IBM System x3550 M3 Product Manual

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IBM System x3550 M3 Product Manual Manual pdf 10 page image

Leadership enterprise server with significantly lower cost of ownership in a highly available andexpandable, rack-dense, 1U dual-socket serverPlease see the Legal Information section for important notices and information. 10reducing overall system power requirements.The Emulex 10Gb/s Virtual Fabric Adapter for IBM System x3550 M3 is based on the EmulexOneConnect Universal Converged Network Adapter (UCNA) platform that also includes thecapability for future upgrades to Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and iSCSI protocol offloads.By using a common infrastructure for Ethernet and storage networks, data centers can reducecapital expense (CapEx) for adapters, switches and cables, and operational expense (OpEx) forpower, cooling and IT administration.End-to-end data protection with hardware parity, CRC, ECC and other advanced error checkingand correcting ensure that data is safe from corruption.Integrated dual 10Gbps Ethernet ports:• IPv4/IPv6 TCP, UDP checksum offload; Large Send Offload (LSO); Large Receive Offload;Receive Side Scaling (RSS); IPV4 TCP Chimney Offload• VLAN insertion and extraction• Jumbo frames up to 9000 Bytes• Preboot eXecutive Environment (PXE) 2.0 network boot support• Interrupt coalescing• Load balancing and failover support including adapter fault tolerance (AFT), switch faulttolerance (SFT), adaptive load balancing (ALB), teaming support and IEEE 802.3ad.Ultra-Efficient CoolingStrategically located fans, combined with efficient airflow paths, provide highly effective systemcooling for the x3550 M3, known as Calibrated Vectored Cooling. The base server with onepower supply includes one hot-swap fan module, upgradeable to six modules, for redundantcooling. Each module includes two back-to-back fans with counterrotating blades. In addition,each power supply also contains a fan.The system contains three cooling zones. Zone 1 (incorporating two fan modules) cools all 18DIMM sockets, Zone 2 (two fan modules) cools the primary processor, and Zone 3 (one or twofan modules) cools the second processor (if installed).The fans automatically adjust speeds in response to changing thermal requirements depending onthe zone and internal temperatures. When the temperature inside the server increases, the fansspeed up to maintain the proper ambient temperature. When the temperature returns to a normaloperating level, the fans return to their default speed. In addition, the Bosch BMP085 altimeterworks in conjunction with IMM to govern fan rotation. At high altitudes the air is thinner and doesn’tcool as well as at lower elevations. In most servers, the fans run fast all the time to allow for use athigh elevations, wasting power. The altimeter allows the IBM fans to run at lower speeds at loweraltitudes.Why not simply run the fans at 100% capacity all the time? For several good reasons: to reducethe ambient noise, reduce the wear-and-tear on the fans and reduce the server power draw. Thereduction in ambient noise and power draw may be relatively minor for a single server, but putdozens or hundreds in a data center and it can make a big difference!In addition, the server uses hexagonal ventilation holes in the chassis. Hexagonal holes can begrouped more densely than round holes, providing greater airflow through the system cover.This cooling scheme is important because newer, more powerful processors generate a significantamount of heat, and heat must be controlled for the system to function properly.There are temperature sensors on the planar placed to sense DIMM exhaust temperature, SASHDD exhaust temperature, and CPU2 exhaust temperature (through the altitude sensor).Light Path DiagnosticsLight path diagnostics enables a technician to quickly identify and locate a failed or failing systemcomponent, such as a specific fan or memory DIMM. This enables quick replacement of thecomponent, which helps increase server uptime and lower operating costs.The front of the server has an LED indicator light to show possible component failures. If the frontLED indicates an error condition, by pressing a button on the front of the server an LED panel willpop out and drop down for easy viewing without the need to open the server cover or remove theserver from the rack. The light path diagnostics panel tells the servicer which component requiresattention. In addition, many components have their own identifying LEDs. For example, each ofthe memory modules has an LED next to the socket, as do both processors, all adapter slots, allfan modules, all power supplies, the voltage regulator module and the service processor, allowingthe servicer to easily identify exactly which component needs servicing. By following the “lightpath,” the component can be replaced quickly, and without guesswork. (Note: In the event of afailed DIMM, the system will restart and mark the DIMM as bad while offline, thus allowing thesystem to continue running, with reduced memory capacity, until serviced.)