How to combine SSD 3500 and 3700 for the best result for a webserver

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

crimussld

Honorable
Nov 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
Hi!

I need some advice and help choosing the best up to date solution for a configuration of SSD-s on a webserver.

Actual situation

1 We have now more than 10 websites ( our own ) with ~ 200.000 pageviews/ day

We host them on 2 oldish Dell webservers ( dedicated ) and they use 50 GB ( for both OS and all MySQL ) and 180 GB sites ( pictures, files. logs) .

Our admin told us that we wrote almost 430 GB per day ( seems a lot :) to me ) .

From our Cpanel we make some calculations : more than 50% of the blocks written are from /tmp , more than 25% are MysQL +OS and less than 20% are from the rest of the sites ( pictures, files, some logs , etc )

Choosed Configuration

We already decided for Intel ( much cheaper that the brands servers ) :

1. Motherboard Intel : Integrated Intel® Server System with 8 SATA ports standard, Includes: (1) Intel® Server Board S2600GZ4 in a 1U chassis, (1) Airduct, (1) Standard control panel, (1) Front 1xVGA and 2xUSB in Optical Disk Drive bay, (8) 2.5” Hot Swap Drive Carriers with (1) Hot Swap Backplane, (2) Right angle SFF8087 to SFF8087 cables (straight cable required if SAS HBA installed), (2) CPU heatsinks, (2) Risers: 1x16 PCIe FHHL slot on each, (1) RKSATA8 RAID Upgrade Key, (2) 750W AC Power Supply, (1) Intel® Remote Management Module 4 (key and NIC) preinstalled, (1) Value rail kit.

2. CPU - 2 x E5-2650 V2 - Xeon IvyBridge-EP 8C 95W 2.60G 20M 8.00GT/sec LGA2011 ITT


3. 64 G RAM = 8 x 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L ECC CL11 DIMM 1.35V w/TS

4. Intel RAID Controller - CONDADO BEACH- Intel® Integrated RAID Module RMS25CB080, "Condado Beach ", SIOM Connector, LSI2208 ROC, 8P Internal SAS, MegaRAID SWStack, 1GB DDR3, R0,1,10,5,50,6,60


We cannot figure it out for the SSD :

V1 :
RAID 1 - hardware : costs ~1950 USD
2 x SSD DC S3700 Series (100GB, 2.5in SATA 6Gb/s, 25nm, MLC) 7mm
just for OS, Tmp, MySQL si Logs
2 x SSD DC S3500 Series (600GB, 2.5in SATA 6Gb/s, 20nm, MLC) 7mm
for the rest of the sites

----> for us seems perfect , but our admin is not so excited about it :)
----> can you do virtualization and still keep this kind of configuration ( /tmp, MySQL and OS on 3700 Series and the rest of files on 3500 series ) ?


V2:
RAID 1 - hardware costs ~ 1950 USD
2 x SSD DC S3700 Series 400GB
----> To little space so is very expensive for GB


V3:
RAID 1 0 - hardware
4 x SSD DC S3500 Series480 GB costs = 2350 USD
----> somebody told us that makes no sens to built RAID 10 on SSD
----> plus that this SSD support up to 275 TBW ( TB written ) for their lifetime :)

Do you have any suggestions ?



Last question :
Do you need TRIM for this SSD ? Can you do TRIM on this server configuration ? What is this TRIM anyway :) ?


Thank you !
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
drtweak

drtweak

Illustrious
Sep 17, 2012
6,342
75
38,640
Honestly in my opinion I wouldn't use SSD's for a Tmp folder that gets 430GB of reads and write a day. That would kill those SSD's pretty damn quick. I would get like a 15k SATA 6Gbps SAS drive dedicated just for that Tmp folder and then the SSD's for the rest.

Also anything with a RAID 1 in it on SSD's is kinda pointless because in most cases its the writes that will Kill the SSD and if its a mirror then they will BOTH get the same amount of writes. I would do a Raid 5 (3 Drives min for Raid 5) And then get either a Raid 1 or Raid 5 again of the 15k SAS drives for the tmp. that sounds better to me. Yes it may not be AS fast but in the long run you will have to replace less hardware. It will also be more expensive up front. But again less hardware to be replaced int he future.

Also as long as you have Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 or newer it will support TRIM. Trim is just a way for it to clean up the SSD after writing and deleting data. It also prolongs the life of the SSD as well. If you want to know exactly how it works check it on on WIKI

But if you want to stick with SSD's then I would go with the first setup. In cases like these and plus on my home PC i like to keeps OS/App and Data seperate. Just seems cleaner.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

crimussld

Honorable
Nov 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
Thank you @drtweak for your answer

I am reading a lot about this SSD from Intel - the 3700 series - and they do resist at writing 10 x drive / day x 5 years . In this case a SSD of 100 GB series 3700 resist for alsmost 1TB write / day for 5 years.
We will change them at 4-5 years anyway( or whenever the WearOut Indicator reach 1) , so RAID 1 is just for unexpected damage , not the ones that are related to writing amount.
What do you think of this strategy ?

We will have Lynux on our server. But for Series 3700 of Intel do you really need TRIM ? They are already build for an imense amount of writing :)

Thank you for your answer.

I saw that you are a motherboard expert so I wonder can I choose this Intel® Server System R1208GL4DS instead of Intel® Server System R1208GZ4GC for our configuration? GL-ul has 460 W source and it is much cheaper to host it. 460 W is enough for SSDs , 2 CPU and 64 GB RAM ?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
drtweak

drtweak

Illustrious
Sep 17, 2012
6,342
75
38,640
If it was me I'd stick with the R1208GZ4GC really only because yes it does have more wattage (Most likely meant for actual hard drives) but because it has redundant PSU's. yes the R1208GL4DS can support redundant PSU's but you have to purchase the second one. If you do purchase a second one then by all means go with the R1208GL4DS. Otherwise there isn't much of an advantage you can get over the R1208GZ4GC that would impact you that much. Don't think you plan on putting 768 GB or ram in that sucker let alone the 512 the L4DS can take. Both support sames CPUS and everything. The only difference in the motherboards is the amount of Ram slots it has and power supply wattage it has. Everything else is identical so its just up to you if you want to get a higher wattage PSU with redundancy or a lower wattage PSU and buy a second for redundancy (Just double check because according to the intel site it only comes with one. Where you buy it from may have a second one installed already)

Also when you set up redundant PSU's plug each one into a seperate UPS Battery this way 1) It last longer on battery and 2) in case that battery unit fails your whole server won't go down.

And if the intel SSD's can take that kind of beating by all means go for it! It will definatly be wicked fast thats for sure.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

crimussld

Honorable
Nov 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
Thank you once again in the same day!

Yes, I will buy a second power of 460 , for redundancy . And it will be cheaper in the Data Center to colocate the 460 W PSU ( 30 euro/ month only this 300W difference )

I will never put more than 100 / 200 GB maximum RAM ...I go for 64 GB now ( 8 x 8 GB ) and I think it will be enough for a long time.

I don't understand the battery solution. We will send this server to a Datacenter and colocate there. Do I need the UPS battery in this case?

I will be back after order this system and I will tell you about the SSD :) I will choose the first setup V1 : RAID 1 - 2 x SSD DC S3700 Series (100GB ) just for OS, Tmp, MySQL si Logs + 2 x SSD DC S3500 Series (600GB ) for the rest of the sites . I think it will be an airjet!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom