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A.5 Product Description
A.5.1 Intel i960RS or i960RN I/O Processor
The i960RS/RN I/O processors are members of a new RISC CPU generation which was spe-
cifically designed for I/O applications. This pure 64 Bit CPU on an ICP Controller can reach a
performance of +100 MIPS and supervises all tasks of the SCSI devices, the RAID control-
ling and the communication with the PCI computer. In doing so, it significantly offloads the
PCI computer, leaving it free to perform its original tasks.
A.5.2 64 Bit Architecture
To meet the demands on a high performance controller, the bus architecture of the ICP
Controller has a 64 Bit layout.
64 Bit control processor (i960Rx I/O Processor)
64 Bit bus-interface (PCI) for RN Series and 32 Bit for RS Series
64 Bit memory controller (with ECC)
A.5.3 Cache RAM - Expandable to 128MB
The cache RAM of an ICP Controller consists of one standard non-buffered PC100 DIMM (as
used in most motherboards). The cache size is flexible as different memory sizes can be ob-
tained by using different modules. Thus, the memory can be expanded to 16MB, 32MB,
64MB or 128MB.
The user can install both, normal and ECC DIMMs. An intelligent multi-level cache algo-
rithm ensures that a high hit rate (cache hit) is achieved. Both, look-ahead and special de-
layed-write cache functions are implemented. With the ICP configuration and monitoring
utilities ICPCON and ICP RAID Navigator, the user can adjust various cache parameters.
A.5.4 Compatibility - PCI
The ICP Controllers have been developed in accordance with the 2.2 PCI-Bus specifications.
They perform full bus-master DMA and can be operated in both, 32 Bit and 64 Bit PCI bus
mastering slots. The transfer rates are 132MB/sec in a 32 Bit PCI slot and 264MB/sec in a 64
Bit slot (for RN Series ICP Controllers). RN Series ICP Controllers can also be operated in
32 Bit slots.
A.5.5 Up to 6 Ultra 160 SCSI Channel
The ICP Controllers are available with up to six Ultra 160 SCSI channels. The RN Series
Wide/Ultra2 SCSI Controllers have one additional Wide/Ultra SCSI channel for legacy SCSI
devices. Per Channel up to 15 devices can be connected. The maximum data transfer rate
is 80MB/sec on the Wide/Ultra2 SCSI channel, 160MB/sec on the Ultra 160 SCSI and
40MB/sec on the Wide/Ultra SCSI channel.
The Wide/Ultra2 SCSI channels have a multimode termination and allow cable lengths up
to 12 meters. The Wide/Ultra SCSI channel is equipped with an active termination. All ter-
mination settings are software-switchable.
A.5.6 ICP Controller Firmware, BIOS and ICP RAID Console
The firmware, the BIOS of the ICP Controller and the configuration an monitoring program
ICPCON are stored in a Flash-RAM on the ICP Controller PCB. The firmware is designed for
parallel processing and it controls all resources of the ICP Controller. This means that the
entire administration of SCSI devices and RAID is exclusively carried out by the ICP Con-
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