Revisiting the ProLiant 4500
In November, we reviewed the Compaq
ProLiant Server 4500. Since then, the Windows NT Magazine Lab staff has
been testing it thoroughly. We took it apart, put it back together, broke it,
fixed it, reconfigured it, reinstalled, SQL-ed it, Exchange-ed it, and gave it a
hard time.
We're happy to report that the 4500 has performed almost flawlessly. And
Compaq's technical support staff redeemed itself nicely (see, "You Call
This 'Support?'" October 1995), solving the few problems we
encountered.
We started with a dual-processor 100-MHz Pentium system with 160MB of RAM,
10GB of hardware-based RAID 5 disk (8GB effective, using Compaq's SmartSCSI
array controller), and an external storage chassis. At just under $32,000, this
system is one of the largest to come through our lab--until we received a system
with four 166-MHz Pentiums (only 128MB RAM--geez!).
The ProLiant 4500 is not inexpensive. (For a more affordable solution, look
at the ProLiant 1500, which has the same overall architecture. The 1500 is not
as scaleable--it can take only two CPUs--and has only a shared 512KB Level 2
cache, but it includes many of the same fault-tolerance options, such as
hot-swappable drives, and is a good workgroup or file and print server.) The
4500 is a heavy- duty machine. Aimed at the enterprise server market, the 4500
is not for the meek (the quad-processor system is $37,499) and may be
overpowered for small corporate environments. This system is more difficult to
configure and install than some other servers we've tested (such as the HP
NetServer 5/166 LS4). The reason is the proprietary OEM version of NT you need
for the 4500 and its EISA-only bus requiring you to run the EISA configuration
utility each time you install a card. However, even without PCI, this system
still gives you plenty of room to grow.
Because the 4500 has 2MB of Level 2 cache per CPU, slowing this system
takes effort. We tested the dual-processor system with Microsoft SQL Server 6.0
and Exchange 1.0 running the Lab email system and the Windows NT Magazine
Web site's article and product databases. In that test, the 4500 barely ticked
over. Perfmon shows barely 20% CPU usage even under the largest queries. We used
the same box for tests of Lotus Notes, Collabra Share, and Microsoft Exchange,
all of which ran simultaneously without a hitch. No doubt the 160MB of RAM has
something to do with this stellar performance, but a good system architecture
doesn't hurt.
On the quad-processor system, performance got even better. In ongoing tests
of 10Mbit (Mb) against 100Mb LAN scaleability, we can simulate 250 users on this
system without weighing it down. It works as well at 250 as at 10.
We continue to test both systems for our biggest tasks, and you'll see more
on these machines soon. Also, look for the "Best Hardware for NT"
roundup in November. We'll pit these machines against similar ones from HP,
Intergraph, and Digital Equipment; you'll also see the new Pentium Pro-based
ProLiant 5000, which gives even better performance at lower prices.
Yes, these are expensive units, but you have to pay for performance--and
for support. We encountered a few problems, and Compaq's staff came through.
The dual-processor system suffered a hardware failure on the external disk
storage cabinet. First, we had to work through a local service provider, who
completely dropped the ball. Compaq called this provider to arrange a service
call, and we went several days without hearing a word. I ended up taking the
parts (which Compaq shipped directly to the Lab) and tearing into the unit with
the telephone-guidance of Compaq's technical support engineers. I heard from the
local service provider's staff only when they picked up the old parts.
Unfortunately, I never got the storage cabinet to work and had to send it back
to Compaq for repair. My solution was to take out the drives and install them in
the main CPU cabinet.
The quad-processor had a BIOS/CPU problem, so we sent it back when it
reported a failed initialization of the #1 CPU board. Hardware diagnostics
revealed a cache failure. Compaq sent us a replacement CPU board, but the BIOS
problem meant that it was incorrectly reporting which CPU had the fault.
I'm impressed with these systems. The ProLiant series deserves
consideration for high-use environments. The systems make excellent database and
resource servers.