System Overview
1-1
Chapter 1
System Overview
T
he Dell
®
PowerEdge
®
6100 system covered in this manual is a high-speed,
scalable, upgradable server system that uses the Intel
®
Pentium
®
Pro family of
microprocessors. PowerEdge 6100 systems incorporate the high-performance
PCI local bus as well as the EISA expansion bus. These buses are built into the
system board, which integrates the microprocessor(s) and other elements of the
basic computer system.
PowerEdge 6100 systems can have up to four Pentium Pro microprocessors.
The systems have been designed for better serviceability and increased reliabil-
ity, with optional redundant power supplies, RAID capability, hot-pluggable
SCSI hard-disk drives, thermal and power supply monitoring, redundant fans,
and ECC memory. The PowerEdge 6100 systems are freestanding or can be
rackmounted to integrate your servers. SIMMs and microprocessors are located
on modules that connect to the system board. Contact Dell for information
about Dell-supported microprocessor upgrades.
The Pentium Pro microprocessor contains a built-in clock multiplier circuit,
which increases the microprocessor’s internal operating frequency to a multiple
of the system clock frequency. The microprocessor’s internal speed for the Dell
PowerEdge 6100/200 system is 200 MHz derived from a system clock fre-
quency of 66 MHz.
S
ystem Features
In addition to the standard features found in a traditional personal computer,
Dell PowerEdge 6100 systems include the following new and/or advanced
features:
•
512 KB of cache memory internal to each Pentium Pro microprocessor
•
64 MB of DRAM main memory (standard), upgradable to 2 GB
•
SCSI backplane board supporting up to six hard-disk drives (hot-pluggable
if PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller is installed)
•
Optional, redundant hot-pluggable power supplies
•
ECC feature built in to the memory controller on the system board
•
Advanced combination EISA and PCI expansion subsystem
•
Six PCI and four EISA expansion-card slots (none shared)
•
Integrated SVGA-compatible ISA video subsystem attached to the EISA
bus, with 1 MB video memory standard
