Dell PowerEdge M910 Quick start guide

PowerEdge M910
Name
Technical Guide
The M910 is ideal
for the demanding
applications at the
core of most data
centers, such as
large databases,
virtualization and
messaging
infrastructure.

Dell
PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide ii
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Revision 2 August 2011

Dell
PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide iii
Table of Contents
1Product Comparison ...........................................................................................6
1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................6
1.2 Powerful Performance...................................................................................6
1.3 Scaling Capability ........................................................................................6
1.4 High Reliability ...........................................................................................6
1.5 Product Comparison .....................................................................................7
2Key Technologies............................................................................................. 10
2.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 10
2.2 Detailed Information .................................................................................. 10
2.2.1 Intel 7510 Chipset................................................................................ 10
2.2.2 Intel Xeon Processor E7 Family................................................................. 10
2.2.3 FlexMem Bridge .................................................................................. 11
2.2.4 IO Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture ............................................. 11
2.2.5 DDR3 Memory ..................................................................................... 11
2.2.6 PCI Express Generation 2 ....................................................................... 11
2.2.7 Internal Redundant SD Module ................................................................. 11
2.2.8 iDRAC6 Express ................................................................................... 11
3System Information .......................................................................................... 12
3.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 12
3.2 Product Features Summary ........................................................................... 12
4Mechanical .................................................................................................... 14
4.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 14
4.2 Module Dimensions and Weight ...................................................................... 14
4.3 Front View and Features .............................................................................. 15
4.4 Back View and Features............................................................................... 16
4.5 Power Supply Indicators............................................................................... 16
4.6 LED Indicators .......................................................................................... 16
4.7 Internal-Chassis View .................................................................................. 17
4.8 Rails and Cable Management ......................................................................... 17
4.9 Fans ...................................................................................................... 17
4.10 Cabling................................................................................................... 17
4.11 Control Panel/LCD ..................................................................................... 17
4.12 Security.................................................................................................. 17
4.13 Cover Latch ............................................................................................. 18
4.14 TPM (Trusted Platform Module)...................................................................... 18
4.15 Power Off Security..................................................................................... 18
4.16 USB Key.................................................................................................. 18
4.17 Battery................................................................................................... 18
4.18 Field Replaceable Units (FRU)........................................................................ 18
4.19 User Accessible Jumpers, Sockets, and Connectors............................................... 18
5Power, Thermal, and Acoustic ............................................................................. 19
5.1 Power Efficiency ....................................................................................... 19
5.2 Thermal.................................................................................................. 19
5.3 Acoustics ................................................................................................ 20
5.4 Environmental Specifications......................................................................... 20
6Processors..................................................................................................... 22
6.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 22
6.2 Features ................................................................................................. 22
6.3 Supported Processors.................................................................................. 23
6.4 Processor Configurations.............................................................................. 24

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide iv
6.5 FlexMem Bridge ........................................................................................ 24
7Memory ........................................................................................................ 26
7.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 26
7.2 DIMMs Supported ....................................................................................... 26
7.3 DIMM Slots............................................................................................... 26
7.4 Intel 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer (SMB)........................................................... 26
7.5 Memory RAS Support................................................................................... 27
7.5.1 Sparing............................................................................................. 27
7.5.2 Mirroring........................................................................................... 27
7.6 Supported Memory Configurations................................................................... 27
8Chipset ........................................................................................................ 28
8.1 Intel 7500 I/O Hub (IOH) .............................................................................. 28
8.2 IOH QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) ................................................................... 28
8.3 PCI Express Generation 2 ............................................................................. 28
8.4 Direct Media Interface (DMI) ......................................................................... 28
8.5 Intel I/O Controller Hub 10 (ICH10) ................................................................. 28
8.6 PCI Express Mezzanine Connectors .................................................................. 29
9BIOS ............................................................................................................ 30
9.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 30
9.2 Supported ACPI States................................................................................. 30
10 Embedded Gigabit Ethernet Controllers on Motherboard (LOM) ...................................... 31
11 I/O Mezzanine Card Options................................................................................ 32
11.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 32
11.2 Options .................................................................................................. 32
12 Storage ........................................................................................................ 33
12.1 Hard Drives.............................................................................................. 33
12.2 Hard Disk Drive Carriers............................................................................... 33
12.3 Empty Drive Bays....................................................................................... 33
12.4 Diskless Configuration Support ....................................................................... 33
12.5 RAID Configurations.................................................................................... 33
12.6 Storage Controllers .................................................................................... 34
12.6.1 SATA Repeater.................................................................................... 34
12.6.2 PERC 6/i ........................................................................................... 34
12.6.3 PERC H200......................................................................................... 35
12.6.4 PERC H700......................................................................................... 35
12.7 LED Indicators .......................................................................................... 35
12.8 Optical Drives........................................................................................... 35
13 Video........................................................................................................... 36
14 Rack Information............................................................................................. 37
15 Operating Systems ........................................................................................... 38
16 Virtualization ................................................................................................. 39
16.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 39
16.2 Advanced Infrastructure Manager by Scalent ...................................................... 39
16.3 Vizioncore ............................................................................................... 40
17 Systems Management........................................................................................ 41
17.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 41
17.2 Server Management.................................................................................... 41
17.3 Embedded Server Management ...................................................................... 42
17.4 Lifecycle Controller and Unified Server Configurator ............................................ 42
17.5 iDRAC6 Enterprise...................................................................................... 43
17.6 Chassis Management Controller (CMC) .............................................................. 44
18 Peripherals.................................................................................................... 45
18.1 USB peripherals......................................................................................... 45

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide v
18.2 External Storage........................................................................................ 45
Certifications ..................................................................................... 46Appendix A.
Regulatory Certifications ............................................................................. 46A 1.
Product Safety Certifications......................................................................... 46A 2.
Electromagnetic Compatibility....................................................................... 47A 3.
Ergonomics, Acoustics and Hygienics ............................................................... 47B 1.
Industry Standards ............................................................................... 48Appendix B.
Tables
Comparison of PowerEdge M910 to M710, R810, and R910......................................7Table 1.
Product Features .................................................................................... 12Table 2.
Acoustical Performance of M1000e Chassis with Four M910 Blades Installed .............. 20
Table 3.
Environmental Specifications...................................................................... 20Table 4.
Processor Cache Sizes (Package LGA1567) ...................................................... 22Table 5.
Supported Intel Xeon Processor E7-8800 Product Family...................................... 23Table 6.
Supported Intel Xeon Processor E7-4800 Product Family...................................... 23Table 7.
Supported Intel Xeon Processor E7-2800 Product Family...................................... 23Table 8.
Supported Intel Xeon Processor 6500 and 7500 Series......................................... 23Table 9.
Sparing and Mirroring Support..................................................................... 27Table 10.
Supported Hard Drives.............................................................................. 33Table 11.
Factory RAID Configurations ....................................................................... 34Table 12.
Supported Storage Controllers .................................................................... 34Table 13.
Supported Video Modes ............................................................................ 36Table 14.
Virtualization Software............................................................................. 39
Table 15.
Unified Server Configurator Features and Description......................................... 42Table 16.
Features List for Base Management Functionality, iDRAC, and vFlash Media .............. 43Table 17.
Product Safety Certifications...................................................................... 46Table 18.
Electromagnetic Compatibility Certifications................................................... 47Table 19.
Ergonomics, Acoustics and Hygienics............................................................. 47Table 20.
Industry Standards .................................................................................. 48Table 21.
Figures
Figure 1. Front View ........................................................................................... 15
Figure 2. Back View ............................................................................................ 16
Figure 3. Internal Chassis View ............................................................................... 17
Figure 4. FlexMem Bridge Routing ........................................................................... 25
Figure 5. 2.5‖ HDD Carrier .................................................................................... 33

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 6
1Product Comparison
1.1 Overview
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ M-Series blade servers are designed to help cut operating expenses through
energy efficiency, scalability, product flexibility, and efficient use of data center space.
The PowerEdge M910 provides significant performance and reliability in a scalable, full-height, four-
socket blade server, allowing the deployment of large Enterprise-class applications as well as the
ability to support heavy virtualization or workload consolidation in maximum density.
When combined with Dell’s world-class storage, management, and support offerings, the result is a
total enterprise solution that can help you optimize your IT environment and expenses.
1.2 Powerful Performance
The PowerEdge M910 was designed to meet the needs of nearly any IT infrastructure or environment.
Built with the powerful Intel®Xeon®processor E7 family or Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 6500 series,
and including advanced systems management capabilities, the M910 is ideal for the demanding
applications at the core of most data centers, such as large databases, virtualization and messaging
infrastructure.
Memory is a critical component for performance, especially for heavy virtualization and high-end
database needs. With this in mind, the PowerEdge M910 was designed with 32 DIMM slots allowing up
to 512 GB of ECC DDR3 RAM to be supported, allowing these memory-intensive applications to have
ample resources at their disposal.
1.3 Scaling Capability
Many servers may be able to take advantage of the large memory support that modern architectures
provide, but only Dell offers FlexMem Bridge technology, which allows the M910 to seamlessly scale
from 16 GB to 512 GB of DDR3 RAM in either two-socket or four-socket configurations. This
patent-pending technology allows Dell to deliver a unique platform that can seamlessly scale as
customer and application needs dictate, without having to ―rip and replace‖ existing server
infrastructure.
In addition to allowing significant memory and processor scaling capabilities, the compact
form-factor of Dell blades allows the ability to scale down the amount of space that your core
application servers require. By utilizing the PowerEdge M910, you can deploy up to eight next
generation 4-socket servers in only 10U of rack space, which is less than one-third of the space
required using traditional 4U four-socket rack servers.
1.4 High Reliability
With the PowerEdge M910, Dell continues its unrelenting focus on reliability. The PowerEdge M910
utilizes the redundant power, cooling, and networking infrastructure provided by the Dell M1000e
Blade enclosure. The PowerEdge M910 itself incorporates improvements and features for maximum
protection against potential downtime, such as the ability to support three fully redundant fabrics
per blade and the inclusion of a dual-media redundant embedded hypervisor.
The PowerEdge M910 also utilizes the Intel Xeon processor E7 family or Intel Xeon processor 7500 and
6500 series, which are designed to automatically monitor, report, and recover from hardware errors
in order to maintain data integrity and keep mission-critical services online.
As with all Dell PowerEdge servers, the M910 is manufactured with our ―one-touch‖ factory build
process. This process is designed to ensure just one person is responsible for the entire server build,

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 7
resulting in greater quality control. In addition, every fully configured Dell server is tested (and
re-tested) before it leaves the factory to ensure maximum reliability.
Product documentation is available at Support.Dell.com/Manuals. Information for the chassis can be
found in the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide.
1.5 Product Comparison
Comparison of PowerEdge M910 to M710, R810, and R910Table 1.
Feature
M910
M710
R810
R910
Processor
2 socket or 4 socket
Intel®Xeon®E7-2800,
E7-4800 and E7-8800
product family or
Intel Xeon processor
6500 and 7500 series
2 socket
Intel®Xeon®
processors 5500 and
5600 series
2 socket or 4 socket
Intel®Xeon®E7-
2800, E7-4800, and
E7-8800 product
family
Intel Xeon processor
6500 and 7500
series
4 socket
Intel®Xeon®E7-
4800 and E7-8800
product family
Intel Xeon processor
7500 series
Front Side Bus
Intel QuickPath
Interconnect (QPI)
Intel QuickPath
Interconnect (QPI)
Intel QuickPath
Interconnect (QPI)
Intel QuickPath
Interconnect (QPI)
L3 Cache
30MB
8MB
30MB
30MB
Chipset
Intel®7510
Intel®5520
Intel®7510
Intel®7510
DIMMs
32 x DDR3
18 x DDR3
32 x DDR3
64 x DDR3
Form Factor
Full-height blade,
dual slot
Full-height blade,
dual slot
2U rack
4U rack
Hard Drive
Bays
2 x 2.5‖
hot-plug
4 x 2.5‖
hot-plug
6 x 2.5‖
hot-plug
16 x 2.5‖
hot-plug
Hard Drive
Types
2.5" SAS SSD, SATA
SSD, SAS (15K, 10K),
nearline SAS (7.2K)
2.5" SAS SSD, SATA
SSD, SAS (15K, 10K),
nearline SAS (7.2K)
2.5" SATA SSD, SAS
(10K, 15K), nearline
SAS (7.2K), SATA
(7.2K)
2.5" SATA SSD, SAS
(15K, 10K), nearline
SAS (7.2K), SATA
(7.2K)
Availability
Hot-plug hard drives
Hot-plug redundant
power and cooling
ECC memory
Single Device Data
Correction (SDDC)
Support for memory
demand and patrol
scrubbing
High availability
failover cluster
support
Hot-plug hard drives
Hot-plug redundant
power and cooling
ECC memory
Single Device Data
Correction (SDDC)
Support for memory
demand and patrol
scrubbing
High availability
failover cluster
support
Hot-plug hard
drives
Hot-plug redundant
power and cooling
ECC memory
Single Device Data
Correction (SDDC)
Support for
memory demand
and patrol
scrubbing
High availability
failover cluster
support
Hot-plug hard drives
Hot-plug redundant
power and cooling
ECC memory
Single Device Data
Correction (SDDC)
Support for
memory demand
and patrol scrubbing
High availability
failover cluster
support

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 8
Feature
M910
M710
R810
R910
Integrated
Standard Hard
Drive
Controller
PERC H200/H700
(factory installed)
and PERC6 as custom
kit
PERC H200/H700
PERC H200/H700
PERC6/i
PERC H200/H700
Optional Hard
Drive
Controller
H200/H700
Integrated controller
(battery backup for
the H700 and
PERC6/i options only)
SAS6/iR PERC6/i
with RAID battery
PERC H800 or 6Gbps
SAS
PERC H800 or 6Gbps
SAS
Server
Management
iDRAC6 Enterprise,
BMC, IPMI 2.0,
Dell OpenManage™,
Unified Server
Configurator,
Lifecycle Controller,
Chassis Management
Controller
Chassis Management
Controller (CMC) on
M1000e
Optional:
vFlash media
iDRAC6 Enterprise,
BMC, IPMI 2.0,
Dell OpenManage™,
Unified Server
Configurator,
Lifecycle Controller,
Chassis Management
Controller
Chassis Management
Controller (CMC) on
M1000e
Optional:
vFlash media
iDRAC6 Express,
BMC, IPMI 2.0,
Dell OpenManage™,
Unified Server
Configurator,
Lifecycle Controller
Optional:
iDRAC6 Enterprise,
vFlash media
iDRAC6 Express,
BMC, IPMI 2.0,
Dell OpenManage™,
Unified Server
Configurator,
Lifecycle Controller
Optional:
iDRAC6 Enterprise,
vFlash media
Slots
Four x8 PCIe
mezzanine cards
Four x8 PCIe
mezzanine cards
6 PCIe Gen2 slots +
1 storage slot:
Five x8 slots
One x4 slot
One storage x4 slot
Standard:
7 PCIe Gen2 slots
(2 x4, 4 x8, 1 x16)
Optional:
10 PCIe Gen2
(6 x4, 4 x8)
Slot5 is G1
NIC/LOM
4-port (4 x 1GbE)
Embedded NIC
Broadcom®BCM5709S
4-port (4 x 1GbE)
Embedded NIC
Broadcom®
BCM5709S
4-port (4 x 1GbE)
Embedded NIC
Broadcom®
BCM5709C
Optional:
Various NICs
available
4-port (4 x 1GbE)
Embedded NIC
Broadcom®
BCM5709C, or
4-port (2 x 10Gb
SFP+ and 2 x 1GbE)
Embedded NIC
Broadcom 57711 +
Broadcom
BCM5709C
Optional:
Various NICs
available
USB
3 front,
1 internal
3 front,
1 internal
2 front,
4 back,
1 internal
2 front,
2 back,
1 internal

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 9
Feature
M910
M710
R810
R910
Power Supplies
See the PowerEdge
M1000e Technical
Guide
See the PowerEdge
M1000e Technical
Guide
Hot-plug,
redundant
4 x 750W
(Energy Smart)
or
4 x 1100W
(high-output)

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 10
2Key Technologies
2.1 Overview
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ M910 implements a number of new technologies:
Intel®Xeon®E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product family
Intel 7510 Chipset
The PowerEdge M910 also implements the following key technologies:
FlexMem Bridge
IO Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture
DDR3 memory
PCI Express®Generation 2
Optional Redundant SD media for embedded hypervisor
Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 6 (iDRAC6) Express
2.2 Detailed Information
2.2.1 Intel 7510 Chipset
The 7510 chipset is designed to support Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product
families, Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series 4S family, Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI),
DDR3 memory technology, and PCI Express Generation 2 (PCIe Gen2).
2.2.2 Intel Xeon Processor E7 Family
Key features of the Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product families include:
Up to ten cores per processor
Up to 30 MB shared L3 cache
32 nm process technology
Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and AESNI (AES New Instructions)
RAS DDDC (Double Device Data Correct)
Intel HyperThreading (2 threads/core)
Key features of the Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series include:
Up to eight cores per processor
Four full-width, bidirectional point-to-point Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) links at
6.4 GT/s
Four Intel Scalable Memory Interconnects (SMI) at 6.4 GT/s
Socket: LS, LGA 1567 package
No termination required for non-populated processors (must populate processor socket 1 first)
64-byte cache line size
RISC/CISC hybrid architecture
Compatible with existing x86 code base
Optimized for 32-bit code
Intel MMX™support
Execute Disable Bit
Intel Wide Dynamic Execution (Executes up to four instructions per clock cycle)
Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT) capability (2 threads/core)

