Dell PowerEdge M910 Quick start guide

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

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide ii
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December 2013 | Version 7.0

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide iii
Table of Contents
1Product comparison.......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Powerful performance...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Scaling capability ............................................................................................................................................................... 6
High reliability..................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Product comparison ..........................................................................................................................................................7
2Key technologies................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Intel 7510 chipset............................................................................................................................................................... 9
Intel processors.................................................................................................................................................................. 9
FlexMem Bridge .......................................................................................................................................................... 10
I/O Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture ................................................................................................. 10
DDR3 memory ............................................................................................................................................................ 10
PCIe 2.0 ........................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Internal redundant SD module................................................................................................................................. 10
iDRAC6 Express........................................................................................................................................................... 10
3System information...........................................................................................................................................................11
Product features summary .............................................................................................................................................11
4Mechanical .........................................................................................................................................................................13
Module dimensions and weight.....................................................................................................................................13
Internal module.................................................................................................................................................................13
Security...............................................................................................................................................................................14
Cover latch.........................................................................................................................................................................14
TPM (Trusted Platform Module).....................................................................................................................................14
Power off security.............................................................................................................................................................15
USB key...............................................................................................................................................................................15
Battery.................................................................................................................................................................................15
Field replaceable units (FRU) ..........................................................................................................................................15
5Power, thermal and acoustics ........................................................................................................................................16
Acoustics ............................................................................................................................................................................17
Definitions:....................................................................................................................................................................17
Thermal ..............................................................................................................................................................................18
Power efficiency ...............................................................................................................................................................18
6Processors ..........................................................................................................................................................................19
Features ..............................................................................................................................................................................19
Supported processors..................................................................................................................................................... 20
Processor configurations ................................................................................................................................................21
FlexMem Bridge ................................................................................................................................................................21
7Memory.............................................................................................................................................................................. 23
DIMMs supported ............................................................................................................................................................ 23
DIMM slots ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23
Intel 7500 SMB ................................................................................................................................................................. 23
Memory RAS support ...................................................................................................................................................... 24
Sparing.......................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Mirroring....................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Supported memory configurations.............................................................................................................................. 24
8Chipset ............................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Intel 7500 I/O Hub (IOH)................................................................................................................................................ 25
IOH QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) .............................................................................................................................. 25
PCIe 2.0 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 25
Direct Media Interface .................................................................................................................................................... 25
Intel I/O Controller Hub 10............................................................................................................................................ 25
PCIe mezzanine connectors ......................................................................................................................................... 26

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide iv
9BIOS.................................................................................................................................................................................... 27
Supported ACPI states .................................................................................................................................................... 27
10 Embedded Gigabit Ethernet controllers on motherboard (LOM) ........................................................................... 28
11 I/O Mezzanine card options........................................................................................................................................... 29
12 Storage ............................................................................................................................................................................... 30
Hard drives........................................................................................................................................................................ 30
Hard disk drive carriers ................................................................................................................................................... 30
Empty drive bays..............................................................................................................................................................30
Diskless configuration support...................................................................................................................................... 30
RAID configurations .........................................................................................................................................................31
Storage controllers...........................................................................................................................................................31
Optical drives.................................................................................................................................................................... 32
13 Video................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
14 Rack information .............................................................................................................................................................. 34
15 Operating systems ........................................................................................................................................................... 35
16 Virtualization ..................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Advanced Infrastructure Manager by Scalent ............................................................................................................ 36
17 Systems management ..................................................................................................................................................... 37
Server management........................................................................................................................................................ 37
Embedded server management.................................................................................................................................... 37
Lifecycle Controller and Unified Server Configurator .............................................................................................. 38
iDRAC6 Enterprise ........................................................................................................................................................... 38
Chassis Management Controller (CMC)......................................................................................................................40
18 Peripherals..........................................................................................................................................................................41
USB peripherals.................................................................................................................................................................41
External storage ................................................................................................................................................................41
Appendix A. Certifications.............................................................................................................................................. 42
Regulatory certifications ................................................................................................................................................ 42
Product Safety certifications.......................................................................................................................................... 42
Electromagnetic compatibility ...................................................................................................................................... 43
Ergonomics, acoustics and hygienics.......................................................................................................................... 43
Appendix B. Industry standards ....................................................................................................................................44

