Itanium®–based midrange servers from HP— the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers Executive summary............................................................................................................................... 3 Adaptable, available: the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers ................................................. 4 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................
Performance benchmarks ................................................................................................................ 28 Racking ............................................................................................................................................ 28 Third-party racks ............................................................................................................................ 29 Server virtualization .....................................................
Executive summary Based on the revolutionary Intel® Itanium® 2 processor co-developed by HP and Intel, the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers bring you all the computing power you need to operate in the most demanding IT environments.
Adaptable, available: the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers Introduction Today’s HP Integrity servers outpace competitive servers by providing more compute power, more applications, additional features, and a broader range of solutions across both commercial and technical computing.
Figure 1.
HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Server specifications HP Integrity rx7620-16 Server with 8-way Intel Itanium 2 processor or 16-way HP mx2 DualProcessor Module HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server with 16-way Intel Itanium 2 processor or 32-way HP mx2 DualProcessor Module HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server Expansion Unit (SEU) Cell boards 1–2 1–4 1.5 or 1.6 GHz Intel Itanium 2 processors 2–8 2–16 1.
Figure 2. Front and side view of the Integrity rx7620-16 Server Figure 3. Rear view of the Integrity rx7620-16 Server Figures 2 and 3 show major components of the HP Integrity rx7620-16 Server, as well as the system’s mechanical and architectural features. Figure 2 shows the Integrity rx7620-16 Server with its front plastic bezel and top and left side panels removed.
Figure 4 shows a front view of the Integrity rx8620-32 Server with its front plastic bezel and top and left side panels removed. A peripheral bay located at the top front of the Integrity rx8620-32 Server provides space for four hot-plug disk drives and two removable-media devices (DVD or DAT). Directly below the peripheral bay are two PCI-X power bricks, which supply DC power for the PCI-X backplane. Below the power supplies are nine redundant hot-swappable cooling fans.
System architecture HP Integrity midrange servers are built around a modular architecture, with components that can be configured to effectively cover a wide range of computing needs. Both the Integrity rx7620-16 and 8620-32 Servers support a variety of system configurations, ranging from two to eight 1.6 or 1.5 GHz Intel Itanium 2 processors or from two to 16 1.1 GHz Intel Itanium 2 processors, using HP mx2 Dual-Processor Modules.
Figure 6.
HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server architecture The HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server architecture builds upon that of the Integrity rx7620-16 Server with the addition of a crossbar backplane and two more cell boards. The crossbar backplane provides a non-blocking connection between up to four cells, plus connection to the external I/O resources in the HP Server Expansion Unit (SEU).
Figure 8. Primary components of the HP sx1000 Chipset Cell boards The cell, or cell board, is one of the basic building blocks of the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers. A cell board is a module that primarily houses processors, memory, and the cell controller ASICs. Figure 9. Layout of the Integrity rx7620-16/rx8620-32 Server cell board.
Cell design details Each cell board is a self-contained unit, with a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP), main memory, and all necessary hardware. • CPUs—up to four 1.6/1.5 GHz Intel Itanium 2 processors or four 1.
Within the cell, CPU-to-CC peak bandwidth is 12.8 GB/s, a greater than 50% improvement over previous-generation systems. The minimum supported cell configuration is two active processors and 2 GB of memory per cell board. The maximum configuration includes eight active processors and 64 GB memory per cell board in the Integrity rx7620-16 Server; the Integrity rx8620-32 Server supports a maximum of 16 active processors and 64 GB memory per cell board.
Cell hot-plug The HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers support cell hot-plug. Coupled with the servers’ partitioning capability1, cell hot-plug allows for the servicing of cell boards within a single partition while the other partition continues normal operation. Any number of configuration changes can be made to the partition being serviced, including replacing the complete cell board, adding or deleting CPUs and memory, or even increasing or decreasing the number of cells in that partition.
I/O subsystem Each HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Server contains an embedded high-performance I/O subsystem. In addition, the Integrity rx8620-32 Server can optionally connect to external I/O resources located in the HP SEU through a high-performance I/O cable link. The components within the I/O subsystem are the I/O controllers, internal peripheral bay, and multifunction core I/O. Basic block diagrams for the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Server I/O subsystems are shown in Figures 10 and 11.
I/O controller chips The HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers contain two master I/O controller chips located on the PCI-X backplane. Each I/O controller contains 16 high-performance, 12-bit-wide links. These links connect to 16 slave I/O controller chips supporting the PCI-X card slots and core I/O. In both systems, two links—one from each master controller—are routed through the system backplane and are dedicated to core I/O.
