PowerEdge M910

Name
Technical Guide

The M910 is ideal for

the demanding
applications at the
core of most data
centers, such as
large databases,
virtualization and
messaging
infrastructure.
Dell

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Revision 1 September 2010

Dell PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 1

Dell

Table of Contents
1 Product Comparison ........................................................................................... 5
1.1 Overview .................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Product Comparison ..................................................................................... 6
2 New Technologies .............................................................................................. 8
2.1 Overview .................................................................................................. 8
2.2 Detailed Information .................................................................................... 8
2.2.1 Intel Xeon Processors .............................................................................. 8
2.2.2 Intel 7500 Chipset .................................................................................. 8
2.2.3 FlexMem Bridge .................................................................................... 8
2.2.4 IO Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture ............................................... 8
2.2.5 DDR3 Memory ....................................................................................... 8
2.2.6 PCI Express Generation 2 ......................................................................... 9
2.2.7 Internal Redundant SD Module ................................................................... 9
2.2.8 iDRAC6 Express ..................................................................................... 9
3 System Information .......................................................................................... 10
3.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 10
3.2 Product Features Summary ........................................................................... 10
4 Mechanical .................................................................................................... 12
4.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 12
4.2 Module Dimensions and Weight ...................................................................... 12
4.3 Internal Module......................................................................................... 12
4.4 Security .................................................................................................. 13
4.5 Cover Latch ............................................................................................. 13
4.6 TPM (Trusted Platform Module) ...................................................................... 13
4.7 Power Off Security ..................................................................................... 14
4.8 USB Key .................................................................................................. 14
4.9 Battery ................................................................................................... 14
4.10 Field Replaceable Units (FRU)........................................................................ 14
5 Operating, Thermal, and Acoustic......................................................................... 15
5.1 Overview of Operating and Storage Conditions .................................................... 15
5.2 Acoustics ................................................................................................ 16
5.3 Thermal.................................................................................................. 17
5.4 Power Efficiency ....................................................................................... 17
6 Processors ..................................................................................................... 18
6.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 18
6.2 Features ................................................................................................. 18
6.3 Supported Processors .................................................................................. 19
6.4 Processor Configurations .............................................................................. 19
6.5 FlexMem Bridge ........................................................................................ 19
7 Memory ........................................................................................................ 21
7.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 21
7.2 DIMMs Supported ....................................................................................... 22
7.3 Slots /Risers............................................................................................. 22
7.4 Intel 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer (SMB)........................................................... 22
7.5 Memory RAS Support ................................................................................... 22
7.5.1 Sparing ............................................................................................. 22
7.5.2 Mirroring ........................................................................................... 23
7.5.3 Supported Memory Configurations ............................................................. 24

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8 Chipset ........................................................................................................ 25
8.1 Intel 7500 I/O Hub (IOH) .............................................................................. 25
8.2 IOH QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) ................................................................... 25
8.3 PCI EXPRESS GENERATION 2 .......................................................................... 25
8.4 Direct Media Interface (DMI) ......................................................................... 25
8.5 Intel I/O Controller Hub 10 (ICH10) ................................................................. 25
8.6 PCI Express Mezzanine Connectors .................................................................. 26
9 BIOS ............................................................................................................ 27
9.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 27
9.2 Supported ACPI States ................................................................................. 27
10 Embedded Gigabit Ethernet Controllers on Motherboard (LOM) ...................................... 28
11 I/O Mezzanine Card Options ................................................................................ 29
11.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 29
11.2 Options .................................................................................................. 29
12 Storage ........................................................................................................ 30
12.1 Drives .................................................................................................... 30
12.2 Hard Disk Drive Carriers ............................................................................... 30
12.3 Empty Drive Bays ....................................................................................... 30
12.4 Diskless Configuration Support ....................................................................... 30
12.5 RAID Configurations .................................................................................... 31
12.6 Storage Controllers .................................................................................... 31
12.6.1 SATA Repeater .................................................................................... 31
12.6.2 PERC6/i ............................................................................................ 32
12.6.3 PERC H200 ......................................................................................... 32
12.6.4 PERC H700 ......................................................................................... 32
12.7 LED Indicators .......................................................................................... 32
12.8 Optical Drives ........................................................................................... 32
13 Video (PCI Video) ............................................................................................ 33
14 Rack Information ............................................................................................. 34
15 Operating Systems ........................................................................................... 35
16 Virtualization ................................................................................................. 36
16.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 36
16.2 Advanced Infrastructure Manager by Scalent ...................................................... 36
16.3 Vizioncore ............................................................................................... 37
17 Systems Management ........................................................................................ 38
17.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 38
17.2 Server Management .................................................................................... 38
17.3 Embedded Server Management ...................................................................... 39
17.4 Lifecycle Controller and Unified Server Configurator ............................................ 39
17.5 The iDRAC6 Enterprise ................................................................................ 40
17.6 Chassis Management Controller (CMC) .............................................................. 41
18 Peripherals .................................................................................................... 42
18.1 USB peripherals......................................................................................... 42
18.2 External Storage........................................................................................ 42

Tables
Table 1. Product Comparisons ................................................................................. 6
Table 2. Product Features .................................................................................... 10
Table 3. Operating and Storage Conditions ................................................................ 15
Table 4. Typical Configuration Used in Testing ........................................................... 16
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Table 5. Processor Cache Sizes (Package LGA1567) ...................................................... 18
Table 6. Supported Processors ............................................................................... 19
Table 7. PowerEdge M910 Sparing and Mirroring .......................................................... 22
Table 8. Supported Memory Configurations ................................................................ 24
Table 9. RAID Configurations ................................................................................. 31
Table 10. Storage Controllers Supported on the M910 ..................................................... 31
Table 11. Supported Video Modes ............................................................................ 33
Table 12. Virtualization Software ............................................................................. 36
Table 13. Unified Server Configurator Features and Description......................................... 39
Table 14. Features List for BMC, iDrac, and vFlash ........................................................ 40
Table 15. Industry Standards and URLs ...................................................................... 43

Figures

Figure 1. M1000e................................................................................................ 12
Figure 2. Internal Module View ............................................................................... 13
Figure 3. Diagram of FlexMem Bridge Routing.............................................................. 20
Figure 4. Memory Diagram .................................................................................... 21
Figure 5. PowerEdge M910 2P Mirroring ..................................................................... 23
Figure 6. M910 4P Mirroring ................................................................................... 23
Figure 7. 2.5‖ HDD Carrier .................................................................................... 30

Dell PowerEdge M910 Technical Guide 4

1 Product Comparison
1.1 Overview
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ M-Series blade servers are designed to help cut operating expenses through
energy efficiency, scalability, product flexibility, and efficient use of data center space.
The PowerEdge M910 provides significant performance and reliability in a scalable, full-height, four-
socket blade server, allowing the deployment of large Enterprise-class applications as well as the
ability to support heavy virtualization or workload consolidation in maximum density.
When combined with Dell’s world-class storage, management, and support offerings, the result is a
total enterprise solution that can help you optimize your IT environment and expenses.
Powerful
The PowerEdge M910 was designed to meet the needs of nearly any IT infrastructure or environment.
Built with powerful Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series and advanced systems management
capabilities, the M910 is ideal for the demanding applications at the core of most data centers, such
as large databases, virtualization, and messaging infrastructure.
Memory is a critical component for performance, especially for heavy virtualization and high-end
database needs. With this in mind, the PowerEdge M910 was designed with 32 DIMM slots allowing up
to 512GB of ECC DDR3 RAM to be supported, allowing these memory-intensive applications to have
ample resources at their disposal.
Scalable
Many servers may be able to take advantage of the large memory support that modern architectures
provide, but only Dell offers FlexMem Bridge technology, which allows the M910 to seamlessly scale
from 4GB to 512GB of DDR3 RAM in either two-socket or four-socket configurations. This patent-
pending technology allows Dell to deliver a unique platform that can seamlessly scale as customer
and application needs dictate, without having to ―rip and replace‖ existing server infrastructure.
In addition to allowing significant memory and processor scaling capabilities, the compact form-
factor of Dell blades allows the ability to scale down the amount of space that your core application
servers require. By utilizing the PowerEdge M910, you can deploy up to eight next generation 4-
socket servers in only 10U of rack space, which is less than 1/3 of the space required using
traditional 4U four-socket rack servers.
Reliable
With the PowerEdge M910, Dell continues its unrelenting focus on reliability. The PowerEdge M910
utilizes the redundant power, cooling, and networking infrastructure provided by the Dell M1000e
Blade enclosure. The PowerEdge M910 itself incorporates improvements and features for maximum
protection against potential downtime, such as the ability to support three fully redundant fabrics
per blade and the inclusion of a dual-media redundant embedded hypervisor.
The PowerEdge M910 also utilizes Intel Xeon 7500 series processors which are designed to
automatically monitor, report, and recover from hardware errors in order to maintain data integrity
and keep mission-critical services online.
As with all Dell PowerEdge servers, the M910 is manufactured with our ―one-touch‖ factory build
process. This process is designed to ensure just one person is responsible for the entire server build,
resulting in greater quality control. In addition, every fully configured Dell server is tested (and re-
tested) before it leaves the factory to ensure maximum reliability.
Dell
Product documentation is available at support.dell.com. Information for the chassis can be found in
the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide.

