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System Overview

Dell™ PowerEdge™ 1650 Systems User's Guide

  Indicators on the Optional Bezel

  Front-Panel Features and Indicators

  Back-Panel Features and Indicators

  System Features

  Supported Operating Systems

  Power Protection Devices

  Other Documents You May Need

  Obtaining Technical Assistance

Your system is an ultra-slim, full-featured, highly available, rack-mount system equipped with one or two Intel® Pentium® III microprocessors.

This section describes the major hardware and software features of your system and provides information about the indicators on the system's front and back panels. It also provides information about other documents you may need when setting up your system and how to obtain technical assistance.

Indicators on the Optional Bezel

The optional system bezel incorporates a system status indicator divided into blue and amber system status indicators (see Figure 1-1). The blue indicator lights up when the system is operating correctly. The amber indicator lights up when the system needs attention due to a problem with power supplies, fans, system temperature, or hard drives.

Table 1-1 lists the system's indicator patterns. Different patterns are displayed as events occur in the system.

Figure 1-1. System Status Indicators

Table 1-1. System Status Indicator Patterns

Blue indicator	Amber indicator	Description
Off	Off	There is no power available to the system, or power is available to the system, but the system is not powered on.1
Off	Blinking	The system has detected an error.1
On	Off	Power is on, and the system is operational.
Blinking	Off	The indicator has been activated to identify the system in a rack.
1 See your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide for more information. NOTE: While the system is being identified, the blue indicator will blink even though an error has been detected. Once the system is identified, the blue indicator ceases blinking and the amber indicator resumes blinking.

Front-Panel Features and Indicators

Figure 1-2 shows the controls, indicators, and connectors located behind the optional bezel on the system's front panel.

Figure 1-2. Front-Panel Features and Indicators

• The power button controls the AC power input to the system's power supplies.
  
  

NOTE: If you turn off the system using the power button and the system is running an ACPI-compliant operating system (such as Microsoft® Windows® 2000), the system performs a graceful shutdown before the power is turned off. If the system is not running an ACPI-compliant operating system, the power is turned off immediately after the power button is pressed.

• The two identification buttons on the front and back panels can be used to locate a particular system within a rack. When one of these buttons is pushed, the blue system status indicator on the front and back blinks until one of the buttons is pushed again.
  
  

The front panel also incorporates a USB connector, a video connector, and a PS/2 connector to connect a mouse and keyboard using a Y-cable (see Figure 1-2).

Table 1-2. Front-Panel LED Indicators

LED Indicator	Icon	Description
blue and amber system status indicator		The blue system status indicator lights up during normal system operation. The server management software can also cause the blue system status indicator to flash to identify a particular system. The amber system status indicator flashes when the system needs attention due to a problem with power supplies, fans, system temperature, or hard drives. NOTE: If the system is connected to AC power and an error has been detected, the amber system status indicator will flash regardless of whether the system has been powered on.
NIC1 and NIC2 link and activity indicators		The link and activity indicators for the two integrated NICs light when the NICs are in use.
hard-drive indicator		The green hard-drive activity indicator flashes when the hard drives are in use (see Figure 1-3 for more information on hard-drive indicators).
power button		The power button lights when the system power is on.

SCSI Hard-Drive Indicator Codes

If the optional RAID on motherboard (ROMB) card is activated, two indicators on each of the hard-drive carriers provide information on the status of the SCSI hard drives (see Figure 1-3 and Table 1-3). The SCSI backplane firmware controls the drive power-on/fault indicator.

NOTE: The following indicators are for SCSI hard drives only. The indicator for the optional IDE hard drives is located on the control panel on the front of the system. See Figure 1-2 for location of hard-drive indicator on the front panel.

Figure 1-3. SCSI Hard-Drive Indicators

Table 1-3 lists the drive indicator patterns. Different patterns are displayed as drive events occur in the system. For example, in the event of a hard-drive failure, the "drive failed" pattern appears. After the drive is selected for removal, the "drive being prepared for removal" pattern appears, followed by the "drive ready for insertion or removal" pattern. After the replacement drive is installed, the "drive being prepared for operation" pattern appears, followed by the "drive online" pattern.