Figure 12. The PCI-X backplane of the Integrity rx7620-16 Server has dual high-performance links for 14 of the 16 I/O card slots Figure 13. The PCI-X backplane of the Integrity rx8620-32 Server has dual high-performance links for 14 of the 16 I/O card slots In practice, PCI-X I/O cards requiring the largest amount of bandwidth should be configured into the dual-link slots. Because each I/O slot has a dedicated bus, any slot can be hot-plugged or serviced without affecting other slots.
Core I/O The HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers are purchased with either one or two core I/O card products. In both systems, core I/O provides console, Ultra160 SCSI, Gigabit LAN, serial, and Management Processor (MP) functionality, along with SCSI controllers for the peripheral bay. The second core I/O product can be used to enable dual partitioning, provide access to a second set of disk drives, and provide redundant MP functionality.
Figure 15. Basic core I/O card set (secondary) The Management Processor—The Management Processor (MP) is a dedicated processor located on each MP/SCSI card that simplifies and extends system management and enhances serviceability. The MP reduces or eliminates the need for the system administrator to be physically at the system to perform tasks such as diagnostics, system management, or even hard resets.
External LAN—The external LAN port is a 10/100/1000Base-T external LAN port that uses an RJ-45 connector. External SCSI—The external SCSI port is an Ultra160 LVD external SCSI port for connections to mass storage or media. HP Integrity rx7620-16 Server internal peripheral bay The Integrity rx7620-16 Server internal peripheral bay is located at the top front of the system chassis. The peripheral bay holds up to four low-profile hot-plug disks and one removable media device (either DVD or DAT).
The core I/O Management Processor, external LAN port, and external SCSI port functionality in the HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server is the same as described above in the Integrity rx7620-16 Server core I/O section. However, there are slot count and bus routing differences in the peripheral bay implementation. The following section pertains specifically to the Integrity rx8620-32 Server peripheral bay.
• 9U rackmount chassis • Certified under Uptime Institute’s Fault Tolerant Power Compliance Specification Figure 17. The HP SEU (left) and the SEU + HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server mounted in HP 2-meter cabinet (right) The HP SEU mirrors the I/O resources embedded within the Integrity rx8620-32 Server chassis, both physically and electrically. The high-speed connection between the Integrity rx8620-32 Server and the SEU is provided through a remote I/O (RIO) cable with 4 GB/s bandwidth.
Figure 18. The HP SEU block diagram AC power subsystem The HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers were both designed to take full advantage of the multi-grid power inputs found in today’s high-end data centers. This means that both servers can connect to two independent power grids at the same time and are able to tolerate a grid failure without causing computing interruptions.
Figure 19. Power inputs and interconnects in the Integrity rx7620-16 Server are designed for fault-tolerant power compliance Fault-tolerant power compliance in the Integrity rx8620-32 Server The AC input to the Integrity rx8620-32 Server is divided into four separate circuits. Each circuit is fed by any 50 to 60 Hz high line source through four line cords. (“High line” refers to 200–240 volt operation.) A minimum of two power cords is used to maintain normal operation of the Integrity rx8620-32 Server.
Figure 20. Power inputs and interconnects in the Integrity rx8620-32 Server are designed for fault-tolerant power compliance AC power consumption The power consumption of the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers varies greatly, depending on the hardware configuration and the input line voltages supplied at the customer site. HP represents power consumption in terms of volt-amperes (VA).
HP Integrity rx8620-32 Server • Integrity rx8620-32 Server fully loaded with 16 traditional Intel Itanium 2 processors—The Integrity rx8620-32 Server fully loaded configuration consists of 16 1.6 GHz Intel Itanium 2 processors, 256 GB of memory, 16 PCI-X cards, four cell boards, four internal hard drives, two DVD drives, two core I/O cards, and six bulk power supplies. – Theoretical maximum power consumption: 5,400 VA (27.0 A @ 200 Vac) – Typical power consumption: 3,800 VA (19.
Performance benchmarks The HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers offer leadership performance in the online transaction processing (OLTP), business intelligence, and technical markets. More information will be available as benchmarks become certified. Racking Both the HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers provide industry-leading performance density and availability in a racked configuration. At 10 EIA units (17.
Also included with every Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Server is a cable management arm (CMA). The cable management arm is a two-member trough system that resides at the back of the chassis and guides cables during extension and retraction of the product. The CMA neatly secures data cables and prevents them from becoming entangled while the system is being serviced. Third-party racks HP servers are designed to maximize performance density when installed into HP system cabinets.