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 11
Support for CPU Turbo Mode on certain SKUs (Increases processor frequency if operating
below thermal, power, and current limits)
Streaming SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) Extension 4
Intel 64 Technology
Intel VT-x and VT-d Technology for virtualization support
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep®Technology
Demand-based switching for active processor power management as well as support for ACPI
P-States, C-States, and T-States
2.2.3 FlexMem Bridge
The PowerEdge M910 also introduces a new, Dell patent-pending technology which will allow
flexibility in processor and memory scalability—FlexMem Bridge. The FlexMem Bridge allows the full
amount of addressable DIMMs on 4-Socket systems with Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product
family and Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 6500 series to be accessed, even when only 2 of the
processors are in place, in a completely passive solution (no active components).
2.2.4 IO Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture
The Intel QuickPath Architecture consists of serial point-to-point interconnects for the processors
and the system IOH. The M910 has a total of eight QuickPath Interconnects (QPI) lines: six links
connecting the processors and two links connection processors 1 and 2 with the IOH.
2.2.5 DDR3 Memory
The M910 uses DDR3 memory which provides a high-performance, high-speed memory interface
capable of low latency response and high throughput. The M910 supports Registered ECC DDR3 DIMMs
(RDIMMs).
The DDR3 memory interface consists of eight Intel Scalable Memory Buffers (SMBs), each or which has
two DDR3 memory channels. Each channel supports up to two RDIMMs for single/dual/quad rack. By
limiting to two DIMMs per DDR channel, the system can support quad-rank DIMMs at 1067MHz.
2.2.6 PCI Express Generation 2
PCI Express is a serial point‐to‐point interconnect for I/O devices. PCIe Gen2 doubles the signaling bit
rate of each lane from 2.5 Gb/s to 5 Gb/s. Each of the PCIe Gen2 ports is backwards‐compatible with
Gen1 transfer rates.
2.2.7 Internal Redundant SD Module
The Internal SD Module is dedicated for an SD Flash Card with embedded Hypervisor for
virtualization. The SD Flash Card contains a bootable OS image for virtualized platforms.
The persistent storage solution on the M910 allows for redundant SD cards.
2.2.8 iDRAC6 Express
The iDRAC6 Express feature set is a managed persistent storage space for server provisioning data. It
consists of 1 GB flash and vFlash media (an optional externally accessible SD card). vFlash media
offers the hot-plug portability and increased storage capacity benefits of SD while still being
managed by the system.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 12
3System Information
3.1 Overview
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ M910 is an innovative blade design that allows scaling from two to four
sockets (no single- or 3-socket support) based on a new generation of Intel four-socket enhanced
processors, RAM, and management while still taking advantage of the M1000e chassis architecture.
Along with the M1000e chassis, the PowerEdge M910 server leads the industry in high speed,
redundant IO throughput and power efficiency with more RAM slots in the 2-socket space.
3.2 Product Features Summary
Table 2 lists a summary of features for the PowerEdge M910. For the latest information on supported
features, visit Dell.com.
Product FeaturesTable 2.
Feature
Dell PowerEdge M910
Processors
Eight-core Intel®Xeon®processor 7500 and 6500 series
Ten-core Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product family
Chipset
Intel E7510
Memory1
Up to 512GB (32 DIMM slots): 2GB/4GB/8GB/16GB ECC DDR3 up to 1066MHz
Drive Bays
Two 2.5‖ SAS or SSD hot-swappable drives
Storage1
Hot-plug hard drive options:
2.5‖ SAS SSD, SATA SSD, SAS (15K, 10K), nearline SAS (7.2K)
Maximum internal storage:
Up to 2TB per blade
External storage:
For information about Dell external storage options, visit Dell.com/Storage.
RAID Controller
Options
PERC H200 Modular (6Gb/s)
PERC H700 Modular (6Gb/s) with 512MB battery-backed cache; 512MB, 1GB Non-
Volatile battery-backed cache
I/O Mezzanine Card
Options
Fully populated mezzanine card slots and switch modules will yield three highly
available, redundant I/O fabrics per blade.
1Gb and 10Gb Ethernet:
Broadcom®Dual-Port Gb Ethernet with TOE (BCM-5709S)
Intel Quad-Port Gb Ethernet
Broadcom Quad-Port Gb Ethernet (BCM-5709S)
Intel Dual-Port 10Gb Ethernet
Broadcom Dual-Port 10Gb Ethernet (BCM-57711)
10Gb Enhanced Ethernet & Converged Network Adapters (CEE/DCB):
Intel Dual-Port 10Gb Enhanced Ethernet (FCoE Ready for Future Enablement)
Emulex®Dual-Port Converged Network Adapter (OCM10102-F-M)—Supports CEE/DCB
10GbE + FCoE
QLogic®Dual-Port Converged Network Adapter (QME8142)—Supports CEE/DCB
10GbE + FCoE
Dual-Port QLogic Converged Network Adapter (QME8242-k) - Supports 10GbE + NPAR

Dell
PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 13
Feature
Dell PowerEdge M910
Brocade®BR1741M-k Dual-Port Mezzanine CNA
Fibre Channel:
QLogic Dual-Port FC8 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) (QME2572)
Emulex Dual-Port FC8 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) (LPe1205-M)
Emulex 8 or 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Pass-Through Module
InfiniBand™:
Mellanox®Dual-Port ConnectX™ Quad Data Rate (QDR) InfiniBand
Operating Systems
Microsoft®Windows Server®2008 SP2, x86/x64 (x64 includes Hyper-V™)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, x64 (includes Hyper-V v2)
Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008
Novell®SUSE®Linux®Enterprise Server
Red Hat®Enterprise Linux
Oracle®Solaris™
Virtualization Options:
Citrix®XenServer™
Microsoft Hyper-V through Microsoft Windows Server 2008
VMware® vSphere™ 4.1 (including VMware ESX® 4.1 or VMware ESXi™ 4.1)
For more information on the specific versions and additions, visit
Dell.com/OSsupport.
Featured Database
Applications
Microsoft SQL Server®solutions (see Dell.com/SQL)
Oracle database solutions (see Dell.com/Oracle)
Power Supply
Supplied by Dell PowerEdge M1000e Blade Chassis
Video
Matrox®G200eW with 8MB memory
Systems Management
Dell OpenManage™
BMC, IPMI 2.0 compliant
Unified Server Configurator
Lifecycle Controller
iDRAC6 Enterprise with optional vFlash media
Remote Management: iDRAC6 Enterprise with optional vFlash media
Microsoft System Center Essential (SCE) 2010 v2
Embedded Hypervisor
Optional dual-media redundant hypervisor
1 GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and
operating environment and will be less.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 14
4Mechanical
4.1 Overview
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ M910 is a full-height blade server that requires an M1000e chassis to operate.
The M910 occupies two slots in the M1000e rack chassis for a maximum of eight blade servers in one
M1000e chassis. The M910 can be mixed with other existing Dell blades and is designed to mix with
possible future half-height-double-wide and full-height-double-wide blades. Some highlights include:
• Support for RAID
• Support for persistent storage (internal USB connector and two external SD card slots)
Refer to the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide for information on fans, power and power supply,
racks, security, and other chassis information.
4.2 Module Dimensions and Weight
Height: 38.5cm (15.2in)
Width: 5cm (2in)
Depth: 48.6cm (19.2in)
Weight: 13.1kg (29lb) maximum configuration

