PCI-X Technology
Performance Balancing
Balancing is the paired arrangement of expansion boards for optimal performance
based on the bus architecture of the expansion slots. Properly balancing the boards
across buses can improve performance. To balance expansion boards:
•
•
Populate slots from the center of the server to ensure optimal thermal conditions.
Slot 6 is in the center of the server and has the best cooling.
Populate slots across different buses before populating two slots on the same bus.
Table 7-2 provides a guideline for slot population order based on the above
recommendations.
NOTE:
HP recommends that the optional RILOE II board be populated in slot 1 due to internal
cabling requirements.
NOTE:
The slot population order that follows is a recommendation only; any PCI or PCI-X
expansion board may reside in any slot.
Table 7-2: Recommended PCI-X Expansion Slot Population Order
Slot Number
Population Order
6 1
5 4
Shared PCI-X bus 2
4 2
3 5
Shared PCI-X bus 6
2 3
1 6
Shared PCI-X bus 10
The system BIOS detects the PCI-X devices in the slots in this order:
5-6-3-4-1-2
For more information about PCI-X bus architecture and numbering, refer to the white
paper,
PCI Bus Numbering in a Windows NT Environment
, on the product website at
www.hp.com
.
HP ProLiant DL580 Generation 2 Server Setup and Installation Guide
7-3
HP CONFIDENTIAL
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