How nPartitions work A hardware partition corresponds roughly to a single, standalone system. The Integrity rx7620-16 Server can be subdivided into two partitions, while the Integrity rx8620-32 Server (configured with an SEU) can be divided into four partitions. In the Integrity rx7620-16 Server, each partition will contain one cell board and its associated I/O resources.
CPU protection The central processing unit is often a major cause of system downtime. For instance, CPU cache errors are demonstrated to be a large contributor (in many cases, the greatest contributor) to unplanned system downtime. Furthermore, addition or modification of CPU resources is among the highestranking causes of planned hardware downtime.
Instant Capacity Instant Capacity is a means of adding and removing CPUs in a partition. With Instant Capacity, you don’t need to worry about the following: • Interleaved memory • Application-locked memory • Server switchovers due to false failures • Physically handling CPU or memory boards • Rebooting Instant Capacity is the most reliable means of reducing planned downtime for hardware upgrades. It is only supported with HP-UX at this time.
Address/Control parity The address control path of the memory system is protected so that spurious bit flips in the address/control path do not cause the correct data to be written to the wrong location, which would result in data corruption. HP is the leader in delivering this functionality to the mission-critical marketplace.
Dual AC line cord support As described earlier in this paper, the Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers can run on one or two totally independent power sources. Moreover, these two power sources do not need to be in phase or the same voltage. Resilience to service processor failures The Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Server hardware has been designed to enable service processor failover when redundant core I/O cards are in place.
All major system components, other than the power conversion board, are slated to remain the same for future processors—you can even use the same memory DIMMs. This makes upgrading easy and economical: You simply remove all the cells and the memory contained within the cells, transfer the memory to the processor cell boards, and install the processor cell boards into the cabinet. In addition, HP is investing in several PA-RISC enhancements in addition to those in the Intel Itanium processor.
Temporary Instant Capacity is the ability to turn Instant Capacity CPUs that are already installed in the system on and off for short periods of time to provide added capacity. Temporary Instant Capacity gives customers the ability to adjust to unplanned or planned spikes in computing. Cell board Instant Capacity extends the Instant Capacity value proposition to include a complete standby cell board (CPUs and memory) in the system for a fraction of the cost.
These are some of the things you can do with Partition Manager: • Display server status • Create, delete, and modify nPartitions • Display a complete hardware inventory • Display status of key server components • Check for problems or unusual server conditions • Manage power to cells and I/O chassis • Toggle attention indicators for cells, I/O chassis, I/O cards, and cabinets Partition Manager on HP-UX 11i v2 is significantly improved and includes these new features: • A new Web interface • Graphical “big p
• Security Patch Check determines how current a system’s security patches are, recommends patches for continuing security vulnerabilities, and warns administrators about recalled patches still present on the system. • System Inventory Manager is for change and asset management. It allows you to easily collect, store, and manage inventory and configuration information for HP-UX–based servers. It provides an easy-to-use, Web-based interface, superior performance, and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
Windows The HP Integrity Essentials Foundation Pack for Windows is a complete toolset for installing, configuring, and managing HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers running Windows. The following tools are included in the package: • Smart Setup DVD includes an EFI-based setup utility (EBSU) designed for easy server and array controller configuration.
Linux The following tools are also used to manage HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 Servers running Linux. • Insight Manager 7 increases system uptime and provides powerful monitoring and control. Insight Manager 7 also provides inventory reporting capabilities that dramatically reduce the time and effort required to track server assets, and it helps system administrators make educated decisions about which systems may require hardware upgrades or replacement.
mx2 Dual-Processor Module technology, thereby exploiting the full potential of your HP Integrity servers. HP Services delivers end-to-end solutions that offer consistent quality and service levels across multiple platforms such as UNIX®, Windows, and Linux, as well as systems from other well-known vendors.
– Integrated support: Support Plus and Support Plus 24 are integrated hardware and software services that are available to customers who require assistance that complements their internal IT resources. HP Proactive 24 Service includes proactive advice and assistance that helps you improve the effectiveness of your IT environment. – Mission-critical support: In order to reduce exposure to downtime, HP can deliver mission-critical support for businesses running critical applications.
Proven experience and expertise Our global network of services personnel have unmatched experience and expertise deploying go-tomarket solutions using best-in-class processes across the lifecycle. And no matter what services you choose—from assessment or porting and migration to complete deployment and education offerings to ongoing support or full outsourcing solutions—HP will help you take advantage of this nextgeneration architecture quickly and cost-effectively.
