SUN BLADE 6000 AND 6048 MODULAR SYSTEMS. Open Modular Architecture with a Choice of Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron Platforms

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1 SUN BLADE 6000 AND 6048 MODULAR SYSTEMS Open Modular Architecture with a Choice of Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron Platforms White Paper June 2008

2 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Table of Contents Executive Summary An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture The Promise of Blade Architecture The Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Open and Modular System Architecture Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Chassis Front Perspective Chassis Rear Perspective Passive Midplane Server Modules Based on Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron Processors A Choice of Operating Systems Server Module Architecture Sun Blade T6320 Server Module Sun Blade T6300 Server Module Sun Blade X6220 Server Module Sun Blade X6250 Server Module Sun Blade X6450 Server Module I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Server Module Hard Drives PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs) PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs) Transparent and Open Chassis and System Management Sun xvm Ops Center Conclusion

3 1 Executive Summary Sun Microsystems, Inc. Executive Summary The Participation Age is driving new demands that are focused squarely on the capabilities of the datacenter. Web services and rapidly escalating Internet use are driving competitive organizations to lead with innovative new services and scalable, dynamic infrastructure. High performance computing (HPC) is constantly finding new applications in both science and industry, fostering new demands for performance and density. Agility is paramount, and organizations must be able to respond quickly to unpredictable needs for capacity adding compute power or growing services on demand. At the same time, most datacenters are rapidly running out of space, power, and cooling even as energy costs continue to rise. Rapid growth must be met with consolidated infrastructure, controlled and predictable costs, and efficient management practices. Simply adding more low-density power-consumptive servers is clearly not the answer. Blade server architecture offers considerable promise toward addressing these issues through increased compute density, improved serviceability, and lower levels of exposed complexity. Unfortunately, most legacy blade platforms don't provide the necessary flexibility needed by many of today's Web services and HPC applications. Complicating matters, many legacy blade server platforms lock customers into a proprietary and vendor-specific infrastructure that often requires redesign of existing network, management, and storage environments. These legacy chassis designs also often artificially constrain expansion capabilities. As a result, traditional blade architectures have been largely restricted to low-end Web and IT services. Responding to these challenges, the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide an open modular architecture that delivers the benefits of blade architecture without common drawbacks. Optimized for performance, efficiency, and density, these platforms take an open systems approach, employing the latest processors, operating systems, industry-standard I/O modules, and transparent networking and management. With a choice of server modules based on Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron processors, organizations can select the platforms that best match their applications or existing infrastructure, without worrying about vendor lock-in. Together with the successful Sun Blade 8000 and 8000 P modular systems, the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems present a comprehensive multitier blade portfolio that lets organizations deploy the broadest range of applications on the most ideal platforms. The result is modular architecture that serves the needs of the datacenter and the goals of the business while protecting existing investments into the future. This document describes the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems along with their key applications, architecture, and components.

4 2 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chapter 1 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Organizations operating traditional IT infrastructure, business processing, and back office applications are always looking for ways to cut costs and safely consolidate infrastructure. For many, large numbers of older and less efficient systems constrain the ability to grow and adapt, both physically and computationally. Emerging segments such as Web services along with a renewed focus on high performance computing (HPC) are demanding computational performance, density, and dramatic scalability. With most datacenters constrained by space, heat, or power, these issues are very real. Successful solutions must be efficient, cost effective, and reliable with investment protection factored into fundamental design considerations. Fortunately, new technology is yielding opportunities for increased efficiency and flexibility in the datacenter. Dual and multicore processor technologies are doubling compute density every other year. Virtualization technologies and more powerful servers are making it possible to consolidate widely distributed datacenters using smaller numbers of more powerful servers. Standard high bandwidth networking and interconnect technologies are becoming more affordable. Modern provisioning technology makes it possible to dynamically readjust workloads on the fly. Regrettably, most current server form factors have failed to take full advantage of these trends. For instance, most traditional rackmount servers require a box swap in order to allow an organization to deploy new CPU and I/O technology. Modular architecture offers the opportunity to rapidly harvest the returns of new technology advances, while serving the constantly changing needs of the enterprise. The Promise of Blade Architecture At its best, modular or blade server architecture blends the enterprise availability and management features of vertically-scalable platforms with the scalability and economic advantages of horizontally-scalable systems. In general, modular architectures offer considerable promise, and can contribute to: Higher compute density providing more processing power per rack unit (RU) than with rackmount systems Increased serviceability and availability featuring shared common system components such as power, cooling, and I/O interconnects Reduced complexity through fewer required components, cable and component aggregation, and consolidated management Faster service expansion and bulk deployment letting organizations expand or scale existing services and flexibly pre-provision chassis and I/O components Lowered costs since modular servers can be less expensive to acquire, easier to service, and easier to manage

5 3 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. While some organizations adopted first-generation blade technology for Web servers or simple IT infrastructure, many legacy blade platforms have not been able to deliver on this promise for a broader set of applications. Part of the problem is that most legacy blade systems are based on proprietary architectures that lock adopters into an extensive infrastructure that constrains deployment. In addition, though vendors typically try to price server modules economically, they often charge a premium for the required proprietary I/O and switching infrastructure. Availability of suitable computational platforms has also been problematic. Together, these constraints caused trade-offs in both features and performance that had to be weighed when considering blade technology for individual applications: Power and cooling limitations often meant that processors were limited to less powerful mobile versions. Limited processing power, memory capacity, and I/O bandwidth severely constrained the applications that could be deployed on blade server platforms. Proprietary tie-ins and other constraints in chassis design dictated networking topology, and limited I/O expansion possibilities to a small number of proprietary modules. These compromises in chassis design were largely the result of a primary focus on density with smaller chassis requiring small-format server modules. Ultimately these designs limited the broad application of blade technology. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems To address the shortcomings of earlier blade platforms, Sun started with a design point focused on the needs of the datacenter, rather than with preconceptions of chassis design. With this innovative and truly modular approach and a no-compromise feature set, the newly expanded Sun Blade family of modular systems offers considerable advantages for a wide range of applications. Organizations gain the promised benefits of blades, and can save more by deploying a broader range of their applications on modular system platforms. Scalable, Expandable, and Serviceable Multitier Architecture Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems let organizations deploy multitier applications on a single unified modular architecture. These systems support all major volume CPU architectures, including UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors with CoolThreads technology, the Intel Xeon processor, and Next Generation AMD Opteron processors. The Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) is supported uniformly on all platforms, and support is also provided for Linux and Windows operating systems as appropriate. By offering the fastest AMD, Intel, and UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors available, large memory, and high I/O capacity, these systems support a very broad range of applications. In addition, the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems achieve

6 4 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. better power efficiency by consolidating power and cooling infrastructure for multiple systems into the modular system chassis. The result is high-performance infrastructure that packs more performance and functionality into a smaller space both in terms of real estate as well as power envelope. With innovative chassis design, Sun Blade modular systems allow organizations to take full advantage of future technology without forklift upgrades. Organizations can independently service, upgrade, and expand compute, I/O, power, cooling, and management modules. All major components are hot pluggable and hot swappable, including I/O modules. Sun Blade Transparent Management Many blade vendors provide management solutions that lock organizations into proprietary management tools. With the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems, customers have the choice of using their existing management tools or Sun Blade Transparent Management. Sun Blade Transparent Management is a standards-based cross-platform tool that provides direct management over individual server modules and direct management of chassis-level modules using Sun Integrated Lights out Management (ILOM). With direct management access to server modules, existing or favorite management tools from Sun or third parties can be used. With this approach, administrative staff productivity can be retained, with no additional training or changes in management practices. Open and Independent Industry Standard I/O The Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide a cable-once architecture with complete hardware isolation of compute and I/O modules. Sun supports true industry standard I/O on its modular systems platforms with a design that completely separates CPU and I/O modules. Sun Blade modular systems utilize standard PCI Express I/O architecture and adapters, the same technology that dominates the rackmount server industry. I/O adapters from multiple vendors are available to work with Sun Blade modular systems. A truly modular design based on industry standard hot-pluggable I/O means that systems are easier to install and service providing simpler administration, higher reliability, and better compatibility with existing network and storage environments. For instance, replacing an I/O module in a Sun Blade modular system requires less than a minute. Highly-Efficient Cooling Traditional blade platforms have a reputation for being hot and unreliable a reputation caused by systems with insufficient cooling and chassis airflow. Not only do higher temperatures negatively impact electronic reliability, but hot and inefficient systems require more datacenter cooling infrastructure, with its

7 5 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. associated footprint and power draw. In response, the Sun Blade 6000 modular system provides optimized cooling and airflow that can lead to reliable system operation and efficient datacenter cooling. In fact, Sun Blade modular systems deliver the same cooling and airflow capacity of Sun s rackmount systems for both SPARC and x64 server modules resulting in reliable system operation and less required cooling infrastructure. Better airflow can translate directly into better reliability, reduced downtime, and improved serviceability. These systems also help organizations meet growing demand while preserving existing datacenters. Virtually Unmatched Investment Protection with the Sun SM Refresh Service Computing technology is constantly evolving, delivering improved performance and new energy efficiencies over time. Unfortunately, this progress combined with traditional purchasing models often results in server sprawl as businesses add new servers year over year to meet growing needs for computational infrastructure. This consumptive model causes real issues, driving datacenter buildout and power and cooling costs that are often well in excess of hardware acquisition costs. The Sun SM Refresh Service for Sun Blade Modular Systems lets organizations break away from the traditional acquire-and-depreciate life cycle replenishing datacenters with fresh technology and providing virtually unmatched investment protection. With this service, IT managers can adapt to ongoing changes in technology and business needs at lower costs, refreshing the datacenter frequently in order to reap the benefits offered by the latest advancements in technology. Increasing the productivity of datacenter infrastructure with the Sun Refresh Service also minimizes the need to add more datacenter space. Sun Blade modular systems in particular complement this approach, since compute elements can be easily upgraded with minimal disruption to the rest of the infrastructure. Careful planning has gone into Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems to help ensure that they provides the power, cooling, and I/O headroom to operate future server modules. The Sun Refresh Service is being expanded in phases to different geographies around the world. Please check for service availability in desired locations. Open and Modular System Architecture Along with the Sun Blade 8000 and 8000 P modular systems, the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide a new approach to modular system architecture. This approach combines careful long-term chassis design with an open and standard systems architecture.

8 6 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Innovative Industry-Standard Design Providing choice in modular system platforms is essential, both to help enable the broadest set of applications, and to provide the best investment protection for a range of different organizations and their requirements. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems offer choice and key innovations for modular computing. A Choice of Processor Architectures and Operating Systems Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems support a range of full performance and full featured Sun Blade 6000 server modules. The Sun Blade T6320 server module offers support for the massively-threaded UltraSPARC T2 processor with either four, six, or eight cores, up to 64 threads and support for 64 GB of memory. The Sun Blade T6300 server module provides a single socket for an UltraSPARC T1 processor, featuring either six or eight cores, up to 32 threads, and support for up to 32 GB of memory. The Sun Blade X6220 server module provides support for two Next Generation AMD Opteron 2000 Series processors and support for up to 64 GB of memory. The Sun Blade X6250 server module provides two sockets for Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5100 series or two Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 series CPUs with up to 64 GB of memory per server module. The Sun Blade X6450 server module provides four sockets for Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor 7200 series or Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 7300 series CPUs, with up to 96 GB of memory per server module. Each server module provides significant I/O capacity as well, with up to 32 lanes of PCI Express bandwidth delivered from each server module to the multiple available I/O expansion modules (a total of up to 142 Gb/s per supported per server module). To enhance availability, server modules have no power supply or fans and feature four hot-swap disks with hardware RAID built in. Organizations can deploy server modules based on the processors and operating system that best serve their applications or environment. Different server modules can be mixed and matched in a single chassis, and deployed and redeployed as needs dictate. Complete Separation Between CPU and I/O Modules Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular system design avoids compromises because it provides a complete separation between CPU and I/O modules. Two types of I/O modules are supported. Up to two industry-standard PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs) can be dedicated to each server module. Up to two PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs) provide bulk IO for all of the server modules installed in the system.

