IBM Xseries Architecture

Technology vision for industry-standard computing
IBM X-Architecture Technology 2001

A design blueprint for Intel processor-based servers
Executive Summary1
IBM ^ xSeries servers continue to build on the legacy of excellence and innovation
exemplified by its predecessor IBM Netfinity® servers, which first introduced X-Architecture ™
technology in September 1998 to incorporate state of the art technologies from other
industry-leading IBM server platforms into xSeries. After surpassing our goals for delivering
leading-edge technologies that enhanced the mission-critical capabilities of the Netfinity server
product family, IBM is now accelerating the advancement of xSeries servers to support the rapidly
changing requirements for a new generation of applications and operating systems. In fact,
X-Architecture technology is such an integral part of the xSeries product line that it even
incorporates the X from “X-Architecture” into its name.
The trend to pervasive computing—information anywhere, anytime—will provide information

access to millions of new users and devices (cell phones and web-enabled PDAs included).
These new services will require continuous uptime and will demand more from the systems
supporting them. Server infrastructures will require new capabilities for communicating and
managing ever larger amounts of information in a more dynamic and cost-effective manner than
before.
In addition, the adoption of e-business technologies for business-to-consumer, business-to-

business and intrabusiness applications is accelerating, placing higher demands on technology
platforms. More significantly, businesses are increasingly turning to industry-standard
technologies such as Intel® processors along with Microsoft ® Windows ® 2000, Novell NetWare,
SCO Unixware and Linux® operating systems for the new e-business foundation.
By building robust capabilities into xSeries servers and working on new technologies to enhance
our industry-leading capabilities for the future, IBM X-Architecture technology addresses these
requirements and helps prepare you for the next wave of e-business. The key to doing this
successfully is experience—experience in software and hardware capabilities, experience in
procedures and practices, and experience in supporting high-availability platforms. IBM has a long
heritage of experience in these areas and xSeries is leveraging that experience through IBM
X-Architecture technology.
This paper describes many of the technology initiatives that IBM is building into xSeries servers to
help provide a reliable, scalable industry-standard platform and to accelerate xSeries server
capabilities now and in the future.
1
The technologies cited in this paper may not apply to all Netfinity and ^ xSeries server models. See our Web
site at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries for model specifications. Forward-looking product statements are subject to
change without notice.
1
Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Designing a New Server Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Impact of IBM X-Architecture Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
IBM X-Architecture Technology Guiding Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Guiding Principle #1 - OnForever Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Guiding Principle #2 - Bringing Down the Cost of Enterprise Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Guiding Principle #3 - Driving Industry Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Guiding Principle #4 - Making Servers Easier to Deploy and Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Guiding Principles Delivered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IBM xSeries Technology Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Core Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Active Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
System Partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Memory Subsystem Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
I/O Subsystem Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Enterprise Storage Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Designing Subsystems with I/O Bandwidth to Match Increasing Storage and Network
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Innovative Extensions to RAID Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Storage Area Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
IBM Fibre Array Storage Technology (FAStT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
IBM Enterprise Storage Server (ESS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
IBM Enterprise System Connectivity (ESCON) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Netfinity Web Server Accelerator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Systems Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Technology Enablers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
IBM Director with Universal Manageability Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Technology-enabled Service and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Quick Response When You Need It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2
Designing a New Server Architecture

In designing the IBM X-Architecture technology, we listened intently to our customers. We began
by first understanding the trends that are shaping system purchases and then aligning our
investments to combine the right technologies to best meet your business needs. We found that
the most important trends for Intel processor-based servers in the near future may include the
following:
! 2001: Penalties for system downtime become severe and push requirements for availability
toward continuous operations. New operating system releases present opportunities for
server consolidation, enterprise database deployment, application rehosting and infrastructure
redesign. Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions provide new capabilities to manage and
protect the explosive growth of mission-critical data.
! 2002: Companies demand access to a broad array of spectacular applications, development
tools and middleware on an Intel IA-64 (64-bit) platform. Scalability requirements drive
demand for more massive and manageable data storage and ultradense rack-mounted
servers that require high end power and cooling techniques.
! 2003: The Internet revolutionizes business transactions and information dissemination, and
drives massive data utilization requirements. The e-business trend moves into the phase of
pervasive computing. Structures for server I/O—derived from mainframe channel architecture
for processor-to-network/storage communications—provide the first truly balanced system
architecture for IA servers.
! 2004: IA-64 has widespread commercial appeal. Server and network functions blend more
thoroughly, resulting in a single unified systems management architecture.
Businesses will become increasingly more reliant on their systems and will place ever-greater
demands on them. At the same time, businesses will expect the same degree of performance,
reliability, scalability and security as provided by traditional high-end systems, as well as systems
management and control, cross-platform integration and interoperability. IBM X-Architecture
technology is designed to address these trends and deliver the most reliable Intel
processor-based server platforms for cost-effective operation of enterprises, large and small.
The Impact of IBM X-Architecture Technology

As introduced in 1998, IBM X-Architecture technology outlined capabilities for performance
leadership, technology innovation, increased reliability and business-critical service and support
capabilities. Throughout the history of X-Architecture technology IBM has delivered those
capabilities and many more— ahead of schedule.
Performance Leadership. Our focus on designing xSeries systems for enterprise-class

reliability, availability and serviceability has led to significant achievements in performance as well.
Benchmark records have come to be expected for IBM Intel architecture servers. In 1998,
Netfinity systems achieved an impressive 23 benchmark records for Intel processor-based
servers. These benchmarks came from all application areas, including database, Internet, e-mail
and ERP applications. In 1999, Netfinity systems achieved 42 number-one benchmark records. In
2000, Netfinity and xSeries servers added 33 more records to the tally.
IBM ^ xSeries servers are continuing this impressive streak with additional benchmark
wins in 2001. In March 2001 a cluster of x370 servers with X-Architecture technology set a new
TPC-C (TPC Benchmark C) record 2, shattering the previous record for any hardware, operating
system and database configuration. The x370 cluster’s TPC-C performance was 56 percent better
2
As of 3/19/01. The IBM x370 cluster (running Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server and Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Enterprise Edition) achieved a record TPC-C score of 688,220.90 transactions per minute C (tpmC) at $28.89 per
tpmC. Go to http://www.tpc.org for details of the TPC-C benchmark.
3
than the world record achieved by an IBM Netfinity 8500R cluster just eight months earlier (in July
2000). If that wasn’t enough, the IBM ^ x350 also set a record, in the 4-way enterprise
server class, beating the previous record for the TPC-H (TPC Benchmark H) benchmark of
Business Intelligence3 by a striking 46 percent.
Award-Winning Products. IBM Netfinity and IBM ^ xSeries systems have received
outstanding recognition from customers, IBM partners and the industry for innovations and
leadership in bringing enterprise levels of performance, scalability and reliability to this rapidly
growing market. In January 2001, five IBM ^ xSeries models won international design
awards. The Industrie Forum awarded the xSeries 220, x260, x330, x340 and x350 with its seal
for outstanding quality of design. In May, the IBM x330 was awarded the Network Computing
Editors' Choice award. The x330 was recognized for its innovative features like C2T
Interconnect™, Light Path Diagnostics™ and the Advanced System Management processor. In
addition, the x240 was recognized for its performance by making Smart Business magazine’s
A-List four consecutive months this year. Here is a sampling of the many recent awards our vision
and products have won (through May 2001):
Publication Award Server Award Date

Smart Business
Enterprise Server A-List Netfinity 5600 May - December 2000
magazine
PC Expert
’Must’ 2-Way Server Netfinity 5600 July 2000
International) magazine
PC Quest International)
Users Choice Award Netfinity family August 2000
magazine
PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Netfinity 5100 November 2000
InfoExame
(International) Best Server Netfinity 7100 November 2000
magazine
Windows 2000 Editor’s Award — 2-way
^ x330 December 2000
(Australia) magazine Server of the Year
Windows 2000 Editor’s Award — 4-way
Netfinity 8500R December 2000
(Australia) magazine Server of the Year
Best Products of 2000 -
PC Magazine Small Business Netfinity family January 2001
Solutions
Industrie Forum ^ x220, x260,

Design Award January 2001
x330, x340, x350
Smart Business January through April
Enterprise Server A-List ^ x240
magazine 2001
Network Computing Editor’s Choice — 1U
^ x330 May 2001
magazine server
These awards confirm that IBM is demonstrating a clear difference between xSeries servers and
other Intel processor-based servers in the market. They are an important part of how we measure
the success of our product directions and the IBM X-Architecture technology strategy. Yet even
more important is the faith our customers are placing in the xSeries products. IBM Intel processor-
based server sales have grown dramatically since we introduced IBM X-Architecture technology.
Such growth demonstrates that customers see the value xSeries servers deliver to businesses of
all sizes.
3
As of 3/23/01. The 4-way IBM x350 achieved a top TPC-H score of 1169 Queries/hour @100GB at a cost of
$166/QphH@100GB. Configurations available as of 5/31/01. Go to http://www.tpc.org/ for details of the TPC-H
benchmark.
4
IBM X-Architecture Technology Guiding Principles

Our customers have told us they want IBM to focus on a few key areas as we strive to improve
the capabilities of the Intel processor-based server as a business-application platform. In
response, we continue to build IBM X-Architecture technology into our systems and set the bar for
Intel processor-based servers across the industry. Our guiding principles include:
! Designing xSeries servers with a goal of providing uninterrupted (OnForever™) computing
! Bringing down the cost of enterprise computing
! Becoming a leader in establishing industry-wide collaboration
! Making servers easier to deploy and use
Guiding Principle #1 - OnForever Computing

When IBM designs an xSeries server, our goal is always to get as close as possible to a platform
that maintains continuous operation. Building highly available servers takes more than just using
reliable components or using redundant disk drives, fans and power supplies. Naturally, we do
those things. However, to truly improve operational efficiency it is important to address both
causes of downtime—scheduled and unscheduled outages.
The following table lists OnForever technologies4 in the context of five dimensions of high
availability. Together they help to greatly reduce the occurrences of both types of outages, while
lessening the impact of those that do occur.
5th
3rd Dimension 4th
1st Dimension 2nd Dimension Dimension
(Diagnostics and Dimension
(Hardware) (Software) (Disaster
Maintenance) (User Error)
Recovery)
! Active™ PCI ! Advanced ! Active Diagnostics ! Fuel Gauge / ! Backup

System (Common Power Solutions
! Advanced System Management Diagnostics Model) Redundancy
Management Monitoring ! Fibre Array
! Automatic ! Active PCI Storage
! Automatic Server Server Restart ! Make IT Technology
Restart ! Advanced System
Easy™ (FAStT)
! Clustering Management
! C2T Interconnect ! FlashCopy™
! IBM Director ! C2T Interconnect
! Chipkill ™ memory with Capacity ! IBM
Manager and ! Capacity Manager ServeRAID
! Clustering
Software ! Electronic Service
! Fibre Channel RAID Rejuvenation Agent
storage (PFA for
software) ! Light Path
! Fuel Gauge / Power Diagnostics
Redundancy ! RAID storage
Monitoring managers for ! PFA
SCSI, IDE and
! Predictive Failure ! Redundant cooling,
Fibre Channel
Analysis ® (PFA) power, disk drives
arrays
and adapters
! Redundant cooling,
power, disk drives ! Software
and adapters Rejuvenation
! ServeRAID storage
Table 1. OnForever high-availability dimensions

4
These technologies are described in the companion white paper entitled IBM ^ xSeries OnForever Initiative,
5
Guiding Principle #2 - Bringing Down the Cost of Enterprise Computing

Many companies around the world enjoy the reliability, scalability and operational features of the
IBM enterprise server platforms: ^ iSeries (formerly AS/400®), pSeries (previously
RS/6000®) and zSeries (formerly S/390®). Our customers have told us they want capabilities in
xSeries servers (previously Netfinity and NUMA-Q®) that are similar to those they see in larger
systems, but at a price in line with that of other industry-standard servers.
Our strategy for meeting this requirement is to leverage our proven investments in advanced
server technologies and skills. This strategy allows us to provide greater capability for Intel
processor-based servers without having to reinvent technologies and methods. By using the
proven capabilities of other IBM server families, we shorten development cycles, reduce
development costs and increase interoperability for your complex IT environments.
Guiding Principle #3 - Driving Industry Standards

