IBM System x3755 M3 Product Manual

Also see for System x3755 M3 7164: Installation and user guide Product guide At-a-glance guide

Contents

Superior performance/U in a 4-socket, 2U serverPlease see the Legal Information section for important notices and information. 8electrical circuits and other environmental conditions.IBM ServerGuide (installed from CD) simplifies the process of installing and configuring Systemx and BladeCenter servers. ServerGuide goes beyond mere hardware configuration by assistingwith the automated installation of the Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 operating systems,device drivers and other system components, with minimal user intervention. (Drivers are alsoincluded for support of Novell NetWare, Red Hat Linux and SUSE LINUX.) This focus ondeployment helps you reduce both your total cost of ownership and the complexity thatadministrators and technical personnel face.Additional services include hardware warranty upgrades and factory-installed ProductCustomization Services (PCS), such as asset tagging, hardware integration, software imagingand operating systems personalization.IBM offers extensive industry-leading technical support by phone and via the Web. Supportoptions include links to forums/newsgroups, problem submission, online shopping support,service offerings, device drivers for all IBM product lines, software downloads and even upcomingtechnical seminar worldwide schedules and registration. Also available are remote installation,configuration and usage support for System x hardware and software, as well as onsite customservices to provide the level of expertise you require.IBM Maintenance and Technical Support solutions can help you get the most out of your ITinvestment by reducing support costs, increasing availability and simplifying management withintegrated support for your multiproduct, multivendor hardware and software environment. Formore information on hardware maintenance, software support, solution support and managedsupport, visit http://ibm.com/services/maintenance.Key Options IBM options for System x servers help you take your servers to ahigher levelYou can rely on System x options to supply a complete solution for your business needs. Optionshelp you create an optimized server system to meet your data protection, storage and availabilityneeds. Every IBM option is designed and tested for peak performance and flexibility, helping tomaximize your return on investment. The combination of System x servers and options lets youkeep your fingers on the pulse of you e-business.Processors — The AMD Opteron 6000 series processors provide 12 or 8 cores, 64-bitextensions, a large cache and four integrated memory controllers. DirectConnnect Architectureand a large cache, combined with fast 1333MHz memory access, reduces memory latency andfacilitates the movement of data through the processor and I/O devices. (Note: Systemperformance depends not only on the number of processors in the server but also on the powerand functionality of each processor.) Adding additional processors may be a cost-effective way toachieve significant performance improvements.Memory — Memory is a significant factor in systems application performance. Adding morememory to a System x server is one of the most effective ways to increase applicationperformance. For best performance in a server with 8-core processors, there should be twice asmuch memory available as for a 4-core processor. The x3755 M3 takes memory upgrades inpairs and provides two-way interleaving. (Note: Each processor provides 8 DIMM slots.)Power Supply — With two processors installed, the optional 1100W second power supply for thex3755 M3 enables redundancy for hot-swap power. When four processors are installed, two hot-swap power supplies are required; a third provides redundancy.Hard Disk Drives — IBM hard disk drives help customers improve the transaction and costperformance of their System x servers. The choice of hard disk drives can be a critical aspect ofmaximizing the I/O throughput of the system. SAS hard disk drives (3.5-inch) are available for thex3755 M3 with capacities of 300 or 600GB at 15,000 RPMs. SATA hard disk drives (3.5-inch) areavailable with capacities of 250 and 500GB, and 1 or 2TB, at 7,200 RPMs.IBM ServeRAID Controllers — System x servers using ServeRAID technology allow companiesto build a reliable foundation for business-critical computing. IBM ServeRAID technology allowsan array consisting of multiple physical hard disk drives to be treated as one logical drive.ServeRAID technology also allows data to be stored redundantly, across multiple hard diskdrives— enhancing both the integrity and the availability of the data. SAS and SATA ServeRAIDcontrollers offer enhanced performance due to onboard processors and cache. Because IBMServeRAID controllers can help significantly improve data transfer rates, this technology isextremely effective when implementing demanding, transaction-oriented applications. Byemploying the advanced fault tolerance of IBM ServeRAID technology, companies can effectivelyimplement networked business systems that require large amounts of storage space for data andapplications that must be available for their businesses to continue operating.The IBM ServeRAID-M1015, x8 PCIe and 6Gbps, offers RAID-0/1/10; optionally RAID-5/50 withSED support. The IBM ServeRAID-M5014, x8 PCIe and 6Gbps, provides 256MB cache andRAID-0/1/10/5/50; optionally RAID-6/60 with SED, and battery backup). The IBM ServeRAID-M5015, x8 PCIe and 6Gbps, has 512MB cache and RAID-0/1/10/5/50; optionally RAID-6/60 and