Compaq 112726-001 - ProLiant - 6500 Technology Brief page 3

ProLiant 7000 Server
ECG078/0698
T B
ECHNOLOGY RIEF
. .
I
N T R O D U C T I O N
. .
. .
. .
In today's business environment, customers require powerful servers with fault-tolerant features
. .
to keep their businesses running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Compaq ProLiant 7000
. .
. .
Server provides breakthrough high-performance and high-availability technologies that keep the
. .
server up and running in the most demanding 7x24 environments. This technology brief explains
. .
. .
the features of the new ProLiant 7000 Servers that support Pentium II Xeon processors, and how
. .
previously purchased ProLiant 7000 Servers can be upgraded to support up to four Pentium II
. .
Xeon processors. This upgrade path provides investment protection and gives customers
. .
. .
confidence of a long life for the ProLiant 7000.
. .
. .
This technology brief also describes the management technologies of the ProLiant 7000 Server.
. .
. .
Many of these technologies are covered in more detail in separate technology briefs, which are
. .
referenced in this document.
. .
. .
. .
. . H -P
I G H E R FO R M A N C E
. .
. .
. .
Pentium II Xeon Processor Technology
. .
. .
The Pentium II Xeon processor uses the same core architecture as previous Pentium II processors,
. .
. . and it continues the same 32-bit technology line, which makes it fully software compatible with
. .
all current Pentium Pro and Pentium II processors. Like the Pentium Pro and Pentium II
. .
processors, the Pentium II Xeon uses dynamic execution techniques and a dual independent bus
. .
. .
structure. The dual independent bus structure provides a separate bus between the processor and
. .
the secondary level 2 (L2) cache. See the technology brief Deschutes Family Processor
. .
. .
Technology, document number
. .
Pentium II Xeon processor.
. .
. .
. .
The Pentium II Xeon processor provides higher levels of performance through architectural
. .
enhancements including:
. .
. .
100-MHz AGTL+ system bus
. .
. .
Processor frequencies starting at 400 MHz and increasing to 450 MHz and beyond
. .
. .
. .
Full-speed L2 cache bus
. .
. .
L2 cache configurations starting at 512 KB and 1MB and increasing to 2 MB
. .
. .
Slot 2 cartridge
. .
. .
Support for up to 64 GB of cacheable system memory
. .
. .
. . MMX technology
. .
. .
100-MHz AGTL+ System Bus
. .
. .
. .
An important enhancement is the move from the 66-MHz GTL+ bus used by the Pentium Pro and
. .
Pentium II processors to the higher frequency 100-MHz AGTL+ bus. This provides faster data
. .
. .
pathways between the processor and random access memory (RAM), and between the processor
. .
and system peripherals.
. .
. .
. .
400- and 450-MHz Core Processor Frequencies
. .
. .
One of the most significant differences between the Pentium II Xeon processor and current
. .
. .
Pentium Pro processors is the much higher processor frequency. Pentium II Xeon processors,
. .
currently at 400 MHz, are expected to reach 450 MHz by the end of 1998, and to increase beyond
. .
. . 450 MHz in later versions.
. .
. .
3
(cont.)
T
E C H N O L O G I E S
ECG050/0698 for more details on the IA32 architecture and the