IBM System X3550 M4
Intel Xeon
Memory type DDR3
2 x 300GB IBM 15k SAS 2 hot-swap hard disks (max 8)
RAID module IBM ServeRAID-M5110e
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IBM’s x3550 M4 is the latest to take on the challenge, and along with support for Intel’s E5-2600 Xeons, it continues IBM’s pay-as-you-grow philosophy, allowing businesses to start small and expand only when demand dictates. The standard models all ship with four SFF SAS/SATA hot-swap bays, which can be upgraded to eight bays.
This is achieved with a kit comprising a backplane for the four extra bays, to which you must add an IBM ServeRAID M1115 or M5110 controller for the four extra SAS ports. The latter goes into the dedicated PCI Express slot behind the DIMM sockets. Other drive options include three hot-swap LFF drives and a cheaper cold-swap LFF version available as a configure-to-order (CTO) model.
RAID cache options are extensive, with IBM offering standard battery backed-up memory and a choice of 512MB or 1GB flash-backed write cache modules. The review system includes the 512MB module, which brings support for RAID5 as well as mirrors and stripes.
Cooling is handled by six fans between the drive backplanes and motherboard. These are hot-swappable, but we found the protruding power connector tab on each one made them a little tricky to remove and replace. However, the server is very quiet: IBM uses a similar method to Fujitsu’s Cool Safe where round holes in the chassis are replaced by a honeycomb. This allows the holes to be more densely packed, thereby reducing turbulence and noise.
The price of the review system includes a pair of 2.5GHz E5-2640 Xeon CPUs, the fastest of Intel’s standard Xeon E5 family. They’re six-core modules with a 15MB L3 cache, a 7.2GT/sec QPI, and offer Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost. The server supports 1,333MHz memory in the shape of either 64MB of UDIMMs, 384GB of RDIMMs or 768GB of LR-DIMMs. There are 24 DIMM slots flanking the two CPU sockets.
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