Compaq ProLiant 1000 Quick reference guide

White Paper
July 1998
ECG093/0798
Prepared by ECG Product
Marketing Group
Compaq Computer Corporation
Contents
Overview.....................................3
Cost of Downtime .....................3
Compaq’s PCI Hot Plug
Strategy ......................................5
Compaq’s PCI Hot Plug
Implementation Advantages ......6
Highest Level of I/O
Availability................................6
PCI Hot Plug - an Industry-
Standard Approach...................7
Investment Protection ...............8
Efficient Manageability and
Serviceability............................9
Enhanced Solutions..................9
Conclusion ...............................10
For More Information................10
The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug
Technology
This white paper summarizes Compaq PCI Hot Plug technology
strategy, discusses Compaq’s leadership role in the development of
the industry standard, and explains the benefits of Compaq’s
implementation of the PCI Hot Plug standard to help organizations
maximize productivity by decreasing server downtime.
Abstract: As an increasing number of companies migrate their
business-critical applications to industry-standard servers, the need
for redundant features and hot-pluggable components to minimize
system downtime is increasing. Each downtime event affects more
people at ever-increasing costs. The need has grown beyond “high
availability” toward “approaching continuous availability”.
Continuous availability requires the
elimination not only of unplanned
downtime but a reduction of
planned downtime as well.
Compaq Computer Corporation, the
world’s leading server provider, has
historically taken a leadership role
in the development of such
industry-standard technologies that are approaching continuous
system availability. With the development of PCI Hot Plug
technology, an industry standard, Compaq strengthens its role in
providing the highest levels of I/O availability solutions for the
distributed enterprise.
PCI Hot Plug offers unprecedented server availability by allowing
users to replace, upgrade, and add PCI adapters to the PCI local bus
without powering down the server. PCI Hot Plug technology
benefits also include customer investment protection and efficient
manageability and serviceability.
In addition, with the release of the ProLiant 6500 and ProLiant 7000,
Compaq made the chassis and electronics design changes required
for safe and efficient removal and insertion of PCI adapters without
powering down the server. Next-generation PCI Hot Plug solutions
are included in Compaq’s newest enterprise server, the Pentium II
Xeon Model of the ProLiant 7000, released in June 1998.

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 2
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Notice
The information in this publication is subject to change without notice and is provided “AS IS” WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
INFORMATION REMAINS WITH RECIPIENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL COMPAQ BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHER DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS
PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION), EVEN IF
COMPAQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
The limited warranties for Compaq products are exclusively set forth in the documentation accompanying
such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting a further or additional warranty.
This publication does not constitute an endorsement of the product or products that were tested. The
configuration or configurations tested or described may or may not be the only available solution. This test
is not a determination or product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal
state or local requirements.
Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.
Compaq, Contura, Deskpro, Fastart, Compaq Insight Manager, LTE, PageMarq, Systempro, Systempro/LT,
ProLiant, TwinTray, ROMPaq, LicensePaq, QVision, SLT, ProLinea, SmartStart, NetFlex, DirectPlus,
QuickFind, RemotePaq, BackPaq, TechPaq, SpeedPaq, QuickBack, PaqFax, Presario, SilentCool,
CompaqCare (design), Aero, SmartStation, MiniStation, and PaqRap, registered United States Patent and
Trademark Office.
Netelligent, Armada, Cruiser, Concerto, QuickChoice, ProSignia, Systempro/XL, Net1, LTE Elite,
Vocalyst, PageMate, SoftPaq, FirstPaq, SolutionPaq, EasyPoint, EZ Help, MaxLight, MultiLock,
QuickBlank, QuickLock, UltraView, Innovate logo, Wonder Tools logo in black/white and color, and
Compaq PC Card Solution logo are trademarks and/or service marks of Compaq Computer Corporation.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows NT Server and Workstation, Microsoft SQL Server for
Windows NT are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks and intraNetWare, NDS, and Novell Directory Services are
trademarks of Novell, Inc.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation and Xeon is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
Copyright ©1998 Compaq Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology
White Paper prepared by ECG Product Marketing Group
Second Edition (July 1998)
Document Number ECG093/0798

