slow after upgrade to CentOS 5 (RHEL5)

Hi All,

If you all would not mind a post from the general
public Linux user, after doing a complete disk wipe of CentOS 4 and installing CentOS5, my system is preceived to be 3 times slower.

To troubleshooting this, I made a post on CentOS's
bugzilla: http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2382

Would some of the experts on this group mind
looking at the bug to evaluate the possibility that it is being caused by the underlying scsi
driver? The post contains a dmesg from "Computer C".
(Yes, I am getting a bit desperate.)

Quoted 22 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 7 lines · Anthony Ewell

Hi All,

If you all would not mind a post from the general
public Linux user, after doing a complete disk wipe of CentOS 4 and installing CentOS5, my system is preceived to be 3 times slower.

Quoted 8 lines

To troubleshooting this, I made a post on CentOS's
bugzilla: http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2382

Would some of the experts on this group mind
looking at the bug to evaluate the possibility that it is being caused by the underlying scsi
driver? The post contains a dmesg from "Computer C".
(Yes, I am getting a bit desperate.)

There's still too little information in the bug report to tell much of anything. The dmesg doesn't indicate any anomaly with the megaraid (although the LSI people might be able to tell better). However, it also doesn't contain a trace of the tape drive.

Quoted 4 lines

Best guess would be a slow down in the megaraid driver. Can you try doing a speed test on it? (hdparm -t should suffice).

James

Hi James,

The other guy reporting the problem

http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10659&start=0#forumpost34209
is not using a MegaRAID card. He is using 3ware9508 Raid Controllers. He is also using a different processor (amd vs xeon) and a different chipset (Intel Greenwood vs nVidia)

I also spoke to Neela Kolli (Mega RAID maintainer) and he said he'd never heard of the problem. Here are some tests (including dhparm) that I sent to Neela (he never wrote back).

I have also checked with Stellen over at the "dump" list and he has not seen the problem (yet).

The problem occurs when backing up to a two different types of tape drives and to an eSata drive.

When I am running a "dump" on computer C, gnome-system-monitor shows my two cores running at only about 10 to 20% and switching back and forth (one at 0% the other at 20% for about 5 seconds, then switching positions)

On Computer C (Cent OS 5), when typing in Word Pro (a windows word processor) in Parallels, I can watch myself type. Computer B (CentOS 4.4, now 4.5) has the same version of Parallels installed on it (Parallels-2.2.2112-lin.i386) that computer C (CentOS 5) has. The perceived speed difference is about a factor of three (you can not watch yourself type).

All the "Low Level" test I run seem to come out the same between Cent OS 4.4 and 5. Very frustrating! It is almost like some system monitor component is looking at everything and slowing things down. If this was Windows, I'd go straight to the Anti Virus as the culprit. (Does SE Linux do such things?)

Are there any performance tests I can run for you?

Thank you for letting me ramble, this problem is really frustrating. I am afraid to any additional CentOS5 server out there and CentOS 4.x is so terribly out of date.

-T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tests I sent to Neela:

CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.8.el5, Sata150-4):

#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.91 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000959)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999791)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 236 MB in 3.01 seconds = 78.53 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.01 seconds = 60.37 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 4.4 (linux rescue 2.6.9-42.EL, IDE):

#cat /proc/cpuinfo
bogomips : 4002.92

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 216 MB in 3.01 seconds = 71.87 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 184 MB in 3.01 seconds = 61.18 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):
#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.92 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000960)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999794)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 214 MB in 3.02 seconds = 70.86 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-10.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):

eSata: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:04
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4247 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1567020kB uncompressed, 1036385kB compressed, 1.513:1

eSata: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:09
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8034 kB/s

150-4: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4230 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1573150kB uncompressed, 1036383kB compressed, 1.518:1

150-4: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8291 kB/s

Quoted 21 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 6 lines · Anthony Ewell

Hi All,

If you all would not mind a post from the general public Linux
user, after doing a complete disk wipe of CentOS 4 and installing CentOS5, my system is preceived to be 3 times slower.