1.2 Product Comparison

Table 1. Product Comparisons
Feature /Spec M910 M710 R810 R910
Processor 4 Socket 2 Socket 4 Socket 2 or4 Socket
Intel® Xeon® processor Intel® Xeon® processor Intel® Xeon® processor Intel® Xeon® 7500 Series
6500 and 7500 series 5500 series 6500 and 7500 series

Front Side Bus Four Intel® QuickPath Two Intel® QuickPath Four Intel® QuickPath Up to 6.4 GT/s Intel®
Interconnect (QPI) links Interconnect (QPI) Interconnect (QPI) QuickPath Interconnect
links links (QPI) links
# Proc Sockets 2/4 2 2/4 2/4/6
Max # Cores per 2S w/ up to16 cores Up to 4 2S w/ up to16 cores 2S w/ up to16 cores
Socket 4S w/ up to 32 cores 4S w/ up to 32 cores 4S w/ up to 32 cores
L2/L3 Cache L2 cache:1.5MB or 2MB 4MB and 8MB L2 cache:1.5MB or 2MB L3 cache: 12MB, 18MB
L3 cache: 12MB, 18MB or L3 cache: 12MB, 18MB or 24MB
24MB (shared) or 24MB (shared)
Chipset Intel® 7500 Intel® 5520 Intel® 7500 Intel® 7500
DIMMs 32 x DDR3 18 DDR3 32 x DDR3 64 x DDR3
Min/Max RAM 4GB–512GB 1GB–192GB 4GB–512GB 4GB – 1TB
Form Factor Full Height Blade, Dual Full Height Blade, Dual 2U Chassis, Rack 4U chassis, Rack
Slot Slot

HD Bays (2.5” 2 4 6 16
only)
HD Types SAS/SSD SAS/SSD SAS/SSD SAS/SSD
Integrated H200/H700 (factory H200/H700 H200/H700 H200/H700
Standard HD installed) and PERC6 as PERC6
Controller custom kit
Optional HD H200/H700 Integrated SAS6/iR PERC6i with PERC H800 or 6Gbps PERC H800 or 6Gbps
Controller controller RAID battery SAS SAS
(Battery backup for the
H700 and PERC6 options
only)
Availability Hot-swap hard drives Hot-swap hard drives Hot-swap hard drives Hot-swap hard drives
Hot-swap redundant Hot-swap redundant Hot-swap redundant Hot-swap redundant
power and cooling power and cooling power and cooling power and cooling
ECC memory ECC memory ECC memory ECC memory
Single Device Data Single Device Data Single Device Data Single Device Data
Correction (SDDC) Correction (SDDC) Correction (SDDC) Correction (SDDC)
Supports memory Supports memory Supports memory supports memory
demand and patrol demand and patrol demand and patrol demand and patrol
scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing
High-availability failover High-availability High-availability High availability
cluster support failover cluster failover cluster
support support

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Feature /Spec M910 M710 R810 R910
Server iDRAC6 Enterprise iDRAC6 Enterprise iDRAC6 Express iDRAC6 iDRAC6 Express iDRAC6
Management CMC (on M1000e) (Both) standard Enterprise Optional Enterprise Optional
CMC (on M1000e)
Mezz Slots 4 x8 PCIe Mezzanine 1 x 4 and 3 x 8 PCIe 6 x PCIe 7 PCIe Gen2 slots
Cards Mezzanine Cards 5x8 (2x4, 4 x8 + 1x16)
1x4 Optional: 10 PCI e Gen2
(6x4, 4x8)
Slot 5 is Gen1
NIC/LOM 4 x TOE – iSCSI offload 4 x TOE with optional 4 x LOM 1GbE or 10Gp SFP+
iSCSI offload (5709) embedded NIC options
4-port (4x1GbE)
embedded NIC
Broadcom 5709c
Or
4-port (2x10gb SPF+ &
2x1GbE) Embedded NIC
Broadcom 57711 +
Broadcom 5709c
USB 3 x External USB 2.0 3 x External USB 2.0 2 ports in the front 2 in the rear
ports at front bezel ports at front bezel 4 ports in the rear 2 in the front
1 x Internal USB port 1 x Internal USB port 1
SD Card 2 x Internal SD slot 1 x Internal SD slot 2 x Internal SD slot 2 x Internal SD slot
1 for Persistent Storage 1 for Persistent 1 for Persistent 1 for Persistent Storage
1 for Lifecycle controller Storage 1 for Lifecycle Storage 1 for Lifecycle 1 for Lifecycle
on iDRAC controller on iDRAC controller on iDRAC controller on iDRAC
(can also be configured
as redundant SD cards -
RIPS)
Power Supplies See PowerEdge M1000e See PowerEdge 2 x 1100W 4 x 750w (Energy
Technical Guide M1000e Technical Smart)
Guide Or
4 x 1100W (High output)
Fans See PowerEdge M1000e See PowerEdge Redundant cooling Redundant cooling
Technical Guide M1000e Technical
Guide
Chassis See PowerEdge M1000e See PowerEdge Rack Rack
Technical Guide M1000e Technical
Guide

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2 New Technologies
2.1 Overview
The PowerEdge M910 server includes the following new features:
 Intel Xeon Processor 7500 Series (4s) and Intel Xeon Processor 6500 Series (2s) 4-, 6-, and 8-
core processors
 Intel 7500 Chipset
 FlexMem Bridge
 IO Hub (IOH) with Intel® QuickPath Architecture
 DDR3 memory
 PCI Express® Generation 2
 Optional Redundant SD media for embedded hypervisor
 iDRAC6 Express

2.2 Detailed Information

2.2.1 Intel Xeon Processors
The processor features up to eight-core processing to with maximize performance (expected up to
3.8x performance improvements) and performance/watt and significant energy efficiency
improvements for datacenter infrastructures and highly dense deployments. Additionally, the Intel
Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series features the Intel® 64 Architecture for flexibility in 64-bit and
32-bit applications and operating systems.

2.2.2 Intel 7500 Chipset

See Section 8 for detailed information in the Intel 7500 chipset.

2.2.3 FlexMem Bridge

The PowerEdge M910 also introduces a new, Dell patent-pending, technology which will allow
flexibility in processor and memory scalability—FlexMem Bridge. The FlexMem Bridge allows the full
amount of addressable DIMMs on 4-Socket systems with Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 6500 series to
be accessed, even when only 2 of the processors are in place, in a completely passive solution (no
active components).

2.2.4 IO Hub (IOH) with Intel QuickPath Architecture

The Intel QuickPath Architecture consists of serial point-to-point interconnects for the processors
and the system IOH. The M910 has a total of eight QuickPath Interconnects (QPI) lines: six links
connecting the processors and two links connection processors 1 and 2 with the IOH.

2.2.5 DDR3 Memory

The M910 uses DDR3 memory which provides a high-performance, high-speed memory interface
capable of low latency response and high throughput. The M910 supports Registered ECC DDR3 DIMMs
(RDIMMs).
The DDR3 memory interface consists of 8 Intel Scalable Memory Buffers (SMBs), each or which has
two DDR3 memory channels. Each channel supports up to two RDIMMs for single/dual/quad rack. By
limiting to two DIMMs per DDR channel, the system can support quad-rank DIMMs at 1067MHz.
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2.2.6 PCI Express Generation 2
PCI Express is a serial point‐to‐point interconnect for I/O devices. PCIe Gen2 doubles the signaling bit
rate of each lane from 2.5 Gb/s to 5 Gb/s. Each of the PCIe Gen2 ports is backwards‐compatible with
Gen1 transfer rates.

2.2.7 Internal Redundant SD Module

The Internal SD Module is dedicated for an SD Flash Card with embedded Hypervisor for
virtualization. The SD Flash Card contains a bootable OS image for virtualized platforms.
The persistent storage solution on the M910 allows for redundant SD cards.

2.2.8 iDRAC6 Express

The iDRAC6 Express feature set is a managed persistent storage space for server provisioning data. It
consists of 1 GB flash and vFlash (an optional externally accessible SD card). vFlash offers the hot-
swap portability and increased storage capacity benefits of SD while still being managed by the
system.

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3 System Information
3.1 Overview
The PowerEdge M910 is an innovative blade design that allows scaling from 2 to 4 sockets (no single
or 3 socket support) based on a new generation of Intel four-socket enhanced processors, RAM, and
management while still taking advantage of the M1000e chassis architecture. Along with the M1000e
chassis, the PowerEdge M910 server leads the industry in high speed, redundant IO throughput and
power efficiency with more RAM slots in the 2-socket space.

3.2 Product Features Summary

Table 2. Product Features

Feature Dell™ PowerEdge™ M910

Up to Four Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series Quad-, Six-, or Eight-Core; or,
Processors
Up to Two Intel® Xeon® processor 6500 series Quad-, Six-, or Eight-Core

Chipset Intel® 7500

1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB/16GB ECC DDR3

Memory1
Support for up to 512GBs using 32 x 16GB DIMMs

Drive Bays Two 2.5‖ SAS/Solid State hot-swappable drives

Internal:
2.5‖ 6Gbs SAS (15K): 73GB, 146GB
2.5‖ 6Gbs SAS (10K): 146GB, 300GB
2.5‖ 6Gbs SAS (7.2K): 500GB
Storage1 2.5‖ SSD: 50GB, 100GB
External:
Dell™ EqualLogic™ PS Series
Dell™ PowerVault™ MD Series & NX Series
Dell/EMC CX Series, AX Series & NS Series

PERC H200 Modular RAID Controller (6Gb/s)

RAID Controller
Options PERC H700 Modular RAID Controller (6Gb/s) with 512MB battery-backed cache;
512MB, 1GB Non-Volatile battery-backed cache

Fully populated mezzanine card slots and switch modules will yield 3 highly
available, redundant I/O fabrics per blade.
I/O Mezzanine Card 1Gb & 10Gb Ethernet:
Options Broadcom® Dual-Port Gb Ethernet w/ TOE (BCM-5709S)
Intel® Quad-Port Gb Ethernet
Broadcom® Quad-Port Gb Ethernet (BCM-5709S)

1
GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and
operating environment and will be less.
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Intel® Dual-Port 10Gb Ethernet

Broadcom® Dual-Port 10Gb Ethernet (BCM-57711)
10Gb Enhanced Ethernet & Converged Network Adapters (CEE/DCB):
Intel® Dual-Port 10Gb Enhanced Ethernet (FcoE Ready for Future Enablement)
Emulex® Dual-Port Converged Network Adapter (OCM10102-F-M)—Supports CEE/DCB
10GbE + FCoE
Qlogic® Dual-Port Converged Network Adapter (QME8142)—Supports CEE/DCB 10GbE
+ FCoE

QLogic® Dual-Port FC8 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) (QME2572)
Emulex® Dual-Port FC8 Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) (LPe1205-M)

Mellanox® Dual-Port ConnectX™ Quad Data Rate (QDR) InfiniBand

Microsoft® Windows® Essential Business Server 2008

Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 SP2, x86/x64 (x64 includes Hyper-V™)
Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 R2, x86/x64 (includes Hyper-V™ v2)
Microsoft® Windows® HPC Server 2008
Novell® SUSE® Linux® Enterprise Server
Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®
Sun® Solaris™
For more information on the specific versions and additions, visit
Operating Systems www.dell.com/OSsupport.

Citrix® XenServer™
Microsoft® Hyper-V™ via Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008
VMware® vSphere™ 4.1 (including VMware ESX® 4.1 or VMware ESXi™ 4.1)

For more information on the specific versions and additions, visit the Operating
System Support Matrix for Dell PowerEdge Systems on Dell.com.

Featured Database Microsoft® SQL Server® solutions (see Dell.com/SQL)

Applications Oracle® database solutions (see Dell.com/Oracle)

Power Supply Supplied by Dell™ M1000e Blade Chassis

Video Matrox® G200eW w/ 8MB memory

BMC, IPMI2.0 compliant

Dell™ OpenManage™ featuring Dell Management Console
Unified Server Configurator
Systems Management
Lifecycle Controller
iDRAC6 Enterprise with optional vFlash
Remote Management: iDRAC6 Enterprise with optional vFlash

Embedded Hypervisor Optional Dual-Media Redundant Hypervisor

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4 Mechanical
4.1 Overview
The M910 is a full height blade server that requires an M1000e chassis (shown in Figure 1) to operate.

Figure 1. M1000e

It occupies 2 slots in the M1000e rack chassis for a maximum of 8 blades in one M1000e chassis. It
can be mixed with other existing Dell blades and is designed to mix with possible future half-height-
double-wide and full-height-double-wide blades. Some highlights are:
• Support for RAID
• Support for persistent storage (internal USB connector and two external SD card slots)
Refer to the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide for information on fans, power and power supply,
racks, security, and other chassis information.

4.2 Module Dimensions and Weight

Height: 38.5cm (15.2in)
Width: 5cm (2in)
Depth: 48.6cm (19.2in)
Weight: 13.1kg (29lb) maximum configuration

4.3 Internal Module

A view of the internal module is shown in Figure 2. See Opening and Closing the Blade in the Dell
PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s Manual for more information.

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Figure 2. Internal Module View

4.4 Security
Configurable client IP address range for clients connecting to iDRAC6.

4.5 Cover Latch

The blade module includes a latch for the cover. See Opening and Closing the Blade in the Dell
PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s Manual for more information.

4.6 TPM (Trusted Platform Module)

The TPM is used to generate/store keys, protect/authenticate passwords, and create/store digital
certificates. TPM can also be used to enable the BitLocker™ hard drive encryption feature in Windows
Server 2008. TPM is enabled through a BIOS option and uses HMAC-SHA1-160 for binding. TCM is
available in China.

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4.7 Power Off Security

Through the CMC, the front USB’s and power button can be disabled so as to not allow any control of
the system from the front of the blade.

4.8 USB Key

The M910 supports the following USB devices:
• DVD (bootable; requires two USB ports)
• USB Key (bootable)
• Keyboard (only one USB keyboard is supported)
• Mouse (only one USB mouse is supported)

4.9 Battery
A replaceable coin cell CR2032 3V battery is mounted on the planar to provide backup power for the
Real-Time Clock and CMOS RAM on the ICH9 chip.

4.10 Field Replaceable Units (FRU)

The planar contains a serial EEPROM to contain FRU information including Dell part number, part
revision level, and serial number.

