Compaq ProLiant 8500 Technology Brief
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Compaq Manuals
  4. Server
  5. ProLiant 8500
  6. Technology brief
Compaq ProLiant 8500 Technology Brief

Compaq ProLiant 8500 Technology Brief

Proliant 8500 server technology
Hide thumbs Also See for ProLiant 8500:
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual See also: Feature Manual, Administrator's Manual
June 2000
Compaq Computer
Corporation
ISSD Technology
Communications
C
O N T E N T S
Introduction ........................ 3
High-Performance
Technologies ...................... 3
ProLiant 8500 Architecture ....... 4
Pentium III Xeon
Processor Technology............ 10
High-Availability
Technologies .................... 12
PCI Hot Plug Technology ....... 12
Redundant Network Interface
Controller Technology ............ 13
Redundant Hot-Plug Fans ...... 13
Redundant Processor
Power Modules ...................... 14
Redundant Hot-Plug
Power Supplies ..................... 15
Hot-Plug Hard Disk Drives...... 17
Auto Processor
Bus Recovery ........................ 17
Storage
Technologies .................... 17
Hard Drive Technology........... 17
Integrated Array
Controller Technology ............ 18
Management
Technologies .................... 19
Remote-Flash
Redundant ROM .................... 20
Auto-Default ROM
Configuration......................... 20
Integrated Management
Display.................................. 21
Integrated Remote Console .... 21
Remote Insight
Board/PCI Option .................. 21
Serviceability
Features ............................ 22
Conclusion........................ 23
TC000604TB
T
ECHNOLOGY
. .
Compaq ProLiant 8500 Server Technology
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
This technology brief describes the high-performance, high-availability, storage, and
. .
management technologies built into the Compaq ProLiant 8500 server. The high-
. .
. .
performance technologies include a new 8-way system architecture driven by the
. .
. .
Profusion chipset codeveloped by Compaq, Intel, and Corollary, as well as Intel's
. .
Pentium III Xeon processors. In addition, new disk drive technology and a new
. .
. .
integrated array controller optimize the ProLiant 8500 server's internal storage for
. .
operating system and boot support while allowing maximum external storage capacity.
. .
. .
. .
The high-availability technologies include PCI Hot Plug technology; redundant hot-plug
. .
power supplies, drives, and fans; redundant processor power modules; and auto
. .
. .
processor bus recovery. The ProLiant 8500 server uses a highly modular design that
. .
. .
allows easy access to components, thus reducing downtime for service and upgrades.
. .
The ProLiant 8500 server also incorporates key management technologies, such as the
. .
. .
Integrated Remote Console, Integrated Management Display, Remote-flash Redundant
. .
. .
ROM, and auto-default ROM configuration, that further enhance availability.
. .
. .
The intended audience for this paper is engineers and system administrators familiar
. .
. .
with existing Compaq technology and servers. For those less familiar with Compaq
. .
technology, please see the related technology briefs referenced in this document. For
. .
. .
more information about the ProLiant 8500 server, see the complete list of features at
. .
. .
http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/ProLiant8500/quickspecs.html.
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
Please direct comments regarding this communication to the ISSD Technology Communications Group at this Internet
. .
address:
TechCom@compaq.com
. .
1
B
RIEF

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the ProLiant 8500 and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel

Related Manuals for Compaq ProLiant 8500

Summary of Contents for Compaq ProLiant 8500

  • Page 1 Controller Technology .... 13 technology, please see the related technology briefs referenced in this document. For Redundant Hot-Plug Fans ..13 more information about the ProLiant 8500 server, see the complete list of features at Redundant Processor http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/ProLiant8500/quickspecs.html. Power Modules ...... 14 Redundant Hot-Plug Power Supplies .....
  • Page 2 BUSINESS INFORMATION), EVEN IF COMPAQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. The limited warranties for Compaq products are exclusively set forth in the documentation accompanying such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting a further or additional warranty.
  • Page 3 Status Indicators improve serviceability and further reduce downtime associated with upgrades and field maintenance. This technology brief explains the features of the ProLiant 8500 server and describes the management and storage technologies that enhance performance and availability. Many of these technologies are covered in more detail in separate technology briefs, which are referenced in this document.
  • Page 4 (cont.) ProLiant 8500 Architecture The system architecture is the key to the high level of performance offered by the ProLiant 8500 server. Compaq worked closely with Intel and Corollary for three years to perfect the 8-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) architecture so that the processors, memory, and I/O subsystem work in harmony to deliver breakthrough levels of performance.
  • Page 5 ECHNOLOGY RIEF (cont.) Profusion Chipset At the heart of the 8-way architecture is the Profusion chipset. The chipset uses a five-point crossbar switch (Figure 2) to connect processor buses, memory ports, and the I/O bus. The crossbar switch contains static random access memory (SRAM) with ten ports—five read and five write—that appear as five bidirectional ports, one for each of the processor, memory, and I/O buses.
  • Page 6 Figure 3: ASIC partitioning in the Profusion chipset. Processor and I/O Buses The ProLiant 8500 server includes two 64-bit processor buses and a dedicated 64-bit I/O bus. All three are 100-MHz advanced Gunning transceiver logic plus (AGTL+) buses with a theoretical maximum throughput of 800 MB/s.
  • Page 7 I/O bus. The I/O filter enhances performance by reducing snoop traffic on the I/O bus. This I/O filter is designed to work with all three of the Compaq host-to-PCI bridges. When a processor requests a cache line with the intent to modify it, the MAC performs a lookup into the I/O filter to determine if that line resides in one of the caching bridges.
  • Page 8 Peer-to-peer transaction support 64-Bit, 66-MHz PCI Support Compaq licensed the host-to-PCI bridges to Intel, and they will ship with a Compaq logo on top in servers produced by other original equipment manufacturers. They are compliant with the PCI 2.2 Specification and support 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI transactions.
  • Page 9 The host-to-PCI bridges include electronics to support PCI Hot Plug technology, which was pioneered by Compaq. PCI Hot Plug technology provides the ability to remove, replace, upgrade, and add PCI adapters without shutting down the server. Any PCI adapter can be placed in a PCI Hot Plug slot;...
  • Page 10 ECHNOLOGY RIEF (cont.) Pentium III Xeon Processor Technology The Pentium III Xeon processor is based on the Pentium II Xeon processor cartridge form factor. The Pentium III Xeon processor provides a higher internal core frequency than the Pentium II Xeon processor and includes 70 new streaming instructions that permit more efficient use of memory above 4 GB.
  • Page 11 To further reduce any cooling issues that may arise from packing so much power into such a small form factor, Compaq also improved the design of the ProLiant 8500 chassis. As show in Figure 6, a spring-loaded trap door has been added to each power supply bay. When a power supply is removed, the trap door will close to block the opening.

