Most of the time, server ROI is measured on the data center scale, replacing tens, hundreds, or even thousands of servers with fewer higher-performing and more energy efficient servers.

But...have you ever wondered how much power you could save if you replaced every 4 year old server in an entire country with Xeon 5500 Nehalem-based systems?  What about how much CO2 that could be removed for those same 4-year old servers – and number of cars it effectively removes from the road?

Well, wonder no more!  Check out this short paper for an eye-opening comparison of the UK, Germany, and France, and how big of an ROI they can realize if the entire country refreshed ALL of their 4-year-old servers.  It looks at power savings, land reclamation, and monetary savings in slightly different terms, like how much space can be saved in comparison to the floor area of Notre Dame Cathedral?  You’ll need to read on to find out more… J

Additionally, all calculations were done using the Xeon ROI tool, so check it out and come up with some more interesting comparisons based on your city, state, or country data.  Be sure to post them here!

…on my way to a customer meeting, and the thought dawns on me about why the car I’m getting into is a relatively new, clean 2008 compact car and not a 1966 Chevy Impala, which probably has enough steel to dramatically distort the earth’s local magnetic field.  Well the reasons are fairly simple:

• Newer cars are more reliable and require less maintenance - cars in the shop don’t make the rental car agency money, and don’t make customers happy if they break down
• Newer cars are typically more fuel efficient - that ’66 Impala’s gas mileage might be quoted in gallons per mile J
• Newer cars typically fall under a manufacturer warranty

As with rental cars, servers aren’t much different.  It’s all about keeping your business running smoothly, minimizing your operating costs, and keeping your customers happy.  While I’m guessing not many of today’s data centers have the server equivalent of a ’66 Impala in them, there are probably a bunch ready to be removed from the rental car fleet.

Think about it on your next business trip, and check out the benefits of refreshing servers that are only 3 or 4 years old with the Xeon® ROI estimator tool (link:  www.intel.com/go/xeonestimator).

Every day in our personal lives, we’re bombarded with “opportunities” to get a better deal.  At the grocery store, we might be able to buy a single item for $2.50 or 3 for $5.00…which then forces us to go thru the mental gymnastics of figuring out how good of a deal it is, and whether or not we really need three 96 oz. bottles of salad dressing.

But there are some opportunities out there for adding a bunch of compute performance are a bit more straight-forward.

Case in point: Dell recently had Principled Technologies compare the performance for the Intel® Xeon® Processor E5520 and E5506 CPUs each running on a PowerEdge R710 server.  Both are 4 core processors, but the E5520 has many advantages over the E5506: 

• higher frequency (2.26 GHz vs. 2.13 GHz)
• faster QuickPath speeds (5.86 GT/s vs. 4.8 GT/s)
• faster memory support (1066 MHz vs. 800 MHz)
• Turbo Boost
• Hyper-Threading support.

Long story short:  Buying a slightly better processor with a server purchase can drastically increase your performance.  So if you are looking to buy a Dell PowerEdge server configured with Microsoft SQL Server 2008* and an Intel® Xeon® Processor E5506, for an additional $300 you can get up to 75% more performance by upgrading to an E5520 CPU.  More performance headroom in a similar power envelope, faster QuickPath and memory speeds, Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost functionality – all for $300.  NOW THAT’S A GREAT VALUE!

Check out the summary document for the Dell R710 Principled Technologies performance testing, which also has comparative performance testing for the Xeon® E5540 and X5550 CPUs (also a great value for the money!), along with results for Microsoft Exchange.

NOTE:  System pricing from www.dell.com as of May 13, 2009.  Actual performance will vary based on configuration, usage and manufacturing variability. See the actual Principled Technology report in the following link for complete system configuration

Ever find yourself in a new location staring hopelessly at a map, wondering where you are?  Then to make matters worse, you call someone on your cell phone and can’t describe where you are so they can help? I think we’ve all been there more than once…

Since the Intel Xeon® 5500 processors launched in March, I’ve been getting a bunch of questions (including from the Ask An Expert community [http://communities.intel.com/message/12284#12284] in the Server Room) about DDR3 memory and how best to configure your server platforms to optimize performance.  Many times, folks are having a hard time just getting the conversation started, so here are a couple of tips to get you going.  The good thing is that DDR3 memory picks up where DDR2 memory leaves off in terms of speed, so you know you’ll be moving forward!

1. Figure out how much memory you need.  With multi-core CPUs now mainstream in servers, you need enough memory to keep these compute engines fed.  One metric you might look at is “GB per CPU core” or “GB per socket” for your existing servers, and then project your memory requirements from there.

2. Start with DDR3 1066 memory, as that will deliver a good balance of memory performance and capacity. 

ð        If you need more bandwidth (and willing to give up some capacity), use DDR3 1333

ð        If you need maximum capacity (and willing to give up some bandwidth), use DDR3 800

3. Match your CPU to your memory speed because the faster memory does require a faster processor.  Check out page 11 of the product brief for the quick reference table.

4. Wherever possible, fill up as many memory channels as possible, and populate all channels evenly (same type, size and number of DIMMs). 

ð        Most two-socket Xeon® 5500 platforms will have a total of 6 memory channels, so aligning your memory requirements to a multiple of 6 GB will optimize memory performance for most application environments.  

ð        However, you can mix/match memory types if your requirements call for something that is not a multiple of 6.

5. For Server application environments, always go with ECC supported memory.  Decide between Registered (RDIMM) and Unbuffered DIMMs with ECC (UDIMM ECC).

ð        RDIMM provide greatest flexibility across DIMM sizes and availability

ð        UDIMM ECC provide a lower cost alternative if you are using 1 GB or 2 GB DIMMs

You will still want to check with your system vendor on the specifics, such as memory configurations and DIMM types and options supported for a given server, but hopefully this helps you pointed in the right direction.

If you are still lost, ask me a question on this blog or Ask An Expert in the Server Room.