Dell PowerEdge R720xd Manual

Improving NFS Performance on HPC Clusters with Dell Fluid Cache for DAS
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5. Install the Red Hat Scalable File System (XFS) packages that are part of RHEL 6.3 add-on.
xfsprogs-3.1.1-7.el6.x86_64 and xfsdump-3.0.4-2.el6.x86_64
6. Install at a minimum the “Server Instrumentation”, “Server Administrator Web Server” and
“Storage Management” components of Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
(OMSA) v7.1.2 on the
PowerEdge R720. Note that only v7.1.2 supports DFC at the time of writing. A newer OpenManage
version cannot be used instead.
• Resolve any rpm dependencies as prompted by the OMSA setup scripts. For example, yum
install libwsman1 openwsman-client.
7. Install Dell Fluid Cache for DAS v1.0. A DFC license will be needed to use the product. Copy the
license file to the server. Execute the DFC setup script and resolve any Linux dependencies as
required.
8. Check that DFC is installed and the service is running.
[root@nfs-dfc ~]# service fluid_cache status
fldc_cfm (5794) is running...
fldc_agent (5887) is running...
fldc is running...
[root@nss-rna ~]#
9. Install the appropriate Dell drivers for the PowerEdge R720. At a minimum, the PCIe SSD driver
must be updated. v2.1.0 is the recommended version.
10. Install Mellanox OFED 1.5.3-3.1.0 for RHEL 6.3 on the server.
• First build Mellanox OFED for errata kernel 2.6.32-279.14.1 using the iso downloaded from
Mellanox’s website. This step will generate a new iso in /tmp.
<MLNX_OFED_iso_mount_point>/mlnx_add_kernel_support.sh -i
MLNX_OFED_LINUX-1.5.3-3.1.0-rhel6.3-x86_64.iso
• Install Mellanox OFED from the new iso generated in /tmp.
<new_iso_mount_point>/mlnxofedinstall
• Resolve any rpm dependencies for OFED. For example, yum install tcl tk.
Reboot the server for these changes to take effect.
A.3. NFS server configuration and tuning
Tune the PowerEdge R720 server as described below.
1. Change the number of nfsd threads to 256. Make a backup of /etc/sysconfig/nfs and change the
number of threads. Set the NFS service to start on boot.
# cp /etc/sysconfig/nfs{,.orig}
# sed -i 's/#RPCNFSDCOUNT=8/RPCNFSDCOUNT=256/' /etc/sysconfig/nfs
# chkconfig nfs on

Dell PowerEdge R720xd Specifications

General

Tcase	70 °C
Bus type	QPI
Stepping	M1
FSB Parity	No
Scalability	2S
Processor cache	10 MB
Processor cores	4
Processor model	E5-2609
System bus rate	6.4 GT/s
Processor series	Intel Xeon E5-2600
Processor socket	LGA 2011 (Socket R)
Processor codename	Sandy Bridge EP
Motherboard chipset	Intel C600
Number of QPI links	2
Processor frequency	2.4 GHz
Processor cache type	Smart Cache
Processor manufacturer	Intel
Processor package size	52.5 x 45.0 mm
Processor front side bus	- MHz
Processor boost frequency	2.50 GHz
Processor operating modes	64-bit
ECC supported by processor	Yes
Graphics & IMC lithography	32 nm
PCI Express configurations	x4, x8, x16
Supported instruction sets	AVX
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	80 W
Number of processors installed	1
CPU multiplier (bus/core ratio)	24
Physical Address Extension (PAE)	46 bit
Maximum number of PCI Express lanes	40
Memory types supported by processor	DDR3-SDRAM
Memory channels supported by processor	Quad
Memory clock speeds supported by processor	800, 1066 MHz
Memory bandwidth supported by processor (max)	34.1 GB/s
Maximum internal memory supported by processor	750 GB
HDD size	3.5 \
Optical drive type	DVD-RW
Total storage capacity	- GB
Maximum storage capacity	32 TB
Number of HDDs installed	-
Number of HDDs supported	14
Memory slots	24x DIMM
Internal memory	8 GB
Memory clock speed	1333 MHz
Maximum internal memory	768 GB
Cabling technology	10/100/1000Base-T(X)
USB 2.0 ports quantity	3
PCI Express slots version	3.0
Power supply	1100 W
Compatible operating systems	Microsoft Windows Server 2012 \\r Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Essentials\\r Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 \\r Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server\\r Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Sustainability certificates	ENERGY STAR
Chassis type	Rack (2U)
Processor ARK ID	64588
Intel Secure Key Technology version	1.00
Intel Identity Protection Technology version	0.00

Weight and Dimensions

Width	- mm