NEC 1080Xd manual Chipset and Crossbar Switch, Server Management

Each partition consists of a CELLV Board and a core PCIX unit. Multiple OS instances can run on different partitions independently. If a partition has at least one PCIX unit with basic I/O, the CELLV Boards and the PCIX units can be flexibly assigned to any partition.

The Service Processor manages the partitioning settings and configuration changes.

Chipset and Crossbar Switch

NEC developed a high-performance chipset and crossbar switch that is based on supercomputer mainframe technology. The crossbar switch connects the CELLV boards. The crossbar switch has a low latency as well as high data bandwidth. While comprising Cache Coherent Non-Uniform Memory Access (cc-NUMA) architecture, the system employs the chipset and crossbar switch technology in achieving near uniform high-speed memory access.

Server Management

The Service Processor supports many management functions compatible to the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI).

The system supports the following ACPI features:

!Configuration information tables interface from a platform.

!Software power off controls, etc.

The Service Processor also works as a management controller defined in IPMI. It supports the following IPMI features.

!Provides Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) information to System Management Services (SMS) running on the operating system.

!Monitors system power, fan speed, and temperature conditions.

!Monitors stall occurrences during the power-up sequence, OS loading, and normal running using a watchdog timer, etc.

The Service Processor provides the following management features:

!Error handling (error monitoring, logging, diagnostics, and reporting)

!System reset

!System configuration management

!Firmware update, etc.

The SMS running on a PC can control the above functions using the Service Processor’s system management LAN port, which can support TELNET, FTP, and SNMP protocol. With the combination of the Service Processor and the SystemGlobe/GlobalMaster software, the Express 5800/1080Xd supports automatic reconfiguration of partitions based on the conditions pre-defined in the SystemGlobe/GlobalMaster.

System Overview 1-11