Bringing advanced enterprise technology to xSeries systems is one challenge that IBM has the
resources to deliver easily. However, our customers have stated very clearly that xSeries systems
must be “industry standard.” If each server vendor uses similar components (many of them made
by IBM) and the same operating systems, customers have greater flexibility in technology
management.
To help ensure that this trend continues, IBM is working with industry leaders and standards
organizations to drive new technologies in standards-based ways. Our innovative capabilities for
xSeries servers provide initiatives that allow us to uniquely address customer application
requirements first, then to take it a step further. IBM works with industry consortiums and
standards bodies to have the leadership technologies we develop included in standards
specifications, and to ensure that our development directions coincide with the direction of future
standards.
Finally, we make these technologies available to the industry in accordance with those standards.
This open technology approach has fueled the growth of industry-standard computing since its
inception, and the leadership role of xSeries systems is evident in the industry's adoption of the
Common Diagnostic Model, PCI-X and InfiniBand ™ I/O and in our licensing of Active PCI to other
companies.
On the software front, IBM not only supports Windows NT ®/2000 on xSeries servers but SCO
Unixware, Novell NetWare and Linux as well. In fact, IBM offers the widest array of Linux
applications and middleware of any vendor, including such IBM award-winning products as DB2
Universal Database, WebSphere ™ Application Server and MQSeries®, as well as Lotus® Domino™
and several products from IBM subsidiary Tivoli®.
Yet this is only part of the story. IBM is participating in “Beowulf-class” supercomputing studies of
large-scale clustering using Linux on Netfinity and xSeries servers at the Universities of New
Mexico and Illinois5. This year IBM announced new hardware and software technologies for Linux,
including plans for the IBM xSeries 430, designed as the first 64-way server that will run the new
Linux Application Environment (LAE). This new software provides today's Linux applications with
additional scalability to better handle business growth. (To further demonstrate the commitment
that IBM has to Linux, IBM also offers Linux for S/390 6, for zSeries mainframe servers. This
available from the technical library on our Web site at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries. From the xSeries home page,
select Library for a list of the different types of documentation available.
5
Go to http://ibm.com/Press/prnews.nsf/jan/3F4E88B102477AA5852568460067A52A and
http://ibm.com/Press/prnews.nsf/jan/BFD0EBFDE86C7AF0852569D60082C21F for descriptions of these
supercomputing partnerships.
6
See http://ibm.com/Press/prnews.nsf/jan/8DBCCE974C9EBF6A852568E2004979E1 for more information about Linux
6
means that IBM now has Linux offerings for ^ xSeries, pSeries, and zSeries servers—
Linux support for iSeries will be available in Q3 2001.) In addition, IBM has announced plans to
devote more than $1 billion to Linux development, marketing and consulting in 2001 alone.
Guiding Principle #4 - Making Servers Easier to Deploy and Use

IT managers routinely identify storage management as one of their primary challenges. In fact, it
is estimated that the cost of manually managing direct-attached LAN storage can double every
three years. IBM system management software adds intelligence and combines leading-edge,
proven capabilities that integrate into the enterprise to help provide world-class server and storage
management across your IT solution. All this is managed through a centralized infrastructure that
can help businesses realize a reduction in management resource costs.
As we introduce more sophisticated features in xSeries servers, we know the importance of

making complex technology easy to use. That’s why our goal is to Make IT Easy™. Being able to
deploy a new server in less than an hour, or to accurately plan upgrades, is no simple
task—unless you are using xSeries servers.
IBM xSeries servers currently come with many management tools that Make IT Easy, including:
! IBM Capacity Manager — Part of IBM Director; for resource utilization tracking and
automated performance analysis. (For more information, see the IBM Director topic.)
! IBM ServerGuide™ — An IBM server installation assistant that simplifies the process of
installing and configuring xSeries servers. ServerGuide goes beyond mere hardware
configuration by assisting with the installation of your operating system, system device drivers
and other system components with minimal user intervention.
! IBM Director with Universal Manageability Services — A combination of server and client
manageability software with a simple graphical user interface (GUI). It provides the application
logic and data store of management information in an SQL database, and it includes a GUI
that allows simple hardware management via single-click or drag-and-drop actions. UM
Services tools include a system hardware and OS inventory capability, resource utilization
features, an Alert on LAN® switch, power management and a Security Manager. Optional UM
Server Extensions, including Software Rejuvenation and Capacity Manager, extend the
manageability of hardware and software.
! IBM FAStT RAID Manager — For management of Fibre Array Storage Technology (FAStT)
RAID Controllers. IBM Fibre Channel solutions offer storage connectivity of up to 10 km (6.2
miles) at data transfer rates of up to 100MBps to enable efficient offsite storage access and
backup of critical data.
! IBM Light Path Diagnostics — Working in conjunction with Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA)
and environmental self-monitoring features, built-in LED indicators attached to individual
components—as well as an external service panel—alert you to problems and help you
quickly locate and replace failed or soon-to-be-failing components.
! IBM ServeRAID™ Manager — For simpler deployment and integration of SCSI and
fibre-based storage on the latest generation of ServeRAID SCSI controllers. ServeRAID
provides a cost-effective, reliable foundation for your business-critical storage. ServeRAID
adapters support nine levels of RAID, including enhanced RAID 1E, 1E0 and 5E, to enhance
integrity and availability.
! IBM System Installation Tool Kit — This includes three powerful system deployment and
migration software tools that can facilitate and expedite the deployment of Microsoft Windows
operating systems to any network-connected and compliant computers in your enterprise. The
package consists of:
for S/390.
7
- IBM LANClient Control Manager ™ (LCCM) — LCCM is an automated, remote software

management and distribution tool. LCCM takes advantage of features implemented and
integrated into supported PCs to allow administrators to remotely perform many tasks that
previously required their presence at the desktop system PC. It simplifies the deployment
of client systems by allowing an administrator to preconfigure operating systems and
application software and install them via the LAN. LCCM can be used to standardize
CMOS settings, flash the system BIOS, or even schedule any system to be turned on
(using Wake on LAN ®) so changes can be distributed by network management software
during off hours. With LCCM, you can plug one or more new PCs with totally blank hard
drives into the network and go home while LCCM sends the software image to each
desktop, or launches an unattended operating system installation routine on the remote
system using the industry-standard Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). LCCM
supports the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) industry standard and is a
Microsoft Management Console-enabled application.
Rapid Restore, which is part of LCCM, partitions the hard drive and loads software
applications and an extra copy of the operating system during the initial loading of the
operating system. If the OS should fail, Rapid Restore allows the user to restart the PC
using the extra copy of the operating system. The user can be up and running again
quickly, without waiting for problem diagnosis or for a technical support person to be
dispatched.
- IBM Software Delivery Assistant (SDA) — SDA virtually eliminates delays caused by
waiting for the IT staff to find time to update each user's system. It eliminates the cost of
user downtime caused by the absence of necessary software on their systems. It also
reduces disk storage costs, because the company needs to maintain only a single server
image of all its applications. SDA accomplishes this by installing all applications required
by a user's job description, including core applications (such as personal productivity
tools) and others (including enterprise resource planning, customer care, financials,
human resources, programming languages, etc.). SDA recognizes the user's profile and
therefore knows who that user is, what his or her job is, and what software is needed for
that person to accomplish the job.
- IBM System Migration Assistant (SMA) — SMA enables custom settings, e-mail and
data to be migrated from a user's former PC to the new PC accurately, efficiently and
effectively. When older computers are refreshed or new computers are distributed,
moving user data and system settings to the new system can be expensive and
time-consuming. Users who can't find the spreadsheet their boss sent them or who lose
the valuable bookmarks they have been saving in their browser over the years are not
only frustrated, they are unproductive. SMA can help resolve these issues.
! IBM Update Connector ™ Manager — Another part of IBM Director, Update Connector
Manager helps ensure that your system software (BIOS, device drivers, firmware, etc.) is
always up-to-date and automates the process for you. Use Update Connector Manager to
quickly and easily gather information about various updates that are available for your
managed systems. Once you find available updates you can apply them remotely either to
individual systems or to multiple systems, all from IBM Director.
! Tivoli ® Storage Manager — Tivoli Storage Manager utilizes high-performance patented
technologies to protect and manage your mission-critical business information in an
enterprise-wide Storage Area Network (SAN) and traditional network environment. Combined
with Tivoli Storage Manager's host of optional products, Tivoli offers an end-to-end scalable
solution spanning palmtops to mainframes on over 35 platforms. Features include centralized
storage management; SAN features such as LAN-free backup and tape sharing; automated
network incremental and subfile backup, archive and retrieval; the industry's fastest recovery
time; space management file migration; high-speed policy-based disaster recovery; and data
protection for most popular groupware, e-mail, databases and applications.
8
These and many other tools and technologies, along with consulting service offerings to assist
you with many installation and operational procedures, provide a platform for industry-standard
applications that is both powerful and scalable but still remains simple to use.
One common customer desire is to simplify the complexities of e-business; that is, to make
e-business easy. A tangible example of how xSeries servers can do this is with the ^
xSeries 130 and 135 Web hosting appliance servers, which allow you to be up and running within
minutes of the time you unpack them.
A great benefit to making IT easy is reducing total cost of ownership. IBM has made a
considerable investment in these tools in order to create an extensive set of tools that help reduce
the cost of deployment and support of systems in the enterprise.
Guiding Principles Delivered

Any company can have a strategy, but the proof is in the delivery. That is what sets IBM
X-Architecture7 technology apart from other Intel processor-based server designs. The following
table summarizes our delivery track record since 1998:
OnForever Low-cost Enterprise Driving Industry

Make IT Easy
Computing Technologies Standards
! Active Diagnostics ! 8-node MSCS ! Common Diagnostic ! Asset ID™

support Model (CDM)
! Active PCI ! Electronic Service
! Active Security ! Common Information Agent (ESA)
! Advanced System Model (CIM)
Management ! C2T Interconnect ! FAStT RAID Manager
! Fibre Channel
! Automatic Server ! Capacity Manager ! LANClient Control
Restart (ASR) ! Hot-add/swap PCI Manager (LCCM)
! ESCON Channel
®
! Capacity Manager Connection ! InfiniBand I/O ! Light Path

Diagnostics
! C2T Interconnect ! FlashCopy ! Intel IA-64
! RAID Logical Drive
! Chipkill memory ! Integrated Netfinity for ! Multiple NOS support Migration ServeRAID
AS/400 (renamed (Linux, OS/2,
! Electronic Service Integrated xSeries NetWare, UnixWare,
Manager
Agent (ESA) Server for iSeries) Windows) ! ServerGuide
! Light Path ! LANClient Control ! Open Source ! System Installation
Diagnostics Manager (LCCM) Software Tool Kit
! Predictive Failure ! Memory eXpansion ! PCI-X I/O ! Tivoli Storage
Analysis / Software Technology (MXT) Manager
Rejuvenation ! Summit technology
! Netfinity SP Switch
™
! Update Connector
! SAF-TE (SCSI
Accessed ! RAID 1E, 1E0 and 5E
Fault-Tolerant
Enclosure)
! SMART Reaction™ II
Table 2. OnForever technology track record
7
Visit the technical library on our Web site at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries for more information on these and other
technologies.
9
IBM xSeries Technology Agenda

