Dell PowerEdge C6220 User manual

DELL POWEREDGE C6220 AND CENTOS 6.2: A LAMP REFERENCE
ARCHITECTURE
A Principled Technologies Reference Architecture commissioned by Dell Inc.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
The features and advantages of the Dell PowerEdge
C6220
How to install the CentOS 6.2 operating system on
the Dell PowerEdge C6220
How to install the LAMP Web-application stack on
CentOS
How to configure the LSI MegaRAID 9265-8i storage
controller
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive summary..................................................................................3
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 server......................................................3
About CentOS Server ..........................................................................5
Installing CentOS on the Dell PowerEdge C6220........................................6
Prerequisites.......................................................................................6
Installation ..........................................................................................6
Installing the LAMP stack on CentOS and the Dell PowerEdge C6220 .......13
The LAMP stack –An overview........................................................ 13
Installation procedure ..................................................................... 14
Summing it all up ...................................................................................15
Appendix A –References........................................................................16
Appendix B –Dell PowerEdge C6220 system details................................17
Appendix C –LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i storage configuration ...............19
Appendix D –Sample Script file for LAMP on CentOS 6.2.........................25
About Principled Technologies ...............................................................26

Principled Technologies, Inc. 3
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
With the dominance of cloud computing in today’s marketplace, companies
require a reliable and powerful platform on which to deliver their cloud and application
services. The massive data centers designed to provide cloud computing services require
a large number of servers that are efficient, powerful, flexible, and are easy to maintain.
Software must be low cost, feature laden, and easy to integrate. Using a low-cost
operating system paired with the Dell PowerEdge C series servers can allow service
providers and other companies to deliver high-quality and efficient applications to their
customers.
Dell designed the Dell PowerEdge C series, which includes the Dell PowerEdge
C6220, specifically to meet the needs of these organizations that need to deploy large-
scale environments. In this reference architecture, we look at some of the many
benefits that the Dell PowerEdge C6220 server can bring to large deployments and
describe in detail the setup of a common configuration: CentOS running on the Dell
PowerEdge C6220.
Organizations often use open-source Linux-based operating systems, such as
CentOS, in these hyper-scale environments due to their price point, flexibility, ease of
management, and performance capabilities. These operating systems offer many built-
in application stacks, hypervisors, and other features that allow organizations to offer
their customers a comprehensive set of services. In this document, we walk you through
the task of deploying one such operating system, CentOS Server, and the
Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP (LAMP) application stack on one node of the PowerEdge
C6220, from start to finish.
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 server
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 server features up to four independent 1U hot-
swappable, two-socket server nodes that each harness the power of the Intel® Xeon®
processor E5-2600 series to maximize performance for hyper-scale environments.
Designed for flexibility, the multiple independent server nodes allow you to mix and
match workloads on different servers within the same chassis. If your requirements
demand it, configurations are available that feature just two independent 2U nodes,
with greater I/O capacity. The high performance levels it delivers, coupled with a simple,
modular, and easy-to-maintain design, make the Dell PowerEdge C6220 an optimal
choice for large software as a service (SaaS) and cloud deployments. Figure 1 presents a
1U server node of the Dell PowerEdge C6220.
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 is available with multiple storage controller options,
such as onboard storage with the Intel C600 chipset, the LSISAS2008 6Gb SAS mezzanine

Principled Technologies, Inc. 4
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
card, or the LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i RAID controller. For this installation guide we
used the LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i add-in RAID controller.
Figure 1: 1U server node of the Dell PowerEdge C6220 with the LSI MegaRAID SAS
9265-8i storage controller.
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 can deliver many benefits to your large
deployment, and lets you:
•Make better use of expensive data center space by increasing the rack
density with four two-socket server nodes fitting into a standard 2U
rack slot.
•Configure servers to better fit application and workload needs for
increased performance without reconfiguring your chassis and rack
layout. You can easily use 1U nodes in a four-node configuration or 2U
nodes in a two-node configuration. Additionally, an optional expandable

