Acer R910 User Manual

Acer Altos R910 Series

User’s Guide

Acer Altos R910 Series User’s Guide

Changes may be made periodically to the information in this publication without obligation to notify any person of such revision or changes. Such changes will be incorporated in new editions of this manual or supplementary documents and publications. This company makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Record the model number, serial number, purchase date, and place of purchase information in the space provided below. The serial number and model number are recorded on the label affixed to your server. All correspondence concerning your unit should include the serial number, model number, and purchase information.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Acer Incorporated.

Acer Altos R910

Model Name :

Part Number:

Purchase Date:

Place of Purchase:

Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Inc. Other company’s product names or trademarks are used herein for identification purposes only and belong to their respective companies.

iii

Notices

FCC notice

Class A equipment

This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at personal expense.

However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this device does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the device off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

• Increase the separation between the device and receiver

• Connect the device into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for help

Notice: Shielded cables

All connections to other computing devices must be made using shielded cables to maintain compliance with FCC regulations.

Notice: Peripheral devices

Only peripherals (input/output devices, terminals, printers, etc.) certified to comply with the Class A limits may be attached to this equipment. Operation with noncertified peripherals is likely to result in interference to radio and TV reception.

Caution! Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s authority, which is granted by the Federal Communications Commission, to operate this server.

Use conditions

This part complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

Notice Canadian users

This device does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the interference-causing equipment standard entitled “Digital Apparatus” ICES-003 of the Canadian Deparmment of Communications.

Laser compliance statement

The DVD-ROM drive in this server is a laser product. The optical drive’s classification label (shown below) is located on the drive.

CLASS 1 LASER PRODUCT CAUTION: INVISIBLE LASER RADIATION WHEN OPEN. AVOID EXPOSURE TO BEAM.

Important safety instructions

Read these instructions carefully. Save these instructions for future reference.

1 Follow all warnings and instructions marked on the product.

2 Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning. Do not use

liquid cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for cleaning.

3 Do not use this product near water.

4 Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand, or table. The product

may fall, causing serious damage to the product.

5 Slots and openings on the back or bottom side of the chassis are provided

for ventilation; to ensure reliable operation of the product and to protect it from overheating, these openings must not be blocked or covered. The openings should never be blocked by placing the product on a bed, sofa, rug, or other similar surface. This product should never be placed near or over a radiator or heat register, or in a built-in installation unless proper ventilation is provided.

6 This product should be operated from the type of power indicated on the

marking label. If you are not sure of the type of power available, consult your dealer or local power company.

7 Do not allow anything to rest on the power cord. Do not locate this

product where persons will walk on the cord.

8 If an extension cord is used with this product, make sure that the total

ampere rating of the equipment plugged into the extension cord does not exceed the extension cord ampere rating. Also, make sure that the total rating of all products plugged into the wall outlet does not exceed the fuse rating.

9 Never push objects of any kind into this product through the chassis slots as

they may touch dangerous voltage points or short out parts that could result in a fire or electric shock. Never spill liquid of any kind on the product.

10 Do not attempt to service this product yourself, as opening or removing

covers may expose you to dangerous voltage points or other risks. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel.

11 Unplug this product from the wall outlet and refer servicing to qualified

service personnel under the following conditions:

a When the power cord or plug is damaged or frayed

b If liquid has been spilled on the product

c If the product has been exposed to rain or water

d If the product does not operate normally when the operating

instructions are followed. Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating instructions since improper adjustment of other controls may result in damage and will often require extensive work by a qualified technician to restore the product to normal condition.

e If the product has been dropped or the chassis has been damaged

f If the product exhibits a distinct change in performance, indicating a

need for service.

12 Replace the battery with the same type as the product's battery we

recommend. Use of another battery type may present a risk of fire or explosion. Refer battery replacement to a qualified service technician.

13 Warning! Batteries may explode if not handled properly. Do not

disassemble or dispose of them in fire. Keep them away from children and dispose of used batteries promptly.

