About Your Computer

Vostro 420 Front View
optical drive optional optical-drive bays (2) microphone connector headphone connector drive-activity light
drive bay front panel (open) USB 2.0 connectors (4) IEEE 1394 connector (optional) power button, power light media card reader (optional)

Vostro 420 Back View

power cord connector security cable/padlock rings back-panel connectors voltage selector switch
power-supply vent expansion card slots power-supply light
Vostro 420 Back Panel Connectors

11 VGA connector

PS/2 mouse connector USB 2.0 connectors (2) network adapter connector line-in connector microphone connector eSATA connector serial connector (9-pin)
link integrity light network-activity light line-out connector USB 2.0 connectors (4) display port PS/2 keyboard connector

Vostro 220 Front View

optical drive optional optical-drive bay IEEE 1394 connector (optional) microphone connector drive-activity light
drive bay front panel (open) USB 2.0 connectors (4) headphone connector power button, power light media card reader (optional)

Vostro 220 Back View

Vostro 220 Back Panel Connectors
PS/2 mouse connector link integrity light network-activity light line-out connector USB 2.0 connectors (4) PS/2 keyboard connector
VGA connector network adapter connector line-in connector microphone connector serial connector

Vostro 220s Front View

7 media card reader (optional) USB 2.0 connectors (2) microphone connector optical drive 6 power button, power light headphone connector drive-activity light

Vostro 220s Back View

security cable/padlock rings power connector power supply light back-panel connectors
voltage selector switch power supply vents expansion card slots
Vostro 220s Back Panel Connectors
9 VGA connector network adapter connector line-in connector microphone connector serial connector
NOTE: Offerings may vary by region. For more information regarding the configuration of your computer, click Start Help and Support and select the option to view information about your computer.

Environmental Temperature: Operating Storage Relative humidity Maximum vibration: Operating Storage Maximum shock: Operating Storage Altitude: Operating Storage Airborne contaminant level 15.2 m to 3048 m (50 ft to 10,000 ft) 15.2 m to 10,668 m (50 ft to 35,000 ft) G2 or lower as defined by ISA-S71.04-G +/- 5% with pulse duration of 2 msec +/- 10% (equivalent to 20 in/sec [51 cm/sec]) 105 G +/- 5% with pulse duration of 2 msec +/- 10% (equivalent to 50 in/sec [127 cm/sec]) 5 Hz to 350 Hz at 0.0002 G2/Hz 5 Hz to 500 Hz at 0.001 to 0.01 G2/Hz 10C to 35C (50F to 95F) 40C to 65C (40F to 150F) 20% to 80% (noncondensing)

Troubleshooting

CAUTION: To guard against the likelihood of electric shock, laceration by moving fan blades, or other expected injuries, always unplug your computer from the electrical outlet before opening the cover. CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, read the safety information that shipped with your computer. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory Compliance Homepage at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance.

Power Lights

The two-color power-button light located on the front of the computer turns on and blinks or remains solid to indicate different states: If the power light is off, the computer is either turned off or is not receiving power. If the power light is steady blue and the computer is not responding, ensure that the display is connected and powered on. If the power light is blinking blue, the computer is in standby mode. Press a key on the keyboard, move the mouse, or press the power button to resume normal operation. If the power light is blinking amber, the computer is receiving electrical power, a device such as a memory module or graphics card might be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed. If the power light is steady amber, there may be a power problem or an internal device malfunction.

Beep Codes

Your computer might emit a series of beeps during start-up if the monitor cannot display errors or problems. This series of beeps, called a beep code, identifies a problem. One possible beep code consists of repetitive three short beeps. This beep code tells you that the computer encountered a possible system board failure. 39
If your computer beeps during start-up: 1 Write down the beep code. 2 Run the Dell Diagnostics to identify a more serious cause (see "Dell Diagnostics" on page 48).
Code Description (repetitive short beeps) 1 Suggested Remedy
BIOS checksum Contact Dell. failure. Possible system board failure. No memory modules are detected
1 If you have two or more memory modules
installed, remove the modules, reinstall one module (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com), and then restart the computer. If the computer starts normally, reinstall an additional module. Continue until you have identified a faulty module or reinstalled all modules without error. 2 If available, install good memory of the same type into your computer see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). 3 If the problem persists, contact Dell. Contact Dell.

X:\ IS NOT ACCESSIBLE.

T H E D E V I C E I S N O T R E A D Y Insert a disk into the

drive and try again.

W A R N I N G : B A T T E R Y I S C R I T I C A L L Y L O W The battery is running out of charge. Replace the battery, or connect the computer to an electrical outlet; otherwise, activate hibernate mode or shut down the computer.

System Messages

NOTE: If the message you received is not listed in the table, see the documentation for either the operating system or the program that was running when the message appeared.
A L E R T ! P R E V I O U S A T T E M P T S A T B O O T I N G T H I S S YS T E M H A V E F A I L E D A T CHECKPOINT [NNNN]. FOR HELP IN RESOLVING THIS PROBLEM, PLEASE NOTE THIS C H E C K P O I N T A N D C O N T A C T D E L L TE C H N I C A L S U P P O R T The computer failed
to complete the start routine three consecutive times for the same error (see "Contacting Dell" on page 71 for assistance).
C M O S C H E C K S U M E R R O R Possible system board failure or RTC battery low. Replace the battery. See your Service Manual at support.dell.com or see "Contacting Dell" on page 71 for assistance.
C P U F A N F A I L U R E Processor fan failure. Replace processor fan. See your Service Manual at support.dell.com. H A R D - D I S K D R I V E F A I L U R E Possible hard drive failure during hard drive POST. Check cables, swap hard disks, or see "Contacting Dell" on page 71 for assistance. H A R D - D I S K D R I V E R E A D F A I L U R E Possible hard drive failure during harddrive start test (see "Contacting Dell" on page 71 for assistance). K E Y B O A R D F A I L U R E Keyboard failure or keyboard cable loose. N O B O O T D E V I C E A V A I L A B L E No bootable partition on hard drive, or the hard drive cable is loose, or no bootable device exists.
If the hard drive is your boot device, ensure that the cables are connected and that the drive is installed properly and partitioned as a boot device. Enter system setup and ensure that the boot sequence information is correct (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com).
N O T I M E R T I C K I N T E R R U P T A chip on the system board might be malfunctioning or system board failure (see "Contacting Dell" on page 71 for assistance). U S B O V E R C U R R E N T E R R O R Disconnect the USB device. Use external power

wait until you see the Microsoft Windows desktop, and then shut down your computer and try again.
NOTE: If you see a message stating that no diagnostics utility partition has
been found, run the Dell Diagnostics from the Drivers and Utilities media.
4 Press any key to start the Dell Diagnostics from the diagnostics utility partition on your hard drive, and follow the instructions on the screen.
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From the Dell Drivers and Utilities Media
1 Insert the Drivers and Utilities media. 2 Shut down and restart the computer. When the DELL logo appears, press <F12> immediately. NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft Windows desktop; then, shut down your computer and try again. NOTE: The next steps change the boot sequence for one time only. On the
next start-up, the computer starts according to the devices specified in the system setup program.
3 When the boot device list appears, highlight CD/DVD/CD-RW and press <Enter>. 4 Select the Boot from CD-ROM option from the menu that appears and press <Enter>. 5 Type 1 to start the CD menu and press <Enter> to proceed. 6 Select Run the 32 Bit Dell Diagnostics from the numbered list. If multiple versions are listed, select the version that is appropriate for your computer.
7 When the Dell Diagnostics Main Menu appears, select the test that you want to run, and follow the instructions on the screen.