9 7 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Through this flexible approach, server modules can be configured with different I/O options depending on the applications they host. I/O modules are hot-plug, and customers can choose from Sun-branded or third-party adapters for networking, storage, clustering, and other I/O functions. Transparent Chassis Management Infrastructure Within the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems, a Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) works in conjunction with the service processor on each server module to form a complete and transparent management solution. Each Sun Blade 6000 server module contains its own directly addressable management service processor that is accessible through the CMM. Though similar in function, these service processors vary with the individual server modules. Generally, these service processors support Lights Out Management (LOM), and provide support for IPMI, SNMP, CLI (through serial console or SSH), and HTTP(S) management methods. In addition, Sun xvm Ops Center (formerly Sun Connection and Sun N1 System Manager software ) provides discovery, aggregated management, and bulk deployment for multiple systems. Innovative and Highly-Reliable Chassis Design for Different Needs Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems are intended for a long life, with a design that assumes ongoing improvements in technology. The chassis integrates AC power supplies and cooling fans for all of the server and I/O modules. This approach keeps these components off of the server modules, making them efficient and more reliable. Power supplies and fans in the chassis are designed for ease-of-service, hot-swappability, and redundancy. The chassis provides power and cooling infrastructure to support current and future CPU and memory configurations, helping to ensure that the chassis life-cycle will span multiple generations of processor upgrades. All modular components such as the CMM, server modules, EMs, and NEMs are hot-plug capable. In addition, I/O paths can be configured in a redundant fashion. One Architecture with a Choice of Chassis Organizations need modular chassis that allow them to deploy exactly the amount of processing and I/O that they require, while scaling effectively to meet their needs. With a single unified architecture, Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide different levels of capacity. For smaller incremental growth, the Sun Blade 6000 modular system is provided in a compact rackmount chassis that occupies 10 rack units (10 RU). Each Sun Blade 6000 chassis can house up to 10 server modules, providing support for up to 40 server modules per rack. Designed for maximum density and scalability, the Sun Blade 6048 modular system features a standard rack-size chassis that facilitates the deployment of high-density infrastructure. By eliminating all of the hardware typically used to rack-mount

10 8 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. individual blade chassis, the Sun Blade 6048 modular system provides 20 percent more usable space in the same physical footprint. Up to 48 server Sun Blade 6000 server modules can be deployed in a single Sun Blade 6048 modular system. A Choice of Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron Processors Legacy blade platforms were often restrictive in the processor architectures they supported, limiting innovation for modular systems and forcing difficult architectural choices for adopters. In contrast, Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems offer a choice of server modules based on UltraSPARC T2 or T1 processors, Intel Xeon processors, or Next Generation AMD Opteron 2000 Series processors. In addition, Sun Blade 6000 server modules provide large memory capacities, while the individual chassis provide significant power and cooling capacity. The available Sun Blade 6000 server modules are described below. Sun Blade T6320 Server Module Based on the Industry s first massively threaded system on a chip (SoC), the UltraSPARC T2 processor based Sun Blade T6320 Server module brings nextgeneration chip multithreading (CMT) to a modular system platform. Building on the strengths of its predecessor, the UltraSPARC T2 processor offers support for eight threads per core, and integrates memory control, caches, networking, I/O, and cryptography on the processor die. Four-, six-, and eight-core UltraSPARC T2 processors are supported, yielding up to 64 threads. Like Sun s rackmount Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 servers, the Sun Blade T6320 server module provides significant memory bandwidth with support for 667 MHz Fully-Buffered DIMMs (FBDIMMs). Up to 16 FBDIMMs can be installed to support up to 64 GB of memory. Individual Sun Blade T6320 server modules can provide industry-leading performance as measured by the Space, Watts, and Performance (SWaP) metric 1. Sun Blade T6300 Server Module The Sun Blade T6300 server module utilizes the successful UltraSPARC T1 processor. With a single socket for a six- or eight- core UltraSPARC T1 processor, up to 32 threads can be supported for applications that require substantial amounts of throughput. Similar to the Sun Fire / SPARC Enterprise T2000 server, the server module uses all four of the processor s memory controllers, providing large memory bandwidth. Up to eight DDR2 533 DIMMs at 400 MHz can be installed for a maximum of 32 GB of RAM per server module. Sun Blade X6220 Server Module Ideal for consolidation in x64 environments, the Sun Blade X6220 server module provides support for two Next Generation AMD Opteron 2000 Series processors, with dual cores per processor. Sixteen memory slots are provided for a total of up to 64 GB of RAM with 667 MHz DDR2 DIMMs. Organizations can consolidate IT and 1.1. For more information on the SWaP metric, along with the latest benchmark results, please see

11 9 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Web services infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of competing x64 servers or blades. The Sun Blade X6220 server module also delivers industry-leading floating point performance helping to empower HPC applications that require both computational density and performance. Sun Blade X6250 Server Module The Sun Blade X6250 server module is ideal for x64 applications, such as those at the Web and application tiers, and is also appropriate for HPC applications. Two sockets are provided for Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5100 series or Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 series CPUs. A high memory density of up to 64 GB gives the Sun Blade X6250 server module considerable capacity. This server module also provides industry-leading integer performance and unconstrained I/O capacity as compared to other Intel Xeon Processor-based blade servers. Sun Blade X6450 Server Module The Sun Blade X6450 server module is ideal for x64 applications and scalable workloads such as databases and HPC applications. Four sockets are provided for Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor 7200 series or Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 7300 series CPU, offering strong integer performance characteristics. Up to 24 FB- DIMMs are supported, yielding a large memory capacity of up to 96 GB using 4 GB FB-DIMMs. Industry-leading I/O capacity is provided as compared to other Intel Xeon Processor-based blade servers. Modular and Future-Proof Chassis Design Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide significant improvements over legacy server module platforms. Sun s focus on the needs of the datacenter have resulted in chassis designs that don t force compromises in the performance and capabilities delivered by the server modules. For example, in addition to offering a choice of server modules that support the latest volume processors, these systems deliver 100 percent of system I/O to the I/O modules through a passive midplane.

12 10 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. The Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular system chassis are shown in Figure 1. The Sun Blade 6000 modular system is provided in a 10 rack unit (10U) chassis with up to four chassis supported in a single 42U rack or three chassis supported in a 38U rack. The Sun Blade 6048 modular system chassis takes the form of a standard rack and features four independent shelves Figure 1. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems (left and right respectively) Both the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems support flexible configuration, and are built from a range of standard hot-plug, hot-swap modules, including: Sun Blade T6320, T6300, X6220, X6250, or X6450 server modules, in any combination Blade-dedicated PCI Express ExpressModules (EM), supporting industry-standard PCI Express interfaces PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs), providing access and an aggregated interface to all of the server modules in the Sun Blade 6000 chassis or Sun Blade 6048 shelf Integral Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) for transparent management access to individual server modules Hot-swap (N+N) power supply modules Redundant (N+1) cooling fans With common system components and a choice of chassis, organizations can scale capacity with either fine or course granularity, as their needs dictate. Table 1 lists the capacities of the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems along with single-shelf

13 11 An Open Systems Approach to Modular Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. capacity in the Sun Blade 6048 modular system. Maximum numbers of sockets, cores, and threads are listed for AMD Opteron, Intel Xeon, and UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors. Category Table 1. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular system capacities Sun Blade 6000 modular system Sun Blade 6048 modular shelf Sun Blade 6000 server modules PCI Express Express Modules PCI Express Network Express Modules Up to 2 Up to 2 Up to 8 Chassis monitoring modules (CMM) Sun Blade 6048 modular system Hot-swap power supplies (N+N) 2, 6000 Watt 2, 8400 Watt 8, 8400 Watt Redundant cooling fans (N+1) Maximum AMD Opteron sockets/cores/threads 20/40/40 24/48/48 96/192/192 Maximum Intel Xeon sockets/cores/threads 40/160/160 48/192/ /768/768 Maximum UltraSPARC T1 sockets/cores/threads 10/80/320 12/96/384 48/384/1536 Maximum UltraSPARC T2 sockets/cores/threads 10/80/640 12/96/768 48/384/3072

14 12 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chapter 2 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Together with the Sun Blade 8000 and 8000 P modular systems, Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems bring significant advancements to deploying modular systems across the organization. Sun Blade 6000 modular system are ideal for delivering maximum entry-level price/performance with superior features as compared to traditional rackmount servers. With its standard rack-sized chassis and high density, the Sun Blade 6048 modular system helps enable the streamlined deployment of dense and highly-scalable datacenters. Supporting a choice of x64 or SPARC platforms, Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems are ideal for a variety of applications and markets. Web Services For Web services applications sized to take advantage of two-socket x64 server economy, the Sun Blade 6000 modular system delivers one of the industry s most compelling solutions. The system offers maximum performance, enterprise reliability, and easy scalability at a fraction of the price of competing products. The stateless approach of modular systems makes it easier to build large Web server farms with maximum manageability and deployment flexibility. Organizations can add new capacity quickly or redeploy hardware resources as required. Virtualization and Consolidation Virtualization and Consolidation have never been more important as organizations seek to get more from their deployed infrastructure. Modular systems based on Sun s UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors with CoolThreads technology can offer consolidation solutions with Sun Logical Domains and Solaris Containers that cut power and cooling costs. Modular systems based on Sun s x64 based server modules offer up to twice the memory and I/O of competing x64 blades or rackmount servers. These systems offer enterprise-class reliability, availability, and serviceability features providing the needed headroom for consolidation with VMware, Xen, or Microsoft Virtual Server. High Performance Computing (HPC) Commercial and scientific computational applications such as electronic design automation (EDA) and mechanical computer aided engineering (MCAE) place significant demands on system architecture. These applications require a combination of computational performance and system capacity, with exacting needs integer and floating point performance, large memory configurations, and flexible I/O. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems based on Sun s x64 based server modules combined with the Sun Refresh Service allow organizations to purchase the highest-performing and most cost-effective platforms now, while maintaining that technological edge for years to come.

