Model 8234-EMA server

Some adapters must be placed in specific Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect-X (PCI-X), or PCI Express (PCIe) slots to function correctly or to perform optimally. Use this information to determine where to install PCI adapters.

PCI slot descriptions

Figure 1 shows the back view of the system unit with the location codes for the PCI and GX+ slots. Table 1 describes the slots. Each PCI-X DDR or PCIe is a separate PCI host bridge (PHB).

Figure 1. Back view of enclosure with location codes.

Back view of system unit with location codes

Table 1. PCI slot locations and descriptions
Slot #	Location code	Description	PHB	Adapter size
Slot 1	P1-C1	PCIe 8x	PCIe PHB0	long
Slot 2	P1-C2	PCIe 8x	PCIe PHB1	long
Slot 3	P1-C3	PCIe 8x	PCIe PHB2	long
Slot 4	P1-C4	PCI-X DDR, 64-bit, 266 MHz	PCI-X PHB0	long
Slot 5	P1-C5	PCI-X DDR, 64-bit, 266 MHz	PCI-X PHB1	long
Slot 6	P1-C6	PCIe 8x	PCIe PHB3	short
Slot 6	P1-C8	GX+	NA	NA
Slot 7	P1-C9	GX+	NA	NA
Slot 6 can be used for either a PCIe 8x adapter in connector P1-C6, or a GX+ adapter in connector P1-C8. Slot 7 (P1-C9) is not active on a 4-core system All slots support Enhanced Error Handling (EEH). This system uses generation 3, blind swap cassettes to manage the installation and removal of adapters. Cassettes can be installed and removed without removing the drawer from the rack. Because of the cassettes, internal SCSI connectors on PCI storage adapters are not supported for use in this system.

PCI and PCI-X expansion units

Each system unit supports one or two I/O expansion units, and two system units can be cabled together in a rack to form one system. The following I/O expansion configurations are possible:

A 4-core single, system unit can support one GX slot with six I/O expansion units attached to a RIO-2 adapter, or four I/O expansion units attached to a 12x Channel Adapter.
A 8-core single, system unit can support two 2 GX slots with twelve I/O expansion units attached to RIO-2 adapters, or eight I/O expansion units attached to 12x Channel Adapters.
A 16-core, two-unit system can support three GX slots with eighteen I/O expansion units attached to RIO-2 adapters, or twelve I/O expansion units attached to 12x Channel Adapters.

Note: For optimum performance, you might want to limit the total number of expansion units containing high bandwidth and extra-high bandwidth adapters. See Performance notes.

Expansion units 5796, 7311-D20, and 7314-G30 are supported on the system running in the AIX® or Linux® operating systems. Feature 5796 is the current feature code for the expansion unit that in the past was identified as a 7314-G30. For the remainder of this section, only the 5796 feature code is used when referring to that expansion unit.

Expansion unit 5796 is supported on the system running the IBM® i operating system.

The 5796 expansion units attach to a 12x Channel Adapter installed in one of the two GX slots available in each system unit.

The 7311-D20 expansion unit attaches to a RIO-2 adapter installed in one of the two GX slots available in each system unit.

7311-D20 I/O drawers with the RIO Ports to I/O Planar Riser Card (feature 6413) must be upgraded to the RIO-2 Ports to I/O Planar Riser Card (feature 6417) before the I/O drawers can be attached to a Power Systems™ server that has a POWER6™ processor.

Some I/O adapters supported in the 7311-D20 I/O drawer when attached to a System p5® server are not supported when the I/O drawer is attached to a server with POWER6 processors. Use the System Planning Tool to validate a configuration.

PCIe expansion units

PCIe expansion units 5802 and 5877 are supported on the system running AIX, IBM i, or Linux. The system can be configured to support up to two I/O expansion units per GX adapter.

Restriction: A 12X Channel Adapter that has one or two 5802 expansion units connected cannot have anything else connected to that adapter.

