IBM X3850 M2 - Manual

Combining high-performance architecture with high-performance Xeon processors

Please see the Legal Information section for important notices and information.

1

Product Guide

September 2008

IBM

System x3850 M2 / x3950 M2

Architecture
Overview

CONTENTS

Architecture Overview

1

Key Highlights

2

Key Features

3

Key Options

11

x3850/x3950 M2 Images

12

x3850/x3950 M2 Specs

14

The Bottom Line

16

For More Information

19

Legal Information

19

Outstanding performance, superior mainframe-like
reliability, and fault-tolerant memory characteristics

IBM

®

has been designing and implementing chipsets under the X-Architecture

™

name since

2001. eX4 technology represents the fourth generation of products based on the same design
principle IBM began with in 1997: to offer systems that are expandable, offer “big iron” reliability,
availability, and serviceability (RAS) features, with extremely competitive price/performance on
an Intel

®

Xeon

®

processor-based system.

The eX4 technology is primarily designed around three major workloads. These workloads are
database servers, server consolidation using virtualization services, and Enterprise Resource
Planning (application and database) servers.
If you are adopting industry-standard Xeon EM64T servers for running business critical
applications, the systems that run these applications need the type of technology designed into
IBM’s eX4 technology systems. The eX4 chipset represents a $100M+ investment in designing
a flagship offering that can harness the power of 4-socket-and-up 64-bit x86 (x64) Xeon
processors. The eX4 design includes two

4U 4-socket

rack-optimized chassis (

x3850 M2

and

x3950 M2

) with the ability to scale up to

16 sockets

and up to

96 cores

. In fact, you can start

with a single-node x3850 M2 chassis, and by adding a

ScaleXpander Option Kit

, you can turn

it into an

x3950 M2

, ready to expand into a multi-node configuration providing more flexibility in

deploying your scalable solution than ever before.
The x3850 M2 now offers

selected

models

integrated

with

VMware ESXi 3.5 preloaded

on an

IBM 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Key

. It operates in a diskless configuration, offers a smaller memory

footprint, extremely high performance, and stronger security, making getting a system up and
running in a virtualized environment faster and easier than ever before.
IBM X-Architecture pioneered XpandOnDemand

™

(“pay as you grow”) scalability, which allows

chassis to be simply cabled together to form larger scale-up systems. This unique capability
allows IBM to sell a large SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) system at entry price points. Other
Intel OEMs can’t match this capability. If they offer a 16-socket product at all, they require you to
start out with a 16-socket chassis, whether you’ll ever grow into it or not. With
XpandOnDemand, you can start small, with a 4- or 8-socket configuration, and later expand as
your needs change, without requiring you to buy more than you need up-front or throw away
parts later as you expand.
IBM’s eX4 technology-based systems are the ideal solution for scale-up database-serving
applications on Microsoft

®

Windows

®

with Microsoft SQL Server

®

or IBM DB2

®

, as well as Linux

®

with Oracle 9i RAC and 10g, or IBM DB2. Database hosting demands ultimate server reliability
features, and once installed, they grow and grow. The eX4 design offers two strong selling
arguments against the competition: lower initial purchase price, and potentially much lower long-
term TCO.
Another strong application area for the eX4-based systems is enterprise server consolidation
activities. Larger servers have more processor, memory and I/O resources, which make
maximum use of any applicable virtual machine software licensing fees and deliver superior
system utilization levels. The name of the game in consolidation activities is to deploy the fewest
new servers possible and help IT staff manage more images with the same or fewer overall
people.
One of the fastest growing application areas for eX4-based systems is ERP workloads, including
SAP and Oracle. eX4-based systems can offer considerable savings over UNIX deployments,
using our certified solution stacks on either Windows or Linux.
The

4-socket

eX4 servers are designed to protect your data with high performance, high

reliability, and high availability. They support the latest

six-

,

quad-

and

dual-core

Intel

®

Xeon

™

processors, designed with high-performance

quad

1066MHz

front-side buses (FSB),

64-bit

extensions

(

EM64T

), and either

8MB

(

dual

-core);

4MB, 6MB

,

or

8MB

(

quad

-core); or

9MB

of

L2

cache;

8MB

,

12MB

or

16MB

(

six

-core) of

L3

cache, and up to

256MB

of

L4

cache

per

chassis

(all models), to help provide you with the computing power you need to match your