Principled Technologies, Inc. 5
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
backplane allows for adjustable disk and assignment and storage
configurations.
•Reuse or repurpose servers easily when workloads change with hot-
swap server nodes –you no longer need to experience downtime by
replacing the entire server chassis.
Designed with power-efficiency in mind to help reduce energy costs, the
Dell PowerEdge C6220 utilizes dynamic HDD allocation for better resource
utilization, and maximizes operating efficiency with a shared-infrastructure design.
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 also different drive options, so you can allocate storage
to the workloads that need it. To learn more about the Dell PowerEdge C6220 and
the entire Dell PowerEdge C Series, visit
http://www.dell.com/us/enterprise/p/poweredge-cloud-servers.
Storage and expansion specifications
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 features the following specifications:
Hard disk
oSATA, SAS, and SSD options
oMaximum raw storage capacity of 24TB across four nodes when
using SATA drives
o2.5” or 3.5” drive form factor
Available storage controllers
oIntel C600 chipset for onboard storage options with SATA and
SSD
oLSISAS2008 6Gb SAS mezzanine card
oLSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i add-in RAID controller, which we
used for this installation guide
Expansion slots
oThe PowerEdge C6220 four-node configuration has one x8
expansion slot and one x16 expansion slot per node.
oThe PowerEdge C6220 two-node configuration has one x8
expansion slot and two x16 expansion slots per node.
About CentOS Server
Community ENTerprise Operating System, commonly known as CentOS, is an
open-source Linux-based operating system designed to provide organizations with an
enterprise-class computing platform that is free to use. CentOS incorporates numerous
advanced operating system features such as virtualization capabilities, enhanced

