Technical data

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Chapter 4: System Configurations
Basic System Configurations
Figure 4-1 and Figure 4-2 shows various system configurations based on the number of
processors in the system. These figures provide information on the type of Router
board(s) that are required to support that configuration. The diagrams also show how the
SGI 2400 server system expands from a basic building block module to a multimodule,
multirack configuration.
As Figure 4-1 shows, a base module (also known as the SGI 2200 server) supports 1 to 8
processors. To go beyond eight processors, a rackmount system is needed. Figure 4-2
shows a configurations with more than 16 processors or 8 Node boards requiring at least
two rack systems. Larger configurations with 32 processors or 16 Node boards require
four racks. The largest configurations (SGI 2800 systems) with greater than 64 processors
not only require even more racks, but also a different type of Router hardware called a
metarouter or Cray Router (see Figure 4-2). For additional information on routers, see
Chapter 2, “Chassis Tour.”