Specifications

access to internal peripheral bay
The first core I/O card enables half of the rp8400 peripheral bay, which includes one removable-
media and two low-profile disks. The second core I/O card enables the remaining internal
peripherals, two disks, and one removable-media bay. Customers who require access to more
than two internal disks or more than one removable-media slot will need the second core I/O card
and a minimum of two cell boards.
internal peripheral bay
The rp8400 internal peripheral bay is located at the top front of the system chassis. The
peripheral bay holds up to four low-profile hot-plug disks and two hot-plug removable-media
devices.
Each rp8400 core I/O card contains two dual-channel SCSI controller chips that support the SCSI
devices in the internal peripheral bay. Each core I/O card supports two internal disks and one
removable-media device, each on a dedicated 40-MB/s SCSI channel. If use of more than two
internal disks or one removable-media device is needed, the rp8400 will require both core I/O
cards. This architecture also provides an added degree of availability in that full disk mirroring is
supported across independent buses, controllers, core I/O cards, and master I/O controller chips.
hot-plug disk drives
The rp8400 holds four embedded SCSI disks, which are accessible from the front of the server.
These are hot-plug disks, so they can be removed and inserted while the rp8400 continues to
operate. Three disk sizes are currently supported: 18-GB, 36-GB, and 73-GB.
removable-media bays
The rp8400 contains two removable-media bays, which support either a DVD-ROM or DDS-4 DAT
drive. Access to these devices is also from the front. The DVD-ROM drive provides enhanced
features while preserving backward read compatibility with CD-ROM drives. Data transfer rates of
up to 6.75 MB/s are achieved with the DVD format; 4.8 MB/s can be achieved using the CD-R
format. The DDS-4 drive has a maximum storage capacity of 40 GB, with a peak transfer rate of
21.6 GB/hour (compressed).
A dedicated SCSI bus supports each removable-media bay. This configuration allows for either
the DVD or DAT drive to be hot-plugged without interrupting server operation.
I/O configuration
The following table summarizes the configuration rules for the use of I/O slots and internal
guidelines
peripherals in the rp8400.
minimum requirements
minimum number minimum number
configuration
of cells of core I/O cards
>8 I/O card slots
2 1
>2 internal disks
2 2
2 internal removable-media devices
2 2
2 partitions
2 2
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