HP IO Accelerator for BladeSystem c-Class User Manual
Page 9
Introduction 9
BladeSystem c-Class IO Accelerators have two distinct designs for the respective server product lines. The G1
through G7 IO Accelerator adapter is provided in a c-Class Type 1 Mezzanine card form factor. It can be
installed in both Type 1 and Type 2 mezzanine slots within the c-Class blade G1 through G7 servers,
enabling a total of two cards in a half-height server blade, and three cards in a full-height server blade and
up to 6 in a double-high, double-wide server (BL680c).
The Gen8 adapter is provided in a c-Class Type B Mezzanine card form factor. It can only be installed in
Type B mezzanine slots within the Gen 8 or later servers, enabling one IO Accelerator in a half-height Gen8
server.
The Type I mezz card and the Type B mezz card are distinguished by the mezzanine connector. The type B
card is slightly larger than a Type I mezz card.
The amount of free RAM required by the driver depends on the size of the blocks used when writing to the
drive. The smaller the blocks, the more RAM is required. The table below lists the guidelines for each 80GB
of storage. For the latest information, see the QuickSpecs sheet to the HP IO Accelerator for HP BladeSystem
c-Class at HP Customer Support
The Remote Power Cut Module for the c-Class blade mezzanine card provides a higher level of protection in
the event of a catastrophic power loss (for example, a user accidentally pulls the wrong server blade out of
the slot). The Remote Power Cut Module ensures in-flight writes are completed to NAND flash in these
catastrophic scenarios. Without the Remote Power Cut Module, write performance is slower. Writes are not
acknowledged until the data is written to the NAND module, thereby slowing performance. When the
Remote Power Cut Module is installed, writes are acknowledged by the IO Accelerator controller to the
driver. The IO Accelerator controller then completes the write to the NAND module.
The IO Accelerators (QK761A, QK762A, and QK763A) for Gen 8 BladeSystem c-Class have the power cut
functionality embedded on the card. They offer the protection without requiring the remote power cut module.
NOTE:
The Remote Power Cut Module is used only in the AJ878B and BK836A models. Without
the Remote Power Cut Module, write performance is slower.
HP PCIe IO Accelerator minimum requirements
•
An open PCI-Express slot—The accelerator requires a minimum of one half-length, half-height slot with
a x4 physical connector. All four lanes must be connected for full performance. HP PCIe IO Accelerator
Duo requires a minimum of a full-height, half-length slot with an x8 physical connection. If your system
is using PCI 1.1, all x8 signaling lanes must be connected for full performance. If your system is using
PCI 2.0, for full performance you only have to connect x4 signaling lanes.
NOTE:
For PCIe IO Accelerators, using PCIe slots greater than x4 does not improve
performance.
NOTE:
The power cut feature is built into PCIe IO Accelerators; therefore, no Remote Power Cut
Module is necessary.
•
300 LFM of airflow at no greater than 50°C. To protect against thermal damage, the IO Accelerator
also monitors the junction temperature of its controller. The temperature represents the internal
temperature of the controller, and it is reported in fio-status report. The IO Accelerator begins
throttling write performance when the junction temperature reaches 78°C. If the junction temperature
continues to rise, the IO Accelerator shuts down when the temperature reaches 85°C.
NOTE:
If you experience write performance throttling due to high temperatures, see your
computer documentation for details on increasing airflow, including fan speeds.