Dual CPU Database Server Comparison

More about the servers in this test

A few months ago, I contacted a few server manufacturers, namely IBM, Dell, HP and SUN. I wanted to compare the reference servers of Intel and AMD to the real machines on the market.

At that time, the responses of the different manufacturers were surprising. While I asked for a database server system and did not specify whether it should be Xeon or Opteron, HP immediately sent their DL-585 and DL-145. This was surprising, since those two Opteron systems were marketed as HPC solutions, and more targeted toward scientific applications. HP's database servers were, in fact, all Xeon-based solutions.

Sun was also pretty enthusiastic about this test, and they sent us their v20z. Dell told us that they were not got going to send a machine. This was understandable, since the 3.6 GHz Xeon Nocona was not yet available. The Xeon DP "Gallatin" 3.2 GHz with 2 MB L3-cache, which used to be a Xeon MP, was Intel's fastest offering in the dual Xeon scene. To be honest, I did not see the problem. I expected that a 3.2 GHz Xeon with such a large 2 MB L3-cache to do well in our database server tests.

The fact that Dell didn't want to join the test illustrates clearly that, at that point in time, even Intel's best ally recognized the potential of the newly introduced Opteron 250. This is also a reason why you will find only two Intel servers in this test. We are confident that this will change in our future projects.