Note: For optimum performance, you might want to limit the total number of expansion units containing high bandwidth and extra-high bandwidth adapters. See Performance notes.

The expansion units attach to a 12x Channel Adapter installed in one or both of the two GX slots available in the system unit.

A 4-core system supports one 12x Channel Adapters, with up to two drawers attached.
A 8-core system supports two 12x Channel Adapters, with up to two drawers attached to each adapter for a total of four drawers.
A 16-core system supports three 12x Channel Adapters, with up to two drawers attached to each adapter for a total of six drawers.

PCI and PCI-X adapters

Use this information to identify slot placement priorities and the maximum number of specified adapters allowed. In the following table, adapters are sorted in descending order by priority. The highest priority adapters are first in the table.

Two system units can be cabled together in a rack to form one system. The maximum number of adapters that are allowed can vary depending on whether the system is configured as a 4-, 8-, or 16-core system. For example, if the maximum number of adapters allowed is 18 for a 4-core system, 28 for an 8-core system, and 48 for a 16-core system, those maximums are expressed in the table as 18/28/48 per system. If only one number is listed per system, it means the maximum number of adapters allowed is the same for all configurations of the system.

Table 2. Adapter slot priorities and maximums for PCI and PCI-X adapters
Feature	Description	System unit slot priority	Maximum number of adapters allowed
5721^**	10 Gb-SR Ethernet PCI-X 2.0 DDR Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5908**	PCI-X DDR 1.5 GB cache SAS RAID Adapter	4 and 5	1 per system unit (internal) 9/17/26 per system
5912^**	PCI-X DDR Dual-x4 3Gb SAS Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/48/48 per system
5902^**	PCI-X DDR Ext Dual-x4 3Gb SAS RAID Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system
5759^**	4 Gb Dual-Port Fibre Channel PCI-X 2.0 DDR Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system
5749^**	4 Gigabit Dual-Port Fibre Channel PCI-X 2.0 DDR Adapter	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
5776^**	PCI-X Disk Controller - 90 MB	None	i operating system only To determine maximum numbers, see the notes for this adapter in the Description column of Table 1 and the guidelines in Determining the best place to install your adapter. This adapter is supported in expansion units attached to the system unit, but not the system unit (internal).
5777^**	PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID Adapter	None	i operating system only To determine maximum numbers, see the notes for this adapter in the Description column of Table 1 and the guidelines in Determining the best place to install your adapter. This adapter is supported in expansion units attached to the system unit, but not the system unit (internal).
5782^**	PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID Adapter with Auxiliary Write Cache (double-wide)	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
5740^**	4-Port 10/100/1000 Base-TX PCI-X Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5707^*	2-Port Gigabit Ethernet-SX PCI-X Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system
5706^*	2-Port 10/100/1000 Base-TX Ethernet PCI-X Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system
5701^*	10/100/1000 Base-TX Ethernet PCI-X Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system When the adapter is used with the i operating system, see the i configuration notes in the Description column of Table 1 and the guidelines in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
5700^*	Gigabit Ethernet-SX PCI-X Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system When the adapter is used with the i operating system, see the i configuration notes in the Description column of Table 1 and the guidelines in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
5758^*	4 Gb Single-Port Fibre Channel PCI-X 2.0 DDR Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system
5713^*	1 Gigabit-TX iSCSI TOE PCI-X Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 26/50/76 per system
5736^*	PCI-X DDR 2.0 Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 2/26/48 per system
5583^*	5738 Controller with 574F Auxiliary Write Cache IOA	None	i operating system only To determine maximum numbers, see the notes for this adapter in the Description column of Table 1 and the guidelines in Determining the best place to install your adapter. This adapter is supported in expansion units attached to the system unit, but not the system unit (internal).
4764	PCI-X Cryptographic Coprocessor	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 16/16/32 per system
2738	2-Port USB PCI Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 8 per system
2849	POWER® GXT135P Graphics Accelerator with Digital Support	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 8 per system
2943	8-Port Asynchronous Adapter EIA-232/RS-422, PCI bus	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 18/26/42 per system
6805	PCI Two-Line WAN IOA	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
6808	PCI Quad Modem IOA	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
6809	PCI Quad Modem IOA	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
6833	PCI 2-Line WAN with Modem	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
6834	PCI 2-Line WAN with Modem	4, 5	i operating system only To determine the maximum numbers, see the description of this adapter in Table 1 and the guidelines provided in Determining the best place to install your adapter.
5723	2-Port EIA-232 Asynchronous PCI Adapter	4, 5	2 per system unit (internal) 18/26/42 per system
^High bandwidth adapter. See the Performance notes before installing this adapter. ^*Extra-high bandwidth adapter. See the Performance notes before installing this adapter.

