Compaq ProLiant 8500 User manual

TECHNOLOGYBRIEF
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June 2000
Compaq Computer
Corporation
ISSD Technology
Communications
CONTENTS
Introduction........................3
High-Performance
Technologies ......................3
ProLiant 8500 Architecture.......4
Pentium III Xeon
Processor Technology............10
High-Availability
Technologies .................... 12
PCI Hot Plug Technology.......12
Redundant Network Interface
Controller Technology............13
Redundant Hot-Plug Fans......13
Redundant Processor
Power Modules......................14
Redundant Hot-Plug
Power Supplies .....................15
Hot-Plug Hard Disk Drives......17
Auto Processor
Bus Recovery........................17
Storage
Technologies .................... 17
Hard Drive Technology...........17
Integrated Array
Controller Technology............18
Management
Technologies .................... 19
Remote-Flash
Redundant ROM....................20
Auto-Default ROM
Configuration.........................20
Integrated Management
Display..................................21
Integrated Remote Console....21
Remote Insight
Board/PCI Option ..................21
Serviceability
Features............................ 22
Conclusion........................ 23
Compaq ProLiant 8500 Server Technology
This technology brief describes the high-performance, high-availability, storage, and
management technologies built into the Compaq ProLiant 8500 server. The high-
performance technologies include a new 8-way system architecture driven by the
Profusion chipset codeveloped by Compaq, Intel, and Corollary, as well as Intel’s
Pentium III Xeon processors. In addition, new disk drive technology and a new
integrated array controller optimize the ProLiant 8500 server’s internal storage for
operating system and boot support while allowing maximum external storage capacity.
The high-availability technologies include PCI Hot Plug technology; redundant hot-plug
power supplies, drives, and fans; redundant processor power modules; and auto
processor bus recovery. The ProLiant 8500 server uses a highly modular design that
allows easy access to components, thus reducing downtime for service and upgrades.
The ProLiant 8500 server also incorporates key management technologies, such as the
Integrated Remote Console, Integrated Management Display, Remote-flash Redundant
ROM, and auto-default ROM configuration, that further enhance availability.
The intended audience for this paper is engineers and system administrators familiar
with existing Compaq technology and servers. For those less familiar with Compaq
technology, please see the related technology briefs referenced in this document. For
more information about the ProLiant 8500 server, see the complete list of features at
http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/ProLiant8500/quickspecs.html.
Please direct comments regarding this communication to the ISSD Technology Communications Group at this Internet
address: Te[email protected]m

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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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 of product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure
compliance with any federal state or local requirements.
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,
ProSignia, Concerto, Vocalyst, and MediaPilot are registered with the United States Patent and
Trademark Office.
Change is Good, Compaq Capital, Colinq, Armada, SmartQ, Counselor, CarePaq, Netelligent,
Smart Uplink, Extended Repeater Architecture, Scalable Clock Architecture, QuickChoice,
Systempro/XL, Net1, LTE Elite, PageMate, SoftPaq, FirstPaq, SolutionPaq, EasyPoint, EZ Help,
MaxLight, MultiLock, QuickBlank, QuickLock, UltraView, Innovate logo, and Compaq PC Card
Solution logo are trademarks and/or service marks of Compaq Computer Corporation.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows NT Advanced Server, 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 and Xeon is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective companies.
©2000 Compaq Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
Compaq ProLiant 8500 Server Technology
Second Edition (June 2000)
Document Number TC000604TB

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INTRODUCTION
In today’s business environment, enterprise customers require powerful servers with fault-tolerant
features to keep their businesses running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also need servers
that are easy to manage and will scale to meet future requirements.
The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server delivers outstanding 8-way scalable performance for 24x7
multiserver rack environments. Performance is maximized with up to eight Intel Pentium III Xeon
processors and 16 GB of synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). Input/output
(I/O) performance is further enhanced by eleven 64-bit PCI slots—two at 66 MHz—an integrated
array controller, and Wide Ultra-3 SCSI hard drives.
High-availability features include PCI Hot Plug slots, redundant hot-pluggable power supplies,
redundant hot-pluggable fans, redundant processor power modules (PPMs), and redundant network
interface controllers (NICs). The ProLiant 8500 server includes server management and
configuration tools that further enhance availability, such as Remote-flash Redundant ROM and
Integrated Remote Console (IRC). Additionally, a highly modular design and System Interconnect
Status Indicators improve serviceability and further reduce downtime associated with upgrades and
field maintenance.
This technology brief explains the features of the ProLiant 8500 server and describes the
management and storage technologies that enhance performance and availability. Many of these
technologies are covered in more detail in separate technology briefs, which are referenced in this
document.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES
The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server is a powerful, industry-leading technology solution for
distributed enterprise computing. A revolutionary new 8-way system architecture allows the
ProLiant 8500 server to deliver unsurpassed performance. This new architecture is the first
implementation in the industry of the Profusion chipset and features Pentium III Xeon processors.
Compaq servers using this architecture provide new levels of performance without requiring
modifications or special releases of operating systems (OSs) or applications. The Compaq 8-way
architecture provides nearly linear scalability for up to eight processors running under Microsoft
Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 2000, Novell NetWare, or SCO UnixWare. The 8-way
architecture delivers superior performance and price:performance for processor-intensive
applications such as Microsoft Terminal Server and Oracle databases; for memory-intensive
applications such as Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, and SAP solutions; and for I/O-intensive
applications such as Microsoft SQL Server.
ROM – read only memory
PCI – peripheral
component interconnect
SCSI – small computer
system interface

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ProLiant 8500 Architecture
The system architecture is the key to the high level of performance offered by the ProLiant 8500
server. Compaq worked closely with Intel and Corollary for three years to perfect the 8-way
symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) architecture so that the processors, memory, and I/O subsystem
work in harmony to deliver breakthrough levels of performance. Figure 1 illustrates the
architecture used in the ProLiant 8500 server. The essential features of the architecture include:
•Profusion five-point crossbar switch
•Dual 100-MHz processor buses
•Dual 100-MHz memory buses, each with its own memory controller
•Dedicated 100-MHz I/O bus
•Support for up to eight Pentium III Xeon processors
•Support for up to 16 GB of two-way, cache-line interleaved SDRAM
•Dual cache accelerators
•I/O filter
•Three Compaq designed host-to-PCI bridges
Figure 1: Block diagram of the ProLiant 8500 system architecture.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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Profusion Chipset
At the heart of the 8-way architecture is the Profusion chipset. The chipset uses a five-point
crossbar switch (Figure 2) to connect processor buses, memory ports, and the I/O bus. The
crossbar switch contains static random access memory (SRAM) with ten ports—five read and five
write—that appear as five bidirectional ports, one for each of the processor, memory, and I/O
buses. The switch may connect two ports directly or may store data from the originating bus in the
SRAM before it is transferred to the destination bus. This nonblocking design allows simultaneous
read and write accesses from all five buses, which results in better system performance.
10-Port SRAM
I/O Interface
Memory Interface Memory Interface
Processor Interface
Processor Interface
Right Processor Bus
Left Processor Bus
I/O Bus
Right Memory PortLeft Memory Port
Figure 2: Block diagram of the Profusion crossbar switch.
The Profusion crossbar switch provides direct paths from each memory bus to each processor bus
and to the I/O bus. Depending on the status of the system, the direct paths can be used to bypass
the SRAM, thus reducing latency and improving performance. The direct paths are used only to
read data. To improve processor utilization and performance, write data is always posted to the
SRAM and written to main memory later.
The Profusion crossbar switch consists of two physical chips—the memory address controller
(MAC) and the data interface buffer (DIB). This functional partitioning of the application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC), as shown in Figure 3, improves system performance. For every
transaction from a processor or an I/O controller, the address and command portions are routed
through the MAC and the data is routed through the DIB. The MAC manages the external cache
accelerators and tracks the information stored in the DIB. The DIB allows simultaneous data
transfer on all five ports, has 64-cache-line buffers, and uses error-correcting code to maintain data
integrity. The cache-line buffers can be used by any transaction for any device on any bus; and
since there are no dedicated queues between buses, the efficiency of the buffers is high. This
improves system performance.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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Processor
bus
Cache
Accelerator
Processor
bus
address
data
address
data
Memory
Array
Memory
Array
I/O bus data address
AA
DD
Memory Access
Controller (MAC)
Data Interface
Buffer (DIB)
address
Cache
Accelerator
Figure 3: ASIC partitioning in the Profusion chipset.
Processor and I/O Buses
The ProLiant 8500 server includes two 64-bit processor buses and a dedicated 64-bit I/O bus. All
three are 100-MHz advanced Gunning transceiver logic plus (AGTL+) buses with a theoretical
maximum throughput of 800 MB/s. AGTL+ buses facilitate higher clock speeds without
significantly reducing the bus length or number of electrical loads. Each 100-MHz AGTL+ bus
can support a maximum of five loads per bus. This allows four processors and one connection to
the memory controller on each processor bus. The use of two processor buses enables the ProLiant
8500 server to support up to eight Pentium III Xeon processors.
The Profusion chipset joins the two processor buses, the I/O bus, and the two memory ports. The
otherwise independent processor and I/O buses are joined by a logical connection that is made only
when required to transfer data. Each of the three AGTL+ buses has independent access to the two
memory ports. This architecture prevents I/O traffic from consuming bandwidth on the processor
bus. In addition, the use of 100-MHz buses and five independent paths allows the crossbar switch
to deliver an aggregate instantaneous peak throughput of 4 GB/s—unprecedented high performance
for customers.
Memory Subsystem
The ProLiant 8500 memory subsystem includes dual 100-MHz buses, each with its own memory
controller. The use of two memory buses increases memory bandwidth, reduces access conflicts,
and increases the quantity of memory supported. Memory attached to each of the buses is cache-
line interleaved, which means the buses share a common address range. One memory bus responds
to even-numbered cache lines, and the other bus responds to odd-numbered cache lines. This
configuration allows simultaneous use of both memory buses, which theoretically doubles
throughput. It is especially advantageous for applications that access memory randomly. In
random accesses, roughly half the requests at any one time are even-numbered lines, while the other
half are odd-numbered lines.

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The memory subsystem uses uniform memory access, which reduces latency and gives all
processors equal access times to either memory bus. In systems using nonuniform memory access
architectures, a processor has quick access to one memory bus but incurs a lag time (or latency)
when accessing a second memory bus.
The ProLiant 8500 server supports up to 16 GB of error checking and correcting SDRAM that
corrects all single-bit errors and detects double-bit errors. Memory is divided into eight banks,
each consisting of two dual inline memory modules.
Although the Profusion chipset supports up to 32 GB of memory, industry-standard OSs provide
only minimal support and scalability for this memory capacity, and enhanced support will not be
available for an extended period. Also, in discussions with customers, Compaq learned that very
few server implementations are fully configured with memory. With this in mind, Compaq used the
internal server space to provide additional drive capacity in the ProLiant 8500 server. As customer
requirements and OS capabilities increase in the future, Compaq will continue to modify servers to
match these requirements.
Cache Accelerators
One of the main challenges of designing an efficient SMP architecture is maintaining cache
coherency. To allow faster access to memory, most processors write data to cache memory rather
than main memory. When a processor writes data to its cache, that cache has a newer copy of the
data than main memory. Cache coherency ensures that the most recent copy of the data is read by
any device that requests it. The cache coherency protocol essentially makes the cache look like
main memory. Cache coherency is critical for the proper operation of an SMP architecture, and the
performance and scalability of the architecture is affected by how efficiently it maintains cache
coherency.
With multiple processor buses and a separate I/O bus, it is extremely challenging to maintain cache
coherency in the 8-way architecture. Each memory access must look at, or snoop, the caches on its
local processor bus and snoop all caches on the remote processor bus and the I/O bus. The amount
of snoop traffic can significantly impact the scalability of the system.
The ProLiant 8500 architecture uses cache accelerators to minimize snoop traffic to the remote
processor bus and I/O bus. The cache accelerators store the address and state of the data for all
caches on their respective buses. The Profusion crossbar switch uses this information to determine
whether to snoop the remote processor and I/O buses. Depending on how often a software
application shares data, the reduction in snoop traffic can significantly improve overall system
performance and scalability.
I/O Filter
The ProLiant 8500 server also includes three Compaq host-to-PCI bridges with prefetch buffers, so
they act as caching bridges. The Profusion chipset contains a built-in I/O filter for the caching
bridges on the I/O bus. The I/O filter enhances performance by reducing snoop traffic on the I/O
bus. This I/O filter is designed to work with all three of the Compaq host-to-PCI bridges. When a
processor requests a cache line with the intent to modify it, the MAC performs a lookup into the
I/O filter to determine if that line resides in one of the caching bridges. If it does reside there, the
MAC initiates a transaction on the I/O bus to invalidate that cache line. If the cache line is not
present in one of the bridges, then no transaction is run on the bus.

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Compaq Host-to-PCI Bridges
The Compaq host-to-PCI bridges included in the ProLiant 8500 server were engineered to enhance
performance of the Profusion chipset. They include the following features:
•64-bit, 66-MHz PCI support with a theoretical peak throughput of 533 MB/s
•Delayed transaction support
•Asynchronous design to accommodate multiple bus frequencies
•Multiple prefetch buffers
•PCI Hot Plug technology
•Peer-to-peer transaction support
64-Bit, 66-MHz PCI Support
Compaq licensed the host-to-PCI bridges to Intel, and they will ship with a Compaq logo on top in
servers produced by other original equipment manufacturers. They are compliant with the PCI 2.2
Specification1and support 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI transactions.
The ProLiant 8500 supports three bridges with up to eleven I/O expansion slots. PCI Bus 1
operates at 33 MHz and includes three 64-bit PCI Hot Plug slots. PCI Bus 2 is also a 33-MHz bus
and includes six 64-bit PCI Hot Plug slots. PCI Bus 3 operates at 66 MHz with two 64-bit PCI Hot
Plug slots. Each of the 33-MHz buses has a maximum throughput of 267 MB/s. The 66-MHz bus
has a maximum throughput of 533 MB/s. This combination of 11 slots provides adequate I/O
bandwidth for the most demanding applications.
The Compaq 8-way architecture will support up to four Compaq host-to-PCI bridges. However, by
incorporating only three host-to-PCI bridges, the ProLiant 8500 server has room on the I/O board
to deliver an additional PCI slot, a meaningful advantage for enterprise customers who consistently
request additional capacity.
Delayed Transactions
One of the most important features of Compaq’s host-to-PCI bridge is that it supports delayed PCI
transactions, which improve bus performance. In a delayed PCI transaction, the device that
initiates the transaction polls the host-to-PCI bridge to determine if the requested data is there,
rather than holding the bus while waiting for the data. This allows other devices to use the bus
while the transaction is completed. To further improve bus efficiency, Compaq built in additional
features to reduce the amount of polling.
Asynchronous Design
The bridge is split into two sections: upstream (host I/O side) and downstream (PCI side). All the
functions on the upstream side are in the host processor clock domain at 100 MHz. All functions
on the downstream side are in the PCI clock domain at up to 66 MHz. This asynchronous design is
a flexible solution for supporting multiple clock speeds.
Multiple Prefetch Buffers
The Compaq host-to-PCI bridge is designed with multiple prefetch buffers to ensure optimum I/O-
to-processor performance. Each buffer can hold multiple cache lines. These buffers are sized to
provide optimal performance at a reasonable and cost-effective die size. Because of the delayed
transaction support, the bridge can get data for multiple PCI devices concurrently. Other
controllers can hold only a single cache line and a single request at a time.
1PCI Local Bus Specification, Revision 2.2, announced January 25, 1999, PCI Special Interest
Group.

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PCI Hot Plug Technology
The host-to-PCI bridges include electronics to support PCI Hot Plug technology, which was
pioneered by Compaq. PCI Hot Plug technology provides the ability to remove, replace, upgrade,
and add PCI adapters without shutting down the server. Any PCI adapter can be placed in a PCI
Hot Plug slot; however, PCI Hot Plug device drivers and OS support are required to enable PCI
Hot Plug functionality.
Peer-to-Peer Transactions
The host-to-PCI bridges also support PCI peer-to-peer transactions. They allow communications
between two devices on the same PCI bus segment. They also allow communication across the I/O
bus between PCI devices on different PCI bus segments (Figure 4).
PCI Device 1
Host-to-PCI Bridge
I/O 100 MHz Bus
Processor Bus
PCI Bus
Host-to-PCI Bridge
PCI Device 2
PCI Device 3
PCI Device 4
PCI Bus
PCI Device 5
Figure 4: Schematic of peer-to-peer communications between PCI devices on different I/O bus segments.
Microprocessors embedded in the PCI devices make these devices “intelligent” and perform the
communication tasks otherwise handled by the processors. Thus, the host-to-PCI bridges enhance
performance by freeing the system processors to do other work.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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Pentium III Xeon Processor Technology
The Pentium III Xeon processor is based on the Pentium II Xeon processor cartridge form factor.
The Pentium III Xeon processor provides a higher internal core frequency than the Pentium II
Xeon processor and includes 70 new streaming instructions that permit more efficient use of
memory above 4 GB. The Pentium III Xeon processor includes the following features:
•Minimum core frequency of 550 MHz
•330-contact slot connector form factor (formerly called Slot 2)
•Full-speed cache on module
•512-KB (550-MHz core frequency only), 1-MB, or 2-MB Level 2 (L2) cache
•Katmai core logic
Level 2 Cache
Each Pentium III Xeon processor includes an L2 cache sized at 512 KB, 1 MB, or 2 MB that
operates on a full-speed backside bus. The large cache size and full-speed backside bus enable
very efficient access to the most frequently used data. This reduces traffic on the host bus and
notably enhances performance.
Katmai Core Logic
Aside from speed and cache size increases, the main difference between the Pentium II Xeon and
Pentium III Xeon processors is the migration to the Katmai core logic. The Katmai core logic adds
the following enhancements to the existing Intel core:
•Memory streaming
•Concurrent Single Instruction Multiple Data – Floating Point (SIMD-FP)
•Katmai New Instructions (KNI)
Memory Streaming
Memory streaming is a set of techniques that increase the utilization of the memory bus during
memory reads and writes. Processors must frequently wait for data not stored in cache memory to
be retrieved from system memory. Because the system bus connecting the memory to the processor
is slower than the processor core speed, this results in a performance bottleneck. Katmai’s memory
streaming enables the processor to prefetch data from system memory to cache memory.
During writes to memory, other new instructions can tell the processor to bypass the L2 cache and
write data directly back to memory. Bypassing the L2 cache frees room in the cache for more data.
This technique is useful when the software programmer knows in advance that the data will not be
requested again in the near future.
Concurrent SIMD-FP
Concurrent SIMD-FP applies the same architecture used by MMX for integer operations to
floating-point numbers. Floating-point numbers are used extensively in 3D graphics and scientific
computations. Katmai processors have eight new registers that can each hold four single-precision
floating-point numbers. Once the registers are filled, a single instruction can be used to add,
subtract, or do other operations between the registers. For example, eight floating-point numbers
could be added together using one instruction call.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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Katmai New Instructions
KNI refers to the addition of 70 new instructions to the MMX instruction set. The new instructions
primarily refer to the new SIMD-FP registers, but some new integer instructions also have been
added. The new instructions are particularly useful for multimedia applications such as 3D
rendering and video encoding and decoding.
Thermal Design
Compaq designed an innovative thermal cooling solution for the Pentium III Xeon processor that
contributes to increased system reliability and performance scalability. Heat pipes transfer heat
away from the Slot 2 cartridge thermal plate to cooling fins mounted atop the cartridge (Figure 5).
Processor Cartridge
Heat Pipes
Fins
Heat
Figure 5: Heat pipes and fins for the Pentium III Xeon processor cartridge.
This top-mounted position and the direction of the cooling fins are advantageous in two important
ways. First, this design cools efficiently regardless of the direction of airflow (vertical or
horizontal). Therefore, the ProLiant 8500 server can use the same Slot 2 cartridge and heat sink
combination used in other servers, such as the ProLiant 7000 and the ProLiant 8000 servers.
Second, because the heat fins are top mounted, the redundant PPM can be placed in its optimal
position, next to the processor, to maintain short signal trace lengths across the 100-MHz system
bus. The resulting improvements to power supply regulation and system bus signal quality increase
system reliability.
To further reduce any cooling issues that may arise from packing so much power into such a small
form factor, Compaq also improved the design of the ProLiant 8500 chassis. As show in Figure 6,
a spring-loaded trap door has been added to each power supply bay. When a power supply is
removed, the trap door will close to block the opening. This door preserves the air path required to
cool the internal components of the server. It also allows the server to maintain availability with
only one power supply and gives the administrator more time to replace the power supply.
Spring-loaded trap doors
Figure 6: Spring-loaded trap doors in the power supply bays of the ProLiant 8500 server.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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The ProLiant 8500 server includes two 200-cubic-feet-per-minute hot-plug fans. These heavy-duty
fans and thermal design modifications allow the ProLiant 8500 server to maintain proper airflow
and temperature with only one hot-plug fan. The second hot-plug fan provides redundancy for the
server.
For rack configurations of multiple ProLiant 8500 servers, Compaq designed a new rack series.
The series includes racks with perforated doors and door inserts that provide better airflow and
help these configurations maintain the proper temperature.
HIGH-AVAILABILITY TECHNOLOGIES
Tolerance of server downtime continues to decrease as companies become more global,
decentralized, and aware of downtime costs. The ProLiant 8500 server answers the demand for
high availability by incorporating the following features into the server hardware:
•PCI Hot Plug technology
•Redundant NIC technology
•Redundant, hot-plug fans
•Redundant PPMs
•Redundant, hot-plug power supplies
•Hot-plug drives
•Auto processor bus recovery
Redundant components help ensure that the server is highly fault tolerant. In redundant
configurations, if a power supply, fan, or PPM fails, the redundant standby component can take
over operation with no downtime to the server. With the addition of hot-plug capabilities, server
downtime can be eliminated while components are being replaced, added, or upgraded.
PCI Hot Plug Technology
The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server incorporates industry-standard PCI Hot Plug technology. This
technology, pioneered by Compaq, adds hot-plug capabilities to existing PCI adapters for increased
system availability and serviceability. Compaq led the industry by licensing its PCI Hot Plug
implementation to Intel, thus broadening customer access to this industry-standard technology.
Compaq’s implementation of PCI Hot Plug incorporates electronics into the server to control each
PCI Hot Plug slot individually, so that a single slot can be powered down without affecting the
operation of the other slots. Compaq’s implementation of the PCI Hot Plug standard allows the
following capabilities while the system is running:
•Hot replacement – replacing a single PCI adapter with a similar adapter
•Hot upgrade – replacing a PCI adapter with an upgraded adapter
•Hot expansion – adding a PCI adapter to an empty slot
The ProLiant 8500 server supports all three hot-plug capabilities for all 64-bit PCI Hot Plug slots.
These capabilities can be added incrementally, depending on the OS implementation.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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For more information about major OS vendors that support PCI Hot Plug, refer to the following
Compaq technology briefs:
•PCI Hot Plug Technology, document number ECG080/0698
•PCI Hot Plug Technology with Novell Architecture, document number ECG081/0698
•PCI Hot Plug Technology with SCO Software Architecture, document number ECG082/0698
•PCI Hot Plug Technology with Microsoft Windows Architecture, document number
ECG071/0399
Redundant Network Interface Controller Technology
Compaq’s 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, the network traffic is automatically switched to the
standby NIC. This redundancy eliminates the NIC or cable as a single point of failure. With PCI
Hot Plug technology, the failed NIC can be replaced without rebooting the system. Thus, the end
user can have continuous service and the administrator can greatly reduce planned and unplanned
downtime.
The ProLiant 8500 server supports a Compaq NC3131 Fast Ethernet controller on the PCI local
bus. The NIC has two ports for 10BaseT or 100TX Ethernet. The ports are seen as two separate
local area networks, both supporting full-duplex Ethernet (20 Mb/s) and Fast Ethernet (200 Mb/s).
Redundancy is available across the two ports with one NIC. In addition, the NIC is upgradeable
with a daughter card to an additional two ports of 100BaseTX Ethernet, a single port of 100
BaseFX, or single-port Gigabit Ethernet SX or LX Fiber support. Redundancy is also available
here; the NIC can be configured to failover from the Gigabit daughter card to the dual 10/100 ports
in the event of a failure, thus allowing continued access to the network.
Redundant Hot-Plug Fans
The ProLiant 8500 server includes two hot-plug system fans in the I/O module of the server
(Figure 7). One fan is required to cool the system, and the other fan is redundant. If the primary
fan fails, a system alert triggers the secondary (or redundant) fan to take over automatically. The
redundant hot-plug system fan protects the various server components from overheating and helps
prevent possible system interruption.
Figure 7: Hot-plug fans in the ProLiant 8500 server.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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The fan control logic operates independently from the system processor and OS. Regardless of
which OS is running or its condition, the fan control logic and the server temperature monitoring
circuitry work together to cool the server effectively.
The fans have two speeds: normal and high. Under typical operating conditions, the normal fan
speed is sufficient to cool up to 8 processors, 4 hard disk drives, and 11 I/O expansion boards. As
a precaution against increases in ambient air or localized internal temperatures, Compaq
established three thermal trip points, as shown in Figure 8. If the first thermal trip point is reached,
the fans adjust automatically to high speed to increase cooling.
Users can select whether to enable a server response to the second thermal trip point. When
enabled, if the internal air temperature exceeds the second trip point, the OS initiates a controlled
shutdown of the server. Simultaneously, a warning message is sent to the Integrated Management
Display (IMD) and Compaq Insight Manager. The server restarts automatically when it has cooled
sufficiently.