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5 Operating, Thermal, and Acoustic

5.1 Overview of Operating and Storage Conditions
Table 3. Operating and Storage Conditions
Temperature
10o to 35o C (50o to 95o F) with a maximum temperature gradation of
10o C per hour
Operating
NOTE: For altitudes above 2950 feet, the maximum operating
temperature is derated 1oF/500ft
–40o to 65oC (–40o to 149oF) with a maximum temperature gradation
Storage
of 20oC per hour
Relative Humidity
20% to 80% (noncondensing) with a maximum humidity gradation of
Operating
10% per hour
5% to 95% (noncondensing) with a maximum humidity gradation of
Storage
10% per hour
Maximum Vibration
Operating 0.26 Grms at 5–350 Hz in operational orientations
Storage 1.54 Grms at 10–250 Hz in all orientations
Maximum Shock
Half sine shock in all operational orientations of 31 G +/- 5% with a
Operating
pulse duration of 2.6 ms +/- 10%
Half sine shock on all six sides of 71 G +/– 5% with a pulse duration
Storage
of 2 ms +/– 10%
Altitude
-15.2m to 3048 m (-50 to 10,000 ft)
Operating Note: For altitudes above 2950 ft, the maximum temperature is
derated 1o F/550 ft
Storage -16 to 10,600 m (-50 to 35,000 ft)

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5.2 Acoustics
Adherence to Dell’s high sound quality standards. Sound quality is different from sound power level
and sound pressure level in that it describes how humans respond to annoyances in sound, like
whistles, hums, etc. One of the sound quality metrics in the Dell specification is prominence ratio of
a tone, and this is listed in the table below.
Acoustical Performance of Typical Configuration: When installed in the M1000e blade chassis,
typical configuration2 (shown in Table 4of M910 blade results in the following idle acoustical
performance in 23±2° C ambient:
LwA-UL3 = 8.1 bels and no prominent tones4

Table 4. Typical Configuration Used in Testing

Chassis Description Quantity
Blade M910 4
Slots populated 1, 2, 3, 4
Power supply 2300-W 6
Blanks Blank modules 8
System Fans M1000e fan 9
Blade Internals Description Quantity
Intel® Xeon® processor 7500
CPU 2
series 105W
DIMM 4 GB DDR3 24
Mezz Cards Dual-port Broadcom® 5709 4
HDD SAS 2.5‖ 146 GB, 10 krpm 2

2
Typical configuration means projected average quantity, type, capacity, speed, etc., of components. Configuration for
which data reported is listed in Table 4.

3
LwA – UL is the upper limit sound power level (LwA) calculated per section 4.4.2 of ISO 9296 (1988) and measured in
accordance to ISO 7779 (1999).

4
Prominent tone: Criteria of D.5 and D.8 of ECMA-74 9th ed. (2005) are followed to determine if discrete tones are
prominent. The system is placed in a rack with its bottom at 75 cm from the floor. The acoustical transducer is at front
bystander position, ref ISO7779 (1999) Section 8.6.2.
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5.3 Thermal
The M910 thermal solution includes:
 Optimized airflow impedance for individual blade and chassis level airflow balancing
 Custom air baffling directs airflow through the components to maintain proper cooling
 Custom-designed heat sinks maintain CPU, IOH, and Intel 7500 chip temperatures within
thermal design targets
 Highly Optimized Fan Control Algorithm such as the following:
o Base fan speeds are a function of hardware configuration and ambient temperature
to minimize airflow for a given environment
o PID control algorithms are used for both CPU and DIMMs to maintain appropriate
thermal margin
o Double refresh switching allows for DIMM temperature excursions up to 95°C while
maintaining performance and thermal design targets as follows:
 The M910 thermal algorithm monitors the thermal sensor on each DIMM to
maintain DIMM temperatures below the typical 85°C specification in normal
operating conditions.
 Under extreme operating conditions, the thermal algorithm can switch the
DIMMs into Double Refresh mode allowing an additional 10°C of thermal
headroom. In Double Refresh mode, DIMMs are allowed to operate as high
as 95°C.

5.4 Power Efficiency

One of the main features of blade servers is enhanced power efficiency. The PowerEdge M910
achieves higher power efficiency by implementing the following features:
• User-configurable power options via the M1000e Chassis Management Controller (CMC)
• Improved power budgeting
• Voltage Regulator efficiency improvements
• CPU VR dynamic phase shedding
• Switching regulators instead of linear regulators
• Closed loop thermal throttling
• Use of DDR3 memory (lower voltage compared to DDR2)
• Memory VR static phase shedding
• BIOS Power/Performance options page
• Active Power Controller (BIOS-based CPU P-state manager)
• Ability to throttle memory
• Ability to disable a CPU core
• Ability to turn off embedded NICs or PCIe lanes when not being used
• Energy Smart components at the M1000e chassis level to selectively enable more computing
performance with less power consumption

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6 Processors
6.1 Overview
The Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series 4S (Expandable Processor) is the microprocessor
designed specifically for servers and workstation applications. The processor features quad-core
processing to maximize performance and performance/watt for data center infrastructures and
highly dense deployments. The Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series also features Intel® Core™
micro-architecture and Intel® 64 architecture for flexibility in 64-bit and 32-bit applications and
operating systems. The Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series supports all Streaming SIMD
Extensions (including SSE2, SSE3, and SSE4) and Intel 64 instruction.
The Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series 4S (Expandable Processor) uses a 1567-pins Land Grid
Array (LGA1567) package that plugs into a surface-mount socket. The M910 provides support for two
or four processors.

Table 5. Processor Cache Sizes (Package LGA1567)

Cache Size
32 KB instruction
L1 cache size
(32 KB data)
L2 cache size 1.5MB or 2MB
L3 cache size 12MB, 18MB or 24MB (shared)

6.2 Features
Key features of the Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series include:
• Up to eight cores per socket
• Up to 24MB shared L3 cache
• 45nm process technology
• Four full‐width, bidirectional point‐to‐point Intel® QuickPath Interconnect (Intel® QPI)
links at 6.4 GT/s
• Support for 95W, 105W, and 130W processors
• Four Intel® Scalable Memory Interconnects (Intel® SMI) at 6.4 GT/s
• Socket—LS, LGA 1567 package
• No termination required for non‐populated CPUs (must populate CPU socket 1 first)
• Integrated Intel® QuickPath DDR3 memory controller
• 64‐byte cache line size
• RISC/CISC hybrid architecture
• Compatible with existing x86 code base
• Optimized for 32‐bit code
• MMX support
• Execute Disable Bit
• Intel® Wide Dynamic Execution
• Executes up to four instructions per clock cycle
• Simultaneous Multi‐Threading (SMT) capability (2 threads/core)
• Support for CPU Turbo Mode (on certain SKUs)
• Increases CPU frequency if operating below thermal, power, and current limits
• Streaming SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) Extension 4
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• Intel® 64 Technology
• Intel® VT‐x and VT‐d Technology for virtualization support
• Enhanced Intel® SpeedStep Technology
• Demand‐based switching for active CPU power management as well as support for ACPI P‐
States, C‐States, and T-States

6.3 Supported Processors

Table 6. Supported Processors

Model Speed TDP Power Cache Cores QPI Speed

X7560 2.26GHz 130W 24M 8 6.4GT/s

X7542 2.66GHz 130W 18M 6 5.86GT/s

X6550 2.00GHz 130W 18M 8 6.4GT/s

E7540 2.00GHz 105W 18M 6 6.4GT/s

E6540 2.00GHz 105W 18M 6 6.4GT/s

E6510 1.73GHz 105W 12M 4 4.8GT/s

L7555 1.86GHz 95W 24M 8 5.86GT/s

L7545 1.86GHz 95W 18M 6 5.86GT/s

E7520 1.86GHz 95W 18M 4 4.8GT/s

6.4 Processor Configurations

The PowerEdge M910 is designed to support either a dual CPU configuration with FlexMem Bridge or a
4 CPU configuration. In either configuration, all IO and memory is available in the system. While not
formally supported, single CPU configurations with a processor installed in CPU1 will allow the
system to boot for diagnostic purposes.
The Intel Xeon processor 6500 series is for 2-socket configurations only and cannot be upgraded to a
4-socket configuration.

6.5 FlexMem Bridge

In a 4-CPU configuration, the PowerEdge M910 uses only one memory controller per CPU. This single
controller connects to two memory buffers via Intel SMI links. Each memory buffer in turn connects
to four DDR3 DIMMs. In a typical Intel Xeon processor 6500/7500 series configuration, only the

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memory buffers associated with the two populated sockets would be connected, and therefore only
16 DIMMs would be accessible.
To overcome this limitation with 2 CPUs, the M910 uses the FlexMem Bridge which allows CPU1 and
CPU2 to connect to the memory of their respective adjacent sockets (CPU3 and CPU4). The FlexMem
Bridge provides the following:
 Two pass-through links for SMI
 One pass-through link for QPI
The pass-through SMI links connect the two installed CPU’s to additional SMIs, therefore the CPU’s
will have the following memory attached:
 CPU1 will have access to DIMMs [A1:A8], plus DIMMs [C1:C8] (those normally associated
with CPU3)
 CPU2 will have access to DIMMs [B1:B8], plus DIMMs [D1:D8] (those normally associated
with CPU4)
The pass-through QPI link on the FlexMem Bridge provides increased performance for a 2P
configuration because it allows 2 full-bandwidth QPI links between CPU1 and CPU2 as opposed to a
single link. Figure 3 depicts the interconnection between the CPU sockets as well as connections
internal to the FlexMem Bridges. The FlexMem Bridges are only supported in sockets 3 and 4.

