System BIOS

 

Intel® Server Board Set SE8500HW4

 

Table 39. Memory Hot Plug Support Under Different Memory Modes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memory Hot Plug Operation

Maximum

Maximum

Memory

Memory

 

 

 

Compatibility

Performance

Mirroring

RAID

 

 

Hot-add

Supported

 

Supported

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot-replace

 

 

Supported

Supported

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot-upgrade

 

 

 

Supported

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.1.1Sparing

Sparing allows for memory to be set aside to replace memory under use when a DIMMs correctable error count has reached a specified threshold. Unlike mirror or RAID configurations, spared memory configurations do not provide redundant copies of memory and the system cannot continue to operate when an uncorrectable error occurs.

DIMMs in the Intel® Server Board Set SE8500HW4 are installed in pairs, and are referred to as

abank, DIMM_1B and DIMM_1A form one bank, while DIMM_2B and DIMM_2A form another. A DIMM pair may consist of one rank or two ranks. When the memory mode is maximum performance or maximum compatibility, the BIOS Setup supports setting one rank aside to serve as a spare for each Memory Board. When the correctable error rate for a failing rank exceeds the error threshold for switching to spare, the contents of the failing rank are copied to the spare rank. At the completion of the copy, the failing rank is disabled and the spare rank is used in its place. The BIOS reports the failing rank with a SEL event, updates the DIMM error LED on the Memory Board, and sends memory RAS commands to the BMC to update the system memory state. The DIMMs with the failed rank are disabled on subsequent boots. The spare rank is no longer used for spare, but instead used as system memory.

When the BIOS Setup is configured for sparing, the largest rank is chosen to serve as the spare. This ensures that the contents of any failing rank will fit on the spare rank. The amount of available memory in the system is reduced by the size of the spare rank. If only one rank is available on a Memory Board, the system BIOS will not configure this rank as a spare.

Table 40. Memory Modes Supporting Sparing

Memory Mode

Support For

 

Sparing

Maxium Compatibility

Yes

 

 

Maxium Performance

Yes

 

 

Memory Mirroring

No

 

 

Memory RAID

No

 

 

10.1.2Maximum Compatibility

The maximum compatibility mode allows the most flexibility in installing DIMMs and Memory Boards and allows for Memory Boards to be hot added. This memory mode is one-way interleaved, allows sparing configuration, but results in the lowest performance of the supported configurations.

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Revision 1.0

 

Intel order number D22893-001