WhiteCross Systems Wx9020 Database Server WX9020 - System Overview

System Overview Principles of Server Operation The WX9020 Server How is data stored? How do users get access? The WX9020 Server What is behind the doors? Main components of rack Rack communications

System Overview The WX9000CP Thermal management Power & batteries The Daemon Thermal management Power & batteries Monitoring server operations The next stage...

Principles of Server Operation The WX9020 Server is designed to be a high-capacity, high workload database server for use in data centres Large datasets are loaded down on to the disks fitted to the server from a source elsewhere on the network Parallel processing of large datasets gives phenomenal processing speeds User access to the server is via a standard network connection

Data in Memory (RAM) To get the fastest processing performance, the user tables are copied from the disks and shared out among the processors which go to make up the processing network within the WX9020 server

The User Environment Users WX9000CP Modem Data source(s) System Administrator/DBA

The WX9020 Server Redundancy built into hardware - for reliability and availability Power supplies (3) Battery back-up Temperature sensors (10) Fans (4) Software monitoring of hardware components (fan speed, temp, power supplies etc.)

Opening the Front Door Acrylic panels assist in thermal management Access to power supplies & batteries restricted System Controller Subrack Two configurable Subracks Fan trays Upper Fan Tray Lower Fan Tray Power Supply Units

Opening the Rear Door Acrylic panels assist in thermal management Access to power controls restricted Three configurable Subracks Fan trays Power ON/OFF controls External connections to power and WX9000CP External connections Upper Fan Tray Lower Fan Tray AC Power Indicators and switches

Side View Front Rear Side panels can be easily removed Removal not necessary for normal maintenance System Controller Cooling Fans Subrack Subrack Front Subrack Subrack Rear Subrack Subrack Power subsystem Cooling Fans Power Switch

Configuring the WX9020 Four HCDMs = 8 x 2G IBM disks Choose the hardware configuration that most suits current needs - expand as needs grow Each rack must contain a System Controller Subrack Hardware is configurable e.g. the BT system comprises: 1 Disk Subrack (below System Controller Subrack) Four HCDMs = 8 x 2G IBM disks 16 Processor cards 9 in Processor Subrack (rear door, upper Subrack) 4 in System Controller Subrack 3 in Disk Subrack WX9000CP connects via PE card in the Disk Subrack

WX9020 Subracks Subracks can be: System Controller Processor Subracks System Management Processor Subracks Containing Processor cards Disk Subracks Containing HCDMs & PS cards, Processor cards and PE card

WX9020 Thermal Management Rack contains two pairs of fans numbered 0,1,2,3 Rack contains ten temperature sensors numbered 0 - 9 Air is pulled through in two “chimneys” over contents of cabinet Air inlet filter in rear door (bottom) Air outlet vents in rear door (top) Monitor hardware as part of regular maintenance

The System Controller Subrack Responsible for system management Booting up & shutting down Checks for system failure Communicates with outside world via WX9000CP Handles front panel messages Handles diagnostics Manages software upgrade

The System Controller Subrack (2) A dual rack containing several different cards: System Controller cards Processor cards HSL cards Front Panels Key switches LCD displays Everything doubled for failure resilience

Layout of the System Controller Subrack A fault-resilient, dual ring System Controller Subrack contains: 2 System Controller cards 4 High Speed Link cards 4 Processor cards 2 Front panels + LCD displays

Layout of the System Controller Subrack

How do Subracks Communicate? All communication inside the rack is via fibre optics All data and control signals are passed along fibres This gives speed and bandwidth 125 Mbits/sec All Subracks are interlinked in a fibre optic ring Second ring gives added protection against component failure High Speed Link (HSL) cards in each Subrack act as links in this chain

Rack/Subrack Communications The main communications ring is handled by the Active Controller (A ring) The secondary communications ring is handled by the Passive Controller (B ring) The HSL cards provide a virtual link between system components

The Processor Subrack Must contain at least one Processor card and one HSL card A dual ring WX9020 must contain: 2 Processor cards 2 High Speed Link cards Fully configured holds 19 Processor cards

Layout of the Processor Subrack

Processor Card Small board (233mm x 280mm) contains: Front edge Small board (233mm x 280mm) contains: LED status lights 6 transputers - INMOS T4 (60 MIPS) 96 Mbytes local RAM (6x16Mb) Error correcting DRAM DC - DC Voltage converters Components are surface- mounted (on both sides of the board) for higher reliability and density.