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide v
Tables
Table 1. Comparison of PowerEdge M910 and R910....................................................................................................7
Table 2. Product features..................................................................................................................................................11
Table 3. Environmental specifications ............................................................................................................................16
Table 4. Typical configuration used in acoustical testing ...........................................................................................17
Table 5. Processor cache sizes (Package LGA1567).....................................................................................................19
Table 6. Supported Intel Xeon processor E7-8800 product family .........................................................................20
Table 7. Supported Intel Xeon processor E7-4800 product family .........................................................................20
Table 8. Supported Intel Xeon processor E7-2800 product family ......................................................................... 20
Table 9. Supported Intel Xeon Processor 6500 and 7500 series...............................................................................21
Table 10. Sparing and mirroring support......................................................................................................................... 24
Table 11. Supported hard drives ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Table 12. Factory RAID configurations .............................................................................................................................31
Table 13. Supported storage controllers ..........................................................................................................................31
Table 14. Supported video modes.................................................................................................................................... 33
Table 15. Virtualization software....................................................................................................................................... 36
Table 16. Unified Server Configurator features and description................................................................................. 38
Table 17. Features list for base management functionality, iDRAC and vFlash Media............................................ 39
Table 18. Product safety certifications............................................................................................................................. 42
Table 19. Electromagnetic compatibility certifications ................................................................................................ 43
Table 20. Ergonomics, acoustics and hygienics ............................................................................................................ 43
Table 21. Industry standards..............................................................................................................................................44
Figures
Figure 1. M1000e chassis front view ................................................................................................................................13
Figure 2. Internal module view..........................................................................................................................................14
Figure 3. Diagram of FlexMem Bridge routing............................................................................................................... 22
Figure 4. 2.5” HDD carrier..................................................................................................................................................30

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 6
1Product comparison
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.
Powerful performance
The PowerEdge M910 was designed to meet the needs of nearly any IT infrastructure or
environment. Built with powerful Intel®Xeon®processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product
families 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 1TB of ECC DDR3 RAM to be supported, allowing these memory-intensive applications to
have ample resources at their disposal.
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 16GB to 1TB 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 using the PowerEdge M910, you can deploy up to eight
next-generation, four-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.
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 PowerEdge
M1000e Modular 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 E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800
product families 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,

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 7
resulting in greater quality control. In addition, every fully configured Dell server is tested (and
retested) before it leaves the factory to ensure maximum reliability.
Product documentation is available at Dell.com/Support/Manuals. Information for the chassis can be
found in the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide .
Product comparison
Table 1. Comparison of PowerEdge M910 and R910
Feature
M910
R910
Processor
2-socket or 4-socket Intel Xeon E7-
2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product
families or Intel Xeon processor 6500
and 7500 series
4-socket
Intel Xeon E7-4800 and E7-8800
product families and
Intel Xeon processor 7500 series
Frontside bus
Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI)
Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI)
L3 Cache
30MB
30MB
Chipset
Intel 7510
Intel 7510
DIMMs
32 x DDR3
64 x DDR3
Form factor
Full-height blade, dual slot
4U rack
Hard drive bays
2 x 2.5”
hot-plug
16 x 2.5”
hot-plug
Hard drive types
SAS SSD, SATA SSD, SAS, nearline SAS
SATA SSD, SAS, nearline SAS, SATA
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
Integrated
standard hard
drive controller
PERC H200/H700 (factory installed)
and PERC 6/i as custom kit
PERC H200/H700
Optional hard
drive controller
H200/H700 Integrated controller
(battery backup for the H700 and
PERC6/i options only)
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 Express, BMC, IPMI 2.0,
Dell OpenManage, Unified Server
Configurator, Lifecycle Controller
Optional:
iDRAC6 Enterprise, vFlash media

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 8
Feature
M910
R910
Slots
4 x8 PCIe mezzanine cards
Standard:
7 PCIe 2.0 slots (2 x4, 4 x8, 1 x16)
Optional:
10 PCIe 2.0 (6 x4, 4 x8)
Slot5 is PCIe 1.0
NIC/LOM
4-port (4 x 1GbE) Embedded NIC
Broadcom®BCM5709S
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
2 front, 2 back, 1 internal
Power supplies
See the PowerEdge M1000e
Technical Guide
4 x 750W (Energy Smart)
Or 4 x 1100W
high-output)