PCIe adapters

Two system units can be cabled together in a rack to form one system. Each system unit has four PCIe slots.

Table 3. Adapter slot priorities and maximums for PCIe adapters
Feature	Description	System unit slot priority	Maximum number of adapters allowed
5732^**	10 Gigabit Ethernet-CX4 PCI Express™ Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5769^**	10 Gigabit Ethernet-SR PCI Express Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5772^**	10 Gigabit Ethernet-LR PCI Express Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5708^**	10 Gb FCoE PCIe Dual Port Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system If only one port is planned to be active in normal operation, the adapter is counted as an extra-high bandwidth adapter. If both ports are planned to be active, the adapter needs to be treated as two extra-high bandwidth adapters.
5735^**	8 Gigabit PCI Express Dual Port Fibre Channel Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 23/43/67 per system If only one port is planned to be active in normal operation, the adapter is counted as an extra-high bandwidth adapter. If both ports are planned to be active, the adapter needs to be treated as two extra-high bandwidth adapters.
5903^**	PCIe 380MB Cache Dual - x4 3Gb SAS RAID Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 23/43/67 per system
5901^**	PCIe Dual - x4 SAS Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 23/43/67 per system
5909^**	PCI Express x8 Ext Dual-x4 3Gb SAS Adapter and cable card	3	1 per system unit (internal) 1/1/2 per system
5911^**	SAS adapter for internal Split DASD option	3	1 per system unit (internal) 1/1/2 per system
5767^*	2-Port 10/100/1000 Base-TX Ethernet PCI Express Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5768^*	2-Port Gigabit Ethernet-SX PCI Express Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5717^*	4-Port 10/100/1000 Base-TX PCI Express Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 16/32/64 per system
5773^*	4 Gigabit PCI Express Single Port Fibre Channel Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 23/43/67 per system
5774^**	4 Gigabit PCI Express Dual Port Fibre Channel Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 23/43/67 per system
5785	4 Port Async EIA-232 PCIe Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 18/26/42 per system
5748	POWER GXT145 PCI Express Graphics Accelerator	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 8 per system
2728	4-Port USB PCIe Adapter	1, 2, 3, 6	4 per system unit (internal) 8 per system
^High bandwidth adapter. See the Performance notes before installing this adapter. ^*Extra-high bandwidth adapter. See the Performance notes before installing this adapter.

SAS cable cards

The following serial-attached SCSI (SAS) card is not a PCI adapters; however, it does occupy PCIe slot 3. This feature allows internal SAS disk slots in a system unit to be controlled by a PCI SAS controller adapter in the same enclosure. With this feature the connection to the internal SAS disk slots is transferred from the internal controller to a mini SAS 4x receptacle on the rear bulkhead of the enclosure at adapter slot location P1-C3. A second PCI slot is required to hold the SAS controller adapter.

Table 4. SAS cable cards
Feature	Description	System unit slot priority	Maximum number of SAS cable cards allowed
3651	External connection for the six internal SAS disk slots	3	1

For information about cabling these features, see Serial attached SCSI cable planning.

Performance notes

Use the information in this section to help determine the maximum number of adapters that can be placed in a system while still maintaining optimum performance.

