Lenovo ThinkServer RD630 vs. Dell PowerEdge R720 Power up Test Version 1.0  5/7/2013 

LenovoThinkServerRD630vs.Dell
PowerEdgeR720PowerupTest
Version 1.0 5/7/2013 LENOVO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON‐
INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes may be made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Lenovo may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice. © Copyright Lenovo 2013. The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both: Lenovo and ThinkServer. Power Edge R720 is a trademark of Dell Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Windows Server 2008 R2 is a trademark of Microsoft in the United States and/or other countries. LenovoRD630vs.DellR720PowerupTest
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 How We Tested ............................................................................................................................................. 3 System Specs ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 2 LenovoRD630vs.DellR720PowerupTest
Introduction
Today’s demands for system services rely on a server to be always on and be able to perform optimally. Sometimes there may be unexpected interruptions. A power surge, battery backup failure, brownouts, or an accidental reboot may occur. Getting that server back up and online is critical. In our Lenovo labs we did a comparison of the Lenovo RD630 against a Dell PowerEdge R720 to see how long it would take for each server to launch from a cold start. We found that the Lenovo RD630 started 36% – almost one minute – faster than the Dell R720. HowWeTested
This document shows the results of power up testing performed on a Lenovo RD630 and a Dell Power Edge R720. Two methods of testing were implemented to gather the results. The first test was done using factory BIOS defaults. The second test was done with optimizing the BIOS settings. Both systems were configured with similar hardware, and were set to boot using EFI. The test was timed from a powered off state to the presentation of the Windows login screen. Windows 2008 R2 Standard was pre‐installed to perform the test. The test steps were as follows: 1.
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Set both systems to factory default settings, boot using EFI, and power off. Power on Lenovo system and start timer. Record result. Power on Dell system and start timer. Record result. Set optimized settings for both systems, boot using EFI, and power off. Power on Lenovo system and start timer. Record result. Power on Dell system and start timer. Record result. SystemSpecs
Lenovo RD630 E5‐2603 1.8Ghz Quad Core Xeon x 1 2.5” 10K SAS x 2 for Raid array Raid 1 for Host OS Dell Power Edge R720 E5‐2603 1.8Ghz Quad Core Xeon x 1 2.5” 10K SAS x 2 for Raid array Raid 1 for Host OS 3 LenovoRD630vs.DellR720PowerupTest
Results
Optimized
Dell
2:26
Lenovo
1:34
2:35
Dell
Default
BIOS Settings
Time in Minutes
Lenovo
Time to Boot
1:39
0:00
0:28
0:57
1:26
1:55
2:24
2:52
In tests with system BIOS defaults, the RD630 booted to the login screen in 1:39 compared to the R720 which booted in 2:35. The second test was performed using custom BIOS settings to optimize boot performance. The following options were disabled in the Lenovo BIOS Setup:  Onboard PXE Option ROM  Onboard Serial Port (COM1)  C3 and C6 CPU Power States were disabled. The Dell R720 BIOS settings were modified as follows:  Boot to EFI instead of BIOS mode.  Disabled Onboard PXE Option ROM  C3 and C6 CPU Power States were disabled. In this test, the RD630 booted to the login screen in 1:34 versus 2:26 for the Dell R720. 4 LenovoRD630vs.DellR720PowerupTest
Conclusion
The Lenovo RD630 has proven to start up faster than the Dell PowerEdge R720 by nearly a minute in both test cases. Even in critical situations the response for system restarts and unexpected power loss shows that the Lenovo RD630 is ahead of the competition to get you going first. 5