With X3 Architecture, IBM asserts
its leadership position in the 8- to
64-processor
1
server industry to deliver
a breakthrough x86 server. The x3950
delivers an unprecedented combination
for an industry-standard server—
pay-as-you-grow scalability, 64-bit
memory addressability, mainframe-
inspired latency reductions and
advanced availability technologies, all at
a price less expensive than comparably
performing RISC/UNIX® systems.
Improved XpandOnDemand modularity
The x3950 offers pay-as-you-grow
modular scalability to meet the diverse
needs of today’s mission-critical appli-
cations. Using the same 3U chassis
(x460) introduced with the single-core,
Intel Xeon Processor MP in June 2005,
this updated server maintains your data
center rack space footprint and pre-
serves compatibility with most optional
server components. The flexibility to
grow an x3950 into a larger SMP con-
figuration helps IT administrators in the
following ways:
●
Leverage the industry’s leading
x86 server available from a major
vendor that scales greater than four
processors with 64-bit Intel Xeon
Processors MP
●
Scale up to 32 processors for better
performance with dual-core
technology
●
With each four CPU addition, six
PCI-X 2.0 slots and up to 16 DIMM
slots are also available
●
Improve utilization with more
flexible, chassis-based partitioning
up to eight x3950 chassis connected
for SMP or arranged into multiple
4-processor, 8-processor and
16-processor partitions
●
Maximum configuration for the
x3950 is 32 processors, 128 DIMM
slots supporting up to 512GB of
memory and 48 PCI-X 2.0 slots
across eight chassis
XpandOnDemand provides a route to
higher performance on Microsoft®
Windows® or Linux® using industry-
standard hardware. Each x3950 can
scale from two processors to four
processors in a single chassis (expand-
ing beyond four processors requires
one or more 3U x3950E enclosures
with matching processors). Grow to
eight processors simply by connecting
two 4-processor chassis, up to
16 processors in four chassis, or up
to 32 processors by connecting eight
chassis. This enables the addition of
CPU, I/O and memory capacity as
your needs change to conform to the
demanding requirements of business-
critical transaction workloads like
virtualization, enterprise resource plan-
ning, customer relationship manage-
ment and database applications.
Breakthrough x86 performance
The x3950 establishes a new standard
for industry-leading x86 performance by
intelligently managing frequently
accessed data. With its mainframe-
inspired snoop filter integrated in the
processor/memory controller, the x3950
intelligently tracks data stored across
the dual front-side bus inside the on-
chip Intel processor caches. An
IBM developed 48Mb embedded
DRAM serves as a cache directory and
improves overall performance by mini-
mizing bus congestion and reducing
latency compared to competing x86
designs. In a multi-chassis deployment,
XceL4v™ Dynamic Server Cache
allows the x3950 to exploit up to
256MB of local memory configured as
virtual Level 4 cache per four CPUs to
mimimize NUMA latencies.
The x3950 supports 64-bit extensions,
turning this x86 server into a data pow-
erhouse ready for the transition to
mainstream 64-bit applications from
proprietary RISC/UNIX servers. The
x3950 supports up to 512GB of total
memory to load entire databases into
main memory for extremely fast trans-
action processing.
