Reference Guide

April 22, 2009

Subject: Statement of Volatility – Dell Precision Workstation T5500

Gentlemen:

The Dell Precision Workstation T5500 contains both volatile and non-volatile (NV) components. Volatile

components lose their data immediately upon removal of power from the component. Non-volatile components

continue to retain their data even after the power has been removed from the component.

The following memory components are present on the T5500 motherboard:

BIOS Configuration

The BIOS information is stored in a 16 Mbit flash IC. This device is identified as U_BIOS on the

motherboard. U_BIOS contains the boot code and data necessary to take the hardware from a power-off

or low-power state to a state where it is ready to be managed by the operating system. No information

pertaining to user applications or data is stored in the U_BIOS device, however, the BIOS device does store

administrator and/or hard drive encryption passwords if those features are enabled by the user.

Embedded Controller

The Embedded Controller contains 192 kByte of non-volatile storage space and is identified as U_EC on

the motherboard. The EC contains the software necessary to manage low-level control functions on the

motherboard such as thermal control. No information pertaining to user applications or data is stored in

the U_EC device.

The embedded controller also contains 16 kBytes of volatile memory space. The contents of this memory

space are lost when power is removed from the system.

Fan Controller

The Fan Controller (U_HWM) is a factory-programmed device that monitors and controls the various fans

needed for proper thermal operation. This device contains 32k bytes of ROM. The data inside the ROM is

not accessible to the user. No information pertaining to user applications or data is stored on the Fan

Controller.

CPLD

The CPLD IC is a factory-programmed Logic Device that incorporates various low-level hardware logic

functions into a single device. It is in location U_CPLD on the motherboard. No information pertaining to

user applications or data is stored on the CPLD. The CPLD contains 8 kBytes of flash memory; however,

this memory is left blank and is not used by Dell. The CPLD can be reprogrammed via the use of a special

software program provided by Dell. The special program is not capable of updating the 8 kByte flash

memory.

Dell Inc.

One Dell Way

Round Rock, Texas 78682

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Dell Inc. One Dell Way Round Rock, Texas 78682 April 22, 2009 Subject: Statement of Volatility – Dell Precision Workstation T5500 Gentlemen: The Dell Precision Workstation T5500 contains both volatile and non-volatile (NV) components. Volatile components lose their data immediately upon removal of power from the component. Non-volatile components continue to retain their data even after the power has been removed from the component.
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ICH CMOS The ICH, identified as U_ICH, contains a 256 Byte battery-backed memory. This memory contains custom configuration data required by the BIOS to boot the system. It does not store passwords or other user level data. Ethernet Controller EEPROM The Ethernet Controller EEPROM is identified as U_LOMEE on the motherboard. It is an 8 Mbit device. The Ethernet Controller EEPROM stores driver information and the system MAC address.
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To help clarify memory volatility and data retention in situations where the system is put in different ACPI power states, the following information is provided regarding ACPI power states S0, S1, S3, S4 and S5: S0 state is the working state where the dynamic RAM is maintained and is read/write by the processor. S1 state is a low wake-up latency sleeping state. In this state, no system context is lost (CPU or chip set) and hardware maintains all system contexts.