The IBM xSeries technology agenda is straightforward: Leverage proven IBM technologies to
bring enterprise capabilities to the Intel processor-based server platform. These technologies will
further the IBM X-Architecture technology guiding principles and deliver greater enterprise
capabilities to xSeries customers in the near future. X-Architecture technology technologies can
be grouped into the following categories:
! Core logic — Advanced technologies that optimize system performance and scalability
! Enterprise storage solutions —Designing subsystems and I/O bandwidth to match
increasing storage and network requirements
! Availability — System, storage and clustering technologies to increase availability
! Systems management — Technologies for comprehensive local and remote server and
storage management within heterogeneous environments
! Technology-enabled service and support — Tying advanced system and management
technologies directly to service and support infrastructures
These categories identify technology achievements with IBM X-Architecture technology and they
outline where we plan to take xSeries server capabilities in the future. At IBM we measure our
success by delivering systems that are easy to manage and solutions that provide tangible
benefits to our customers in the areas of system availability, data storage and protection, power
and performance.
Core Logic
Core logic is the heart of a server system. It determines the paths and operational capabilities
between microprocessors, cache, memory and I/O. Ultimately, core logic defines the system
performance, scalability and interoperability.
Over the years, IT professionals have faced many issues regarding the Intel processor-based
server environment, including the need for high availability, scalability, performance and overall
reliability. In many cases, the low-cost advantage of these servers has outweighed inherent
system or platform limitations. Today, as server resource usage expands from providing only
simple file-and-print services to truly dynamic resource allocation for e-business applications, the
underlying core logic of servers must progress as well.
IBM is addressing these business needs through IBM Summit technology. IBM has more proven
product technology and expertise in designing core logic than anyone else in the industry.
X-Architecture technology embodies our belief that the capabilities we have delivered on larger
systems can be applied to Intel processor-based servers, resulting in increased power and
availability. IBM Summit technology paves the way for unprecedented reliability, scalability and
flexibility in deploying server resources to meet dynamic e-business needs.
In its simplest form, Summit technology is a chipset containing the core logic of how a system
interacts with the microprocessor. IBM X-Architecture technology, through Summit technology,
brings key advantages in scalability and high availability to the next generation of Intel architecture
(IA) servers.
Summit enables other future IBM technologies: hot-add/hot-swap memory, memory mirroring,
high-speed PCI-X I/O support and new levels of scalability, including system partitioning. Another
advanced feature is support for a huge Level 4 (L4) processor cache, with up to 64MB of DDR
(double data rate) high-speed memory for unprecedented performance. Summit sets xSeries
servers apart in the industry while maintaining the advantages of compliance with industry
standards for processors, memory, I/O and software .
10
Summit technology truly shines in the multisystem environment, where Summit allows you to
exercise “pay as you grow” scalability with our Active Scalability ports. In addition, the benefits to
areas such as server consolidation and resource allocation are demonstrated by support for
system partitioning and easy cluster cabling.
Summit technology is the culmination of decades of experience with mainframe and midrange
platform designs. Yet it is packaged in a cost-effective, industry-standard design that provides
tangible high-availability benefits. In the future, Summit will allow investment protection through its
flexible design and, most importantly, offer benefits for today’s IA-32 (32-bit) platform and
leadership capabilities for the emerging 64-bit IA-64 platform.
Active Scalability
One of the challenges of optimizing performance is to provide memory and I/O subsystems that
allow new processor architectures to realize their performance potential. Traditional
multiprocessor server designs begin to encounter performance bottlenecks beyond 4-way scaling
due to I/O bus congestion and inefficient memory utilization. Summit provides support for
advanced I/O architectures and includes a high-speed, shared-cache architecture. This is realized
using an enhanced, high-performance 4-way SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) building block that
allows efficient scalability beyond the 4-way SMP.
Summit technology provides an effective way to scale systems from 4-way to 8-way to
12-way—and even to 16-way SMP, using these 4-way building blocks to create compute “nodes.”
Each node contains processors, memory and I/O support in an independent package. Nodes can
run an operating system different from the other nodes, if desired, via system partitioning.
Nodes are attached to one another through high-speed interconnections, called scalability ports,
sharing resources for unmatched performance. We call this innovation Active Scalability. Active
Scalability will give your business the capacity to grow as never before, with unparalleled flexibility.
A 16-way cluster is as easy as connecting four 4-way nodes using simple cabling. These
high-speed scalability ports provide 3.2GB/second throughput per connection, with each node
supporting up to three connections to other nodes, maximizing throughput between nodes. Figure
1 illustrates how these nodes interconnect:
Figure 1. OnForever Active Scalability
11
Active Scalability represents revolutionary thinking for Intel processor-based servers. You’ll be
able to scale xSeries server performance without downtime—adding (or removing) nodes will not
require taking down the other nodes (with the proper operating system support). In addition, the
node design offers the capability of failover between nodes, for maximum availability.
System Partitioning
System partitioning is another of the many mainframe features that the combination of
X-Architecture technology and Summit brings to xSeries servers. Among the benefits of system
partitioning are hardware consolidation; software migration and coexistence; development, testing
and maintenance; workload isolation and independent backup and recovery by partition.
Anyone who has worked with mainframes is familiar with the concept: System resources,
including processor, memory, I/O and storage are virtualized so that all concurrent users appear
to have complete access to the system. Yet each user is actually segmented—and
protected—from the actions of all other users. If one virtual partition were to lock up, it would not
affect the others. In a mission-critical environment, such as a worldwide airline reservation
system, for example, it would be disastrous if one such errant partition could crash the entire
server. In many client-server environments, this capability is no less essential.
With static system partitioning, enabled by Summit technology, a single xSeries server will be able
to simultaneously execute and run multiple operating systems as well as multiple versions of
operating systems. The server will be able to have up to four nodes—interconnected cabinets
containing independently running processors, memory and I/O—each with its own operating
system and applications. (This is not the same as having multiple hard disk partitions loaded with
different operating systems, where changing OSes requires rebooting to another partition. System
partitioning refers to running one or more operating systems in different nodes on the same server
simultaneously. A partition can span nodes—even to the point of having all four nodes controlled
by one OS.) Each node can be managed independently by software.
For example, an xSeries server can continue to run an operating system in one node while you
install and test another version of that operating system, or a different operating system entirely, in
another node on that server—all without having to take the server offline. Multiple operating
systems can function on the same server without interfering with one another.
If you intend to consolidate servers, xSeries technology offers many benefits. With static system
partitioning, the multiple operating systems previously used by multiple servers could all be
running simultaneously on one xSeries server. System partitioning will allow you to eliminate the
need to use multiple servers to support different operating systems within your business. One
xSeries server with system partitioning could act as an application server, both for your marketing
department that runs on Windows and for your engineering department that requires a Linux
server. Or you can continue to have most users hosted by Windows 2000 while you have a small
test group accessing the upcoming Windows operating system (code-named Whistler) in another
system partition. One server replacing two or more equals potentially lower hardware costs and
simpler administration and maintenance.
In the future, xSeries servers running enhanced operating systems will be able to implement
dynamic partitioning, with even higher levels of flexibility and granularity in running concurrent
operating systems than static partitioning provides. Servers using dynamic partitioning will be able
to reconfigure a multinode hardware “processing complex” without shutting down and restarting
the hardware and software. More hardware can be added; or, a node of processors and memory
could be removed for maintenance without powering the system off. A simple user interface will
guide you through the appropriate steps.
12
Memory Subsystem Enhancements

IBM has had a long history of pioneering advances in memory development, including the first
one-transistor memory cell (1966), the first use of cache memory (1968), the first 1 megabit
memory chip (1984), ECC-on-SIMM (1996), and IBM was active in the development of the DDR
(double data rate) memory specification and was the first to ship servers containing DDR memory
(2000). Continuing along this path, IBM currently offers, or will shortly deliver the following
memory technology breakthroughs:
IBM Chipkill ™ memory. The more memory installed in a server, the higher the probability of a
memory-related system error. IBM Chipkill8 ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) memory works
to minimize server outages due to memory errors, using industry-standard memory.
Chipkill memory, initially developed for NASA’s Pathfinder mission to Mars, is an excellent
example of the IBM commitment to provide robust, high-availability systems. The Chipkill memory
used in selected xSeries servers (while still using standard ECC DIMMs), protects you from
unplanned outages due to memory errors more effectively than standard ECC technology. It is
able to do this because the memory controller provides a memory equivalent of RAID (Redundant
Array of Independent Disks) technology, sharing the memory bits among multiple memory chips
on the DIMM. In essence, each DIMM acts as a separate memory array. So if any one chip fails it
affects only a single bit from a byte of data, and the other bits are stored on other, working chips.
The controller is then able to reconstruct the “missing” bit from the failed chip and continue
working as usual.
Memory eXpansion Technology (MXT). MXT is another major delivery on the X-Architecture
technology promise to implement IBM-developed advanced technology in the industry-standard
server market. MXT can provide not only improved memory capacity but also increased
performance. The more efficient storage format provided by MXT can help you reduce cost by
using less memory, while achieving the same level of performance as other systems without MXT.
With this capability, IBM estimates that MXT can help lower the cost and increase the
performance of your system by much as 40%, all while using industry-standard memory.
Throughout the industry, the rate of improvement in memory technology has not kept pace with
progress in disk storage, processor technologies and network bandwidth. According to IBM
research, processor throughput is increasing at nearly 60% per year, and the cost of disk storage
is decreasing at better than 60% per year. In contrast, memory cost has been improving at an
average of barely 30% per year, and memory speeds have been improving at an even slower
rate. In relative terms, main memory is becoming slower and more expensive compared with
more rapidly improving processor, storage and network technologies. Consequently, memory is
increasingly becoming both a major cost (at 40-70% of the price of the system) and a
performance bottleneck for the system.
MXT, coming in the near future to xSeries servers, helps improve this picture by first providing
another level of memory caching. The addition of a large L3 cache helps to reduce memory
latency and increase memory bandwidth and performance. Behind the L3 cache, MXT can double
the effective capacity of main memory using a novel storage format invented by IBM Research.
Using compression techniques not unlike those used for disk storage, MXT memory stores
instructions and data in a compact, efficient format in main memory.
This has the effect of allowing MXT memory to hold roughly double the amount of information as
traditional memory. In other words, a server using 1GB of MXT memory can process as much
information as another server with 2GB of standard memory, with no effective decrease in
performance. To look at it another way, a server with 1GB of MXT memory will run significantly
8
For more information on IBM Chipkill memory read the 1999 IBM MicroNews magazine article at
http://ibm.com/chips/micronews/vol5_no2/swietek.html and the “IBM Chipkill Memory” white paper at
ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/pc_servers/chipkif1.pdf .
13
faster than another server with 1GB of traditional memory that has a moderate amount of disk
swapping. The ability to store more information in a given memory size further improves
performance over the simple addition of an L3 cache by reducing the need to read from or write to
disk. More data being held in memory means less performance-robbing disk I/O.
This improved storage format is completely transparent to software: Your off-the-shelf programs
will continue to run as usual without modification.
There is another hidden benefit to MXT. All systems have constraints on the amount of memory
that can be installed, and these constraints may prevent a system from being populated with
enough memory to achieve peak performance or even optimum performance. This is particularly
a problem for space-optimized servers, which typically are limited to 3 or 4 DIMM (memory)
sockets. If your server is limited only by available sockets to a maximum of 8GB of RAM, for
example, but you need more to keep your server from “running out of steam,” by using an IBM
server with MXT, that 8GB of RAM will give you the same performance advantages as a server
with 16GB. This eliminates the need to replace the server with a larger one or to buy a second
one to share the workload. Thus, IBM Memory eXpansion Technology provides the ability to offer
higher performing servers in a smaller space, and makes IBM servers with MXT a cost-effective
solution to the trade-off of small size and low price vs. expandability and high price.
Active Memory Extensions. Soon IBM will further enhance industry standard memory
functionality through Active Memory extensions to improve performance, reliability and
serviceability of xSeries servers. Active Memory extensions offer several important new
capabilities for server memory subsystems, including memory mirroring, hot-swap memory and
hot-add memory.
! Memory mirroring — Memory mirroring is a key technology for increasing the availability of
the memory subsystem. Memory mirroring conceptually works much like RAID 1 disk
mirroring, in that data written to one memory card is also written to a mirrored memory card. If
one DIMM begins producing excessive soft errors sufficient to trigger Predictive Failure
Analysis alerts, the system will automatically shift to the mirrored memory card until the failing
DIMM is replaced. This allows the system to keep running until a convenient time to perform
maintenance on the failing memory module.
! Hot-swap/hot-add memory — Hot-swap memory will allow failing parts to be replaced on the
fly, much like other hot-swap components, without requiring the server to be powered off.
Likewise, hot-add support allows new DIMMs to be added to the server as memory demands
increase. xSeries servers already allow service personnel to hot add new drives, adapters,
power supplies and fans as needed. Future operating system releases will add support for
hot-swap and hot-add memory on xSeries servers.
I/O Subsystem Enhancements 9