14 Use only the proper type of power supply cord set (provided in your

accessories box) for this unit. It should meet the following criteria:

• An IEC 320 C13 connector to plug into the power supply on the server.

• For North America or similar electrical distribution systems: UL listed/ CSA certified, 16/3 type SJT/SO, with NEMA 6-15P SPT-2, or equivalent attachment plug.

• For Europe or similar electrical distribution systems: VDE certified or HAR rated 250V, 3 x 1.0mm2 minimum conductor size, rather for no less than the product ratings.

• Maximum length is 14.76 feet (4.5 meters).

Notices iii

FCC notice iii Laser compliance statement iv

Important safety instructions v

1 System tour 1

Features summary 3 External and internal structure 7

Front bezel 7 Front panel 8 Rear panel 13 Internal components 16

System boards 17

Mainboard 17 SCSI backplane board 19 Hot-plug memory board 20

System jumpers 22

2 System setup 23

Setting up the system 25

Pre-installation requirements 25 Connecting peripherals 26 Turning on the system 27

Power-on problems 28 Configuring the system OS 29 Turning off the system 30

Contents

3 System upgrade 31

Installation precautions 33

ESD precautions 33

Pre-installation instructions 33

Post-installation instructions 34 Opening the server 35

Removing the front bezel 35

Installing the front bezel 36

Removing the top cover 36

Installing the top cover 37

Removing the CPU air baffle 38

Installing the CPU air baffle 39

Removing the center brace 40

Installing the center brace 41

viii

Removing a memory board air baffle 42 Installing a memory board air baffle 43

Configuring hot-pluggable components 44

Hard disk drives 45 Installing a HDD 46 System fan assembly 47 Power supply 49 Memory board 51 PCI card 55

Configuring cold-pluggable components 57

DVD drive 58

5.25-inch drive 60 Processor 62 Processor core VRMs 66 Memory board 69 DIMM modules 72 PCI card 76 ARMC/3 (optional) or BMC module 77

Configuring integrated SCSI hardware RAID components 79

RAID activation key 80 RAID cache 81 RAID BBU 83

4 BIOS setup 87

Introduction 89 System options menu 90 BIOS setup 96 Using the BIOS menus 98

Main 98 Processor 100 Memory 103 Devices 109 Server Management 117 Security 122 Save, Restore & Exit 124

Upgrading the BIOS 125

5 Troubleshooting 127

Troubleshooting 129

Resetting the system 129 Problems following initial system installation 129 First steps checklist 130 Hardware diagnostic testing 131

Verifying proper operation of key system lights 131 Specific problems and corrective actions 132

Appendix A: Acer Altos R910 rack

installation guide 141

Setting up the system rack 143

System rack installation 145 Vertical mounting hole pattern 146

Installing the system into the rack 147

Appendix B: Memory configuration options 155

Introduction 157 Installation and population order 158

Memory board installation order 158 DIMM module installation order 158 DIMM module population order 159

Memory modes 163

Maximum compatibility 164 Maximum performance 166 Memory sparing 168 Memory RAID 170 Memory mirroring 172

Appendix C: Integrated SCSI hardware RAID

configuration 175

Configuring the integrated SCSI hardware RAID 177

Index 179

1 System tour

The Acer Altos R910 is a rack optimized 64-bit Intel Xeon MP processor-based server system. The system features redundant memory, networking, hot-plug PCI slots, standard-based server management, and server-oriented embedded I/O. Remote monitoring and management functions are also included, providing a new level of user tools for server administration.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the system hardware, including illustrations and component identification.