Buffer Buffer Buffer Buffer

FlexMem Bridge PROC1

IOH

FlexMem Bridge PROC2

Buffer Buffer Buffer Buffer

Figure 3. Diagram of FlexMem Bridge Routing

Modern processors are capable of tremendous workloads, and many types of utilization patterns such
as virtualization often run into memory capacity issues well before the processors reach a saturation
point. FlexMem Bridge technology was designed to assist those customers that have workloads that
are memory intensive.
Customers who scale their workloads in the future to a point where they would need additional
processing power can simply replace the FlexMem Bridge with additional processors to meet those
needs.
Due to power limitations, the PowerEdge M910 will only support two X7560 (130W) processors. In an
upgrade for a server with two 130W CPUs, the CPUs and the heatsink must be changed to the 95W or
105W CPUs. If the server has only the 95W or 105W CPUs, CPUs can simply be swapped out.

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7 Memory
7.1 Overview
The PowerEdge M910 uses DDR3 memory providing a high-performance, high-speed memory interface
capable of low latency response and high throughput. The PowerEdge M910 supports Registered ECC
DDR3 DIMMs (RDIMM) only. Each DDR3 DIMM is driven by the Intel® 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer
(Intel® 7500 SMB). A memory buffer has two DDR3 channels off it. Each of these channels can
support up to 2 DIMMs running at 1067MHz (or slower) speeds. Intel® 7500 SMB will support single-,
dual-, and quad-rank DIMMs. Up to four 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB RDIMMs are supported per
channel, for a total of up to 512 GB. Single-rank, dual rank, and quad-rank RDIMMs are supported.
Across CPUs, DIMM populations can be different on the memory for each CPU as long as the
population rules for each CPU socket are followed. Additionally, all CPU sockets operate in the same
RAS mode and are set up with the same memory timing parameters.
4-socket platform capability (64 DIMMs):
 Up to 16 DDR3 DIMMs per socket through use of up to four
Scalable Memory Buffers
 Support for up to 16GB DDR3 DIMMs
 1TB with 16GB DIMMS
Memory types supported:
 1066MHz DDR3 (800 & 1333MHz availability
depends on OEM validation)
 Registered (RDIMM)
 Single-rank (SR), dual-rank (DR), quad-rank (QR)
Actual system memory speed depends on specific processor capabilities:
 6.4GT/s SMI link speed capable of running memory speeds up to 1066Mhz
 5.86GT/s SMI link speed capable of running memory speeds up to 978Mhz
 4.8GT/s SMI link speed capable of running memory speeds up to 800Mhz

Figure 4. Memory Diagram

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7.2 DIMMs Supported

If DIMMs of different speeds are mixed, all channels operate at the fastest common frequency.
UDIMMs are not supported. The first DIMM slot in each channel is color‐coded with white ejection
tabs for ease of identification.

The M910’s DIMM sockets are placed 0.40‖ apart, center‐to‐center, to provide enough space for
sufficient airflow to cool stacked DIMMs. DIMMs must be installed in each channel starting with the
DIMM farthest from the processor (DIMM 1). Population order is identified by silkscreen and a label.
The order is dependent on the memory configuration used. See Table 8 for DIMM naming and
population ordering.

7.3 Slots /Risers

For information, see System Memory in the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s
Manual.

7.4 Intel 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer (SMB)

The Intel 7500 SMB supports one Intel Scalable Memory Interconnect (Intel SMI), 2 DDR3 channels,
and 1 SMBus slave interface at 100KHz. It does not support the repeater functionality. Target
package size is 19.5mm x 24.5mm with 0.8 mm pitch. Intel SMI supports link speeds of 4.8, 5.86, and
6.4 GT/s with 11 Southbound lanes (9 data + 1 CRC + 1 spare) and 14 Northbound lanes (12 data + 1
CRC + 1 spare).
The DDR3 interface supports x4 and x8 single-rank, dual-rank, and quad-rank RDIMMs, and up to 2
RDIMMS per channel. Each DDR3 channel supports a maximum of 8 ranks. DDR3 speeds are 800, 978,
and 1066 MHz. DRAM technology comes in 1 and 2Gb sizes. DIMM capacity is 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16GB (16GB
with QR DIMMS only).

7.5 Memory RAS Support

The Intel Xeon processor 6500 and 7500 series supports high-availability memory modes including
rank and DIMM sparing as well as memory mirroring. The M910 supports rank sparing only and
mirroring as shown in Table 7.

Table 7. PowerEdge M910 Sparing and Mirroring

Sparing Mirroring
Type Rules enforced 1P 2P 4P Rules Enforced
Rank No support Inter-socket Inter- 32 DIMM only,
The capacity of the spare (hemisphere socket Mirrored must match
rank must be greater mode
than that of any other enabled)
rank on the channel

7.5.1 Sparing
For information, see System Memory in the Dell PowerEdge Modular Systems Hardware Owner’s
Manual.

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7.5.2 Mirroring
For mirroring, the M910 will support 2P/4P configurations with 32 DIMMs only. When mirroring is
enabled, only half of the physical memory will be visible to the system software. A full copy of the
memory is maintained, and in the event of an uncorrectable error, the system will switch over to the
mirrored copy. In 2P mode, the mirroring will be inter-node with hemisphere mode enabled. In this
case, the memory controller (MBox) of CPU1 is mapped to the corresponding MBox of CPU2. The
figure below depicts the mirroring logic for 2P configurations. A, B, C and D represent the DIMM
socket groups.

DIMM4

DIMM6

DIMM8
DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3

DIMM5

DIMM7
DIMM8
DIMM7
DIMM6
DIMM5
DIMM4
DIMM3
DIMM2
DIMM1

A MBOX0 MBOX0
D
CPU1 CPU2
MBOX1 MBOX1

DIMM4

DIMM6

DIMM8
DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3

DIMM5

DIMM7
DIMM8
DIMM7
DIMM6
DIMM5
DIMM4
DIMM3
DIMM2
DIMM1

C B

Figure 5. PowerEdge M910 2P Mirroring

For 4-processor configurations, the PowerEdge M910 will also support mirroring in the inter-socket
mode (note that intra-socket is not possible in 4P because each CPU has only one MBox connected to
memory buffers). In this 4P case, the memory on CPU1 will be mirrored with memory on CPU3, while
memory on CPU2 is mirrored with memory on CPU4. Figure 6 depicts the mirroring logic for 2P
configurations. A,B,C and D represent the DIMM socket groups.
DIMM8
DIMM7
DIMM6
DIMM5
DIMM4
DIMM3
DIMM2
DIMM1

A MBOX0 MBOX0

CPU1 CPU2
MBOX1 MBOX1
DIMM2

DIMM4

DIMM7
DIMM1

DIMM3

DIMM5
DIMM6

DIMM8

B
DIMM2

DIMM4

DIMM7
DIMM1

DIMM3

DIMM5
DIMM6

DIMM8

MBOX0 MBOX0
D
CPU3 CPU4
MBOX1 MBOX1
DIMM8
DIMM7
DIMM6
DIMM5
DIMM4
DIMM3
DIMM2
DIMM1

Figure 6. M910 4P Mirroring

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7.5.3 Supported Memory Configurations

config Qty of System # of Rank Mirror Memory

Technology DIMM Capacity
# DIMMs Capacity CPUs Sparing? Support? Ranks
1 RDIMM 1 GB 4 4 GB 2 N N 1
2 RDIMM 1 GB 8 8 GB 4 N N 1
3 RDIMM 2 GB 8 16 GB 2&4 N N 2
4 RDIMM 4 GB 8 32 GB 2&4 N N 4
5 RDIMM 4 GB 24 96 GB 2&4 Y N 4
6 RDIMM 4 GB 24 96 GB 2&4 Y N 4
7 RDIMM 4 GB 32 128 GB 2&4 Y Y 4
8 RDIMM 4 GB 32 128 GB 2&4 Y Y 4
9 RDIMM 8 GB 16 128 GB 2&4 Y N 4
10 RDIMM 8 GB 24 192 GB 2&4 Y N 4
11 RDIMM 16x4GB + 16x8GB 32 192 GB 2&4 Y Y 4
12 RDIMM 8 GB 32 256 GB 2&4 Y Y 4
13 RDIMM 24x4GB + 8x8GB 32 160GB 2&4 Y Y 4
14 RDIMM 16GB 8 128GB 2&4 Y N 4
15 RDIMM 16GB 16 256GB 2&4 Y N 4
16 RDIMM 16GB 32 512GB 2&4 Y Y 4
17 RDIMM 4GB 16 64GB 2&4 Y N 4
16x8GB +
18 RDIMM 16x16GB 32 384GB 2&4 Y Y 4
19 RDIMM 1GB 2 2GB 2&4 Y Y 1