15 13 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Terascale and Petascale Supercomputing Clusters and Grids The largest supercomputing clusters in the world are needed to push back the fundamental limits of understanding in key scientific and engineering endeavors. The Sun Constellation System serves these institutions as the world s first open petascale computing environment, combining ultra-dense high-performance computing, networking, storage, and software into an integrated system. The Sun Constellation System delivers massive scalability from teraflops to petaflops while offering dramatically reduced complexity and breakthrough economics. Components of the Sun Constellation System include: The Sun Datacenter Switch 3456, the world s largest InfiniBand core switch with capacity for 3,456 server nodes (and up to 13,824 server nodes with multiple core switches) The Sun Blade 6048 modular system, for high-density compute nodes with integral InfiniBand switched NEM Sun Fire X4500 server clusters and the Sun StorageTek 5800 system, providing massively scalable and cost-effective storage solutions. A comprehensive HPC software stack to manage and augment the worlds largest supercomputing clusters and grids. Sun Constellation System components are shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. The Sun Constellation System can be used to build the largest terascale and petascale supercomputing clusters and grids Chassis Front Perspectives Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 chassis house the server modules and I/O modules, connecting the two through the passive midplane. Redundant and hot-swappable power supplies and fans are also hosted in the chassis. All slots are accessible from

16 14 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. either the front or the rear of the chassis for easy serviceability. Server modules, I/O modules, power supplies, and fans can all be added and removed while the chassis and other elements in the enclosure are powered on. This capability yields great expansion opportunity and provides considerable flexibility. The front perspectives of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis and a single Sun Blade 6048 shelf are shown in Figure 3, with components described in the sections that follow. Hot-swappable N+N power supply modules with integral fans Sun Blade 6000 server modules Figure 3. Front view of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis (left) and a single Sun Blade 6048 shelf (right) Operator Panel An operator panel is located at the top of the chassis, providing status on the overall condition of the system. Indicators show if the chassis is on standby or operational mode, and if an over-temperature condition is occurring. A push-button indicator acts as a locator button for the chassis in case there is a need to remotely identify a chassis within a rack, or in a crowded datacenter. If any of the components in the chassis should present a problem or a failure, the operator panel reflects that issue as well. Power Supply Modules and Front Fan Modules Two power supply modules load from the front of the chassis or shelf. Each module contains multiple power supplies cores enclosed within a single unit (two for the Sun Blade 6000, and three for the Sun Blade 6048 power supply modules), and each module requires a corresponding number of power inlets. Power supply modules are hot swap capable and contain a replaceable fan module that helps cool both the power supplies as well as the PCI Express modules in the rear of the enclosure. In case of a power supply failure, the integral fan modules will continue to function because they are actually energized directly from the chassis power grid, independently from the power supply modules that contain them. The power supply modules provide the total power required by the chassis (or shelf). The power supply modules can be configured redundantly in an N+N configuration, with a single power supply module able to power the entire chassis at full load. In order

17 15 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. to provide N+N redundancy, all power cords must be energized. If both power supply modules are energized, all of the systems in the chassis are protected from power supply failure. A power supply module can fail or be disconnected without affecting the server modules and components running inside the chassis. To further enhance this protection, power grid redundancy for all of the systems and components in the chassis can be easily achieved by connecting each of the two power supply modules to different power grids within the datacenter. Sun Blade 6000 power supply modules have a high 90-percent efficiency rating and an output voltage of 12 V DC. The high efficiency rating indicates that there are fewer power losses within the power supply itself, therefore wasting less power in the energy conversion stage from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). Also, by feeding 12V DC directly to the midplane, fewer conversion stages are required in the individual server modules. This strategy yields less power conversion energy waste, and generates less waste heat within the server module, making the overall system more efficient. Provisioned power for rack mounted configurations depends on the number of chassis deployed per rack. A 42U rack with four installed Sun Blade 6000 chassis requires 24 kilowatts, while a 38U rack with three chassis requires 18 kilowatts. Depending on the ongoing load of the systems, actual power consumption will vary. For a more in-depth analysis of day-to-day power consumption of the system please visit the power calculator located on the Sun Website at Sun Blade 6048 power supply modules include three power supply cores, facilitating adjustable power utilization depending on the power consumption profiles of the installed server modules and other components. Two or three cores can be energized in each power supply module to make the system perform at optimal efficiency. An on-line power calculator ( can help identify the power envelope of each shelf, and can help determine how many power supply cores to energize. Energizing two cores will support 5,600 Watts, and energizing three cores will support 8,400 Watts per shelf. Server Modules Up to 10 Sun Blade 6000 server modules can be inserted vertically beneath the power supply modules on the Sun Blade 6000 chassis. The Sun Blade 6048 chassis supports up to 12 Sun Blade 6000 server modules per shelf, or 48 server modules per chassis. The four hard disk drives on each server module are available for easy hot-swap from the front of the chassis. Indicator LEDs and I/O ports are also provided on the front of the server modules for easy access. A number of connectors are provided on the front panel of each server module, available through a server module adaptor ( octopus cable ). Depending on the server module, available ports include a VGA HD-15 monitor port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a DB-9 or RJ-45 serial port that connects to the server module and integral service processors.

18 16 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chassis Rear Perspective The rear of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis and a single Sun Blade 6048 shelf provide access to the back side of the passive midplane for I/O modules (Figure 4). Slots for PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs) and PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs) are provided. I/O modules are all hot swap capable and provide I/O capabilities to server modules. Plugs/Cords PCI Express ExpressModules PCI Express Network Express Modules N+1 Redundant and Hot-Swappable Fan Modules Figure 4. Rear view of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs) Twenty hot-plug capable PCI Express ExpressModule slots are accessible at the top of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis, with 24 EMs supported by each Sun Blade 6048 shelf. EMs offer a variety of choices for communications including gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and Infiniband interconnects. Different EMs can be chosen for every server module in order to provide each with the right type of fabric connectivity with a high degree of granularity. Two PCI Express ExpressModule slots are dedicated and directly connected to each server module through the passive midplane. Slots 0 and 1 from right to left are connected to server module 0, slots 2 and 3 are connected to server module 1, continuing across the back of the chassis. PCI Express Network Express Modules Space is provided for up to two PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs) in the Sun Blade 6000 chassis, and in each Sun Blade 6048 shelf. NEMs provide the same I/O capabilities across all of the server modules installed in the chassis, simplifying connectivity and also usually offering a low-cost I/O solution since they provide I/O to all of the server modules. All the server modules are directly connected to each of the configured NEMs through PCI Express connections. Due to the different chassis widths, specific NEMS are provided to fit the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems. More details on available NEMs for both systems are provided in Chapter 3.

19 17 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chassis Monitoring Module A Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) is located the NEM slots on the left-hand side of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis, and to the left of the NEM slots on the Sun Blade 6048 chassis providing remote monitoring and a central access point to the chassis. The CMM includes an integrated switch that gives LAN access to the CMM's Ethernet ports and to the individual server module management ports. Individual server module management is completely transparent and independent from the CMM. The CMM on the Sun Blade 6048 modular system is combined with the power input module. Power Supply Inlets Four power supply inlets (plugs) are available from the rear of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis, with six provided for each Sun Blade 6048 shelf. The number of inlets corresponds to the number of power supply cores in the two front-loaded power supply modules. Integral cable holders prevent accidental loss of power from inadvertent cable removal. Each of the cables require a 220V, 20A circuit, and a minimum of two circuits are required to power each chassis. For full N+N redundancy, four circuits are required by the Sun Blade 6000 modular system, and six circuits are required by each Sun Blade 6048 modular system shelf. Fans and Airflow Chassis airflow is entirely front to back in both chassis, and is powered by rear fan modules, and by the front fan modules mounted in the power supply modules. All rear fan modules are hot-swap and N+1, with six fan modules provided for each Sun Blade 6000 chassis, and eight fan modules provided for each Sun Blade 6048 shelf. Each rear fan module is comprised of two redundant in-line fans.the front fan modules pull air in from the front of the chassis and blow it across the power supplies and exhaust through the EM and NEM spaces. The rear fan modules pull air from the front of the chassis and exhaust it through the rear. When all of the fans in the chassis are running at full speed, the chassis can provide up to 1,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of airflow through the chassis. Passive Midplane In essence, the passive midplanes in the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems are a collection of wires and connectors between different modules in the chassis. Since there are no active components, the reliability of these printed circuit boards is extremely high in the millions of hours, or hundreds of years. The passive midplane provides electrical connectivity between the server modules and the I/O modules. All modules, front and rear, with the exception of the power supplies and the fan modules connect directly to the passive midplane. The power supplies connect to the midplane through a bus bar and to the AC inputs via a cable harness. The redundant

20 18 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. fan modules plug individually into a set of three fan boards, where fan speed control and other chassis-level functions are implemented. The front fan modules that cool the PCI Express ExpressModules each connect to the chassis via blind-mate connections. The main functions of the midplane include: Providing a mechanical connection point for all of the server modules Providing 12 VDC from the power supplies to each customer-replaceable module Providing 3.3 VDC power used to power the System Management Bus devices on each module, and to power the CMM Providing a PCI Express interconnect between the PCI Express root complexes on each server module to the EMs and NEMs installed in the chassis Connecting the server modules, CMMs, and NEMs to the chassis management network EMs PCI Express x8 PCI Express x8 PCI Express x4/x8 or XAUI Gigabit Ethernet SAS Links PCI Express x4/x8 or XAUI Gigabit Ethernet SAS Links Service Processor Ethernet NEM 1 CMM Server Module NEM 0 Figure 5. Distribution of communications links from each Sun Blade 6000 server module Each server module is energized through the midplane from the redundant chassis power grid. The midplane also provides connectivity to the I2C network in the chassis, letting each server module directly monitor the chassis environment, including fan and power supply status as well as various temperature sensors. A number of I/O links are also routed through the midplane for each server module (Figure 5), including: Two x8 PCI Express links connect from each server module to each of the dedicated EMs Two x4 or x8 PCI Express links connect from each server module, one to each of the NEMs Two gigabit Ethernet links are provided, each connecting to one of the NEMs Four x1 Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) links are also provided, with two connecting to each NEM (for future use)

21 19 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Server Modules Based on Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron Processors The ability to host demanding compute, memory, and I/O-intensive applications is ultimately dependent on the characteristics of the actual server modules. The innovative Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 chassis allow designers considerable flexibility in terms of delivering powerful server modules for a broad range of applications. Except for labeling, all Sun Blade 6000 server modules feature a physically identical front panel design. This design is intentional since any server module can be used in any slot of the chassis, no matter what the internal architecture of the server module. As mentioned, all server modules use the same midplane connectors and have equivalent I/O characteristics. A Choice of Processors, a Choice of Operating Systems By providing a choice of Sun SPARC, Intel Xeon, and AMD Opteron processors, the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems can serve a wide range of applications and demands. Organizations are free to choose the platform that best suits their needs or fits in with their existing environments. Server modules of different architectures can also be mixed and matched in a single Sun Blade 6000 chassis, or within a single Sun Blade 6048 modular system shelf. To help assure the best application performance, Sun Blade 6000 server modules provide substantial computational and memory capacity to support demanding applications. Table 2 lists the capabilities of the Sun Blade 6000 server modules including processors, cores, threads, and memory capacity. Table 2. Processor support and memory capacities for Sun Blade 6000 server modules Server Module Processor(s) Cores/Threads Memory Capacity Sun Blade T6320 server module Sun Blade T6300 server module Sun Blade X6220 server module Sun Blade X6250 server module Sun Blade X6450 server module 1 UltraSPARC T2 processor 1 UltraSPARC T1 processor 2 Next Generation AMD Opteron processors 2 Intel Xeon Processor 5100 series or 5300 series CPUs 4 Intel Xeon Processor 7200 series or 7300 series CPUs 4, 6, or 8 cores, up to 64 threads 6 or 8 cores, up to 32 threads 4 cores, 4 threads 5100 series: 4 cores, 4 threads 5300 series: 8 cores, 8 threads 7200 series: 8 cores, 8 threads 7300 series: 16 cores, 16 threads Up to 64 GB, 16 FBDIMM slots Up to 32 GB, 8 DIMM slots Up to 64 GB, 16 DIMM slots Up to 64 GB, 16 FB-DIMM slots Up to 96 GB, 24 FB-DIMM slots

22 20 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Leading I/O Throughput Sun Blade 6000 server modules provide extensive I/O capabilities and a wealth of I/O options, allowing modular servers to be used for applications that require significant I/O throughput: Up to 142 Gbps of I/O throughput is provided on each Sun Blade 6000 server module, delivered through 32 lanes of PCI Express I/O, as well as multiple gigabit Ethernet and SAS links. Each server module delivers its I/O to the passive midplane and the I/O devices connected to it in the Sun Blade 6000 chassis or Sun Blade 6048 shelf. Four 2.5-inch SAS or SATA disk drives are supported in each server module (PCI-based). Two hot-plug PCI Express ExpressModules (EM) slots are dedicated to each server module (20 per chassis) for granular blade I/O configuration. Network Express Modules (NEMs) provide bulk I/O across multiple server modules and aggregate I/O functions. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems supply up to two NEMs, each with a PCI Express x8 or XAUI connection, gigabit Ethernet connection, and two SAS link connections to each server module. Table 3 lists the throughput provided through the passive midplane from each of the three server modules. Table 3. Midplane throughput for Sun Blade 6000 server modules Links Sun Blade T6320 server module a (links, Gbps) Sun Blade T6300 server module (links, Gbps) Sun Blade x6220 server module (links, Gbps) Sun Blade X6250 server module a (links, Gbps) Sun Blade X6450 server module a (links, Gbps) PCI Express links to EMs 2 x8 links, 32 Gbps each 2 x8 links, 32 Gbps each 2 x8 links, 32 Gbps each 2 x8 links, 32 Gbps each 2 x8 links, 32 Gbps each PCI Express Links to NEMs 2 x4 links, 16 Gbps each 2 x8 links, 16 Gbps each 2 x8 links, 32 Gbps each 2 x4 links, 16 Gbps each 2 x4 links, 16 Gbps each Gigabit Ethernet links 2, 1 Gbps each 2, 1 Gbps each 2, 1 Gbps each 2, 1 Gbps each 2, 1 Gbps each SAS links 4, 3 Gbps each 4, 3 Gbps each 4, 3 Gbps each 4, 3 Gbps each 4, 3 Gbps each Total server module bandwidth 142 Gbps 142 Gbps 142 Gbps 110 Gbps 110 Gbps a.server modules with Raid Expansion Module (REM) and Fabric Expansion Modules (FEM) Enterprise-Class Features Unlike most traditional blade servers, Sun Blade 6000 server modules provide a host of enterprise features that help ensure greater reliability and availability: Each server module supports hot-plug capabilities Each server module supports four hot-plug disks, and built-in support for RAID 0 or 1 (diskless operation is also supported) 1 Redundant hot-swap chassis-located fans mean greater reliability through decreased part count and no fans located on the server modules Redundant hot-swap chassis-located power supply modules mean that no power supplies are located on individual server modules 1.Raid 0, 1, 5, and RAID 0+1 are supported by the Sun Blade X6250 and X6450 server modules with the Sun StorageTek RAID expansion module (REM)

23 21 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Open Transparent Management Together, Sun Blade 6000 server modules and Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide a robust and comprehensive list of management features, including: A dedicated service processor on each server module for blade-level management granularity A Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) for direct access to server module management features Sun xvm Ops Center for server module discovery and OS provisioning as well as bulk application-level provisioning A Choice of Operating Systems In order to provide maximum flexibility and investment protection, the Sun Blade 6000 server modules support a choice of operating systems, including: Solaris 10 OS The Linux operating system (64-bit Red Hat or SuSE Linux) Microsoft Windows VMware ESX Server Table 4 lists the specific operating system versions supported by the Sun Blade 6000 server modules as of this writing. Please see for the latest supported operating systems and environments. Table 4. Processor and memory capacities for supported server modules Server Module Sun Blade T6320 server module Sun Blade T6300 server module Sun Blade X6220, X6250, and X6450 server modules Supported Operating Systems Solaris 10 OS Update 4 with patches or later Solaris 10 OS Update 3 with patches or later Solaris 10 11/06 OS on x64, HW2 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Server 4, U4 and U5, 32-bit SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, 32-bit VMware ESX and 3.5 Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2: Standard Edition 32- and 64-bit Enterprise Edition, 32- and 64-bit Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Solaris OS Support on all Server Modules Among the available operating systems, the Solaris OS is ideal for large-scale enterprise deployments. Supported on all Sun Blade 6000 server modules, the Solaris OS has specific features that can enhance flexibility and performance with different features affecting different processors as noted.

24 22 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun Logical Domains Support in Sun Blade T6320 and T6300 Server Modules Supported in all Sun servers that utilize Sun processors with chip multithreading (CMT) technology, Sun Logical Domains provide a full virtual machine that runs an independent operating system instance and contains virtualized CPU, memory, storage, console, and cryptographic devices. Within the Sun Logical Domains architecture, a small firmware layer known as the Hypervisor provides a stable, virtualized machine architecture to which an operating system can be written. As such, each logical domain is completely isolated, and the maximum number of virtual machines created on a single platform relies upon the capabilities of the Hypervisor as opposed to the number of physical hardware devices installed in the system. For example, the Sun Blade T6320 server with a single Sun UltraSPARC T2 processor supports up to 64 logical domains, and each individual logical domain can run a unique instance of the operating system 1. By taking advantage of Sun Logical Domains, organizations gain the flexibility to deploy multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single server module. In addition, administrators can leverage virtual device capabilities to transport an entire software stack hosted on a logical domain from one physical machine to another. Logical domains can also host Solaris Containers to capture the isolation, flexibility, and manageability features of both technologies. By deeply integrating logical domains with both the industry-leading CMT capabilities of the UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors and the Solaris 10 OS, Sun Logical Domains technology increases flexibility, isolates workload processing, and improves the potential for maximum server utilization. Scalability and Support for CoolThreads Technology The Solaris 10 OS is specifically designed to deliver the considerable resources of UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processor-based systems such as the Sun Blade T6320 and T6300 server modules. In fact, the Solaris 10 OS provides new functionality for optimal utilization, availability, security, and performance of these systems: CMT awareness The Solaris 10 OS is aware of the UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processor hierarchies so that the scheduler can effectively balance the load across all the available pipelines. For instance, even though it exposes the UltraSPARC T2 processor as 64 logical processors, the Solaris OS understands the correlation between cores and the threads they support. Fine-granularity manageability The Solaris 10 OS has the ability to enable or disable individual processors and threads. In the case of the UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors, this ability extends to enabling or disabling individual cores and logical processors (hardware thread contexts). In addition, standard Solaris OS features such as processor sets provide the ability to define a group of logical processors and schedule processes or threads on them. 1.Though technically possible, this practice is not generally recommended

25 23 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. Binding interfaces The Solaris OS allows considerable flexibility in that processes and individual threads can be bound to either a processor or a processor set, if required or desired. Support for Virtualized Networking and I/O, and Accelerated Cryptography The Solaris OS contains technology to support and virtualize components and subsystems on the UltraSPARC T2 processor, including support for the dual onchip 10 Gb Ethernet ports and PCI Express interface. As a part of a high-performance network architecture, CMT-aware device drivers are provided so that applications running within virtualization frameworks can effectively share I/O and network devices. Accelerated cryptography is supported through the Solaris Cryptographic framework. Solaris Containers for Consolidation, Secure Partitioning, and Virtualization Solaris Containers comprise a group of technologies that work together to efficiently manage system resources, virtualize the system, and provide a complete, isolated, and secure runtime environment for applications. Solaris Containers can be used to partition and allocate the considerable computational resources of the Sun Blade server modules. Solaris Zones and Solaris Resource Management work together with the Solaris fair-share scheduler on both SPARCand x64-based server modules. Solaris Zones Solaris Zones can be used to create an isolated and secure environment for running applications. A zone is a virtualized operating system environment created within a single instance of the Solaris OS. Zones can be used to isolate applications and processes from the rest of the system. This isolation helps enhance security and reliability since processes in one zone are prevented from interfering with processes running in another zone. Resource Management Resource management tools provided with the Solaris OS lets administrators dedicate resources such as CPU cycles to specific applications. CPUs in a multicore multiprocessor system such those provided by Sun Blade server modules can be logically partitioned into processor sets and bound to a resource pool, and can ultimately be assigned to a Solaris zone. Resource pools provide the capability to separate workloads so that consumption of CPU resources does not overlap. Resource pools also provide a persistent configuration mechanism for processor sets and scheduling class assignment. In addition, the dynamic features of resource pools let administrators adjust system resources in response to changing workload demands. Solaris Dynamic Tracing (DTrace) to Instrument and Tune Live Software Environments When production systems exhibit nonfatal errors or sub-par performance, the sheer complexity of modern distributed software environments can make accurate root-cause diagnosis extremely difficult. Unfortunately, most traditional approaches to solving this problem have proved time-consuming and inadequate, leaving many applications languishing far from their potential performance levels.

26 24 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. The Solaris DTrace facility on both SPARC and x64 platforms provides dynamic instrumentation and tracing for both application and kernel activities even allowing tracing of application components running in a Java Virtual Machine (JVM ) 1. DTrace lets developers and administrators explore the entire system to understand how it works, track down performance problems across many layers of software, or locate the cause of aberrant behavior. Tracing is accomplished by dynamically modifying the operating system kernel to record additional data at locations of interest. Best of all, although DTrace is always available and ready to use, it has no impact on system performance when not in use, making it particularly effective for monitoring and analyzing production systems. NUMA Optimization in the Solaris OS With memory managed by each processor on Sun Blade X6220 server modules, the implementation represents a non-uniform memory access (NUMA) architecture. Namely, the speed needed for a processor to access its own memory is slightly different than that required to access memory managed by another processor. The Solaris OS provides technology that can specifically help applications improve performance on NUMA architectures. Memory Placement Optimization (MPO) The Solaris 10 OS uses MPO to improve the placement of memory across the physical memory of a server, resulting in increased performance. Through MPO, the Solaris 10 OS works to help ensure that memory is as close as possible to the processors that access it, while still maintaining enough balance within the system. As a result, many database and HPC applications are able to run considerably faster with MPO. Hierarchical lgroup support (HLS) HLS improves the MPO feature in the Solaris OS. HLS helps the Solaris OS optimize performance for systems with more complex memory latency hierarchies. HLS lets the Solaris OS distinguish between the degrees of memory remoteness, allocating resources with the lowest possible latency for applications. If local resources are not available by default for a given application, HLS helps the Solaris OS allocate the nearest remote resources. Solaris ZFS File System The Solaris ZFS file system offers a dramatic advance in data management, automating and consolidating complicated storage administration concepts and providing unlimited scalability with the world s first 128-bit file system. ZFS is based on a transactional object model that removes most of the traditional constraints on I/O issue order, resulting in dramatic performance gains. ZFS also provides data integrity, protecting all data with 64-bit checksums that detect and correct silent data corruption. 1.The terms "Java Virtual Machine" and "JVM" mean a Virtual Machine for the Java platform.

27 25 Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 Modular Systems Overview Sun Microsystems, Inc. A Secure and Robust Enterprise-Class Environment Best of all, the Solaris OS doesn t require arbitrary sacrifices. The Solaris Binary Compatibility Guarantee helps ensure that existing SPARC applications continue to run unchanged on UltraSPARC T1 and T2 platforms, protecting investments. Certified multi-level security protects Solaris environments from intrusion. Sun s comprehensive Fault Management Architecture means that elements such as Solaris Predictive Self Healing can communicate directly with the hardware to help reduce both planned and unplanned downtime.

28 26 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chapter 3 Server Module Architecture The Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide high performance, capacity, and massive levels of I/O through full featured interfaces that use the latest technology and make the most of innovative chassis design. Sun Blade T6320, T6300, X6220, and X6250 server modules are described in this chapter, while PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs), PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs), and the Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) are described in Chapter 4. Sun Blade T6320 Server Module Successful Sun Fire / Sun SPARC Enterprise T1000 and T2000 servers and the Sun Blade T6300 server module powered by the breakthrough innovation of the UltraSPARC T1 processor completely changed the equation on space, power, and cooling in the datacenter. With the advent of the UltraSPARC T2 processor, the Sun Blade T6320 server module takes chip multithreading performance, density, and energy efficiency to the next level. Similar in capabilities to Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 servers, the physical layout of the Sun Blade T6300 server module is shown in Figure 9. Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives Midplane Connector Fabric Expansion Module (FEM) 16 FBDIMM Sockets UltraSPARC T2 Processor Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives ILOM 2.0 Service Processor Card RAID Expansion Module (REM) Figure 6. The Sun Blade T6320 server module with key features called out With support for up to 64 threads and considerable network and I/O capacity, the Sun Blade T6320 server module virtually doubles the throughput of earlier Sun Blade T6300 server modules. In addition to its processing and memory density, each server module hosts additional modules including an ILOM 2.0 service processor, fabric expansion module (FEM), and RAID expansion module (REM), all while retaining its compact form factor. With the Sun Blade T6320 server module, a single Sun Blade 6000 chassis can support up to 640 threads in just 10 rack units, and up to 3,072 threads can supported in a single Sun Blade 6048 modular system chassis.

29 27 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. The UltraSPARC T2 Processor with CoolThreads Technology The UltraSPARC T2 processor extends Sun s Throughput Computing initiative with an elegant and robust architecture that delivers real performance to applications. Implemented as a massively-threaded system on a chip (SoC), each UltraSPARC T2 processor supports: Up to eight 1.2 Ghz 1.4 Ghz Eight threads per core for a total maximum of 64 threads per processor 4 MB L2 cache in eight banks (16-way set associative) Four on-chip memory controllers for support of up to 16 FBDIMMs Up to 64 GB of memory (4 GB FBDIMMs) with 60 GB/s memory bandwidth Eight fully pipelined floating point units (1 per core) Dual on-chip 10 Gb Ethernet interfaces Integral PCI-Express interface In spite of its innovative new technology, the UltraSPARC T2 processor is fully SPARC v7, v8, and v9 compatible and binary compatible with earlier SPARC processors. A high-level block diagram of the UltraSPARC T2 processor is shown in Figure 7. FB DIMM FB DIMM FB DIMM FB DIMM FB DIMM FB DIMM FB DIMM FB DIMM MCU MCU MCU MCU L2$ L2$ L2$ L2$ L2$ L2$ L2$ L2$ Cross Bar C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 FPU FPU FPU FPU FPU FPU FPU FPU SPU SPU SPU SPU SPU SPU SPU SPU Network Interface Unit System Interface PCIe 10 Gigabit Ethernet Ports (2) 2.0 GHz Figure 7. Block-level diagram of an eight-core UltraSPARC T2 processor The UltraSPARC T2 processor design recognizes that memory latency is truly the bottleneck to improving performance. By increasing the number of threads supported by each core, and by further increasing network bandwidth, the UltraSPARC T2 processor is able provide approximately twice the throughput of the UltraSPARC T1

30 28 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. processor. Each UltraSPARC T2 processor provides up to eight cores, with each core able to switch between up to eight threads (64 threads per processor). In addition, each core provides two integer execution units, so that a single UltraSPARC core is capable of executing two threads at a time. The eight cores on the UltraSPARC T2 processor are interconnected with a full on-chip non-blocking 8 x 9 crossbar switch. The crossbar connects each core to the eight banks of L2 cache, and to the system interface unit for IO. The crossbar provides approximately 300 GB/second of bandwidth and supports 8-byte writes from a core to a bank and 16-byte reads from a bank to a core. The system interface unit connects networking and I/O directly to memory through the individual cache banks. Using FBDIMM memory supports dedicated northbound and southbound lanes to and from the caches to accelerate performance and reduce latency. This approach provides higher bandwidth than with DDR2 memory, with up to 42.4 GB/second of read bandwidth and 21 GB/second of write bandwidth. Each core provides its own fully-pipelined Floating Point and Graphics unit (FGU), as well as a Stream Processing Unit (SPU). The FGUs greatly enhance floating point performance over that of the UltraSPARC T1 processor, while the SPUs provide wirespeed cryptographic acceleration with over 10 popular ciphers supported, including DES, 3DES, AES, RC4, SHA-1, SHA-256, MD5, RSA to 2048 key, ECC, and CRC32. Embedding hardware cryptographic acceleration for these ciphers allows end-to-end encryption with no penalty in either performance or cost. Server Module Architecture Figure 8 provides a logical block-level diagram of the Sun Blade T6320 server module. Similar to the Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 rackmount servers, the Sun Blade T6320 server module contains an UltraSPARC T2 processor, FB-DIMM sockets for main memory, integrated lights out manager (ILOM) service processor, and I/O subsystems. The memory configuration uses all eight of the UltraSPARC T2 processor s memory controllers to provide better memory bandwidth, The on-chip memory controllers communicate directly to FB-DIMM memory through high-speed serial links. Up to MHz FB-DIMMs may be configured in the server module.

31 29 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Memory UltraSPARC T2 Processor Memory Server Module Front Panel USB 2.0 VGA HD-15 RJ-45 Serial ALCOM T2 10 Gb Ethernet 10 Gb Ethernet PCI Express x8 PCI to USB PCI Express x4 PCI to PCI Bridge Fabric Expansion Module PCI Express Switch PEX8548 PCI Express x8-16gbps PCI Express x8-32gbps PCI Express x8-32gbps PCI Express x4 ATI Graphics RAID Expansion Module PCI Express x4 (16 Gbps) or XAUI PCI Express x4 (16 Gbps) or XAUI Motorola MPC885 based ALOM SP Intel Ophir 2x Gbit Ethernet SAS Links 10/100Mbps Management Ethernet Passive Midplane NEM #1 NEM #0 EM #0 NEM #0 NEM #1 EM #1 NEM #0 NEM #1 CMM JUNTA FPGA Figure 8. Sun Blade T6300 server module block level diagram For I/O, the UltraSPARC T2 processor incorporates an eight-lane (x8) PCI Express port capable of operating at 4 GB/second bidirectionally. In the Sun Blade X6320 server module, this port interfaces with a PCI Express switch chip that delivers various PCI links to other parts of the server module, and to the passive midplane. Two of the PCI Express interfaces provided by the PCI Express switch are made available through PCI Express ExpressModules. The PCI Express switch also provides PCI links to other internal components, including sockets for fabric expansion modules (FEMs) and RAID expansion modules (REMs). The FEM socket allows for future expansion capabilities. The gigabit Ethernet interfaces are provided by an Intel chip connected to a x4 PCI Express interface on the PCI Express switch chip. Two gigabit Ethernet links are then routed through the midplane to the NEMs. The server module provides the logic for the gigabit Ethernet connection, while the NEM provides the physical interface. Sun Blade RAID 0/1 Expansion Module All standard Sun Blade T6320 server module configurations ship with the Sun Blade Blade 0/1 RAID Expansion Module (REM). Based on the LSI SAS1068E storage controller, the Sun Blade 0/1 REM provides a total of eight hard drive interfaces or links. Four interfaces are used for the on-board hard drives which may be Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA). The other four links are routed to the midplane where they interface with the NEM for future use. The REM also provides RAID 0, 1, and 0+1.

32 30 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Integrated Lights-Out Management (ILOM) System Controller Provided across many of Sun s x64 servers, the Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM) service processor acts as a system controller, facilitating remote management and administration. The service processor is fully featured and is similar in implementation to that used in other Sun modular and rackmount x64 servers. As a result, Sun Blade T6320 server modules integrate easily with existing management infrastructure. Critical to effective system management, the ILOM service processor: Implements an IPMI 2.0 compliant services processor, providing IPMI management functions to the server's firmware, OS and applications, and to IPMI-based management tools accessing the service processor via the ILOM Ethernet management interface, giving visibility to the environmental sensors (both on the server module, and elsewhere in the chassis) Manages inventory and environmental controls for the server, including CPUs, DIMMs, and power supplies, and provides HTTPS/CLI/SNMP access to this data Supplies remote textual console interfaces, Provides a means to download upgrades to all system firmware The ILOM service processor also allows the administrator to remotely manage the server, independent of the operating system running on the platform and without interfering with any system activity. ILOM can also send alerts of hardware failures and warnings, as well as other events related to each server. The ILOM circuitry runs independently from the server, using the server s standby power. As a result, ILOM firmware and software continue to function when the server operating system goes offline, or when the server is powered off. ILOM monitors the following Sun Blade T6320 server module conditions: CPU temperature conditions Hard drive presence Enclosure thermal conditions Fan speed and status Power supply status Voltage conditions Solaris watchdog, boot time-outs, and automatic server restart events

33 31 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun Blade T6300 Server Module The highly successful Sun Fire / Sun SPARC Enterprise T1000 and T2000 servers powered by the breakthrough innovation of the UltraSPARC T1 processor helped drive the fastest product ramp in Sun s history. The Sun Blade T6300 server module combines these advantages with the density, availability, and serviceability advantages of Sun s modular systems. The Sun Blade T6300 server module is shown in Figure 9. Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives Midplane Connector Eight DDR2 400 DIMM sockets Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives UltraSPARC T1 Processor Service Processor Figure 9. The Sun Blade T6300 server module with key components called out The UltraSPARC T1 Processor with CoolThreads Technology The UltraSPARC T1 multicore, multithreaded processor was the first chip that fully implemented Sun s Throughput Computing initiative. Each UltraSPARC T1 processor used in Sun Blade T6300 server modules has either six, or eight cores (individual execution pipelines) all on the same chip. Each core, in turn, supports up to four hardware thread contexts, a set of registers that represent the thread's state. The processor is able to switch threads on every clock cycle in a round-robin ordered fashion, and skip threads that are stalled and waiting for a memory access. DDR-2 SDRAM DDR-2 SDRAM DDR-2 SDRAM DDR-2 SDRAM L2 cache L2 cache L2 cache L2 cache On-chip cross-bar interconnect Core Core Core Core Core Core Core Core FPU System Interface Buffer Switch Core UltraSPARC T1 Processor Bus Figure 10. Block-level diagram of an eight-core UltraSPARC T1 processor

34 32 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. As shown in Figure 10, the individual processor cores are connected by a high-speed, low-latency crossbar interconnect implemented on the silicon itself. The UltraSPARC T1 processor includes very fast interconnects between the processor, cores, memory, and system resources, including: A 134 GB/second crossbar switch that connects all cores A JBus interface with a 3.1 GB/second peak effective bandwidth Four DDR2 channels (25.6 GB/second total) for faster access to memory The memory subsystem of the UltraSPARC T1 processor is implemented as follows: Each core has an Instruction cache, a Data cache, an Instruction TLB, and a Data TLB, shared by the four thread contexts. Each UltraSPARC T1 processor has a twelve-way associative unified Level 2 (L2) on-chip cache, and each hardware thread context shares the entire L2 cache. This design results in unified memory latency from all cores (Unified Memory Access, UMA, not Non-Uniform Memory Access, NUMA). Memory is located close to processor resources, and four memory controllers provide very high bandwidth to memory, with a theoretical maximum of 25GB per second. Extensive built-in RAS features include ECC protection of register files, Extended-ECC (similar to IBM s Chipkill feature), memory sparing, soft error rates and rate detection, and extensive parity/retry protection of caches. Each core has a Modular Arithmetic Unit (MAU) that supports modular multiplication and exponentiation to help accelerate Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) processing. There is a single Floating Point Unit (FPU) shared by all cores, thus the UltraSPARC T1 processor is generally not an optimal choice for applications with floating point intensive requirements. Server Module Architecture Figure 11 provides a logical block-level diagram of the Sun Blade T6300 server module. Similar in design to the Sun SPARC Enterprise T2000 server, the memory configuration uses all four of the processor s memory controllers to provide better memory bandwidth, and up to eight DDR2 533 DIMMs may be configured in the server module. As in other UltraSPARC T1 based systems, the actual memory speed is 400 MHz.

35 33 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. DDR2 Memory UltraSPARC T1 Processor 3.2 GB/sec 3.2 GB/sec Blade Module Front Panel DB-9 Serial Posix USB 2.0 RJ-45 Serial ALCOM 3.2 GB/sec 3.2 GB/sec JBUS Fire E Bus Fire Chip UART PCIe x8 PCIe x8 PCI to USB PCIe JUNTA FPGA PCI Express Bridge PCI Express Bridge PCI to PCI Bridge PCIe x4-16gbps PCIe x4 LSI SAS 1068e LSI LOGIC Motorola MPC885 based ALOM SP PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x8-32gbps Intel Ophir PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x8-32gbps 2x Gbit Ethernet SAS Links 10/100Mbps Management Ethernet Passive Midplane EM #0 NEM #0 NEM #0 NEM #1 EM #1 NEM #1 NEM #0 NEM #1 CMM Figure 11. Sun Blade T6300 server module block level diagram For I/O, two PCI Express bridges are used to obtain the four x8 PCI Express interfaces that communicate directly to the Fire Chip that directs I/O through a pair of PCI Express bridges. Two of the PCI Express interfaces provided by the PCI Express bridges are made available through PCI Express ExpressModules, and the other two interfaces are connected to PCI Express Network Express Modules. For storage, an LSI SAS1068e controller is included on the server module, providing eight hard drive interfaces or links. Four interfaces are used for the on-board hard drives which may be Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA). The other four links are routed to the midplane where they interface with the NEM slots for future use. The storage controller is capable of RAID 0 or 1 and up to two volumes are supported in RAID configurations. The gigabit Ethernet interfaces are provided by an Intel chip connected to a x4 PCI Express interface on one of the bridges. Two gigabit Ethernet links are then routed through the midplane to the NEMs. The server module provides the logic for the gigabit Ethernet connection, while the NEM provides the physical interface. The ALOM Service Processor The remote management capabilities of the Sun Blade T6300 server module are a complete implementation of the Advanced Lights Out Manager (ALOM). The ALOM service processor allows the Sun Blade T6300 server module to be remotely managed and administered identically to Sun Fire / SPARC Enterprise T1000 and T2000 servers.

36 34 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. ALOM allows the administrator to monitor and control a server, either over a network or by using a dedicated serial port for connection to a terminal or terminal server. ALOM provides a command-line interface that can be used to remotely administer geographically-distributed or physically-inaccessible machines. In addition, ALOM allows administrators to run diagnostics remotely (such as power-on self-test) that would otherwise require physical proximity to the server serial port. ALOM can also be configured to send alerts of hardware failures, hardware warnings, and other events related to the server or to ALOM. The ALOM circuitry runs independently of the server, using the server s standby power. As a result, ALOM firmware and software continue to function when the server operating system goes offline or when the server is powered off. ALOM monitors disk drives, fans, CPUs, power supplies, system enclosure temperature, voltages, and the server front panel, so that the administrator does not have to. ALOM specifically monitors the following Sun Blade T6300 server module components: CPU temperature conditions Enclosure thermal conditions Fan speed and status Power supply status Voltage thresholds Sun Blade X6220 Server Module The Sun Blade X6220 server module provides a two-socket x64-based platform with significant computational, memory, and I/O density. The result is a compact, efficient, and flexible package with leading floating-point performance for demanding applications such as HPC. The physical layout of the Sun Blade X6220 server module is illustrated in Figure 12. Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives Midplane Connector 16 DDR2 667 DIMM sockets AMD Opteron Processors Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives Service Processor Figure 12. The Sun Blade X6220 server module with key components called out

37 35 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Second Generation AMD Opteron Series 2000 Processors The Sun Blade X6220 server module is based on the Second Generation AMD Opteron 2000 Series processor, leveraging AMD s Direct Connect Architecture and the nvidia 2200 Professional chipset for scalability and fast I/O throughput. The Sun Blade X6220 server module will initially support dual-core AMD Opteron processors, and will support AMD s future processors as they become available. The Sun Blade 6000 chassis provides sufficient airflow for the server modules to be configured with any type of AMD Opteron processor, including the Special Edition (SE) versions that consume more power but provide greater clock speed. The AMD Opteron processor extends the ubiquitous x86 architecture to accommodate x64 64-bit processing. Formerly known as x86-64, AMD s enhancements to the x86 architecture allow seamless migration to the superior performance of x64 64-bit technology. The AMD Opteron processor (Figure 13) was designed from the start for dual-core functionality, with a crossbar switch and system request interface. This approach defines a new class of computing by combining full x86 compatibility, a highperformance 64-bit architecture, and the economics of an industry-standard processor. Second-Generation Dual-Core AMD Opteron Core 1 Core KB L1 Cache 128 KB L1 Cache 1MB L2 Cache 1MB L2 Cache System Request Interface Crossbar Switch DDR2 Memory Controller HyperTransport 0 HyperTransport 1 HyperTransport 2 Figure 13. High-level architectural perspective of a dual-core AMD Opteron processor Enhancements of the AMD Opteron processor over the legacy x86 architecture include: bit general-purpose integer registers that quadruple the general-purpose register space available to applications and device drivers as compared to x86 systems bit XMM registers provide enhanced multimedia performance to double the register space of any current SSE/SSE2 implementation A full 64-bit virtual address space offers 40 bits of physical memory addressing and 48 bits of virtual addressing that can support systems with up to 256 terabytes of physical memory Support for 64-bit operating systems provide full transparent, and simultaneous 32- bit and 64-bit platform application multitasking A 128-bit wide, on-chip DDR memory controller supports ECC and Enhanced ECC and provides low-latency memory bandwidth that scales as processors are added

38 PCIe x4 PCI 36 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Each processor core has a dedicated 1MB Level-2 cache, and both cores use the System Request Interface and Crossbar Switch to share the Memory Controller and access the three HyperTransport links. This sharing represents an effective approach since performance characterizations of single-core based systems have revealed that the memory and HyperTransport bandwidths are typically under-utilized, even while running high-end server workloads. The AMD Opteron processor with integrated HyperTransport technology links provides a scalable bandwidth interconnect among processors, I/O subsystems, and other chipsets. HyperTransport technology interconnects help increase overall system performance by removing I/O bottlenecks and efficiently integrating with legacy buses, increasing bandwidth and speed, and reducing processor latency. At 16 x 16 bits and 1 GHz operation, HyperTransport technology provides support for up to 8 GB/s bandwidth per link. Server Module Architecture As shown in Figure 14, the AMD Opteron processor uses DDR2 memory, running at a faster memory bus clock rate of 667 MHz. Up to 10.7 GB per second of memory bandwidth is provided for each memory controller, for a total aggregate memory bandwidth of 21.4 GB per second. These higher clock rates can be sustained, even when the CPUs are configured with up to four DDR2 DIMMs. When all eight DIMMs are populated, the clock speed is dropped to 533 MHz. The total memory capacity available is 64 GB per server module. DDR2 667 Memory 10.7 GB/sec 8 GB/s IO-04 PCIe Bridge PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x8-32gbps EM #1 NEM #1 Next Generation AMD Opteron 2000 Series Processors Blade Module Front Panel (Via adapter cable) USB 2.0 VGA HD-15 DB-9 Serial 10.7 GB/sec 8 GB/s VGA Video Output nforce4 CK8-04 RageXL DVI Video Output 3 USB 2.0 Ports - Remote KMS LSI SA S1068e LSI LOGIC Video over LAN Redirect Super I/O Controller Gbit Ethernet Gbit Ethernet PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x8-32gbps IDE LPC 33MHz Motorola MPC8275 SP BCM Compact Flash SAS Links 10/100Mbps Management Ethernet Passive Midplane NEM #1 NEM #0 EM #0 NEM #0 NEM #0 NEM #1 CMM Figure 14. Sun Blade X6220 server module block level diagram

39 37 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. The nvidia PCI Express bridges are connected to the AMD Opteron processors over 8 GB per second HyperTransport links to provide maximum throughput capacity to the PCI Express lanes that are directed through the passive midplane. Two HyperTransport links connect the two CPUs, with one used for cache coherency and the other for I/O communication between the processors and the second PCI Express bridge. These links also run at 8 GB per second. Two x8 PCI Express interfaces are pulled from each of the PCI Express bridges, with each link providing a 32 Gb per second interface through the midplane. Each PCI Express bridge also provides a gigabit Ethernet interface that is routed through the passive midplane to the PCI Express Network Express Modules. Sun Blade X6220 server modules also provide a Compact Flash slot, connected to the system through an IDE connection to the nvidia chipset. By inserting a standard compact flash device, administrators can store valuable data or even install a bootable operating environment. The compact flash device is internal to the server module, and it cannot be removed unless the server module is removed from the chassis. As in the Sun Blade T6300 server module, an LSI SAS1068e controller is located on the Sun Blade X6220 server module, providing eight hard drive interfaces. Four interfaces are used for the on-board hard drives (either SAS or SATA). The other four links are routed to the midplane for future use. The storage controller is capable of RAID 0 or 1 and up to two volumes are supported in RAID configurations. The Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM) Service Processor The Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM) service processor is fully featured and is identical in implementation to that used in other Sun modular and rackmount x64 servers. As a result, the Sun Blade X6220 server module integrates easily with existing management infrastructure. Critical to effective system management, the ILOM service processor: Implements an IPMI 2.0 compliant BMC, providing IPMI management functions to the server module's BIOS, OS and applications, and to IPMI-based management tools accessing the BMC either thru the OS interfaces, or via the ILOM Ethernet management interface, providing visibility to the environmental sensors (both on the server module, and elsewhere in the chassis) Manages inventory and environmental controls for the server module, including CPUs, DIMMs, and EMs, and provides HTTPS/CLI/SNMP access to this data Supplies remote textual and graphical console interfaces, as well as a remote storage (USB) interface (collectively these functions are referred to as Remote Keyboard Video Mouse and Storage (RKVMS) Provides a means to download BIOS images and firmware

40 38 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. The ILOM service processor also allows the administrator to remotely manage the server, independently of the operating system running on the platform and without interfering with any system activity. To facilitate full-featured remote management, the ILOM service processor provides remote keyboard, video, mouse, and storage (RKVMS) support that is tightly integrated with the Sun Blade server modules. Together these capabilities allow the server module to be administered remotely, while accessing keyboard, mouse, video and storage devices local to the administrator (Figure 15). ILOM Remote Console support is provided on the ILOM service processor and can be downloaded and executed on the management console. Input/output of virtual devices is handled between ILOM on the Sun Blade server module and ILOM Remote Console on the Web-based client management console.. ILOM Remote Console Displays Remote Video in Application Window Video (Up to Graphics Redirect Over Ethernet Local Mouse and Keyboard Sun Blade X6220 Server Module Management Console ILOM Remote Console Connected to ILOM Over Management Ethernet Floppy Disk or Floppy Image Keyboard, Mouse, CDROM, and Floppy are Seen as USB Devices by BIOS and O CDROM, DVDROM or.iso Image Remote Keyboard, Mouse and Storage Emulated as USB Devices by ILOM Figure 15. Remote keyboard, video, mouse, and storage (RKVMS) support in the ILOM service processor allows full-featured remote management for Sun Blade server modules Sun Blade X6250 Server Module Broadening Sun s x64-based modular offerings, the Sun Blade X6250 server module provides support for Dual-Core and Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processors. Intel Xeon Processor 5100 series CPUs provide the highest clock speeds in the industry in a dualcore package. Intel Xeon Processor 5300 series CPUs provide quad-core processing power. Figure 16 shows a physical view of the Sun Blade X6250 server module with key components identified.

