Sun Fire X2270 Server Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc
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The Sun Fire™ X2270 Server Architecture Solve greater computational challenges faster White Paper March 2009 Abstract Offering a compact form factor, the powerful performance of Intel® Xeon® Processor 5500 Series, innovative high-speed data storage options, and the versatility to execute most any x86 or x64 application, the Sun Fire™ X2270 server is an excellent building block for Web infrastructure and high-performance computing environments. This white paper describes the architecture of the Sun Fire X2270 server, including the processor technology, I/O subsystem, and system management features. Sun Microsystems, Inc. Table of Contents executive Summary ........................................................................................1 escalating Business and Computational Challenges ...........................................2 Sun Fire X2270 server .......................................................................................... 3 Creating a superior platform ................................................................................ 5 Meeting industry demands .................................................................................. 6 The intel Advantage .......................................................................................8 New Intel Core Microarchitecture ........................................................................ 8 Intel Xeon Processor 5500 platform .................................................................... 12 Server Architecture ....................................................................................... 13 Motherboard .................................................................................................... 13 Memory architecture ........................................................................................ 15 PCI Express expansion ....................................................................................... 15 On-Board interfaces .......................................................................................... 16 Internal storage ................................................................................................ 17 Power and cooling ............................................................................................ 17 System management controller ......................................................................... 18 Flash Technology .......................................................................................... 19 Solid state drives .............................................................................................. 19 Sun Flash Modules ............................................................................................ 20 Solaris ZFS file system ....................................................................................... 22 Sun Flash Analyzer ............................................................................................ 22 System Management .................................................................................... 23 Sun ILOM service processor ............................................................................... 23 SNMP............................................................................................................... 30 Sun xVM Ops Center ......................................................................................... 30 Operating System Support ............................................................................ 32 The Solaris Operating System ............................................................................ 32 Linux environments .......................................................................................... 33 Microsoft Windows environments ...................................................................... 34 VMware virtualization technology...................................................................... 34 Summary ..................................................................................................... 35 For more information ........................................................................................ 35 1 The Sun Fire X2270 Server Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. executive Summary Researchers, engineers, e-commerce pioneers, and financial analysts constantly face new challenges that drive demand for greater computational power and throughput. To support more extensive exploration, geophysicists need tools to analyze deeper oceanic seismic maps. Electronic design engineers must synthesize and verify increasingly complex integrated circuits. In finance and e-commerce, IT professionals must find ways to create highly-responsive Web applications and mine growing datasets with increasing efficiency. An alliance forged between Sun and Intel® brings together the necessary elements to create systems that support the most demanding workloads at top performance and an affordable price. The Sun Fire™ X2270 server provides a prime example of combining Intel products and Sun engineering expertise to deliver outstanding quality, performance, and price/performance. A follow-on product to the successful Sun Fire X2250 server, the Sun Fire X2270 server takes advantage of Sun’s Open Network Systems design approach, optimizing and maximizing all the individual components of the system the architecture. The Sun Fire X2270 server includes some of the fastest technology that Intel has to offer, including Intel Xeon Processor 5500 Series with integrated memory controller and fast QuickPath Interconnects (QPI) to link processors to each other and to the I/O subsystem. With specific optimizations for the New Intel Core Microarchitecture, the Solaris™ Operating System (Solaris OS) takes full advantage of the Intel Xeon Processor 5500 Series to achieve outstanding performance. To maximize I/O responsiveness, the Sun Fire X2270 server delivers the high-speed throughput of PCI Express 2.0. In addition, the Sun Fire X2270 server supports internal solid state disks (SSDs) and Sun Flash Modules, accelerating data transfer rates well beyond traditional approaches. Making this offering even more compelling, the Sun Fire X2270 server also provides a low-voltage processor option, efficient front-to-back cooling, and compact form factor to help minimize power and real estate costs. The Sun Fire X2270 server is ideal for a variety of projects, including high- performance computing (HPC) applications and Web infrastructure initiatives. Support for simultaneous execution of 32-bit and 64-bit applications and a flexible choice of operating systems including, the Solaris OS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, and VMware operating environments helps maximize the versatility of this platform. Sun has a long history of providing exceptional platforms to serve the needs of compute-intensive Web and scientific applications. Backed by that experience, the performance of the Sun Fire X2270 server is optimized for the requirements of demanding workloads. 2 The Sun Fire X2270 Server Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chapter 1 escalating Business and Computational Challenges Across a wide spectrum of industries, organizations continue to confront greater computational challenges than ever before. • Oil and gas companies need solutions that can help them meet the world’s ever- increasing demands for energy. These organizations rely heavily on technology to increase efficiency in the areas of exploration, data acquisition, and production. • In the electronic design industry, the complexity of integrated circuit (IC) devices is increasing dramatically. Integrated circuits now commonly incorporate hundreds of millions of gates, placing strain on the task of completing simulations within a reasonable timeframe. • To avoid losing business to the competition, e-commerce companies are required to quickly respond to potential buyers and sellers. As customers constantly, buy, sell, and compare items, back-end systems must keep pace by rapidly querying vast catalogs of information. • To improve productivity and economize the product development process, manufacturers need to reduce their dependence on physical prototypes. As a result, engineers need to run increasing numbers of simulations at higher resolution. • Financial institutions must keep pace with the constant trading of securities. To complete orders accurately, these organizations need to efficiently query large collections of information and make rapid updates. • Through computational biology, the melding of information technology and the life sciences, scientists are putting applications such as bioinformatics, molecular modeling, bio-simulation, clinical informatics, and medical imaging to work in such diverse fields as human therapeutics, diagnostics, prognostics, and forensics. As a result, information technology has become an essential component in the advancements and achievements within the life sciences arena. High-performance, high-caliber tools help organizations capitalize on the valuable talents of engineering professionals and scientific researchers. With the proper equipment, individuals can confront greater challenges, express new ideas and visions, and engage their skills to the greatest effect. Investing in superior technology provides the potential to solve problems more quickly, and with higher quality than with lesser tools. Sun set the industry standards for system design with its Open Network System approach. By integrating and optimizing open compute, storage, networking, and software technologies