Troubleshooting Tips

Follow these tips when troubleshooting your computer: If you added or removed a part before the problem started, review the installation procedures and ensure that the part is correctly installed (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). If a device does not work, ensure that the device is properly connected. If an error message appears on the screen, write down the exact message. This message may help support personnel to diagnose and fix the problem(s). If an error message occurs in a program, see the program documentation. NOTE: The procedures in this document were written for the Windows default view, so they may not apply if you set your Dell computer to the Windows Classic view.

Power Problems

I F T H E P O W E R L I G H T I S O F F The computer is either turned off or is not
receiving power. Reseat the power cable in the power connector on the back of the computer and the electrical outlet. Bypass power strips, power extension cables, and other power protection devices to verify that the computer turns on properly. Ensure that any power strips being used are plugged into an electrical outlet and are turned on. Ensure that the electrical outlet is working by testing it with another device, such as a lamp.

Ensure that the main power cable and front panel cable are securely connected to the system board (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). Ensure that the display is connected and powered on. If the display is connected and powered on, see "Beep Codes" on page 39.
IF THE POWER LIGHT IS BLUE AND THE COMPUTER IS NOT RESPONDING
I F T H E P O W E R L I G H T I S B L I N K I N G B L U E The computer is in standby mode. Press a key on the keyboard, move the mouse, or press the power button to resume normal operation. I F T H E P O W E R L I G H T I S B L I N K I N G A M B E R The computer is receiving electrical power, a device might be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed.
Remove and then reinstall all memory modules (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). Remove and then reinstall any expansion cards, including graphics cards (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com).
I F T H E P O W E R L I G H T I S S T E A D Y A M B E R There is a power problem, a device may be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed.
Ensure that the processor power cable is securely connected to the system board power connector (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). Ensure that the main power cable and the front panel cable are securely connected to the system board connector (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). Power, keyboard, and mouse extension cables Too many devices connected to the same power strip Multiple power strips connected to the same electrical outlet
E L I M I N A T E I N T E R F E R E N C E Some possible causes of interference are:
IF YOU RECEIVE AN INSUFFICIENT MEMORY MESSAGE
Save and close any open files and exit any open programs you are not using to see if that resolves the problem. See the software documentation for minimum memory requirements. If necessary, install additional memory (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). Reseat the memory modules (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com) to ensure that your computer is successfully communicating with the memory. Run the Dell Diagnostics (see "Dell Diagnostics" on page 48). Reseat the memory modules (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com) to ensure that your computer is successfully communicating with the memory. Ensure that you are following the memory installation guidelines (see your Service Manual at support.dell.com). Ensure that the memory you are using is supported by your computer. For more information about the type of memory supported by your computer, see "Memory" on page 31. Run the Dell Diagnostics (see "Dell Diagnostics" on page 48).

IF YOU EXPERIENCE OTHER MEMORY PROBLEMS
Lockups and Software Problems
The computer does not start up
ENSURE THAT THE POWER CABLE IS FIRMLY CONNECTED TO THE COMPUTER AND TO

THE ELECTRICAL OUTLET

The computer stops responding
NOTICE: You may lose data if you are unable to perform an operating system shutdown.
TU R N T H E C O M P U T E R O F F If you are unable to get a response by pressing a key on your keyboard or moving your mouse, press and hold the power button for at least 8 to 10 seconds (until the computer turns off), and then restart your computer.
A program stops responding

END THE PROGRAM

1 Press <Ctrl><Shift><Esc> simultaneously to access the Task Manager, and click the Applications tab. 2 Click to select the program that is no longer responding, and click End Task.
A program crashes repeatedly
NOTE: Most software includes installation instructions in its documentation or on a floppy disk, CD, or DVD.
C H E C K T H E S O F T W A R E D O C U M E N T A T I O N If necessary, uninstall and then

reinstall the program.

A program is designed for an earlier Microsoft Windows operating system
RUN THE PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY WIZARD
Windows Vista: The Program Compatibility Wizard configures a program so that it runs in an environment similar to non-Windows Vista operating system environments. 1 Click Start Control Panel Programs Use an older program with this version of Windows. 2 In the welcome screen, click Next. 3 Follow the instructions on the screen. Windows XP: The Program Compatibility Wizard configures a program so that it runs in an environment similar to non-XP operating system environments. 1 Click Start All Programs Accessories Program Compatibility Wizard Next. 2 Follow the instructions on the screen.
A solid blue screen appears

Other software problems

CHECK THE SOFTWARE DOCUMENTATION OR CONTACT THE SOFTWARE MANUFACTURER FOR TROUBLESHOOTING INFORMATION
Ensure that the program is compatible with the operating system installed on your computer. Ensure that your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements needed to run the software. See the software documentation for information. Ensure that the program is installed and configured properly. Verify that the device drivers do not conflict with the program. If necessary, uninstall and then reinstall the program. Use a virus-scanning program to check the hard drive, floppy disks, CDs, or DVDs Save and close any open files or programs and shut down your computer through the Start menu

NOTICE: Make regular backups of your data files. System Restore does not monitor your data files or recover them. NOTE: The procedures in this document were written for the Windows default view, so they may not apply if you set your Dell computer to the Windows Classic view. NOTE: Set your Dell computer to the Windows Classic view.

Starting System Restore

Windows Vista: 1 Click Start. 2 In the Start Search box, type System Restore and press <Enter>. NOTE: The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an
administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your administrator to continue the desired action.
3 Click Next and follow the remaining prompts on the screen. In the event that System Restore did not resolve the issue, you may undo the last system restore (see "Undoing the Last System Restore" on page 61). Windows XP: NOTICE: Before you restore the computer to an earlier operating state, save and close any open files and exit any open programs. Do not alter, open, or delete any files or programs until the system restoration is complete. 1 Click Start All Programs Accessories System Tools System Restore. 2 Click either Restore my computer to an earlier time or Create a restore point. 3 Click Next and follow the remaining on-screen prompts.
Undoing the Last System Restore
NOTICE: Before you undo the last system restore, save and close all open files and exit any open programs. Do not alter, open, or delete any files or programs until the system restoration is complete.
Windows Vista: 1 Click Start
2 In the Start Search box, type System Restore and press <Enter>. 3 Click Undo my last restoration and click Next. Windows XP: 1 Click Start All Programs Accessories System Tools System Restore. 2 Click Undo my last restoration and click Next.

