Communicator e3000 MPE/iX Release 7.5 (Software Release C.75.00) (30216-90336)

Chapter 2

Announcements

MPE/iX Release 7.5 Features

2 Announcements

MPE/iX Release 7.5 Features

MPE/iX Release 7.5 is designed to further enhance our HP e3000 product offering that capitalizes on the PCI

architecture of the A- and N-Class systems running MPE/iX. These enhancements provide additional

functionality, increased performance and connectivity advancements

MPE/iX Release 7.5 enables the new A- and N-Class systems to higher speed and performance as provided by

the new PA-8700 processors. Further, this release provides new functionality to these systems, such as Native

Fibre Channel Support, new storage devices, increases in user logging limits, ability to access LDEV 1 disk

space beyond 4 GB, and many other system enhancements designed to help MPE/iX and HP e3000 customers.

MPE/iX Release 7.5 features include the following:

Hardware Platform Enhancements

PA-8700 N-Class

For our mid-range and high-end customers, MPE/iX Release 7.5 supports up to a 4-way PA-8700-based

N-Class system. The PA- 8700-based N-Class has the same configuration limits, supported peripherals and

supported interface cards as on 7.0 Express 1. In addition, MPE/iX 7.5 provides many Fibre Channel features.

PA-8700 A-Class

For our low-end customers, MPE/iX Release 7.5 supports the PA-8700-based A-Class systems. The

PA-8700-based A-Class has the same configuration limits, supported peripherals and supported interface

cards as on 7.0 Express 1. In addition, MPE/iX 7.5 provides many Fibre Channel features.

External Storage and I/O Connectivity Enhancements

Native Fibre Channel Support

With MPE/iX Release 7.5, support has been introduced for the PCI 2GBs Fibre Channel Device Adapter card

(A6795A) on A- and N-Class HP e3000 systems. This adapter card provides the ability to connect a fibre

channel device directly to the HP e3000 system using fibre channel cables. The 2 GB/s FC card is supported

with the VA7100 and XP512 Fibre Channel disk arrays on MPE/iX 7.5. Prior to MPE/iX 7.5, HP e3000

systems supported connectivity to Fibre Channel devices through the HP SCSI-Fibre Channel Router, which

was connected to a PCI-SCSI adapter card. The router will continue to be available for those customers who

choose to remain on MPE/iX 7.0.

HP Surestore Tape Array 5300

The HP Surestore Tape Array 5300 is a 3U rack enclosure that will hold a variety of full-height and

half-height tape drives (DDS3, DDS4 and DLT8000), providing a truly flexible storage solution for use in a

variety of different data storage situations. This device is also supported on MPE/iX 7.0 Express 1.