Principled Technologies, Inc. 6
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
memory management capabilities, and ext4 file system support. For more information
about CentOS, visit http://www.centos.org/.
INSTALLING CENTOS ON THE DELL POWEREDGE
C6220
Prerequisites
BIOS requirements
When installing CentOS 6.2 (64-bit), we used the default factory BIOS setting for
the server. Based on your workload requirements, BIOS settings may require
adjustment, but you should thoroughly test these changes prior to production
implementation.
Driver prerequisites
In our lab installation, we used a Dell PowerEdge C6220 with the LSI MegaRAID
SAS 9265-8i RAID controller. Using this storage controller, CentOS installs and runs
without extra hardware drivers or software modules on the Dell PowerEdge C6220.
Installation
Deployment options
We recognize in mass deployment situations there are various options for OS
deployment including Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) or orchestration tools such
as Puppet. For this guide, however, we wish to prepare our “gold image” for CentOS on
a single Dell PowerEdge C6220 server node. To do this, we used its embedded
baseboard management controller (BMC) console and virtual installation media.
Storage configuration
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 can use several storage controllers to guard against
disk failures. For this guide, we assume that we wish to change the disk configuration
from the factory installation. We created one RAID6 virtual disk using the LSI MegaRAID
SAS 9265-8i RAID controller and the six 900GB internal hard drives assigned to the
server. We partitioned for the virtual disk for both OS and application data. Detailed
instructions on how to configure the storage controller are in Appendix C.
Installing the operating system
1. Using the BMC, assign the CentOS-6.2-x86_64-bin-DVD1 installation DVD to
the node and start the server.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 7
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
2. At the Dell PowerEdge C6220 Start Up screen, press F11 to select the boot
device.
3. On the Boot Manager screen, select the device with the CentOS boot media;
e.g., the CD/DVD virtual device.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 8
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
4. At the CentOS 6.2 welcome screen, select Install or upgrade an existing
system, and press Enter.
5. At the Media test screen, select Skip, and press Enter.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 9
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
6. At the CentOS 6 title screen, click Next.
7. At the Choose an Installation Language screen, select English, and click Next.
8. At the Keyboard Type screen, select U.S. English, and click Next.
9. At the Storage Devices screen, select Basic Storage Devices, and click Next.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 10
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
10. If a warning for device initialization appears, select Yes, discard any data.
11. At the Name the Computer screen, type the host name, and click Configure
Network.
12. At the Network Connections screen, select the server’s main or
management network interface, and click Edit.
13. At the Editing network interface screen, check Connect Automatically.
14. On the same screen, Select the IPv4 Settings tab, change the Method to
Manual, and click Add.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 11
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
15. On the same screen, enter the IP address, Netmask, Gateway, and DNS
server. Click Apply.
16. Click Close on the Network Connections screen, and click Next on the Name
the Computer screen.
17. At the Time zone selection screen, select the appropriate time zone, and
click Next.
18. Enter the root password in the Root Password and Confirm fields, and click
Next.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 12
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
19. At the Partition selection screen, select Replace Existing Linux System(s),
and click Next.
20. If a warning appears, click Write changes to disk.
21. At the default installation screen, Select Minimal and click Next to begin the
installation.
22. At the Congratulations screen, click Reboot.
23. After the system reboots, open a console window and login in as root.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 13
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
24. Disable SELinux by editing the file /etc/selinux/config, and change the line
SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=disabled. This change will take effect
after rebooting.
25. Disable these unused services by running the following command-line
script:
CHK_OFFs="auditd autofs cups ip6tables iptables\
nfslock netfs portreserve postfix qpidd rhnsd\
rhsmcertd rpcgssd rpcidmapd rpcbind"
for i in ${CHK_OFFs}; do
chkconfig $i off
service $i stop
done > /dev/null 2>&1
26. Update the operating system with patches and security fixes using yum.
yum update
27. Reboot the server.
INSTALLING THE LAMP STACK ON CENTOS AND THE
DELL POWEREDGE C6220
The LAMP stack –An overview
LAMP describes the components of a possible multi-tier software stack that an
infrastructure may run: the Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL
database, and PHP scripting language. This application stack has been used for years by
service providers to provide powerful and flexible multi-tier environments for
customers. Below, we briefly describe each component and then review the specific
methods for setting up a single-server LAMP stack on the Dell PowerEdge C6220.
Apache
Apache HTTP Server is an open-source Web server application that includes
such features as Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security support, filtering
support, and custom log files. For more information, visit http://www.apache.org/.
MySQL
MySQL is an open-source database that delivers high performance, high
reliability, and is easy to use. Running on more than 20 operating system platforms and
providing a range of database tools, MySQL delivers flexibility and performance to large-
scale deployments. For more information about MySQL, visit http://www.mysql.com/.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 14
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
PHP
PHP is a Web scripting language that can be embedded into HTML source
documents instead of using an external file to process data. The Web server interprets
the PHP code to generate a Web page. For more information about PHP, visit
http://www.php.net/.
Installation procedure
Installing Apache Web Server
1. Log onto the CentOS server as root.
2. Install the Apache Web Server application packages and their dependencies:
yum install @web-server
Installing MySQL Database
1. Log in as root.
2. Install the MySQL application packages and their dependencies
yum install @mysql @mysql-client
Installing PHP Scripting Language
1. Install the application packages and their dependencies:
yum install @php php-mysql
Testing with a sample LAMP application
To complete the LAMP deployment, we create a sample LAMP application
consisting of a test database with test data, a PHP script which creates a dynamic Web
page that prints the contents of a SQL query from the database. In this case, we
demonstrate using the well-known “Hello World” example.
1. Log onto the CentOS server as root.
2. Start the MySQL database instance.
service mysqld start
chkconfig mysqld on
3. Run the mysql_secure_installation utility to modify MySQL’s default settings
and set the instance’s root password to “RootPassword” (It is initially
unset).
mysql_secure_installation
4. Using the mysql client, create a test database, a test application user, and
set privileges:
mysql --user root --password=RootPassword
mysql> USE mysql;

Principled Technologies, Inc. 15
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
mysql> CREATE DATABASE helloworlddb;
mysql> CREATE USER testappuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY
'Password1';
mysql> GRANT ALL ON helloworlddb.* TO
testappuser@localhost;
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
5. Exit the mysql client utility.
6. Using the mysql client, login as the test application user to the newly
created database and create a sample schema definition. In our case, this is
just one table with one column.
mysql --user testappuser –-password=Password1
mysql> USE helloworlddb;
mysql> CREATE TABLE tbl_hello_world (testcol CHAR(100));
mysql> INSERT INTO tbl_hello_world (testcol) VALUES
("Hello World");
7. Exit the mysql client utility.
8. In the Apache Web data directory, located by default on CentOS at
/var/www/html/, create a new file named helloworld.php that will query
the database and print the results. See Appendix D for this sample PHP file
contents.
9. Start the Web server.
service httpd start
chkconfig httpd on
10. From another machine, verify the page is operational by visiting
http://server_ip_address/helloworld.php
SUMMING IT ALL UP
The Dell PowerEdge C6220 server and the Linux-based CentOS operating system
provide the power and features you need to deploy multiple, enterprise-class workloads
in a large-scale cloud services environment. By increasing rack density, eliminating
downtime with hot-swappable server nodes, and removing the cost of OS licenses and
upgrade fees, running CentOS on the Dell PowerEdge C6220 can have a great effect on
your organization’s bottom line, all while delivering top-of-the-line workload
performance for your cloud and SaaS users. As we have shown in this guide, deploying
the Dell PowerEdge C6220 with CentOS is a simple, straightforward task that can bring
many benefits to your cloud environment.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 16
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
APPENDIX A –REFERENCES
1. LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i product description:
http://www.lsi.com/products/storagecomponents/Pages/MegaRAIDSAS9265-8i.aspx
2. CentOS documentation: http://www.centos.org/
3. Dell Support page: http://support.dell.com

