Ask An Expert - The Server Room

[idata]

<![CDATA[<font size="3">Welcome to intel.com/ITopia. Join the discussion, debate and collaborate. This is your opportunity to *ask our experts* what you want to know about Intel's latest technologies. The floor is yours.]]><![CDATA[<hr>]]><![CDATA[<font size="2">+This discussion is not intended to answer PC support question. If you have a support question go to {document:id=1086}.+]]>

[idata]

I am looking what type of IBM server can I use to design a solution for a web hosting.

[Christophe_P_Intel]

Hi, Since your question is about IBM products, you should consult their website for their systems. IBM has some tools that enable you to search by business size, application type, etc. I provided some links below to IBM's website that feature the Intel Xeon processors.

We have a http://download.intel.com/products/processor/xeon/ssguide.pdf server selection guide that you may find useful to narrow your processor type if you have not yet made that decision. In my experience, a 1 socket (basic web serving) or 2 socket server (e-business) is most likely what you are looking for. The Xeon products will be the 3000 series (1 socket) or 5000 series (2 socket).

Here are some links to performance resources on intel.com for http://www.intel.com/performance/server/xeon/web.htm Xeon 5000 and http://www.intel.com/performance/server/entry_level/web.htm Xeon 3000 that provides published results on SPECweb2005 and WebBench (two common benchmarks for evaluating web server performance)

The http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/browse/inpro/index.html IBM System X servers are the rack and towers that use the Xeon products mentioned above. If you are looking for blades, evaluate the http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/browse/inpro/index.html IBM BladeCenter products

Chris

[idata]

can anyone suggest me an openmp application that i could as my college level mini-project?

[William_L_Intel1]

I've been going through unanswered questions and came across this one. Are you still looking for help with this?

Admin

[idata]

We try to build a small Server with OS SBS 2003 ant the MB DG45FC. The Server should used for Soho with up to 10 people an operate as Fileserver, DHCP, AD, Proxy and so on. Can anybody tell me about the Board? Is it possible to install this OS on the named Board.

Sorry for the bad english and thanks for all awnsers

[William_L_Intel1]

Here is a link that should help to answer all your questions:

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG45FC/DG45FC-overview.htm Intel® Desktop Board DG45FC

Please let us know if this is what you were looking for.

[idata]

I need some ideas on air distribution over server racks.

we need to distribute cool air to specific server equipment from overhead ducts.

We need a slot air distribution system!

[idata]

A few follow up questions

1. what type of cool air delivery system do you have now? Underfoot? Overhead conventional building air supply? Dedicated cooling system for the room?

2. How much over head clearance do you have from the top of the rack to the next floor deck or roof?

3. About how much heat are you trying to manage For example, What is the rough electrical load of the equipment you want to cool kW (kilo watts) kW 10 kW?

4. Do you have chill water available in the room?

5. Do you have a reference to what you describe as a "slot air distribution system"

[idata]

We planning to build a High Performance Compute cluster with 24 processor & 96 cores. Can any body suggest what mother board should be used for compute nodes having a processor 2 x 2 Quad-core Intel 64 bit Xeon @ 3.0 GHz or higher, 12MB L2 cache or higher per chip with dual 1333 MHz FSB (EM64T)? Will Intel 5000P Chipset mother board MCH + ESB2 be suitable suitable for this. I am confused. Can any body also tell what is ESB2 stands for

[JLodh]

In response to:

+*"We planning to build a

High Performance Compute cluster with 24 processor & 96 cores. Can

any body suggest what mother board should be used for compute nodes

having a processor 2 x 2 Quad-core Intel 64 bit Xeon @ 3.0 GHz or

higher, 12MB L2 cache or higher per chip with dual 1333 MHz FSB

(EM64T)? Will Intel 5000P Chipset mother board MCH + ESB2 be suitable

suitable for this. I am confused. Can any body also tell what is ESB2

stands for"*+

Dear Guest,

As for your requirement, i.e. 2 x 2 Quad-Core Xeon 64 Bit, 3.0GHz or Higher, 12MB L2 Cache or Higher per chip with dual 1333MHz FSB (EM64T),

When you say 5000P chipset motherboard MCH+ESB2, I suppose you are referring to 5100 chipset, 5100 being a member of 5000 family will serve your purpose and with the processor requirements as specified above, following 3 processors are best suitable:

1. http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLANP X5460 (SLANP)

2. http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLASB X5450 (SLASB)

3. http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLANQ E5450 (SLANQ)

As for MCH and ESB2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northbridge_%28computing%29 MCH:

The northbridge, also known as the memory controller hub (MCH)

in Intel systems (AMD, VIA, SiS and others usually use 'northbridge'),

is traditionally one of the two chips in the core logic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipset chipset on a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_motherboard PC motherboard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_Controller_Hub ESB:

ESB2 is the Enterprise Southbridge and is one of the variants of ICH6. For details, I would suggest that you study I/O Controller Hub.

