Hardware Design Guide Version 1.0 for Microsoft Windows NT Server

Hardware Design Guide Version 1.0 for Microsoft WindowsNTServer

A Reference for Designing ServersandPeripherals for the Microsoft®WindowsNT® Server OperatingSystem

Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation
Publication Date: October 10, 1997

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Intel and Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Intel and Microsoft, and Intel and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. This document is for informational purposes only. INTEL AND MICROSOFT MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.

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Contents

Welcomevii

Additional Information on Server Hardware Design...... viii

Hardware Testing Programs at Microsoft...... viii

How to Use This Guide...... ix

Conventions Used in This Guide...... x

Conventional Terms...... x

Required vs. Recommended Features in This Guide...... xi

References and Resources...... xii

Acknowledgments...... xv

Chapter 1 Overview of Server Design Issues1

Introduction to Design Issues...... 1

Designing Systems for WindowsNT Server...... 3

Classes of Servers...... 4

Preparing for ACPI and OnNow Design...... 5

Processor Requirements...... 6

Part 1 Basic Server Requirements9

Chapter 2 Basic System Component Requirements11

Basic Component Requirements...... 12

System Microprocessor Requirements...... 13

Memory Requirements...... 14

Configuration and Power Management Requirements...... 15

ACPI and Power Management Requirements...... 15

Startup Support Requirements...... 20

Plug and Play Requirements...... 22

Chapter 3 Basic Bus and Device Requirements25

PCI Bus Requirements...... 25

USB Requirements...... 32

Other Bus Requirements...... 34

Device Requirements...... 36

Chapter 4 Basic Networking and Communications Requirements43

Network Adapter Requirements...... 45

Modem Requirements...... 49

Requirements for Other Communications Devices...... 53

ATM Requirements...... 53

ADSL Requirements...... 56

ISDN Requirements...... 56

Serial ISDN Modems...... 57

Parallel ISDN Devices...... 60

Chapter 5 Basic Storage Device Requirements63

SCSI Controllers and Peripherals...... 65

IDE Controllers and Peripherals...... 68

Fibre Channel Controllers and Peripherals...... 72

Erasable Disk Drives...... 72

CD-ROM and Other CD Drives...... 73

CD-ROM Requirements...... 73

DVD-ROM Requirements...... 75

Tape Drives...... 79

Media Changers...... 81

CD Changers...... 81

Tape and Optical Disk Changers...... 81

Chapter 6 Basic Physical Design and Hardware Security Requirements83

Physical Design Requirements...... 83

Hardware Security Requirements...... 85

Chapter 7 Basic Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability Requirements87

Backup and Reliability Requirements...... 87

Backup Hardware...... 88

Power Supply...... 88

Fault-Tolerant Hardware...... 89

High Availability Requirements...... 90

Manageability Baseline Requirements...... 91

General Manageability Baseline Requirements...... 91

Manageability Component Instrumentation Requirements...... 93

Part 2 SOHO and Enterprise Server Requirements95

Chapter 8 SOHO System Requirements97

SOHO System Microprocessor Requirements...... 97

SOHO Memory Requirements...... 97

SOHO ACPI and Power Management Requirements...... 98

SOHO Bus and Device Requirements...... 100

SOHO Storage Device Requirements...... 101

SOHO Fibre Channel Controllers and Peripherals...... 101

SOHO Tape Drives...... 102

SOHO Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability Requirements...... 102

Chapter 9 Enterprise Server Requirements103

Enterprise System Microprocessor Requirements...... 103

Enterprise System Memory Requirements...... 104

Enterprise Storage Device Requirements...... 104

Enterprise Tape Drives...... 104

Enterprise Reliability, Availability, and ServiceabilityRequirements.....105

Enterprise Power Supply and Ventilation...... 105

Enterprise Fault-Tolerant Hardware...... 105

Appendix A Clustering Hardware107

Clustering Overview...... 107

Cluster Hardware Testing...... 109

Clustering Hardware Requirements...... 109

Appendix B Server Requirements Checklist111

Glossary125

Index135

Published: October 10, 1997 — Printed: 11/05/97 08:24 AM

Welcome1

Welcome

Hardware Design GuideVersion 1.0 for Windows NT Server is for engineers whobuild server systems, expansion cards, and peripheral devices that use the Microsoft® WindowsNT® Serveroperating system.

This guide is co-authored by Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. Therequirements and recommendations in this guide indicate features that the hardware industry should consider in designing servers and peripherals for various price levels and performance levels.

This guide includes design requirements for classes of systems that will run WindowsNT Server, including:

Design requirements for basic commodity server designs, plus additional design requirements for small office/home office (SOHO) and Enterprise servers.
Design requirements related to the OnNow design initiative, including requirements related to the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, Plug and Play device configuration, and power management in server systems.
Additional design requirements for devices supported under Windows NT Server.
New manageability requirements that focus on improving Windows NT Server in order to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) by providing support for maximum automation of administrative tasks with centralized control and maximum flexibility.

