iSeries Architecture: Fundamental Strength of the iSeries
14 iSeries Handbook
Hierarchy of Microprocessors
The iSeries servers are designed for business computing. One of the fundamental
characteristics of that environment is that it is I/O-intensive, rather than compute-intensive. In
addition to outstanding performance in the business environment, the microprocessor
hierarchy design gives the iSeries server an elegant method of integrating diverse
environments into a single, harmonious customer solution.
The microprocessors that look after a particular I/O device are accommodated on I/O cards
that fit into slots on the system buses. One of these cards may be the Integrated xSeries
Server. This is a PC on a card, which enables the iSeries to run a Windows NT server, for
example.
The following figure shows a range of iSeries processors dedicated to a particular
input/output (I/O) device type.
A single large iSeries configuration can have well over 200 processors. The main system
processor complex (can be comprised of 24 separate processors) can encounter a request
for data to be read from or written to any I/O device. That request for data is delegated to the
particular microprocessor dedicated to that I/O device. Meanwhile, the main system
1.0 GB/s
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Memory
Memory
Memory
Memory
High Speed
Interconn ect S witch
I/O Hub
Memory
Contr ol
4.8 GB/s 4.8 GB/s4.8 GB/s4.8 GB/s
2.4 GB/s
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2.0
GB/s
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I O P
I O PI O P
I O P
I O P
I O P
I O P
P C I B U S
P C I B U S
P C I B U S
P C I B U S
HSL
Ada pter
2.0
GB/s
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