41 39 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives Midplane Connector Intel Xeon Processors 16 FB DIMM 667 sockets Two hot-plug SAS or SATA 2.5-inch drives RAID Expansion Module Figure 16. The Sun Blade X6250 server module with key components called out Intel Xeon Processor 5100 and 5300 Series Utilizing the Intel Core microarchitecture, the Intel Xeon Processor 5100 series and 5300 series provide performance for multiple application types and user environments, in a substantially reduced power envelope. The dual-core 5100 series processor provides significant performance headroom for multithreaded applications and helps boost system utilization through virtualization and application responsiveness. The quad-core 5300 series processor maximizes performance and performance per Watt, providing increased density for datacenter deployments. Logical block-level diagrams for both the 5100 and 5300 series processors are provided in Figure 17. The 5100 series processor includes two processor cores, each provided with a 64K level-1 cache (32K instruction/32k data). Both cores share a 4 MB level-2 cache to increase cache-to-processor data transfers, maximize main memory to processor bandwidth, and reduce latency. The 5300 series processor provides four processor cores, with two processor cores sharing a 4 MB level-2 cache for a total of 8 MB. The processors share a high-speed front side bus (FSB). Dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 Series Quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 Series Core 1 Core 2 Core 1 Core 2 Core 3 Core 4 64K L1 Cache 64K L1 Cache 64K L1 Cache 64K L1 Cache 64K L1 Cache 64K L1 Cache 4 MB L2 Cache 4 MB L2 Cache 4 MB L2 Cache Front Side Bus Front Side Bus Figure 17. Intel Xeon Processor 5100 and 5300 series block-level diagrams

42 ESI PCIe x8 PCIe x4 LPC PCI PCI 40 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Server Module Architecture The Sun Blade X6250 server module (Figure 18) uses the Intel 5000P Memory Chip Hub (MCH), which provides communication to the processors over two high-speed Front Side Buses (FSBs). The FSBs run at 1,333 MHz for the higher clock speed processors and at 1,033 MHz for the slower speed bins. The maximum bandwidth through each FSB is 10.5 GB per second for an aggregate processor bandwidth of 21 GB per second. FDBIMM 667 Memory 5.3 GB/sec 5.3 GB/sec 10.5 GB/s 10.5 GB/s Blade Module Front Panel (Via Adapter Cable) USB 2.0 DB-9 Serial VGA HD GB/sec 5000 MCH 5.3 GB/sec MUX ESB2 IO PCI Bridge Super I/O AST 2000 Service Processor Fabric Expansion Module (FEM) PCIe x8-32gbps SATA x4 RAID Expansion Module (REM) SAS HW RAID Controller Fabric Expansion Module 10/100 PHY Gigal IDE SAS/SATA HDDs PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x4 or XAUI PCIe x4 or XAUI 10/100Mbps Management Ethernet Gbit Ethernet Gbit Ethernet Compact Flash SAS Links Passive Midplane EM #1 NEM #0 NEM #1 NEM #0 NEM #1 EM #0 NEM #0 NEM #1 CMM Figure 18. Sun Blade X6250 server module block level diagram The MCH also provides the system with high speed memory controllers, and PCI-Express bridges as well as a high speed link to a second I/O bridge (the ESB2 I/O control hub). The total memory bandwidth provides read speeds up to 21.3 GB per second and write speeds of up to 17 GB per second. One of the PCI Express x8 lane interfaces from the MCH is directly routed to a PCI Express ExpressModule via the passive midplane. The other interface is routed to the Fabric Expansion Module (FEM) socket available for future expansion capabilities. The Intel ESB2 PCI Express bridge provides connectivity to the other PCI Express ExpressModule and access to the dual gigabit Ethernet interfaces that are routed through the passive midplane to the NEMs. This bridge also provides the IDE connection to the compact flash device, used for boot and storage capabilities. Sun Blade X6250 RAID Expansion Module (REM) All standard Sun Blade X6250 server module configurations ship with the Sun Blade X6250 RAID Expansion Module (REM). The REM provides a total of eight SAS ports, battery backed cache, and RAID 0, 1, 5, and 1+0 capabilities. Using the REM, the server module provides SAS connectivity on the internal drive slots. Four 1x SAS links are also

43 41 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. routed to the NEMs for future storage expansion. Build-to-order Sun Blade x6250 server modules can be ordered without the REM. While these server modules will not provide SAS support, SATA connectivity to the internal hard disk drives can be provided by the Intel ESB8210 PCI Express bridge. The Embedded LOM Service Processor Similar to the other Sun Blade 6000 server modules, the Sun Blade X6250 server module includes an embedded lights out manager (embedded LOM). This built-in, hardware-based service processor enables organizations to consolidate system management functions with remote power control and monitoring capabilities. The service processor is IPMI 2.0 compliant and enables specific capabilities including system configuration information retrieval, key hardware component monitoring, remote power control, full local and remote keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) access, remote media attachment, SNMP V1, V2c, and V3 support, and event notification and logging. Administrators simply and securely access the service processor on the the Sun Blade X6250 server module using a secure shell command line, redirected console, or SSLbased Web browser interface from a remote workstation. The Desktop Management Task Force s (DMTF) Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) command line protocol is supported over both the serial interface and the secure shell network interface. A Web server and Java Webstart remote console application are embedded in the service processor. This approach minimizes the need for any specialpurpose software installation on the administrative workstation to take advantage of Web-based access. For enhanced security, the service processor includes multilevel role based access to features. The service processor flexibly supports native and Active Directory Service lookup of authentication data. All functions can be provided out-ofband through a designated serial or network interface, eliminating the performance impact to workload processing. Sun Blade X6450 Server Module Adding to the capabilities of the Sun Blade X6250 server module, the Sun Blade X6450 server module provides increased scalability of dual-core and quad-core Intel Xeon processors. Dual-core Intel Xeon Processor 7200 series and and quad-core Intel Xeon Processor 7300 series provide support for quad-socket configurations, such as those offered by the Sun Blade X6450 server module. Offering both quad-core and quadsocket support in a blade package provides significant computational density while offering the flexible advantages of a modular platform. Figure 19 illustrates a physical view of the Sun Blade X6450 server module with key components identified.

44 42 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Midplane Connector Intel Xeon Processors 24 FB-DIMM 667 sockets Compact Flash Storage Intel 7000 MCH (Clarksboro Northbridge) Figure 19. The Sun Blade X6450 server module supports up to four Intel Xeon processors Intel Xeon Processor 7200 and 7300 Series The Intel Xeon Processor 7200 Series and 7300 Series processors use a Multi-Chip Package (MCP) to deliver quad-core configurations. This packaging approach increases die yields and lowers manufacturing costs, which helps Intel and Sun to deliver higher performance at lower price points. The dual-core Intel Xeon Processor 7200 Series and quad-core Intel Xeon Processor 7300 Series both incorporate two die per processor package, with each die capable of containing two processor cores (Figure 20). Figure 20. Intel Xeon Processor 7200 and 7300 series block-level diagrams In the dual-core Intel Xeon 7200 Series, each die includes one processor core, but in the quad-core Intel Xeon Processor 7300 Series, each die contains two cores. In a Sun Blade X6450 server server module with four processors, this dense configuration provides up to 16 execution cores in a compact blade form factor. The 7000 Sequence processor families share these additional features: An on-die Level 1 (L1) instruction data cache (64KB per die) An on-die Level 2 (L2) cache (4MB per die for a total of 8MB in packages with two die) Multiple, independent Front Side Buses (FSBs) that act as high-bandwidth system interconnects

45 PCIe x4 ESI PCIe x8 LPC PCI PCI 43 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. Server Module Architecture The Sun Blade X6450 server module (Figure 21) uses the Intel 7000 Memory Chip Hub (MCH) also known as the Clarksboro Northbridge which provides communication to the processors over four high-speed Front Side Buses (FSBs). The FSBs run at 256 MHz or 1033 MT/s. The maximum bandwidth through each FSB is 8.5 GB per second for an aggregate processor bandwidth of 34 GB per second. 8.5 GB/s FD-BIMM 667 Memory 5.3 GB/sec 7000 MCH 5.3 GB/sec PCIe x8-32gbps Fabric Expansion Module PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x4 or XAUI PCIe x4 or XAUI EM #0 NEM #0 NEM #1 8.5 GB/s Blade Module Front Panel (Via Adapter Cable) USB GB/sec 5.3 GB/sec ESB2 IO PCI Bridge Super I/O SAS HW RAID Controller Optional PCIe x8-32gbps PCIe x8-32gbps IDE Gigal SAS Links Gbit Ethernet Gbit Ethernet Compact Flash Passive Midplane NEM #0 NEM #1 NEM #1 NEM #0 EM #1 DB-9 Serial MUX VGA HD-15 AST 2000 Service Processor 10/100 PHY 10/100Mbps Management Ethernet CMM Figure 21. Sun Blade X6450 server module block level diagram The MCH also provides the system with high-speed memory controllers, and PCI Express bridges as well as a high speed link to a second I/O bridge (the ESB2 I/O control hub). The total memory bandwidth provides read speeds up to 21.3 GB per second and write speeds of up to 17 GB per second. One of the PCI Express x8 lane interfaces from the MCH is directly routed to a PCI Express ExpressModule via the passive midplane. The other interface is routed to the Fabric Expansion Module (FEM) socket available for future expansion capabilities. An x4 PCI Express connection powers an optional RAID Expansion Module (REM) that can be configured to access Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) storage devices over the passive midplane. The Intel ESB2 I/O PCI Express bridge provides connectivity to the other PCI Express ExpressModule and access to the dual gigabit Ethernet interfaces that are routed through the passive midplane to the NEMs. This bridge also provides the IDE connection to the compact flash device. The Sun Blade X6450 server module is diskless, and contains no traditional hard drives. The integrated CompactFlash device provides a means for internal storage that can be used as a boot device or as a generic storage medium.

46 44 Server Module Architecture Sun Microsystems, Inc. The Embedded LOM Service Processor Like the Sun Blade X6250 server module, the Sun Blade X6450 server module includes an embedded lights out manager (embedded LOM). This built-in, hardware-based service processor enables organizations to consolidate system management functions with remote power control and monitoring capabilities. The service processor is IPMI 2.0 compliant and enables specific capabilities including system configuration information retrieval, key hardware component monitoring, remote power control, full local and remote keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) access, remote media attachment, SNMP V1, V2c, and V3 support, and event notification and logging. Administrators simply and securely access the service processor on the the Sun Blade X6250 server module using a secure shell command line, redirected console, or SSLbased Web browser interface from a remote workstation. The Desktop Management Task Force s (DMTF) Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) command line protocol is supported over both the serial interface and the secure shell network interface. A Web server and Java Webstart remote console application are embedded in the service processor. This approach minimizes the need for any specialpurpose software installation on the administrative workstation to take advantage of Web-based access. For enhanced security, the service processor includes multilevel role based access to features. The service processor flexibly supports native and Active Directory Service lookup of authentication data. All functions can be provided out-ofband through a designated serial or network interface, eliminating the performance impact to workload processing.

