Dell Power Solutions

NEW-GENERATION SERVER TECHNOLOGYMigrating Enterprise Databasesfrom Sun Servers to the Dell PowerEdge 2850Running Microsoft Windows Server 2003The latest generation of Dell servers continues the trend of increasing performance andvalue by using Intel Xeon processors with Extended Memory 64 Technology and thelatest server hardware architecture features. To demonstrate the value and benefits ofmigrating from Sun servers, Dell engineers moved a large enterprise database applicationfrom a Sun server to a Dell server. The Dell PowerEdge 2850 with dual Intel Xeonprocessors at 3.4 GHz was able to handle 77 percent more orders per minute than theSun Fire V440 with four UltraSPARC IIIi processors at 1.28 GHz, and was 49 percentless expensive than the Sun system.BY TODD MUIRHEAD AND DAVE JAFFE, PH.D.Previous studies conducted in Dell labs have shownthe advantages of migrating large databases fromproprietary UNIX/RISC-based platforms such as the SunFire V440 to industry-standard servers such as the DellPowerEdge 6650, a server configured with four Intel Xeonprocessors MP. 1 In the study discussed in this article, Dellengineers compared a Sun Fire V440 configured with fourUltraSPARC IIIi processors at 1.28 GHz to the PowerEdge 2850server, one of Dell’s eighth-generation servers based onIntel Xeon processors with Extended Memory 64 Technology(EM64T). EM64T enables enterprises to continue using32-bit versions of critical software—such as database managementsystems—and upgrade to 64-bit versions as theybecome available in the near future. With two Intel Xeonprocessors running at up to 3.6 GHz, an 800 MHz frontsidebus (FSB), and up to 12 GB of double data rate 2 (DDR2)memory at 400 MHz, the PowerEdge 2850 offers excellentserver performance in a 2U, or 3.5-inch, server.To demonstrate the ease and potential benefits ofmigration from Sun Solaris–based servers, in November2004 Dell engineers quickly and easily moved a large(100 GB) database running on a leading enterprise databasemanager from a four-processor Sun Fire V440 server to thedual-processor Dell PowerEdge 2850 server. No data waslost during the migration, and the application (an onlineDVD store) ran more than twice as fast on the PowerEdge2850 server with two Intel Xeon processors at 3.4 GHzthan on the Sun Fire V440 server with four UltraSPARC IIIiprocessors at 1.28 GHz. To ensure a fair test comparison,the test team equipped the PowerEdge 2850 server with1For the previous migration studies, see “Migrating Databases from Sun Systems to Dell Servers Running Microsoft Windows Server 2003” by Todd Muirhead; Dave Jaffe, Ph.D.; andKerstin Ackerman in Dell Power Solutions,October 2004; and “Migrating Databases from Sun Systems to Dell Servers Running Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3” by Todd Muirhead andDave Jaffe, Ph.D., in Dell Power Solutions,October 2004.www.dell.com/powersolutions Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, February 2005. Copyright © 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. POWER SOLUTIONS 41