Leadership enterprise server with significantly lower cost of ownership in a highly available and
expandable, rack-dense, 1U dual-socket server
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The integrated ServeRAID-BR10i controller offers hardware RAID-0/1/1E support. The controller
provides data transfer speeds of up to 3Gbps6 per SAS port on an 8-lane 2.5 Gbps PCIe card. It
connects to both SAS and SATA SSDs and tape drives.
The x3550 M2 also supports full RAID-0/1/10/1E/5/6 support using the optional ServeRAID-
MR10i card. It also offers higher performance, due to the 256MB battery-backed onboard
cache.
The x3550 M2 also supports hardware based full disk encryption with RAID-0/1/10/1E/5/6
support using the optional ServeRAID-MR10is card.
For external storage, the ServeRAID MR10M controller enables connection to up to four IBM
System Storage EXP3000 SAS expansion units (48 HDDs total). It provides RAID-0/1/10/5/50
support and 256MB of onboard cache
Additional external storage is available.
HDD Storage Capacity The x3550 M2 offers a flexibility with up to six (6) 2.5” HDD bays; optimal price/performance
disk drives that provide ultimate drive density and allow you to scale up as your business grows.
• Support for six300GB hot swap SAS HDD — 1.8TB total internal SAS storage
• Support for six 300GB hot swap SATA HDD — 1.8TB total internal SATA storage (500GB
SATA HDD planned 3Q09)
• Support for solid-state drives (SSDs); 32GB or 50GB capacity deployable in all 6 HDD bays
32GB SSD – Slim FF (2.5”) HS HDD (SATA interface) or Simple Swap HDD
50GB SSD – Slim FF (2.5”) High IOPS Hot Swap HDD (SATA Interface) or Simple
Swap HDD
• High IO Performance
Up to 8X IOPS more than HDD (67/33% Read/Write OLTP transaction base mix)
Optimized for heavy mix of Read and Write operations such as transaction processing
Media Streaming, Surveillance, File Copy, Logging, Backup/Recovery, Business
Intelligence
• Lower Cost IOPS Performance
Yields better $/IOPS: lower capacity (GB) required to achieve higher IOPS
Utilizes Less power and heat than conventional disk drive
• Superior Uptime
3X the availability of mechanical drives with RAID-1
No moving parts to fail
Enterprise wear leveling to extend life even further
• Flexible Deployment with full OS Support
Traditional HDD form factor offerings
Supports Linux, Windows and VMware
2-5-inch drives not only require less space than 3.5-inch drives, they weigh less, consume half
the power, produce less noise, seek faster, and offer increased reliability.
The hot-swap SAS drives use the Converged Tray for interchangeability with other IBM System
x® systems. If you need more storage space, terabyte capacities are possible with external direct-
attach, NAS and SAN solutions.
The x3550 M2 provides two x16 (“by 16”) 8GBps PCIe (PCI Express) Gen 2 high performance
I/O slots help double the performance vs. the previous-generation x3550 for added long-term
investment protection. Each is capable of supporting x1/x4/x8 adapters at full speed. One slot is
full height, half length. The other is low profile. Each is convertible to one PCI-X/133 MHz using
the riser option. High-performance x16 Gen 2 slots are ideal for digital media, 2D graphics
environments
PCI Express is a high-performance, low-latency, next-generation serial I/O bus that is rapidly
6 Data transfer rates depend on many factors and are often less than the maximum possible.