Re: New 64-Bit Server (Centos 4.3, Dual CPU) HORRIBLY SLOW!

I had similar experience with centos 4.4 on dual cpu server; the culprit was
failed scsi drives in a raid array. Once I removed and replaced the drives,
the system was fast as a siren. -Frank http://www.inwa.net/~frog/

"T. Little" <tlittle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:fagsi2t7q3ms2j6hkghuea7fuug8dgrild@xxxxxxxxxx

I've been building Linux boxes since 1995 and have never seen anything
quite like this. I'm out of ideas.

I recently built a dual-processor Linux server, specifications as
given below. Imagine my dismay when the boot process took nearly 25
minutes! Shutdowns are almost as slow. X performance is pathetic, and
when hot-keying to a console, the transition from X to terminal takes
probably 10 seconds. Logons are equally slow. I've loaded Centos twice
to rule out a bad install. I've turned off every unneeded option and
disabled parallel and serial ports at the CMOS level.

I'm finding no help from dmesg or system log files. Other than being
slow, the server functions okay. We're primarily going to crunch
firewall logs on this box, and we've run some jobs that terminated
correctly after processing for more than 48 hours. Very stable.
Drivers and updates to the OS seem to be in order. It seems not to
matter whether I boot an SMP kernel or single-cpu. Output from the
3ware/AMCC controllers suggests all drives are recognized and logical
units are intact. I've tried running with and without write caching
enabled. No noticeable difference.

Anyone every seen anything like this? It's as if this thing is wading
through pancake syrup.


Specs:

Mainboard: Tyan S2882-D (Thunder K8SD Pro)
Dual Opteron 242 CPUs, matched stepping
Tyan-recommended memory, 4 Gigs
Two SATA Controllers: 3Ware 9400S 4-port
Array 1: RAID5 3 disks + spare, Western Digital Raptors
Array 2: Mirror + spare, Seagate Barracudas
Centos 4.3 64-bit OS
Video and Ethernet onboard (ATI Rage, Broadcom)



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