HP ProLiant Intel-based 100-series G6 servers

 Closely-cou

pled 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.

Intel Xeon 5500 Series processor technology

Some ProLiant Intel-based 100-series G6 servers contain the Xeon 5500 Series processors. The

processors include four cores, an integrated memory controller, and Intel QuickPath technology to

boost bandwidth between processors, memory, and I/O subsystems. Three memory channels from

each integrated memory controller to its dedicated memory provide a total bandwidth of 32 GB/s.

The Xeon 5500 Series Nehalem microarchitecture is built on hafnium-based, 45 nanometer high-k

metal gate silicon technology to reduce electrical leakage. The processors support distributed shared

memory, Intel Hyper-Threading technology, and Intel Turbo Boost Technology with Intelligent Power

Technology.

Multi-level caches

Xeon 5500 Series processors have a three-level cache hierarchy (Figure 1):

 An on-core, 64 kB, Level 1 cache, split into two 32 kB caches: one for data and one for instructions

 256-kB, Level 2 cache for each core to reduce latency

 A Level 3 cache of up to 8 MB shared by all cores

1 For additional information about Intel processors, see the HP technology brief titled AMD Opteron™ and Intel® Xeon®

x86 processors in industry-standard servers

”:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/C02731435/C02731435.pdf.