IBM RS/6000 SP, Handbook

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RS/6000 SP and Clustered IBM
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pSeries Systems Handbook
4.1 Frames
The SP processor nodes can be mounted in either a tall or short SP frame.
The frame spaces that nodes fit into are called drawers. A tall frame has eight
drawers, while a short frame has four drawers. Each drawer is further divided
into two slots. One slot can hold one thin node. A wide node occupies one
drawer (two slots), and a high node occupies two drawers (four slots).
An internal power supply (SEPBU) is included with each frame. A Frame
Supervisor card handles the connection to the CWS via the RS232 to manage
the installed node and Switch in the frame. Frames get equipped with the
optional processor nodes and switches that you order. Strictly speaking there are
three types of frames:
򐂰 Short frames
򐂰 Tall frames
򐂰 Switch frames
The tall and short frames are used to host nodes and they are usually just called
frames. The switch frames are used to host switches or Intermediate Switch
Boards (ISB). This special type of frame can host up to eight switch boards. After
the first SP was made commercially available some years ago, there have been
a number of model and frame configurations. Each configuration was based on
the frame type and the kind of node installed in the first slot. This led to an
increasing number of possible prepackaged configurations when more nodes
became available. Figure 4-1 on page 141 shows the tall model frame (Model
550).