Compaq ProLiant 8500 ProLiant 8500 Server Technology - Page 3

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.) PCI - peripheral component interconnect SCSI - small computer system interface ROM - read only memory TC000604TB ... INTRODUCTION In today's business environment, enterprise customers require powerful servers with fault-tolerant features to keep their businesses running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also need servers that are easy to manage and will scale to meet future requirements. The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server delivers outstanding 8-way scalable performance for 24x7 multiserver rack environments. Performance is maximized with up to eight Intel Pentium III Xeon processors and 16 GB of synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Input/output (I/O) performance is further enhanced by eleven 64-bit PCI slots-two at 66 MHz-an integrated array controller, and Wide Ultra-3 SCSI hard drives. High-availability features include PCI Hot Plug slots, redundant hot-pluggable power supplies, redundant hot-pluggable fans, redundant processor power modules (PPMs), and redundant network interface controllers (NICs). The ProLiant 8500 server includes server management and configuration tools that further enhance availability, such as Remote-flash Redundant ROM and Integrated Remote Console (IRC). Additionally, a highly modular design and System Interconnect Status Indicators improve serviceability and further reduce downtime associated with upgrades and field maintenance. This technology brief explains the features of the ProLiant 8500 server and describes the management and storage technologies that enhance performance and availability. Many of these technologies are covered in more detail in separate technology briefs, which are referenced in this document. HIGH-PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server is a powerful, industry-leading technology solution for distributed enterprise computing. A revolutionary new 8-way system architecture allows the ProLiant 8500 server to deliver unsurpassed performance. This new architecture is the first implementation in the industry of the Profusion chipset and features Pentium III Xeon processors. Compaq servers using this architecture provide new levels of performance without requiring modifications or special releases of operating systems (OSs) or applications. The Compaq 8-way architecture provides nearly linear scalability for up to eight processors running under Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 2000, Novell NetWare, or SCO UnixWare. The 8-way architecture delivers superior performance and price:performance for processor-intensive applications such as Microsoft Terminal Server and Oracle databases; for memory-intensive applications such as Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, and SAP solutions; and for I/O-intensive applications such as Microsoft SQL Server. 3