While investigating a Windows 2008 R2 VM disk performance problem, I recently came across the following article about an updated Storport driver for Windows 2008 R2 that indicates it could significantly affect storage performance (see below). It looks really interesting but I have a couple of questions (1) Does the LSI_SAS driver use Storport? and (2) has anyone tried this update?
Computer intermittently performs poorly or stops responding when the Storport driver is used in Windows Server 2008 R2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2468345
Consider the following scenario:
- You install some high-performance storage devices on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2. For example, you install a host-based RAID adapter or a Fibre Channel adapter that can access more than 4 gigabytes (GB) on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2.
- The Storport.sys driver is used to manage these storage devices.
- The computer has more than 4 GB of physical memory.
- You install an application or service that uses a large amount of memory on the computer.
For example, you install SQL Server or Exchange Server on the computer.
In this scenario, the computer may intermittently perform poorly or stop responding for a while.
For example, the computer stops responding for 10-20 seconds.
Details from VM problem:
> Several of these events: 129 LSI_SAS N/A N/A Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort3, was issued.
> Server had to be rebooted to clear the problem