Table 2 and Table 3 identify the slot placement priorities and the maximum number of specified adapters allowed for connectivity. However, for optimum performance, you might want to further limit the total number of high bandwidth and extra-high bandwidth adapters.

To achieve the best performance of extra-high bandwidth storage and Ethernet adapters, limit the number of expansion units to one per 12x Channel or RIO-2 adapter. Having more than one drawer on a 12x loop does not increase the I/O bandwidth but only increases the number of slots available.

The following tables provide guidelines on the maximum number of high bandwidth and extra-high bandwidth adapters you can use and still maintain optimum performance.

Note: Because of the many types of application workloads, these guidelines cannot cover all cases. The numbers in the following tables are suggestions for single types of adapters that are running exclusively. For systems with mixed adapter types or that have high aggregate bandwidth requirements, consult an IBM representative for additional guidelines.

Extra-high bandwidth storage adapters

Table 5. Maximum number of extra-high bandwidth storage adapters for best performance
System configuration	Adapters in system units including both PCI-X and PCIe slots	Adapters in I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8^***	Adapters in system units plus I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8^, ^**	Adapters in 5796, 5802, or 5877, I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C9^, ^*	System maximum ^***
4-core	6	3	6		6
8-core	6	6	6	4	10
16-core	12	6	12	8	20
^* The GX adapter in P1-C8 shares overall I/O bandwidth with the system unit's internal slots. ^ This configuration requires a GX Host Channel Adapter in P1-C9 for each 4U system unit and one or more 5796, 5802, or 5877, drawers per GX adapter. ^*If 5708 or 5735 adapters are used in an application with both ports active, each adapter counts as two extra-high bandwidth adapters. Slot P1-C9 is not active on a 4-core system

High bandwidth storage adapters

Table 6. Maximum number of high bandwidth storage adapters for best performance
System configuration	Adapters in system units including both PCI-X and PCIe slots	Adapters in I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8	Adapters in system units plus I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8^*	Adapters in 5796, 5802, or 5877, I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C9^**	System maximum
4-core	6	6	12		12
8-core	6	6	12	8	20
16-core	12	12	24	16	40
^* The GX adapter in P1-C8 shares overall I/O bandwidth with the system unit's internal slots. ^** This configuration requires a GX Host Channel Adapter in P1-C9 for each 4U system unit and one or more 5796, 5802, or 5877, drawers per GX adapter. Slot P1-C9 is not active on a 4-core system

Extra-high bandwidth Ethernet adapters

Table 7. Maximum number of extra-high bandwidth Ethernet adapters for best performance
System configuration	Adapters in system units including both PCI-X and PCIe slots	Adapters in I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8	Adapters in system units plus I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8^*	Adapters in I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C9	System maximum
4-core	2	2	2		2
8-core	4	4	4	4	4
16-core	8	8	8	8	8
^* The GX adapter in P1-C8 shares overall I/O bandwidth with the system unit's internal slots. For optimum performance, no more than one 10 Gb Ethernet port per two processors should be used in a system. If one 10 Gb Ethernet port is present per two processors, no other 10 Gb or 1 Gb ports should be used. If a 5708 adapter is used in an application with both ports active, the adapter counts as two extra-high bandwidth adapters. Slot P1-C9 is not active on a 4-core system

High bandwidth Ethernet adapters

Table 8. Maximum number of high bandwidth Ethernet adapters for best performance
System configuration	Adapters in system units including both PCI-X and PCIe slots	Adapters in I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8	Adapters in system units plus I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C8^*	Adapters in I/O expansion units connected to a GX adapter on slot P1-C9	System maximum
4-core	6	6	6		6
8-core	12	12	12	12	16
16-core	24	24	24	24	32
^* The GX adapter in P1-C8 shares overall I/O bandwidth with the system unit's internal slots. For optimum performance, no more than two 1 Gb Ethernet ports per processor should be used in a system. If two 1 Gb Ethernet ports are present per processor, no other 1 Gb or 10 Gb ports should be used. Slot P1-C9 is not active on a 4-core system