Specifications

racking
The HP Server rp8400 provides industry-leading performance density and availability in a racked
configuration. At 17 EIA units (29.75 inches) each, two rp8400 servers can be mounted into a
single HP two-meter cabinet, with 7 EIA units of extra space for mounting external peripherals.
The rp8400’s industrial design and packaging allow easy and quick access to all of the system’s
components. The most frequently handled removable-media devices and disks are directly
accessible at the system’s front. Removing the front bezel allows complete servicing of hot-swap
fans, hot-swap power supplies, and PCI power supplies. At the rear, core I/O and more hot-swap
fans are directly accessible.
For access to all other components, the rack-mounted rp8400 comes with rack slides. These
enable it to slide forward out of the cabinet for servicing of internal components such as fans,
cell boards, and I/O cards—even while the system is still operating.
The slides also allow for servicing or replacement of any FRU (field replaceable unit) without
removing the chassis from the cabinet. In fact, you can access and remove any FRU within
15 minutes or less. This design minimizes the downtime associated with system upgrades in
the rare event of a component failure.
Also included with every rack-mounted rp8400 is a cable management arm (CMA). The CMA
neatly secures data cables and prevents them from becoming entangled while the system is being
serviced.
ballast kits
For stability during servicing, ballast kits are used on HP cabinets in which the rp8400 is installed.
Every rp8400 shipped to customers, excluding pedestal models, includes a ballast kit. The ballast
easily attaches to the rear anti-tip foot that comes standard with every HP Rack System cabinet.
Use of the rp8400 ballast kit is mandatory for safety and for warranty validation, and the kit
should be installed immediately.
third-party racks
HP servers are designed to maximize performance density when installed into HP system cabinets.
Moreover, HP system cabinets maintain the high level of safety and reliability that customers have
come to expect. Although HP strongly recommends racking the rp8400 in HP cabinets, we
recognize that some customer circumstances may prohibit this. So HP has developed guidelines
that enable safe, reliable HP server installations in third-party cabinets. Because of the wide
variety of cabinets in the marketplace, it is extremely important that the guidelines be followed
explicitly. (See chapter 4 in the September 2001 or later version of the HP Server Configuration
Guide for the racking guidelines.)
nPartitions
The HP Server rp8400 offers the same mainframe-style partitioning capability introduced in the
HP Superdome server. When coupled with the HP-UX operating environment, partitions in the
rp8400 allow a single system to be logically divided into two independent systems within the
same server.
Partitions in the rp8400 are referred to as nPartitions; the “n” indicates that a partition actually
has a wide number of functions that it can perform. These nPartitions provide a degree of isolation
that can be utilized to consolidate several applications on a single server, give flexibility in
resource management, and deliver improved availability and scalability.
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