How/What OS to upgrade my 1950 servers?

Question

Hi there,

I have 8 PowerEdge 1950 III servers, all running dual quad Xeons, 8 GB RAM.

For the last 3 years I have been running Windows Server 2003 and it's been fine. However, I just recently upgraded to Adobe CS 5 Suite, mainly for After Effects 5. However, unlike AE 4 which ran fine on Win Server 2003, AE 5 will not run after install and throw the message that I need a newer OS to run it. My office needs AE 5 to work on these servers so I asked Adobe if there was any way that Windows Server 2003 would run it, but they told me that they were surprised that I even got AE 4 to run on it.

Adobe shows that Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 or Windows 7 will work for it.

Now I need to see about updating all of the OSs on these servers.

For my PowerEdge 1950s, which of these OSs above will work, and if any of them, is it a simple matter of buying 8 copies of say, Windows 7, and scrubbing the drives and doing a fresh install on each and every one? I need to do this as soon as possible so any information as to the "right" operating that will run without hitches on this would be appreciated. These are used simply as network rendering nodes and will not be hosting websites or anything else. Just running After Effects and a few 3D applications for network rendering.

Thanks,

Dan

kmdguy · Answer

Hi there, thanks for the quick reply. Adobe does not say that AE4 will run on Win Server 2003, they just said they were surprised it ran. We do a lot of AE work here and I am now concerned that I have 8 1950s with dual quad Xeons in them that will not run an OS for this software. I spent a LOT of money buying these servers brand new and I was hoping they would last longer than just 2.5 years.

I am a heavy Mac guy and know just enough about Windows to keep these machines going but I don't know about SAS 5/6 or PERC 5/6 drivers or how to first configure the RAID on these. I would be interested in updating to Server 2008 if I knew it would work with AE 5, but I don't want to spend tons of money only to find out I'm back in the same boat. Like my first post said, Adobe lists the supported OSs and Server 2008 isn't on the list. I'd be willing to buy a 64 bit copy of Win 7 if I knew how to upgrade the other stuff you mentioned and check it.

Do you have any instructions on how to configure the RAID and drivers that you can point me to in order to try Win 7? Is there anyone else here on the board that is successfully running Win 7 on their 1950?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Dan

HighDesertMilk · Answer

Windows Vista/7 might work, but know that they are not supported operating systems, so Dell will not have drivers if such are needed.  You will need to hunt them down from the device manufacturer's website or on downloads from machines (Precision line) for which drivers were made for those OS's.  So, there are none of the listed operating systems that are designed to run on a 1950 'without hitches', but they might end up working ok.  Does Adobe officially say that AE4 will run on Server 2003?  If not, then AE5 may well run on Server 2008/2008R2.  Your first obstacle to install a client OS on a server is the storage driver.  The SAS 5/6 and PERC 5/6 were both used on both Precision workstations and PowerEdge servers, so you should be able to get a Windows 7/Vista driver from the download site for, say, the T7400/T7500.  That should get you off to a start.  We might be able to help you work through the rest, if possible.  Just remember, you must first configure the RAID BEFORE attempting to install Windows.

theflash1932 · Answer

Actually, this says version 4 won't run on 2003:

•Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista)

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/836/cpsid_83637.html

And this says version 5 won't run on 2008 or 2008R2:

•64-bit operating system required: Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 or Windows® 7

http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/systemreqs/

That said, you have just as good of a chance of running version 5 on 2008 as you did running version 4 on 2003. You can "probably" get Windows 7 running on a 1950, but only those who have tried can tell you for sure. Here are some pointers to help you get started (since the Dell site seems to be down right now, I can't include actual links to the drivers):

RAID Controller - you will know which you have by watching as the system boots up for a description and a key combination to enter its configuration utility. Once you have determined which you have, go to support.dell.com, choose the 1950, change the OS to 2008 R2. 2008 R2 is built on the same core code as Windows 7 and the drivers for one usually work for the other. You will need the "Hard Drive" version of the drivers - click on the name of the driver, don't just "Download Now":

SAS 5/6:
This will be CTRL-C during POST. Delete the existing configuration then create a new Integrated Mirror. I'm a bit fuzzy on "exactly" what you see here, but it should be fairly self-explanatory.

PERC 5/6:
This will be CTRL-R during POST. On the default page (VD MGMT tab), go up to the controller and hit F2, Clear/Delete VD. Then F2 again, Create/New VD, select RAID level, select disks, label (etc) is optional, then check the Advanced and Initialize boxes, then Accept/OK.

Then boot to the Windows 7 DVD ... if it says it can't find any hard drives to install to, then use the Load Driver link and load the 2008 R2 driver. You should then be on your way to installing it. Chipset, network, and other drivers you can worry about once installation is complete.

Hopefully you can get it installed and AE5 working ok. Might I recommend the next time that you look at the Precision workstations if you need a high-end machine running a client OS ... they would make a more sensible - and less expensive - solution.

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How/What OS to upgrade my 1950 servers?

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