The PCI bus has done an admirable job of keeping up with the I/O bandwidth needs of servers.
PCI started out with a theoretical limit of 133MBps (megabytes per second), although the early
systems could deliver only 30-40 MBps. The current state of the art in PC I/O buses allows
multiple 64-bit 66Mhz PCI bus segments capable of delivering 400-500 MBps each. But even this
bandwidth is not sufficient for the emerging world of 10Gbps (gigabits per second)—or
higher—I/O, including Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand. Without another performance
boost, PCI would soon be the bottleneck that keeps these high-speed networks from connecting
to servers at the networks’ maximum speed. I/O bottlenecks prevent IA servers from the
“balanced systems architecture” that is a characteristic of high-end and mainframe systems.
Recognizing that the PCI bus is “running out of steam” as an I/O architecture for servers and
becoming a limitation to server performance, the industry developed an enhanced bus, called
9
See the white paper entitled “IBM ^ xSeries OnForever Initiative” at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries for more on
PCI-X and InfiniBand I/O.
14
PCI-X, to extend the useful life of PCI until the next generation I/O architecture—InfiniBand—is
ready to take over. PCI-X does not cure the underlying design limitations of PCI, but it does
extend the useful life of PCI for a few more years by increasing the available bandwidth
considerably. InfiniBand was designed as a “clean break” from PCI, without the constraints
imposed by trying to incorporate mid-1990s PCI technology into the design.
PCI-X Bus. IBM was a leader in the definition of the PCI-X specification. PCI-X provides an extra
generation of capabilities for the PCI bus, including more efficient data transfers, more adapters
per bus segment and faster bus speeds for server systems. PCI-X enhances the PCI standard by
doubling the throughput capability and providing new adapter-performance options while
maintaining compatibility with PCI adapters. PCI-X allows all current 66MHz PCI adapters—either
32-bit or 64-bit—to operate normally in the new PCI-X bus. PCI-X adapters take advantage of the
new 100MHz and 133MHz bus speeds, which allow a single 64-bit adapter to move as much as
1GB of data per second. Additionally, PCI-X supports twice as many 66MHz 64-bit adapters in a
single bus as PCI. Over the next few years, PCI-X may get one more speed increase, but as time
goes on it is less and less cost-effective to keep extending the aging PCI bus.
A limitation to the PCI and PCI-X design is that all adapter slots must be in the main system
chassis. This limits how small a server can be. The obvious solution is to limit the number of slots
inside the server chassis but find a way to extend additional bus segments to external “card
cages” for holding adapters. By putting most or all adapter slots outside of the main system
cabinet, the server can be made much smaller.
External I/O is something that the PCI-X bus doesn’t explicitly support. Fortunately, IBM Summit
chipset technology comes to the rescue by enabling a remote I/O drawer capability to provide a
scalable I/O infrastructure for PCI-X. This allows IBM to continue to shrink server cabinets while
increasing I/O scalability via external expansion units.
InfiniBand Architecture. InfiniBand is a robust new industry-standard design for a high-speed,

redundant I/O architecture to supersede PCI and PCI-X in servers. IBM co-founded and co-chairs
the InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA), which announced InfiniBand Architecture specification
V1.0 on October 24, 2000. The IBTA consists of over 200 member companies, including Compaq,
Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft and Sun.
InfiniBand is a new high-speed interconnect that redefines how servers communicate with
networks, storage subsystems and other servers. It also moves all the data transfer and validation
functions from software to hardware, making InfiniBand highly efficient. InfiniBand standardizes
how large numbers of server, storage and networking components should be joined and balanced
into a single integrated system. It does this without requiring any changes to how existing
applications access networks and storage.
Many of the technologies incorporated into this new architecture originated with IBM S/360 and
S/370 mainframe systems, which were the first systems to use channel I/O as a means to achieve
a balanced systems architecture. InfiniBand is ideally suited for clustering, I/O extension and
native attachment in diverse network applications. InfiniBand technology can be used to connect
to attached hosts, routers or disk arrays, or to build remote card cages. InfiniBand also features
enhanced fault isolation, redundancy support and built-in failover capabilities to provide high
network reliability and availability. Enhancements even extend to cabling, with InfiniBand
supporting the concurrent use of both copper and fiber-optic cables—copper for low cost and fiber
for long distances.
For xSeries servers, InfiniBand will provide the framework to continue our drive toward high
availability, scalability, ease of use and reduced total cost of ownership embraced by the
X-Architecture technology strategy. IBM intends to accomplish this through multiple, high-speed,
low-latency and redundant network paths for server access to I/O, as well as through clustering.
Servers and I/O devices incorporating InfiniBand technology are expected in 2002. However,
15
widespread adoption is not expected before 2003-2004, when the technology is integrated
sufficiently to deliver comprehensive hardware and software solutions. In the meantime, PCI-X will
be the advanced I/O bus of choice.
Enterprise Storage Solutions

Today, management and storage of data has become an increasingly complex and critical aspect
of pervasive computing. IBM addresses this with Enterprise Storage Solutions, using the IBM
X-Architecture technology guiding principles of OnForever computing, cost containment, industry
standards leadership, Make IT Easy and the delivery of scalable, manageable, reliable,
high-performance storage products. Enterprise Storage Solutions also support the IBM
X-architecture technology agenda to leverage proven IBM technologies and bring enterprise
capabilities to the Intel processor-based server platform.
Enterprise Storage Solutions are designed to support the huge requirements on back-end
systems by using a building-block approach that improves the management and implementation
of complex networked storage subsystems. Enterprise Storage Solutions also recognize the need
for infrastructure redesign and draw on 40 years of IBM experience in storage technologies,
including hard disk drives and other storage technologies that were designed and tested in the
market on IBM S/390, RS/6000, NUMA-Q and AS/400 servers. Enterprise Storage Solutions offer
data availability, disaster recovery, scalability, high performance, increased bandwidth, substantial
power and investment protection.
The following table illustrates the rate at which storage infrastructure technology is being
enhanced:
1999 2000 2001/2002 2002/2003

Converts to Fibre
SCSI Ultra80 Ultra160 Ultra320
Channel
Fibre Channel
maximum 100 MB/s 100-200 MB/s 200 MB/s 1000 MB/s
performance
Fibre Channel 90KM with WAN at
10KM WAN
maximum distance repeaters performance
Hard disk drive

36GB 72GB 144GB 144GB+
maximum capacity
Hard disk drive
10K 15K 15K 20K
maximum RPMs
InfiniBand
Maximum PCI PCI PCI-X 1x (250MB/sec),
Input/Output 256-512MB/sec 512MB/sec 1GB/sec 4x (1GB/sec), or
12x (3GB/sec)
Table 3. Progress of storage infrastructure technology
With technology changing at such a rapid pace you need a company like IBM, with the capabilities
and resources to keep up with the speed of the industry, to be your supplier for enterprise storage
solutions.
16
Designing Subsystems with I/O Bandwidth to Match Increasing Storage

and Network Requirements
Implementing an enterprise storage solution can be a bewildering process. There are many
considerations, including scalability and management. IBM Enterprise Storage Solutions are
designed around the concept that each solution is simple: scalable and secure, easily integrated
into existing infrastructures and easily managed across heterogeneous servers and
storage—giving you the ability to protect valuable data and allowing you to leverage e-business
investments. IBM Enterprise Storage Solutions are designed to be:
! Scalable. IBM Enterprise Storage Solutions can scale from entry-level storage configurations
utilizing direct-attached SCSI storage to complete end-to-end Fibre Channel solutions, and
are expected to reach massive datacenter storage capabilities in excess of 22TB (terabytes,
or thousand gigabytes) in 2001.
! Secure. In the e-business model, security is key to success. IBM has been making advances
in security for the S/390 (now ^ zSeries) datacenter for many years. IBM
X-Architecture technology is bringing some of those security technologies to Intel
processor-based servers—technologies like Remote Access Control Facility (RACF),
cryptographic coprocessors and digital certificates. IBM has worked with Intel to develop the
Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA), and we will continue to drive this standard and
maintain leadership in data-storage security for industry-standard servers.
In addition, IBM has been working with Intel, Microsoft, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard in an
open alliance called Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA). The goal of this alliance is
to create a new computing platform that will provide for improved trust in personal computer
systems. As chair of the TCPA, IBM will continue to lead the industry in security for computing
systems.
! Interoperability. Integrating new hardware and software into your current IT environment is
key to an enterprise storage solution. IBM has invested millions of dollars developing the
world's most comprehensive interoperability test labs to help our customers deploy storage
solutions in mixed environments. Our solutions are designed to work with the most popular
Intel processor-based servers. They are based on industry-standard technologies and
certified to run on industry-leading storage management and open-systems software,
including Tivoli, Legato, Veritas and Computer Associates.
! Manageability. IT managers routinely identify storage management as one of their primary
challenges. In fact, it is estimated that the cost of manually managing direct-attached LAN
storage can double every three years. IBM Director systems management software adds
intelligence and combines leading-edge, proven capabilities that seamlessly integrate into the
enterprise. IBM Director RAID Manager, along with FAStT (Fibre Array Storage Technology)
RAID Manager, ServeRAID Manager and Tivoli Storage Manager, help provide world-class
server and storage management across your IT solution. All this is managed through a
centralized infrastructure that can help businesses realize a reduction in management
resource costs.
! Protection. Data protection at all levels becomes second only to management as a
challenge for the IT manager. xSeries servers provide direct-attach and network-attached disk
and tape data protection and disaster-readiness storage solutions. Combined with remote
mirroring clustering extensions, innovative IBM X-architecture technologies such as
FlashCopy, RAID 1E, 1E0 and RAID 5E, and FAStT are designed to help keep your data
available all day, every day.
! Leveraging e-business investments. IBM is a leader in e-business solutions, and IBM
X-Architecture technology, along with our simple storage vision, allows us to create solutions
for the industry-standard server market that will help you make the most of your e-business.
17
Innovative Extensions to RAID Standards