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4.3 Front View and Features
Figure 1 shows the front view of the M910.
Figure 1. Front View
See the Blade Features section in the About Your System chapter of the Dell PowerEdge Modular
Systems Hardware Owner's Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals for more information.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 16
4.4 Back View and Features
Figure 2 shows the back view of the M910.
Figure 2. Back View
See the Blade Features section in the About Your System chapter of the Dell PowerEdge Modular
Systems Hardware Owner's Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals for more information.
4.5 Power Supply Indicators
The power supplies must be connected to a power distribution unit (PDU), and not directly to an
electrical outlet. The power supplies require a 200V–240V power source.
See the Power Supply Indicators section in the About Your System chapter of the Dell PowerEdge
Modular Systems Hardware Owner's Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals for more information.
4.6 LED Indicators
Each disk drive carrier has two LED indicators visible from the front of the system. One is a green LED
for disk activity and the other is a bicolor (green/amber) LED for status information. The activity LED
is driven by the disk drive during normal operation. The bicolor LED is controlled by the SEP device
on the backplane. Both LEDs are used to indicate certain conditions under direction of a storage
controller.

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4.7 Internal-Chassis View
Figure 3 shows the internal-chassis view of the M910.
Figure 3. Internal Chassis View
4.8 Rails and Cable Management
See the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide.
4.9 Fans
For detailed information, see the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s Manual on
Support.Dell.com/Manuals.
4.10 Cabling
For detailed information, see the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s Manualor the
Rack Installation Guide on Support.Dell.com/Manuals.
4.11 Control Panel/LCD
For detailed information, see the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s Manual on
Support.Dell.com/Manuals.
4.12 Security
The M910 offers a configurable client IP address range for clients connecting to iDRAC6. For
additional information regarding the PowerEdge M910 security features, see the Dell PowerEdge
Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals.