Quoted 8 lines

To troubleshooting this, I made a post on CentOS's
bugzilla: http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2382

Would some of the experts on this group mind looking at the
bug to evaluate the possibility that it is being caused by the underlying scsi
driver? The post contains a dmesg from "Computer C".
(Yes, I am getting a bit desperate.)

There's still too little information in the bug report to tell much of anything. The dmesg doesn't indicate any anomaly with the megaraid (although the LSI people might be able to tell better). However, it also doesn't contain a trace of the tape drive.

Quoted 5 lines

Best guess would be a slow down in the megaraid driver. Can you try

doing a speed test on it? (hdparm -t should suffice).

James

Hi James,

The other guy reporting the problem

http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10659&start
=0#forumpost34209 is not using a MegaRAID card. He is using 3ware9508

Raid Controllers.
He is also using a different processor (amd vs xeon) and a different chipset (Intel Greenwood vs nVidia)

I also spoke to Neela Kolli (Mega RAID maintainer) and he said he'd never heard of the problem. Here are some tests (including dhparm) that I sent to Neela (he never wrote back).

I have also checked with Stellen over at the "dump" list and he has not seen the problem (yet).

The problem occurs when backing up to a two different types of tape drives and to an eSata drive.

When I am running a "dump" on computer C, gnome-system-monitor shows my two cores running at only about 10 to 20% and switching back and forth (one at 0% the other at 20% for about 5 seconds, then switching positions)

On Computer C (Cent OS 5), when typing in Word Pro (a windows word processor) in Parallels, I can watch myself type. Computer B (CentOS 4.4, now 4.5) has the same version of Parallels installed on it (Parallels-2.2.2112-lin.i386) that computer C (CentOS 5) has. The perceived speed difference is about a factor of three (you can not watch yourself type).

All the "Low Level" test I run seem to come out the same between Cent OS 4.4 and 5. Very frustrating! It is almost like some system monitor component is looking at everything and slowing things down. If this was Windows, I'd go straight to the Anti Virus as the culprit.

(Does SE Linux do such
things?)

Are there any performance tests I can run for you?

Thank you for letting me ramble, this problem is really frustrating. I am afraid to any additional CentOS5 server out there and CentOS 4.x is so terribly out of date.

-T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tests I sent to Neela:

CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.8.el5, Sata150-4):

#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.91 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000959)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999791)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 236 MB in 3.01 seconds = 78.53 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.01 seconds = 60.37 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 4.4 (linux rescue 2.6.9-42.EL, IDE):

#cat /proc/cpuinfo
bogomips : 4002.92

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 216 MB in 3.01 seconds = 71.87 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 184 MB in 3.01 seconds = 61.18 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):
#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.92 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000960)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999794)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 214 MB in 3.02 seconds = 70.86 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-10.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):

eSata: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:04
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4247 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1567020kB uncompressed, 1036385kB compressed,
1.513:1

eSata: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:09
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8034 kB/s

150-4: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4230 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1573150kB uncompressed, 1036383kB compressed,
1.518:1

150-4: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8291 kB/s

Quoted 11 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 10 lines · Anthony Ewell

Hi All,

If you all would not mind a post from the general
public Linux user, after doing a complete disk wipe of CentOS 4 and installing CentOS5, my system is preceived to be 3 times slower.

To troubleshooting this, I made a post on CentOS's
bugzilla: http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2382

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 5 lines

Would some of the experts on this group mind
looking at the bug to evaluate the possibility that it is being caused by the underlying scsi
driver? The post contains a dmesg from "Computer C".
(Yes, I am getting a bit desperate.)

There's still too little information in the bug report to tell much

Quoted 7 lines

anything. The dmesg doesn't indicate any anomaly with the megaraid (although the LSI people might be able to tell better). However, it also doesn't contain a trace of the tape drive.

Best guess would be a slow down in the megaraid driver. Can you try doing a speed test on it? (hdparm -t should suffice).

