Intel S5000XAL Server User Manual


 
Functional Architecture Intel
®
Server Board S5000PAL / S5000XAL TPS
Revision 1.4
Intel order number: D31979-007
36
Full Height PCI Express*
Riser
1 add-in card populated 2 add-in cards populated 3 add-in cards populated
1U – 1 add-in card slot x4 or x8 NA NA
2U – 3 add-in card slots Single PCIe* x4 in either
slot or x8 in middle slot
Or
PCI-X* – Up to 133MHz in
bottom slot
Single PCIe* – x4 in either
slot or x8 in middle slot and
PCI-X* – Up to 133MHz
Or
Dual PCIe – x4
Dual PCIe* – x4
And
PCI-X* – Up to 133MHz
3.2.2 Serial ATA Support
The ESB-2 has an integrated Serial ATA (SATA) controller that supports independent DMA operation on
six ports and supports data transfer rates of up to 3.0 Gb/s. The six SATA ports on the server board are
numbered SATA-0 thru SATA-5. The SATA ports can be enabled/disabled and/or configured by
accessing the BIOS Setup Utility during POST.
3.2.2.1 Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID Technology II Support
The onboard storage capability of this server board includes support for Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID
Technology which provides three standard software RAID levels: data stripping (RAID Level 0), data
mirroring (RAID Level 1), and data stripping with mirroring (RAID Level 10). For higher performance,
data stripping can be used to alleviate disk bottlenecks by taking advantage of the dual independent DMA
engines that each SATA port offers. Data mirroring is used for data security. Should a disk fail, a mirrored
copy of the failed disk is brought on-line. There is no loss of either PCI resources (request/grant pair) or
add-in card slots.
With the addition of an optional Intel RAID Activation Key, Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID Technology is
also capable of providing fault tolerant data stripping (software RAID Level 5), such that if a SATA hard
drive should fail, the lost data can be restored on a replacement drive from the other drives that make up
the RAID 5 pack.
See Figure 1. Components & Connector Location Diagram for the location of Intel RAID Activation Key
connector location.
Note: Availability of the Intel RAID Activation Key to support software RAID 5 will be deferred until after
product launch of this server board.
Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID Technology functionality requires the following items:
Intel
®
ESB-2 IO Controller Hub
Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID Technology Option ROM
Intel
®
Application Accelerator RAID Edition drivers, most recent revision
At least two SATA hard disk drives
Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID Technology is not available in the following configurations:
The SATA controller in compatible mode
Intel
®
Embedded Server RAID Technology has been disabled