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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April 2013 | Version 5.1

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 Processors................................................................................... 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 Internal Module......................................................................................... 14
4.4 Security.................................................................................................. 15
4.5 Cover Latch ............................................................................................. 15
4.6 TPM (Trusted Platform Module)...................................................................... 15
4.7 Power Off Security..................................................................................... 16
4.8 USB Key.................................................................................................. 16
4.9 Battery................................................................................................... 16
4.10 Field Replaceable Units (FRU)........................................................................ 16
5Power, Thermal, and Acoustic ............................................................................. 17
5.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 17
5.2 Acoustics ................................................................................................ 18
5.3 Thermal.................................................................................................. 19
5.4 Power Efficiency ....................................................................................... 19
6Processors..................................................................................................... 20
6.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 20
6.2 Features ................................................................................................. 20
6.3 Supported Processors.................................................................................. 21
6.4 Processor Configurations.............................................................................. 22
6.5 FlexMem Bridge ........................................................................................ 22
7Memory ........................................................................................................ 24
7.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 24
7.2 DIMMs Supported ....................................................................................... 24
7.3 DIMM Slots............................................................................................... 24
7.4 Intel 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer (SMB)........................................................... 24
7.5 Memory RAS Support................................................................................... 25
7.5.1 Sparing............................................................................................. 25
7.5.2 Mirroring........................................................................................... 25

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide iv
7.6 Supported Memory Configurations................................................................... 25
8Chipset ........................................................................................................ 26
8.1 Intel 7500 I/O Hub (IOH) .............................................................................. 26
8.2 IOH QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) ................................................................... 26
8.3 PCI Express Generation 2 ............................................................................. 26
8.4 Direct Media Interface (DMI) ......................................................................... 26
8.5 Intel I/O Controller Hub 10 (ICH10) ................................................................. 26
8.6 PCI Express Mezzanine Connectors .................................................................. 27
9BIOS ............................................................................................................ 28
9.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 28
9.2 Supported ACPI States................................................................................. 28
10 Embedded Gigabit Ethernet Controllers on Motherboard (LOM) ...................................... 29
11 I/O Mezzanine Card Options................................................................................ 30
11.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 30
11.2 Options .................................................................................................. 30
12 Storage ........................................................................................................ 31
12.1 Hard Drives.............................................................................................. 31
12.2 Hard Disk Drive Carriers............................................................................... 31
12.3 Empty Drive Bays....................................................................................... 31
12.4 Diskless Configuration Support ....................................................................... 31
12.5 RAID Configurations.................................................................................... 31
12.6 Storage Controllers .................................................................................... 32
12.6.1 PERC H200......................................................................................... 32
12.6.2 PERC H700......................................................................................... 33
12.6.3 SATA Repeater.................................................................................... 33
12.6.4 PERC 6/i ........................................................................................... 33
12.7 Optical Drives........................................................................................... 33
13 Video........................................................................................................... 34
14 Rack Information............................................................................................. 35
15 Operating Systems ........................................................................................... 36
16 Virtualization ................................................................................................. 37
16.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 37
16.2 Advanced Infrastructure Manager by Scalent ...................................................... 37
17 Systems Management........................................................................................ 38
17.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 38
17.2 Server Management.................................................................................... 38
17.3 Embedded Server Management ...................................................................... 38
17.4 Lifecycle Controller and Unified Server Configurator ............................................ 39
17.5 iDRAC6 Enterprise...................................................................................... 39
17.6 Chassis Management Controller (CMC) .............................................................. 41
18 Peripherals.................................................................................................... 42
18.1 USB peripherals......................................................................................... 42
18.2 External Storage........................................................................................ 42
Certifications ..................................................................................... 43Appendix A.
Regulatory Certifications ............................................................................. 43A 1.
Product Safety Certifications......................................................................... 43A 2.
Electromagnetic Compatibility....................................................................... 44A 3.
Ergonomics, Acoustics and Hygienics ............................................................... 44B 1.
Industry Standards ............................................................................... 45Appendix B.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide v
Tables
Comparison of PowerEdge M910 to M710, R810, and R910......................................7Table 1.
Product Features .................................................................................... 12Table 2.
Environmental Specifications...................................................................... 17Table 3.
Typical Configuration Used in Acoustical Testing .............................................. 18Table 4.
Processor Cache Sizes (Package LGA1567) ...................................................... 20Table 5.
Supported Intel Xeon E7-8800 Product Family .................................................. 21Table 6.
Supported Intel Xeon E7-4800 Product Family .................................................. 21Table 7.
Supported Intel Xeon E7-2800 Product Family .................................................. 21Table 8.
Supported Intel Xeon Processor 6500 and 7500 Series......................................... 21Table 9.
Sparing and Mirroring Support..................................................................... 25Table 10.
Supported Hard Drives.............................................................................. 31
Table 11.
Factory RAID Configurations ....................................................................... 32Table 12.
Supported Storage Controllers .................................................................... 32Table 13.
Supported Video Modes ............................................................................ 34Table 14.
Virtualization Software............................................................................. 37Table 15.
Unified Server Configurator Features and Description......................................... 39Table 16.
Features List for Base Management Functionality, iDRAC, and vFlash Media .............. 40Table 17.
Product Safety Certifications...................................................................... 43Table 18.
Electromagnetic Compatibility Certifications................................................... 44Table 19.
Ergonomics, Acoustics and Hygienics............................................................. 44Table 20.
Industry Standards .................................................................................. 45Table 21.
Figures
Figure 1. M1000e Chassis Front View ........................................................................ 14
Figure 2. Internal Module View ............................................................................... 15
Figure 3. Diagram of FlexMem Bridge Routing.............................................................. 23
Figure 4. 2.5‖ HDD Carrier .................................................................................... 31