Important: These system requirements are guidelines for designing servers that deliver an enhanced user experience when implemented with the WindowsNT Server operating system. These design requirements are not related to the minimum, most-optimal, or best system requirements for running the WindowsNT Server operating system. For information about the minimum system requirements for running WindowsNT Server, see the web site at

Additional Information on Server HardwareDesign

Additional information relating to server hardware design is available from Intel at

You can also contact the Enterprise Server Group at Intel Corporation:

ESG Server Platform Marketing
CO3-218
Intel Corporation
5220 NE Elam Young Parkway
Hillsboro, OR 97124 USA /
E-mail:
Fax: (503) 677-5503

Hardware Testing Programs at Microsoft

A specific hardware model is compatible with WindowsNT if it has a WindowsNT device driver designed to interact with that hardware model, and if WindowsNT and that driver interoperate with the hardware in a stable manner.

Microsoft evaluates hardware compatibility using the WindowsNT hardware compatibility tests (HCTs). WindowsNT HCTs are run to test the interaction between device drivers and hardware. These tests issue the full range of commands available to applications and operating system software, and they stress hardware beyond the level of most real-world situations. The WindowsNT HCT team runs the tests and reports results to the manufacturer. You can obtain a WindowsNT HCT kit from the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) web site at

Hardware that passes the tests is eligible to be included on the WindowsNT Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), available to customers by way of the World Wide Web and other sources. The HCL helps interested parties identify hardware and software that has been verified to run on WindowsNT Server.

WHQL administers the hardware compliance testing programs at Microsoft. Hardware developers whose products pass the WHQL testing program receive adetailed report about how the system runs Windows NT Server based on the results of the testing. Hardware that passes testing is included on the Windows HCL, and drivers are distributed for no fee in the WindowsNT Driver Library (WDL).

For information about when the requirements in this guide take effect in the WHQL testing program, or about any of the hardware testing programs at Microsoft, please contact WHQL:

Windows Hardware Quality Labs Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA /
E-mail:
Fax: (425) 703-3872

How to Use This Guide

Read the first chapter for an overview, and read Chapters 2 and 3 to gain an understanding of the overall system requirements. Study the other chapters to understand details about specific device classes and issues for server hardware.

Chapter / Contents
Chapter 1: Overview of ServerDesign Issues / Presents overview of server classes and design issues.
Part 1: Basic Server Requirements / Defines basic system and device requirements for commodity server design.
Chapter 2: Basic System Component Requirements / Presents general system requirements.
Chapter 3: Basic Bus and Device Requirements / Presents general bus and device requirements for server systems.
Chapter 4: Basic Networking and Communications Requirements / Defines basic feature requirements for network adapters and other related communications hardware.
Chapter 5: Basic Storage Device Requirements / Defines requirements for controllers, hard drives, tapedrives, CDROM, and related devices.
Chapter 6: Basic Physical Design and Hardware Security Requirements / Defines requirements for physical design and hardware security, such as requirements for connectors, locks for case and components, and so on.
Chapter 7: Basic Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability Requirements / Provides design guidelines related to ease of use and ease of maintenance issues.
Part 2: SOHO and Enterprise Server Requirements / Defines specific requirements forSOHO servers and Enterprise servers as they differ from the generic requirements definedin Part1.
Chapter 8: SOHO System Requirements / Presents specific requirements for SOHO server systems: CPU, memory, power management, buses and devices, storage, Fibre Channel, tape drives, and reliability and availability.
Chapter 9: Enterprise Server Requirements / Presents specific requirements for Enterprise server systems: CPU, memory, storage, tape drives, and reliability and availability.
Appendix A:
Clustering Hardware / Presents design guidelines for clustering hardware.
Appendix B: Server Requirements Checklist / Provides a summary checklist of requirements defined in these guidelines.
Glossary / Defines technical terms and acronyms related to hardware and the Windows NT operating system.

Conventions Used in This Guide

The following conventional terms, symbols, abbreviations, and acronyms are used throughout this guide. In addition, see the Glossary later in this guide.

Conventional Terms

Add-on devices

Devices that are traditionally added to the base server system to increase functionality, such as audio, networking, graphics, and so on. Add-on devices fall into two categories: devices built onto the system board and devices on expansion cards added to the system through a system-board connector such as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).

Intel Architecture

Refers to computers based on 32bit microprocessors that use the Intel Architecture instruction set, such as Intel Pentium®, Intel Pentium with MMX™ technology, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, or compatible processors. MMX technology refers to Intel’s media-enhancement technology that includes new instructions added to the Intel Architecture instruction set.

RISC-based

Refers to computers based on reduced instruction set computing (RISC) architecture.

