Fresh new server, runs so slow

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turbowrx03

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Apr 7, 2010
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Hello all,
I built a watercooled server and it runs so slow. Here are the specs:
dual xeon quad core processors
6gb RAM
two 1tb WD hdd's in raid 1
tyan motherboard

So after a fresh install of Windows Server 2003 R2 the computer is slow. It runs slow, sometimes even freezes for minutes, and then catches up with everything at what i would expect it's normal speed it should be running at, and then freezes again. Even though the computer is frozen (time clock doesnt even move) i can still right click on desktop, select and deselect icons on desktop, and even bring up the task manager sometimes. I dont get whats wrong with this, i re-installed twice. On boot up there is a SQL error message and then another error message saying that a device failed to load, but everything still works at it should. Could it be a device driver issue? Maybe faulty hardware? The server is only weeks old. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Dave
 
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Based on your components selection and comments, I presume that you built a nice home server. You could set performance counters to help in determining what's causing the slowdown. Also check Event Viewer for errors. You can disable the sound controller as it serves no purpose on a server.

I don't understand why you'd have a SQL error if your hard disks are fine. Can you provide full details about your hardware (motherboard, processors, type and number of memory modules, hard disks, etc.)
 
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Tyan S7002 motherboard, Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB (x2)
Wintec 6GB DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) ECC Registered Server Memory
Corsair 750TX 750W Power Supply
Xeon E5504 Nehalem 2.0Ghz 1366 80W Quad Core (x2)
 
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I would expect i set up DNS correctly, otherwise i dont believe the network would work. Im getting timed out errors for the domain and some others i dont quite recall since it's sitting in my office at the moment. It is listening on all interfaces, and i believe it's set to not allow updates.
 
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If you get timeouts, then the forwarder(s) might not be reachable at boot. Just to make sure, is your server configured with a static IP address?

Not allowing updates means that PCs on the network have to be added manually and they have to use static IP addresses if they should all be reachable.
 
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All pc's on the network dont timeout on boot. Everyone connects just fine, it's just the server that is running so slow.
Yes, the server is set up with a static ip. The server serves DHCP, giving IP's to all connected components, so then yes, updates are on.
 
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Is there a lot of HDD activity going on or high CPU usage during those slowdowns you've described?

Most likely a particular software or driver problem.

[EDITED]And is it 2003 R2 x86 or x64? (for drivers sake)
 
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Non-secure updates are allowed. What should i use for performance counters? Yes, i built it as a file server for my office. Ive built systems many of times before, but never encountered this after a fresh install.

No, it can slow down on file transfers or simply by opening my computer, or any program. It's 2003 R2 x86.
 
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Also, it seems that the Event Viewer errors I'm seeing all correlate to the server freezing, hence creating network connectivity errors. What do you think? Userenv, Netlogon, KDC, TeamServDevices, Service Control Manager, and DNS are reporting errors but not constantly except for DNS.
 
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Ah yes, im not too familiar with Performance Counters, thank you for the link.
There is no other errors in the Event viewer, but there are a few warnings. Yes, the DNS issue has been resolved. Thanks for your help!
 
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After doing some research and running Performance Counter, it seems that the issue is the hard drive. Primary HDD disk time and queue hits 100% for the simplests of tasks like opening a folder. Also, Memory usage is at 5.6 out of the total 6gb available. Any ideas to solve the HDD problem? I'm adding 6 more GB to the system and maybe swapping out the HDD's to some 10k RPM Raptors. Maybe that will solve the issues?
 
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If the system freezes like that, it is certainly a hardware problem. Are you using on-board RAID? Whatever you're using, make sure your drivers and management software are up to date. Also, what drives are you using?

If you're using WD consumer drives, then they may not work well in this setup. I've read a lot posts in which people were having problems using WD consumer drives in a RAID setup due TLER. Basically, the RAID controller and the drive are fighting over error correction.
 
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To start with, the WD Caviar Green are not designed for that type of application. Why don't you use 4 or 6 smaller 10K or 15K SAS drives preferably connected to an enterprise class RAID controller? Performance would be a lot better.
 
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You dont think two mirrored 10k raptor drives will cut it? SAS drives would be a lot better but since i have raptor drives sitting here i was wondering how big of a difference it would be from those...
 
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