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 3
ECG093/0798
Overview
Customers today need improved availability solutions that minimize or eliminate downtime.
Compaq addresses this need by providing PCI Hot Plug technology that allows a PCI adapter to
be added, upgraded, or replaced while the host system is running and while other adapters in the
system provide uninterrupted service. PCI Hot Plug technology adds to other high-availability
solutions presently available from Compaq such as Recovery Server Options, Redundant
Netelligent Network Interface Controllers (NICs), hot-pluggable power supplies, hot-pluggable
fans, and hot-pluggable SCSI drives.
Cost of Downtime
Compaq’s decision to develop PCI Hot Plug technology is focused on addressing a key customer
issue: as computing environments grow more complex, the business costs of unplanned downtime
are soaring. The increasing cost of unplanned downtime in business-critical environments,
compounded by the time spent tracking the source of network or component failures, is creating a
greater need for improved higher availability solutions like PCI Hot Plug. Due to the growing
reliance upon computer networks, events resulting in system downtime, whether planned or not,
can cripple an organization. Regardless of the cause, the common denominator to all system
downtime is a high cost to a customer’s business.
A survey of 450 Fortune 1000 companies by Find/SVP1found that the average outage across
industries lasts four hours and costs $330,000. A typical company experiences nine outages per
year, resulting in annual losses of almost $3 million (excluding the cost of lost employee
productivity). Actual costs of downtime, however, can vary widely based on individual company
size, business type, industry application environment, and type of outage.
Table 1 illustrates the financial impact of system downtime on various industries.2
Table 1. Financial Impact of System Downtime
Industry Business Operation Industry Cost Range (per
hour) Avg. Cost per Hour of Downtime
Financial Brokerage Operations $5.6M to $7.3M $6.45M
Financial Credit Cards/Sales
Authorization $2.2M to $3.1M $2.6M
Media Pay-per-view $67K to $233K $150K
Retail Home Shopping (TV) $87K to $140K $113K
Retail Home Catalog Sales $60K to $120K $90K
Transportation Airline Reservations $67K to $112K $89.5K
Media Teleticket Sales $56K to $82K $69K
Transportation Package Shipping $24K to $32K $28K
Finance ATM Fees $12K to $17K $14.5K
1Source: Dataquest, Perspective, Sept, 30, 1996
2This table represents only examples of downtime costs. Actual costs may vary. Source: Dataquest, Perspective, Sept. 30, 1996

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As a result of the astronomical costs associated with downtime, the vast majority of companies
today require nonstop access to their critical systems. This trend was recently highlighted in a
study conducted by the Standish Group International.3According to the study, 46 percent of the
Fortune 1000 companies require systems availability seven days a week, 24 hours a day (7x24).
An additional 39 percent stated that systems were required to be accessible five days a week,
eight hours a day. The study also showed that the vast majority of businesses today measure
tolerable downtime in mere seconds or minutes. As illustrated in Figure 2, 34 percent of the
Fortune 1000 companies can tolerate no more than three seconds of downtime on their business-
critical applications. Another 37 percent of these customers require recovery from a failure in
less than 3 minutes.
Because the need for improved higher availability solutions that reduce costly downtime is
paramount, Compaq’s industry-standard PCI Hot Plug technology is specifically designed to
minimize the cost of system downtime by increasing server uptime.
3Source: The Standish Group International, Inc. Demand Assessment Requirements Tracking Study, 1996
37%
29%
34%
< 3 minutes
< 3 hours0-3 seconds
46%
39%
15%
5 days/week
x
8 hours/day
7 days/week
x
24 hours/day
Other
Figure 1. Fortune
1000 Availability
Requirements
Figure 2. Fortune
1000 Allowable
Downtime
Requirements

