Dell PE2950 - 16GB RAM - RHEL4 ES U4 - 2.6.9-5.ELsmp system freeze

[jeff nichols]

The 2.6.9-5 kernel you mention is the initial release of RHEL4 (not update 4), and it is quite old. There are signifigant reasons for running the latest kernel, including stability, security, and bug fixes. 
Also, you don't mention whether you are running 64 or 32-bit, but 64-bit is more stable than 32-bit, especially with large amounts of RAM. The last thing is to make sure the firmwares are all current (especially the raid controller and BIOS)

Jeff


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Shannon Skerritt" <shannon at thousandhillservices.com>
> To: linux-poweredge at dell.com
> Subject: Dell PE2950 - 16GB RAM - RHEL4 ES U4 - 2.6.9-5.ELsmp system freeze
> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 16:52:32 +0100
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Recently a client of mine has experienced a server freeze. The server
> is a new Dell PE2950 running RHEL4 ES U4 which is the 2.6.9-5.ELsmp
> kernel with 16GB of RAM.
> 
> This server was delivered a few months ago, and on delivery but before
> production it was noted there may have been a memory problem as the
> server posted (booted) with less than 16GB of RAM.
> 
> Reseating the DIMMs and running mpmemory diags (a Dell utility) did
> not find a problem so it was suspected the problem was possibly due
> movement in system transit to the customer.
> 
> More recently, the server has completely frozen (no response to ping)
> or network connectivity and no access via the local console KVM - X
> was also frozen. Upon a hard reboot, examination of the system logs
> and key services (SAMBA, NFS) revealed nothing at all, the absence of
> which is starting to make me think of the previously suspected memory
> issue. It is not believed that the server was not under considerable
> load at the time. Re-running mpmemory and the Dell server diagnostics
> has again revealed nothing to date.
> 
> Dell have advised the kernel (2.6.9-5.ELsmp) is quite old and there
> have been (via Red Hat Network) many VM/memory issues addressed in
> later kernels, the latest of which I can see is effectively RHEL 4 ES
> U5 which is 2.6.9-55.ELsmp. They have recommended a kernel upgrade.
> 
> Can anyone knowledgeable or with experience comment on which direction
> I should be considering? The server in question is a key file server
> which is in production.
> 
> Is (RHEL 4 ES U4) 2.6.9-5.ELsmp considered particularly old or
> problematic and can anyone comment if there are significant known
> issues which have been addressed? I have looked at the kernel change
> logs and there appears to be reference to at least a couple.
> 
> Regards,
> Shannon.
> 
> --
> Shannon Skerritt
> Thousand Hill Services Limited
> Email: shannon at thousandhillservices.com
> 
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