Compaq ProLiant 8000 Compaq ProLiant 8000 Server Technology - Page 12

TC000603TB TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.) ... For more information about major OS vendors that support PCI Hot Plug, refer to the following Compaq technology briefs: • PCI Hot Plug Technology, document number ECG080/0698 • PCI Hot Plug Technology with Novell Architecture, document number ECG081/0698 • PCI Hot Plug Technology with SCO Software Architecture, document number ECG082/0698 • PCI Hot Plug Technology with Microsoft Windows Architecture, document number ECG071/0399 Redundant Array Controller Technology The ProLiant 8000 server supports up to two Compaq Smart Array 4250ES controllers in a redundant configuration. The Smart Array 4250ES controller is specially designed for use in the ProLiant 8000 server. See "Storage Technologies" for more information on the array controller technology in the ProLiant 8000 server. Smart Array 4250ES controllers may be used in PCI connectors 10 and 11. These connectors attach the 64-bit PCI bus and four Wide Ultra-3 SCSI buses to the Smart Array 4250ES controllers. All five buses are common to both connectors, and thus common to both controllers. Three of the SCSI buses are routed to SCSI connectors on the I/O board. Cables are preinstalled from these three SCSI connectors to the three SCSI drive cages. The fourth SCSI bus serves as a link between the two controllers. This link allows two Smart Array 4250ES controllers to be easily installed in the ProLiant 8000 server to provide controller redundancy. The Smart Array 4250ES controller is a Wide Ultra SCSI device so the internal drive cages and the Wide Ultra-3 SCSI buses will run in Wide Ultra SCSI mode. The two controllers monitor each other's status and maintain cache coherency between them. Both controllers (the primary and secondary controller) are attached to the same drives in an activestandby mode. If the primary controller fails, the secondary controller immediately assumes command of the drive array with no interruption of server operation or loss of data. PCI Hot Plug technology allows a failed controller to be replaced without rebooting the server. The SCSI subsystem uses a simplified cable design that allows the drive cages to be connected directly to the I/O board. The design eliminates cumbersome loop-back cables while allowing cable-free redundancy and hot-plug capability. Redundant Network Interface Controller Technology Compaq's redundant Netelligent NIC technology allows two similar NICs to share a single instance of device driver code. One NIC becomes the active network controller and the other NIC acts as a standby controller. If the active NIC fails, the network traffic is automatically switched to the standby NIC. This redundancy eliminates the NIC or cable as a single point of failure. With PCI Hot Plug technology, the failed NIC can be replaced without rebooting the system. Thus, the end user can have continuous service and the administrator can greatly reduce planned and unplanned downtime. The ProLiant 8000 server supports a Compaq NC3131 Fast Ethernet controller on the PCI local bus. The NIC has two ports for 10BaseT or 100TX Ethernet. The ports are seen as two separate local area networks, both supporting full-duplex Ethernet (20 Mb/s) and Fast Ethernet (200 Mb/s). Redundancy is available across the two ports with one NIC. In addition, the NIC is upgradeable with a daughter card to an additional two ports of 100BaseTX Ethernet, a single port of 100 BaseFX, or single-port Gigabit Ethernet SX or LX Fiber support. Redundancy is also available here; the NIC can be configured to failover from the Gigabit daughter card to the dual 10/100 ports in the event of a failure, thus allowing continued access to the network. 12