Enabling System Restore

NOTE: Windows Vista does not disable System Restore; regardless of low disk space. Therefore, the steps below apply only to Windows XP. If you reinstall Windows XP with less than 200 MB of free hard-disk space available, System Restore is automatically disabled. To see if System Restore is enabled: 1 Click Start Control Panel Performance and Maintenance System. 2 Click the System Restore tab and ensure that Turn off System Restore is unchecked.
Using Dell Factory Image Restore
NOTICE: Using Dell Factory Image Restore permanently deletes all data on the hard drive and removes any programs or drivers installed after you received your computer. If possible, back up the data before using these options. Use Dell Factory Image Restore only if System Restore did not resolve your operating system problem. NOTE: Dell Factory Image Restore may not be available in certain countries or on certain computers. Use Dell Factory Image Restore (Windows Vista) only as the last method to restore your operating system. These options restore your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the computer. Any programs or files added since you received your computerincluding data filesare permanently deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, digital photos, music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using Factory Image Restore. 62

Reinstalling Windows

The reinstallation process can take 1 to 2 hours to complete. After you reinstall the operating system, you must also reinstall the device drivers, virus protection program, and other software. 1 Save and close any open files and exit any open programs. 2 Insert the Operating System media. 3 If the Install Windows message appears, click Exit. 4 Restart the computer. When the DELL logo appears, press <F12> immediately. NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft Windows desktop; then, shut down your computer and try again. NOTE: The next steps change the boot sequence for one time only. On the
next start-up, the computer boots according to the devices specified in the system setup program.
5 When the boot device list appears, highlight CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive and press <Enter>. 6 Press any key to Boot from CD-ROM, and follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

Getting Help

Obtaining Assistance
CAUTION: If you need to remove the computer cover, first disconnect the computer power and modem cables from all electrical outlets. Follow the safety instructions that shipped with your computer. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory Compliance Homepage at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. If you experience a problem with your computer, you can complete the following steps to diagnose and troubleshoot the problem: 1 See "Troubleshooting Tips" on page 50 for information and procedures that pertain to the problem your computer is experiencing. 2 See "Dell Diagnostics" on page 48 for procedures on how to run Dell Diagnostics. 3 Fill out the "Diagnostics Checklist" on page 70. 4 Use Dell's extensive suite of online services available at Dell Support (support.dell.com) for help with installation and troubleshooting procedures. See "Online Services" on page 66 for a more extensive list of Dell Support online. 5 If the preceding steps have not resolved the problem, see "Contacting Dell" on page 71. NOTE: Call Dell Support from a telephone at or near the affected computer so that the support staff can assist you with any necessary procedures. NOTE: Dell's Express Service Code system may not be available in all countries. When prompted by Dell's automated telephone system, enter your Express Service Code to route the call directly to the proper support personnel. If you do not have an Express Service Code, open the Dell Accessories folder, double-click the Express Service Code icon, and follow the directions.

For instructions on using the Dell Support, see "Technical Support and Customer Service" on page 66. NOTE: Some of the following services are not always available in all locations outside the continental U.S. Call your local Dell representative for information on availability.
Technical Support and Customer Service
Dell's support service is available to answer your questions about Dell hardware. Our support staff uses computer-based diagnostics to provide fast, accurate answers. To contact Dell's support service, see "Before You Call" on page 69, and then see the contact information for your region or go to support.dell.com.

DellConnect

DellConnect is a simple online access tool that allows a Dell service and support associate to access your computer through a broadband connection, diagnose your problem and repair it all under your supervision. For more information, go to support.dell.com and click DellConnect.

Online Services

You can learn about Dell products and services at the following websites: www.dell.com www.dell.com/ap (Asian/Pacific countries only) www.dell.com/jp (Japan only) www.euro.dell.com (Europe only) www.dell.com/la (Latin American and Caribbean countries) www.dell.ca (Canada only)
You can access Dell Support through the following websites and e-mail addresses: Dell Support websites: support.dell.com support.jp.dell.com (Japan only) support.euro.dell.com (Europe only) Dell Support e-mail addresses: mobile_support@us.dell.com support@us.dell.com la-techsupport@dell.com (Latin America and Caribbean countries only) apsupport@dell.com (Asian/Pacific countries only) Dell Marketing and Sales e-mail addresses: apmarketing@dell.com (Asian/Pacific countries only) sales_canada@dell.com (Canada only) Anonymous file transfer protocol (FTP): ftp.dell.com log in as user anonymous, and use your e-mail address as your password

AutoTech Service

Dell's automated support serviceAutoTechprovides recorded answers to the questions most frequently asked by Dell customers about their laptop and desktop computers. When you call AutoTech, use your touch-tone telephone to select the subjects that correspond to your questions. For the telephone number to call for your region, see "Contacting Dell" on page 71.
Automated Order-Status Service
To check on the status of any Dell products that you have ordered, you can go to support.dell.com, or you can call the automated order-status service. A recording prompts you for the information needed to locate and report on your order. For the telephone number to call for your region, see "Contacting Dell" on page 71.

Problems With Your Order

If you have a problem with your order, such as missing parts, wrong parts, or incorrect billing, contact Dell for customer assistance. Have your invoice or packing slip available when you call. For the telephone number to call for your region, see "Contacting Dell" on page 71.

Product Information

If you need information about additional products available from Dell, or if you would like to place an order, visit the Dell website at www.dell.com. For the telephone number to call for your region or to speak to a sales specialist, see "Contacting Dell" on page 71.
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit
Prepare all items being returned, whether for repair or credit, as follows: 1 Call Dell to obtain a Return Material Authorization Number, and write it clearly and prominently on the outside of the box. For the telephone number to call for your region, see "Contacting Dell" on page 71. Include a copy of the invoice and a letter describing the reason for the return. 2 Include a copy of the Diagnostics Checklist (see "Diagnostics Checklist" on page 70), indicating the tests that you have run and any error messages reported by the Dell Diagnostics (see "Contacting Dell" on page 71). 3 Include any accessories that belong with the item(s) being returned (power cables, software floppy disks, guides, and so on) if the return is for credit.
4 Pack the equipment to be returned in the original (or equivalent) packing materials. You are responsible for paying shipping expenses. You are also responsible for insuring any product returned, and you assume the risk of loss during shipment to Dell. Collect On Delivery (C.O.D.) packages are not accepted. Returns that are missing any of the preceding requirements will be refused at Dells receiving dock and returned to you.

Before You Call

NOTE: Have your Express Service Code ready when you call. The code helps Dells automated-support telephone system direct your call more efficiently. You may also be asked for your Service Tag (located on the back or bottom of your computer). Remember to fill out the Diagnostics Checklist (see "Diagnostics Checklist" on page 70). If possible, turn on your computer before you call Dell for assistance and call from a telephone at or near the computer. You may be asked to type some commands at the keyboard, relay detailed information during operations, or try other troubleshooting steps possible only at the computer itself. Ensure that the computer documentation is available. CAUTION: Before working inside your computer, follow the safety instructions in the documentation that shipped with your computer. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory Compliance Homepage at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance.

