Physical Design - IBM x3850 X6 Planning And Implementation Manual

3.4 Physical design

The x3850 X6 and x3950 X6 servers are based on a new design where all major server
components are located in easy-to-service modules called "Books", and each Book can be
inserted into the server chassis from either the front or rear of the system. In the middle of the
server is a passive midplane, which connects all server's components to each other.
There are several types of books available:
Compute Books: A module, accessible from the front of the server, which has one
processor and up to 24 DIMM modules.
Storage Books: Server's modules, which contain the set of hard drives or SSD drives, a
couple of PCIe RAID adapters, USB and video ports, and operator panel. Storage Books
reside in front of the server.
I/O Books: Accessible from the rear of the server modules, which provide I/O capabilities.
Each I/O module provides up to 3 PCIe 3.0 slots for half-length or full-length PCIe
adapters.
Figure 3-2 shows the front view of the x3850 X6 server.
Storage Book
Figure 3-2 The x3850 X6 front view
As shown in Figure 3-2, each x3850 X6 server can have up to four Compute Books (two
Compute Books minimum), and one Storage Book, which can have up to 8 2.5-inch drives or
up to 16 1.8-inch SSD drives. The x3850 X6 server also has 3 USB 3.0 ports from the front
side, one video port, and the control panel with LCD screen.
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IBM System x3850 X6 and x3950 X6 Planning and Implementation Guide
Compute Books