Dell PowerEdge 2650

Course Review

Objective 1- Accurately identify the features of the PowerEdge 2650, including basic system technology and product benefits

The PowerEdge 2650 is an ultra-slimline (2U) full-featured rack system ideal for multi-server rack environments.

• Support for 1 - 2 Intel Xeon® processors at 1.8, 2.0, 2.2 & 2.4 GHz, with 512KB Advanced Transfer Cache
• 200MHz address bus, 400 MHz Data Bus
• 3.2 GB/s Bandwidth interface to the PCI-X subsystem
• Up to 6GB of PC200 Registered DDR SDRAM Memory
• Dual Integrated Gigabit NICs (Broadcom 5701) on a 64-bit/100MHz PCI-X bus

• Availability
  
  • Hot Plug Redundant Power and Fans
  • Backplane supports duplexing
  • Battery Back-up for Embedded RAID
  • Load-balancing, dual embedded NICs

• Scalability
  
  • Supports three full-speed PCI-X slots on 2 PCI-X buses
  • Embedded Remote Access (ERA) does not consume a PCI slot
  • Six DIMM Sockets for future expansion to 6GB of Memory

Objective 2- Accurately identify, configure and troubleshoot the PowerEdge 2650's factory-installed hardware components and features

• Processor and VRMs
  • The PowerEdge 2650 uses Intel Dual Processor Xeon Processors, featuring 512K cache, NetBurst™ micro-architecture, and Hyper-Threading Technology, and source synchronous Front Side Bus (FSB) with address clocked at 200MHz and data (8 bytes) clocked at 400MHz.
  • For each processor in the system, a voltage regulator must be installed in the adjacent socket connector. So, a dual-processor system requires 2 VRMs.

• System Board (including chipset)
  • The PowerEdge 2650 supports the GC-LE chipset for system memory, I/O and processor interfacing.

• Memory
  • The PowerEdge 2650 supports up to six PC200 DDR SDRAM DIMMs
  • Total memory capacity is 6 GB
  • The 6 DIMM sockets are divided into three memory banks. Memory Interleaving is supported when the memory capacity is identical within a given bank. Capacities for two separate banks can be different.

• Video
  • The PowerEdge 2650 system board incorporates an integrated ATI Rage XL video subsystem
  • The PowerEdge 2650 system provides 8MB of SDRAM for video, allowing for resolution up to 1024 x 768 with 256 colors.
  • The system's 8MB of video memory is not upgradeable.

• Network Interface Cards
  • The PowerEdge 2650 includes dual embedded BroadCom 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet controllers
  • Each of the NICs supports:
    • Supports any of the 3 speeds of BaseT Ethernet: 10Mbit, 100Mbits, or 1000Mbits.
    • Wake-on-LAN support (WOL)
    • Network traffic load-balancing
    • Failover support

• RAID controller (ROMB)
  • Two internal Ultra3 (U160) channels are provided by the Adaptec 7899 SCSI controller.
  • The PowerEdge 2650 has an on-board Ultra3 (Ultra160)/m RAID PERC 3/Di. It's the same as the version offered on the PowerEdge 2550, except that for the 2650's higher-bandwidth bus (64-bit/66MHz).

• Backplane and daughter board
  • The PowerEdge 2650 is the first Dell server with a cableless backplane option. The SCSI bus is routed through the system board directly to the backplane.
  • The cableless design does not support routing one of the internal SCSI channels externally; this is a design limitation.
  • The backplane supports two split configurations:
    • Active 1 x 5: One channel with maximum of five 1.0" drives - hot-plug support
    • Active Split 5: Two channels (1x2 and 1x3) with max of five 1.0" drives-hot-plug support

Objective 3- Accurately identify the correct procedures for using and/or updating PowerEdge 2650 firmware and software

• BIOS and System Setup program
  • The PowerEdge 2650 features a one-page system setup, like that of the PowerEdge 4600 and PowerEdge 1650.
  • PXE
    • "PXE boot" allows networked computers that are not loaded with an operating system to be configured and booted remotely.
    • It is recommended that integrated NICs be used for PXE boot, as opposed to add-in NICs.
    • To enable a PXE boot on a Dell PowerEdge 2650, enter the System Setup and change the Network Interface Controller under Integrated Devices to the "On with PXE" setting.
  • Console Redirection
    • Console redirection allows a server to be maintained from a remote location by redirecting keyboard input and text output through the serial port, allowing tasks such as setting up a common BIOS configuration or setting up a RAID configuration to be completed.
    • To implement console redirection, you must have
      • An available COM port on the client system
      • An available COM port (COM port 1) on the server
      • A null modem cable to connect the server to the client system

• Dell Server Assistant CD support applications
  • Dell OpenManage Server Assistant (OMSA) version 7.1
  • System Management CD version 3.1
  • Array Manager version 3.1.3
  • Dell Diagnostics