Front cover Tuning IBM System x Servers for Performance Identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks in key subsystems Expert knowledge from inside the IBM performance labs Covers Windows, Linux, and VMware ESX David Watts Alexandre Chabrol Phillip Dundas Dustin Fredrickson Marius Kalmantas Mario Marroquin Rajeev Puri Jose Rodriguez Ruibal David Zheng ibm.com/redbooks International Technical Support Organization Tuning IBM System x Servers for Performance August 2009 SG24-5287-05 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page xvii. Sixth Edition (August 2009) This edition applies to IBM System x servers running Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and VMware ESX. © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009. All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Contents Notices . xvii Trademarks . xviii Foreword . xxi Preface . xxiii The team who wrote this book . xxiv Become a published author . xxix Comments welcome. xxix Part 1. Introduction . 1 Chapter 1. Introduction to this book . 3 1.1 Operating an efficient server - four phases . 4 1.2 Performance tuning guidelines . 5 1.3 The System x Performance Lab . 5 1.4 IBM Center for Microsoft Technologies . 7 1.5 Linux Technology Center . 7 1.6 IBM Client Benchmark Centers . 8 1.7 Understanding the organization of this book . 10 Chapter 2. Understanding server types . 13 2.1 Server scalability . 14 2.2 Authentication services . 15 2.2.1 Windows Server 2008 Active Directory domain controllers . 15 2.3 File servers . 17 2.4 Print servers . 18 2.5 Database servers . 18 2.6 E-mail servers . 20 2.7 Web servers . 21 2.7.1 Web 2.0 servers . 22 2.8 Groupware servers . 22 2.9 Multimedia server . 23 2.10 Communication server . 24 2.11 Terminal server . 25 2.12 Infrastructure servers . 26 2.12.1 DNS server . 26 2.12.2 DHCP server . 27 2.12.3 WINS server . 27 © Copyright IBM Corp. 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009. All rights reserved. iii 2.13 Virtualization servers . 28 2.14 High Performance Computing . 28 Chapter 3. Performance benchmarks for servers . 31 3.1 IBM and benchmarks . 32 3.1.1 The different kinds of benchmarks . 32 3.1.2 Why IBM runs benchmarks on System x servers . 33 3.2 The main industry standard benchmarks . 33 3.2.1 Types of information that benchmarks can provide . 34 3.2.2 System benchmarks . 35 3.2.3 Product-specific benchmarks . 39 3.2.4 Industry standard benchmark results on IBM System x . 40 3.3 Understanding IBM System x benchmarks . 41 Part 2. Server subsystems . 43 Chapter 4. Introduction to hardware technology . 45 4.1 Server subsystems . 46 Chapter 5. Energy efficiency . 49 5.1 Importance of finding an energy efficiency balance . 51 5.2 Server-level solutions . 53 5.2.1 Processors . 54 5.2.2 Memory . 60 5.2.3 Drives . 64 5.2.4 Fans . 64 5.2.5 Power supplies . 65 5.2.6 Operating systems . 68 5.2.7 Virtualization . 72 5.3 Rack-level solutions . 76 5.3.1 IBM products to manage energy efficiency . 76 5.3.2 IBM intelligent power distribution units . 81 5.3.3 Hardware consolidation. 82 5.4 Data center-level solutions . 84 5.5 Power and performance benchmarks . 88 5.5.1 The benchmark description. 88 5.5.2 The benchmark methodology . 89 5.6 Resources . 91 Chapter 6. Processors and cache subsystem . 93 6.1 Processor technology . 94 6.2 Intel Xeon processors . 94 6.2.1 Dual-core processors . 95 6.2.2 Quad-core processors. 98 iv Tuning IBM System x Servers for Performance 6.2.3 Six-core processors . 101 6.2.4 Intel Core microarchitecture . 103 6.2.5 Intel Nehalem microarchitecture . 105 6.3 AMD Opteron processors . 109 6.3.1 AMD Revision F (1207 socket) Opteron . 109 6.3.2 AMD quad-core Barcelona . 111 6.3.3 AMD quad-core Shanghai. 112 6.3.4 Opteron split-plane . 112 6.3.5 IBM CPU passthru card . 113 6.4 64-bit computing . 116 6.5 Processor performance . 122 6.5.1 Comparing.