Features summary

Listed below are the system’s key features:

Processor

• Supports one to four physical processors

• Dual-core Intel

• 64-bit Intel Xeon processors MP with 1 MB L2 cache

• 667 or 800 MHz front side bus

• Hyper-Threading Technology

• Extended Memory 64-bit Technology

• Demand-Based Switching for power savings

• Execute -Disable Bit for hardware support of security features

Chipset

• Intel E8501 chipset (north bridge)

• Support dual front side bus

• Support for hot-plug memory

• Intel IOP332 storage I/O processor

• Includes Intel XScale Technology works in conjunction with the LSI Logic 53C1030 Ultra320 SCSI controller to support optional integrated SCSI hardware RAID

• Intel 81801EB I/O Controller Hub 5 (south bridge)

Xeon™ processors 7000 sequence

Memory subsystem

• Supports up to 64GB of DDR2-400 MHz (PC2-3200) registered ECC memory modules

• Supports one to four hot-plug memory boards

• Each memory board supports:

- Four DIMM slots

- DDR2 channels with two DIMMs per channel

- Connection through x16 PCI-Express slots

1 System tour

• Memory reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features

• Memory mirroring

• Memory RAID

•Memory sparing

• Memory hot-plug

• x8 SDDC (Single Device Data Correction) for memory error detection and correction

Media storage

• One 5.25-inch device bay supports:

• AIT2 tape drive

• LTO-2 half-height tape drive

• Up to five hot-plug Ultra320 SCSI hard disk drives

SCSI controller

• LSI Logic 53C1030 LVD SCSI controller

• Dual independent Ultra320 SCSI interfaces (internal)

Integrated hardware RAID (optional)

• Supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, and 10

• Requires RAID activation key (iButton)

• Requires DDR2-400 registered ECC DIMM for RAID cache

• Supports RAID BBU (Battery Backup Unit). Available as an upgrade option.

Note: After installing the iButton and RAID cache DIMM, the system BIOS setup allows you to enable the hardware RAID solution. For detailed installation instructions, see “Configuring integrated SCSI hardware RAID components” on page 79.

You can also install a RAID BBU to improve fault tolerance by enhance by protecting data in the RAID cache in the event of power failure. For more information on how to install a RAID BBU, see “Installing the RAID BBU” on page 85.

Serial ATA port

• One SATA port (reserved for slim-type DVD drive)

Networking

• Broadcom BCM5704C Gigabit Ethernet Controller with dual ports

PCI I/O

• One hot-plug x8 PCI Express slot

• Three hot-plug x8 PCI Express slots (with x4 throughput)

• One hot-plug 133 MHz, 64-bit PCI-X slot

• Two non hot-plug 100 MHz, 64-bit PCI-X slots

Note: The PCI hot-plug function allows the removal of a standard PCI adapter from the system without stopping the software or powering down the unit.

Graphic interface

• ATI Radeon® 7000 video controller with 16MB SDRAM

Baseboard Management Controller

• Integrated Acer BMC module

• IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) 2.0 compliant

• Supports ARMC/3 (Acer Remote Management Card/3) (optional)

I/O ports

• Front

• VGA/monitor port

• Three USB 2.0 ports

•Rear

• Serial port

• External SCSI connector (optional)

• VGA/monitor port

• Two USB 2.0 ports

1 System tour

• Two Gigabit LAN ports (RJ-45)

• Server management port (RJ-45)

Operating system and software

• Operating system options:

• Microsoft

Windows® Server 2003, x64 Edition

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0, EM64T

•SUSE

Linux Enterprise Server 9.0

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.0, EM64T

• ASM (Acer Server Manager)

• Easy Build (includes SCSI RAID Configuration Utility)

Power supply

• Two 220-volts, 1470-watt hot-swap (1+1) redundant power supply modules

System fan

• Two hot-swap redundant system fan modules

• Two redundant (1+1) fans in each system fan module

1 Reserved for remote management of server. This requires installation of an ARMC/3. 2 For more information on how to install and use ASM and Easy Build utilities, refer

to the manual on the EasyBUILD DVD.

External and internal structure

Front bezel

The front bezel provides an interface for system management via status LED indicators. The status LEDs on the bezel mirrors the LEDs on the front panel, indicating HDD activity, LAN1 and LAN2, system status/ fault, power, and ID status. The bezel is detachable to allow access to the external drive bays, serial and USB connectors, LED indicators, and the power, reset, and system ID buttons. A summary of the indicators and components behind the bezel is given in the succeeding section.

