IBM RS/6000 SP, Handbook

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RS/6000 SP and Clustered IBM
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pSeries Systems Handbook
SP Communication adapter requirements
The SP Communication adapter requirements Annex contains information on the
quantities of adapters of each type that can be installed in specific SP node
types, suggested quantities to use, and adapter placement rules and restrictions.
PCI bus I/O adapter requirements for SMP nodes
If you install the maximum permissible quantity of adapters in the SP nodes, you
can achieve maximum connectivity for the nodes in your system. Use Table B-2
on page 368 and Table B-3 on page 370 to determine the maximum quantity of
adapters you can use and to determine the resulting power load.
Improved I/O performance, or optimum operation, can usually be realized if you
install fewer than the maximum quantity of adapters. For guidelines to help you
achieve this improved performance, see “Suggested PCI adapter quantities for
optimum operation” on page 376.
To effectively use the information in this chapter, you need to know the PCI bus
and slot naming conventions; for these, see “PCI bus group and slot descriptions”
on page 366.
For important installation restrictions for specific adapters, see PCI adapter
plugging rules and restrictions.
PCI bus group and slot descriptions
This section contains details on PCI bus group and slot naming and labeling
conventions for the RS/6000 SP nodes.
PCI bus slot labeling
In both POWER3 and 332 MHz wide nodes, two slots are labeled I2 and two
are labeled I3. They are differentiated in this book as
I2 and I3 (CPU side) and
as I2 and I3 (I/O side).
The CPU side is on the left and the I/O side is on the right, seen as you face
the side of the node having the slot labels.