Enterpirse Vault is Moving to New Hardware

[tmurray1]

Hello,

I'm in the process of replacing my EV hardware and have two processor options to choose from: 

2 ea. E5-2643 3.3GHz 4-Core Processors

2 ea. 2xE5-2650 2.0GHz 8-Core Processors

Should I choose the 2nd option, will the EV 10.0.x code and versions beyond take full advantage of all 8 cores?

Thanks!

[GabeV]

For Enterprise Vault 10, recommended minimum is 4 CPUs, but 8 CPUs is recommended. Thusm, I'd select option #2:

http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC4405  Page (26)

I hope this helps.

[GabeV]

Well ... looking at the CPU power, option #2 would be below the Power of CPUs requirements which is 2.8 GHz. Based on the CPU power, you should select option #1 since you will get more power per CPU.

I hope this helps.

[tmurray1]

Hello Gabe, I'm working with a hardware specialist who told me the processors breakdown as:

• The 2643 proc has 4 cores at 3.3GHz  (4 x 3.3GHz = 13.2GHz per processor).  So I would have a server with 2 13.2 GHz processors
• The 2650 proc has 8 cores at 2.0 GHz (8 x 2.0 = 16GHz per processor). So I would have a server with 2 16GHz processors.

Page 26 of the Install and Configure guide you referenced has the recommended number of CPUs for EV as:

8 CPUs @ 2.8 GHz.  I understand the terms CPU and core can be used interchangeably.  If this is correct then option one would fall short of the recommendation because it is only 4 cores (CPUs) and option two would fall short as it is only 2.0 GHz per core.

[GabeV]

You should have the minimum hardware requirements for EV. Between 4 or 8 CPUs, you should have 8 CPUs (recommended value), but for CPU power, minimal requirement is 2.8GHz or above. Based on the HW options you have, you should go with the 4 CPUs @ 3.3Ghz, since it would be within the minimal HW requirements for EV.

I hope this helps.

[tmurray1]

GabeV,

I understand option #1 meets the minimum hardware requirement and option #2 does not meet either the minimum or recommended requirement because the GHz falls short and GHz is more important than the additional cores. 

I also understand that option #2 would normally outperform option #1 but it does depend on the code.  In this case the EV code would benefit more from the higher GHz processors than from the additional cores.

Do you agree?

Thank you.

[Pradeep-Papnai · Accepted solution]

Following information from performance guide would be useful.

Eight cores or more are recommended. Either a combination of multi-core or multi-CPU can be used, but server sizing should not be based on hyper-threading.

Throughput rates are given in relation to the total number of cores. The type and power of the processor or core is also important. The figures assume a processor of 2.7 GHz or similar — for example, an Intel® Xeon® processor.

The figures may be adjusted to take into account processors with higher or lower specifications, but you should be aware that the raw processing power may not accurately reflect its ability to do work.

Performance Guide http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC4553

[GabeV · Accepted solution]

Yes. Enterprise Vault would benefit more from the higher GHz processors than from the additional cores, but it would be ideal to have the 8 cores since EV could take advantage of the multi-threading processes such a the archiving task or storage archive. It's more a kind of balance between CPUs and power, but again, you should follow the minimum requirements for EV 10.