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PowerEdge R210 Technical Guide 34
8 Chipset
8.1 Overview
The PowerEdge R210 planar incorporates the Intel Ibex Peak as PCH chipset. The Ibex
Peak is a highly integrated I/O controller. The high-level features supported by the
chipset and implemented on the PowerEdge R210 are detailed in the sections that
follow.
8.2 Direct Media Interface
Direct Media Interface (DMI) is the chip-to-chip connection between the processor and Ibex
Peak chipset. This high-speed interface integrates advanced priority-based servicing allowing
for concurrent traffic and true isochronous transfer capabilities. Base functionality is
completely software-transparent, permitting current and legacy software to operate normally.
8.3 PCI Express Interface
The Ibex Peak provides up to 8 PCI Express Root Ports, supporting the PCI Express Base
Specification, Revision 2.0. Each Root Port supports 2.5 GB/s bandwidth in each direction (5
GB/s concurrent). PCI Express Root Ports 1-4 can be statically configured as four x1 Ports or
ganged together to form one x 4 ports. Ports 5 and 6 can only be used as two x 1 port.
8.4 SATA Interface
The Ibex Peak has two integrated SATA host controllers that support independent DMA
operation on up to six ports and supports data transfer rates of up to 3.0 GB/s (300MB/s). The
SATA controller contains two modes of operation – a legacy mode using I/O space, and an AHCI
mode using memory space. Software that uses legacy mode will not have AHCI capabilities.
The Ibex Peak supports the Serial ATA Specification, Revision 1.0a. The Ibex Peak also supports
several optional sections of the Serial ATA II: Extensions to Serial ATA 1.0 Specification,
Revision 1.0 (AHCI support is required for some elements).
8.5 AHCI
The Ibex Peak provides hardware support for Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI), a new
programming interface for SATA host controllers. Platforms supporting AHCI may take
advantage of performance features such as no master/slave designation for SATA devices—each
device is treated as a master—and hardware-assisted native command queuing. AHCI also
provides usability enhancements such as Hot-Plug. AHCI requires appropriate software support
(e.g., an AHCI driver) and for some features, hardware support in the SATA device or additional
platform hardware.
8.6 PCI Interface
The Ibex Peak PCI interface provides a 33 MHz, Revision 2.3 implementation. The Ibex Peak
integrates a PCI arbiter that supports up to four external PCI bus masters in addition to the
internal Ibex Peak requests. This allows for combinations of up to four PCI down devices and
PCI slots.