Re: Best OS & Configuration for Dual Xeon w/4GB & Adaptec RAID 2200S

>> If you do put on FreeBSD 6, I'd love to see the output of
>> "diskinfo - v -t" on your RAID volume(s).
>>
> Not directly related ...
> i have a HP dl380 g3 with array 5i controlled (1+0), these are my
> results
> [...]
> is this good enough?

Is that on a loaded box or a mostly quiet box? Those number seem
rather low for my tastes. For comparison, here are numbers from a
Dell 1850 with a built-in PERC 4e/Si RAID in a two disk mirror. All
numbers below are on mostly or totally quiet disk systems.

amrd0
512 # sectorsize
73274490880 # mediasize in bytes (68G)
143114240 # mediasize in sectors
8908 # Cylinders according to firmware.
255 # Heads according to firmware.
63 # Sectors according to firmware.

Seek times:
Full stroke: 250 iter in 0.756718 sec = 3.027 msec
Half stroke: 250 iter in 0.717824 sec = 2.871 msec
Quarter stroke: 500 iter in 1.972368 sec = 3.945 msec
Short forward: 400 iter in 1.193179 sec = 2.983 msec
Short backward: 400 iter in 1.322440 sec = 3.306 msec
Seq outer: 2048 iter in 0.271402 sec = 0.133 msec
Seq inner: 2048 iter in 0.271151 sec = 0.132 msec
Transfer rates:
outside: 102400 kbytes in 1.080339 sec = 94785
kbytes/sec
middle: 102400 kbytes in 1.166021 sec = 87820
kbytes/sec
inside: 102400 kbytes in 1.461498 sec = 70065
kbytes/sec

And for the *real* disks.... In the following two cases, I used a
Dell 1425SC with 1GB RAM and connected the controllers to the same
Dell PowerVault 14 disk U320 array (one controller at a time,
obviously). For each controller each pair of the mirror was on the
opposite channel of the controller for optimal speed. disk 0 is a
RAID1 of two drives, and disk 1 is a RAID10 of the remaining 12
drives. All running FreeBSD 6.0 RELEASE. First I tested the Adaptec
2230SLP and got these:

aacd0
512 # sectorsize
36385456128 # mediasize in bytes (34G)
71065344 # mediasize in sectors
4423 # Cylinders according to firmware.
255 # Heads according to firmware.
63 # Sectors according to firmware.

Seek times:
Full stroke: 250 iter in 2.288389 sec = 9.154 msec
Half stroke: 250 iter in 1.657302 sec = 6.629 msec
Quarter stroke: 500 iter in 2.756597 sec = 5.513 msec
Short forward: 400 iter in 1.205275 sec = 3.013 msec
Short backward: 400 iter in 1.249310 sec = 3.123 msec
Seq outer: 2048 iter in 0.412770 sec = 0.202 msec
Seq inner: 2048 iter in 0.428585 sec = 0.209 msec
Transfer rates:
outside: 102400 kbytes in 1.204412 sec = 85021
kbytes/sec
middle: 102400 kbytes in 1.347325 sec = 76002
kbytes/sec
inside: 102400 kbytes in 2.036832 sec = 50274
kbytes/sec

aacd1
512 # sectorsize
218307231744 # mediasize in bytes (203G)
426381312 # mediasize in sectors
26541 # Cylinders according to firmware.
255 # Heads according to firmware.
63 # Sectors according to firmware.

Seek times:
Full stroke: 250 iter in 0.856699 sec = 3.427 msec
Half stroke: 250 iter in 1.475651 sec = 5.903 msec
Quarter stroke: 500 iter in 2.693270 sec = 5.387 msec
Short forward: 400 iter in 1.127831 sec = 2.820 msec
Short backward: 400 iter in 1.216876 sec = 3.042 msec
Seq outer: 2048 iter in 0.416340 sec = 0.203 msec
Seq inner: 2048 iter in 0.436471 sec = 0.213 msec
Transfer rates:
outside: 102400 kbytes in 1.245798 sec = 82196
kbytes/sec
middle: 102400 kbytes in 1.169033 sec = 87594
kbytes/sec
inside: 102400 kbytes in 1.390840 sec = 73625
kbytes/sec

And the LSI 320-2X card:

amrd0
512 # sectorsize
35999711232 # mediasize in bytes (34G)
70311936 # mediasize in sectors
4376 # Cylinders according to firmware.
255 # Heads according to firmware.
63 # Sectors according to firmware.

Seek times:
Full stroke: 250 iter in 0.737130 sec = 2.949 msec
Half stroke: 250 iter in 0.694498 sec = 2.778 msec
Quarter stroke: 500 iter in 2.040667 sec = 4.081 msec
Short forward: 400 iter in 1.418592 sec = 3.546 msec
Short backward: 400 iter in 0.896076 sec = 2.240 msec
Seq outer: 2048 iter in 0.292390 sec = 0.143 msec
Seq inner: 2048 iter in 0.300836 sec = 0.147 msec
Transfer rates:
outside: 102400 kbytes in 1.102025 sec = 92920
kbytes/sec
middle: 102400 kbytes in 1.247608 sec = 82077
kbytes/sec
inside: 102400 kbytes in 1.905603 sec = 53736
kbytes/sec

amrd1
512 # sectorsize
215998267392 # mediasize in bytes (201G)
421871616 # mediasize in sectors
26260 # Cylinders according to firmware.
255 # Heads according to firmware.
63 # Sectors according to firmware.

Seek times:
Full stroke: 250 iter in 0.741648 sec = 2.967 msec
Half stroke: 250 iter in 1.021720 sec = 4.087 msec
Quarter stroke: 500 iter in 2.220321 sec = 4.441 msec
Short forward: 400 iter in 0.945948 sec = 2.365 msec
Short backward: 400 iter in 1.036555 sec = 2.591 msec
Seq outer: 2048 iter in 0.378911 sec = 0.185 msec
Seq inner: 2048 iter in 0.457275 sec = 0.223 msec
Transfer rates:
outside: 102400 kbytes in 0.986572 sec = 103794
kbytes/sec
middle: 102400 kbytes in 0.998528 sec = 102551
kbytes/sec
inside: 102400 kbytes in 0.857322 sec = 119442
kbytes/sec