Product guide

Leadership enterprise server with significantly lower cost of ownership in a highly available and
expandable, rack-dense, 1U dual-socket server
Please see the Legal Information section for important notices and information.
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Similarly, hot-swap/redundant HDDs, fan modules and power supplies, as well as online
mirrored memory, mean greater system uptime while these components are being serviced.
• New toolless slides ship with the server, together with a Cable Management Arm (CMA),
that allows the rack server to easily slide into place
• IBM Thermal Diagnostics allows the administrator to evaluate thermal data on the server
without taking the hardware offline. This can provide greater server uptime.
• The drop-down light path diagnostics panel and individual light path LEDs quickly lead the
technician to failed (or failing) components. This simplifies servicing, speeds up problem
resolution and helps improve network availability.
• Integrated 3Gbps or 6 Gbps RAID controller to enhances system availability and data
protection without using a valuable PCIe slot.
• IPMI 2.0 supports highly secure remote system power control using data encryption. This
allows an administrator to restart a server without having to visit it in person, saving travel time
and getting the server back up and running quickly and securely. It also adds new features to
those provided by IPMI 1.5, including VLAN support, Serial over LAN, enhanced
authentication and encryption algorithms (RMCP+, SHA-1, AES) and a firmware firewall.
• Altitude- and temperature-controlled fans adjust to compensate for changing thermal
characteristics. At the lower speeds they draw less power and suffer less wear. Equally
important in a crowded data center, temperature-controlled fans produce less ambient noise in
the data center than if they were constantly running at full speed.
• The three-year (parts and labor) limited onsite warranty
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helps afford you peace of mind
and greater investment protection than a one-year warranty does.
Key Features
High-Performance Xeon 5500 Series Processors
The x3550 M2 supports up to two high-performance Intel Xeon 5500 Series processors, allowing
you to upgrade to a second processor as your business needs require. The x3550 M2 offers a
choice of processor clock rates, memory access speeds and energy efficiency, including:
• 95W four-core Xeon models X5550, X5560*, or X5570 running at 2.66, 2.8, or 293GHz,
respectively, with impressive performance/watt (23.75W per core; 6.4Gtbps QPI speed), 8MB
of L3 processor cache, 1333MHz memory access, and Intel Turbo Boost technology
• 60W four-core Xeon processor low-voltage models L5520 or L5530*, running at 2.26 or
2.40GHz, respectively, with low power draw and impressive performance/watt (only 15W per
core; 5.86Gtps QPI speed), and 8MB of shared L3 cache, 1066MHz memory access, and
Intel Turbo Boost technology
• 80W four-core Xeon processor models E5520, E5530, or E5540, running at 2.26, 2.4,
2.53GHz, respectively, with reduced power draw and impressive performance/watt (only 20W
per core; 5.86Gtps QPI speed), 8MB of L3 processor cache, 1066MHz memory access, and
Intel Turbo Boost technology
• 80W four-core Xeon processor models E5504 or E5506, running at 2.0 or 2.13GHz,
respectively, with reduced power draw and impressive performance/watt (only 20W per core;
4.8Gtps QPI speed), 4MB of L3 processor cache, and 800MHz memory access
• 80W two-core Xeon processor model E5502, running at 1.86GHz, with reduced power draw
(40W per core; 4.8Gtps QPI speed), 4MB of L3 processor cache and 800MHz memory
access
* Configure-to-order only.
With the Xeon 5500 Series processors, Intel has diverged from its traditional Symmetric
Multiprocessing (SMP) architecture to a Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) architecture. The
Xeon 5500 processors are connected through a serial coherency link called QuickPath
Interconnect (QPI). QPI is capable of 6.4, 5.6 or 4.8 GT/s (gigatransfers per second), depending
on the processor model.
Two-core Xeon processors contain two complete processor cores; four-core processors,
similarly, contain four cores. Some processors contain one unified cache shared by all cores,
while other processors have multiple independent caches (one per pair of cores). The shared
cache is dynamically allocated between the cores as needed. The multiple cores appear to
software as multiple physical processors. The dual-core processors offer considerably higher
performance than a same-speed Xeon processor with a single core. Likewise, four-core
processors offer considerably higher performance than a same-speed Xeon processor with dual
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For terms and conditions or copies of the IBM Statement of Limited Warranty, call 800-772-2227 in the U.S. In Canada call 800-
426-2255. Telephone support may be subject to additional charges. For warranties including onsite labor, a technician is sent after
IBM attempts to resolve the problem remotely. International warranty service is available in any country in which this product is
sold.