Silicon Graphics Altix XE320, User Manual

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4 007-5466-001
1: Introduction
Node Board Features
At the heart of the SGI Altix XE320 lies two dual-processor node boards, which are based on the
Intel 5400P chipset (refer to Figure 1-3). Below are the main features of the node board.
Note: The features on each node board are doubled for the server (refer to Appendix D, “System
Specifications”).
Processors
Each node board supports two Intel Xeon dual- or quad-core processors.
Memory
Each node board has eight 240-pin DIMM sockets (refer to Figure 1-2) that can support up to 64
GB of ECC fully buffered DIMM (FBDIMM) DDR2-800/667 SDRAM. Memory can be installed
in both interleaved (dual-channel) and non-interleaved (single-channel) configurations. All
memory modules used to populate the system should be the same size, type, and speed.
The node board memory controller supports memory mirroring to prevent data loss in case of
DIMM failure. The system maintains two copies of all the data in memory; therefore, a mirrored
system uses only half of the installed DIMMs. If a DIMM fails, the system recovers the second
copy of data from the mirrored DIMM in the opposite channel. If both the primary and the
mirrored copy of the data become corrupt, the system will fail. Configure memory mirroring with
the Memory Branch Mode BIOS setting (refer to “Memory Branch Mode” on page 114.
Serial ATA (SATA)
The southbridge (ESB2 chip) of the 5400P chipset includes a SATA controller for 3-Gb/s SATA
drives. The hot-swappable SATA drives are connected to a backplane (refer to Figure 1-2) that
provides power, bus termination, and configuration settings.