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An affordable dual-socket, dual- and quad-core SMP server
with high performance and data protection for small and
medium businesses
Please see the Legal Information section for important notices and information.
4
rates.
Intelligent Power Capability powers individual processor elements on and off as needed, to reduce
power draw.
Execute Disable Bit functionality can help prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks
when combined with a supporting operating system.
DDR II ECC Fully Buffered Memory with Chipkill Protection
The x3400 supports up to 32GB of memory in 8 DIMM sockets. It uses PC2-5300 fully-buffered double
data rate II (DDR II) memory (operating at 667MHz) for faster access, and provides advanced Chipkill
memory protection, for up to 16X better error correction than standard ECC memory.
The fully buffered memory in the x3400 provides up to triple the memory bandwidth (up to 21.3GBps in
four channels of PC2-5300 fully-buffered DIMMs vs. a maximum of 6.4GBps in two channels of unbuffered
PC2-3200 memory) and up to triple the system memory capacity (12 DIMMs x 4GB) of the predecessor
x236 server (8 DIMMs x 2GB). By performing reads and writes simultaneously, it eliminates the previous
memory read-to-write blocking latency. In addition, it also offers innovative data reliability and security
features to help improve data integrity, including enhanced CRC protection, data retry on error detect and
buffer registers for improved fault isolation.
For increased availability, the x3400 offers two additional (but mutually exclusive) levels of IBM Active
Memory protection: online memory mirroring, and online hot-spare memory.
Memory mirroring works much like disk mirroring. The total memory is divided into two channels. Data is
written concurrently to both channels. If a DIMM fails in one of the DIMMs in the primary channel, it is
instantly disabled and the mirrored (backup) memory in the other channel becomes active (primary) until
the failing DIMM is replaced. Mirroring can be accomplished with multiples of four DIMMs (one pair per
memory channel).
When online hot-spare memory is enabled, using single and/or dual-rank DIMMs one rank is set aside per
channel as online spares in case one of the other ranks in that channel fails. The spare rank must have
capacity at least that of the largest active rank. (In other words, if a combination of 2GB and 4GB DIMMs
are used in a branch, one rank on each 4GB DIMM will be used for sparing.) In an x3400 with 32GB
installed, up to 24GB (using 8 dual-rank 4GB DIMMs) of memory is available when the hot-spare feature
is active.
Either of these features requires operating system support.
When multiples of four DIMMs (4 or 8) are installed, the x3400 operates in four-way interleaved mode,
for higher performance. When only two DIMMs are used, the system defaults to two-way interleaved
mode.
DIMMs must be installed in pairs. Memory is available in kits consisting of two 512MB, 1GB, 2GB or 4GB
DIMMs.
Hot-Swap/Redundant Components
System availability is maximized through the extensive use of hot-swap and redundant components,
including:
• Redundant memory protection (with online hot-spare memory or memory mirroring enabled)
• Hot-swap, redundant hard disk drives (with RAID-1/10 protection standard, and RAID-1E/5/6
protection optional)
• Hot-swap, redundant power supplies (optional, model-specific)
• Hot-swap, redundant cooling fans (optional, model-specific)
Large HDD Storage Capacity
The x3400 offers a choice of disk storage, supporting up to four 3.5-inch simple-swap Serial ATA (SATA)
drives or four hot-swap high-performance Serial-Attach SCSI (SAS) drives standard. Using the optional
Hot-Swap SAS/SATA 4-Pac HDD Option upgrade kit on selected models, up to eight 3.5-inch hot-swap
SAS or SATA drives can be installed:
SAS
• 10,000 RPMs — 146.8 or 300GB (2.4TB maximum, using 4-Pac upgrade kit)
• 15,000 RPMs — 73.4 or 146.8GB (1.17TB, using 4-Pac upgrade kit)
SATA
• 7,200 RPMs — 160, 250, or 500GB (2.0TB)—simple-swap
• 7,200 RPMs — 160, 250, or 500GB (4.0TB, using 4-Pac upgrade kit)—hot-swap
Notes: Hot-swap and simple-swap SATA drives offer exactly the same reliability as fixed SATA drives.
Only the system availability improves using the swappable drives. (Less downtime is incurred removing