Reliability, Availability, and Service
An enterprise-level server must be reliable and available. The WorldMark
4380 is both. You can configure it with two or three hot-swappable 625-watt
power supplies. (The review system had two.) The primary system board has
sensors for temperature, voltage, and fan failure. NCR's server management
software supports these sensors. The system board supports the chassis intrusion detection switches on the side panels and on the retainer bracket that protects the hot-swappable drives. A separate Server Management Board monitors the server's condition and uses a modified version of LANDesk Server Manager to support dial-out notification of critical events and dial-up control of server operation.
NCR provides a standard service agreement: onsite service during business hours for 1 year. You can purchase expedited and 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service plans.
ValuePlus CD-ROM
Hardware is only as good as the applications it runs. NCR's ValuePlus CD-ROM
includes the following utility applications to help you get the most from
the WorldMark 4380.
PowerMon II. PowerMon II monitors the status of a UPS
attached via a serial port. It logs power events and can initiate a system
shutdown if it detects a power failure.
Server Manager. Server Manager supports NCR's entire 4300
family of servers. The Server Manager Console runs on any Windows NT system and
accesses the Server Manager software on network or dial-up servers. Servers can
belong to a logical cluster, which lets you use one icon to monitor a group of
servers. Server Manager includes several agents to support specific hardware
components, such as Intel LAN adapters, Adaptec SCSI controllers, Mylex RAID
controllers, and APC UPS systems. You can configure Server Manager to send
alerts to a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management console or via
email or pager.
Server Manager/Remote. Server Manager/Remote includes server
and client modules. You can use Server Manager/Remote to remotely
configure and troubleshoot your system.
SMP Utilization Manager. If you execute tasks on multiple
processors, you generate extra overhead from switching between processors and
reloading the cache. If you execute related tasks on one processor, you
eliminate this overhead and thus improve the SMP system's efficiency. By
default, NT lets processes and threads run on any available processor. SMP
Utilization Manager lets you select which processors are available to run
specific processes, threads, or interrupts. NCR recommends that you assign one
processor to service interrupts and the driver for LAN cards and SCSI adapters.
NCR further recommends that you assign specific groups of processors to major
applications running on one server, such as SQL Server and Exchange.
WAN Links for Windows NT. You can use WAN Links for Windows
NT with a supported Digi adapter to support Routing and Remote Access Service
(RRAS) client connections over frame-relay and X.25 networks.
NCR Enterprise Pack
NCR offers the Enterprise Pack for an additional cost. This package bundles the following support software.
LifeKeeper 2.0. LifeKeeper 2.0 is NCR's server clustering
solution. (For more information about this software, see Jonathan L. Cragle, "Clustering Software for Your Network," July 1998.)
Master Minder. Master Minder is an automated systems
management package. This software monitors event logs and performs predefined actions in response to specific events.
Documentation
NCR provides several useful manuals. The Server Software Guide is a
thorough hardware configuration reference that describes the system BIOS, the
Diagnostic Partition, Adaptec SCSI BIOS, and Mylex array configuration. Other
documentation includes Optimizing Windows NT on NCR Servers, Deskside
Hardware Installation Guide, Installing Windows NT Server, and Installing
UNIX MP-RAS.
I was impressed with Optimizing Windows NT on NCR Servers. This
highly technical reference includes information about tuning the network
transport and core NT components. It also covers application tuning for SQL
Server, Exchange Server, Lotus Notes, and SAP R/3. Finally, the text explains
how to use SMP Utilization Manager to allocate system processors to applications
and processes.
NCR provides a system site log notebook with each system. This convenient
reference is reminiscent of legacy systems' field engineering logs. It contains
hardware and software configuration information, problem and change history
logs, and other valuable information for your operations support staff.
System Performance
To evaluate the WorldMark 4380's performance, I ran the AIM Technology
Domain Server Mix tests, using 4-way, 6-way, and 8-way processors. (For more
information about AIM Technology's tests, see "AIM Technology Server
Benchmark Test.")
The WorldMark 4380 had a WNT Peak Performance of 3483.8 and a WNT Sustained Performance of 3262.7 for 4-way processors. With 6-way processors, performance increased to 3932.1 Peak Performance (up 13 percent) and 3424.5 Sustained Performance (up 5 percent). With 8-way processors, Peak Performance was 3904.4 and Sustained Performance was 3631.4. Peak Performance was only 12 percent higher for 8-way processors than for 4-way processors. Sustained Performance was only 11 percent higher for 8-way processors than for 4-way processors. These results are nothing to write home about.
System performance and throughput depend on the workload you process. My
tests did not simulate multiple-application (e.g., SQL Server and Exchange
Server) workloads. NCR is positioning the WorldMark 4380 as a
multiple-application system. For example, SMP Utilization Manager is most
valuable for running multiple applications. WorldMark 4380 is a solid system
that provides good performance in a small package that you can easily expand.
This 8-way system is beneficial in certain situations, but many IS managers will want to keep looking, or stick with their 4-way systems.
—John Green
jgreen@winntmag.com
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