Finally, in the unlikely event server temperature continues to rise, a third trip point shuts down the
power supplies to protect critical components from overheating. The server restarts automatically
when it has cooled sufficiently.
System Boards
Ambient Probe
Power Supplies
Processors
Power
Supplies
Temperature Monitoring
Circuitry
Fan Control Logic
System Fans
OS
•
Sp
e
•
S
y
•
Har
d
•
Re
s
- Hardware shutdown
- Restart when cool
- Graceful OS shutdown
- System alert
- Restart when cool
- Speed up fans
Figure 8: Schematic diagram of fan control logic.
Redundant Processor Power Modules
Each processor in the ProLiant 8500 server has its own redundant PPM. PPMs are also known as
voltage regulator modules. An additional PPM is included in the server to power the system board.
The PPMs deliver the precise voltage required by the processors.
Compaq PPMs are programmable and support all current and future versions of Xeon processors.
Each PPM has redundant circuitry. If a failure occurs in one circuit of the module, the other circuit
automatically takes over the task of regulating power to the processor.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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Redundant Hot-Plug Power Supplies
The ProLiant 8500 server uses one of the newest Compaq technologies to reduce downtime:
intelligent, redundant, hot-plug power supplies. The server supports two dual-rated
1150-watt/500-watt power supplies with new handles for easier insertion and removal. Even if one
of these power supplies fails, its internal fans will continue to operate and help cool the server. A
single power supply running at 220 volts can support a fully loaded ProLiant 8500 server, but a
second power supply adds redundancy and fault tolerance.
The power supplies have an embedded microcontroller and an inter-integrated circuit bus that
communicates the status back to the system health drivers.2The health drivers then send status
information to the IMD and to Compaq Insight Manager.
The microcontroller performs the following functions:
•Self-test. The intelligent power supplies perform their own power-on self-test (POST) that
checks temperature, RAM integrity, ROM version, analog-to-digital conversion accuracy, and
nonvolatile memory integrity of the power supply.
•Auto Line Sensing. Because the power supplies are rated for both 1150 watts (at 220 volts)
and 500 watts (at 110 volts), a line-sensing feature automatically recognizes which line voltage
is connected. The customer does not need to configure the supply for voltage.
•LED Standby Controls. The microcontroller also drives two status light-emitting diodes
(LEDs) on the back of the power supply that indicate power status, as shown in Figure 9. This
gives the user vital status information at a glance.
Clear - Front panel power switch off or open interlock
Flashing Green - Power on delay or software power off
Green - Outputs on and good
Flashing Amber - Failed self test
Amber - Outputs failed
Flashing Amber/Green - Restart failed
Green - AC power good
Clear - AC power not good
Figure 9: Power supply LED status indicators.
2For additional details about Compaq’s intelligent power supplies, see the technology brief
Intelligent Power Supply Technology, document number ECG016/0198.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
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Power-Down Controls
As shown in Figure 10, the server power switch connects to the Advanced Configuration and Power
Interface (ACPI) controller rather than directly to the power line. This means that turning off the
power switch does not turn off power instantly. Instead, the ACPI controller communicates with
the system board and the OS. The power-down controls can be configured in one of three ways:
•Secure mode – Power supply will not shut down if power switch is pressed.
•Delay mode – Power supply will shut down after a 10-second delay. This allows time to
reactivate the switch if it was mistakenly pressed.
•Graceful shut down – A 10-second delay counter begins as a message warning of an imminent
power-down goes to Compaq Insight Manager and the IMD. Because of the communication
between the ACPI controller and the OS, the OS can delay the power down until all running
applications have properly closed. Should the OS not be running, the power would go down
when the delay counter expired.
The power-down control feature is supported under Microsoft Windows NT and Novell NetWare.
SCO is planning to implement support for the power-down control in the future.
System
Board
OS
Power
Backplane
Power Supply
AC/DC
Converter AC
DC
Microcontroller
Power
Switch Power On
Soft Power Down
I2C Bus
ACPI
Controller
Figure 10: Power supply schematic.
Load Balancing
The power supplies automatically load balance to within 10 percent of the average current of all
supplies. Before the power comes up, the master power supply matches its output load rails to
those of the other power supplies so that the load is automatically balanced across all power
supplies. If one supply fails, the load balancing feature allows the other supplies to pick up the
remaining power load quickly.
Power Factor Correction
Compaq’s intelligent power supplies have built-in power factor correction to synchronize the
voltage and current phases. This helps ensure that maximum power is available. It also reduces the
return current in the ground line, which reduces the overall power consumption.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
17
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Hot-Plug Capability
When a power supply is hot swapped, the microcontroller governs the power-up and power-down
sequence, enables the health drivers to calculate redundancy “on the fly,” and informs the health
drivers of changes in load. Compaq hot-plug power supplies are readily identifiable by their port-
colored bezel, as shown in Figure 11.
Port-colored bezel
Figure 11: Front view of hot-plug power supply with port-colored bezel.
Hot-Plug Hard Disk Drives
The ProLiant 8500 server supports four 1-inch, Wide Ultra-3 SCSI, internal hot-plug hard disk
drives. The internal drives can be controlled by an Integrated Smart Array Controller (see “Storage
Technologies”) to optimize them for OS and boot support. When the server is configured for
maximum capacity, it can support 73 GB of internal storage. Capacity will increase in the future as
new drive technologies emerge.