As your storage capacity grows, your need for data integrity increases as well. Beyond a point,
disk array technology becomes a necessity, providing both security against data loss and the
prevention of costly downtime due to a disk crash. RAID technology can also produce a
performance boost in some configurations. For these reasons, IBM offers an industry-leading
SCSI RAID solution called IBM ServeRAID.
ServeRAID technology helps you build a reliable foundation for business-critical computing.
ServeRAID is a combination of hardware, software and firmware for creating an array of disks
using Ultra160 SCSI devices. Through hardware and software functionality, multiple physical
disks can be treated as one logical disk array. Data is stored redundantly in various ways, offering
nine levels of RAID to enhance integrity and availability of your data. (Soon IBM will begin
delivering Ultra320 SCSI solutions.) The IBM ServeRAID solution consists of:
! ServeRAID adapters — Currently, the flagship of xSeries SCSI controller offerings is the
ServeRAID-4 family of adapters. These 64-bit, Active PCI controllers are managed by
ServeRAID Manager, which allows you to administer all your ServeRAID subsystems across
an entire enterprise from a single session. ServeRAID controllers offer additional capabilities
that are exclusive to ServeRAID or previously were found only in high-end sophisticated
storage subsystems, including FlashCopy, Logical Drive Migration, RAID 1E, 1E0 and 5E, and
adapter and cluster failover. Through hardware and software functionality, multiple physical
disks can be treated as one logical disk. Data is stored redundantly in various ways, offering
nine levels of RAID to increase performance and enhance the availability of your data. There
are three models of ServeRAID adapters:
- ServeRAID-4H is the high-performance version, with four Ultra160 SCSI channels,
128MB of removable battery-backed ECC cache memory, and an IBM copper-based
PowerPC 750 processor onboard. Up to 56 Ultra160 and Ultra2 SCSI devices are
supported.
- ServeRAID-4Mx is the midrange model, with two Ultra160 SCSI channels, 64MB of
battery-backed ECC cache memory, and an Intel i80303 processor. Up to 28 Ultra160
and Ultra2 SCSI devices are supported.
- ServeRAID-4Lx is the entry-level adapter, with one Ultra160 SCSI channel, 16MB of ECC
cache memory, and an Intel i80303 processor. Up to 14 Ultra160 and Ultra2 SCSI
devices are supported.
Each ServeRAID adapter supports up to 14 devices (and 160MB per second throughput) per
channel (for an aggregate of up to 56 logical devices and 640MBps for the 4-channel
ServeRAID-4H adapter, for example). Multiple adapters can be installed as needs and
available slots dictate.
! RAID 1-Enhanced (RAID 1E) — Typical RAID 1 controllers allow the mirroring of data to two
drives concurrently, requiring that drives be added in pairs—an odd drive would go unused.
IBM ServeRAID adapters, by contrast, support an enhanced mode of RAID 1 called RAID 1E.
RAID 1E allows the mirroring of data to either an even number of drives or an odd number, so
that you can increase drives one by one, if desired, rather than always in pairs.
! RAID 1E0 (1E+0) — RAID 1E0 combines enhanced RAID 1E mirroring with RAID 0 striping
across multiple 1E arrays.
! RAID 5-Enhanced (RAID 5E) — Standard RAID 5 technology spreads data across all the
drives in the system except one, which is used as a “hot spare,” in case one of the other
drives fails. (If a drive fails, the hot spare immediately and automatically replaces it.) This
means that one drive is always unused pending a failure, resulting in an inefficient use of
available drive space. By contrast, IBM Enhanced RAID 5, or RAID 5E, spreads all data,
parity and hot-spare space across all of the drives, permitting 100 percent utilization of
18
available drive space. This offers not only more efficient use of drive space but also faster
throughput (because there are more drives operating) than traditional RAID 5 arrays.
! Other RAID levels — In addition to industry-standard RAID 0 (data striping), RAID 1
(mirroring) and RAID 5, along with enhanced-RAID 1E, 1E0 and 5E (all IBM exclusives),
ServeRAID adapters also support RAID 00 (striping across multiple arrays), RAID 10 (1+0,
which combines RAID 1 mirroring and RAID 0 striping) and RAID 50 (5+0, striping across
multiple RAID 5 arrays). All but 0 and 00 offer fault-tolerance, and all but 00 support an
optional hot spare drive.
! ServeRAID Manager — ServeRAID Manager is a combination of software and firmware that
supports the enhanced functions of the ServeRAID adapter, including RAID 1E/1E0/5E,
clustering, Active PCI and adapter failover capabilities. ServeRAID Manager integrates with
IBM Director to provide management and control of the RAID array using a common
interface.
! FlashCopy — FlashCopy is high-availability software included with ServeRAID that provides
an almost instantaneous copy of a logical volume. By supporting fast duplication, FlashCopy
minimizes application downtime associated with performing backups and restores. FlashCopy
makes it possible for you to access both the source and destination copies. This enables
applications that use either the source or destination copy to operate almost without
interruption. In addition, FlashCopy can improve system performance by offloading host
resources. This tool takes a snapshot of the source drive and places it on the target drive,
which can then be extracted and used in another server or placed on tape. Previously, this
type of technology was available only on high-end enterprise storage platforms.
ServeRAID 1E, 1E0 and 5E adapter technologies can significantly improve data transfer rates and
at the same time be used as the cost-effective foundation of a business-critical storage strategy.
The advanced fault tolerance of enhanced RAID technology lets you effectively implement
networked business systems with large amounts of storage space that must be available for your
business to continue operating. IBM ServeRAID provides an outstanding solution for
implementing RAID technology in xSeries servers.
Storage Area Networks

The explosive growth of information as a result of e-business is forcing businesses to focus on the
importance of information management and storage. Information is quickly becoming a key asset,
and most businesses face the challenge of finding an affordable way to store information and
manage it. Traditional LANs and WANs are not optimized for high-volume data access and have
become a bottleneck for many companies with the need to store and move terabytes (TB) of data
rapidly. Consequently, Storage Area Networks (SANs) are radically changing the way data is
being accessed and managed. IBM is working with other industry leaders to reduce complexity
with SAN-ready solutions.
SANs allow storage devices to be attached to dedicated high-speed storage networks. The SANs
in turn connect to LANs and WANs. Separating the storage devices from the general network
traffic allows us to improve LAN/WAN performance while greatly improving the control and
management of valuable data. The SAN strategy employed by IBM provides a building-block
approach that builds on current investments in hardware, software and skills. The current xSeries
SAN “building blocks” are the xSeries Fibre Array Storage Technology (FAStT) devices, which
include host controllers, fibre switches and hubs, RAID controllers and disk drives. The building
block approach allows you to efficiently and cost-effectively scale your storage environment. For
large enterprise SAN environments with a requirement to support consolidation of storage across
multiple server platforms—such as IBM pSeries, iSeries, zSeries, and xSeries servers—the IBM
Enterprise Storage Server is in many cases the optimum SAN storage solution.
19
However, to protect your current investments, SAN implementations can be staged, and many
legacy devices are supported. For example, existing SCSI devices such as SCSI attached tape
drives and libraries, can be used in a SAN through SCSI-to-Fibre bridges in order to consolidate
and share data backup resources.
Overall, SANs provide greater bandwidth, speed and distance (up to 10km) than LANs, and the
redundant nature of SANs allows for better disaster management.
Fibre-based SAN solutions protect the increasing value of corporate data assets. Businesses face
the need for greatly increased storage capacities generated by e-business, the need to backup
large amounts of data, the ability to manage the data and make it accessible to all users, and
highly available data that is protected from unforeseen destruction such as viruses, user and
administrator errors, and environmental disasters like floods and fires.
Storage capacities. Data assets are increasing in value, and they are increasing substantially in
volume. SANs directly address the need for storage capacities previously believed to be
unachievable. A SAN can be a single tape library attached through a SAN Data Gateway and
FAStT hub to a single server and can scale to support massive data requirements. In theory,
SANs can support millions of hard disk drives and many exabytes10 of data through the
building-block approach of an interconnected storage “fabric.“
Backup. While size and value are rising, the ability to protect data through backups is becoming
more problematic. Backing up 20TB of storage can be an unwieldy and time-consuming process.
SANs offer the ability to move data backup and management off the LAN for improved network,
system and storage performance, giving administrators the flexibility to schedule and perform
backups when needed without interrupting service to the end user. Larger amounts of data need
to be protected to support e-business, and live backup—which SANs provide—prevents lost
business in the event of a disaster.
Management. SANs enable implementation of advanced management functions with improved

scalability and performance by offloading storage traffic from LANs to yield higher service levels.
SANs provide for large-scale storage expansion without disruption and improve asset utilization by
bringing the benefits of legacy, host-centric storage to distributed environments. SANs enable the
creation of a true information utility and support integrated e-business applications to effectively
leverage information. Access and data sharing are improved via heterogeneous, any-to-any
connectivity for higher system availability through switched fabric and component redundancy to
eliminate single points of failure. Fault isolation and automatic failover provide better protection of
critical data assets.
Centralized management for not only local but also remote storage reduces costs by providing a
global view of enterprise storage resources. This allows for minimized management complexity,
streamlined training, reduced data duplication, enhanced capacity planning and consistent
management policies.
High availability and disaster tolerance and recovery. High availability and disaster-tolerant
devices help reduce the risk of downtime. SANs facilitate a more cost-effective disaster recovery
solution through remote capabilities. Improved performance provides faster data recovery. The
expense of a SAN can be offset through the cost savings derived from reduced downtime and
business productivity losses.
Disaster recovery usually requires physically transporting media to an offsite data vault. Studies
indicate that a majority of established enterprises do not have adequate protection against loss of
their valuable data assets through accidental or malicious deletion, corruption, system crashes,
viruses or environmental disasters. SANs allow users to build a consistent, cost-effective disaster
recovery plan for backed-up data.
10
When referring to storage capacity, an exabyte equals one million terabytes, or a thousand million gigabytes.
20
Improved performance provides faster data recovery. In storage islands, such as those created
with direct-attach storage, data is dependent on the reliability of a dedicated subsystem. Array
mirroring opens up high-availability methods of failover or data recovery instead of lengthy
restores, which cause more downtime. Remote array mirroring places an additional array offsite
and keeps it dynamically synchronized in case of a site-wide failure.
SAN solutions are expected to include the capability for tape backup pooling; disk-to-tape backup
over Fibre Channel, with its accompanying speed and savings in time and money; and disk
pooling, data mirroring and data sharing between multiple host systems. For solutions requiring
extremely high bandwidth, cabling distance and high availability, xSeries FAStT subsystems
provide scalability to exabytes of storage, 100MBps (1Gbps) throughput and distances of up to
10km (6.2 miles) between the server and external disk storage to provide additional protection of
data.
Future direction. IBM, which invented the hard disk drive in 1956, the diskette drive (1971), the
modern “Winchester” disk drive (1973), the first 1GB hard drive (1991) and more recently the
1-inch 1GB Microdrive™ (used in notebook computers, PDAs, camcorders, digital cameras and
MP3 players), and the first 75GB 3.5” hard drive in the industry, continues to pioneer new storage
technologies.
In December 2000, IBM announced the Storage Tank ™ initiative, which will deliver the promise of
storage networking—a universal storage system capable of sharing data across any storage
hardware, platform or operating system. Currently, disk and tape storage subsystems are
designed to work with specific host systems, logical volumes or file systems. This fragmented
arrangement results in an inefficient usage of storage resources on a network. By using Storage
Tank to create a consolidated storage environment, each storage subsystem can be made
available across the network, enhancing performance and data availability. Storage Tank 11 is just
the latest technology breakthrough in a storied history for IBM. Recently, the White House
awarded IBM the National Medal of Technology for the company's leadership in developing and
commercializing data storage technology.
IBM Fibre Array Storage Technology (FAStT)

The IBM FAStT family of storage solutions is designed for the high-availability requirements of
your business. The long distance capabilities, high data transfer rates and wide range of storage
configurations offer the power and reliability you need to protect your valuable data assets and to
keep your business-critical applications and information available. Because IBM FAStT Fibre
Channel storage solutions can support transfers over distances up to 10km (6.2 miles) at rates of
100MBps, companies can more easily configure offsite xSeries servers and storage systems to
keep critical data available around the clock—even in the event of a catastrophe.
IBM FAStT hot-swappable and redundant RAID controllers support the uninterrupted flow of your
business, thus helping to keep your systems available. Using a single IBM FAStT Host Bus
Adapter connected to an IBM FAStT 500 Storage Server, you can configure a Storage Area
Network (SAN) to support your massive data requirements, with up to 220 hard disk drives in 22
FAStT EXP500 Storage Expansion Units using a dual-loop configuration. If that isn’t enough, just
add more FAStT adapters. (The IBM FAStT 200 Storage Server is available for more modest
SAN needs, supporting up to 30 drives using two FAStT EXP500 units.) The EXP500 expansion
unit includes hot-swap redundant power supplies and dual-cooling fans, along with IBM Light Path
Diagnostics to warn of faults, excessive temperature and other environmental concerns. Up to 14
3U EXP500 units can be installed in a standard 42U rack for ease of configuration and servicing.
11
Read the press release at http://ibm.com/Press/prnews.nsf/jan/71894C55F2BCCE52852569AC0057DD49 for more
on the Storage Tank initiative.
21
If you have clustering requirements, configure your IBM FAStT storage solution for the highest
availability with redundant IBM FAStT adapters, hubs and RAID controllers. Add long-wave
cabling between your IBM FAStT hubs to build disaster recovery into your enterprise storage
system. In the event of a catastrophic failure or natural disaster your work can be transferred to
your failover location immediately, without interruption or loss of data. Hot-swappable, redundant
fans and power supplies help increase system uptime and ease of installation, while battery
backup RAID circuitry helps protect against loss of data in the event of a power failure. All of this
provides still another level of availability for your business-critical applications and data, moving
you closer to continuous access and availability.
IBM Enterprise Storage Server (ESS) 12

ESS, sometimes referred to by its code name of Shark, provides integrated caching and RAID
support for the attached disk devices. ESS can be configured in a variety of ways to provide
scalability in capacity and performance. One ESS can support in excess of 11TB, and produce I/O
rates in excess of 45,000 operations per second. (Of course, many ESS units can be used as
needed.)
Redundancy within ESS provides continuous availability. It is packaged in one or more

enclosures, each with dual line cords and redundant power. The redundant power system allows
ESS to continue normal operation when one of the line cords is deactivated.
ESS provides an image of a set of logical disk devices to attached servers. The logical devices
are configured to emulate disk device types that are compatible with the attached servers. The
logical devices access a logical volume that is implemented using multiple disk drives. This allows
ESS to connect to all IBM servers, from zSeries to iSeries, pSeries and xSeries, directly or
thorough a SAN. ESS offers several choices of host I/O interface attachment methods, including
SCSI and Fibre Channel for xSeries, iSeries and pSeries, along with ESCON® (Enterprise System
Connection) and FICON™ (Fiber Connectivity—ESCON protocol over a Fibre Channel connection)
for zSeries servers, either individually or concurrently.
Sharing devices among various types of servers can result in lower hardware costs because you
don’t have to buy unique storage devices (and provide redundancy) for each server. Nor do you
have to worry about having too much capacity for one server and not enough for another. One
pool of devices serves all servers and offers not only redundancy and failover, but automatic I/O
load balancing as well.
IBM Enterprise System Connectivity (ESCON)