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 5
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Compaq’s PCI Hot Plug Strategy
While advancements have been made to increase server uptime
(redundant and hot-pluggable components), one area of
availability that has not been adequately addressed is the
replacement of pre-failed or failed input/output (I/O) adapters
in a running system. Currently, system administrators without
PCI Hot Plug technology must power down their servers to
repair or expand their network connections or storage online.
In enterprise environments, this results in additional costs and
lost productivity. PCI Hot Plug technology is designed to address this customer concern. This
breakthrough technology offers unprecedented server availability by allowing users to replace,
upgrade, and add PCI adapters to the PCI local bus while the system is running.
Taking a very general approach, a fully capable hot-plug system includes hot-plug system
hardware (server), hot-plug aware software and operating system (OS) support, hot-plug capable
device drivers, and hot-plug aware PCI user interface as shown in Figure 3. The hardware and
software work together to ensure that any hot-plug activity occurring on the PCI bus is benign to
other devices on the PCI bus. (Note: The vast majority of industry-standard PCI adapters can be
made hot-plug aware through the installation of hot-plug device drivers. PCI adapter vendors
typically provide these device drivers).
Working in concert, system hardware and software monitor the PCI local bus to identify failed or
pre-failed adapters. Upon identification of a faulty or suspect adapter, the system immediately
notifies the user with a system alert. Once notified, the user interfaces with the OS to instruct the
hardware to isolate and power down the slot (containing the faulty adapter) from all other devices
on the PCI bus. The PCI bus can now be accessed and the suspect adapter can be removed. Once
a functioning adapter has been installed, the user simply notifies the OS and reactivates power to
the isolated slot.4The PCI Hot Plug system also protects the system and other adapters from the
electrical effects of hot-plug operations.
Figure 3. Generic PCI Hot Plug Technology
4Customers using NetWare do not have to interface with the OS to power down the slot; they can utilize the PCI Hot Plug Push
Button instead.
User Interface
Software and OS Support Device Drivers
PCI Adapter
Board
System
Hot-Plug Hardware

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Compaq’s PCI Hot Plug Implementation
Advantages
Compaq’s PCI Hot Plug implementation has multiple benefits including improved availability, an
industry-standard approach, customer investment protection, efficient manageability and
serviceability, and enhanced and future generation solutions.
Highest Level of I/O Availability
PCI Hot Plug technology represents a significant advance in fault-tolerant systems. PCI Hot Plug
technology provides for three major capabilities: hot replacement, hot upgrade, and hot
expansion.
•Hot replacement is the process of removing a failed or failing PCI adapter and inserting an
identical adapter into the same slot while the server is operating.
•Hot upgrade is the process of upgrading an existing adapter or the adapter’s device driver
while the server is operating. This allows the customer to reconfigure an adapter without
bringing the system down.
•Hot expansion is the process of installing an additional adapter into a previously empty slot
while the server is operating.
Redundant NIC and PCI Hot Plug
To provide an even greater improved availability benefit, PCI Hot Plug technology can be
combined with redundant controller configurations, such as Compaq Redundant Netelligent NIC
technology. Compaq Redundant Netelligent NIC technology allows two similar NICs to share a
single instance of device driver code. One NIC becomes the active network controller, and the
other NIC acts as a standby controller. If the active NIC fails, as shown in Figure 4, the network
traffic can be switched automatically to the standby NIC. With PCI Hot Plug, the failed NIC can
be replaced without shutting down the system. Thus, the end user can have continuous service
and the administrator can eliminate both planned and unplanned downtime.
Figure 4. Recovering from a network controller failure using PCI Hot Plug technology and Compaq
Redundant Netelligent NICs.