Auto Processor Bus Recovery
Auto processor bus recovery is a feature of the ProLiant 8500 server that maintains server
availability in the unlikely event that one of the cache accelerators fails. If a cache accelerator fails,
the server will go through the Automatic Server Recovery (ASR) process and reboot. Typically, a
failed cache accelerator would prevent the server from rebooting; however, auto processor bus
recovery enables the server to recover and maintain availability of the processor bus with the good
cache accelerator. With the server still available, the administrator can replace the failed
accelerator at the most convenient time.
STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES
As corporations commit more critical information to computers, the requirements for more storage
capacity and faster data movement are increasing at a startling rate. The Compaq ProLiant 8500
server includes new storage technologies that help meet these requirements. New hard drive
technology and a specially designed integrated array controller allow the ProLiant 8500 server to
deliver the highest levels of external storage capacity faster and with more reliability.
Hard Drive Technology
The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server uses low-voltage differential (LVD) Ultra-3 SCSI hard drives.
Ultra-3 SCSI hard drives use a 16-bit bus and a double pumped 40-MHz clock rate to achieve
maximum transfer rates of 160 MB/s. This bus speed provides the performance demanded by
today’s data-intensive applications and prevents system performance from becoming I/O limited as
drive throughputs increase.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
18
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Integrated Array Controller Technology
The Compaq ProLiant 8500 server is equipped with an Integrated Smart Array Controller. The
integrated controller, also known as RAID on a chip, or ROC, is an embedded hardware-based
RAID solution that enhances system reliability and improves host processor utilization. It is ideal
for data center servers, like the ProLiant 8500 server, in which internal storage is optimized for
OSs and swap space.
RAID implementation enhances data integrity and recovery through data striping and parity
generation for the data rebuild process. The integrated array controller improves host processor
utilization by performing all RAID functions, thus freeing the host processor for other tasks. The
controller is fully integrated and embedded on the motherboard of the ProLiant 8500 server, which
improves I/O efficiency and frees a PCI slot for another controller. The integrated controller can
also queue tasks and data, thereby increasing performance.
The integrated controller consists of a processor, memory controller and hardware exclusive-OR
(XOR) engineer, SCSI chip, PCI bridge, and an internal bus structure embedded on a single
substrate. The controller has fewer parts than typical array controllers, since all of the components
and connections are combined into one integrated circuit. Fewer parts leads to greater reliability
and increases mean time between failures.
The integrated array controller includes a 16-MB read-only memory, with an 8-MB read-ahead
cache. This memory configuration is optimal for OS and boot support. Since the memory is read
only, data loss is not an issue and battery backup is not required.
This controller provides two Wide Ultra-2 SCSI channels. One channel is dedicated to the internal
drive bay. The other channel is connected to the external SCSI connector. It uses a high-density
connector, and only supports tape backup devices.
The integrated array controller in the ProLiant 8500 server can be bypassed using an Integrated
Array Bypass Kit and an optional controller, such as the Compaq Smart Array 3200 controller. A
bypass kit is shipped standard with all ProLiant 8500 servers.
Although the ProLiant 8500 server supports Wide Ultra-3 SCSI hard drives, the drives will run in
Wide Ultra-2 mode with the Integrated Smart Array Controller. An optional Wide Ultra-3 SCSI
array controller can be used with the bypass kit to provide Wide Ultra-3 speeds; however, the
Integrated Smart Array Controller provides out-of-the box RAID capability with maximum transfer
rates of 80 MB/s, allowing optimum OS and boot support.
Configuration Utilities
The Option ROM Configuration for Arrays Utility is firmware that comes with the integrated
controller in the ProLiant 8500 server. This firmware allows users to set up a simple configuration
during POST. The support includes the ability to create a single logical drive, delete a single
existing logical drive, view the current configuration, and assign an online spare as part of the
logical drive creation process. The integrated controller may be configured to initialize as an
intelligent I/O processor supporting either dual-channel SCSI operation or RAID.
For more advanced configuration support, Compaq provides the Array Configuration Utility. The
Compaq Array Configuration Utility is an easy-to-use graphical configuration utility to help users
set up and change drive array configurations. It can be used to configure the standard internal drive
controller as well as any optional controller boards that are installed.
RAID Support
The integrated array controller supports RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1, and 5 to ensure data integrity and
availability. When configured for RAID 5, and prior to any possible drive failure, the controller
RAID – Redundant Array
of Independent Disks

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
19
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proactively generates parity data so that it can keep all data available and the server running during
replacement of any failed drive. The integrated array controller also supports online spare disk
drives. These spares are powered up but not active; they are held in reserve in case one or more of
the active drives should fail.
The controller supports logical drive expansion, which consists of three different types of
operations: capacity expansion, RAID migration, and distribution factor changing. Capacity
expansion allows growing an existing logical drive, either by adding additional physical drives or
by using existing free space on the current physical drives. RAID migration allows changing the
RAID level of an existing logical drive. Distribution factor changes the amount of data stored on
each physical drive in a RAID stripe. All of these operations can be performed without disturbing
the data on the drives.
MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES
Fault-tolerant, redundant features are only part of what makes Compaq servers highly available.
Compaq offers a range of hardware- and software-based server management tools that can be used
to reduce downtime and increase productivity. The ProLiant 8500 server includes the following
standard tools available to all Compaq servers:
•Automatic Server Recovery. ASR automatically resets the server after a critical hardware or
software error. ASR can reset the server to the OS or to the System Partition Utilities. The
ASR reset function is based on a hardware timer working in conjunction with the Server Health
Drivers. If the Server Health Drivers can no longer reset the hardware timer after some user-
specified amount of time, the server is automatically reset. ASR can also be configured to
page the administrator when an ASR event occurs.
•System Partition Utilities. These utilities assist the system administrator in diagnosing server
problems, configuring new hardware, and upgrading ROMs. For example, an administrator
can analyze the system configuration files to verify that no interrupts or other conflicts are
causing system failures. The System Partition Utilities are available when the server is reset.
ASR can be configured to reset automatically to the System Partition Utilities; or the
administrator can reboot to the System Partition Utilities through Compaq Insight Manager.
•Compaq Insight Manager. This software-based management tool monitors more than 1,000
management parameters to allow fault prediction and alerting, asset and configuration
inventory, and performance monitoring. Through Compaq Insight Manager, a remote
administrator can request an OS console operation, reset the server, view utilities, and view
system configuration information. See the white paper Compaq Insight Manager, document
number 11CW-1199A-WWEN, for more details.
•Asynchronous Insight Management. Asynchronous Insight Management provides access to
Compaq Insight Manager through a dial-up networking, or asynchronous, connection. This
gives an administrator additional flexibility in troubleshooting problems. If the server OS is
still functioning, an administrator can dial in remotely and access Insight Manager through a
point-to-point protocol (PPP) connection.
In addition to these utilities, the ProLiant 8500 server also ships standard with management
technologies that reduce downtime and increase productivity even more. Remote-flash Redundant
ROM allows administrators to update the ROM remotely, and the auto-default ROM configuration
provides default configuration settings for most devices. The IMD and IRC provide essential
information at a glance and allow users easy remote access to their servers. For additional remote
management functionality, customers can request that the optional Remote Insight Board/PCI be
added to the ProLiant 8500 server.

TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.)
20
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Remote-Flash Redundant ROM
The ProLiant 8500 server is equipped with a Remote-flash Redundant ROM that improves
manageability. Using the Compaq Remote ROM Flash Utility, administrators can flash the system
ROMs for a wide range of Compaq servers, locally or across the network. The Remote ROM Flash
Utility is a combination of components that allows administrators to upgrade the system ROMs on
servers from a single point of execution. The ROM upgrades can either be flashed individually or
batched together to perform multiple ROM upgrades in a single step. The following components
are used in the ROM flash process:
•User interface. The user interface is command-line driven and allows administrators to tailor
functionality to a specific environment.
•System ROM Flash Service. The System ROM Flash Service allows the user interface to
perform essential functionality on remote servers for the ROM upgrade process, including
remote system shutdown, mounting, and unmounting the system partition.
•Compaq System Configuration Utility. The latest version of the Compaq System
Configuration Utility is integrated within the Compaq Remote ROM Flash Utility. Parts of this
utility have been enhanced to allow flawless firmware upgrades.
•ROMPAQ Utility and image files. Generally, any version of the ROMPaq Utility and image
files can be used. The latest ROMPaq Utility and images are available from the Compaq
website at www.compaq.com/support/files/server/ROMPAQ/index.html. It is possible to
maintain a common collection of ROM images in a particular directory on the local
administrative client or on a shared resource.
All of these components work together to deliver an easy-to-manage solution for administrators
who need to manage large-scale ROM upgrades, like those required for a year 2000 update, or a
few ROM upgrades at a time.
Compaq Remote-flash Redundant ROM provides a unique redundancy feature that helps ensure
system availability. During the ROM flash process, it is possible for a problem to occur.
Typically, a failure during the ROM flash would shut down the server and require the administrator
to replace the ROM. This could be a significant problem if, for example, the flash were scheduled
for a time when the administrator was unavailable. Theoretically, the server could be down for
hours until the administrator became available to manage the situation. Compaq’s unique
redundancy feature helps ensure system availability because it gives the system the ability to
recover the last known good system ROM in the event that the current system ROM is corrupted.
When a ProLiant 8500 server leaves the factory, both system ROMs contain the same image.
Through subsequent boots of the server, if integrity errors are detected by the boot block, the
system will automatically launch the redundant image and continue the POST process. If the
redundant ROM is launched, the user will see an error message identifying the faulty system ROM.
Auto-Default ROM Configuration
When a ProLiant 8500 server is first powered on, the system ROM detects the unconfigured state
of the hardware and provides default configuration settings for most devices. By providing this
initialization, the system can run Diagnostics and other software applications before running the
normal SmartStart and System Configuration applications.
If the user inserts a System Configuration, Diagnostics, or SmartStart CD in the CD-ROM drive
before powering on the server, the system ROM will boot using that CD. If the system ROM does
not detect one of these CDs, the user will be prompted for the intended OS. The system will reboot
if any OS-dependent configurations have changed with the new OS selection. If the selected OS-