Intel’s 24-Core, 14-Drive Modular Server Reviewed

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Network Test– PassMark Advanced Network Test

For the updated network test, I used PassMark’s client/server based Advanced Network Test.  I used the Compute Module running Windows 2003 Server as a “client” and ran two tests using two other machines as the required “servers”.  The first “server”: an eMachines desktop and the second “server”: one of the remaining two Compute Modules in the MFSYS25.  The reason I used two machines as “servers” was because I wanted to test both internal and external traffic going through the Ethernet Switch Modules.

Note: The NICs on all three machines were set to Gigabit/Full Duplex.

Server 1 – External Test

eMachines

Linksys Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

Server 2 – Internal Test

Intel MFS5000SI Compute Module

Intel Pro/1000 EB Backplane Connection with I/O Acceleration

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

Julio Urquidi
39 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kevikom
    This is not a new concept. HP & IBM already have Blade servers. HP has one that is 6U and is modular. You can put up to 64 cores in it. Maybe Tom's could compare all of the blade chassis.
    Reply
  • kevikom
    Also I did not see any pricing on this. Did i miss it somewhere???
    Reply
  • sepuko
    Are the blades in IBM's and HP's solutions having to carry hard drives to operate? Or are you talking of certain model or what are you talking about anyway I'm lost in your general comparison. "They are not new cause those guys have had something similar/the concept is old."
    Reply
  • Why isn't the poor network performance addressed as a con? No GigE interface should be producing results at FastE levels, ever.
    Reply
  • nukemaster
    So, When you gonna start folding on it :p

    Did you contact Intel about that network thing. There network cards are normally top end. That has to be a bug.

    You should have tried to render 3d images on it. It should be able to flex some muscles there.
    Reply
  • MonsterCookie
    Now frankly, this is NOT a computational server, and i would bet 30% of the price of this thing, that the product will be way overpriced and one could buid the same thing from normal 1U servers, like Supermicro 1U Twin.
    The nodes themselves are fine, because the CPU-s are fast. The problem is the build in Gigabit LAN, which is jut too slow (neither the troughput nor the latency of the GLan was not ment for these pourposes).
    In a real cumputational server the CPU-s should be directly interconnected with something like Hyper-Transport, or the separate nodes should communicate trough build-in Infiniband cards. The MINIMUM nowadays for a computational cluster would be 10G LAN buid in, and some software tool which can reduce the TCP/IP overhead and decrease the latency.
    Reply
  • less its a typo the bench marked older AMD opterons. the AMD opteron 200s are based off the 939 socket(i think) which is ddr1 ecc. so no way would it stack up to the intel.
    Reply
  • The server could be used as a Oracle RAC cluster. But as noted you really want better interconnects than 1gb Ethernet. And I suspect from the setup it makes a fare VM engine.
    Reply
  • ghyatt
    I priced a full chassis out for a client, and it was under 20k...
    Reply
  • navvara
    It can't be under 20K.

    I reallty want to know what the price of this server is.
    Reply