Principled Technologies, Inc. 17
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
APPENDIX B –DELL POWEREDGE C6220 SYSTEM DETAILS
Figure 2 presents the server configuration we used for this guide.
System
Dell PowerEdge C6220
Power supplies (per chassis)
Total number
2
Vendor and model number
Dell Model : D1200E-S1
Wattage of each (W)
1400
Cooling fans (per chassis)
Total number
4
Vendor and model number
Dell FHXGY-A00
Dimensions (h x w) of each
2.5” x 2.5”
Volts
12
Amps
3.30
General
Number of processor packages
2
Number of cores per processor
6
Number of hardware threads per core
2
System power management policy
Balanced
CPU
Vendor
Intel
Name
Xeon
Model number
E5-2630
Stepping
7
Socket type
LGA2011
Core frequency (GHz)
2.30
Bus frequency
7.2 GT/s
L1 cache
32 KB + 32 KB (per core)
L2 cache
256 KB (per core)
L3 cache
15 MB
Platform
Vendor and model number
Dell PowerEdge C6220
Motherboard model number
E145483
BIOS name and version
Dell 1.0.14
BIOS settings
Defaults
Memory module(s)
Total RAM in system (GB)
32
Vendor and model number
Hynix HMT351R7BFR8A-H9
Type
PC3-10600R
Speed (MHz)
1,333
Speed running in the system (MHz)
1,333
Timing/Latency(tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRASmin)
9-9-9-36

Principled Technologies, Inc. 18
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
System
Dell PowerEdge C6220
Size (GB)
4
Number of RAM module(s)
8
Chip organization
Double-sided
Rank
Dual
Operating system
Name
CentOS 6.2
File system
ext4
Kernel
2.6.32-220.13.1.el6.x86_64
Language
English
Updates
All as of 4/12/2012
Graphics
Vendor and model number
ASPEED VGA Controller
Graphics memory (MB)
8
RAID controller
Vendor and model number
LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i
Firmware version
3.120.5-1169
Cache size
1 GB
Driver module and version
LSI MegaRAID SAS Driver: megaraid_sas, 00.00.05.40-rh2
Internal hard drive
Vendor and model number
Seagate ST9900805SS
Number of disks in system
6
Size (GB)
900
Buffer size (MB)
64
RPM
10K
Type
6GB SAS
Ethernet adapters
Vendor and model number
I350 Gigabit Network Connection
Type
Integrated
USB ports
Number
2 external, 1 internal
Type
2.0
Figure 2: Detailed configuration information for the Dell PowerEdge C6220 we used for this guide.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 19
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
APPENDIX C –LSI MEGARAID SAS 9265-8I STORAGE CONFIGURATION
Below, we provide the detailed instructions for creating one RAID6 virtual disk using the LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i RAID
controller and the six 900GB internal hard drives assigned to the server.
1. Connect to the server console.
2. Boot the server and press Ctrl-H on the controller screen to enter the device’s graphical interface.
3. On the Adapter Selection screen, select the LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265-8i adaptor and click Start.
4. On the MegaRAID BIOS Home screen, click on Configuration Wizard.

Principled Technologies, Inc. 20
Dell PowerEdge C6220 and CentOS 6.2: A LAMP Reference
Architecture
5. On the first Configuration Wizard screen, select New Configuration, and click Next.