Server is running really sluggish

[copenhagen69]

server specs:
Xeon E3-1225 @ 3.2GHz
20GB ram
win7 SP1

programs running 24/7
Avast Antivirus
Plex media server
team viewer


I can restart the computer and still does not really fix the issue as a week or so later it is back to doing the same thing ...

I have ran crystal disk info and 1 drive has a caution on it where the reallocated sectors count is in yellow. However my research around here found that if the number stays the same and doesnt move up then you are still ok. mine are staying solidly at 100 over the past couple months.

I am not sure if a program went corrupt and I just need a new windows install or if its something worse.
I have not tested the RAM yet to see if that would be an issue.

Thoughts?

 

[newtekie1]

Could be any number of things.

What drive is your OS installed on? Is it a HDD? Try running a speed test on the OS drive to see if it is unusually slow, it could be dying.

Is the CPU usage high? RAM usage high?

 

[Solaris17]

I would check usage as well. Though I personally also dont trust any drive with smart attribute errors moving or not.

 

[copenhagen69]

Could be any number of things.

What drive is your OS installed on? Is it a HDD? Try running a speed test on the OS drive to see if it is unusually slow, it could be dying.

Is the CPU usage high? RAM usage high?

OS is installed on its own HDD drive ... what speed test do you recommend?

I looked at usage ...
Before Restart:

After Restart:

 

[copenhagen69]

I ran the disk test ....

 

[Kursah]

I would check if you have proper drivers installed for the chipset. That's a server-grade drive, RE4's are decent...the minimum transfer rate seems too low...but those spikes in HD Tune sometimes are from other things happening.

I wonder if you installed Server 2012R2 on there what would happen? You can use a Microsoft KMS code to get through the installation, https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

I would run a server OS on a server in all honesty. But Windows 7/Server 2008 should still play nice with this setup.
What other SATA ports do you have available?
What mode do you have set in BIOS?
What BIOS version are you on? Is it newer or is there newer available?
With drive warnings, I would replace the drive, even just to test. Predictive failures don't necessarily mean imminent, but it will happen...its a matter of when and if you feel like gambling with a potentially bad hard drive...well, that's your risk. Do you have another drive to test with?
Can you screenshot the error and what codes are kicking up in Crystal?

I'd honestly get a cheap 120GB SSD ( I picked one up for around $35 a new a couple weeks ago on Amazon) and slap Server 2012R2 on it. Install classic shell if you needs a standard start menu and enjoy. I guess it depends on what your server is actually used for... you could also consider Ubuntu Server, Debian, Server 2008 R2, etc. etc. etc. Use the right tools for the job.

 

[copenhagen69]

The drivers should all be the latest and correct ones. I pulled them all from the lenovo website and not the install disk.

I may try running another OS, but for what I am needing I did not feel it mattered. I need to run Plex media server and store pics and stuff on it.
My SATA ports are full it came with 5 and I have 5 drives ... so unless I grab a PCI sata controller I do not have anything extra
What do you mean what Mode do I have set in BIOS?
BIOS I am not sure ... it is the original BIOS, I will need to take a look at that tonight.

I have been looking into a cheap SSD, but I was hoping to get a little more mileage out of the OS HDD than I have now. I just dont want a cheap SSD to fail on me sooner than a slower HDD would.

 

[newtekie1]

I ran the disk test ....

Try running the Error Scan. After it is done it will give you the option to view the speed map. The error scan should be all green, if there is any red, then the drive is failing. The speed map should start green and gradually turn orange. If there is a single block or a few blocks that are a dark orange/red in the speed chart that don't match their surroundings, that means the drive is having a hard time reading that sector because it is failing.

 

[copenhagen69]

Try running the Error Scan. After it is done it will give you the option to view the speed map. The error scan should be all green, if there is any red, then the drive is failing. The speed map should start green and gradually turn orange. If there is a single block or a few blocks that are a dark orange/red in the speed chart that don't match their surroundings, that means the drive is having a hard time reading that sector because it is failing.

Ran that too ... it was all green and no orange or red dots at all

 

[Static~Charge]

The drivers should all be the latest and correct ones. I pulled them all from the lenovo website and not the install disk.

Getting the drivers from Lenovo doesn't mean they're current, just that they're the latest version that Lenovo has posted. Go into Device Manager and find out who made the SATA controller. Then go to the OEM's web site and see if they have new drivers than Lenovo.

What do you mean what Mode do I have set in BIOS?

The SATA controller's operating mode. Is it set to "AHCI" or something like "Compatible", "Legacy", "IDE"?

 

[copenhagen69]

My BIOS 9/19/2014
Latest BIOS - 12-5-15

ATA Drive Setup - Configure Sata as [RAID]

 

[Kursah]

Are you running a RAID array on your server?

If so is this speed issue consistent with the array as well?

