The following sections in this chapter describe the function and physical components of the X–brick:
The X–brick is an I/O expansion brick that provides an XIO interface for the SGI Origin 3000 series servers. Four XIO slots are available and will support a variety of XIO adapter cards. Please see Table 7-1 for a complete list of the XIO cards that are supported in the X–brick.
This XIO expansion brick is 4U high and can be installed in the I/O rack of the SGI Origin 3800 server, or combined within the first rack on the SGI Origin 3400 server if space is available. The X–brick can also be installed in an SGI Origin 3200 server.
The following are the X–brick's internal components and front panel items (Figure 7-1 shows the items located on the X–brick front panel):
Internal components:
Power board. Provides power to the X–brick.
Midplane PCA. The X–brick midplane contains an Xbridge ASIC that is the interface between the X–brick's two Crosstown2 ports and the XIO cards (see Figure 7-2). The midplane also has receptacles for the compression connectors of the XIO cards.
Front panel items:
L1 controller and display. L1 controller generates X–brick status and error messages that appear on the liquid crystal display (LCD).
On/Off switch with LED. Press this button to turn on the X–brick internal components. Alternatively, you can turn on the X–brick internal components at a system console.
L1 controller switches and LEDs:
On/Off switch LED. Lights green when the X–brick internal components are on and turns off when they are off.
Service required LED. Lights orange to indicate that an item is broken or not operating properly (for example, a fan is off), but the X–brick is still operating.
Failure LED. Lights red to indicate that a system failure has occurred and the X–brick system is down.
Fans.
The X–brick midplane contains an Xbridge ASIC that is the interface between the X–brick's two Crosstown2 ports and the slots for the XIO cards, as shown in Figure 7-2. The midplane also has receptacles for the compression connectors of the XIO cards.
Figure 7-2 is a block diagram of the X–brick.
The L1 controller monitors and controls the environment of the X–brick. It consists of a display, logic components, and a cable. The display is located at the front of the brick. The logic components are located on the power board; an internal cable connects the display to the logic components.
For general information about the L1 controller, see Chapter 3, “System Control ”.
Figure 7-3 shows the location of the power-on switch, XIO card slots, connectors, and LEDs on the X–brick rear panel.
The X–brick rear panel has the following items:
Power switch (O 1). Moving the power switch to the 1 position powers on the X–brick's L1 controller, and moving it to the 0 position powers off the X–brick's L1 controller. Powering on the L1 controller lights the 12 VDC LED green.
48 VDC and 12 VDC LEDs. The power switch must be in the ON (1) position for these LEDs to be on. The 12 VDC lights green when the L1 controller is powered on and operating, and the 48 VDC lights green when the rest of the X–brick internal components are powered on and operating. The internal components are powered on by pressing the On/Off switch located on the L1 controller front panel.
PWR (power) connector. Connects to the power bay to give power to the X-brick.
Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot 3, and Slot 4 XIO card slots. Used to install and replace XIO cards onto your server system.
Warning: To avoid personal injury or damage to your system, only qualified SGI system support engineers (SSEs) can install and replace XIO cards. XIO 11 and XIO 10 connectors. These connectors connect the X–brick to a C–brick. Only one connector is required to connect to a single C–brick. As an option, the second connector can be connected to another C–brick to create a dual-ported X–brick, which would provide greater bandwidth.
XIO 11 and XIO 10 connector LEDs. LEDs light yellow when the connector is cabled securely to the C–brick device, and light green when the connection is negotiated with the device with which the connector is cabled.
The XIO cards insert horizontally into slots of the X–brick and connect to the X–brick's midplane. The XIO card slots are labeled Slots 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each slot can support one card with maximum power levels of 50 W.
| Warning: Only qualified SGI system support engineers (SSEs) can install and replace XIO cards. |
Table 7-1 shows the SGI XIO cards supported in the X–brick. (Although other XIO cards are available from SGI and are supported in other systems, they are not supported in the X–brick.)
Marketing Code | Description |
|---|---|
XT-HIPPI-800-SER | Single-port serial HIPPI |
XT-FDDI-D | Dual-attach FDDI |
XT-GSN-C-1XIO | Single-port GSN, copper interface |
XT-GSN-C-2XIO | Dual-port GSN, copper interface |
XT-DIVO | Digital video |
XT-DIVO-DVC | Digital video with DVCPRO support |
XT-HD | High-definition video |
XT-VME-6U | Adapter for 6U VME card |
XT-VME-9U | Adapter for 9U VME card |