HP DL165 Technologies for HP ProLiant 100-series G5 (Generation 5) servers, 2n - Page 2

Abstract This paper describes the major technologies implemented in the latest generation of HP ProLiant 100-series servers. These technologies include dual-core and quad-core processors, Double Data Rate-2 (DDR2) and Fully-Buffered memory modules, Lights-Out 100 management, multifunction network interface cards, the most recent server deployment utilities, and the latest serial input/output (I/O) technologies. Introduction HP constantly advocates, tests, and adopts new industry-standard server technologies that improve the performance, capacity, and reliability of ProLiant servers. This paper summarizes the processor, memory, I/O, and management technologies implemented in the latest generation of the ProLiant 100-series servers. For complete specifications of all ProLiant 100-series servers, see the HP website at www.hp.com/products/servers/platforms. Processor technologies ProLiant 100-series servers use the latest multi-core technologies from Intel and AMD. A multi-core processor has two or four separate execution cores on the same physical die so that it can perform more work within a given clock cycle. To take advantage of multi-core processing, software must be "multi-threaded" so that the processor work load can be distributed across multiple execution cores. Intel® Xeon® processors The dual-core Intel Xeon 3100 and 5200 sequence processors and quad-core Intel Xeon 3300 and 5400 sequence processors are based on the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture. The Core microarchitecture uses less power and produces less heat than previous generations of Intel processors. Using Hyper-Threading technology, these multi-core processors offer wide execution paths for highly efficient instruction processing. Intel Xeon 5000 sequence processors can simultaneously execute four software threads, thereby increasing processor utilization. To avoid saturation of the front side bus (FSB), the Intel 5000 chipset widens the interface by providing dual independent buses. The Intel Core microarchitecture includes these additional technologies that improve per-watt performance and energy efficiency: Hardware Virtualization, Enhanced Intel Speed-Step® Technology, Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extension 3 (SSSE3), and Intel Execute Disable Bit technology.1 Xeon dual-core processors The 64-bit Intel Xeon 3100 and 5200 sequence processors combine performance and power efficiency to enable smaller, quieter systems. Xeon 3100 processors include 6 megabytes (MB) of L2 cache per core and a maximum front side bus speed of 1333 megahertz (MHz). The Intel Xeon 5200 sequence processors are similar in architecture to the Xeon 3100 sequence processors (Figure 1). The Xeon 5200 processors use 45-nanometer (nm) technology resulting in high performance (up to 1666-MHz FSB speed) and enhanced power efficiency. Both the Xeon 3100 and the 5200 sequence processors are compatible with IA-32 software and support single-processor operation. 1 For additional information about Intel processors, see the HP technology brief titled "The Intel processor roadmap for industry-standard servers" at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00164255/c00164255.pdf. 2