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PCI Hot Plug - an Industry-Standard Approach
Although a pioneer of PCI Hot Plug technology, Compaq chose to develop this new technology
as an industry-standard specification rather than a proprietary solution. Not only was Compaq a
pioneer in the development of systems hardware, but the company also had extensive experience
in systems configuration software and device driver development. Because of its unique position,
Compaq gathered the support of major software developers and independent hardware vendors
(IHVs) to deliver PCI Hot Plug technology as an open, industry standard.
Since the June 1996 announcement to deliver PCI Hot Plug technology as an open, industry
standard, Compaq has worked with key hardware and software partners and the industry-wide
PCI standards committee. This effort allows customers to move forward in implementing this
technology with greater flexibility. Compaq has taken several steps to ensure broad industry
acceptance of the technology, including:
•Standardized PCI Hot Plug technology by initiating and chairing the PCI Special Interest
Group (SIG) Hot Plug Workgroup. The workgroup included other industry leaders such as
Adaptec, Inc.; Cirrus Logic, Inc.; Digital Equipment Corporation; Hewlett-Packard
Company; IBM Corporation; Intel; Microsoft; Novell; Pro-Log Corporation; The Santa Cruz
Operation (SCO); and Texas Instruments Incorporated. Efforts of the workgroup allowed
quick completion of the PCI Hot Plug Specification - only 14 months from the group’s
charter- with an official release two months later. For more information on the PCI Hot Plug
Specification, visit the PCI SIG website at http://www.pcisig.com.
•Partnered with OS developers to ensure incorporation of the PCI Hot Plug standard in
product releases. Compaq has taken a proactive role in ensuring broad OS support for hot-
plug capabilities. Actions to date range from the development of cross-company design
teams to the delivery of PCI Hot Plug platforms for testing OSs. Currently, Microsoft,
Novell, and SCO support PCI Hot Plug.
•Worked with leading adapter vendors such as 3Com Corporation; Adaptec; Dialogic
Corporation; Digi International; Mylex Corporation; QLogic Corporation; American
Megatrends, Inc.; Madge Networks; SMC Networks Inc.; and SysKonnect to ensure broad
acceptance and rapid implementation of the standard.
•Licensed PCI Hot Plug which will be available to customers who OEM systems and system
components from Intel. Intel will incorporate Compaq’s implementation of PCI Hot Plug,
including the hot-plug controller and related system technologies, in some Intel Pentium II
Xeon products and beyond.
•Developed hot-plug aware drivers for Compaq NetFlex controllers, Netelligent controllers,
Smart array controllers, and Fast-Wide SCSI-2 controllers.
•Developed the Compaq ProLiant 6500 and ProLiant 7000, announced in August 1997, as the
first available server platforms conforming to the PCI Hot Plug Specification and added next-
“Compaq has demonstrated time and time again their ability to take new technology and new standards
and integrate them into products very rapidly. The PCI Hot Plug specification is a fantastic example.
The capability to remove or insert PCI controller cards into your computer without having to turn the
computer off is a very important ingredient in our (Intel's) long-term growth objectives.”
-John Miner, Vice-President & General Manager, Enterprise Server Group, Intel Corporation

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 8
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generation PCI Hot Plug features to Pentium II Xeon Models of the ProLiant 7000 announced
in June 1998. With these servers, Compaq once again set the standard in improved higher
availability and fault-tolerant solutions for the distributed enterprise.
•Provided PCI Hot Plug technology for future certain Alpha-based product lines
Investment Protection
PCI Hot Plug technology is compatible with previous PCI standards; therefore, any new hot-plug
system hardware, OSs, or adapters are PCI-compliant and will work with existing PCI-compliant
systems. (See Figure 5). The entire system does not need to be overhauled just because certain
components are hot-plug capable. Since no hardware changes are required for the vast majority
of the installed base of PCI adapters, customer investment protection is assured through backward
compatibility.
Figure 5. Due to the backward compatibility of the standard, PCI Hot Plug technology protects the
installed base of over 100 million PCI adapters in use today.
Adapter Drivers
Adapter Drivers Server HW Server HW
Whether new or old, “Everything still works”
Whether new or old, “Everything still works”
OS
OS
Interoperability: Systems, OS,
Drivers
or
or or
or
Hot Plug
Hot Plug
Hot Plug
Hot Plug
Hot Plug
Hot Plug
Adapter Investment Protection
Adapter Investment Protection