Table 8. Supported Memory Configurations

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8 Chipset
The PowerEdge M910 system board incorporates the Intel® 7500 chipset for I/O and processor
interfacing. The 7500 chipset is designed to support Intel® Xeon® processor 6500 and 7500 series 4S
family, Intel® QPI Interconnect, DDR3 memory technology, and PCI Express Generation 2 (PCIe 2).
The 7500 chipset consists of the IOH QuickPath Interconnect (QPI), Intel® 7500 Scalable Memory
Buffer, and the ICH10 South Bridge.

8.1 Intel 7500 I/O Hub (IOH)

The PowerEdge M910 system board incorporates an Intel 7500 series IOH to provide a link between
the 4S processors and the I/O components. The main components of the IOH consist of two full‐width
QPI links (one to each processor), 36 lanes of PCIe Gen2, and a x4 DMI link to connect directly to the
ICH10 (Intel I/O Controller Hub 10) South Bridge.

8.2 IOH QuickPath Interconnect (QPI)

The QPI architecture consists of serial point‐to‐point interconnects for the processors and the IOH.
The PowerEdge M910 has a total of four QPI links including one link connecting the processors and
links connecting both processors with the IOH. Each link consists of 20 lanes (full‐width) in each
direction with a link speed of 6.4 GT/s. An additional lane is reserved for a forwarded clock. Data is
sent over the QPI links as packets.
The QPI architecture features the following four layers:
 The Physical layer consists of the actual connection between components. It supports Polarity
Inversion and Lane Reversal for optimizing component placement and routing.
 The Link layer is responsible for flow control and the reliable transmission of data.
 The Routing layer is responsible for the routing of QPI data packets.
 Finally, the Protocol layer is responsible for high‐level protocol communications, including
the implementation of a MESIF (Modify, Exclusive, Shared, Invalid, Forward) cache coherence
protocol.

8.3 PCI EXPRESS GENERATION 2

PCI Express (PCIe) is a serial point‐to‐point interconnect for I/O devices. PCIe Gen2 doubles the
signaling bit rate of each lane from 2.5 Gb/s to 5 Gb/s. Each of the PCIe Gen2 ports is backward‐
compatible with Gen1 transfer rates.

8.4 Direct Media Interface (DMI)

The DMI (previously called the Enterprise Southbridge Interface) connects the Intel 7500 Legacy IOH
with the Intel I/O Controller Hub (ICH). The DMI is equivalent to a x4 PCIe Gen1 link with a transfer
rate of 1 GB/s in each direction.

8.5 Intel I/O Controller Hub 10 (ICH10)

ICH10 is a highly integrated I/O controller, supporting the following functions:

• Six x1 PCIe Gen1 ports, with the capability of combining ports 1‐4 as a x4 link
• PCI Bus 32‐bit Interface Rev 2.3 running at 33 MHz
• Six UHCI and two EHCI (High‐Speed 2.0) USB host controllers, with up to twelve USB ports

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• M910 has three external USB ports and one internal ports dedicated for UIPS/RIPS and
embedded storage
• Power management interface (ACPI 3.0b compliant)
• Platform Environmental Control Interface (PECI)
• Intel® Dynamic Power Mode Manager
• I/O interrupt controller
• SMBus 2.0 controller
• Low Pin Count (LPC) interface to Super I/O, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and SuperVU
• Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) support for up to two devices 
o M910 BIOS flash device is connected to the ICH10 using SPI

8.6 PCI Express Mezzanine Connectors

The M910 supports four PCI Express Gen 2 x8 mezzanine connectors. There are no restrictions on
mezzanine cards in the M910 (i.e., size or location).

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9 BIOS
9.1 Overview
The PowerEdge M910 BIOS is based on the Dell BIOS core, and supports the following features:
• IA‐32 Intel Xeon 7500 chipset 4S
• Simultaneous Multi‐Threading (SMT)
• CPU Turbo Mode
• PCI 2.3
• Plug n’ Play 1.0a
• MP (Multiprocessor) 1.4
• Boot from hard drive, optical drive, iSCSI drive, USB key, and SD card
• ACPI
• Direct Media Interface (DMI)
• PXE and WOL support for on‐board NICs
• Memory mirroring and sparing
• SETUP access through <F2> key at end of POST
• USB 2.0 (USB boot code is 1.1 compliant)
• F1/F2 error logging in CMOS
• Virtual KVM, CD
• UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) 2.1 support

The PowerEdge M910 BIOS does not support the following:

• Embedded Diagnostics
• BIOS language localization
• BIOS recovery after bad flash (but can be recovered from iDRAC6 Enterprise)

9.2 Supported ACPI States

The PowerEdge M910 supports the standard ACPI states. See http://www.acpi.info/for more
information.

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10 Embedded Gigabit Ethernet Controllers on Motherboard (LOM)

Two embedded Broadcom® 5709S dual-port LAN controllers are on the PowerEdge M910 system board
as independent Gigabit Ethernet interface devices. The following information details the features of
the LAN devices:
• X2 PCI Express Gen2 capable interface
• M910 operates this controller at Gen2 speed
• Integrated MAC and PHY
• 3072x18 Byte context memory
• 64 KB receive buffer
• TOE (TCP Offload Engine)
• iSCSI controller
• NC-SI (Network Controller-Sideband Interface) connection for Flex Addressing
• Wake-On-LAN (WOL)
• PXE 2.0 remote boot
• iSCSI boot
• IPv4 and IPv6 support
• Bare metal deployment support

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11 I/O Mezzanine Card Options

11.1 Overview
The M910 contains four PCIe Gen2 mezzanine slots. Installation of mezzanine cards requires an
M1000e I/O Module (IOM) of the same fabric technology to be installed in the corresponding fabric
slot of the mezzanine to support data flow through that fabric/slot.
For more information, refer to the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide.

11.2 Options
Available options for all 4 slots include:
• Mellanox® QDR ConnectX™ Dual-Port Quad Data Rate (QDR) InfiniBand
• Broadcom® BCM57711 Dual Port KX4 MC (10G)
• Broadcom® BCM5709S Dual Port SERDES
• Broadcom® BCM5709S Quad Prot SERDES
• Intel® Dual Port 10G KX4 MC
• Intel® Quad Port 1G SERDES MC
• Dual Port FC8 Qlogic® QME2572
• Dual Port FC8 Emulex® LPe1205-M
• Qlogic® CNA QME8142 (10Gb Enhanced Ethernet + FCoE)
• Emulex® CNA OCM20102FM (10Gb Enhanced Ethernet)
• Intel® 52599 (10Gb Enhanced Ethernet)

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12 Storage
12.1 Drives
The PowerEdge M910 supports up to two 2.5‖ SAS hard disk drives.
• 2.5" SAS (10K rpm): 146GB, or 300GB
• 2.5" SAS (15K rpm): 73GB or 146GB
• 2.5‖ SAS (7.2k rpm): 500GB
• 2.5‖ SSD: 50GB or 100GB

12.2 Hard Disk Drive Carriers

The PowerEdge M910 supports the 11G 2.5‖ hard drive carrier. Legacy carriers are not supported on
M910.

Figure 7. 2.5” HDD Carrier

12.3 Empty Drive Bays

For the slots that are not occupied by drives, a carrier blank is provided to maintain proper cooling,
maintain a uniform appearance to the unit, and provide EMI shielding.