System devices

Also on-board devices. Refers to devices on the system board such as interrupt controllers, keyboard controller, real-time clock, direct memory access (DMA) page registers, DMA controllers, memory controllers, floppy disk controller (FDC), Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) ports, serial and parallel ports, PCI bridges, and so on. In today’s servers, these devices are typically integrated with the supporting chip set.

Windows NT or WindowsNT Server

Refers to the Microsoft Windows NT Server version 5.0 operating system, including any add-on capabilities and any later versions of the operating system.

For a list of acronyms and definitions of technical terms, see the Glossary later in this guide.

Required vs. Recommended Features in This Guide

The system requirements defined in this publication provide guidelines for designing servers that deliver an enhanced user experience when implemented with WindowsNT Server. These design requirements are not the basic system requirements for running the WindowsNT Server operating system. In this guide, hardware features are described as Required, Recommended, or Optional as follows:

Required. These basic hardware features must be implemented in order for hardware to qualify as being in compliance with Hardware Design Guide Version 1.0 for Windows NT Server requirements.
Recommended. These features add functionality supported by the WindowsNT operating system. Recommended features take advantage of the native capabilities of hardware device drivers included with the operating system, usually without imposing major cost increases.

Notice that for compliance testing, if a recommended feature is implemented, it must meet the requirements for that feature that are defined in this guide. Some recommended features might become requirements in the future.

Optional. These features are neither required nor recommended, but if the feature is implemented in a Hardware Design Guide Version 1.0 for Microsoft Windows NT Server system, it must meet the specified requirements. These features are not likely to become requirements in the future.

In this guide, the following terms are used in regard to the requirements:

Must: Required
Should: Recommended

Note: It is recognized that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) supply systems with specific feature requirements to corporations, where customers integrate the desired solution on site. For example, a customer might specify a minimum configuration without disk drives.

Systems designed for specific corporate customers are exempt from related minimum requirements defined in this guide. Such exemptions are noted in this document. However, for compliance testing of these requirements, the system must include at least the minimum required components.

References and Resources

The following represents some of the information resources, services, and tools available to help build hardware that is optimized to meet the requirements defined in this guide. This section also lists technical references for the specifications cited in this guide.

Information Resources

Common Information Model (CIM)

Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF)

Intel developer information

Microsoft hardware developer information

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Professional membership

Phone: (800) 759-5474
Outside North America: (510) 275-0763
Fax: (510) 275-0762

Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL)

Technical References

1997 Version of National ISDN Basic Rate Interface Terminal Equipment Generic Guidelines, Document Number SR3888

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification, Version 1.0

Advanced RISC Computing Multiprocessor Standard Specification, Revision 1.0, May 4, 1992

ATA 2 [X3T9.2 948D], SFF 8070i, SFF 8090, and other specifications
Small Computer Interface (SCSI2) [X3T9.2375R]
Small Computer Interface (SCSI3) Parallel Interface (SPI) [X3T9.2/9110]

Global Engineering Documents
Fax: (303) 397-2740
Phone:(800) 854-7179 (U.S.)
(613) 237-4250 (Canada)
(303) 792-2181 (Outside North America)

ATM User-Network Interface Specification, Version3.1

Prentice Hall, 1995; ISBN 0-13-393828-X

Desktop Management Interface Specification, Version 2.0
DMI Compliance Guidelines, Version 1.0

Device Class Power Management Specifications

El Torito—Bootable CDROM Format Specification, Version 1.0
Compaq, Intel, Phoenix BIOS Boot Specification, Version 1.01

European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) or Global System forMobile (GSM) standards

Phone: +33-92 94 42 00
FAX: +33-93 65 47 16
E-mail:

Fibre Channel Association

I2O (Intelligent I/O) Architecture Specification, Version 1.5

(special interest group)

IBM Personal System/2 Common Interfaces, Part No. S84F-9809
IBM Personal System/2 Mouse Technical Reference, Part No. S68X-2229

International Business Machines Corporation
IBM Customer Publications Support: (800) 879-275
Or contact an IBM sales representative

IEEE 1394 Standards

Telephone: (800) 949-4333
Fax: (410) 259-5045
Released Standards: Global Engineering Documents

ITU Communications Standards

ITU Sales
Phone: (41) (22) 730-6141
Fax: (41) (22) 730-5194
E-mail:

Interoperability Specification for ICCs and Personal Computer Systems

Media Status Notification, Version 1.03

Modem Developers Kit (MDK)

Multiprocessor Specification, Version 1.4

Multisession Compact Disc Specification

Enhanced Music CD Specification,Version 1.0

Philips Consumer Electronics B.V.
Coordination Office Optical–Magnetic Media Systems
Building SWA-109, PO Box 80002
5600 JB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Fax: (31) (40) 732113

Network PC System Design Guidelines, Version 1.0b

NTMS Programmers Guide

Open Host Controller Interface (OpenHCI) Specification, published by Compaq, Microsoft, and National Semiconductor