The Disk Subrack Must contain at least two HCDMs, two Processor cards and a HSL card A fully-configured, dual ring WX9020 contains: 4 HCDMs 4 Processor cards or 3 Processor cards + 1 PE card 2 High Speed Link cards

Layout of the Disk Subrack Note: slots 4 and 5 can contain either a Processor card or a PE card

The High Capacity Disk Module Contains two disks of 2 Gbytes each Has two fully-independent SCSI 2 disk controllers Each controller holds its own processor and 16 Mbytes of RAM No internal cabling - designed to be hot-pluggable (R4)

Data on Disk - RAID 3 Given a cluster of 4 disks, 3 are designated data disks and 1 is designated the parity (or XOR) disk

Disk Recreation At boot-up server will check data and parity disks for consistency Any inconsistency recorded in error log and the disk(s) recreated automatically Boot-up operations are configurable Recreation can lengthen the time taken to boot-up Auto disk recreate can be done manually

External Connectivity An interface is required to connect the WX9000 server to the LAN so that it can communicate with clients on the same (or different) network WCS does this via the WX9000CP communications processor Provides modem connection CP is a SPARC-based workstation. Choice of connectivity options. CP channels the SQL queries, results and data. Clients LAN Server CP

The RDA Daemon The Daemon provides the communications software to control the connection between the WX9020 server and the network WX Server LAN CP Client PC

Power Controls Power is switched on/off via a three phase contactor Controlled by single pole breaker The breaker contains a voltage-driven trip If auto shutdown enabled, the system can trip the breaker and so switch off when required Switched power output from the three phase contactor is distributed to power supplies and battery charging circuits

DC Power Three Farnell PSUs (with in-built redundancy) Generate internal 56v rail AC to each PSU protected by 20amp circuit breaker Allows live changes 56v negative rail fused with 63amp fuse 56v positive fed via diodes to common bus bar Positive rail tied to Earth

Batteries - Overview In the event of a complete power failure, batteries deliver +48v Normally draw no current from the system-wide 56v rail Batteries connected in the same way as PSUs Negative rail fused with 120amp fuse Positive rail fed via diode Contactor on the +ve rail for disconnect when required Trickle-charge feeds to batteries to maintain charge level Battery life expectancy = 4 years

Batteries - Charging Power supply on Power Monitor card produces 55.2v for trickle-charge Powered directly from the AC supply When batteries not fully charged, circuitry switches to constant-current charging to deliver 2amps WX9020 has in-built circuitry to derive 50v for this charging

Monitoring Server Operations Useful messages on front panel display: During normal running During re-boot sequence Indicator lights fitted to each card Running / warning lights fitted to HCDMs In software: Accessing system tables directly using SQL Using WCS front end tool e.g. SQL Console From scripts

The Front Panel Two front panels are fitted to the WX9020 In a dual ring system both front panels are connected and the LCD displays will indicate current status of server - one each for the A and B ring controllers Three key switches: Re-boot Operation mode SYS/RACK switch RE-BOOT SYS AUX1 AUX2 RACK EXT INT DEBUG 1 2 3

The Front Panel Two-line, liquid-crystal textual display Reboot key switch RE-BOOT SYS AUX1 AUX2 RACK EXT INT DEBUG 1 2 3 SYS/RACK switch (only relevant in a multi-rack system) Disk activity LEDs Key switch for mode of operation

The Front Panel - Key Switches Re-boot key Used to re-boot server SYS/RACK switch Always set to SYS in a single cabinet WX9020 Mode key - used to determine “bootmode” or mode of operation ‘INT’ernal mode is the normal mode of operation DEBUG mode is for diagnostics & remote access ‘EXT’ernal mode is used for installing new versions of software

The LCD Display Shows useful information about status of server: P 6: Software version number always displayed Pages of information are displayed in continuous cycle Updates every ten seconds P 6: V 3.2.32 Running Procs: 100 Disks: 8

The WhiteCross HelpDesk

The White Cross Help Desk Based in Bracknell HQ and available during UK office hours (08.00 - 18.00) Contact by phone, fax, email

Contacting the Help Desk Contact the Help Desk (& Reception) on: Telephone: +44 1344 300770 Facsimile: +44 1344 301424 Contact the Help Desk directly on: Email: helpdesk@whitecross.com …and soon on the world wide web too.

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