Business-critical applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Business
Intelligence (BI) have traditionally run on mainframe servers. These applications are now
migrating to a new generation of client-server applications centered around powerful, reliable Intel
processor-based servers. xSeries servers acting as application servers can be directly
channel-attached to IBM zSeries enterprise servers using the IBM industry-leading,
high-throughput IBM ESCON adapter. xSeries servers have also proven to be ideal platforms as
gateways to the mainframe for many customers.
The ESCON adapter provides a 200Mbps path between an xSeries server and a zSeries
mainframe. In addition, it reduces potential latencies due to protocol conversions, LAN congestion
and retransmission, which can be introduced with alternative methods of connectivity. This allows
xSeries servers to be used as high-performance application coprocessors for mainframe systems,
creating a three-tier client/server environment. The ESCON adapter fully implements the
Multi-Path Channel (MPC+) protocol, which enhances performance, reliability and availability.
12
Go to http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/products/ess/ess.htm for additional information about IBM ESS/Shark.
22
Netfinity Web Server Accelerator

While one way to achieve scalability is through hardware, IBM is also focused on scalability
through software called Netfinity Web Server Accelerator (NWSA). Web hosting, whether done by
an individual company for its customers, business partners, employees and suppliers, or by an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) for several companies, is a complex and demanding undertaking.
Many companies now recognize the benefits of hosting their own Web site, which allows for
real-time updates to company information and controlled security. This can also help reduce or
eliminate outsourcing fees for these services.
Regardless of the size of your business, you need a Web-hosting solution that is simple to install
and deploy, is cost-effective and gives you the high performance that cannot be attained by a
standard server. Netfinity Web Server Accelerator V2.0 provides these benefits. IBM xSeries
servers using NWSA—reverse proxy caching software developed by IBM—can decrease the time
a server’s processor spends responding to requests for static Web page content. This allows the
server to handle more static Web page content or, alternatively, frees the processors to spend
more time on other tasks such as processing dynamic content. This improvement is related to file
size: the smaller the file, the greater the acceleration improvement.
You need an infrastructure that can help you provide additional applications and host more sites at
an affordable price, but perhaps you can’t afford the time and expense of continually adding new
servers to handle your rapid growth. Yet your customers are demanding that Web sites be
brought online in days or weeks, not months. In addition, current levels of service must be
maintained if not improved to retain customers and attract more.
NWSA V2.0 can help you compete in this environment of ever-increasing price and performance
pressures. You can host the same amount of Web content with fewer servers, decreasing the
cost of server capacity; or you can host more Web content with the same number of servers.
NWSA allows end users to access static and dynamic Web pages quickly. This helps increase
productivity for end users and offers a way for you to improve service levels on each individual
server. Increased capacity and customer satisfaction pave the way for an increased customer
base.
Availability
Your need for server availability includes the ability to avoid expensive downtime and failures. IBM
X-Architecture technology includes such high-availability features for xSeries systems as Active
Diagnostics, Active PCI, Advanced System Management (ASM), Automatic Server Restart,
Chipkill memory (described previously), Electronic Service Agent (ESA), Light Path Diagnostics,
Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) and Software Rejuvenation. (ASM, ESA and Software
Rejuvenation will be discussed in later sections.)
Active Diagnostics. Concurrent diagnostics, as used on mainframe servers such as the IBM
^ zSeries (formerly S/390), can test system resources while the operating system is
running without affecting users of the system. This is a capability that has been sorely lacking in
the Intel processor-based server market.
IBM, working with Intel and PC-Doctor, introduced industry-standard extensions to the Common
Information Model (CIM) to support concurrent diagnostics. CIM is being developed by the
Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), which officially adopted these diagnostic extensions
as part of CIM in 1999. This Common Diagnostic Model (CDM) standardizes how hardware
vendors will interface their concurrent diagnostics (also called OS-Present Diagnostics or On-Line
Diagnostics) with the operating system, making the diagnostic routines available to all CIM-aware
diagnostic applications. With the diagnostic extensions to CIM now defined, IBM is working with
23
independent hardware vendors to define methods and create concurrent diagnostic tools and
utilities to keep xSeries servers up and running.
For example, with IBM Active Diagnostics (our implementation of CDM) a LAN adapter with
Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) capabilities could automatically trigger concurrent diagnostics
(without disturbing the users of that server) when certain soft error thresholds are exceeded. If a
fault is detected by the diagnostics, the adapter could automatically fail over to a redundant spare.
(If the server is also equipped with Active PCI adapter slots, the failing LAN adapter could then be
replaced with a new one without ever taking the server down.) These health monitoring activities
will be concurrently running along with user programs. The combination of PFA, Active
Diagnostics and hot-swap components means that you may never again have to shut down your
xSeries server to run diagnostics or replace failing components.
New xSeries servers incorporating Active Diagnostics are scheduled to appear sometime in the
second half of 2001.
Active PCI. Active PCI provides another IBM solution to increase total server availability by letting
you add or replace Active PCI-capable cards and make other changes to your servers without
having to shut down your xSeries servers. Active PCI features, which are designed to increase
total server availability, can be categorized as follows:
! Hot-swap — Allows you to replace failed or soon-to-be-failing adapters in the system, without
restarting.
! Hot-add — Allows you to add new adapters to the server while it is running. (IBM was the first
in the industry to offer this.)
! Failover — If one adapter fails, a second, backup, adapter can pick up the workload on the
fly.
IBM Active PCI13 for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows NT and Novell NetWare promotes high
availability for xSeries servers. IBM also plans Active PCI support for Linux in 2002. The Windows
NT solution includes the following tools: IBM Fault Tolerant Management Interface (FTMI), IBM
PCI Hot Plug wizard and IBM PCI Hot Swap wizard. The two wizards provide clear, step-by-step
guidance for adding or swapping adapters. (Windows 2000 support for FTMI is planned, but is not
yet available.) Using IBM Active PCI, you can upgrade your server, replace adapters and make
other changes without having to shut down your xSeries servers.
IBM FTMI for Windows works with fault-tolerant pairs or groups of adapters to manage the
failover operation of those adapters in servers that support Active PCI, from a consistent user
interface.
Automatic Server Restart. When a server locks up due to an operating system crash or a
transitory hardware event—such as a power flicker—often all that is needed to rectify the problem
is to restart the server. Typically, if there is no one physically present to flip the power switch or
press Ctrl-Alt-Del, the server remains offline until someone is able to get there to restart it. In an
e-commerce environment, even a few minutes of downtime can result in the loss of tens of
thousands of dollars in revenues. The obvious solution is to design a way for the server to restart
itself without human intervention, but until recently this type of technology was reserved for
mainframes and other high-end servers.
IBM was the first in the industry to develop a solution to this problem, called Automatic Server
Restart (ASR). ASR technology is a combination of hardware circuitry tied into the server’s system
reset function and a device driver that is intelligent enough to know the difference between an
actual problem and a normal startup or shutdown process.
13
See the white paper entitled “IBM ^ xSeries OnForever Initiative” at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries for more on
Active PCI.
24
Simply put, the ASR software works as a watchdog timer. Periodically, the ASR driver resets the
ASR hardware timer to zero. As long as the server continues running, the ASR hardware timer will
keep being reset, but if the operating system crashes or the hardware freezes somehow the ASR
software will be unable to reset the hardware timer. If the timer is not reset within five minutes, it
automatically triggers the ASR hardware, which immediately restarts the server (and logs an ASR
event). This means that no more than five minutes can pass before the server is restarted.
If your server doesn’t have ASR capability, how sure are you that someone can get to any of your
servers in less than five minutes, every time, day or night?
Predictive Failure Analysis and Light Path Diagnostics. Your need for server availability
includes the requirement to avoid expensive downtime and failures. Some types of failures are
unpredictable, such as a power surge from a lightning strike, damage due to improper handling,
and the like. However, many types of gradual failures can be predicted with a high degree of
accuracy. Statistical analyses of similar devices that have failed in the past reveal patterns, which
have been used to develop failure detection methodologies for various devices and even
software.
Using advanced heuristic techniques and periodic self-diagnostics, IBM Predictive Failure
Analysis can detect when components are operating outside of normal specifications and
approaching historical failure thresholds. This enables PFA to predict the failure of supported
components as much as 24 to 48 hours before failure occurs, affording administrators the time to
locate replacement parts and hot swap the failing components prior to actual failure. In
conjunction with IBM Director Software Rejuvenation, PFA can detect impending software
problems and restart the application (or perform a controlled shutdown of the operating system),
before the software locks up or manifests performance problems.
When PFA-enabled devices exceed a designated error threshold (for example, a fan is running
either too fast or too slow, or a hard drive is producing an unacceptable number of soft errors), the
server can automatically initiate an e-mail message or page the administrator with an alert
regarding an impending hardware or software failure. As illustrated in Table 4, xSeries servers
offer a wide array of PFA-enabled features:
PFA-enabled Features IBM ^ xSeries Servers
Hardware 14:
Hard disk drives Yes
Memory Yes
CPUs Yes
Fans Yes
Voltage Regulator Modules (VRMs) Yes
Power supplies Yes
Software (via IBM Director Software Rejuvenation) Yes
Table 4. PFA usage in xSeries servers
The unique IBM Light Path Diagnostics feature used in select servers sets a new standard for
Intel processor-based server maintenance and repair. Light Path Diagnostics for xSeries servers
contributes to enhanced manageability. xSeries servers are designed with fast, accurate problem
isolation as a goal, and Light Path Diagnostics meets that goal. Light Path Diagnostics works
14
Specific PFA-enabled components may not be available in all xSeries server models.
25
hand in hand with Predictive Failure Analysis and environmental self-monitoring features that IBM
embeds in vital components.
Heat and mechanical wear are significant contributors to computer part failures over the course of
thousands or tens of thousands of hours of continuous operation. It is essential that these
components be easy to locate and quick to replace in your server. For this reason, IBM has
PFA-enabled not only the mechanical parts (hard disk drives, cooling fans and power
supplies—which also have fans), but also those subject to damage from power surges (power
supplies and voltage regulator modules—VRMs), plus the two most critical parts in any computer:
the processor and memory, as well as software (via IBM Director Software Rejuvenation).
All xSeries servers include LED status indicators on the

front panel. When the Predictive Failure Analysis of a
component indicates impending problems the service
processor alerts the system manager, illuminates the
front-panel status indicator, turns on an indicator light on
the Light Path Diagnostics service panel of the server and
(in the case of a power supply problem) updates the IBM
Director Fuel Gauge. (Figure 2 shows the x250 Light Path
Diagnostics service panel.) Figure 2. Light Path Diagnostics panel
Servers with Light Path Diagnostics also include LEDs attached to specific components within
each server to guide service personnel to those parts. These tools work together to simplify and
speed repair of failing or failed parts without even requiring the running of system diagnostics.
Symptoms of impending failure can be subtle or intermittent, normally requiring that technicians
painstakingly test to identify the specific device that is failing. Light Path Diagnostics simplifies
server maintenance by eliminating this time-consuming step.
LEDs on the processor board can help you quickly and easily locate an individual memory DIMM
(if one begins acting erratically) or a failing processor. (How would you know which of multiple
processors is the failing one, otherwise?)
Software Rejuvenation. Software rejuvenation is a means of preventing software-related

