IBM X3500 - Manual (Page 10)

A stable, long-life, dual-socket, dual- and quad-core SMP
server, offering high-performance, massive capacity and
outstanding availability
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Processors — The Intel Xeon processor provides high clock rates, dual-cores, 64-bit extensions, a large
cache and advanced features for availability and manageability. Large cache size, combined with a fast
1066MHz or 1333MHz front-side, reduces memory latency and facilitates the movement of data through
the processor and I/O devices. (Note: System performance depends not only on the number of
processors in the server but also on the power and functionality of each processor.) Adding a second
processor may be a cost-effective way to achieve significant performance improvements.
Memory — Memory is a significant factor in systems application performance. Adding more memory to a
System x server is one of the most effective ways to increase application performance.
For best
performance in a server with a dual-core processor, there should be twice as much memory available as
for a single-core processor. The x3500 takes memory upgrades in pairs and provides either two-way or
four-way interleaving (depending on the number of DIMMs installed).
Hard Disk Drives — IBM hard disk drives help you improve the transaction and cost performance of your
System x servers. The choice of hard disk drives can be a critical aspect of maximizing the I/O throughput
of the system.
SAS hard disk drives are available for the x3500 with capacities up to 300GB (3.5-inch) at
10,000 RPMs and up to 146.8GB at 15,000 RPMs. SATA II hard disk drives are available with capacities
up to
750GB (3.5-inch) at 7,200 RPMs.
Backup Drives — Backup drives help you protect your data. IBM offers several choices of capacities and
technologies, including
DDS-5, DDS-6, LTO-2, LTO-3, and VXA-3.
Power Supply — The optional second power supply for the x3500 enables redundancy for hot-swap
power (and adds three additional fans for increased cooling capacity and redundancy).
Remote Supervisor Adapter II SlimLine — The x3500 includes a plethora of systems management
features built-in; however, sometimes additional management capability is needed. In those situations, the
Remote Supervisor Adapter II SlimLine not only offers powerful new features, it does so without taking up
a valuable PCI-X or PCI-E adapter slot, using a dedicated slot on the motherboard instead.
ServeRAID Controllers — System x servers using embedded ServeRAID-8k technology allow
companies to build a reliable foundation for business-critical computing. IBM ServeRAID technology
allows an 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 disk drives—
enhancing both the integrity and the availability of the data. SAS and SATA ServeRAID controllers offer
enhanced performance due to onboard processors and cache. Because IBM ServeRAID controllers can
help significantly improve data transfer rates, this technology is extremely effective when implementing
demanding, transaction-oriented applications. By employing the advanced fault tolerance of IBM
ServeRAID technology, companies can effectively implement networked business systems that require
large amounts of storage space for data and applications that must be available for their businesses to
continue operating.
The integrated ServeRAID-8k SAS/SATA controller offers enhanced performance via 256MB of battery-
backed cache memory, and supports six RAID levels: 0 (striping), 1 (mirroring), 10 (mirroring and
striping), 1E (enhanced mirroring, supporting odd numbers of drives), 5 (striping with parity), and 6
(striping with double parity).
The optional PCI-E ServeRAID-8s SAS/SATA controller offers enhanced performance for both internal
and external drives. It provides 256MB of cache (with optional battery backup), and supports the same 6
RAID levels as the ServeRAID-8k controller.
External Storage — The IBM TotalStorage DS3000, DS4000, DS6000, and DS8000 series, as well as
the
System Storage DS4000, N3000, N5000, and N7000 series, comprise a powerful and broad shared
storage family with integrated management software designed to meet midrange and enterprise needs.
For lower-end needs, IBM offers the TotalStorage
DS300 and DS400 storage enclosures.
Additionally, external SAN, NAS and direct-attach storage is available using one of several IBM System
Storage and TotalStorage host bus adapters.
The iSCSI HBA Adapter for IXA Connectivity is a PCI adapter for selected System x and xSeries
servers that provides a direct 1GBps link to an IBM System i5 or iSeries server. This connection enables
you to centralize their Microsoft Windows and System i5 or iSeries storage and consolidate the operations
and backup of their System x, xSeries, System i5 and iSeries systems into a single infrastructure. It
enables the tightest possible integration between Windows and System i5/iSeries data and applications,
and allows as many as
32 servers to attach to one System i5 or iSeries system to share the iSeries
server’s systems management, DVD, tape and disk storage via the iSeries dynamic virtual storage
architecture. This can take the place of a SAN if you have an established System i5 or iSeries
infrastructure.