Diagnostics Checklist Name: Date: Address: Phone number: Service Tag (bar code on the back or bottom of the computer): Express Service Code: Return Material Authorization Number (if provided by Dell support technician): Operating system and version: Devices: Expansion cards: Are you connected to a network? Yes No Network, version, and network adapter: Programs and versions: See your operating system documentation to determine the contents of the systems start-up files. If the computer is connected to a printer, print each file. Otherwise, record the contents of each file before calling Dell. Error message, beep code, or diagnostic code: Description of problem and troubleshooting procedures you performed:

Contacting Dell

For customers in the United States, call 800-WWW-DELL (800-999-3355). NOTE: If you do not have an active Internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog. Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer service issues: 1 Visit support.dell.com, and verify your country or region in the Choose A Country/Region drop-down menu at the bottom of the page. 2 Click Contact Us on the left side of the page, and select the appropriate service or support link based on your need. 3 Choose the method of contacting Dell that is convenient for you.
beep codes, 39 Dell Factory Image Restore, 63 Dell Technology Guide, 8 DellConnect, 66 Desktop System Software, 7 diagnostics beep codes, 39 Dell, 48 documentation, 7 Dell Technology Guide, 8 Service Manual, 8 drivers, 57 Drivers and Utilities media, 7 identifying, 57 reinstalling, 58 returning to a previous version, 58 Drivers and Utilities media, 7, 58 Dell Diagnostics, 48
connecting Internet, 16 modem, 12 monitor, 9 network, 13 network cable, 11 power cables, 12 contacting Dell, 65, 71
Dell contacting, 65, 71 Factory Image Restore, 62 software updates, 55 Support Utility, 55 technical support and customer service, 66 Technical Update Service, 54 Dell Diagnostics, 48 starting from the Drivers and Utilities media, 49 starting from your hard drive, 49

End User License Agreement (EULA), 8 ergonomics information, 8 error messages beep codes, 39 Express Service Code, 7
Factory Image Restore, 62 Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, 17 finding information, 7
operating system Dell Factory Image Restore, 62 media, 63 reinstalling, 7 System Restore, 60 Operating System media, 7 operating system product key, 8
Internet connecting, 16 setting up, 16
phone numbers, 71 power power light conditions, 50 troubleshooting, 50 problems restore to previous state, 60

license label, 8

media Drivers and Utilities, 7 operating system, 7 memory troubleshooting, 51
regulatory information, 8 reinstalling drivers and utilities, 58 software, 57
networks, 13 connecting, 13
S.M.A.R.T, 47 safety information, 8
Service Manual, 8 Service Tag, 7 setup computer, 9 installing your computer in an enclosure, 14 Internet, 16 quick setup, 9 software problems, 53 reinstalling, 57 troubleshooting, 53-54 updates, 54 specifications all, 31 audio, 32 connectors, 34 controls and lights, 36 drives, 34 environmental, 38 expansion bus, 32 memory, 31 physical, 37 power, 37 processor, 31 system information, 31 video, 32 support, 65 contacting Dell, 71 DellConnect, 66 online services, 66 regional, 66 technical support and customer service, 66
support information, 8 System Restore, 60 enabling, 62
Terms and Conditions, 8 transferring information to a new computer, 17 troubleshooting, 8, 39 blue screen, 54 computer not responding, 52 Dell Diagnostics, 48 error messages, 41 memory, 51 power, 50 power light conditions, 50 power lights, 39 program crashes, 52 programs and Windows compatibility, 53 restore to previous state, 60 software, 52-54 tips, 50
updates software and hardware, 54
view back, 22, 25, 28 back panel connectors, 23, 26, 29 front, 21
warranty information, 8 Windows License label, 8 Windows Vista Dell Factory Image Restore, 62-63 Device Driver Rollback, 58 Program Compatibility wizard, 53 reinstalling, 7 returning to a previous device driver version, 58 System Restore, 60
Windows XP Device Driver Rollback, 58 Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, 17 reinstalling, 7 returning to a previous device driver version, 58 setting up Internet connection, 17 System Restore, 60 wizards Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, 17 Program Compatibility wizard, 53

TEST REPORT SEPTEMBER 2009 SMB workload performance comparison: AMD processorbased Dell PowerEdge T105 vs. Intel processor-based Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower Executive summary
Dell Inc. (Dell) and AMD, Inc. (AMD) commissioned Principled Technologies (PT) to measure the performance of the following two Dell systems running a representative small-business workload on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition: A typical small-business server: Dell PowerEdge T105 server using an AMD Opteron 1389 processor and 8GB RAM A typical small-business desktop: Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system using an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8600 and 4GB RAM

KEY FINDINGS

The Dell PowerEdge T105 server delivered 90 percent more combined WebBench and LoadGen operations than the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system. (See Figure 1.) With the system under load, a user on the Dell PowerEdge T105 server was able to open various productivity applications in a total time of 58.5 seconds, for a time savings of 33.7 percent compared to that of the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system, which required a total time of 88.3 seconds to open these same applications. (See Figure 2.)
We base our testbed on a common small business scenario; one where the business is currently using an end users desktop as their server. As the business size and workload increases over time, these desktop-class systems often cannot keep up with the demand from either the underlying server activities or from the productivity applications being run on the local console. This report shows the potential benefit and performance gain a business and end user would receive from upgrading to a serverclass system like the Dell PowerEdge T105. Actual results will vary based on specific application- and server-side workloads. We should note that running Windows Small Business Server 2008 on a desktop-class machine is not a recommended configuration. We used Windows Small Business Server 2008 on both machines in order to provide a fair performance comparison between the two systems.
Averaged throughput results Higher results are better

Normalized comparison

1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0
Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system using an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8600 Dell PowerEdge T105 server using an AMD Opteron 1389 processor
To test performance, we simultaneously ran workloads that exercised two characteristic small business functions: Web traffic and email activity. We used WebBench to simulate Web traffic and Microsoft Exchange Load Generator (LoadGen) to simulate email activity. The Workload section provides more benchmark information. We define a small business workload as consisting of between 25 to 75 users, with 50 users as the average.
Additionally, we timed how long several productivity Figure 1: Averaged throughput results of the test systems across the two benchmarks relative applications took to open on to the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower. Higher numbers are better. either system while under the same Web and email workload. For this test, we used Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Adobe Reader. Our goal was to show the increase in performance an end user might experience if they were using the Dell PowerEdge T105 server instead of the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system to complete these tasks.