--

Warm Regards,

Javed Lodhi

[Christophe_P_Intel]

Let me chime in with Javed. For 2 socket quad-core Xeon servers, there are three chipset (MCH) choices for you. The 5000P is an excellent choice for mainstream enterprise applications, however, for an HPC cluster, i would guide you to the 5400 chipset if performance is your primary objective or if low power, high density is your objective, use the 5100 chipset

quick chipset comparison below: here is an http://compare.intel.com/pcc/default.aspx?familyID=9&culture=en-US online comparison tool

5000P chipset (performance mainstream server) features a 1333MHz FSB, PCIe gen 1, up to 16 slots (typically 8-12) of FBD memory

5100 chipset (power optimized servers) features 1333MHz FSB, PCIe gen 1 and 6 slots of low power DDR2 memory

5400 chipset (bandwidth optimized) features a faster 1600MHz FSB, PCIe gen 2 with x16 support and up to 16 slots of FBD memory

The processors Javed recommends are excellent choices for either the Intel 5100 or Intel 5000P chipset.

If you look at the 5400 chipset then the following processors run at 1600Mhz FSB: X5482, E5472, X5472 and X5462

If power is a concern, look also at the "L54xx" cpus ... they are 50W versions of the new quad cores.

Chris

[Christophe_P_Intel]

Here is a link to the http://download.intel.com/products/processor/xeon/dc54kplatbrief.pdf Quad-Core Xeon Platform Brief that discusses the different types of platforms and chipsets available in 2 socket configuration

Chris

[JLodh]

Dear Guest,

Chris has very well explained in details giving you best options in terms of more processing speeds and less power consumption.

Thanks a lot Chris!

--

Warm Regards,

Javed Lodhi

[idata]

My mother board is D945GNT with LGA775 prcessor socket. Can I use a Quad-core LGA775 processor for my mother board?

[JLodh]

In response to: "My mother board is D945GNT with LGA775 prcessor socket. Can I use a Quad-core LGA775 processor for my mother board?"

Dear Guest,

D945GNT board does not support Intel Quad-Core processors.

Processor families supported by D945GNT motherboard are:

• http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d945gnt/sb/CS-026630.htm# pentiumd Intel® Pentium® D Processor

• http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d945gnt/sb/CS-026630.htm# pentium4 Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor

• http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d945gnt/sb/CS-026630.htm# celerond Intel® Celeron® D Processor

Here is a list of http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d945gnt/sb/CS-026630.htm supported processors for D945GNT.

--

Warm Regards,

Javed Lodhi

[idata]

Hi,

I have a network card PCI model 82540EM and I unable to intall it in Windows 2008 ENT. x64. I download the file provistax64, but the server can't find the file. I try to install the driver manually, but i don't see my modele ....

Are you guys able to help me, since 2 days I work on it without result...

Thx

[William_L_Intel1]

Is this still an issue for you? My apolgies that we did not get an answer for you.

Admin

[idata]

I have a customer with an SE7221BK1-E server board. We are using the on board RAID but I don't see a utility for configuring when in Windows (Server 2003 for Small Business Server is the OS).

I just had a hard drive fail and don't want to have to create the mirror from the good drive using the BIOS utility. I have installed the latest version of MegaIDESpy, but all it does is tell you if the array(s) are functioning. Will the array rebuild itself automatically if I create the mirror and boot into Windows or do I have to wait for it to build using the BIOS utility? The drive is 160GB and it's pretty full.

TIA,

Wes

[William_L_Intel1]

Is this still an issue for you? If so, please let me know and sorry for such a slow response.

Admin

[idata]

PLease, what is the difference from ViiV and vPro technologies? A vPro processor has a Viiv too? They are exclusive?

[JLodh]

In response to:

"PLease, what is the difference from ViiV and vPro technologies? A vPro processor has a Viiv too? They are exclusive?"

Dear Guest,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIIV Viiv is a platform initiative from Intel similar to Intel's Centrino and vPro. Initially (through release 1.7) was a collection of computer technologies with a particular combination of Intel ingredients to support a "media PC" concept. Intel also provided the Media Server as the core software stack on the PC to support "media" distribution through the home while http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPro vPro is a platform name that refers to a set of motherboard technology and features that is targeted for digital office/enterprise customers.

Now for the processors, Viiv must feature one of the following dual-core or quad-core processors:

Intel Pentium D / Pentium Extreme Edition / Core Duo / Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad and

following chipsets:

Intel 975X Express, 955X Express, 945G Express, 945P Express, 945GT Express, P965 Express, G965 Express or Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset

Whereas vPro has three main elements:

1) Core 2 Duo/Quad or Centrino 2 processor for business applications.

2) Integrated components (such as 64-bit graphics) to reduce the number of discrete components in the system.

3) Hardware-based management and security technology (such as Intel AMT).

vPro requires specific chipsets: Q963/Q965/Q33/Q35/Q43/Q45, which support Intel's AMT (Active Management Technology).

Now you must be a bit confused that since vPro and Viiv both require Core 2 processors, what could be the significant difference? Including all the above differences, you must remember that the Core 2 processors required for vPro must support Intel Virtualization Technology (IVT).

Hope this helps, if you still have any doubts, feel free to contact us.

--

Warm Regards,

Javed Lodhi