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System x 236    

X236 Visual Tour

X236 Brochure

Configuration and Options Guide

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Build your X236 with the Links Below

• Add Memory

• Add 2nd Processor

• Add ServerRaid

• Add HotSwap Drives

• Add Tape or CDRW

• Add Rack Kit

• Operating System Support

• Upgrade Warranty

• Add Remote Technical support

The x236 supports up to 16GB of memory in eight DIMM slots. It uses PC2-3200 registered double data rate II (DDR II) two-way interleaved memory (operating at 400MHz) for faster access, and supports optional Chipkill ECC technology, for up to 16X better error correction than standard ECC memory. PC2-3200 (DDR2-400) memory provides up to 20% greater memory

• Memory is interleaved, meaning it must be populated two DIMMs at a time with the same size DIMM.
• 8 DIMM Sockets 2 used with non Chipkill memory standard 6 open
• Chipkillâ„¢ memory provides for the detection and correction of most multi-bit memory errors that can keep the server up and running while taking the inoperative memory offline (when using Chipkill memory)
• All supported DIMMs can coexist in the same system however Chipkillâ„¢ function is only active when Chipkill DIMMs are used
• All models require optional Chipkill-enabled DIMMs for Chipkill protection. The DIMMs shipped with the systems are not Chipkill-enabled. Chipkill memory is designed to detect and correct single- and multibit errors.

 The x236 supports up to two high-performance Intel Xeon processors, allowing customers to upgrade to a second processor as business needs require.
The x236 offers a choice of processor speeds:
2.8, 3.0, 3.2, 3.4 or 3.6GHz Xeon processor with 64-bit extensions, an 800MHz FSB, 1MB of
L2 processor cache and Hyper-Threading Technology Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T) 64-bit extensions allow the Xeon processor to use large memory addressing when running with a 64-bit operating system. This in turn lets individual software processes directly access more than 4GB of RAM, which was the limit of 32-bit addressing. This can result in much higher performance for certain kinds of programs, such as database management and CAD. Additional registers and instructions (SSE3) can further boost performance for applications written to use them. Customers should contact their software provider to determine their software support for EM64T.

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Ultra320 SCSI Controller
The integrated dual-channel Ultra320 SCSI controller (Adaptec 7902) allows speeds of up to 320MB per second across the SCSI bus and supports up to nine internal Ultra320 SCSI LVD (low-voltage differential) drives with integrated RAID-0/1/10 support. The low-cost optional ServeRAID-7k battery/cache daughter card enables the integrated ServeRAID-7k SCSI controller.

All optional IBM ServeRAID SCSI controllers increase the RAID support to nine different levels (0/00/1/10/1E/1E0/5/50/5EE). Supported controllers include:
ServeRAID-7k — Daughter card containing 256MB battery-backed cache for integrated Ultra320 SCSI RAID controller
ServeRAID-6M — Ultra320, 2-channel, 256MB battery-backed cache, 133MHz PCI-X
ServeRAID-6M — Ultra320, 2-channel, 128MB battery-backed cache, 133MHz PCI-X
(Note: The ServeRAID-7k daughter card does not require an adapter slot. It uses a dedicated slot on the motherboard. The ServeRAID-6M controllers must be installed in slot 4 or slot 6.)

Each of these optional controllers offers improved performance over the integrated ServeRAID-7e controller, due to onboard dedicated processors and cache. The ServeRAID-6M controllers offer clustering and failover capabilities not available with the ServeRAID-7k, as well as increased performance. Also, the IBM Ultra320 SCSI Controller is a lower-cost, non-RAID,2-channel SCSI controller, with one external port. It is intended for use with an external tape drive. The ServeRAID-6M controllers support external SCSI expansion via the IBM EXP400 Storage Expansion Unit. (Using the optional External SCSI Interface Kit 24P7973 gives the built-in controller and the ServeRAID-7k controllers external access as well. The external bracket consumes a slot.) Each EXP400 supports up to 2.055TB of external Ultra320 SCSI storage.

 Large Disk Storage Capacity
The x236 offers a choice of disk storage, supporting up to six (standard) or nine (optional, using the 3-Pack Ultra320 Hot-Swap Expansion Kit) internal hot-swap SCSI HDDs: Ultra320, 10,000 RPMs — 36.4, 73.4 or 146.8GB (1.32TB maximum) Ultra320, 15,000 RPMs — 36.4 or 73.4GB (660.6GB) The Ultra320 SCSI hot-swap drives use the Converged Tray for interchangeability with other xSeries systems. If the customer needs more storage space, terabyte capacities are possible with external IBM ServeRAID SCSI or FAStT Fibre Channel solutions.

Hard Drive Compatibility list

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The x236 as shipped contains 10 drive bays. Six bays are hot-swap-capable. This enables up to six slim-high (1") 3.5" drives to be installed for a total hot-swap Ultra320 SCSI disk capacity of 880.8GB. In addition to the six 3.5" hot-swap hard disk drive bays, there are two 5.25" hot-swap media bays. These half-high bays can support two 5.25" half-high tape drives, two 3.5" half-high tape drives (which ship with brackets for installing them in 5.25" bays) or one full-high 5.25" tape drive. A 24X11 speed IDE CD-ROM drive and 1.44MB diskette drive are standard in the other two bays. If the customer requires more than six 3.5" HDDs, the optional 3-Pack Ultra320 Hot-Swap Expansion Kit may be used to convert the two 5.25" half-high bays in to three 3.5" slim-high hot-swap bays (for a total of 11 drive bays in all). These 3.5" bays can accept three hot-swap SCSI HDDs that use the Converged Tray, for compatibility with other xSeries servers. (3.5" tape drives are not supported in the 3-Pack kit.) Using the bays for HDDs provides a total of nine hot-swap Ultra320 SCSI bays, for a maximum HDD capacity of up to 1.32TB (9 x 146.8GB)..

 64-bit High-Speed Active PCI-X and PCI-E Adapter Slots
The x236 has six available adapter slots. Slot 6 is a 133MHz Active PCI-X slot that supports hot-adding and hot-swapping of 133MHz 64-bit and 32-bit PCI-X adapters, as well as older 66MHz and 33MHz PCI adapters. Slots 4 and 5 are 100MHz PCI-X slot, meaning that they support 133MHz 64-bit and 32-bit PCI-X adapters (operating at a maximum speed of 100MHz), as well as older 66MHz and 33MHz PCI adapters. Slots 2 and 3 are new 64-bit PCI-Express (PCI-E x4) slots, capable of supporting x1/x4 PCI-E adapters at full speed. Slot 1 is a 32-bit 33MHz standard PCI slot. PCI-Express is a high-performance, low-latency, next-generation serial I/O bus. Over time it will replace today's parallel PCI and PCI-X buses, which will soon approach their growth limits. For example, a x4 ("by 4") PCI-E adapter offers approximately double the maximum throughput of a 133MHz PCI-X adapter10. (A x1 adapter offers throughput similar to a 64-bit 66MHz PCI-X slot.) Because the Ultra320 SCSI, ServeRAID-7e and ServeRAID-7k, dual Gigabit Ethernet, systems management and video controllers are integrated onto the system board, the six available adapter slots offer customers a wide degree of latitude in expansion options.
 

• PFA for system fans
• Web-based out-of-band control
• Windows "blue screen" capture
• Remote virtual floppy and CD-ROM
• High-speed remote redirection of PCI video, keyboard and mouse
• Dedicated systems management 10/100Mbps Ethernet port
• SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) support

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