ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies

ManualsBrandsHP ManualsServerHP ProLiant ML530 G2 Server

table of contents

october 2002

hp industry

standard servers

technology brief

TC021001TB

abstract.................................................................................................................... 2

introduction .............................................................................................................. 2

system architecture ................................................................................................... 3

processor subsystem ................................................................................................. 3

smaller feature size ...........................................................................................................4

Hyper-Threading (Jackson) technology ...............................................................................4

Level 2 Advanced Transfer Cache.......................................................................................6

400-MHz front side bus .....................................................................................................7

memory subsystem ................................................................................................... 8

standard configuration ......................................................................................................9

PC1600 DDR SDRAM vs. PCI33..........................................................................................9

two-way interleaved memory ............................................................................................9

I/O subsystem ........................................................................................................ 10

quad-peer PCI-X architecture ...........................................................................................12

why PCI-X faster is than conventional PCI .............................................................12

backward compatibility and bus performance with PCI cards .................................12

optimum uses for the ProLiant ML530 G2 server ...................................................... 13

database and dedicated applications server.....................................................................13

remote site server ............................................................................................................13

conclusion .............................................................................................................. 14

feedback ................................................................................................................ 14

Summary of content (14 pages)

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hp industry standard servers october 2002 ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies technology brief TC021001TB table of contents abstract .................................................................................................................... 2 introduction .............................................................................................................. 2 system architecture ...................................................................................................
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies abstract The ProLiant ML530 Generation 2 (G2) server features new technologies that improve on the performance, scalability, fault tolerance, and manageability of the first generation ProLiant ML530 server. A discussion of all these technology improvements is beyond the scope of this document. This paper focuses on the synergy of the server's highperformance technologies that provide the balanced system architecture of this midrange departmental server.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies system architecture Figure 2 illustrates the balanced system architecture of the ProLiant ML530 G2 server. At the heart of the server architecture is the enterprise-class ServerWorks GC HE chipset, which controls 3.2 GB/s of data transfer between the processor, memory, and input/output (I/O) subsystems. The processor subsystem contains up to two 2.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies figure 3. ProLiant ML530 G2 processor subsystem architecture smaller feature size The Intel Xeon Processor is built with a 130-nanometer (0.13-micron) process to allow higher frequencies and better performance. The manufacturing term 0.13 micron refers to the circuit (feature) size. Feature size is a major limiting factor in processing speed. The smaller the feature size, the more transistors are packed into the circuit.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies figure 4. Hyper-Threading technology In a multiprocessing system, the OS manages the tasks performed by all processors in the system. To take advantage of multiple processors, applications must be multithreaded, which means they must be designed to be split into multiple streams of instructions, or threads. The OS can allocate various software threads to run on more than one processor simultaneously, which results in improved performance.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies allows Windows .NET to resolve logical processors to their associated physical processors. In summary, OSs that support Hyper-Threading include: • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (counts logical processors) • Microsoft .NET Server (uses all logical processors, regardless of physical count) • Sun Solaris 8 These OSs will support Hyper-Threading, but they will need drivers: • NetWare v 5.0 • NetWare v 5.1 • NetWare v 6.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies the Pentium III processor. As a result, there is greater chance of a cache hit for any given memory request. When a cache hit occurs in the L2 cache, the data is transferred at 2.8 GHz to the processor core along a 32-byte interface on each core clock cycle. As a result, the 512-kB L2 Advanced Transfer Cache can deliver a data transfer rate of 89.6 GB/s to the processor so that it can keep executing instructions instead of sitting idle.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies memory subsystem The memory subsystem of the ProLiant ML530 G2 server is designed for high performance using PC1600 DDR SDRAM, which has an effective data rate of 1.6 GB/s. Combined with two-way interleaving (described below), the memory subsystem provides the bandwidth necessary to keep up with the 3.2-GB/s data transfer rate to and from the processor (Figure 7).
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies standard configuration The server comes standard with two 512-MB, DDR SDRAM DIMMs in bank A (Figure 8) for a total of 1 GB of system memory. Because the system uses 2-way interleaving, the DIMMs must be installed in pairs, one bank at a time. The DIMMS in each bank must be of the same type and capacity or the performance of the memory subsystem will be degraded. LEDs on the front panel of the memory board show the operating status of the DIMMs. figure 8.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies In addition to the requested data, the controllers retrieve data from subsequent sequential memory addresses on both DIMMs in anticipation of future data requests. The retrieved blocks of data are merged together in 128-bit lines on the memory bus. The data is sent to the processor's L2 cache as four 128-bit lines (512 bits) to match the cache line size in the Intel Xeon Processor.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies figure 10. architecture of the ProLiant ML530 G2 server I/O subsystem The north bridge uses the third 400-MHz IM Bus (4-bit width) to connect to the ServerWorks CSB 5.0 south bridge. The south bridge provides interfaces to the following buses: • • • LPC bus — This bus provides connection to a National NS417 Super I/O controller for diskette, keyboard, mouse, parallel, and serial port support.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies figure 11. internal storage in the ProLiant ML530 G2 server quad-peer PCI-X architecture The quad-peer PCI-X architecture consists of four 64-bit, 100-MHz PCI-X bus segments controlled by two PCI-X Bridges. The first PCI-X bridge provides PCI-X Hot Plug capability to slots 1 through 4. The second PCI-X bridge controls the third and fourth PCI-X bus segments. Slots 5 and 6 are connected to the third bus, and slot 7 is connected to the fourth PCI-X bus.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies segment. For example, if one of the bus segments with two slots is populated with a 66MHz adapter and a 100-MHz adapter, the maximum frequency of that bus segment will be 66 MHz. This means that the slowest adapter card, such as a 33-MHz, 32-bit RILOE card, should be put in slot 7 where it cannot slow down any other adapter cards.
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ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies conclusion The ProLiant ML530 G2 server is a mid-range departmental server optimized for intensive data center and remote office environments. It incorporates new technologies that improve upon the performance, scalability, fault tolerance, and manageability of the first generation ProLiant ML530 server. This paper has focused on the synergy of the high-performance technologies in this second generation server that provide the balanced system architecture.