NOTE: If the optional ROMB card is not installed, you will see only the "drive online" indicator pattern. You will also see the drive-activity indicator blink when the drive is being accessed.

Table 1-3. SCSI Hard-Drive Indicator Patterns 

Condition	Indicator Pattern
Identify drive	The green power-on/fault indicator blinks 4 times per second.
Drive being prepared for removal	The green power-on/fault indicator blinks 2 times per second.
Drive ready for insertion or removal	Both drive indicators are off.
Drive being prepared for operation	The green power-on/fault indicator is on.
Drive predicted failure	The power-on/fault indicator slowly blinks green, amber, and off.
Drive failed	The amber power-on/fault indicator blinks 4 times per second.
Drive rebuilding	The green power-on/fault indicator blinks slowly.
Drive online	The green power-on/fault indicator is on.

Back-Panel Features and Indicators

Figure 1-4 shows the controls, indicators, and connectors located on the system's back panel.

NOTE: Systems with only one power supply should connect the power cable to connector PS1 (see Figure 1-4).

Figure 1-4. Back-Panel Features and Indicators

System Features

Your system offers the following features:

• One or two Intel Pentium III microprocessors with an internal operating speed of at least 1.13 GHz, a level 2 cache of 512 KB, and a front-side (external) bus speed of 133 MHz.
  
  
• Support for symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), which is available on systems with two Pentium III microprocessors. SMP greatly improves overall system performance by dividing microprocessor operations between independent microprocessors. To take advantage of this feature, you must use an operating system that supports multiprocessing.
  
  

NOTE: If you decide to upgrade your system by installing a second microprocessor, you must order the microprocessor upgrade kits from Dell. Not all versions of the Pentium III microprocessor will work properly as additional microprocessors. The upgrade kit from Dell contains the correct version of the microprocessor as well as the instructions for performing the upgrade. Both microprocessors must have the same internal operating frequency and cache size.

• A minimum of 256 MB of system memory, upgradable to a maximum of 4 GB by installing combinations of SDRAM DIMMs in the four DIMM sockets on the system board.
  
  
• Support for up to three 1-inch, internal Ultra3 SCSI hard drives (with hot-plug capacity when using the optional ROMB card) or up to two IDE hard drives.
  
  
• A single, 1.44-MB, 3.5-inch diskette drive.
  
  
• An IDE CD or DVD drive.
  
  
• Up to two hot-pluggable, 275-W power supplies in a 1 + 1 redundant configuration.
  
  
• Six redundant, hot-pluggable system cooling fans.
  
  
• An intrusion switch that signals the appropriate systems management software if the top cover is opened.
  
  

The system board includes the following features:

• Two PCI slots located on the riser card (one full-length and one half-length 64-bit, 66-MHz slots, or optionally, one half-length 64-bit, 66-MHz slot with one full-length 32-bit, 33-MHz slot, on separate buses).
  
  
• An integrated VGA-compatible video subsystem with an ATI RAGE XL video controller. This video subsystem contains 8 MB of SDRAM video memory (nonupgradable). Maximum resolution is 1024 x 768 with 256 colors. 16.7 million colors are available for true-color graphics in the following resolutions: 640 x 480, 800 x 600, and 1,024 x 768.
  
  
• An integrated, dual-channel Ultra3 SCSI host adapter. The internal channel supports up to three SCSI hard drives on the SCSI backplane. The SCSI backplane automatically configures SCSI ID numbers and SCSI termination on individual hard drives, greatly simplifying drive installation. The second SCSI channel (an external SCSI channel) is available at the back of the system.
  
  
• Optional ROMB through a separate RAID card that incorporates 128 MB of cache memory and a RAID battery (integrated RAID key).
  
  
• An optional dual-channel RAID controller card for connection to external storage that supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50.
  
  
• Two integrated 10/100/1000 NICs, which provide an Ethernet interface.
  
  
• Optional DRAC III card that provides remote management capabilities for your system. The DRAC III card allows you to manage and monitor your system through a modem or network connection, even when the system itself is down.
  
  
• Embedded systems management circuitry that monitors operation of the system fans as well as critical system voltages and temperatures. The server management circuitry works in conjunction with your systems management software.
  
