Datasheet

Intel
®
Xeon
®
Processor C5500/C3500 Series
February 2010 Datasheet, Volume 1
Order Number: 323103-001 409
Reliability, Availability, Serviceability (RAS)
Hot add/remove is the ability to add or remove a component without requiring the system to reboot.
There are two types of hot add/remove in Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor C5500/C3500 series:
• Physical Hot add/remove
This is the conventional hot plug of a physical component in the system.
• Logical Hot add/remove
Logical hot add/remove differs from physical hot add/remove by not requiring physical removal or
addition of a component. A component can be taken out of the system without the physically
removal. Similarly, a disabled component can be hot added to the system. Logical hot add/
remove enables dynamic partitioning, and allows resources to move in and out of a partition.
The Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor C5500/C3500 series supports both physical and logical hot add/remove
of various components in the system. These include:
• PCIe and IO Devices
Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor C5500/C3500 series-based platforms support PCIe and IO device hot
add/remove. This feature allows physical hot plug/removal of an PCIe device connected to the
IIO. In addition, physical hot plug/remove for other IO devices downstream to IIO may be
supported by downstream bridges. Hot plug of PCIe and IO devices are defined in the PCIe/PCI
specifications.
11.7.1 Hot Add/Remove Rules
1. The final system configuration after hot add/remove must not violate any of the topology rules.
2. Legacy bridge (PCH) itself cannot be hot added/removed from the IIO (no DMI hot plug support).
11.7.2 PCIe Hot Plug
PCIe hot plug is supported through the standard PCIe native hot plug. The Intel
®
Xeon
®
processor
C5500/C3500 series IIO only supports the sideband hot plug signals and does not support the inband
hot plug messages. The IIO contains a virtual pin port (VPP) that serially shifts in and out the
sideband PCIe hot plug signals. External platform logic is required to convert IIO serial stream to
parallel. The virtual pin port is implemented via a dedicated SMBus port as shown in Figure 80.
Summary of IIO PCIe hot plug support:
• Support for up to five hot plug slots selectable by BIOS.
• Support for serial mode hot plug only using smbus devices like PCA9555.
• Single SMBus is used to control hot plug slots.
• Support for CEM/SIOM/Cable form factors.
• Support MSI or ACPI paths for hot plug interrupts.
• IIO does not support inband hot plug messages on PCIe.
— The IIO does not issue them and the IIO discards them silently if received.
• A hot plug event cannot change the number of ports of the PCIe interface (i.e. bifurcation).