Time in seconds

Figure 1 presents averaged throughput results for the Dell PowerEdge T105 server and the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system running the two workloads relative to the lower-performing system, the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower. For each workload, we assigned a value of 100 percent to that systems results and then calculated the percentage performance improvement of the Dell Total time to open applications PowerEdge T105. This Lower results are better approach makes each data 100.0 point a comparative number, with higher numbers indicating 90.0 Dell Vostro 220 Mini better performance. Finally, 80.0 Tower desktop system we took the percentage using an Intel Core 2 Duo 70.0 performance improvement Processor E8600 over the Dell Vostro 220 Mini 60.0 Dell PowerEdge T105 Tower for the two benchmarks server using an AMD 50.0 and averaged them. Opteron 1389 processor

40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0

As Figure 1 illustrates, the Dell PowerEdge T105 server delivered an average of 90 percent greater performance across the two benchmarks than did the Dell Vostro 200 Mini Tower desktop system.
Figure 2: Total time for a user on the test systems to open productivity applications while each test system is under load. Lower numbers are better.
As Figure 2 illustrates, with the system under load, a user on the Dell PowerEdge T105 server took 58.5 seconds to open the productivity applications, for a time savings of 33.7 percent over that on the Dell Vostro 200 Mini Tower desktop system, which required 88.3 seconds to open the productivity applications while under load.

Workload

We ran the following two workloads simultaneously, as a typical small business server might.

WebBench

WebBench 5.0 (128-bit US version) is an industry-standard benchmark for Web server software and hardware. It uses PC clients to send Web requests to a server under test. It generates performance results by incrementally increasing the number of clients making HTTP 1.0 GET requests to the Web server; the result is a curve showing the servers performance under increasing load. The peak of that curve represents the peak throughput of the server. WebBench reports both the total number of requests per second the server handled and the servers total throughput in bytes per second. We ran the WebBench e-commerce CGI test suite for 40 minutes on both the Dell PowerEdge T105 server and the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system. This suite generates both secure and non-secure static and dynamic requests. While running the e-commerce suite, the clients must negotiate to a secure Web server port using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. A default WebBench test suite incrementally increases the number of clients making the HTTP 1.0 GET requests to the Web server. As the workload increases the number of clients, the Web servers processor utilization also increases, until the clients saturate the processor in the Web server with work. Each workload point with a fixed number of clients is a WebBench mix. The e-commerce CGI test suite begins with a mix that involves one client; the next mix involves four clients; and each subsequent mix increases the number of clients by four. We modified the test suite so it would run 10 clients, with 10 engines per client for the entire test. This allowed us to keep a constant Web load on the system. To limit the amount of time WebBench ran, we performed only four mixes for testing. The first two mixes ran for 5 minutes each, while the last two ran for 15 minutes each. Principled Technologies, Inc.: SMB workload performance comparison: AMD processor-based Dell PowerEdge T105 vs. Intel processor-based Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower

LoadGen

LoadGen is an industry-standard tool for benchmarking an Exchange 2007 Mail Server. LoadGen performs tasks to simulate a standard user generating mail activity. When the workload finishes, LoadGen reports the response time, which is the number of seconds necessary to complete the task. Our goal was to compare the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 performance of the Dell PowerEdge T105 server to that of the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system. Microsoft Exchange Load Generator is a simulation tool that measures the impact that various clients (MAPI, OWA, IMAP, POP, and SMTP) have on Exchange servers. This allows users to test how effectively a server running Exchange responds to e-mail loads. The simulator sends multiple message requests to the server running Exchange, resulting in a mail load. We ran the Microsoft Exchange Load Generator benchmark in stress mode for 30 minutes on both the Dell PowerEdge T105 server and the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system. For more details about LoadGen, see http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DDEC1642F6E3-4D66-A82F-8D3062C6FA98&displaylang=en. Additionally, we chose three applications that a user working on a small business server would typically open: Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Excel 2007, and Adobe Reader. We timed how long the Dell PowerEdge T105 server and the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower took to open a document with these applications while running the WebBench and LoadGen workload. We present our results in the Test results section.

Test results

We staggered the starting times of the benchmarks to allow each system to ramp up slowly. We began the benchmarks in the following order: WebBench and then LoadGen. Figure 3 shows a timeline for the benchmark runs. To obtain the final results, we removed the first parts of the WebBench run, and computed the results based on the 30 minutes of peak performance during the LoadGen run. To make sure both systems achieved their optimum results, we allowed them to sit idle for 10 minutes before starting the workload.
Figure 3: The timeline we followed when starting the benchmarks for the multiple-benchmark runs on both systems. The shaded areas from 00:10 to 00:40 represent the period during which we measured performance.
Principled Technologies, Inc.: SMB workload performance comparison: AMD processor-based Dell PowerEdge T105 vs. Intel processor-based Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower
Figure 4 presents results for the systems on the two benchmarks relative to the lower-performing system, the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower. For each benchmark, we assigned a value of 100 percent to that systems results and then calculated the percentage performance improvement of the Dell PowerEdge T105. This approach makes each data point a comparative number, with higher numbers indicating better performance. Finally, we took the percentage performance improvement over the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower for the two benchmarks and averaged them. As Figure 4 shows, the Dell PowerEdge T105 server achieved better performance on both benchmarks than did the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower desktop system. Each result is the median of three runs. With the exception of CPU utilization, all results are relative to the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower. We used LoadGen to determine the median for all runs. Normalized Web requests per second* 2.3 1.0 Normalized messages delivered per second* 1.4 1.0

System Dell PowerEdge T105 Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower
Percentage CPU utilization 85.9 98.3
Average of Web and email results* 1.9 1.0
Figure 4: Performance for the system on the two benchmarks, relative to the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower. Higher numbers are better. * Relative to Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower

WebBench results

A WebBench run reports the total requests per second a server can perform and the total throughput, in bytes per second, that the server delivered. WebBench reports these results for each mix. To obtain the results we list in Figure 5, we averaged the requests per second and throughput from the mixes that ran during the peak performance of the benchmark run, as Figure 3 illustrates. Figure 5 shows the WebBench peak results in requests per second and in throughput (bytes per second) for the test systems. Each result is the median of three runs. Server Dell PowerEdge T105 Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower Throughput (bytes per second) 210,429,903.6 147,128,779.1 Requests per second (raw) 21,561.2 15,072.4 Normalized requests per second* 1.4 1.0
Figure 5: Median WebBench results for the two systems. Higher numbers are better. * Relative to Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower

LoadGen results

Figure 6 shows the shows the number of Microsoft Exchange Load Generator messages per second each system delivered during the test. We gathered these results by using the MSExchangeIS Mailbox\Messages Delivered/sec counter in Windows Performance Monitor and averaging the results. Each result is the median of three runs. Normalized messages delivered per second* 2.3 1.0
Server Dell PowerEdge T105 Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower
Messages delivered per second 8.5 3.7
Figure 6: Median LoadGen results for the two systems. Higher numbers are better. * Relative to Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower
Figure 7 shows the time, in seconds, each system took to open the three productivity applications while each system is under load and in a stressed state. Lower numbers are better. Application Microsoft Word 2007 Microsoft Excel 2007 Adobe Reader Total Application open time on the Dell PowerEdge T105 (seconds) 26.3 21.0 11.2 58.5 Application open time on the Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower (seconds) 23.1 30.5 34.7 88.3

Figure 7: Time, in seconds, for each system to open the three productivity applications. Lower numbers are better.