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 9
2Key technologies
The PowerEdge M910 implements a number of key technologies:
Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product families
Intel 7510 chipset
FlexMem Bridge
I/O Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture
DDR3 memory
PCI Express®(PCIe) 2.0
Optional Redundant SD media for embedded hypervisor
Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 6 (iDRAC6) Express
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 PCIe 2.0.
Intel processors
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 30MB shared L3 cache
32nm 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 6.4GT/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 one
first)
64-byte cache line size
RISC/CISC hybrid architecture
Compatible with existing x86 code base
Optimized for 32-bit code
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)

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 10
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
FlexMem Bridge
The PowerEdge M910 also introduces a new, Dell patent-pending technology that allows flexibility
in processor and memory scalability —FlexMem Bridge. The FlexMem Bridge allows the full amount
of addressable DIMMs on four-socket systems with Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and
E7-8800 product families and Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 6500 series to be accessed, even
when only two of the processors are in place, in a completely passive solution (no active
components).
I/O 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.
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 callable memory buffers (SMBs), each of which
has two DDR3 memory channels. Each channel supports up to two RDIMMs for single-, dual- and
quad-rank. By limiting the M910 to two DIMMs per DDR channel, the system can support quad-rank
DIMMs at 1067MT/s.
PCIe 2.0
PCIe is a serial point‐to‐point interconnect for I/O devices. PCIe 2.0 doubles the signaling bit rate of
each lane from 2.5Gbps to 5Gbps. Each of the PCIe 2.0 ports is backwards‐compatible with 1.0
transfer rates.
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.
iDRAC6 Express
The iDRAC6 Express feature set is a managed persistent storage space for server provisioning data.
It consists of 1GB flash and vFlash (an optional externally accessible SD card). vFlash offers the
hot-plug portability and increased storage capacity benefits of SD while still being managed by the
system.

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 11
3System information
The PowerEdge M910 is an innovative blade design that allows scaling from two to four sockets (no
single- or three-socket support) based on 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 I/O
throughput and power efficiency with more RAM slots in the two-socket space.
Product features summary
Table 2 lists a summary of features for the PowerEdge M910. For the latest information on
supported features, visit Dell.com/PowerEdge.
Table 2. Product features
Feature
PowerEdge M910
Processors
Eight-core Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 6500 series
Ten-core Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product families
Chipset
Intel 7510
Memory1
Up to 1TB (32 DIMM slots): 2GB/4GB/8GB/16GB/32GB ECC DDR3 up to 1333MT/s
Drive bays
Two 2.5” SSD or SAS hot-plug 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 2.4TB per blade with 2 x 2.5” SAS (10K) 1.2TB hard drives
External storage:
For information about Dell external storage options, visit Dell.com/Storage.
RAID controller
options
PERC H200 Modular (6Gbps)
PERC H700 Modular (6Gbps) with 512MB 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.
1GbE and 10GbE:
Broadcom dual-port GbE with TOE (BCM-5709S)
Intel quad-port GbE
Broadcom quad-port GbE (BCM-5709S)
Intel dual-port 10GbE
Broadcom dual-port 10GbE (BCM-57711)
Enhanced 10GbE & Converged Network Adapters (CEE/DCB):
Intel dual-port enhanced 10GbE (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 and FCoE
QLogic dual-port converged network adapter (QME8242-k) —Supports 10GbE
and NPAR
Brocade®BR1741M-k dual-port mezzanine CNA
Fibre channel:
QLogic dual-port FC8 fibre channel host bus adapter (HBA) (QME2572)

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 12
Feature
PowerEdge M910
Emulex dual-port FC8 fibre channel HBA (LPe1205-M)
Emulex 8 or 4 Gbps fibre channel pass-through module
QLogic dual-port FC16 fibre channel HBA (QME2662)
Emulex dual-port FC16 fibre channel HBA (LPm16002B-D)
InfiniBand®:
Mellanox®dual-port ConnectX®quad data rate (QDR) InfiniBand
Mellanox dual-port ConnectX-3 fourteen data rate (FDR10) 40Gb
Operating systems
Microsoft®Windows Server®2012
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (includes Hyper-V®)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x86/x64 SP2 (x64 includes Hyper-V)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 SP1 (includes Hyper-V)
Microsoft Windows®HPC Server 2008
Novell®SUSE®Linux®Enterprise Server 11 SP3
Red Hat®Enterprise Linux
Oracle®Solaris™
Virtualization options:
Citrix®XenServer®
Microsoft Hyper-V, a server role in Microsoft Windows Server operating systems
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization®
VMware®vSphere®ESXi™
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.
For more information about the Dell blade solution, see the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide or the
PowerEdge M1000e Blade Chassis Spec Sheet .