Quoted 1 line

James

Hi James,

The other guy reporting the problem

is not using a MegaRAID card. He is using 3ware9508 Raid Controllers. He is also using a different processor (amd vs xeon) and a different chipset (Intel Greenwood vs nVidia)

I also spoke to Neela Kolli (Mega RAID maintainer) and he said he'd never heard of the problem. Here are some tests (including dhparm) that I sent to Neela (he never wrote back).

I have also checked with Stellen over at the "dump" list and he has not seen the problem (yet).

The problem occurs when backing up to a two different types of tape drives and to an eSata drive.

When I am running a "dump" on computer C, gnome-system-monitor shows my two cores running at only about 10 to 20% and switching back and forth (one at 0% the other at 20% for about 5 seconds, then switching positions)

On Computer C (Cent OS 5), when typing in Word Pro (a windows word processor) in Parallels, I can watch myself type. Computer B (CentOS 4.4, now 4.5) has the same version of Parallels installed on it (Parallels-2.2.2112-lin.i386) that computer C (CentOS 5) has. The perceived speed difference is about a factor of three (you can not watch yourself type).

All the "Low Level" test I run seem to come out the same between Cent OS 4.4 and 5. Very frustrating! It is almost like some system monitor component is looking at everything and slowing things down. If this was Windows, I'd go straight to the Anti Virus as the culprit. (Does SE Linux do such things?)

Are there any performance tests I can run for you?

Thank you for letting me ramble, this problem is really frustrating. I am afraid to any additional CentOS5 server out there and CentOS 4.x is so terribly out of date.

-T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tests I sent to Neela:

CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.8.el5, Sata150-4):

#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.91 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000959)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999791)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 236 MB in 3.01 seconds = 78.53 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.01 seconds = 60.37 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 4.4 (linux rescue 2.6.9-42.EL, IDE):

#cat /proc/cpuinfo
bogomips : 4002.92

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 216 MB in 3.01 seconds = 71.87 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 184 MB in 3.01 seconds = 61.18 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):
#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.92 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000960)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999794)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 214 MB in 3.02 seconds = 70.86 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-10.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):

eSata: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd

Quoted 153 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 103 lines · Anthony Ewell

Quoted 21 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 7 lines · Anthony Ewell

Hi All,

If you all would not mind a post from the general
public Linux user, after doing a complete disk wipe of CentOS 4 and installing CentOS5, my system is preceived to be 3 times slower.

Quoted 8 lines

To troubleshooting this, I made a post on CentOS's
bugzilla: http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2382

Would some of the experts on this group mind
looking at the bug to evaluate the possibility that it is being caused by the underlying scsi
driver? The post contains a dmesg from "Computer C".
(Yes, I am getting a bit desperate.)

There's still too little information in the bug report to tell much of anything. The dmesg doesn't indicate any anomaly with the megaraid (although the LSI people might be able to tell better). However, it also doesn't contain a trace of the tape drive.

Quoted 4 lines

Best guess would be a slow down in the megaraid driver. Can you try doing a speed test on it? (hdparm -t should suffice).

James

Hi James,

The other guy reporting the problem

http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10659&start=0#forumpost34209
is not using a MegaRAID card. He is using 3ware9508 Raid Controllers. He is also using a different processor (amd vs xeon) and a different chipset (Intel Greenwood vs nVidia)

I also spoke to Neela Kolli (Mega RAID maintainer) and he said he'd never heard of the problem. Here are some tests (including dhparm) that I sent to Neela (he never wrote back).

I have also checked with Stellen over at the "dump" list and he has not seen the problem (yet).

The problem occurs when backing up to a two different types of tape drives and to an eSata drive.

When I am running a "dump" on computer C, gnome-system-monitor shows my two cores running at only about 10 to 20% and switching back and forth (one at 0% the other at 20% for about 5 seconds, then switching positions)

On Computer C (Cent OS 5), when typing in Word Pro (a windows word processor) in Parallels, I can watch myself type. Computer B (CentOS 4.4, now 4.5) has the same version of Parallels installed on it (Parallels-2.2.2112-lin.i386) that computer C (CentOS 5) has. The perceived speed difference is about a factor of three (you can not watch yourself type).

