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26 BladeSymphony 1000 Architecture White Paper www.hitachi.com
Chapter 5
I/O Sub System
I/O Modules
Hitachi engineers go to great lengths to design systems that provide high I/O throughput.
BladeSymphony 1000 PCI I/O Modules deliver up to 160 Gb/sec. throughput by providing a total of up
to 16 PCI slots (8 slots per I/O module). I/O modules accommodates industry standard PCIe or PCI-X
cards, supporting current and future technologies as well as helping to preserve investments in existing
PCI cards. In addition, by separating I/O from the server blades, the BladeSymphony 1000 overcomes
the space contraint issues of other blade server designs, which can only support smaller PCI cards.
Three I/O modules are available: PCI-X I/O Module, PCIe I/O Module, and an Embedded Fibre Channel
Switch Module. Two I/O modules are supported per chassis.
PCI-X I/O Module
The PCI-X I/O Module supports eight PCI-X cards in total, with a maximum of two PCI-X cards
assigned to a single server blade for Chassis A and four for Chassis B. In Chassis A, eight PCI cards
can be attached to four server blades, at a two-to-one ratio. In Chassis B, four PCI cards can be
attached to four server blades for a four to one ratio. Hot plug is supported in specific conditions.
See the BladeSymphony 1000 Users Manual for more information. The block diagram for the PCI-X I/O
Module is shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16. PCI-X I/O Module block diagram
PCI Express x4 link
PCI-X (133 MHz)
8 slot
(Hot Plug Support)
Error LED
A1B1C1D1
I2C
Reg.
Card
Status
A2B2C2D2
SWSW
SCSI
Bus connection
Legacy
Interrupt
SWSW SWSW
SWSW
Legacy
Interrupt
FRU
I2C SW
Bridge Bridge Bridge Bridge