I'd be curious to know this...I really feel that if you have a spare HDD, install Server 2012R2 on it and see how the system performs...even if just for testing purposes. I really feel it is something to do with that drive or the consumer operating system not being fully supportive of that mainboard and its chipset...

Any disk issues come up in Event Viewer system logs?

 

[Solaris17]

anyperformance issue come up in event logs? you should get a warning for total CPU or IO usage.

 

[copenhagen69]

Are you running a RAID array on your server?

If so is this speed issue consistent with the array as well?

I'd be curious to know this...I really feel that if you have a spare HDD, install Server 2012R2 on it and see how the system performs...even if just for testing purposes. I really feel it is something to do with that drive or the consumer operating system not being fully supportive of that mainboard and its chipset...

Any disk issues come up in Event Viewer system logs?

I am running Raid 5 ... here is the results of that one:

no disk issues in system logs ... only one that kept popping up was my cisco VPN but that is normal.

anyperformance issue come up in event logs? you should get a warning for total CPU or IO usage.

Nope no warnings for that

 

[Easy Rhino]

What do you mean by "sluggish?"

 

[copenhagen69]

What do you mean by "sluggish?"

it is laggy ...
I will move my mouse and it jumps around. It is not a smooth movement.
I type something and there is a delay in actually showing it
I open a basic folder with a few small files in it and it takes a few seconds to load and for me to be able to scroll

 

[Kursah]

So open Resource Monitor and open the Disk tab, is it constantly performing writes on your HDD? What is the Queue at? If it's over .5, and pushing 1.x+, you could definitely notice your system is laggy and sluggish.

Really once loaded, your OS HDD shouldn't be having a whole lot of read/writes unless you host your VM's on it instead of your RAID5 array.

 

[copenhagen69]

After my restart it is still doing pretty good ... not crazy sluggish like it was. I am sure it will need to be running a few more days to a week before I start to see it.

 

[Kursah]

Expand the Storage tab at the bottom to see Drive Queue Length.

It appears to be jumping up above .05 which isn't bad...but over .5 consistently on an HDD will cause system slowdowns.

 

[copenhagen69]

Expand the Storage tab at the bottom to see Drive Queue Length.

It appears to be jumping up above .05 which isn't bad...but over .5 consistently on an HDD will cause system slowdowns.

I watched it for a few mins and it seemed to stay down below .5 and normally on 0-.25 but I did catch a high one, but didnt stay there long ...

 

[Kursah]

Well next time your system is sluggish, pull that up and take a look...could be an indicator of something else going on. .71 for a second or two isn't a big deal...it's when it stays above that .5...I've seen drives get buried as-high-as 50-100 queue length with updates, scans, installs, scans all happening at once...the system wasn't usable and was extremely sluggish.

I still think you're better off with a server OS on your server tho!

 

[OneMoar]

plex is likely your culprit

 

[copenhagen69]

Well next time your system is sluggish, pull that up and take a look...could be an indicator of something else going on. .71 for a second or two isn't a big deal...it's when it stays above that .5...I've seen drives get buried as-high-as 50-100 queue length with updates, scans, installs, scans all happening at once...the system wasn't usable and was extremely sluggish.

I still think you're better off with a server OS on your server tho!

OK I will wait for it to get sluggish again and look at the reports ... Also will look into the Server OS as well.

plex is likely your culprit

What do you see with Plex that makes you think that? Is something wrong with the install or something? I cant imagine Plex ruining every server its on like this though ...

 

[Kursah]

Plex continually runs stuff in the background, if your storage spaces for media files changes, you add a bunch of new stuff, etc. It also runs patrol scans to optimize and update the database, though in my experience it doesn't really use a lot of drive time after the bulk of the initial deployment work has been done, but I also have mine set to run from 4A to 6A every morning...I'm able to run int on a virtual server with 2GB RAM a quad core, that same server also hosts my file sharing, Teamspeak 3 and print server...it's 2012R2 and has 4 virtual cores assigned (Hyper-V). Runs nice and smooth. I also have Plex running as a service so there's no need to login to start Plex, makes it handy since I keep my server OSes logged out unless I need to manage them or make changes.

I can run 2-4 streams from Plex going to family on my LAN and my mom over WAN, have a handfull of folks on my Teamspeak server and have 0 issues through an RDP session moving files and shares around. But if Plex is buring your OS drive in queue work, that would slow you down for sure.

Edit: I should correct my statement above, my VM runs dynamic memory for 512-4096MB RAM, but never goes beyond the 2GB mark. I also have Plex CPU utilization to "Make my CPU hurt", still 0 sluggish issues...but my VM and data store are on my RAID 5 array.

 

[copenhagen69]

I only really update my plex media about once a week but it was sluggish for days, not just a few hours though. I may have to set things to run in the middle of the night every night to help this and see if that will fix some of the plex issues ...

Also looking into setting it on the VM as well ...