704 Server "Enthusiaste" ; Questions.

[Akagi82]

Hi, I ripped apart a 704 Server because I wanted to play around with a quad CPU rig.

Everything seems to be working, but I'm not sure if it is working properly.

I am using Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

I am using a single IDE HD for now, but it seems if the thing is god awfully slow, even for EIDE.

I thought that Windows 2000 may not be detecting the proper drivers for my motherboard, and are using generic ones, but I could not find any kind of drivers for the motherboard.

the Intel INF didn't even work. (the chipset identification tool didnt work either).

Is this the way it is meant to be? and EIDE is really this slow? Its been a while since my p150, so I could be mistaken. It doesn't seem to want to do DMA, only works in PIO.

I plan to install some kind of PCI ata 133 or raid card in the near future.

Any advice on optimizing / setting this machine up properly is appreciated!

(Grr,, ram usage went up 25 megs after some windows update stuff.)

 

[catorze]

Yuo will probably have the best success with an Operating System that is from the same generation as the hardware technology. The 704 doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for Windows 2000, and will probably always seem slow compared to the same configuration installed on current hardware platforms. Everything has gotten faster over time - RAM, CPUs, FSBs, etc. Try running an older version of Windows (NT4.0) or better yet, Linux. You should see a difference. Consider what the server is going to do - file & print server, database, application, email...and whether the performance is really significantly going to affect the usefulness of the server. If a file & print server, probably not. If anything else, you are heading down a path you will never be satisfied with. Great boxes to beat around with, but old technology is still old. Antiques are nice in cars, architecture, furniture, and works of art...not servers.