47 45 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Sun Microsystems, Inc. Chapter 4 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Today s datacenter investments need to be protected, especially as systems are repurposed, expanded, and altered to meet dynamic demands. Modular systems can play a key role, allowing organizations to derive maximum benefit from their infrastructure, even as their needs change. More importantly, modular systems must avoid arbitrary limitations that restrict choice in I/O, networking, or management. The Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems in particular are designed to work with open and multivendor industry standards without dictating components, topologies, or management scenarios. Server Module Hard Drives A choice of hot swappable 2.5-inch SAS or SATA hard disk drives is provided with all Sun Blade 6000 server modules except for the Sun Blade X6450 server module. Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives provide high performance and high density. Drives are 10,000 rpm and available in capacities of 73 GB or 146 GB. These drives provide enterprise-class reliability with 1.6 million hours mean time between failures (MTBF). Serial ATA (SATA) drives are 5400 rpm and available in 80 GB capacities. Please check Sun s Website ( for the latest available disk drive offerings. PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs) Industry-standard I/O, long a staple of rackmount and vertically-scalable servers has been elusive in legacy blade platforms. Unfortunately the lack of industry-standard I/O has meant that customers often paid more for fewer options, and were ultimately limited by a single vendor s innovation. Unlike legacy blade platforms, Sun Fire 6000 and 6048 modular systems accommodate PCI Express ExpressModules (EMs) compliant with PCI SIG form factor. This approach allows for a wealth of expansion module options from multiple expansion module vendors, and avoids a single-vendor lock on innovation. The same EMs can be used on both Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems as well as Sun Blade 8000 modular systems. The passive midplane implements connectivity between the EMs and the server modules, and physically assigns pairs of EMs to individual server modules. As shown in Figure 22, EMs 0 and 1 (from right to left) are connected to server module 0, EMs 2 and 3 are connected to server module 1, EMs 4 and 5 are connected to server module 3, and so on. Each EM is supplied with an x8 PCI Express link back to its associated server module, providing up to 32 Gb/s of I/O throughput. EMs are hot-plug capable according to the standard defined by the PCI SIG, and fully customer replaceable without opening either the chassis or removing the server module.

48 46 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Sun Microsystems, Inc. Server Module 9 Server Module 8 Server Module 7 Server Module 6 Server Module 5 Server Module 4 Server Module 3 Server Module 2 Server Module 1 Server Module 0 Figure 22. A pair of 8-lane (x8) PCI Express slots allow up to two PCI Express ExpressModules per server module in the Sun Blade 6000 (shown) and 6048 chassis With the industry-standard PCI Express ExpressModule form factor, EMs are available for multiple types of connectivity, including 4 Gb FiberChannel, dual port (Qlogic, SG-XPCIE2FC-QB4-Z)* 4 Gb FiberChannel, dual port (Emulex, SG-XPCIE2FC-EB4-Z) Gb Ethernet, dual-port (copper, X7282A-Z)* Gb Ethernet, dual-port (fiber, X7283A-Z) 4X InfiniBand, dual-port (Mellanox, X1288A-Z)* 12 Gb SAS, dual-port (LSI Logic, SG-XPCIE8SAS-EB-Z) 12 Gb SAS RAID, single-port (Intel SRL, SGXPCIESAS-R-BLD-Z) Gb Ethernet, quad-port (copper, X7284A-Z) Gb Ethernet, quad-port (copper, X7287A-Z) 10 Gb Ethernet, dual-port (fiber, X1028A-Z) 4x Infiniband, no-mem, single-port (Mellanox, X1290A) EMs marked with an asterisk are shown in Figure 23. For the latest available EMs, please refer to Figure 23. Several PCI Express ExpressModules available for the Sun Blade 6000 modular server.

49 47 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Sun Microsystems, Inc. PCI Express Network Express Modules (NEMs) Many legacy blade platforms include integrated network switching as a way to gain aggregate network access to the individual server modules. Unfortunately, these switches are often restrictive in their options and may dictate topology and management choices. As a result, datacenters often find legacy blade server platforms difficult to integrate into their existing networks, or are resistant to admitting new switch hardware into their chosen network fabrics. Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems address this problem through a specific PCI Express Network Express Module (NEM) form factor that provides configurable network I/O for all of the server modules in the system. Connecting to all of the installed server modules through the passive midplane, NEMs represent a space-efficient mechanism for deploying high-density configurable I/O, and provide bulk or I/O options for the entire chassis. Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through NEMs Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through NEMs are available for configuration with both the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems, providing pass-through access to the gigabit Ethernet interfaces located on the server modules. Separate NEMs are provided to support the different numbers of server modules in the two chassis. Gigabit Ethernet interface logic resides on the server module while the passive midplane simply provides access and connectivity. With the Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through NEMs, individual servers can be connected to external switches just as easily as rackmount servers with no arbitrary topological constraints. The Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through NEMs provide an RJ-45 connector for each of the server modules supported in the respective chassis 10 for the Sun Blade 6000 modular system, and 12 for the Sun Blade 6048 modular system shelf. Adding a second pass-through NEM provides access to the second gigabit Ethernet connection on each server module. Figure 24 illustrates the Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through NEM. Figure 24. The Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through NEM provides a 10/10/1000 BaseT port for each installed Sun Blade server module (Sun Blade 6000 Pass-Through NEM shown)

50 48 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun Blade 6048 InfiniBand Switched NEM Providing dense connectivity to servers while minimizing cables is one of the issues facing large HPC cluster deployments. The Sun Blade 6048 InfiniBand Switched NEM solves this challenge by integrating an InfiniBand leaf switch into a Network Express Module for the Sun Blade 6048 chassis. The NEM shares components, cables, and connectors with the Sun Datacenter Switch (DS) 3456 and 3x24, facilitating build-out of very large InfiniBand clusters (up to 288 nodes per Sun DS 3x24, and up to 3,456 nodes per Sun DS Up to four Sun DS 3456 core switches can be employed to construct truly massive clusters with up to 13,824 Sun Blade 6000 server modules. A block-level diagram of the dual-height NEM is provided in Figure 25, aligned with an image of the back panel. 12 PCI Express x8 Connections from Server Modules InfiniBand Leaf Switch NEM Components HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA HCA 24 Port 384 Gbps IB Switch 24 Port 384 Gbps IB Switch External NEM Profile Gigabit Ethernet Connections to Each Server Module Figure 25. The Sun Blade 6048 InfiniBand Switched NEM provides eight switched 12x InfiniBand connections to the two on-board 24-port switches, and twelve pass-through gigabit Ethernet ports, one to each Sun Blade 6000 server module in the Sun Blade 6048 shelf Each Sun Blade 6048 InfiniBand Switched NEM employs two of the same Mellanox InfiniScale III 24-port switch chips used in Sun DS 3456 and 3x24 InfiniBand switches, providing 12 internal and 12 external connections. Redundant internal connections are provided from Mellanox ConnectX HCA chips to each of the switch chips, allowing the system to route around failed links. Additionally, 12 pass-through gigabit Ethernet connections are provided to access gigabit Interfaces provided on individual Sun Blade 6000 server modules mounted in the Sun Blade 6048 modular system. The same standard Compact Small Form-factor Pluggable (CSFP) connectors are used on the back panel for direct connection to the Sun DS 3456 or 3x24 switch, with each 12x connection providing four 4x InfiniBand connections.

51 49 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Sun Microsystems, Inc. Transparent and Open Chassis and System Management Management in legacy blade platforms has typically either been lacking, or administrators have been forced into adopting unique and platform-specific management infrastructure. To address this issue, the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems provide a wide range of flexible management options. Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) The Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) is the primary point of management of all shared chassis components and functions, providing a set of management interfaces. Each server module contains its own service processor, giving it similar remote management capabilities to other Sun servers. Through their respective Lights Out Management service processors, individual server modules provide IPMI, HTTPs, CLI (SSH), SNMP, and file transfer interfaces that are directly accessible from the Ethernet management port on the Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM). Each server module is assigned an IP address (either manually, or via DHCP) that is used for the management network. CMM Network Functionality A single CMM is built into each Sun Blade 6000 modular system and Sun Blade 6048 shelf, and is configured with an individual IP address assigned either statically or dynamically via DHCP. The CMM provides complete monitoring and management functionality for the chassis (or shelf) while providing access to server module management functions. In addition, the CMM supports HTTP and CLI pass-thru interfaces that provide transparent access to each server module. The CMM also provides access to each server module via a single serial port through which any of the various LOM interfaces can be configured. The CMM's management functions include: Implementation of an IPMI satellite controller, making the chassis environmental sensors visible to the server module s BMC functions Direct environmental and inventory management via CLI and IPMI interfaces CMM, ILOM, and NEM firmware management Pass-through management of blades using IPMI, SNMP, and HTTP links along with command line interface (CLI) SSH contexts The management network internal to the CMM joins the local management processor on each server module to the external management network through the passive midplane. CMM Architecture A portion of the CMM functions as an unmanaged switch dedicated exclusively to remote management network traffic, letting administrators access the remote management functions of the server modules. The switch in the CMM provides a single network interface to each of the server modules and to each of the NEMs, as well as to

52 50 I/O Expansion, Networking, and Management Sun Microsystems, Inc. the service processor located on the CMM itself. Figure 26 provides an illustration and a block-level diagram of the Sun Blade 6000 CMM. The Sun Blade 6048 NEM has a different form factor but provides the same functionality. To CMM Service Processor Server Module 0 Server Module 1 Server Module 2 Server Module 3 Server Module 4 Server Module 5 Server Module 6 Server Module 7 Server Module 8 Server Module 9 NEM 0 NEM 1 Unmanaged Switch Gigabit Ethernet Uplink 1 Gigabit Ethernet Uplink 0 Figure 26. The CMM provides a management network that connects to each server module, the two NEMS, and the CMM itself (Sun Blade 6000 CMM shown) The CMM s functionality provides various management functions, including power control of the chassis as well as hot-plug operations of infrastructure components such as power supply modules, fan modules, server modules, and NEMs. The CMM acts as a conduit to server module LOM configuration, allowing settings such as network addresses and administrative users to be configured or viewed. Sun xvm Ops Center Beyond local and remote management capabilities, datacenter infrastructure needs to be agile and flexible, allowing not only fast deployment but streamlined redeployment of resources as required. Sun xvm Ops Center technology (formerly Sun N1 System Manager and Sun Connection) provides an IT infrastructure management platform for integrating and automating management of thousands of heterogeneous systems. To improve life-cycle and change management, Sun xvm Ops Center supports the management of applications and the servers on which they run, including the Sun Blade 6000 and 6048 modular systems. Sun xvm Ops Center simplifies infrastructure life-cycle management by letting administrators perform standardized actions across logical groups of systems. Sun xvm Ops Center can automatically discover and group bare-metal systems, performing actions on the entire group as easily as operating on a single system. Sun xvm Ops Center remotely installs and updates firmware and operating systems, including support for: Solaris 8, 9, and 10 on SPARC systems Solaris 10 on x86/x64 platforms Red Hat and SuSE distributions