  • Page 12: Pci Hot Plug Technology

    Hot upgrade – replacing a PCI adapter with an upgraded adapter Hot expansion – adding a PCI adapter to an empty slot The ProLiant 8500 server supports all three hot-plug capabilities for all 64-bit PCI Hot Plug slots. These capabilities can be added incrementally, depending on the OS implementation.

  • Page 13: Redundant Hot-Plug Fans

    Redundant Hot-Plug Fans The ProLiant 8500 server includes two hot-plug system fans in the I/O module of the server (Figure 7). One fan is required to cool the system, and the other fan is redundant. If the primary fan fails, a system alert triggers the secondary (or redundant) fan to take over automatically.
  • Page 14 Figure 8: Schematic diagram of fan control logic. Redundant Processor Power Modules Each processor in the ProLiant 8500 server has its own redundant PPM. PPMs are also known as voltage regulator modules. An additional PPM is included in the server to power the system board.

  • Page 15: Redundant Hot-Plug Power Supplies

    A single power supply running at 220 volts can support a fully loaded ProLiant 8500 server, but a second power supply adds redundancy and fault tolerance.
  • Page 16 Graceful shut down – A 10-second delay counter begins as a message warning of an imminent power-down goes to Compaq Insight Manager and the IMD. Because of the communication between the ACPI controller and the OS, the OS can delay the power down until all running applications have properly closed.

  • Page 17: Hot-Plug Hard Disk Drives

    Auto Processor Bus Recovery Auto processor bus recovery is a feature of the ProLiant 8500 server that maintains server availability in the unlikely event that one of the cache accelerators fails. If a cache accelerator fails, the server will go through the Automatic Server Recovery (ASR) process and reboot.

  • Page 18: Integrated Array Controller Technology

    Independent Disks RAID solution that enhances system reliability and improves host processor utilization. It is ideal for data center servers, like the ProLiant 8500 server, in which internal storage is optimized for OSs and swap space. RAID implementation enhances data integrity and recovery through data striping and parity generation for the data rebuild process.

  • Page 19: Management Technologies

    Fault-tolerant, redundant features are only part of what makes Compaq servers highly available. Compaq offers a range of hardware- and software-based server management tools that can be used to reduce downtime and increase productivity. The ProLiant 8500 server includes the following standard tools available to all Compaq servers: Automatic Server Recovery.

  • Page 20: Remote-Flash Redundant Rom

    Using the Compaq Remote ROM Flash Utility, administrators can flash the system ROMs for a wide range of Compaq servers, locally or across the network. The Remote ROM Flash Utility is a combination of components that allows administrators to upgrade the system ROMs on servers from a single point of execution.

  • Page 21: Integrated Management Display

    Integrated Remote Console IRC consists of a Compaq designed ASIC and associated firmware. IRC allows out-of-band, or asynchronous, management capabilities such as remote console and remote reset. These capabilities are independent of the state of the network OS.
  • Page 22 E R V I C E A B I L I T Y E A T U R E S The ProLiant 8500 server defines a new level of serviceability with a unique modular design that includes five components: the processor/memory module, the media module, the I/O module, the power supplies, and a system midplane.
  • Page 23 The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server offers customers a high-performance, highly scalable solution for their data center needs. The server also provides all the high-availability features customers have come to expect from Compaq servers. In addition, Compaq has integrated key management technologies and revolutionary serviceability features that further reduce downtime and improve manageability.

Table of Contents