12.4 Diskless Configuration Support

The system supports diskless configuration with no storage controller (H200/PERC 7i) installed in the
system. A 2.5‖ HDD backplane is installed in this configuration.

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12.5 RAID Configurations

Table 9. RAID Configurations

Hot Min Max Configs Description Factory

Plug HDs HDs

0 N 0 0 ZERO Diskless Configuration, No 

daughtercard

1 N 1 2 ASSN SAS drives using SAS6/IR or H200 

daughtercard with no RAID

2 N 2 2 ASSR0 SAS drives using the SAS6/IR or H200 

daughtercard with drives in a RAID 0
mirror

3 Y 2 2 ASSR1 SAS drives using the SAS6/IR or H200 

daughtercard with drives in a RAID 1
Stripe

4 N 2 2 ASSCBR0 SAS or Solid State drives using the 

PERC6 or H700 daughtercard (w/
battery) with drives in a RAID 0 Stripe

5 Y 2 2 ASSCBR1 SAS or Solid State drives using the 

PERC6 or H700 daughtercard (w/
battery) with drives in a RAID 1 mirror

12.6 Storage Controllers

Table 10. Storage Controllers Supported on the M910
PCI
SKU PCIe Bracke I/O
Product Usage M910 Slot Con t Con RAID BBU
SAS/SATA
SAS HBA

Internal
PERC H200 Storage x4 integrated mini
Backplane Yes – Max 1 X4 No 0, 1, 10 No
Integrated slot SAS wide
Storage

12.6.1 SATA Repeater

The M910 does not support the SATA repeater. The only SATA drives supported by M910 are the SSD
drives which are only supported off the PERC solution.

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12.6.2 PERC6/i
For customers who want a hardware RAID solution, the PERC6i is available as an optional customer
kit. The PERC6i uses the LSI 1078 ROC (RAID on Chip) processor with a PCI Express host interface and
DDR2 memory. A battery is available with this card.

12.6.3 PERC H200

The M910 supports the PERC H200, which offers a battery-backed cache. Details of the PERC H200
can be found in the PERC H200 Technical Guidebook.

12.6.4 PERC H700

The M910 also supports the PERC H700. Details of the PERC H700 can be found in the PERC H700
Technical Guidebook. It offers a battery-backed cache.

12.7 LED Indicators

Each disk drive carrier has two LED indicators visible from the front of the system. One is a green LED
for disk activity and the other is a bicolor (Green/Amber) LED for status. Both LEDs are used to
indicate certain conditions under direction of a storage controller.

12.8 Optical Drives

Optical drives are optional in all M910 systems and connect to the blade via the front USB interface.
The following internal slim-line drives are available on the M910:
 DVD-ROM
 DVD+RW
PATA (IDE) optical drives are not supported.

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13 Video (PCI Video)

The PowerEdge M910 Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 6 (iDRAC6) incorporates an integrated
video subsystem connected to the 32-bit PCI interface of the ICH10. This logic is based on the
Matrox® G200. The device only supports 2D graphics.
The integrated video core shares its video memory with the iDRAC6’s 128 MB DDR2 application space
memory. This memory is also used for the KVM buffer.
The M910 system supports the following 2D graphics video modes:

Table 11. Supported Video Modes

Resolution Refresh Rate (Hz) Color Depth (bit)

640 x 480 60, 72, 75, 85 8, 16, 32
800 x 600 56, 60, 72, 75, 85 8, 16, 32
1024 x 768 60, 72, 75, 85 8, 16, 32
1152 x 864 75 8, 16, 32
1280 x 1024 60, 75, 85 8, 16
1280 x 1024 60 32

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14 Rack Information
For information on rack and cable accessories for the M910, see the PowerEdge M1000e Technical
Guide and the M1000e Rack and Cable Advisor Tool.

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15 Operating Systems
The PowerEdge M910 is designed to meet the MSFT WinLogo 3.0 design specifications. For the most
up-to-date information, see the Operating System Support Matrix for Dell PowerEdge Systems on
Dell.com.

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16 Virtualization
16.1 Overview
Table 12. Virtualization Software
Hypervisor Factory Install Certification
VMware®
DIB/FI/NFI Yes
ESX/ESXi™ 3.5U5
VMware®
DIB/FI/NFI Yes
ESX/ESXi™ 4.0U1
Windows Server® 2008 Yes, included in Windows Server
FI
R2 with Hyper-V™ 2008 R2 WHQL process
Citrix®
FI Yes
XenServer™ 5.6

Support.dell.com has extensive information designed to help customers configure virtualization

software with PowerEdge servers.
To configure a complete virtualization solution, another resource is the Dell Virtualization Solution
Advisor on dell.com. Support.dell.com also has many blade-related virtualization documents, as well
as a detailed list of the virtualization platforms that are supported by OpenManage.
For information about what versions of VMware software have been certified on this server, see the
compatibility list maintained by VMware.
It is possible to order the server with an SD card that does not contain ESXi.

16.2 Advanced Infrastructure Manager by Scalent

Dell Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM) allows IT organizations to manage networking, storage,
and servers (as well as server workloads) that can be dynamically reconfigured and deployed to meet
the changing needs of today’s data center environment. Specifically, AIM provides IT professionals
the ability to:
• Combine new and existing networking, storage devices, and servers into a holistic computing
solution that enables dynamic allocation of resources to meet application workload
requirements.
• Manage physical and virtual resources with a single solution that includes the ability to move
workloads seamlessly across hardware platforms for increased availability and scalability.
• Provide virtualization-like functionality to non-virtual (physical) servers, including automated
failover, dynamic load balancing, and business continuity.
• Integrate existing infrastructure (networking, storage devices, and servers) into an AIM
solution to provide investment protection and extend the useful life of existing data center
assets.
• Significantly decrease the amount of time and people required to deploy hardware and get
applications up and running by providing a repeatable, scalable framework for hardware
implementation using AIM.

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The following platforms have been certified by Scalent:
 Nov 2009: 2970, R610, R710, M1000E, 1955, M605, M610, M710, and M905.
 April 2010: R810, R815, R910, and M910.
More information can be found at www.dell.com/aim .

16.3 Vizioncore
Vizioncore's easy-to-use virtualization software products support business continuity and disaster
recovery, high availability, monitoring, automation, P2V and optimization. The software is agent-less
and can co-exist with other leading backup software vendors, or be used as a standalone solution.
 vRanger™ Pro is a backup and restore solution for virtualized environments.
 vFoglight™ Standard and Professional editions help organizations monitor, understand and
analyze their virtual infrastructure by managing the relationships and interaction between
all the components in the virtual environment.
 vConverter™ helps convert servers to the VMware, Microsoft, XenServer or Virtual Iron
platforms.
 vReplicator is a host-level software-based replication solution for VMware infrastructure
which enables companies to leverage virtualization to support High Availability (HA) and
Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies.
 Vizioncore™ vOptimizer Pro helps administrators understand storage utilization so they
can make real-time adjustments in allocations. It presents the financial impact of
reclaimed storage per virtual machine (VM), per host, and cumulative cost savings across
the enterprise through historical detailed reports.
 vControl is a VM management solution that provides self-service provisioning, multi-VM
control and task-based automation. vControl lets VM consumers build and deploy VMs for
themselves, while providing administrators a single interface for task-based
administration of VMs.
 Vizioncore vEssentials™ is a software bundle of vFoglight Pro, vRanger Pro and
vReplicator.
More information can be found at http://vizioncore.com/asg/.

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17 Systems Management
17.1 Overview
Dell aims on delivering open, flexible, and integrated solutions that help you reduce the complexity
of managing disparate IT assets by building comprehensive IT management solutions. Combining Dell
PowerEdge Servers with a wide selection of Dell-developed management solutions gives you choice
and flexibility, so you can simplify and save in environments of any size. To help you meet your
server performance demands, Dell offers Dell™ OpenManage™ systems management solutions for:
• Deployment of one or many servers from a single console
• Monitoring of server and storage health and maintenance
• Update of system, operating system, and application software
Dell offers IT management solutions for organizations of all sizes—priced, sized, and supported right.