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 9
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Efficient Manageability and Serviceability
PCI Hot Plug is fully supported by Compaq’s industry-leading systems integration and
management tools, Compaq SmartStart and Compaq Insight Manager. For example, SmartStart
CDs contain the device drivers necessary to make Compaq adapters fully hot-plug capable. In
addition, Insight Manager identifies which PCI slots are hot pluggable and alerts system
administrators when adapters malfunction. All PCI Hot Plug alerts and actions can also be posted
on Compaq’s Integrated Management Display (an LCD display housed on the front of the server
that provides text-based service and diagnostic information) or accessed through Compaq’s
Remote Insight Board (a remote server management tool).
Compaq systems have also been designed to increase system uptime by reducing the time
associated with component replacement. The once laborious task of accessing PCI adapters has
been simplified through the use of a tool-free access door. (See Figure 6). In addition, light-
emitting diodes (LEDs) have been installed above every PCI Hot Plug slot for easy identification
of failed components. The LEDs can be viewed from above the system when the access door is
open or from behind the machine (ensuring clear visibility from all vantage points). Normally
functioning adapters are indicated by green LEDs and failed or suspect adapters are indicated by
amber LEDs.
Figure 6. Tool-free access door enables quick replacement of hot-plug aware PCI adapters.
Enhanced Solutions
Compaq has worked within PCI Hot Plug specifications to provide enhanced solutions such as the
PCI Hot Plug Push Button and the Extended SCSI PCI Bus Connector. The Compaq ProLiant
7000 now offers a new PCI Hot Plug Push Button for all 9 PCI Hot Plug slots. The button is
pressed to signal the software to initiate a power state change. This easy-to-use push button
provides slot power control directly at the server, independent of PCI Hot Plug software utilities
to simplify and speed maintenance and installation of PCI cards. The new button is more
convenient and simpler, allowing customers to remove the adapter without going through the user

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 10
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console. The ProLiant 7000 also offers PCI 32-bit and 64-bit PCI slots, and is Microsoft Server
98 compliant.
Compaq also has provided future generation solutions for PCI Hot Plug technology with the new
Extended SCSI PCI Bus Connector, a cableless design. SCSI channels are distributed through the
Extended SCSI PCI Bus Connector resulting in no SCSI cables attached to the array controller
adapter as shown in Figure 7.This design facilitates service and eliminates SCSI cabling, further
simplifying PCI Hot Plug operation.
Figure 7. PCI Extended SCSI Bus Connector routes SCSI buses through I/O adapter to drive cages.
PCI Bus
SCSI Channels
Conclusion
With the introduction of PCI Hot Plug technology, Compaq Computer Corporation once again
sets the standard in improved higher availability and fault-tolerant solutions for the distributed
enterprise. PCI Hot Plug offers unprecedented server availability by allowing users to replace,
upgrade, and add PCI adapters to the PCI local bus without powering down the server. In
addition, PCI Hot Plug is backward compatible with the vast majority of PCI adapters in
existence today. As a pioneer of this breakthrough technology, Compaq chose to deliver PCI Hot
Plug as an industry-standard specification. This decision provides several benefits to customers
and has been critical to the overwhelming support received from industry-leading partners.
Compaq is committed to providing customers with a comprehensive range of improved higher
availability and fault-tolerant solutions and will continue to take a leadership role in future
developments of the PCI Hot Plug standard and other emerging technologies.
For More Information
For further information on PCI Hot Plug technology, please visit Compaq’s website at
http://www.compaq.com. Papers include:

The Benefits of PCI Hot Plug Technology 11
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“PCI Hot Plug Technology”
http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/whitepapers/ecg0800698.html
“PCI Hot Plug Technology with Novell Architecture”
http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/whitepapers/ecg0810698.html
“PCI Hot Plug Technology with SCO Architecture”
http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/whitepapers/ecg0820698.html
“Deploying PCI Hot Plug on Compaq Servers in a Microsoft Windows NT Environment”
http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/whitepapers/064a0797.html