All the "Low Level" test I run seem to come out the same between Cent OS 4.4 and 5. Very frustrating! It is almost like some system monitor component is looking at everything and slowing things down. If this was Windows, I'd go straight to the Anti Virus as the culprit. (Does SE Linux do such things?)

Are there any performance tests I can run for you?

Thank you for letting me ramble, this problem is really frustrating. I am afraid to any additional CentOS5 server out there and CentOS 4.x is so terribly out of date.

-T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tests I sent to Neela:

CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.8.el5, Sata150-4):

#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.91 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000959)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999791)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 236 MB in 3.01 seconds = 78.53 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.01 seconds = 60.37 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 4.4 (linux rescue 2.6.9-42.EL, IDE):

#cat /proc/cpuinfo
bogomips : 4002.92

Quoted 7 lines

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 216 MB in 3.01 seconds = 71.87 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 184 MB in 3.01 seconds = 61.18 MB/sec

That pretty much shows, if anything, that transfer speed improved from .9 to .18.

Quoted 33 lines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):
#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.92 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000960)
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999794)
Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 214 MB in 3.02 seconds = 70.86 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-10.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):

eSata: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:04
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4247 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1567020kB uncompressed, 1036385kB compressed, 1.513:1

eSata: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:09
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8034 kB/s

150-4: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4230 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1573150kB uncompressed, 1036383kB compressed, 1.518:1

Quoted 4 lines

150-4: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8291 kB/s

Quoted 6 lines

I think this is beginning to point to problems with dump. What are the corresponding figures for dump under 2.6.9 (or are the two sets of figures centos5 followed by centos4)?

James

Computer C:
backup drive: eSATA
hard drive: RAID SATA-150-4

CentOS 4.4, 1:05 hours, approx 52 GB backup file 13,333 kBytes/sec CentOS 5.0, 3:16 hours, approx 43 GB backup file 3,656 kBytes/sec
Note: 3.6 times slower

Hi James,

The above shows the dump speed difference between CentOS 4.4 and
CentOS 5.

I suspected dump at first, until I noticed everything else
was about 3 times slower too, such as Parallels, etc. Open Office 2.3 (linux version) opens about 3 times slower.

Are there any tests you know of to shake out who is
slowing the works down?

When I get a chance, I am going to run a dump from my
CentOS 5 install DVD in rescue mode (linux rescue). This to make sure no high level driver is slowing things down. I will let you know what shows up.

Please don't drop the cc lists. There are others who probably have more informed opinions than I do who won't get to comment if they don't see it.

Quoted 165 lines · Anthony Ewell

Quoted 145 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 99 lines · Anthony Ewell

Quoted 21 lines · James Bottomley

Quoted 7 lines · Anthony Ewell

Hi All,

If you all would not mind a post from the general
public Linux user, after doing a complete disk wipe of CentOS 4 and installing CentOS5, my system is preceived to be 3 times slower.

Quoted 8 lines

To troubleshooting this, I made a post on CentOS's
bugzilla: http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=2382

Would some of the experts on this group mind
looking at the bug to evaluate the possibility that it is being caused by the underlying scsi
driver? The post contains a dmesg from "Computer C".
(Yes, I am getting a bit desperate.)

There's still too little information in the bug report to tell much of anything. The dmesg doesn't indicate any anomaly with the megaraid (although the LSI people might be able to tell better). However, it also doesn't contain a trace of the tape drive.

Quoted 4 lines

Best guess would be a slow down in the megaraid driver. Can you try doing a speed test on it? (hdparm -t should suffice).

James

Hi James,

The other guy reporting the problem

http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10659&start=0#forumpost34209
is not using a MegaRAID card. He is using 3ware9508 Raid Controllers. He is also using a different processor (amd vs xeon) and a different chipset (Intel Greenwood vs nVidia)

I also spoke to Neela Kolli (Mega RAID maintainer) and he said he'd never heard of the problem. Here are some tests (including dhparm) that I sent to Neela (he never wrote back).

