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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Disk Controllers
All x3550 M2 models include an integrated ServeRAID-BR10i, ServeRAID-M5014 or
ServerRAID-M5015 SAS/SATA controller (model-dependent) to enhance system availability and
data protection without using a PCIe slot.
The 6Gbps ServeRAID-M5015 SAS/SATA controller offers enhanced performance with 512MB
of cache memory (optional battery) and support for RAID-0/1/10/5/50. (Optional RAID-6/60 with
SED.)
The 6Gbps ServeRAID-M5014 SAS/SATA controller offers enhanced performance with 256MB
of cache memory (optional battery) and support for RAID-0/1/10/5/50. (Optional RAID-6/60 with
SED.)
The ServeRAID-BR10i controller offers hardware RAID-0/1/1E support. The controller provides
data transfer speeds of up to 3Gbps
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.
For external storage, the ServeRAID-MR10M controller enables connection to up to four IBM
System Storage EXP3000 SAS expansion units (48 HDDs total). It provides RAID-0/1/10/5/50
support and 256MB of onboard cache
Large Storage Capacity
The x3550 M2 offers flexibility with six 2.5” HDD bays, supporting high-performance drives that
provide drive density/high reliability and allow you to scale up as your business grows.
2.5-inch Hot-Swap SAS
• 7,200 RPMs — 500GB (3.0TB maximum capacity)
• 10,000 RPMs — 73.4, 146.8, 300, or 500GB (3.0TB maximum)
• 15,000 RPMs — 73.4 or 146.8GB (880.8.GB maximum)
2.5-inch Hot-Swap SATA
• 7,200 RPMs — 160 or 500GB (3.0TB maximum)
• 10,000 RPMs — 300GB (1.8TB maximum)
2.5-inch Hot-Swap or Simple-Swap SSDs
• 50GB High IOPS (300GB maximum)
High I/O Performance
– Offers up to 8X more IOPS than HDDs (67/33% read/write OLTP transaction base mix)
– Optimized for heavy mix of read and write operations, such as transaction processing,
media streaming, surveillance, file copy, logging, backup/recovery, and business
Intelligence
Lower-Cost IOPS Performance
– Yields better $/IOPS: lower capacity (GB) required to achieve higher IOPS
– Utilizes less energy and heat than conventional disk drive
Superior Uptime
– 3X the availability of mechanical disk drives
– No moving parts to fail
– Enterprise wear-leveling to extend life even further
Flexible Deployment with full OS Support
– Traditional HDD form factor offerings
– Supports Linux, Windows and VMware
2-5-inch HDDs not only require less space than 3.5-inch drives, they weigh less, consume half
the power, produce less noise, seek faster, and offer increased reliability.
The hot-swap SAS drives use the Converged Tray for interchangeability with other IBM System
x
®
systems. If you need more storage space, terabyte capacities are possible with external IBM
System Storage direct-attach, NAS and SAN offerings.
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Data transfer rates depend on many factors and are often less than the maximum possible.