Independent Channel Mode; Memory-Mirroring Mode - IBM System x3500 M2 Type 7839 Installation And User Manual

v The maximum operating speed of the server is determined by the slowest DIMM
v The server can operate in two major modes: mirroring and independent channel

Independent channel mode

The server requires at least one installed DIMM per microprocessor. The server
comes with a minimum of two 1 GB DIMMs, installed in connectors 3 and 6.
Connector 3 (in channel 0) and connector 6 (in channel 1) are the farthest
connectors from microprocessor 1 in those channels. When you install additional
DIMMs, install them in the order shown in Table 6, to maintain server performance.
Note: If you have configured the server to use memory mirroring, do not use the
order shown in this table; use the installation order that is shown in Table 8 on page
65.

Memory-mirroring mode

Memory-mirroring mode replicates and stores data on two pairs of DIMMs within
two channels simultaneously. If a failure occurs, the memory controller switches
from the primary pair of memory DIMMs to the backup pair of DIMMs. You must
enable memory mirroring through the Setup utility. For details about enabling
memory mirroring, see "Using the Setup utility" on page 78. When you use the
memory-mirroring feature, consider the following information:
v When you use memory mirroring, you must install a pair of DIMMs at a time.
v Channel 2, DIMM connectors 7, 8, 15, and 16 are not used in memory-mirroring
v The maximum amount of available memory is reduced to half of the amount of
The following illustration shows the memory channel interface layout with the DIMM
installation sequence for memory-mirroring mode. The numbers within the boxes
indicate the DIMM population sequence in pairs within the channels, and the
numbers next to the boxes indicate the DIMM connectors within the channels. For
example, the following illustration shows that the first pair of DIMMs (indicated by 1s
inside the boxes) should be installed in DIMM connector 3 on channel 0 and DIMM
connector 6 on channel 1. DIMM connectors 7, 8, 15, and 16 on channel 2 are not
used in memory-mirroring mode.
in the server.
modes.
Table 6. DIMM installation sequence for independent channel mode
Installed microprocessors
Microprocessor 1
Microprocessor 2
One DIMM must be in channel 0, and the mirroring DIMM must be in the same
connector in channel 1. The two DIMMs in each pair must be identical in size,
type, rank (single, dual, or quad), and organization. They do not have to be
identical in speed. The channels run at the speed of the slowest DIMM in any of
the channels. See Table 8 on page 65 for the DIMM connectors that are in each
pair.
mode.
installed memory when memory mirroring is enabled. For example, if you install
64 GB of memory, only 32 GB of addressable memory is available when you use
memory mirroring.
DIMM connector population sequence
3, 6, 8, 2, 5, 7, 1, 4
11, 14, 16, 10, 13, 15, 9, 12
Chapter 2. Installing optional devices
63