  
• Back-panel ports include mouse, keyboard, serial, video, two USB, external SCSI, server management, and two NIC ports.
  
  
• Front-panel ports include video, keyboard, mouse, and USB ports.
  
  

For more information about specific features, see "Technical Specifications."

Software Features

The following software is included with your system:

• A System Setup program for quickly viewing and changing system configuration information. For more information on this program, see "Using the System Setup Program."
  
  
• Enhanced security features, including a system password and a setup password, available through the System Setup program.
  
  
• System diagnostics for evaluating system components and devices. For information on using the system diagnostics, see "Running the System Diagnostics" in your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.
  
  
• Video drivers for displaying many popular application programs in high-resolution modes.
  
  
• SCSI device drivers that allow the operating system to communicate with devices attached to the integrated SCSI subsystem. For more information on these drivers, see "Installing and Configuring SCSI Drivers."
  
  
• Systems management software and documentation CDs.
  
  
• Optional solutions software for the purposes of web hosting, caching, or load balancing. See your solutions software documentation for more information.
  
  

Supported Operating Systems

Your system supports the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 Server
  
  
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server
  
  
• Red Hat Linux 7.x
  
  
• Novell® NetWare® 5.1 and NetWare 6.0 (when available)
  
  

Power Protection Devices

A number of devices are available to protect your system from the effects of power problems such as power surges, transients, and power failures. The following subsections describe some of these devices.

Surge Protectors

Surge protectors are available in a variety of types and usually provide a level of protection commensurate with the cost of the device. Surge protectors prevent overvoltage spikes, such as those that may occur during an electrical storm, from entering the system through the electrical outlet. Surge protectors do not offer protection against brownouts, which occur when the voltage drops more than 20 percent below the normal AC line voltage level.

Line Conditioners

Line conditioners go beyond the overvoltage protection of surge protectors. Line conditioners keep a system's AC power source voltage at a fairly constant level and provide protection from brownouts of short duration. Because of this added protection, line conditioners cost more than surge protectors—up to several hundred dollars. However, these devices cannot protect against a complete loss of power.

Uninterruptible Power Supplies

UPS systems offer the most complete protection against variations in power because they use battery power to keep the system running when AC power is unavailable or unusable. The battery is charged by the AC power while it is available so that once AC power is lost, the battery can provide power to the system for a limited amount of time—from 15 minutes to an hour or so—depending on the UPS system.

UPS systems range in price from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, with the more expensive units allowing you to run larger systems for a longer period of time when AC power is lost. UPS systems that provide only 5 minutes of battery power let you conduct an orderly shutdown of the system but are not intended to provide continued operation. Surge protectors should be used with all UPS systems, and the UPS system should be UL safety approved.

Other Documents You May Need

Besides this User's Guide, the following documentation is included with your system:

• The Setting Up Your System sheet provides general instructions for setting up your system.
  
  
• The Installation and Troubleshooting Guide describes how to install, troubleshoot, and upgrade your system.
  
  
• The system management software documentation describes the features, requirements, installation, and basic operation of the server management software. Refer to the software's online help for information about the alert messages issued by the software.
  
  
• The Rack Installation Guide describes how to unpack, set up, and install your system in a rack.
  
  
• The System Information document provides important safety and regulatory information. Warranty information might be included within this document or as a separate document.
  
  
• Operating system documentation may be included with the system. This documentation describes how to install (if necessary), configure, and use the operating system software.
  
  
• Documentation is included with any options you purchased separately from the system and provides information you need to configure and install these options in your system.
  
  
• Documentation is included with any optional solutions software such as web-hosting, caching, or load-balancing software.
  
  

You may also have the following documents.

NOTE: Documentation updates are sometimes included with the system to describe changes to the system or software. Always read these updates before consulting any other documentation because the updates often contain information that supersedes the information in the other documents.

• Technical information files—sometimes called "readme" files—may be installed on the hard drive to provide last-minute updates about technical changes to the system or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or technicians.
  
  

Obtaining Technical Assistance

If at any time you do not understand a procedure described in this guide or if your system does not perform as expected, a number of tools are provided to assist you. For more information on these help tools, see "Getting Help" in your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.

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