takes a good 15-90 minutes for a shutdown.


I need some ideas on what I can do to find out what the cause is.

2

Hey and welcome here :]

I know Qain is a real server-techie, so I'll redirect him to this thread when I see him in the IRC next time :]

Or you could toss him an email at [email protected]

3

uh you need to configure the ram, 6.6.6.16, on ddr3? they need to be 9-9-9-20(24 something like that) and then raise the speed 1333


post more info on the ram if you can like defual spd, timings, stuff like that, right now your ram is under-clocked with tight timings, I'm sure someone with more experience with overclocking (and Intel) can help you more

4

I'm with GigaBuster, make sure your RAM settings in the bios are correct. After your system's hardware is running where it should. I would have to ask, if you considered running virtual machines on the server for all your services. i.e. Exchange, DNS, etc. etc...

(more for security than anything)


If it's as slow as you say it is, what's the CPU taxation? maybe there is something eating your CPU that you are unaware of.

5

I scheduled an appointment for Thursday night to do a BIOS update. I'll try to find the specs on the memory and see if I can adjust settings to match them.


I've though about going the vm route just incase the "server" crashes, we have a backup in place. I've never considered having seperate vms for each service. Its not a bad idea, will it by the others to see what they think.


As for the CPU taxiation, there is not much going on.

[url=http://nathanroe72.com/server.png]Screenshot[/url]

6

Turns out that one of the hard drives was bad. It was so bad that when I tested it with Seagate Seatools, it stopped the test after 12 seconds claiming the drive had failed. After testing the other drive, I rebuilt the array and now the server is running like a dream. Now its a matter of getting updates done.

7

I was going to chime in and suggest that since they were Seagate hard drives, it would be safe to blame them. But I thought that would be useless bullshit.


Happy to hear you worked it out!