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 13
4Mechanical
The M910 is a full height blade server that requires a M1000e chassis (shown in Figure 1) to operate.
Figure 1. M1000e chassis front view
The M910 occupies two slots in the M1000e rack chassis for a maximum of eight blades in one
M1000e chassis. It 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.
Module dimensions and weight
Height: 38.5 cm (15.2 in)
Width: 5 cm (2 in)
Depth: 48.6 cm (19.2 in)
Weight: 13.1 kg (29 lb) maximum configuration
Internal module
Figure 2 shows a view of the internal module. 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 Dell.com/Support/Manuals for more information.

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 14
Figure 2. Internal module view
Security
Configurable client IP address range for clients connecting to iDRAC6.
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 Dell.com/Support/Manuals for more information.
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
Windows Server 2008. TPM is enabled through a BIOS option and uses HMAC-SHA1-160 for binding.
TCM is available in China.

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 15
Power off security
Through the CMC, the front USBs and power button can be disabled so as to not allow any control
of the system from the front of the blade.
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)
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.
Field replaceable units (FRU)
The planar contains a serial EEPROM to contain FRU information including Dell part number, part
revision level and serial number.

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 16
5Power, thermal and acoustics
Table 3 lists the environmental specifications for the PowerEdge M910.
Table 3. Environmental specifications
Temperature
Operating
10oto 35oC (50oto 95oF) with a maximum temperature gradation of
10oper hour
NOTE: For altitudes above 2950 feet, the maximum operating
temperature is derated 1oF/500 ft
Storage
−40oto 65oC (−40oto 149oF) with a maximum temperature
gradation of 20oC per hour
Relative humidity
Operating
See Fresh Air for relative humidity information
Storage
5% to 95% (non-condensing) with a maximum humidity gradation
of 10% per hour
Maximum vibration
Operating
0.26Grms at 5–350Hz in operational orientations
Storage
1.54Grms at 10–250Hz in all orientations
Maximum shock
Operating
Half sine shock in all operational orientations of 31G +/−5% with a
pulse duration of 2.6 ms +/−10%
Storage
Half sine shock on all six sides of 71G +/−5% with a pulse duration
of 2 ms +/−10%
Altitude
Operating
−15.2 m to 3048 m (−50 ft to 10,000 ft)
Note: For altitudes above 2950 ft, the maximum temperature is
derated 1oF/550 ft
Storage
−16 m to 10,600 m (−50 ft to 35,000 ft)
Airborne contaminant level
Class G1 or lower as defined by ISA-S71.04-1985 (G1 maximum corrosive contaminant levels
measured at ≤ 50% relative humidity)

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 17
Acoustics
Adherence to Dell’s high sound quality standards. Sound quality is different from sound power level
and sound pressure level in that it describes how humans respond to annoyances in sound, such as
whistles, hums, etc. One of the sound quality metrics in the Dell specification is prominence ratio of
a tone, as listed in the table below.
Acoustical performance of typical configuration: When installed in the M1000e blade chassis,
typical configuration (shown in Table 4) of M910 blade results in the following idle acoustical
performance in 23±2°C ambient:
LwA–UL = 8.1 bels and no prominent tones
Table 4. Typical configuration used in acoustical testing
Chassis
Description
Quantity
Blade
M910
4
Slots populated
1, 2, 3, 4
Power supply
2300-W
6
Blanks
Blank modules
8
System Fans
M1000e fan
9
Blade internals
Description
Quantity
CPU
Intel Xeon processor 7500
series 105W
2
DIMM
4GB DDR3
24
Mezz Cards
Dual-port Broadcom 5709
4
HDD
SAS 2.5” 146GB, 10krpm
2
Definitions:
Standby: AC power is connected to power supply units but system is not turned on.
Idle: Reference ISO 7779 (1999) definition 3.1.7; system is running in its OS but no other specific
activity.
Stressed processor: An operating mode per ISO 7779 (1999) definition 3.1.6. The software
SPECPower_ssj2008 is utilized to stress the processors. SPECPower is set to 50 percent loading.
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 (1999).
LpA: Average bystander A-Weighted sound pressure level. The system is placed in a rack with its
bottom at 25 cm from the floor. The acoustic transducers are at the four bystander positions, ref
ISO 7779 (1999) Section 8.6.2.
Prominent tone: Criteria of D.5 and D.8 of ECMA-74 9th ed. (2005) are followed to determine if
discrete tones are prominent. The system is placed in a rack with its bottom at 75 cm from the
floor. The acoustic transducer is at front bystander position, ref ISO 7779 (1999) Section 8.6.2.

