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I've bought pretty expensive HP server "HP ProLiant DL360p Gen8 E5-2640 1P 16GB-R P420i SFF 460W PS Base Server (646902-421)"

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF06b/15351-15351-3328412-241475-241475-5177953-5195874.html?dnr=1

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c03237414.pdf

I'm using server for HFT trading. Server cames with Xeon E5 on the board so I was expecting that I can enjoy the power of Intel Data Direct I/O technology.

However it seems that network controller "HP Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 331FLR Adapter" doesn't support DDIO, because i can't find this information in the spec: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14214_div/14214_div.pdf

Am I correct that DDIO on my server is not possible because "HP Ethernet 1Gb 4-port 331FLR Adapter" doesn't support it?

And if so i just wonder how is that possible that HP sells server with latest Intel CPU's with network cards that just doesn't support latest features...

Sirex
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Oleg Vazhnev
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  • This is a pretty localized question. You ask a lot of HFT questions, though. Come into [Server Fault Chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/127/the-comms-room). You may get better support. – ewwhite Feb 19 '13 at 20:53
  • Also, this isn't what most of us would consider a "pretty expensive" server. It's actually pretty cheap, relatively speaking. Hell, it's about a third the price of the G6's I've been deploying all around the country for the past several months. And I wouldn't consider those "pretty expensive" either, FWIW. – HopelessN00b Feb 19 '13 at 21:00
  • @HopelessN00b by "pretty expensive" i mean that it cost much more money than ~the same supermicro config. – Oleg Vazhnev Feb 19 '13 at 21:02
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    @javapowered Which is like saying a Corolla is "pretty expensive," because Kias (or whatever) are the cheapest cars on the market. You need to recalibrate your expectations when comparing across market segments, and remember that most things that are cheaper, are cheaper *for a reason*. – HopelessN00b Feb 19 '13 at 21:05
  • @HopelessN00b ok, well anyway I already bought and installed this server. now I just need to know if DDIO is possible, but it seems it is not possible with this network card unfortunately.. – Oleg Vazhnev Feb 19 '13 at 21:34
  • Like the server, any car or motorcycle you can think of is "pretty expensive" compared to an old second-hand pushbike. There's a reason for that. – Rob Moir Feb 19 '13 at 21:34

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Okay, I'll bite... None of the trading firms I've worked for ever relied heavily on the Intel NIC feature sets. That time is loooong gone. More than anything, I dealt with the development of trading applications around UDP bypass technologies.

I wouldn't chide HP for not supporting the feature set. These servers are primarily geared towards virtualization. That's where the money and demand are. For trading, look into the Myricom DBL and Solarflare OpenOnload offerings.

That said, the best guide for optimizing the setup of your HP system at this point is the actual HP ProLiant low-latency tuning guide. It was updated for the Gen8 servers.

The HP 361T NIC adapter supports DDIO, or Data Direct I/O.

ewwhite
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  • thanks, so DDIO is not possible on default HP config? unfortunately default HP behavior is much worse than what Intel can offer. so I would prefer to have Intel DDIO than HP nothing :) Of course special network cards should be much better, but DDIO is almost free, why not having it.... – Oleg Vazhnev Feb 19 '13 at 21:36
  • See my update above... – ewwhite Feb 19 '13 at 21:42
  • The DDIO technology is really in the CPU and chipset. HP sells adapters that support it. The one you have doesn't... – ewwhite Feb 19 '13 at 21:50
  • thanks, just interesting which HP adapters do support DDIO? it's sad to have DDIO-compatile server running Xeon E5 and DDIO-incompatible network-card :( – Oleg Vazhnev Feb 20 '13 at 05:19
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    @javapowered The [HP361T adapter](http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14334_div/14334_div.pdf) would work for you, as well as the SolarFlare adapters I linked above. – ewwhite Feb 20 '13 at 12:56
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    i bought Solarflare SFN7122F after all, so far it works fine. – Oleg Vazhnev Nov 06 '14 at 12:58