Item Icon Component Item Icon Component

A HDD (hard disk

drive) activity indicator

B LAN 1 status

indicator

C LAN2 status

indicator

For details on how to remove the front bezel, see “Removing the front bezel” on page 35.

D Status/fault

indicator

EPower indicator

F System ID indicator

Front panel

Item Icon Component Item Icon Component

A DVD drive bay F6 Reset button

1 System tour

B 5.25-inch drive

bays

C VGA/monitor

port

D NMI button G Hot-swap system fan

E USB 2.0 ports H Hot-swap system fan

F1 HDD (hard disk

drive) activity indicator

F7 Power button

F8 System ID button

assembly eject button

modules

I Hot-swap system fan

assembly indicator *

Item Icon Component Item Icon Component

F2 LAN1 and LAN2

status indicator

F3 Status/fault

indicator

F4 Power indicator L Hot-plug HDD

F5 System ID

indicator

* The hot-swap system fan assembly indicator lights up amber when a fan module fails.

J Hot-plug HDDs

K Hot-plug HDD

activity indicator

carrier latch

Front panel control button functions

Below table lists the functions of the front panel control buttons.

Item Function

NMI button Puts the server in a halt-state for diagnostic purposes.

Reset button Press to reset the system.

Power button Press to turn the system power on and off.

System ID button Press to turn the system ID LED on and off.

Hot-plug HDD carrier latch

Hot-swap system fan eject button

Press to release the hot-plug HDD carrier lever.

Press to release the hot-swap system fan lever.

Front panel LED indicators

Below table lists the LED states on the front panel.

1 System tour

Item

A HDD

BLAN1,

LED indicator

activity indicator

LAN2 status indicator

Color Status Description

Green, on HDD is being initialized.

Green, blinking

Amber, on HDD or HDD slot failure.

Amber, slow blinking (~1 Hz)

Amber, fast blinking (~2.5 Hz)

Green, on Inactive No network access

Green, off Idle

Green, blinking

Active Network access

HDD is active.

A predictive HDD or HDD slot failure or rebuild is in process.

HDD rebuild is interrupted or rebuild on empty slot.

Item

C Status/

DPower

LED indicator

fault indicator

indicator

Color Status Description

Green, on Ready System booted and ready.

Green, blinking

Amber, on Critical

Amber, blinking

Green, off Power off System is not powered

Green, on Power on System has power

Green, off S4/S5 System in ACPI S4 or S5

Green, blinking

Degraded CPU or DIMM disabled

Critical power supply,

condition

Noncritical condition

S1 System in ACPI S1 state

blower, voltage, or temperature failure.

• Redundant power supply or blower failure.

• Non-critical blower, voltage, and temperature failure.

on.

applied to it.

state (power off).

(sleep mode).

E System ID

indicator

F Hot-swap

system fan module status indicator

Green, on S0 System in ACPI S0 state

(legacy power on).

Blue, on System identification is

active.

Blue, off System identification is

Amber, on Non-

critical condition

Amber, off Fan normal operation.

disabled.

Fan failure

1 System tour

Item

GHot-plug

LED indicator

HDD activity indicator

Color Status Description

Amber, flashing

Amber + Green, alternate flashing

Amber, flashing

Unlit • No HDD is installed.

HDD is active.

• HDD is powered on and rebuilding RAID.

• HDD is powered on and has a fault condition.

HDD is not powered on and has a fault condition.

• HDD is initiated but has no current activity.

Rear panel

Item Component Item Component

A Serial port G1, G2Hot-swap power supply

module status indicators

B1 - B7B1 Hot-plug PCI Express x8 slot

B2 Hot-plug PCI-X 133MHz slot B3 Hot-plug PCI Express x8 slot

(with x4 throughput) B4 Hot-plug PCI Express x8 slot

(with x4 throughput) B5 Hot-plug PCI Express x8 slot

(with x4 throughput) B6 PCI-X 100MHz slot B7 PCI-X 100MHz slot

C External SCSI connector

(optional)

D VGA/monitor port J System ID indicator

E USB 2.0 ports K Server management port

F Gigabit LAN ports (10/100/1000

Mbps)

* Reserved for remote management of server. This requires installation of an ARMC/3 (Acer remote management card/3).