Test methodology

Figure 8 summarizes some key aspects of the configurations of the two systems; Appendix A provides detailed configuration information. Server Processor Processor frequency (GHz) RAM Hard drive Dell PowerEdge T105 AMD Opteron 1389 2.GB (4 x 2 GB) PC2-6400E 2 x 300 GB, SAS Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop Processor E8600 3.GB (2 x 2 GB) PC2-x 320 GB, SATA
Figure 8: Key aspects of the system configurations.
For testing, we configured the Dell PowerEdge T105 with redundancy by placing the two hard disks in a RAID 1. The Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower only had one hard disk, so we could not configure this system with any hard drive redundancy. We used the default BIOS options on both systems for testing.

Test bed configuration

To generate the workload, we used 12 Dell PowerEdge M600 Blade Servers installed in a Dell PowerEdge M1000e Modular Blade Enclosure, with two Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch M 3130G installed in the back of the enclosure. We configured 10 of the PowerEdge M600 Blade Servers with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Enterprise Edition and WebBench 5.0 client. We used these 10 blades to drive the WebBench workload on both systems under test. On the remaining two Dell PowerEdge M600 Blade Servers, we installed Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Enterprise x64 Edition and Microsoft LoadGen 64-bit. We used one of these two blades for each system under test. We installed an Intel PRO/1000 PT Dual Port adapter in the Dell PowerEdge T105 and Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower for testing. We configured both ports of the adapter with static IP addresses and connected them to one of the Cisco Catalyst M 3130G switches, which we used for WebBench traffic. We connected the integrated network adapter on the Dell PowerEdge T105 and Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower to the second Cisco Catalyst M 3130G for LoadGen traffic. We began our testing by installing a fresh copy of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 on each system. We followed this process for each installation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Accept the default language settings. Click install now. Enter the product key. Click Next. Select a Custom Install. Accept the default settings. Click Next at the Continue Installation screen. Set the time/date to the correct time/date. Fill Out the Company information screen.
10. Assign the computer a name of SERVER and a domain name of TEST. 11. Fill out the Add a network administrator account screen with FIRST as the first name, LAST as the last name, root as the Administrator username, and Password1 as the Administrator password.

OS configuration

1. 2. 3. 4. Open the control panel. Double-click User Accounts. Click on Turn User Account Control on or off. Uncheck the radio box saying, Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer.
Installing system updates
We installed the following updates using Microsoft Windows update feature: Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 for x64-based Systems (KB948465) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB957200) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB957321) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB959130) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB972036) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB955430) Security Update for Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 (KB972594) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB968389) Security Update for Jscript 5.8 for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB971961) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB952287) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64-based Systems (KB938464) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB949014) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB950974) Security Update for Windows Mail for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB951066) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB952004) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB953733) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB954459) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB955069) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB956572) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB956744) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB956802) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB957097) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB958623) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB958624) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB958644) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB958687) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB959426) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB960225) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB960803) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB960859) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB961063) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB961371) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB961501) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB967723) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB968537) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB970238) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB971557) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB971657) Security Update for Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (KB972593) Security Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB973507) Principled Technologies, Inc.: SMB workload performance comparison: AMD processor-based Dell PowerEdge T105 vs. Intel processor-based Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower

Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB951978) Update for Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems (KB955020) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB955302) Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB970653) Internet Explorer 8 for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB973346) Update to.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 for the.NET Framework Assistant 1.0 x64 (KB963707) Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 for x64 Edition (KB953338) Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and.NET Framework 3.5 Family Update (KB951847) x64 Windows Update Agent 7.4.7600.226
Installing and configuring the mail server
Due to the nature of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008, all components for the mail server are setup upon initial installation of the OS.
Installing and configuring the Web server
Deploying WebBench data WebBench includes data that must reside on the server and that the Web server must use. We loaded that data and set the Web server to use it with the following procedure: 1. Copy the file wbtree.exe from the WebBench CD to the wwwroot directory on the system under test. (The wbtree.exe file is on the WebBench CD at \wb50\workload.) 2. On the system, execute the wbtree.exe file. This program copies the WebBench workload to the system. 3. In the wwwroot folder on the system, create a new folder with the name CGI-BIN. 4. Copy the file simcgi.exe to the CGI-BIN folder. 5. Click Start Programs Administrative Tools Computer Management to open the management console. 6. Navigate to Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName. 7. Click ISAPI and CGI Restrictions. 8. Click Add. 9. Enter the path for the simcgi.exe, and click the radio box saying allow extension path to execute. Configuring Internet Information Services (IIS) We configured the Windows Internet Information Services Web server as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Open Computer Management. Navigate to Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName. Click MIME Types. In the MIME Types window, click Add. In the File name extension field, type *. In the MIME type field, type application/octet-stream, and click OK. Click OK to exit the MIME Types window. In the Computer Management window, select Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName. Click ISAPI and CGI Restrictions. Click Edit Feature Settings. Click the radio boxes Allow unspecified CGI module and Allow unspecified ISAPI modules. Click OK. Navigate to Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName. Double-click Logging. Click Disable.
Installing certificate services Because WebBench includes tests that involve security, we installed Windows Certificate Services as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Navigate to Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName. Click Server Certificates. Click Create Self-Signed Certificate. Name it Performance, and click OK. Navigate to Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName Sites Default Web Site. Click Bindings. Click Add. Set the type to https, and set the SSL Certificate to Performance. Click Yes when the warning pops up. Click Close.

