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Dell PowerEdge 4600
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Dell PowerEdge 4600

PCI/PCI-X Expansion Slots

PCI eXtended (PCI-X or PCIx) is the next generation local I/O standard that provides high bandwidth, low latency, dedicated hardware interfaces between internal chips and peripheral cards. Using 64-bit/133MHz architecture, PCI-X provides total I/O bandwidth up to 1GB/s at its peak. This is eight times the bandwidth of 32-bit/33MHz implementations, which allow for only 133MB/s peak bandwidth, and twice the bandwidth of 64-bit/66MHz I/O architecture.

IMPORTANT - More Information   NOTE: The PowerEdge 4600 provides 6 hot-plug 64-bit/100MHz PCI-X slots each capable of a 800MB/s peak bandwidth.

The benefit of having peer PCI buses combined with 64-bit technology is that high load, high performance traffic can be separated from lower performing traffic on the PCI bus. This leads to increased system performance since the higher speed traffic is allocated to the higher speed PCI bus.

This image displays a picture of the system board with the Hot Plug indicators highlighted   This image displays a close-up of the PCI Hot Plug indicators

Key benefits of PCI-X implementation in the PowerEdge 4600 are:

  • Performance
    • Burst transfer rates up to 800MB/s
    • Split transactions and zero wait state for Read completions improve the bus efficiency (allows devices to make a request, and then releases the bus for use by other peripherals until the responding device is ready with the data requested. This ensures that no bus time is wasted, even if the responding device is forced to stall and restart transmission).
    • Standard block size movements with 128-byte boundaries prevent any single process from monopolizing the bus with a single large transfer.
  • Investment protection and seamless transition from PCI to PCI-X
    • Fully interoperable and easy design migration with conventional PCI (PCI-X systems can accept standard PCI cards and PCI-X cards can work in current PCI systems)
    • No OS or driver changes required (only for the hot-plug system driver if needed)
    • PCI-X has a huge foundation of infrastructure to build on and it also integrates well with distributed I/O standards like InfiniBand
    • Low cost

The PowerEdge 4600 system supports one 32-bit/33MHz slot on the primary (compatibility) PCI bus (bus 0). This slot should be used with a DRAC3 card in order to snoop the PCI video data.

The PowerEdge 4600 system also supports six 64-bit/100MHz slots on peer PCI-X buses 3, 4, and 5. There are two slots per bus. The slots will only operate in PCI-X mode if populated exclusively by PCI-X cards. The 133 MHz PCI-X adapters will operate at 100 MHz in these slots and the 66 MHz PCI-X adapters present will bring the clock speed down to 66MHz. These slots will also accept PCI adapters designed for 66MHz or 33MHz but will operate in PCI mode at the lowest common frequency for that bus. PCI-X cards may co-exist with PCI cards on a bus and will operate in PCI mode.

All PCI-X slots are 3V-signaling environment compatible and will accept either 3V PCI and PCI-X cards or Universal PCI cards. The 32-bit/33MHz PCI slot is a 5V-signaling environment and will accept either 5V PCI or Universal PCI cards.

More information about PCI-X including the specifications can be found: http://www.pcisig.com
PCI Hot Plug Function, Benefits and Operation

There are three separate PCI hot-plug functions: hot replacement, hot add, and hot upgrade.

 Feature  Function  Benefit

  Hot Replacement Hot Replacement is the process of removing a failed or suspect PCI adapter and inserting an identical adapter without any power disruption to the server. Replacement of an existing PCI card occurs without affecting other adapter cards or causing any downtime to the system as a whole; prevents downtime in dual, redundant scenarios.  
  Hot Add Hot Add is the process of adding a new adapter into an open slot while the server is operating. Allows the addition of a new adapter without powering down the server; increases server uptime.  
  Hot Upgrade Hot Upgrade is the process of upgrading an existing adapter with a revised or newer card, while the server is running. Allows system to be upgraded to a new revision of an adapter without powering down the server; increases server uptime.  

The PCI Hot Plug (PHP) functionality of PowerEdge 4600 systems incorporates LED indicators on the rear of the chassis to allow the user to see which slots are powered ON, or which need attention. These LEDs are located on the PowerEdge 4600 system board. Light pipes within the PCI card divider panels make the indicators visible from both the rear of the chassis and from above the PCI Hot Plug area when the access door is opened.

Below is a table that shows the Hot Plug Indicator Patterns for the PowerEdge 4600.

 Indicator  Indicator Code

  Off   Expansion-slot power is off. No action is required.  
  Green   Expansion-slot power is on. No action is required.  
  Green, blinking fast   Expansion slot is being identified by an application program or driver. No action is required.  
  Amber, blinking slow   Expansion card is faulty or improperly installed, causing a problem with power supply to the card.  
  Amber, blinks twice, pauses, and then repeats the sequence   Expansion card of a slower operating speed was hot-plugged. If you are replacing an expansion card with a card of a slower operating speed, you must power down the system to install the replacement card.  

The state where the connector is in the process of being powered up or powered down is generally so short that the flashing green indicator is not visible. The exception would be when the user requests a power down operation and the OS does not comply. This scenario will occur if there is no PCI hot plug driver loaded on the system.

An example of the PCI Hot Plug operation is detailed below:

  1. Application indicates which slot needs to be Hot-Swapped (Green Flash - Fast).
  2. Operator pushes the 'Notify' button to initiate power-down.
  3. If the OS doesn't have a problem, the power down state comes very quickly (Green light turns off).
  4. If the OS has a problem, the flash slows down (very noticeable change) and the operator must determine from the application console why the operation is not being completed.
  5. After the power down, the operator swaps the card and then pushes the Notify Switch pushbutton.
  6. Steady Green indicates the card is powered up.
  7. Flashing Amber indicates there is a power up fault that must be corrected.

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