Reliability, Availability, And Serviceability - IBM 79463AU Installation And User Manual

v Redundant connection
v Redundant cooling and optional power capabilities
v ServeRAID support
v Systems-management capabilities
v TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) support

Reliability, availability, and serviceability

Three important computer design features are reliability, availability, and
serviceability (RAS). The RAS features help to ensure the integrity of the data that
is stored in the server, the availability of the server when you need it, and the ease
with which you can diagnose and correct problems.
Your server has the following RAS features:
v 3-year parts and 3-year labor limited warranty for machine type 7946; 4-year
v Automatic error retry and recovery
v Automatic restart on nonmaskable interrupt (NMI)
v Automatic restart after a power failure
The addition of the optional Ethernet daughter card provides failover capability to
a redundant Ethernet connection with the applicable application installed. If a
problem occurs with the primary Ethernet connection and the optional Ethernet
daughter card is installed on the server, all Ethernet traffic that is associated with
the primary connection is automatically switched to the optional redundant
Ethernet daughter card connection. If the applicable device drivers are installed,
this switching occurs without data loss and without user intervention.
The server supports a maximum of two 675-watt hot-swap power supplies and
six dual-motor hot-swap fans, which provide redundancy and hot-swap capability
for a typical configuration. The redundant cooling by the fans in the server
enables continued operation if one of the fans fails. The server comes with one
675-watt hot-swap power supply and six fans. You can order the second optional
power supply.
The ServeRAID adapter provides hardware redundant array of independent disks
(RAID) support to create configurations. The standard RAID adapter provides
RAID levels 0, 1, and 1E. An optional RAID adapter is available for purchase that
provides RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60.
The server comes with an integrated management module (IMM). When the IMM
is used with the systems-management software that comes with the server, you
can manage the functions of the server locally and remotely. The IMM also
provides system monitoring, event recording, and network alert capability. The
system-management connector on the rear of the server is dedicated to the IMM.
The dedicated system-management connector provides additional security by
physically separating the management network traffic from the production
network. You can use the Setup utility to configure the server to use a dedicated
systems-management network or a shared network.
The Ethernet controllers in the server support TOE, which is a technology that
offloads the TCP/IP flow from the microprocessor and I/O subsystem to increase
the speed of the TCP/IP flow. When an operating system that supports TOE is
running on the server and TOE is enabled, the server supports TOE operation.
See the operating-system documentation for information about enabling TOE.
Note: As of the date of this document, the Linux operating system does not
support TOE.
parts and 4-year labor limited warranty for machine type 4198.
Chapter 1. The System x3550 M2 server
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