17.2 Server Management

A Dell Systems Management and Documentation DVD and a Dell Management Console DVD are
included with the product. ISO images are also available. A brief description of available content:
• Dell Systems Build and Update Utility: Dell Systems Build and Update Utility assists in OS
install and pre-OS hardware configuration and updates.
• OpenManage Server Administrator: The OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) tool
provides a comprehensive, one-to-one systems management solution, designed for system
administrators to manage systems locally and remotely on a network. OMSA allows system
administrators to focus on managing their entire network by providing comprehensive one-to-
one systems management.
• Management Console: Our legacy IT Assistant console is also included, as well as tools to allow
access to our remote management products. These tools are Remote Access Service, for
iDRAC, and the BMC Management Utility.
• Active Directory Snap-in Utility: The Active Directory Snap-in Utility provides an extension
snap-in to the Microsoft Active Directory. This allows you to manage Dell specific Active
Directory objects. The Dell-specific schema class definitions and their installation are also
included on the DVD.
• Dell Systems Service Diagnostics Tools: Dell Systems Service and Diagnostics tools deliver the
latest Dell optimized drivers, utilities, and operating system-based diagnostics that you can
use to update your system.
• eDocs: The section includes files for PowerEdge systems, storage peripheral, and OpenManage
software.
• Dell Management Console DVD: The Dell Management Console is a Web-based systems
management software that enables you to discover and inventory devices on your network. It
also provides advanced functions, such as health and performance monitoring of networked
devices and patch management capabilities for Dell systems.
• Server Update Utility: In addition to the Systems Management Tools and Documentation and
Dell Management Console DVDs, customers have the option to obtain Server Update Utility
DVD. This DVD has an inventory tool for managing updates to firmware, BIOS and drivers for
either Linux or Windows varieties.

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17.3 Embedded Server Management

The PowerEdge M910 implements circuitry for the next generation of Embedded Server Management.
It is Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) v2.0 compliant. The optional iDRAC (Integrated
Dell Remote Access Controller) is responsible for acting as an interface between the host system and
its management software and the periphery devices.
The optional upgrade to iDRAC6 provides features for managing the server remotely or in data center
lights-out environments.
Advanced iDRAC features require the installation of the optional iDRAC6 Enterprise card.

17.4 Lifecycle Controller and Unified Server Configurator

Embedded management is comprised of several interdependent pieces:
• Lifecycle Controller
• Unified Server Configurator
• iDRAC6
• vFlash
Lifecycle controller powers the embedded management features. It is integrated and tamperproof
storage for system-management tools and enablement utilities (firmware, drivers, etc.). It is flash
partitioned to support multiple, future-use cases.
Dell Unified Server Configurator (USC) is a local 1:1 graphical user interface embedded on Lifecycle
Controller that aids in local server provisioning in a pre-OS environment. For servers with iDRAC
Express, the Lifecycle Controller offers OS install, platform updates, platform configuration, and
diagnostics capabilities. For servers without iDRAC Express, this utility has limited functionality and
offers OS install and diagnostics capabilities only.
To access the Unified Server Configurator, press the <F10> key within 10 seconds of the Dell logo’s
appearance during the system boot process. Current functionality enabled by the Unified Server
Configurator includes:

Table 13. Unified Server Configurator Features and Description

Feature Description
Faster O/S Installation Drivers and the installation utility are embedded on system, so no
need to scour DELL.COM.
Faster System Updates Integration with Dell support automatically directed to latest
versions of the Unified Server Configurator, iDRAC, RAID, BIOS, NIC,
and Power Supply.
Update Rollback Ability to recover to previous ―known good state‖ for all updatable
components.
More Comprehensive Diagnostics Diagnostic utilities are embedded on system.
Simplified Hardware Configuration Detects RAID controller and allows user to configure virtual disk and
choose virtual disk as boot device, eliminating the need to launch a
separate utility. Also provides configuration for iDRAC, BIOS, and
NIC/LOM.

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17.5 The iDRAC6 Enterprise

In addition to upgrading the system with a Lifecycle Controller, the iDRAC6 offers the following key
features:
• Graphical web interface
• Standard-based interfaces
• Server Sensor monitoring and fault alerting
• Secure operation of remote access functions including authentication, authorization, and
encryption
• Power control and management with the ability to limit server power consumption and
remotely control server power states
• Advanced troubleshooting capabilities
• Scripting capability with Dell’s Racadm command-line
• Remote video, keyboard, and mouse (KVM) control with Virtual Console
• Remote media access with Virtual Media
• Dedicated network interface
Additionally, the iDRAC6 can be upgraded by adding the vFlash Media card. This is a 1 GB Dell
branded SD card that enables a persistent 256 MB virtual flash partition.
A more detailed feature list for iDRAC6 and vFlash is included in the table below.

Table 14. Features List for BMC, iDrac, and vFlash

Feature BMC iDRAC6 Enterprise vFlash Media
IPMI 2.0   
Web-based GUI  
SNMP  
WSMAN  
SMASH-CLP  
Racadm command-line  
Shared/Failover Network   
Modes
IPv4   
VLAN Tagging   
IPv6  
Dynamic DNS  
Dedicated NIC  
Role-based Authority   
Local Users   
Active Directory  
SSL Encryption  
Remote Firmware Update   
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Feature BMC iDRAC6 Enterprise vFlash Media
Server power control   
Serial-over-LAN (with proxy)   
Serial-over-LAN (no proxy)  
Power capping  
Last crash screen capture  
Boot capture  
Serial-over-LAN  
Virtual media  
Virtual console  
Virtual console sharing  
Virtual flash 
Sensor Monitoring and Alerting   
Real-time Power Monitoring  
Real-time Power Graphing  
Historical Power Counters  
System Event Log   
RAC Log  
Trace Log  

17.6 Chassis Management Controller (CMC)

See the PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide.

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18 Peripherals
18.1 USB peripherals
The PowerEdge M910 provides an internal USB connector for a USB flash memory key. The USB
memory key can be used as a boot device, security key, or mass storage device.

18.2 External Storage

By use of the appropriate IOMs in the M1000e chassis and mezzanine card(s) in the M910 blade, the
following external storage options are available:

Disk Storage Options:

• Dell/EqualLogic™ PSSeries
• PowerVault™ NX Series
• PowerVault MD3000i
Dell/EMC products:
• Dell/EMC fibre channel and/or iSCSI external storage, including Dell/EMC CX Series, AX
Series, and NS Series

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Appendix A. Regulatory Certifications and Standards Compliance

Please see the external Product Safety, EMC, and Environmental Datasheets on dell.com at:
http://www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance_datasheets
The M910 systems conform to the industry standards shown in Table 15.

Table 15. Industry Standards and URLs

Standard URL for information and specifications
ACPI http://www.acpi.info/
Advance Configuration and
Power Interface Specification,
v2.0c
Ethernet http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.3.html
IEEE 802.3-2005
IPMI http://www.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi/
Intelligent Platform
Management Interface, v2.0
DDR3 Memory http://www.jedec.org/download/search/JESD79-3A.pdf
DDR3 SDRAM Specification,
Rev. 3A
LPC http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/industry/lpc.ht
Low Pin Count Interface m
Specification, Rev. 1.1
PCI Express http://www.pcisig.com/specifications/pciexpress/
PCI Express Base Specification
Rev. 2.0
PMBus http://pmbus.info/specs.html
Power System Management
Protocol Specification, v1.1
SAS http://www.t10.org/ftp/t10/drafts/sas1/sas1r10.pdf
Serial Attached SCSI, v1.1
SATA https://www.sata-io.org/secure/spec_download.asp
Serial ATA Rev. 2.6; http://www.sata-io.org/docs/S2Ext_1_2_Gold.pdf
SATA II, Extensions to SATA
1.0a, Rev. 1.2
SMBIOS http://www.dmtf.org/standards/smbios/
System Management BIOS
Reference Specification, v2.6
TPM https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/downloads/specifi
Trusted Platform Module cations/tpm/tpm
Specification, v1.2
UEFI http://www.uefi.org/specs/
Unified Extensible Firmware
Interface Specification, v2.1

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Standard URL for information and specifications
USB http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/
Universal Serial Bus
Specification, Rev. 2.0
Windows Logo http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/hwrequirements.
Windows Logo Program mspx
System and Device
Requirements, v3.10

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