Lenovo 3690 X5- User Manual

Ultrascalability in a 2-socket package, combined with extreme availability features and industry-
leading performance

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

1

Product Guide

April 2011

IBM

System x3690 X5

Architecture Overview

CONTENTS

Architecture Overview

1

Key Highlights

2

Key Features

3

Key Options

13

x3690 X5 Images

14

x3690 X5 Specs

16

The Bottom Line

19

Server Comparison

21

For More Information

22

Legal Information

22

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

IBM

®

has been designing and implementing servers under the X-Architecture

®

name since

2001. eX5 technology represents the fifth generation of enterprise servers 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) f eatures, with extremel y competitive
price/performance on an Intel

®

Xeon

®

processor-based system.

The eX5 technology is primarily designed around three major workloads: database servers,
server consolidation using virtualization services, and Enterprise Resource Planning
(application and database) servers.

If you’re using industry-standard Xeon processor-based servers for running business critical
applications, the systems that run these applications need the type of technology designed into
IBM’s eX5 technology systems. eX5 technology represents a $100M+ investment in designing
a flagship off ering that can harness the power of the latest 64-bit x86 (x64) Xeon processors.
The eX5 f amily includes a

2U

2-socket

rack-optimized chassis (

x3690 X5

). In addition, f or

those workloads that require the maximum available memory, the x3690 X5 support a 1U

MAX5

memory expansion unit, which adds an additional

32 DIMM slots

(up to

64

DIMMs /

2TB

total). You can save money on software licensing by using the memory capacity to virtualize the
server into many VMs, rather than using multiple servers. Huge amounts of memory also
enable larger VMs and larger databases.

The x3690 X5 offers database optimized models with eXFlash solid-state drive technology,
pretested and ready to deploy f or database workloads.

The

x3690 X5 Workload Optimized Solution for SAP In-Memory Appliance

, SAP HANA

models offer a preloaded and optimized appliance based on the two-socket x3690 X5 server
platf orm. These models include two processors, 256GB of memory and choice of all eXFlash
SSs or a combination of solid-state and hard disk drives. They are designed f or use in small-to-
midsized SAP HANA configurations. These models also include the f ollowing software: Novell
SLES f or SAP Applications operating system with three-year priority support and the IBM
General Parallel File System (GPFS) with 3 year support.

Note:

SAP HANA software is

included, but sold separately by SAP.

The x3690 X5 offers models

integrated

with

a

hypervisor preloaded

on a

USB 2.0 flash key

.

It operates in a diskless configuration, offers a smaller memory footprint, extremely high
perf ormance, and stronger security, making getting a system up and running in a virtualized
environment faster and easier than ever bef ore.

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 capability allows IBM
to sell a large SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) system at entry price points. W ith
XpandOnDemand, you can start small and later expand as your need s change, without
requiring you to buy more than you need up-front or throw away parts later as you expand.

IBM’s eX5 technology-based systems are the ideal solution f or scale-up database-serving
applications on Microsoft

®

W indows

®

with Microsoft SQL Server

®

or IBM DB2

®

, as well as

Linux

®

with Oracle or DB2. Database hosting demands ultimate server reliability f eatures, and

once installed, they tend to grow and grow, requiring ever greater levels of availability. eX5
servers provide exactly that degree to availability.

Another strong application area f or the eX5-based systems is enterprise server consolidation
activities workloads, including SAP and Oracle. eX5 systems can off er considerable savings
over UNIX

®

deployments, using our certified solution stacks on either W indows or Linux.. Larger

servers need more processor, memory and I/O resources, which make maximum use of any
applicable virtual machine software licensing f ees and deliver superior system utilization levels.
The name of the game in consolidation activities is to deploy the f ewest new servers possible
and help IT staff manage more images with the same or fewer overall people.

The eX5 servers are designed to protect your data with high perf ormance, high reliability, and
high availability. They support the latest

ten

-,

eight

-,

six-

, and

four-core

Intel

®

Xeon

®

processor

E7

family and

7500/6500

series processors, up to

1066MHz

memory access, and up

®