Creating SSL Communication Finally, we had to enable SSL communication as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Navigate to Services and Application Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager ServerName. Expand the Default Web site. Expand wbtree. Click Wbssl. Click SSL Settings. Check Require secure channel (SSL). Check Require 128-bit encryption. Click Apply.
We then set the following operating system tuning parameters to reflect the WebBench recommendation in the Microsoft performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server document, which is available on Microsofts Web site here: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/Perf_tun_srv.mspx. When creating the following parameters, ensure that they are DWORD files, with decimal coding (rather than hexadecimal): HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Inetinfo\Parameters\MaxCachesFileSize to 1048576 HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\HTTP\Parameters\UriMaxUriBytes to 1048576 HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisableLastAccess to 1 HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\MaxHashTableSize to 65535
Installing the mail test client
We began our testing by installing a fresh copy of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Enterprise x64 Edition Service Pack 2 on the client. Before following these instructions, make sure to statically assign an IP address for the client, and then plug that port into the system under test. This allows the client to correctly join the domain. We followed this process for each installation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Assign a computer name of Clientx for the mail client, where x is the client number. For the licensing mode, use the default setting of five concurrent connections. Enter a password for the administrator log on. Select Eastern Time Zone. Use typical settings for the Network installation. Use Test for the workgroup.
To set up this server, we had to install several additional software components. The following subsections detail the necessary installation processes. Joining the domain 1. Right-click My Computer, and select Properties. 2. Under the Computer Name tab, click Change. 3. In the Computer Name Changes window, under the Member of section, select the Domain radial box, and type test. Principled Technologies, Inc.: SMB workload performance comparison: AMD processor-based Dell PowerEdge T105 vs. Intel processor-based Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower
4. Select OK to start joining the domain. 5. When the window appears asking for a person qualified on the domain, type root as the username and Password1 as the password. 6. Click OK at the welcome pop-up window and the window warning that you must reset the computer for the changes to take effect. 7. Click OK in the System Properties window. 8. When a pop-up appears asking if you want to restart now, click Yes to restart your computer. Installing Internet Information Services 6.0 1. Select Start Control Panel Add or Remove Programs. 2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components. 3. Click Active Directory Services, and make sure a check appears in the check box. 4. Select Application Servers, and click Details. 5. Select Internet Information Services (IIS), and click Details. 6. Click NNTP Services and SMTP Services, make sure a check appears in both check boxes, and click OK. 7. Click OK to close the Application Server window. 8. At the Windows Components Wizard, click Next to begin the installation. 9. When the system prompts you to do so, insert the OS CD, and click OK. 10. At the Completing the Windows Components Wizard window, click Finish. 11. Close the Add or Remove Programs window. Installing Exchange Server 2007 and Load Generator 1. Insert the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 CD. The CD should automatically launch the installation software. 2. Click the link to Step 1: Install.NET Framework 2.0. 3. When you arrive at the download link, download the x64 version of the.NET Framework, and install. 4. Click the link to Step 3: Install Microsoft Windows PowerShell to open the download link. 5. When you arrive at the download link, download Microsoft Windows PowerShell, and install with defaults. 6. Search for and download.NET 2.0 SP1 x64. 7. Install SP1 with all defaults. 8. Click the link to Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1. 9. Click Next to go past the introduction screen. 10. Accept the license agreement, and click Next. 11. Select No for error reporting, and click Next. 12. Select Custom Exchange Server Installation, and click Next. 13. Check Management Tools, and click Next. 14. After the check finishes, click Install to start the installation process. 15. Once installation is complete, click Finish. 16. Download and install Load Generator using all defaults. Preparing Load Generator 1. Select Start All Programs Microsoft Exchange Exchange Load Generator. 2. When the Load Generator window appears, select Start a new test. 3. Select Create a new test configuration, and click Continue. 4. In the Specify test settings window, type Password1 as the Directory Access Password and the Mailbox Account Master Password, and click Continue with recipient management. 5. Make 50 users in the Mailbox Database, and click Continue. 6. To accept defaults for Advanced recipient settings, click Continue. 7. In the Specify test user groups window, select the plus sign to add a user group. 8. Change the Client Type to Outlook 2007 Online and the Action Profile to Average, and click Continue. 9. Leave defaults in Remote configurations, and click Continue. 10. Click Save the configuration file as, and name it Loadgencfg. 11. Click Start the initialization phase (recommended before running the test) to start initialization. The initialization process might take a few hours.

Backing up the mail database On the test server, once you have set up LoadGen and created its initial mail database, you need to back up that database so you can have clean copies for each test. Use this process to back up that database. 1. Select Start All Programs Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Exchange Management Console in the mail server. 2. In the left pane, under Server Configuration, click Mailbox. 3. In the right pane, right-click Mailbox Database, and select Dismount Database from the menu. 4. Click Yes on the Do you want to continue? pop-up message. 5. Right-click Public Folder Database, and select Dismount Database from the menu. 6. Click Yes on the Do you want to continue? pop-up message. The red arrow appears when youve dismounted the Public Folder Store. 7. Using Windows Explorer, create two new folders C:\backup\mailstore and C:\backup\publicstore. 8. With Windows Explorer, copy all files from C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\First Storage Group to C:\backup\mailstore and all the files from C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\Second Storage Group to C:\backup\publicstore. This process may take several minutes. 9. Close Windows Explorer. 10. In Exchange Management Console, right-click Mailbox Database, and select Mount Database from the menu. 11. Right-click the Public Folder Database, and select Mount Database from the menu. 12. Close Exchange System Manager.
Setting up the run tests for additional applications
We used the following steps to perform each test. 1. Restart the Web Controller, Web clients, and Mail client. 2. Wait for everything to reboot. 3. Double-click the Web Controller shortcut on the desktop. 4. Navigate to the top bar and click Clients Start Log In 5. Restart all of the web clients. 6. Wait for all of the web clients to appear on the left side of the WebBench Controller Program. 7. Click OK. 8. Click Yes when the application prompts you if you would like to add a test suite. 9. Select ecommerce_cgi_template.tst 10. Give the run an appropriate name (e.g.: WB_Run1). 11. Click OK. 12. Open Exchange Load Generator on the Mail client. 13. Click Start a new test. 14. Select the radio button for Use the following saved configuration file. 15. Click Browse, and select the file 50users_average.xml. 16. Click OK, and click Continue. 17. In the Specify test settings screen, click Skip recipient management and continue with user group configuration 18. In the Specify test user groups screen, leave default options selected, and click Continue. 19. In the Remote configurations screen, click Continue. 20. Stop at the Configuration summary screen. 21. Wait 10 minutes to allow all processes to finish loading on the server. 22. Click Yes at the Would you like to start executing the test suites screen. 23. Let WebBench run for 10 minutes before starting LoadGen. 24. In the Configuration summary screen, click Skip the initialization phase and run the simulation immediately to begin LoadGen.

Hand timing

Setting up the test workload We used a specific test workload of three productivity applications a user would typically open on a small business server: Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Excel 2007, and Adobe Reader. We describe the initial setup of the test workload below. For testing, we used the following files: Excel document: ftpbox.us.dell.com/slg/californ/dellware.xls Word document: www.dell.com/downloads/global/solutions/OMSA_Event_Management_System.doc PDF document: support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/per710/multlang/GSG/DAO_BCC/YX389A01.zip Setting up the test workload on the test system 1. Copy the Word file, the Excel file, and the PDF file onto the desktop of the system. Opening a Microsoft Word file This test requires a stopwatch. We used the OMSA_Event_Management_System_Mod.doc test document. Setting up the test 1. Allow the system to idle for 5 minutes before starting the benchmarks. 2. Allow WebBench to run for 10 minutes, start LoadGen, and wait for 5 minutes before running the test. Running the test 1. Right-click the OMSA_Event_Management_System_Mod.doc file, and place the cursor over Open. 2. Simultaneously click to open the test document and start the timer. 3. Stop the timer when the status bar displays the correct number of pages in the lower left corner of the window. 4. Close Microsoft Word 2007. Opening a Microsoft Excel file This test requires a stopwatch. We used the dellware_mod.xls test document. Setting up the test 1. Allow the system to idle for 5 minutes before starting the benchmarks. 2. Allow WebBench to run for 10 minutes, start LoadGen, and wait for 5 minutes before running the test. Running the test 1. Right-click the dellware_mod.xls file, and place the cursor over Open. 2. Simultaneously click to open the test document and start the timer. 3. Stop the timer when the spreadsheet finishes loading. 4. Close Microsoft Excel 2007. Opening an Adobe Reader file This test requires a stopwatch. We used the YX389A01.pdf test document. Setting up the test 1. Open the YX389A01.pdf file, and maximize the window. 2. In the left hand pane, click the Pages icon so that the page previews are showing. 3. Expand the left hand preview pane until all of the pages in the document are visible. 4. Navigate to Edit, Preferences. 5. In the Preferences window, select Documents under Categories, and click to check the Restore last view settings when reopening documents box. 6. Close Adobe Reader, and restart the system. 7. Allow the system to idle for 5 minutes before starting the benchmarks. 8. Allow WebBench to run for 10 minutes, start LoadGen, and wait for 5 minutes before running the test. Principled Technologies, Inc.: SMB workload performance comparison: AMD processor-based Dell PowerEdge T105 vs. Intel processor-based Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower

Running the test 1. Right-click the YX389A01.pdf file, and place the cursor over Open. 2. Simultaneously click to open the test document and start the timer. 3. Stop the timer when all of the pages have loaded in the preview pane. 4. Close Adobe Reader.
Appendix A Test system configuration information
Figure 9 provides detailed configuration information about each of the test server systems, which we list in alphabetical order.

Servers

General Number of processor packages Number of cores per processor package Number of hardware threads per core System power management policy Power Supplies Total number Wattage of each (W) CPU Vendor Name Stepping Socket type Core frequency (GHz) Front-side bus frequency (MHz) L1 cache (KB) L2 cache (MB) L3 cache (MB) Platform Vendor and model number Motherboard model number Motherboard revision number BIOS name and version BIOS settings Memory module(s) Vendor and model number Type Speed (MHz) Speed in the system currently running @ (MHz) Timing/latency (tCL-tRCD-iRPtRASmin) Size (GB) Number of RAM modules Chip organization Hard disk Vendor and model number Number of disks in system Size (GB) Buffer size (MB) AMD 1

Dell PowerEdge T2 1

Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower

Balanced

Balanced Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop Processor E8600 E0 LGA775 3.33 1,6 N/A Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower G45M03 A00 Dell 1.2.0 (6/26/2009) Default Corsair CM2X22048-6400C5 PC2-800 5-5-5-2 Dual-sided Seagate ST3320418AS 16
Opteron 1389 C2 AM3 2.90 2,Dell PowerEdge T105 0P957K A01 Dell 1.4.4 (7/30/2009) Default Hynix HYMP125U72CP8-S6 PC2-6400E 6-6-6-4 Dual-sided Seagate ST3300656SS 16
RPM Type Controller Controller driver Operating system Name Build number Service Pack File system Kernel Language Microsoft DirectX version Graphics Vendor and model number Type Resolution Driver Network card/subsystem Vendor and model number Type Driver Additional network adapter Type Driver Optical drive Vendor and model number Type USB ports Number of ports Type of ports (USB 1.1, USB 2.0)
Dell PowerEdge T105 15,000 SAS Dell SAS 6/iR Adapter Controller LSI Corp. 1.29.3.0 (10/14/2008) Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard x2 NTFS ACPI x64-based PC English 10 ATI ES 1000 Integrated 1,280 x 1,024 Microsoft 6.0.6001.18000 (6/21/2006) Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet BCM 5722 Integrated Broadcom 12.2.2.1 (8/6/2009) Intel PRO/1000 PT Dual Port Adapter EXPI9402PT PCI-Express Intel 9.12.36.0 (7/8/2009) Dell DH-16D5S DVD-ROM Dell DH-16D5S DVD-ROM

Dell Vostro 220 Mini Tower 7,200 SATA Intel ICH10 Family 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller Intel 7.0.0.1000 (2/25/2008) Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard x2 NTFS ACPI x64-based PC English 10 Intel GMA X4500HD Integrated 1,280 x 1,024 Microsoft 6.0.6001.18000 (6/21/2006) Realtek Gigabit Ethernet RTL8168/8111 Integrated Realtek 6.226.729.2009 (7/29/2009) Intel PRO/1000 PT Dual Port Adapter EXPI9402PT PCI-Express Intel 9.12.36.0 (7/8/2009) Dell DH20N DVD-ROM Dell DH20N DVD-ROM
Figure 9: Detailed system configuration information for the two systems.
About Principled Technologies
We provide industry-leading technology assessment and fact-based marketing services. We bring to every assignment extensive experience with and expertise in all aspects of technology testing and analysis, from researching new technologies, to developing new methodologies, to testing with existing and new tools. When the assessment is complete, we know how to present the results to a broad range of target audiences. We provide our clients with the materials they need, from market-focused data to use in their own collateral to custom sales aids, such as test reports, performance assessments, and white papers. Every document reflects the results of our trusted independent analysis. We provide customized services that focus on our clients individual requirements. Whether the technology involves hardware, software, Web sites, or services, we offer the experience, expertise, and tools to help you assess how it will fare against its competition, its performance, whether its ready to go to market, and its quality and reliability. Our founders, Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings, have worked together in technology assessment for over 20 years. As journalists, they published over a thousand articles on a wide array of technology subjects. They created and led the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, which developed such industry-standard benchmarks as Ziff Davis Medias Winstone and WebBench. They founded and led eTesting Labs, and after the acquisition of that company by Lionbridge Technologies were the head and CTO of VeriTest.
Principled Technologies, Inc. 1007 Slater Road, Suite 250 Durham, NC 27703 www.principledtechnologies.com info@principledtechnologies.com
Principled Technologies is a registered trademark of Principled Technologies, Inc. All other product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability: PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. HAS MADE REASONABLE EFFORTS TO ENSURE THE ACCURACY AND VALIDITY OF ITS TESTING, HOWEVER, PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE TEST RESULTS AND ANALYSIS, THEIR ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR QUALITY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ALL PERSONS OR ENTITIES RELYING ON THE RESULTS OF ANY TESTING DO SO AT THEIR OWN RISK, AND AGREE THAT PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC., ITS EMPLOYEES AND ITS SUBCONTRACTORS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FROM ANY CLAIM OF LOSS OR DAMAGE ON ACCOUNT OF ANY ALLEGED ERROR OR DEFECT IN ANY TESTING PROCEDURE OR RESULT. IN NO EVENT SHALL PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC. BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH ITS TESTING, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.S LIABILITY, INCLUDING FOR DIRECT DAMAGES, EXCEED THE AMOUNTS PAID IN CONNECTION WITH PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES, INC.S TESTING. CUSTOMERS SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES ARE AS SET FORTH HEREIN.