HP ProLiant SL270s HP ProLiant SL6000 Scalable System technology - Page 16

For detailed memory configuration guidelines, use the Online DDR3 Memory Configuration Tool available on the HP website: www.hp.com/go/ddr3memory-configurator. I/O technologies ProLiant SL G6 server trays incorporate PCIe and SATA I/O technologies. PCIe lets administrators add expansion cards with various capabilities to the system. SATA is a serial communication protocol for direct-attached storage devices such as SATA hard drives. PCI Express technology All ProLiant SL G6 server trays support the PCIe 2.0 specification. PCIe 2.0 has a per-lane signaling rate of 5 Gb/s, which is double the per-lane signaling rate of PCIe 1.0 (Figure 13). Figure 13. PCIe data transfer rates PCIe 2.0 is backward compatible with PCIe 1.0. A PCIe 2.0 device can be used in a PCIe 1.0 slot and a PCIe 1.0 device can be used in a PCIe 2.0 slot. For best performance, however, each card should be used in a slot that supports its logical link size. A ProLiant SL series G6 option allows all expansion slots to run at PCIe 1.0 speed rather than at PCIe 2.0 speed. Enabling this option saves power. Administrators can control expansion slot speed through the RBSU under the Advanced Power Configuration submenu. Table 2 shows the level of interoperability between PCIe cards and PCIe slots. Table 2. PCIe device interoperability PCIe device type x4 Connector x4 Link x8 Connector x4 Link x4 card x4 operation x4 operation x8 card Not allowed x4 operation x16 card Not allowed Not allowed x8 Connector x8 Link x4 operation x8 operation Not allowed x16 Connector x8 Link x4 operation x8 operation x8 operation x16 Connector x16 Link x4 operation x8 operation x16 operation Serial ATA technology Serial ATA (SATA) technology uses a point-to-point architecture in which each device connects directly to the controller rather than sharing a common bus as parallel devices do. SATA technology transmits signals in a single stream rather than in multiple parallel streams. Point-to-point links increase data 16