crashes and performance problems by resetting “aging” software before it affects the server. It is
a form of PFA for software. While other server vendors may offer functionality similar to PFA on
some of their hardware, IBM is the first to offer software PFA, and as any experienced
administrator knows, software crashes are far more common than hardware problems. (For
details, see the IBM Director description in the Systems Management section.)
Systems Management
As businesses rapidly deploy Intel processor-based servers in mission-critical areas, managing
and controlling the costs associated with these servers is important. IT professionals across all
segments of the market will expect servers to be enabled for manageability in any environment,
and they will depend on manageability tools that easily allow them to deploy, manage and support
the entire server configuration over its life cycle.
Technology Enablers
Technology enablers are supporting hardware and firmware that form the foundation of Universal
Manageability, the IBM initiative for delivering superior manageability for Intel-based platforms.
These enablers are designed into xSeries servers for comprehensive systems management.
Together with Life Cycle Tools, the technology enablers help you manage your PC-based assets
and reduce your total cost of ownership by centralizing, automating and allowing functions to be
performed while unattended. IBM technology enablers for xSeries include Advanced System
26
Management, hot-swap capabilities, IBM Director software (including Life Cycle Tools), plus
LANClient Control Manager, Light Path Diagnostics and PFA (described previously).
Advanced System Management. To help improve the availability and reliability of your
networked business systems you need enhanced control and manageability. For xSeries servers,
the IBM Advanced System Management (ASM) family of adapters and processors helps provide
you with virtual onsite management designed to maximize system control. Even with the server
powered off, or when the server has failed, the Advanced System Management solutions enable
extensive remote management of your xSeries servers.
If the operating system is unavailable, you can still determine faults and restart the server. The
Advanced System Management processors (sometimes referred to as Service Processors) are
integrated subsystem solutions that run independently of the server’s hardware and operating
system. Many xSeries servers include either an ASM processor built into the system boards or an
installed Remote Supervisor Adapter (RSA). The RSA is also available separately for models that
ship without an ASM processor. Each ASM processor contains its own microprocessor and
memory and connects to an external power supply, enabling it to continue functioning even if the
server is inoperative or powered off. The ASM processor also controls the IBM Light Path
Diagnostics functions.
The Remote Supervisor Adapter provides a redundant Ethernet LAN for situations where the
operating system is not available. This is a level of service and support typically found only on
larger IBM systems. These capabilities help reduce downtime and increase your ability to
maximize server productivity and availability.
Control is provided from any network client using a standard Web browser interface or locally from
the IBM Director management software. Up to 12 xSeries servers can be controlled from one
client, using the peer-to-peer system management interconnect feature, direct LAN connection,
dial-up access or a serial link. In addition to simply shutting down and restarting servers remotely,
the Web client allows the administrator to view redirected text and graphics from the server
(including messages during startup, shutdown and Windows “blue screen” error traps), regardless
of the operating system installed on the server. This allows an administrator to better assess the
scope of the problem before taking remedial action. If the remote server is running either
Windows NT or Windows 2000, the administrator has full keyboard, mouse and PCI video control
of the server from the client Web interface. This permits the administrator to view the server's
POST and Windows startup from the client.
Hot-swap capabilities. Many xSeries server components, such as hard disk drives, Active
PCI-enabled adapters, power supplies, voltage regulator modules (VRMs) and cooling fans are
hot-swappable and can be redundant, allowing your system to operate normally during a
component replacement. This minimizes maintenance downtime. Combining this hot-plug
technology with IBM Director and PFA technology administrators can be notified of an impending
failure and—if redundant components are installed—replace the failing component with no server
interruption. Often components can be replaced prior to an actual failure. This prevents downtime
and helps facilitate onsite troubleshooting and maintenance.
IBM Director with Universal Manageability Services

With IBM Director, xSeries servers provide you with the most sophisticated and easy-to-use local
and remote systems management tools. IBM Director, built upon industry standards, is a powerful
suite of tools and utilities included with xSeries servers. IBM Director is designed to manage
servers in the Intel environment and support a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft
Windows NT and Windows 2000, Windows 95, 98 and Millennium Edition, IBM OS/2 ®, Novell
NetWare, Linux and SCO UnixWare. IBM Director supports a veritable alphabet soup of industry
27
standards such as DMI, CIM, WBEM, WMI, SNMP, MPM, TCP/IP, IPX, SNA, NetBIOS, SLIP,
XML and HTTP, among others.
IBM Director software offers a graphical user interface for easy local and remote access and
control and smooth integration into higher levels of workgroup or enterprise management tools
such as Microsoft System Management Server (SMS), Intel LANDesk ®, Tivoli management
software, Computer Associates Unicenter TNG Framework and HP OpenView.
By letting IT administrators view the hardware configuration of remote systems in detail and
monitor the usage and performance of critical components, such as processors, disks and
memory, IBM Director can help you manage your server with ease and efficiency. More
importantly, it can help you control many of the hidden costs of operation.
IBM Director consists of three major components: a management server, the management
console and client, and Universal Manageability Services, plus an optional fourth component, UM
Server Extensions.
Management server . The management server is the heart of IBM Director, providing the
application logic and current system-related management information stored in an integrated,
centralized SQL database for easy access, even when the system in question is not available.
The management server provides discovery of remote systems, presence checking, security and
authentication, management console support, a persistent store of inventory information and
Microsoft JET as its built-in SQL database. (If preferred, the management server can be
configured to use an existing or new IBM DB2® Universal Database™ 5.2 (or later), Microsoft SQL
Server 6.5 or Oracle 7.5 database.) The management server requires Windows NT or Windows
2000.
Management console and client. The management console is a Java ™-based graphical user
interface for performing administrative tasks. It provides comprehensive hardware management
via drag-and-drop or a single click. A scrolling “ticker tape” status bar on the bottom of the console
window allows the monitoring of system attributes without having to open a separate console. (If
desired, multiple management consoles can be opened simultaneously.)
All system-specific data gathered by the management console is stored in the management
server SQL database. The management console supports Windows NT/2000 as well as Windows
95/98.
Universal Manageability Services . UM Services is a set of services that functions as a single

agent and includes general system hardware and OS inventory tools; resource utilization tools to
help monitor, anticipate and avoid performance degradation; an Alert on LAN switch that allows
an administrator to monitor connections, restart failed systems and restore CMOS or failed drives;
power management and monitoring; a Security Manager to restrict user access to systems from a
remote connection; and links to IBM support Web pages. UM Services provides point-to-point
remote management of client systems through a Web browser in addition to its native interface.
UM Services will run on the same Windows operating systems as the management console and
on Windows Millennium Edition, IBM OS/2, SCO UnixWare and Linux.
UM Server Extensions (Life Cycle Tools) . The UM Server Extensions are often referred to as
Life Cycle Tools. These programs, downloadable from the Web, extend the manageability of your
xSeries hardware throughout its life cycle. Life Cycle Tools include Advanced System
Management, Capacity Manager, Cluster Manager, Fibre Channel RAID Manager, Power
Redundancy Monitoring, Rack Manager, RAID Manager, Software Rejuvenation and System
Availability:
! Advanced System Management — The IBM Director Advanced System Management
(ASM) tool offers exceptional control of systems by letting you monitor critical subsystems as
28
well as restart and troubleshoot servers, even if a server has suffered a fatal error or is
powered off. This utility works in concert with the ASM family of service processor hardware
described previously.
! Capacity Manager — Capacity Manager monitors critical server resources such as
processor utilization, disk capacity, memory usage and network traffic. Using advanced
artificial intelligence, it identifies bottlenecks for an individual system or a cluster and
recommends upgrades to prevent diminished performance or downtime. Capacity Manager
can even identify latent bottlenecks and make recommendations for preventive action.
For example, Capacity Manager can predict hard disk drive space and memory shortages
that might cause problems for your systems. Because Capacity Manager features can help
you predict problems before they occur, the administrator can perform proactive planning
and—if necessary—schedule service and upgrades before potential problems degrade
performance.
! Cluster Manager — Cluster Manager allows an administrator to easily identify, configure and
manage clustered servers using one graphical tool. Administrators can be alerted via pager or
e-mail to cluster events (in hardware, the operating system, and Microsoft Cluster Service
[MSCS]). Alternatively, Cluster Manager can trigger recovery (or other) programs
automatically.
! Fibre Channel RAID Manager — Fibre Channel RAID Manager provides easy storage
configuration, dynamic changes, performance monitoring and managing of alerts from Fibre
Channel RAID devices. Errors are mapped so that the administrator can take preventive
action to avoid downtime.
! Power Redundancy Monitoring (Fuel Gauge) —Select xSeries models monitor the power
backplane of the server via the ASM/service processor. IBM Director can be notified when the
power falls out of a redundant state. The “fuel gauge” graphically represents this capability on
systems with the supporting hardware.
! Rack Manager — Rack Manager offers a drag-and-drop interface for easily configuring and
monitoring rack components using a realistic visual representation of the rack and its
components. It also provides detailed status information.
! RAID Manager — RAID Manager lets an administrator configure, monitor and manage local
and remote SCSI and IDE RAID subsystems without taking the server(s) offline, avoiding
costly downtime.
! Software Rejuvenation — In networked servers software often exhibits an increasing failure
rate over time, typically because programming errors generate increasing and unbounded
resource consumption. Other causes can include data corruption and numerical error
accumulation, such as round-off errors. These errors can spawn threads or processes that
are never terminated, or they can result in memory leaks or file systems that fill up over time.
These effects constitute a phenomenon known as "software aging," and may be caused by
errors in application, middleware or operating system software. As a system's resources
gradually approach a critical level, the server becomes more likely to experience the dreaded
“blue screen of death” or the “red screen of death,” depending on your operating system.
Advanced IBM analytical techniques allow IBM Director software rejuvenation to be

self-educating, basing responses on the experience of system outages on a given server.
Predictions of this sort allow Predictive Failure Analysis capabilities for software—just as IBM
critical hardware components offer—allowing the opportunity for an administrator to schedule
servicing (rejuvenation) at a convenient time in advance of an actual failure, avoiding costly
downtime.
To help you avoid downtime, IBM Director software rejuvenation can be scheduled to reset all
or part of the software system with no need for operator intervention. A reset might include
29
just the application(s) responsible for the aging—further reducing any impact on system
operation—or it could include the entire operating system.
When software rejuvenation reinitializes a server, the server’s failure rate falls back to its
initial lower level, because resources have been freed up and the effects of numerical errors
have been removed. This has a dramatic effect on the overall system availability of your
xSeries server.
When software rejuvenation is invoked within a clustered environment, cluster management

failover services (such as Microsoft Cluster Services and Microsoft Datacenter Server) may
be used to gracefully stop the offending subsystem and restart it on the same or another node
in the cluster in a controlled manner. In a clustered environment, xSeries servers can be set
to failover to another server, then be reset by IBM Director without downtime.
The combination of IBM Director software rejuvenation 15 operating in concert with the various
OnForever hardware technologies reduce server downtime, making xSeries servers capable
of handling the most critical business applications.
! System Availability — System Availability accurately measures uptime/downtime for
individual servers or groups of servers, and provides a variety of graphical views of this
information. This enables you to track the improvements in your server availability in order to
validate the benefits of the system management processes and tools.
Technology-enabled Service and Support

At IBM, we know that running business applications on servers can be more complex than simply
using a server for file-and-print sharing. Not only are the technology requirements different, but
how you support those systems is also very different. Whether you’re providing a basic e-mail
system or a guaranteed high-availability application platform, the ability to support your business
applications on a server is critical for a successful solution.
Computer manufacturers face a twofold challenge: First, to develop the skills and processes to
know how to provide service and support for an application server. Second, especially for Intel
processor-based servers, to be able to deliver that support locally, quickly and cost-effectively,
and also be able to address requirements globally for those customers with worldwide operations.
This is where the IBM X-Architecture technology strategy has possibly had the greatest impact for
xSeries customers.
Quick Response When You Need It