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 18
Thermal
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 CPU, IOH and Intel 7500 chip temperatures within thermal
design targets
Highly Optimized Fan Control Algorithm such as the following:
—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 CPU and DIMMs to maintain appropriate thermal
margin
—Double refresh switching allows for DIMM temperature excursions up to 95°C while
maintaining performance and thermal design targets as follows:
>The M910 thermal algorithm monitors the thermal sensor on each DIMM to maintain
DIMM temperatures below the typical 85°C specification in normal operating conditions.
>Under extreme operating conditions, the thermal algorithm can switch the DIMMs into
Double Refresh mode allowing an additional 10°C of thermal headroom. In Double
Refresh mode, DIMMs are allowed to operate as high as 95°C.
Power efficiency
One of the main features of blade servers is enhanced power efficiency. The PowerEdge M910
achieves higher power efficiency by implementing the following features:
User-configurable power options via the M1000e CMC
Improved power budgeting
Voltage regulator efficiency improvements
CPU 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 CPU 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

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 19
6Processors
The Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product families and the Intel Xeon
processor 6500 and 7500 series are designed specifically for servers and workstation applications.
The processors feature quad-core processing to maximize performance and performance/watt for
data center infrastructures and highly dense deployments. These processors also feature Intel
Core™ microarchitecture and Intel 64 architecture for flexibility in 64-bit and 32-bit applications
and operating systems. The Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product families
and the Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series support all streaming SIMD extensions (including
SSE2, SSE3 and SSE4) and Intel 64 instruction.
The Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series 4S (expandable processors) use a 1567-pins Land
Grid Array (LGA1567) package that plugs into a surface-mount socket. The M910 provides support
for two or four processors.
Table 5. Processor cache sizes (Package LGA1567)
Cache
Size
L1 cache size
32KB instruction (32KB data)
L2 cache size
1.5MB or 2MB
L3 cache size
12MB, 18MB or 24MB (shared)
Features
Key features of the Intel Xeon processor E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product families include:
Up to ten cores per processor
Four point-to-point QuickPath Interconnect links at 6.4GT/s
32nm process technology
Intel HyperThreading (two threads/core)
Up to 30MB shared L3 cache
Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) and AESNI (AES New Instructions)
RAS DDDC (Double Device Data Correct)
Key features of the Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series include:
Up to eight cores per socket
Up to 24MB shared L3 cache
45nm process technology
Four full‐width, bidirectional point‐to‐point Intel QuickPath Interconnect (Intel QPI) links at 6.4
GT/s
Support for 95W, 105W and 130W processors
Four Intel Scalable Memory Interconnects (Intel SMI) at 6.4GT/s
Socket: LS, LGA 1567 package
No termination required for non‐populated processors (must populate processor socket 1 first)
Integrated Intel QuickPath DDR3 memory controller
64‐byte cache line size

PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 20
RISC/CISC hybrid architecture
Compatible with existing x86 code base
Optimized for 32‐bit code
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)
Support for CPU Turbo Mode (on certain models)
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
Supported processors
For the most up-to-date information on supported processors, visit Dell.com/PowerEdge.
Table 6. Supported Intel Xeon processor E7-8800 product family
Model
Speed
TDP power
Cache
Cores
QPI speed
E7-8867L
2.13GHz
105W
30M
10
6.4GT/s
E7-8837
2.66GHz
130W
24M
8
6.4GT/s
Table 7. Supported Intel Xeon processor E7-4800 product family
Model
Speed
TDP power
Cache
Cores
QPI speed
E7-4830
2.13GHz
105W
24M
8
6.4GT/s
E7-4820
2.00GHz
105W
18M
8
5.86GT/s
E7-4807
1.86GHz
95W
18M
8
4.80GT/s
Table 8. Supported Intel Xeon processor E7-2800 product family
Model
Speed
TDP power
Cache
Cores
QPI speed
E7-2870
2.40GHz
130W
30M
10
6.4GT/s
E7-2860
2.26GHz
130W
24M
10
6.4GT/s
E7-2850
2.00GHz
130W
24M
10
6.4GT/s
E7-2830
2.13GHz
105W
24M
8
6.4GT/s
E7-2820
2.00GHz
105W
18M
8
5.86GT/s
E7-2803
1.73GHz
105W
18M
6
4.80GT/s