HP ProLiant SL4500 server series overview

Technical white paper| HP ProLiant SL4500 server series
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HP SmartCache
Big Data applications with high transaction rates create a challenge when you’re trying to control costs and meet
performance goals. Large data sets mean that you need substantial storage capacity, making HDDs the economical and
reliable choice even though they are slower than SSDs. Data requiring high accessibility is best addressed with very low
latency SDDs, although their cost-per-GB is more than HDDs.
HP SmartCache technology converges solid-state and hard drive technologies with intelligent control to offer high
performance and high capacity without incurring the cost burden of an all-SSD configuration. By intelligently placing data in
lower latency SSDs so that responses to future requests for that data can occur much quicker, SSDs and HDDs can be
combined to meet economical and performance goals even in Big Data environments.
Power supplies, cooling, and power management
The critical nature of Big Data processing systems demands power and cooling components that are robust, redundant, and
fully manageable while offering efficient operation. The HP ProLiant SL4500 server series uses up to four HP Common Slot
(CS) Power Supplies (750W or 1200W). For tool-less hot-swap removal and installation, you can configure the power
supplies for N + 1 and N + N redundancy. This system uses HP Platinum Plus hot plug power supplies operating at up to
94% power efficiency, reducing power requirements by up to 60W per server. HP Common Slot Platinum Plus power
supplies also enable HP Power Discovery Services, which help manage infrastructure topology while reducing data center
outages. Five fan modules provide cooling and, like the power supplies, are hot swappable from the rear (Figure 7).
Figure 7. HP ProLiant SL4500 server rear panel access of power supplies and cooling fans.
The management module provides a centralized connectivity point for managing the server node(s), thereby reducing
cabling. Server management occurs over the separate iLO network. If the management module fails, it does not affect
normal data flow or node operation.
The management module also provides connectivity for the SL Advanced Power Manager (APM), an optional rack level
solution that allows you to monitor and control power to individual nodes in a multi-node SL4500 chassis. Since the nodes
in a multi-node chassis share power supplies to optimize power efficiency, using switched power distribution units (PDUs) to
turn off the power supplies in a chassis will result in powering down all nodes in that chassis. The SL APM solves this by
allowing you to remotely turn on/off DC power to the individual node motherboards, allowing a node to be serviced without
taking down adjacent nodes.
HP CS Power Supplies (4)
Dual-fan modules (5)
(5)
Management
module
SL APM
connector
iLO network connector