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4.13 Cover Latch
The blade module includes a latch for the cover. See the Opening and Closing the Blade section of
the Installing Blade Components chapter in the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s
Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals for more information.
4.14 TPM (Trusted Platform Module)
The TPM is used to generate/store keys, protect/authenticate passwords, and create/store digital
certificates. TPM can also be used to enable the BitLocker™ hard drive encryption feature in
Microsoft®Windows Server®2008. TPM is enabled through a BIOS option and uses HMAC-SHA1-160 for
binding. TCM is available in China.
4.15 Power Off Security
Through the CMC, the front USB’s and power button can be disabled so as to not allow any control of
the system from the front of the blade.
4.16 USB Key
The M910 supports the following USB devices:
• DVD (bootable; requires two USB ports)
• USB Key (bootable)
• Keyboard (only one USB keyboard is supported)
• Mouse (only one USB mouse is supported)
4.17 Battery
A replaceable coin cell CR2032 3V battery is mounted on the planar to provide backup power for the
Real-Time Clock and CMOS RAM on the ICH9 chip.
4.18 Field Replaceable Units (FRU)
The planar contains a serial EEPROM to contain FRU information including Dell part number, part
revision level, and serial number.
4.19 User Accessible Jumpers, Sockets, and Connectors
For information, see the System Board Information chapter in the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems
Hardware Owner’s Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 19
5Power, Thermal, and Acoustic
5.1 Power Efficiency
One of the main features of blade servers is enhanced power efficiency. The Dell™ PowerEdge™M910
achieves higher power efficiency by implementing the following features:
•User-configurable power options with the M1000e Chassis Management Controller (CMC)
•Improved power budgeting
•Voltage regulator efficiency improvements
•Processor VR dynamic phase shedding
•Switching regulators instead of linear regulators
•Closed-loop thermal throttling
•Use of DDR3 memory (lower voltage compared to DDR2)
•Memory VR static phase shedding
•BIOS Power/Performance options page
•Active Power Controller (BIOS-based CPU P-state manager)
•Ability to throttle memory
•Ability to disable a processor core
•Ability to turn off embedded NICs or PCIe lanes when not being used
•Energy Smart components at the M1000e chassis level to selectively enable more computing
performance with less power consumption
5.2 Thermal
The PowerEdge M910 delivers uncompromising computing performance with a robust thermal design
that efficiently manages the server component temperatures. The M910 thermal management
algorithms use as many as 46 thermal sensors to meet the required cooling level while minimizing fan
speeds. The thermal management algorithms also take inventory of the system hardware
configuration while simultaneously monitoring the component temperature sensors throughout the
system to intelligently control system fans and throttle components when needed to maintain
desired power consumption and reliability levels. Closed-loop thermal monitoring of all 32 DIMMs aids
in minimizing chassis fan power. The M910 is designed to maintain full performance across the entire
ambient temperature operating range (10°C to 35°C).
The M910 thermal solution includes:
Optimized airflow impedance for individual blade and chassis level airflow balancing
Custom air baffling directs airflow through the components to maintain proper cooling
Custom designed heat sinks maintain the processor, IOH, and chipset temperatures within
thermal design targets
Highly optimized fan control algorithm
Base fan speeds are a function of hardware configuration and ambient temperature to
minimize airflow for a given environment.
PID control algorithms are used for both processor and DIMMs to maintain appropriate thermal
margin

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5.3 Acoustics
Table 3 shows the acoustical performance for a typical configuration of the M1000e chassis with four
PowerEdge M910 blade servers installed. Acoustical performance varies with hardware
configurations.
Acoustical Performance of M1000e Chassis with Four M910 Blades InstalledTable 3.
Typical Configuration (per blade) @ 23±2°C
Ambient in M1000e Chassis
Operating
Mode
LwA-UL
(bels)
Processors
Hard
Drives
DIMMs
Mezzanine
Cards
2 x Intel
E7540
(105W)
2 x 2.5‖
SAS (10K)
146GB
24 x 4GB
DDR3
4 x dual-
port
Broadcom®
5709
Idle
8.1
Definitions
Idle: Reference ISO7779 (2010) definition 3.1.7; system is running in its OS but has no other specific
activity.
LwA–UL: The upper limit sound power level (LwA) calculated per section 4.4.2 of ISO 9296 (1988) and
measured in accordance to ISO 7779 (2010).
5.4 Environmental Specifications
Table 4 lists the environmental specifications for the PowerEdge M910.
Environmental SpecificationsTable 4.
Temperature
Operating
10°C to 35°C (50°F to 95°F) with a maximum temperature gradation
of 10°C per hour
NOTE: For altitudes above 2950 feet, the maximum operating
temperature is derated 1°F/500ft
Storage
–40°C to 65°C (–40°F to 149°F) with a maximum temperature
gradation of 20°C per hour
Relative Humidity
Operating
20% to 80% (noncondensing) with a maximum humidity gradation of
10% per hour
Storage
5% to 95% (noncondensing) with a maximum humidity gradation of
10% per hour
Maximum Vibration
Operating
0.26 Grms at 5–350Hz in operational orientations
Storage
1.54 Grms at 10–250Hz in all orientations