Selecting the Servers

Selecting the Servers
This section contains descriptions of the IBM PC Server 325, PC Server 330, Netfinity 5000, Netfinity 5500, Netfinity 5500 M10, Netfinity 7000, and Netfinity 7000 M10 models.
This section also contains optional-device information and configuration tips for these systems.

To help you determine the server requirements for your shared-disk cluster, consider the following:

•  How much space is required?
   You can reduce the amount of floor space required for the cluster by using rack-mountable hardware.  IBM offers industry-standard rack enclosures that can accommodate multiple servers and multiple  storage enclosures. IBM also offers rack-ready Netfinity and PC Server models.

•  How much distance is allowed between the clustered servers?
   The allowable distance between the clustered servers depends upon the type of IBM RAID controller and cabling being used.
  •  The recently announced Netfinity fibre-channel products, such as the IBM Netfinity Fibre Channel  RAID Controller, support data transfer speeds of up to 100 MB/sec at a maximum cable length or  distance of up to 10 kilometers (6 miles).
  •  The SCSI-3 compliant RAID controllers, such as the IBM Netfinity ServeRAID-3H Ultra2 SCSI  Adapter and the IBM Netfinity Fibre Channel RAID Controller, default to low voltage differential  (LVD) signaling.
     These configurations can use any external cable lengths offered by IBM for a clustered environment.
  •  The SCSI-2 compliant RAID controllers, such as the IBM ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter, are  limited to a maximum of 2 meters of cable to operate at UltraSCSI speeds (40MB/sec), or a  maximum of 6 meters of cable to operate at Fast SCSI speeds (20 MB/sec).

•  How much local disk storage is required in each server?
   Each server requires a minimum of one local hard disk drive with a capacity large enough to store the  operating system and shared-disk clustering software.
   However, since one of the primary objectives of shared-disk clusters is increased availability, you should  consider installing more than one hard disk drive in each server and configuring the drives into redundant array  of independent disks (RAID) level-1 or RAID level-5 arrays.
   The maximum local disk storage that you can use will depend on the server models, hard disk drives, and RAID level that you select.

•  How many PCI expansion slots are required?
   The shared-disk cluster requires two or three PCI expansion slots in each server: one for the  ServeRAID or fibre-channel adapter, one for the 100/10 or 10/100 PCI EtherJet adapter (the cluster's  heartbeat), and one for the communications adapter that connects each server to the public network.

   All of the Netfinity and PC Server models have a minimum of five PCI expansion slots.
   In addition, some models have an integrated Ethernet controller, which you can use to connect the servers to the  public network.

•  How much system memory is required in each server?
   The amount of system memory required to maintain performance depends on the type of application  software running on the servers and the type of data being stored on the shared disks.
   The amount of system memory that you can install depends on the server model. The PC Server 325  and 330 Pentium® II 233, 266, and 300 MHz models support up to 512 MB of ECC system memory,  the PC Server 325 and 330 Pentium® II 333 MHz models, the PC Server 330 Pentium® Pro model, and  all Netfinity 5000 and 5500 Pentium® II models support up to 1 GB of ECC system memory, all Netfinity  5500 M10 Pentium® II Xeon™ models support up to 2 GB of ECC system memory, all Netfinity 7000  Pentium® Pro models support up to 4 GB of ECC system memory, and, all Netfinity 7000 M10 Pentium®  II Xeon™ models support up to 8 GB of ECC system memory.

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