Drive Bays - IBM x3450 Product Manual

A leading-edge, rack-dense, 1U dual-socket HPC server
core), a 1600MHz FSB, and 6MB of L2 processor cache (1 x 6MB)
Dual-core Xeon processors contain two complete processor cores; quad-core processors,
similarly, contain four cores. Dual-core processors contain one cache shared by both cores,
while quad-core processors have two shared caches (one per pair of cores). The shared cache is
dynamically allocated between the cores as needed. The multiple cores appear to software as
multiple physical processors. The dual-core processors offer considerably higher performance
than a same-speed Xeon processor with a single core. Likewise, quad-core processors offer
considerably higher performance than a same-speed Xeon processor with dual cores.
Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T) 64-bit extensions allow the Xeon processor to
use large memory addressing when running with a 64-bit operating system. This in turn lets
individual software processes directly access more than 4GB of RAM, which was the limit of 32-
bit addressing. This can result in much higher performance for certain kinds of programs, such as
database management and CAD. Additional registers and instructions (SSE3) can further boost
performance for applications written to use them. Contact your software provider to determine
their software support for EM64T.
The 1600MHz FSB (which connects memory to the processor) boasts a peak rate of 12.8GBps,
or up to 20% higher throughput at the same processor clock speed than a 1333MHz FSB, and up
to 54% higher throughput than a 1066MHz FSB. This may result in significantly higher data
transfer rates.
Intelligent Power Capability powers individual processor elements on and off as needed.
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Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology allows the system to dynamically adjust processor
core frequency and voltage. Both of these capabilities help reduce energy consumption and
ambient noise.
Execute Disable Bit functionality can help prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow
attacks when combined with a supporting operating system.
DDR II ECC Fully Buffered Memory with Chipkill Protection
The x3450 supports up to 64GB of memory in 16 DIMM sockets. Some models ship with two
4GB DIMMs standard, some with eight 4GB DIMMs and some with 16 4GB DIMMs standard.
The x3450 uses PC2-5300 or PC2-6400 fully-buffered double data rate II (DDR2) memory
(operating at 667MHz or 800MHz) for faster access, and provides Active Memory features,
including advanced Chipkill memory protection, for up to 16X better error correction than
standard ECC memory.
The fully buffered memory in the x3450 provides up to triple the memory bandwidth (up to
21.3GBps in four channels of PC2-5300 fully-buffered DIMMs vs. a maximum of 6.4GBps in two
channels of unbuffered PC2-3200 memory and up to double the system memory capacity (16
DIMMs x 4GB) of competitive servers (8 DIMMs x 4GB). By performing reads and writes
simultaneously, it eliminates the memory read-to-write blocking latency of unbuffered DDR2
memory. In addition, it also offers innovative data reliability and security features to help improve
data integrity, including enhanced CRC protection, data retry on error detect and buffer registers
for improved fault isolation.
For increased availability, the x3450 offers an additional level of memory protection: online hot-
spare memory. The 16 DIMM slots are divided into two branches of 8 slots apiece, and each
branch contains two channels of four DIMMs apiece. When online hot-spare memory is enabled,
using single and/or dual-rank DIMMs one rank is set aside per channel as online spares in case
one of the other ranks fails. The spare rank must have capacity at least that of the largest active
rank. Up to 56GB (using 16 dual-rank 4GB DIMMs) of memory is available when the hot-spare
feature is active. (If using 16 single-rank 4MB DIMMs, only 48MB is available.)
This feature is enabled in BIOS; it is operating system independent.
When dual-rank DIMMs are installed, multiples of four ranks operate in 4:1 rank Interleaving
mode, for highest performance. If single-rank DIMMs are used, the system operates in two-way
branch Interleaving mode.
DIMMs must be installed in pairs. Memory is available in kits consisting of two 2GB or 4GB
DIMMs.

Drive Bays

The x3450 contains two HDD drive bays in all, depending on the model. All models offer two 3.5-
inch bays that support simple-swap SATA II drives. This enables up to two slimline (1.0") drives
to be installed, totaling up to 1.5TB. Some models ship with one 500GB SATA II drive installed,
and others with two such drives installed; the rest ship with both drive bays available.
Simple-swap drives can be inserted or removed through the front of the server without tools, like
hot-swap drives; however, unlike with hot-swap drives, the system power must first be turned off.
An external USB floppy drive or optical drive may be added, if needed.
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