HP ProLiant AMD-based 100-series G7 servers

Abstract

This technology brief describes the key technologies implemented in HP ProLiant 100-series G7

servers based on AMD™ processors. As of this writing, the AMD-based 100-series G7 server platform

is limited to the ProLiant DL165. A link to the QuickSpecs for this server is listed in the “For more

information” section at the end of this technology brief.

Introduction

The HP ProLiant DL165 G7 server platform is a high performance, low cost, ultra-dense rack server

node for compute and I/O intensive environments. Several key technologies are included:

 AMD Opteron™ eight- and twelve-core 6100 Series processors, including high efficiency (HE)

processor options

 Double Data Rate-3 (DDR3) memory DIMMs

 Lights-Out 100i (LO 100i) and management and deployment tools including SNMP management

agents and the Easy Setup CD

 Input/output (I/O) technologies such as PCIe generation 2 (PCIe 2.0) and faster Smart Array

controllers that incorporate common form factor components

 B110i software RAID with optional Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) Hot Plug

technology

 Common Slot power supplies to provide the required amount of power and improve power

efficiency

HP servers and balanced architecture

HP designs cost-competitive, power-efficient servers that use a balanced architecture to address

performance requirements and provide value.

HP servers achieve a balanced architecture through superior engineering of fundamental elements

such as mechanical infrastructure, power, cooling, processor, memory, IO devices, storage, boot,

networking, and interconnecting components. A balanced architecture includes the following:

 Compute capability, processor core count, cache size per processor, and processor socket count

 Low-latency processor-to-memory bandwidth commensurate with core count

 Memory footprint and capacity that maximizes bandwidth and capacity with power efficiency and

performance without compromising quality or reliability

 Application-appropriate I/O devices

 Closely-coupled and balanced processor-to-memory and processor-to-I/O ratios

 Mechanical design that ensures optimum levels of cooling, stability, and serviceability through

space-efficient, modular partitioning across the server

By designing a balanced architecture, HP ensures that all subsystems can be used effectively under a

broad range of applications and workloads. For example, increasing memory capacity

asymmetrically will not increase performance as effectively as distributing the same amount of

memory across processors and IO devices. Inefficient memory distribution yields diminishing returns

on power consumption and cost. A virtual machine (VM), for example, benefits from memory closely

coupled to the processor responsible for that VM. Furthermore, a server needs to have appropriate

levels of I/O bandwidth and CPU capabilities to ensure that memory can be used effectively by every

VM.