Common Server Configurations and Features

Various generations of servers have used different types of memory. The following sections provide an overview, by memory type. For the details of the memory used by your server, you should check your system documentation or look up your server's chipset in Chapter 3. Chapter 3 also provides information about processor types supported and other features of these chipsets.

Server Chipsets and Memory Types Used

Although SDRAM memory is no longer the most common type of desktop memory, some servers continue to use it. Just as the most common type of desktop memory is currently DDR, most servers also use DDR memory. Some recent servers use DDR2 memory, and a few, primarily older servers, use RDRAM. Table 5.21 provides a quick reference to server chipsets and the memory types they support. Note that some chipsets support two or more types of memory. In such cases, you should check the documentation for the particular system or motherboard using that chipset to determine what type of memory it uses.

Table 5.21. Memory Types Supported by Major Server Chipsets

Chipset Model	Supports SDRAM	Supports DDR SDRAM	Supports DDR2 SDRAM
Acer Labs
Aladdin Pro II[1][2][3]	Yes
Hewlett-Packard
F8	Yes
sx1000 "Pinnacles"	Yes
zx1		Yes
IBM
XA-32	Yes
XA-32 second generation		Yes
XA-64		Yes
XA-64e		Yes
Intel
440LX	Yes
440BX	Yes
440GX	Yes
450NX	Yes
Corollary[4]	Yes
460GX	Yes
845	Yes	Yes
845P		Yes
875P		Yes
E7210		Yes
E7221		Yes	Yes
E7500		Yes
E7501		Yes
E7505		Yes
E7520		Yes	Yes
E7320		Yes	Yes
E8500		Yes	Yes
E8870		Yes
ServerWorks
Champion HE	Yes
Champion HE-SL	Yes
Champion LE	Yes
Grand Champion HE		Yes
Grand Champion LE		Yes
Grand Champion SL		Yes
VIA Technologies
Apollo Pro133A	Yes		2
VIA Apollo Pro266	Yes	Yes

^[1] Also supports FPM DRAM.

^[2] Also supports EDO DRAM.

^[3] Acer Labs is now ULi.

^[4] This chipset was originally co-developed by Compaq and Profusion.

To determine the specific speeds and types of memory, or to determine whether a particular server uses SDRAM or another type of memory if it uses chipsets compatible with more than one type of RAM, you should see the system documentation or use a hardware analysis program such as SiSoftware Sandra or HWiNFO.

Chipsets for AMD Opteron and DDR Memory

The AMD Opteron processor incorporates the memory controller in the processor, rather than in the North Bridge or memory controller hub, as do other chipsets. The AMD Opteron's integrated memory controller supports DDR memory. Thus, every server based on Opteron processors supports DDR memory.

Servers That Use RDRAM Memory

Relatively few server-class systems used RDRAM memory. Systems based on the following chipsets used RDRAM memory:

• Intel 820

• Intel 840 (note that some systems based on this chipset used SDRAM, thanks to a memory repeater hub chip)

• Intel 850

• Intel 850e

Note that Intel no longer supports RDRAM memory for server or desktop chipsets. Although a few other chipset vendors continue to support RDRAM, most notably Silicon Information Systems (SiS), there are no SiS-based servers to date.