Dell
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 powerful Intel®Xeon®E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product 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 1 TB 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 1 TB 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 E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 product 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.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 7
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,
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. 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
SAS SSD, SATA SSD,
SAS, nearline SAS
SAS SSD, SATA SSD,
SAS, nearline SAS
SATA SSD, SAS,
nearline SAS, SATA
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
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 PERC 6/i as
custom kit
PERC H200/H700
PERC H200/H700
PERC 6/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 G2 slots + 1
storage slot:
Five x8 slots
One x4 slot
One storage x4 slot
Standard:
7 PCIe G2 slots
(2 x4, 4 x8, 1 x16)
Optional:
10 PCIe G2
(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 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 E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product family,
Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series 4S family, Intel®QuickPath Interconnect (QPI), DDR3
memory technology, and PCI Express Generation 2 (PCIe G2).
2.2.2 Intel Processors
Key features of the Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product family include:
Up to ten cores per processor
Up to 30MB 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
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 SKUs (Increases processor frequency if operating
below thermal, power, and current limits)

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 11
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 that allows 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 8 Intel Scalable Memory Buffers (SMBs), each of 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 1067MT/s.
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 (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.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 12
3System Information
3.1 Overview
The 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 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 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
I/O Mezzanine Card
Options
Fully populated mezzanine card slots and switch modules will yield 3 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
Brocade®BR1741M-k Dual-Port Mezzanine CNA
Fibre Channel:

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 13
Feature
Dell PowerEdge M910
QLogic Dual-Port FC8 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) (QME2572)
Emulex Dual-Port FC8 Fibre Channel HBA (LPe1205-M)
Emulex 8 or 4 Gb/s 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 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®including ESX™and ESXi™
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization®
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 M910 is a full height blade server that requires an M1000e chassis (shown in Figure 1) to operate.
Figure 1. M1000e Chassis Front View
It occupies 2 slots in the M1000e rack chassis for a maximum of 8 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.
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
4.3 Internal Module
A view of the internal module is shown in Figure 2. 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 for more information.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 15
Figure 2. Internal Module View
4.4 Security
Configurable client IP address range for clients connecting to iDRAC6.
4.5 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 for more information.
4.6 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.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 16
4.7 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.
4.8 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)
4.9 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.
4.10 Field Replaceable Units (FRU)
The planar contains a serial EEPROM to contain FRU information including Dell part number, part
revision level, and serial number.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 17
5Power, Thermal, and Acoustic
5.1 Overview
Table 3 lists the environmental specifications for the PowerEdge M910
Environmental SpecificationsTable 3.
Temperature
Operating
10oto 35oC (50oto 95oF) with a maximum temperature gradation of
10o C per hour
NOTE: For altitudes above 2950 feet, the maximum operating
temperature is derated 1oF/500ft
Storage
–40oto 65oC (–40oto 149oF) with a maximum temperature gradation
of 20oC 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 5–350 Hz in operational orientations
Storage
1.54 Grms at 10–250 Hz in all orientations
Maximum Shock
Operating
Half sine shock in all operational orientations of 31 G +/- 5% with a
pulse duration of 2.6 ms +/- 10%
Storage
Half sine shock on all six sides of 71 G +/–5% with a pulse duration
of 2 ms +/–10%
Altitude
Operating
-15.2m to 3048 m (-50 to 10,000 ft)
Note: For altitudes above 2950 ft, the maximum temperature is
derated 1o F/550 ft
Storage
-16 to 10,600 m (-50 to 35,000 ft)
Altitude
Class G1 or lower as defined by ISA-S71.04-1985 (G1 maximum corrosive contaminant levels
measured at ≤ 50% relative humidity)

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 18
5.2 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, like
whistles, hums, etc. One of the sound quality metrics in the Dell specification is prominence ratio of
a tone, and this is 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
Typical Configuration Used in Acoustical Testing
Table 4.
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
4 GB DDR3
24
Mezz Cards
Dual-port Broadcom®5709
4
HDD
SAS 2.5‖ 146 GB, 10 krpm
2
Definitions:
Standby: AC Power is connected to Power Supply Units but system is not turned on.
Idle: Reference ISO7779 (1999) definition 3.1.7; system is running in its OS but no other specific
activity.
Stressed Processor: An operating mode per ISO7779 (1999) definition 3.1.6. The software
SPECPower_ssj2008 is utilized to stress the processors. SPECPower is set to 50% 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
ISO7779 (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 ISO7779 (1999) Section 8.6.2.

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 19
5.3 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:
oBase fan speeds are a function of hardware configuration and ambient temperature
to minimize airflow for a given environment
oPID control algorithms are used for both CPU and DIMMs to maintain appropriate
thermal margin
oDouble 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.
5.4 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 Chassis Management Controller (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

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PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 20
6Processors
6.1 Overview
The Intel®Xeon®E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product family 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™ micro-
architecture and Intel®64 architecture for flexibility in 64-bit and 32-bit applications and operating
systems. The Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product family 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 Processor) uses a 1567-pins Land Grid
Array (LGA1567) package that plugs into a surface-mount socket. The M910 provides support for two
or four processors.
Processor Cache Sizes (Package LGA1567)Table 5.
Cache
Size
L1 cache size
32 KB instruction
(32 KB data)
L2 cache size
1.5MB or 2MB
L3 cache size
12MB, 18MB or 24MB (shared)
6.2 Features
Key features of the Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800, and E7-8800 product family include:
Up to ten cores per processor
Four point-to-point QuickPath Interconnect links at 6.4 GT/s
32 nm process technology
Intel HyperThreading (2 threads/core)
Up to 30 MB 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 6.4 GT/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
RISC/CISC hybrid architecture
Compatible with existing x86 code base