IBM, with over 40 years of service and support expertise, can provide unparalleled service and
enterprise-class support for all xSeries server customers. Now more than ever, time is money.
When you need answers, you need them quickly. IBM is committed to giving you a fast response
for all your information and service needs on xSeries systems. The key to advanced service and
support is enabling xSeries servers with features—such as Advanced System Management
processors, Predictive Failure Analysis and IBM Director software—that allow for enhanced
service and support. Other service and support options that promote high availability in xSeries
servers include:
IBM High Availability Services. The optional IBM Global Services High Availability Services
offering16 is an extension of the IBM OnForever initiative, designed to help you achieve your
business-critical availability objectives.
15
See the white paper entitled “IBM Director Software Rejuvenation” at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries for more on
Software Rejuvenation.
16
The High Availability Services for Business Critical Systems offering is an optional service in the U.S and selected
30
For decades IBM has built a reputation for providing mission-critical, high-availability solutions.
IBM has made a commitment to provide these solutions across all ^ hardware platforms
and the services organization. IBM recently introduced a number of cross-server initiatives and
programs designed to further enhance server and application reliability, and has also introduced
new services that address high availability end-to-end.
Underscoring the importance of services in achieving maximum availability, IBM Global Services
offers an unmatched suite of high-availability services across all ^ platforms. With a
comprehensive High Availability Services portfolio, IBM can perform readiness workshops and
availability assessments and deliver recommendations that clearly identify inhibitors to achieving
your business-critical availability objectives. IBM can then offer a tailored packaged solution to
address those availability inhibitors. IBM High Availability Services provides a strategy for
implementing a tailored solution for each individual customer’s business availability goals. IBM
recently announced the third stage in a series of five planned announcements that address
customers’ demand for customized high-availability services.
IBM delivers High Availability Services in a phased approach with an Availability Readiness
Workshop, the Availability Assessment—a tailored packaged solution mapped to the assessment
recommendations—and now, if a customer’s business requires, a service level agreement for
availability guarantees17 on eligible ^ platforms.
During the workshop and follow-on assessment, components and inhibitors impacting availability
are identified, and utilizing the "bounded systems" methodology, a tailored packaged solution is
created. Also identified during the assessment is the current availability level (CAL) of the
bounded systems environment and your individual cost for an hour of downtime. Using the
assessment recommendations and your business-critical availability objective, a target availability
level (TAL) is defined for the bounded systems and the tailored packaged solution is created
focused on that objective.
The workshop and assessment may include, but is not limited to, the analysis and improvement
recommendations for the following:
! Business-critical IT operational processes.
! Planned and unplanned outages and identification of actions to prevent, eliminate or reduce
their impact and scope.
! Startup and shutdown activities.
! Identification of single points of failure and inhibitors to availability in the bounded system.
! Design of critical system configurations and data flow.
! Network design and efficiency.
! Backup/recovery/restore process for business-critical systems, networks and applications.
! Systems management tools and disciplines for problem, change, asset management, etc.
! Processes and tools for proactive and reactive monitoring of systems’ performance, capacity,
failures and predictors.
! Crisis management and escalation procedures.
! Hardware and software maintenance processes and schedules.
other countries. On the ^ xSeries platform, it is offered only for eligible xSeries environments at this time. IBM
reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of the offering at any time without notice. Refer to
http://ibm.com/services/its/us/highavail2.html for more details.
17
The High Availability Services for Business Critical Systems now offers a service level agreement for an availability
guarantee on eligible ^ xSeries environments. IBM reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of the
offering at any time without notice.
31
! Specific cost of downtime.

! Current availability level (CAL) of the bounded system environment.
! Target availability level (TAL) developed from business requirements: a planned goal.
! Availability reporting and measuring processes.
! A suggested implementation plan addressing the recommended actions. The assessment
concludes with an executive overview and a detailed deliverable of the availability team's
findings and recommendations.
When a High Availability Solution is proposed, consideration must be given to the cost of
downtime and your business-critical availability goals, balanced with the affordability of the
solution. Achieving true high availability is an individual customer’s business decision and should
be part of the overall IT business strategy.
The High Availability Solutions package consists of a tailored selection of services and capabilities
designed to help you improve the availability of your business-critical systems and environment.
The services and capabilities proposed fall into three broad categories:
! Prevention — Preventing problems by planning and designing the IT environment for high
availability. This includes proactive identification of potential problems with system
configurations and data flow design that is focused on eliminating single points of failure.
! Best practices management — Ensuring that tested management procedures and
disciplines are in place to manage the environment and the day-to-day operational processes
and resources.
! Resolution — Ensuring that rapid resolution capability, skills and tested processes exist for
any potential failure that threatens availability.
Electronic Service Agent. This innovative “call home” feature allows xSeries servers to
immediately and automatically place a service call to IBM support, which can dispatch onsite
service if necessary. The Electronic Service Agent (ESA) provides proactive electronic support
and problem management capabilities through a secure electronic dialogue between your
systems and IBM. ESA monitors your networked servers for hardware errors and has an
integrated performance monitor function that automatically collects system utilization information.
ESA can also perform hardware and software inventories and reports inventory changes to IBM.
All information sent to IBM is stored in a secure database and used for improved problem
determination.
IBM HelpCenter ® Support Centers. More than 1,800 support specialists staff the award-winning
IBM HelpCenter support centers. These specialists can answer your questions about IBM servers,
network equipment, storage options and other IBM products—in 22 languages. The IBM
HelpCenter also handles OEM operating systems and applications supported on IBM systems.
You can reach IBM experts by phone, fax and the Internet (http://ibm.com/support), including
interactive Web-based forums monitored by IBM specialists. The HelpCenter is available 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and spans 12 facilities around the world18 that provide
backup and overflow support for one another as needed. A single, centralized database helps IBM
technicians share customer information and solutions worldwide to provide fast, accurate
responses to customers. We’re here when you need us.
Electronic Solution Assurance Review (eSAR). xSeries eSAR is a breakthrough artificial

intelligence tool that validates network operating systems supported on xSeries servers. This
Web-based tool lets you review a proposed solution and check for technical integrity, level of risk
and ability of the solution to meet your requirements.
18
HelpCenter response times vary and support hours may vary by geography.
32
Cluster registration. When IBM Business Partners install a cluster solution at your location, they
register that solution with the IBM PCD HelpCenter. IBM is committed to offering faster service by
placing trained cluster technicians near your location, helping ensure minimal network downtime
in the event your system fails. It also lets us notify you of important information relevant to your
environment and proactively prevent outages.
Worldwide IBM service. If you should ever need assistance from trained technicians, more than
132,000 IBM service professionals are available to perform service in 164 countries.
Maintenance parts. When you need replacement parts you can’t afford to wait, so IBM makes
sure that parts are available from 471 stocking locations worldwide, helping you get your servers
back up and running quickly.
Conclusion
IBM X-Architecture technology is the IBM design blueprint for Intel processor-based servers.
Since we first introduced IBM X-Architecture technology in 1998, the requirements for a new
generation of applications and operating systems has increased rapidly. At the same time, we
have accelerated the advancement of xSeries servers to meet these demands, as well as those
of e-business.
The xSeries technology agenda—leveraging proven IBM technologies to bring enterprise

capabilities to the Intel processor-based server platform—can be organized into five categories:
! Core logic to optimize system performance
! Enterprise storage solutions for your increasing storage and network requirements
! Reliability driven by system and clustering technologies that increase availability
! Systems management technologies for comprehensive local and remote server management
within heterogeneous environments
! Technology-enabled service and support that ties advanced system and management
technologies directly to service and support infrastructures
Together these technologies combine to create a superior blueprint for xSeries servers that is
unequaled in the Intel processor-based server industry. xSeries tools combine to reduce your total
cost of ownership and give you a reliable server. Plus, with IBM, you have access to experts from
the time you begin thinking about your server purchase throughout the life cycle of your xSeries
system—helping to keep your e-business available around the clock anywhere in the world.
Additional Information
Visit our Web site at http://ibm.com/eserver/xseries for more information on IBM ^
xSeries servers directions, products and services. From the xSeries home page, select Library
and you will see links to the different types of documentation available.
33
© IBM Corporation 2001
IBM Server Group

Dept. LO6A
3039 Cornwallis Rd.
Research Triangle Park NC 27709
Produced in the USA

6-01
All rights reserved
For terms and conditions or copies of the IBM limited

warranty, call 1 800 772-2227 in the U.S. Limited
warranty includes International Warranty Service in
those countries where this product is sold by IBM or
IBM Business Partners (registration required).
IBM, the IBM logo, the e-business logo, Active PCI,
Alert on LAN, AS/400, Asset ID, C2T Interconnect,
Chipkill, DB2 Universal Database, ESCON, FICON,
FlashCopy, HelpCenter, iSeries, LANClient Control
Manager, Light Path Diagnostics, Make IT Easy,
Microdrive, Netfinity, NUMA-Q, OnForever, Predictive
Failure Analysis, pSeries, RS/6000, S/390,
ServeRAID, ServerGuide, Smart Reaction, Storage
Tank, System/360, System/370, System/390, UM
Services, Wake on LAN, Web Sphere, xSeries and
zSeries are trademarks of IBM Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries.
Tivoli is a trademark of Tivoli Systems, Inc., in the
United States or other countries or both. Intel and
LANDesk are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Intel Corporation in the United States or other
countries, or both. Linux is a trademark of Linus
Torvalds. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT and the
Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States, other countries, or
both. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
Other company, product, and service names may be
trademarks or service marks of others.
IBM reserves the right to change specifications or
other product information without notice. References
in this publication to IBM products or services do not
imply that IBM intends to make them available in all
countries in which IBM operates. IBM PROVIDES
THIS PUBLICATION “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANT Y
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not
allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in
certain transactions; therefore, this statement may
not apply to you.
IBM ^ xSeries servers are assembled in the
U.S., Great Britain, Japan, Australia and Brazil and
are composed of U.S. and non-U.S. parts.
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Technology vision for industry-standard computing

IBM X-Architecture Technology 2001

The trend to pervasive computing—information anywhere, anytime—will provide information

In addition, the adoption of e-business technologies for business-to-consumer, business-to-

IBM X-Architecture Technology Guiding Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Enterprise Storage Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Technology-enabled Service and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Designing a New Server Architecture

The Impact of IBM X-Architecture Technology

Performance Leadership. Our focus on designing xSeries systems for enterprise-class

Publication Award Server Award Date

Industrie Forum ^ x220, x260,

IBM X-Architecture Technology Guiding Principles

Guiding Principle #1 - OnForever Computing

! Active™ PCI ! Advanced ! Active Diagnostics ! Fuel Gauge / ! Backup

Table 1. OnForever high-availability dimensions

Guiding Principle #2 - Bringing Down the Cost of Enterprise Computing

Guiding Principle #3 - Driving Industry Standards

Guiding Principle #4 - Making Servers Easier to Deploy and Use

As we introduce more sophisticated features in xSeries servers, we know the importance of

- IBM LANClient Control Manager ™ (LCCM) — LCCM is an automated, remote software

Guiding Principles Delivered

OnForever Low-cost Enterprise Driving Industry

! Active Diagnostics ! 8-node MSCS ! Common Diagnostic ! Asset ID™

! Capacity Manager Connection ! InfiniBand I/O ! Light Path

Table 2. OnForever technology track record

IBM xSeries Technology Agenda

Figure 1. OnForever Active Scalability

Memory Subsystem Enhancements

I/O Subsystem Enhancements 9

InfiniBand Architecture. InfiniBand is a robust new industry-standard design for a high-speed,

Enterprise Storage Solutions

1999 2000 2001/2002 2002/2003

Hard disk drive

Table 3. Progress of storage infrastructure technology

Designing Subsystems with I/O Bandwidth to Match Increasing Storage

Innovative Extensions to RAID Standards

Storage Area Networks

Management. SANs enable implementation of advanced management functions with improved

IBM Fibre Array Storage Technology (FAStT)

IBM Enterprise Storage Server (ESS) 12

Redundancy within ESS provides continuous availability. It is packaged in one or more

IBM Enterprise System Connectivity (ESCON)

Netfinity Web Server Accelerator

PFA-enabled Features IBM ^ xSeries Servers

Voltage Regulator Modules (VRMs) Yes

Power supplies Yes

Software (via IBM Director Software Rejuvenation) Yes

Table 4. PFA usage in xSeries servers

All xSeries servers include LED status indicators on the

Software Rejuvenation. Software rejuvenation is a means of preventing software-related

IBM Director with Universal Manageability Services

Universal Manageability Services . UM Services is a set of services that functions as a single

Advanced IBM analytical techniques allow IBM Director software rejuvenation to be

When software rejuvenation is invoked within a clustered environment, cluster management

Technology-enabled Service and Support

Quick Response When You Need It

! Specific cost of downtime.

Electronic Solution Assurance Review (eSAR). xSeries eSAR is a breakthrough artificial

The xSeries technology agenda—leveraging proven IBM technologies to bring enterprise

© IBM Corporation 2001

IBM Server Group