IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Product Manual

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IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Product Manual Manual pdf 2 page image

IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node 2Key featuresThe IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node is a high-availability, scalable compute node optimized tosupport the next-generation microprocessor technology and is ideally suited for medium and largebusinesses. This section describes the key features of the server.Scalability and performanceThe x240 offers numerous features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs:The Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 product family improves productivity by offering superior systemperformance with up to 8-core processors and up to 3.3 GHz core speeds depending on the CPU'snumber of cores, up to 20 MB of L3 cache, and QPI interconnect links of up to 8 GT/s.The Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 provides up to 80% performance boost over the previousgeneration, the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 (Westmere EP).Up to two processors, 16 cores, and 32 threads maximize the concurrent execution of multi-threadedapplications.Intelligent and adaptive system performance with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 allows CPU coresto run at maximum speeds during peak workloads by temporarily going beyond processor TDP.Intel Hyper-Threading Technology boosts performance for multi-threaded applications by enablingsimultaneous multi-threading within each processor core, up to two threads per core.Intel Virtualization Technology integrates hardware-level virtualization hooks that allow operatingsystem vendors to better utilize the hardware for virtualization workloads.Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (AVT) significantly improve floating point performance forcompute-intensive technical and scientific applications compared with Intel Xeon 5600 seriesprocessors.Up to 24 DDR3 ECC memory RDIMMs provide speeds up to 1600 MHz and a memory capacity of upto 384 GB. Load-reduced DIMMs (LRDIMMs) are supported with a maximum capacity of 768 GB.The theoretical maximum memory bandwidth of the Intel Xeon processor E5 family is 51.6 GBps,which is 60% more than in the previous generation of Intel Xeon processors.The use of solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of or along with traditional spinning drives (HDDs) cansignificantly improve I/O performance. An SSD can support up to 100 times more I/O operations persecond (IOPS) than a typical HDD.Up to 16 virtual I/O ports per compute node with integrated 10 Gb Ethernet ports, offering the choiceof Ethernet, Fibre Channel, iSCSI, or FCoE connectivity.The x240 offers PCI Express 3.0 I/O expansion capabilities that improve the theoretical maximumbandwidth by 60% (8 GT/s per link), compared with the previous generation of PCI Express 2.0.With Intel Integrated I/O Technology, the PCI Express 3.0 controller is integrated into the Intel Xeonprocessor E5 family. This helps to dramatically reduce I/O latency and increase overall systemperformance.Support for high-bandwidth I/O adapters, up to two in each x240 Compute Node. Support for 10 GbEthernet, 16 Gb Fibre Channel, and FDR InfiniBand.Availability and serviceabilityThe x240 provides many features to simplify serviceability and increase system uptime:Chipkill, memory mirroring and memory rank sparing for redundancy in the event of a non-correctablememory failure.