I have also checked with Stellen over at the "dump" list and he has not seen the problem (yet).

The problem occurs when backing up to a two different types of tape drives and to an eSata drive.

When I am running a "dump" on computer C, gnome-system-monitor shows my two cores running at only about 10 to 20% and switching back and forth (one at 0% the other at 20% for about 5 seconds, then switching positions)

On Computer C (Cent OS 5), when typing in Word Pro (a windows word processor) in Parallels, I can watch myself type. Computer B (CentOS 4.4, now 4.5) has the same version of Parallels
installed on it (Parallels-2.2.2112-lin.i386) that computer C
(CentOS 5) has. The perceived speed difference is about a factor
of three (you can not watch yourself type).

All the "Low Level" test I run seem to come out the same between Cent OS 4.4 and 5. Very frustrating! It is almost like some system monitor component is looking at everything and slowing things down. If this was Windows, I'd go straight to the Anti Virus as the culprit. (Does SE Linux do such things?)

Are there any performance tests I can run for you?

Thank you for letting me ramble, this problem is really frustrating. I am afraid to any additional CentOS5 server out there and CentOS 4.x is so terribly out of date.

-T

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tests I sent to Neela:

CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.8.el5, Sata150-4):

#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.91 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000959) Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999791) Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 236 MB in 3.01 seconds = 78.53 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.01 seconds = 60.37 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 4.4 (linux rescue 2.6.9-42.EL, IDE):

#cat /proc/cpuinfo
bogomips : 4002.92

Quoted 7 lines

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 216 MB in 3.01 seconds = 71.87 MB/sec

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 184 MB in 3.01 seconds = 61.18 MB/sec

That pretty much shows, if anything, that transfer speed improved from .9 to .18.

Quoted 31 lines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-8.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):
#grep -i bogomips /var/log/dmesg
Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 4001.92 BogoMIPS (lpj=2000960) Calibrating delay using timer specific routine.. 3999.58 BogoMIPS (lpj=1999794) Total of 2 processors activated (8001.50 BogoMIPS).

#/sbin/hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 214 MB in 3.02 seconds = 70.86 MB/sec

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CentOS 5 (2.6.18-10.1.3.el5, Sata300-4):

eSata: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:04
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4247 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1567020kB uncompressed, 1036385kB compressed, 1.513:1

eSata: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:09
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8034 kB/s

150-4: dump -0a -z -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:04:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 4230 kB/s
DUMP: Volume 1 1573150kB uncompressed, 1036383kB compressed, 1.518:1

Quoted 4 lines

150-4: dump -0a -f /dev/nul winxp.hdd (no compression)
DUMP: Volume 1 1036420 blocks (1012.13MB)
DUMP: Volume 1 took 0:02:05
DUMP: Volume 1 transfer rate: 8291 kB/s

Quoted 6 lines

I think this is beginning to point to problems with dump. What are the corresponding figures for dump under 2.6.9 (or are the two sets of figures centos5 followed by centos4)?

James

Computer C:
backup drive: eSATA
hard drive: RAID SATA-150-4

CentOS 4.4, 1:05 hours, approx 52 GB backup file 13,333 kBytes/sec CentOS 5.0, 3:16 hours, approx 43 GB backup file 3,656 kBytes/sec
Note: 3.6 times slower

Hi James,

The above shows the dump speed difference between CentOS 4.4 and
CentOS 5.

Quoted 6 lines

I suspected dump at first, until I noticed everything else
was about 3 times slower too, such as Parallels, etc. Open Office 2.3 (linux version) opens about 3 times slower.

Are there any tests you know of to shake out who is
slowing the works down?

Yes, could you do backup write tests without dump in the process (as in just do a straight dd from /dev/zero to the devices in centos 4 and 5). If there's no difference in that, it's some scheduling or filesystem issue with dump, I'd expect.

Quoted 4 lines

When I get a chance, I am going to run a dump from my
CentOS 5 install DVD in rescue mode (linux rescue). This to make sure no high level driver is slowing things down. I will let you know what shows up.

James