Dell R730 PERC H730p mini performance issue post BIOS Update

Question

I am scratching my head on this issue so it's time to ask the community!

Below is a benchmark after a fresh install of Windows Server 2012

This next picture is a benchmark I happened to do AFTER updating my BIOS and controller firmware.

• Layout RAID-10 Size
• List item 2978.50 GB
• Span Depth 1
• Block Size 512 bytes Bus
• Protocol SATA
• Media Type SSD
• Read Policy Read Ahead
• Write Policy Write Through
• Stripe Size 64K
• Disk Cache Policy Default

I have tried all possible combinations of Read cache policy, write policy and disk cache with little to no change. I believe the cache on the controller is roughly equal to the SSD's performance by itself.

This is a brand new machine fresh out of the factory and an UPDATE made this happen. Dual 3Ghz Xeon's and 192GB RAM

Any ideas what might have changed?

EDIT: I also re-installed the old BIOS and still am not getting the previously mentioned performance.

Answer 1

The H730p has 2GB cache. To test the speed you will have to use file with size bigger than 2 GB. If the size is less like in your case ( just 1 GB ) the results will be very inconsistent. Actually you are testing the controller cache speed.

Data Consulting Group - tech support