Glossary - Sun Microsystems SPARCserver 1000 System Installation Manual

Air Restrictor Board
Bus Arbitration System
ASIC (Applications Specific Integrated Circuit)
Backplane
BARB (Board Arbiter)

Glossary

A blank board with a special air deflector fin to simulate the airflow pattern of
an actual board. If air restrictor boards are not installed in blank slots, a
condition called a "thermal short" is created. Thermal shorts severely reduce
the cooling capability of the system, which can lead to equipment damage.
When there are at least two SuperSPARC modules in the system, a system of
bus arbitration is required to govern which processor has control of the system
resources at any moment. The SPARCserver 1000 arbitration system consists of
one Central Arbiter (CARB) on the control board and one Board Arbiter
(BARB) on every system board.
Many circuits that formerly were composed of many ICs and other
components are now implemented by single ASICs. Among these are: BARB,
CARB, BBC, BIC, BW, MQH, IOC, and SBI. See individual ASIC names for
details.
The backplane is located near the center of the chassis. The control board and
power supply connect on one side of the backplane and the system boards or
other boards connect on the other side of the backplane.
BARBs are part of the bus arbitration system. One BARB ASIC is located on
each system board. See Arbitration System.
Glossary–1