IBM X3850 X6, Product Manual, Page: 11 / 51

IBM System x3850 X6 11
The x3850 X6 components that can be migrated to the x3950 X6 as part of the RPQ upgrade are:
Compute Books, provided they use Intel Xeon E7-8800 v2 processors
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All memory DIMMs
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Storage Book
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All internal drives
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Primary I/O Book (and associated fans)
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Half-length I/O Books
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Full-length I/O Books
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All adapters
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All power supplies
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The RPQ upgrade includes these parts:
New 8U chassis and 8-socket midplane
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A second Storage Book
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A second Primary I/O Book
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The RPQ upgrade may also require new parts:
Additional Compute Books (a minimum of four Compute Books required in the x3950 X6)
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Additional power supplies (a minimum of four are required in the x3950 X6)
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Additional I/O Books, network adapters, drives as needed
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There are key considerations for this upgrade:
Processor support: Intel Xeon E7-4800 v2 processors cannot be used in an x3950 X6. If your x3850
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X6 has Compute Books with E7-4800 v2 processors, then these must be replaced with Compute
Books with E7-8800 v2 processors if you plan to upgrade to an x3950 X6. The memory in the
Compute Books can be reused in the x3950 X6, however.
All processors must be identical: All processors used in the x3950 X6 must be the identical. For
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example, all E7-8850 v2 processors. A minimum of four processors are required.
The upgrade does result in some parts no longer being used (“parts on the floor”):
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Existing 4U chassis and 4-socket midplane
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Compute Books that are based on E7-4800 v2 processors
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Original x3850 X6 server may need to be ordered configure-to-order (CTO) or Special Bid: To
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minimize “parts on the floor” (parts that cannot be used in the upgraded system), the original x3850
X6 should be configured with Compute Books containin E7-8800 v2 processors. Since many standard
models of the x3850 X6 (see Table 3-2 on page 70) contain E7-4800 v2 processors, you may need to
use CTO (using a configurator such as x-config) or order the server using Special Bid to create a
server configuration with E7-8800 v2 processors.
Serial number swap: The RPQ upgrade process also involves transferring the x3850 X6 serial
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number to the x3950 X6 chassis. This transfer makes the upgrade simpler from an asset or
depreciation management point of view. This transfer also means that the old 4U chassis will be
retired as it will no longer have a valid serial number.
Power supplies: Ideally all power supplies are the 1400W variant. Regardless of the selection, the
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power supplies coexistence rules as decribed in 3.22, “Power subsystem” on page 117 must be
followed.