H1, H2Hot-swap power supply

module DC input power connectors

I Sytem ID button

(RJ-45)

Rear panel LED indicators

Below table lists the LED states on the rear panel.

1 System tour

Item

A1 Hot-swap

A2 Fault

A3 DC OK

B System ID

LED indicator

power supply module status indicator

indicator

Function Color Description

Power good indicator

indicator

Green, on System has power

applied to it.

Amber, on • Power rail failure.

• Power supply is in a latched state.

Amber, off • Power supply module

failure, +3.3 VSB is lost.

• System is not powered on.

Green, on DC power cord is plugged

into an active DC power source.

Blue, on System identification is

active.

Blue, off System identification is

disabled.

Item

C LAN port

LED indicator

indicators

Function Color Description

Status Green, on Network link is detected.

Green, off No network connection.

Green, blinking

Speed Green/

Amber, off

Green, on 100 Mbps connection

Amber, on 1000 Mbps connection

Network connection in place.

10 Mbps connection

1 System tour

Internal components

Item Component Item Component

A DVD drive bay D Plastic PCI slot divider and

PCI bus slots

B CPU air baffle E Memory board

C Memory board air baffle F Mainboard

System boards

Mainboard

The mainboard becomes accessible once you open the system. It should look like the figure shown below.

Item Description Item Description

A Server management port

(RJ-45) *

B Integrated SCSI hardware

RAID activation key (iButton) connector

C PCI-X 100MHz (Slot 7) S DC power connectors

Q BMC or ARMC/3 module

connector (optional)

R Memory board slot B

1 System tour

Item Description Item Description

D PCI-X 100MHz (Slot 6) T Power distribution board

(PDB) signal connector

E Hot-plug PCI Express x8

U CPU socket 1 (with x4 throughput) – (Slot 5)

F Hot-plug PCI Express x8

V CPU socket 2 (with x4 throughput) – (Slot 4)

G Hot-plug PCI Express x8

W CPU socket 4 (with x4 throughput) – (Slot 3)

H Hot-plug PCI-X 133MHz –

X VRM 10.2 connector (CPU 4) (Slot 2)

I Hot-plug PCI Express x8 –

Y CPU socket 3 (Slot 1)

J Gigabit LAN 1 (top),

LAN 2 (bottom)

Z SCSI connector channel A

(connects to the SCSI backplane board)

K Dual USB 2.0 ports AA VRM 10.2 connector (CPU 3)

L Serial (top),

VGA port (bottom)

BB Integrated SCSI hardware

RAID BBU connector

M Memory board slot A CC SCSI connector channel B

(for internal or external SCSI connector)

N RTC battery DD Integrated SCSI hardware

RAID cache memory (DDR-2) slot

O SATA connector EE Memory board slot D

P Front panel board

FF Memory board slot C connector

* Reserved for remote management of server. This requires installation of an ARMC/3 (Acer remote management card/3)

SCSI backplane board

Item Description Item Description

A Front panel board

connector

B Power distribution board

connector

C SCSI cable connector F Hot-plug HDD connectors

D Power cable connector to

DVD and 5.25” drives

E Hot-swap system fan

module connectors (two on reverse side)

(two on reverse side)

Hot-plug memory board

Item Description Item Description

1 System tour

A Mirror mode indicator F Memory board handle

B RAID mode indicator G DIMM 1B error indicator

C Hot-plug attention

indicator

D Attention button * I DIMM 2B error indicator

E Power indicator J DIMM 2A error indicator

* Press this button to perform a hot-insertion or hot-removal of a memory board.

H DIMM 1A error indicator

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