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The engine of growth for your emerging businesses.

 

Please see the Legal Information section for important notices and information. 

Turbo Boost Technology

 dynamically turns off unused processor cores and increases the clock speed of 

the cores in use, by up to two model frequencies. For example, with 

three

 cores active, a 

2.26GHz

 

processor can run the cores at 

2.4GHz

. With only 

one

 or 

two

 cores active, the same processor can run 

those cores at 

2.53GHz

. Similarly, a 

2.93GHz

 processor can run at 

3.06GHz

 or even 

3.33GHz

. When the 

cores are needed again, they are dynamically turned back on and the processor frequency is adjusted 
accordingly.  

Intelligent Power Capability

 powers individual processor elements on and off as needed, to reduce 

power draw.  

Execute Disable Bit

 functionality can help prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks 

when combined with a supporting operating system.

 

 

DDR-3 Registered Memory with Chipkill ECC Protection 

The x3400 M2 ships with registered double data rate III (DDR-3) memory and provides Active Memory 
features, including advanced 

Chipkill

 memory protection (optionally), for 

up to 16X

 better error correction 

than standard ECC memory. In addition to offering better performance than DDR-2 or fully-buffered 
memory, DDR-3 memory also uses less energy. DDR-2 memory already offered up to 37% lower energy 
use than fully buffered memory. Now, a generation later, DDR-3 memory is even more efficient, using 

22% 

less

 

energy

 than DDR-2 memory. 

The x3400 M2 supports up to 

96GB

 of memory in 

twelve

 DIMM slots. Redesign in the architecture of the 

Xeon 5500 series processors bring radical changes in the way memory works in these servers. For 
example, the Xeon 5500 series processor 

integrates the memory controller inside the processor

resulting in two memory controllers in a 2-socket system. Each memory controller has three memory 
channels. Depending on the type of memory, population of memory, and processor model, the memory 
may be clocked at 

1066MHz

 or 

800MHz

Note:

 If only one processor is installed, only the first six DIMM slots can be used. Adding a second 

processor not only doubles the amount of memory available for use, but also doubles the number of 
memory controllers, thus doubling the system memory bandwidth. If you add a second processor, but no 
additional memory for the second processor, the second processor has to access the memory from the 
first processor “remotely,” resulting in longer latencies and lower performance. The latency to access 
remote memory is almost 

75% higher

 than local memory access. So, the goal should be to always 

populate both processors with memory. 

The 

E552

x-and-up models support up to 1066MHz clock speed, and the 

E550

x models support 800MHz 

clock speed. Using 1066MHz memory (where supported) versus 800MHz offers up to 

28%

 better 

performance. 

Xeon 5550 series processors access memory with almost 

50% lower latency

 than the previous 

generation 5400 series processors. That can result in faster processing of latency-sensitive workloads. 

This new processor design comes with some trade-offs in memory capacity, performance, and cost: For 
example, 

greater memory capacity

 comes with 

lower memory speed

. Alternatively, it is possible to 

achieve the 

same memory capacity at lower cost 

but

 at a lower memory speed

.  

Regardless of memory 

speed

, the Xeon 5500 platform represents a significant improvement in memory 

bandwidth

 over the previous Xeon 5400 platform. This improvement is mainly due to the dual integrated 

memory controllers and faster DDR-3 memory. Throughput at 800MHz is 

25 gigabytes per second

 

(GBps), and at 1066MHz it’s 

32GBps

. This improvement translates into improved application performance 

and scalability.

 

Memory interleaving refers to how physical memory is interleaved across the physical DIMMs. A balanced 
system provides the best interleaving. A Xeon 5500 processor-based system is balanced when all 

Ch2 

Ch1 

Ch0 

Ch2 

Ch1 

Ch0 

 

Xeon 5500 

Processor 0 

Memory Controller 

 

Xeon 5500 

Processor 1 

12 

QPI 

Memory Controller 

10 

11 

D2 

D3 

D5 

D6 

D7 

D8 

D10 

D11 

D13 

D14 

D15 

D16 

1-12: DIMM population sequence; 

D1-D12: DIMM slot assignments 

Summary of Contents for x3400 M2 7836

Page 1: ...drives with a total capacity of up to 4 0TB For additional performance and high availability the hot swap x3400 M2 models include an IBM ServeRAID BR10i controller providing RAID 0 1 1E support Addit...

Page 2: ...of low cost battery backed cache to enable high performance hardware RAID support and allows the x3400 M2 to offer eight RAID levels RAID 0 1 10 1E 5 50 6 and 60 The optional ServeRAID MR10M controll...

Page 3: ...P SHA 1 AES and a firmware firewall Temperature controlled fans adjust to compensate for changing thermal characteristics At the lower speeds they draw less power and suffer less wear Equally importan...

Page 4: ...ry may be clocked at 1066MHz or 800MHz Note If only one processor is installed only the first six DIMM slots can be used Adding a second processor not only doubles the amount of memory available for u...

Page 5: ...x3400 M2 offers an additional but mutually exclusive level of IBM Active Memory protection online memory mirroring Memory mirroring works much like disk mirroring The total memory is divided into two...

Page 6: ...support using the optional ServeRAID MR10is Vault card For external storage the ServeRAID MR10M controller enables connection to up to four IBM System Storage EXP3000 SAS expansion units 48 HDDs tota...

Page 7: ...nt airflow paths provide highly effective system cooling for the x3400 M2 known as Calibrated Vectored Cooling The server includes three hot swap fans plus another in the power supply The system conta...

Page 8: ...ferings everything is done externally via cabling no special adapters are required Extensive System Support Features The IBM services and technical support portfolio provides world class consistent hi...

Page 9: ...upport by phone and via the Web Support options include links to forums newsgroups problem submission online shopping support service offerings device drivers for all IBM product lines software downlo...

Page 10: ...y that would otherwise require a visit to each system These tasks may include such things as formatting a hard disk drive updating system firmware or deploying a Windows or Linux operating system Text...

Page 11: ...the availability of the data SAS and SATA ServeRAID controllers offer enhanced performance due to onboard processors and cache Because IBM ServeRAID controllers can help significantly improve data tr...

Page 12: ...e Bays DVD ROM Drive Locking Drive Covers Hexagonal Ventilation Holes 2 USB 2 0 Ports behind door 2 USB 2 0 Ports internal IMM 4 3 5 inch or 8 2 5 inch HDD Bays 3 5 25 inch Drive Bays CPU 2 Fans Fixed...

Page 13: ...No Memory mirroring supported of DIMM sockets reserved for mirroring Yes 12 6 per processor of drive bays total available 11 10 14X 14Y 34X 34Y 52X 52Y 7 6 12X 12Y 22X 22Y 24X 24Y 32X 32Y 42X 42Y 44X...

Page 14: ...n 1 physical x4 Gen 1 electrical slots 2GBps None standard 1 optional via CTO by adding a PCIe extender card of PCI X 133 slots 1GBps None standard 2 optional via CTO by adding a PCI X extender card o...

Page 15: ...rdware based RAID 0 data hot swap models Fast communications Integrated dual port Gigabit Ethernet controller standard supporting Jumbo Frames TOE and optionally iSCSI and RDMA requires license key tw...

Page 16: ...for which each server is best suited 12 The x8 x8 Gen 2 slots can accept x1 x4 or x8 adapters running at x1 x4 or x8 throughput respectively 13 The x8 x4 Gen 2 slots can accept x1 x4 or x8 adapters ru...

Page 17: ...change specifications or other product information without notice References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in w...

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