User:Chris Tyler/HWD101 Scratchpad

This is a draft only!
It is still under construction and content may change. Do not rely on this information.

Topic Outline

• Major components of a digital computer system
  • CPU
  • Memory
  • Storage
  • Network connections
  • I/O busses
• Major Architectural Families
  • x86 (x86_32, x86_64,x64)
  • ARM (arm, aarch32, aarch64)
  • SPARC
  • POWER
  • MIPS
  • Z9
• Electrical Power
  • How electrical energy is used in a computer system
  • The relationship between energy consumption and heat
  • AC vs. DC Power
  • Electrical measurement: voltage, current, wattage
  • AC Power
    • Wattage vs. VA
    • 110, 207, 220, and other voltage standards
    • 1-phase and 3-phase electrical supplies
    • AC power connectors
    • Power Conversion Factors, harmonics, and spikes
    • Surge suppression
  • DC Power
    • Common DC power busses
    • Storing and distributing DC power
  • Uninterruptable power supplies
• Cooling
  • Working temperatures
  • Airflow
  • Hot zone/cold zone
• Physical standards
  • PCs
    • Mainboard form factors (ATX, ITX, ...)
    • Internal power connectors
    • Power supplies
    • Memory modules
    • CPU modules
    • PCIe cards
    • SATA and SAS connectors
  • 19" Rackmount
    • Rack types
    • Mounting systems
    • "u" height designations
  • 23" OCP
    • Rack types
    • Sleds
    • Disaggregation
• Storage
  • Hard Drives
  • SSDs
  • Flash memory
  • Other storage devices
• Cabling
  • Power
    • AC connector types
    • Cable restrictions
  • Networking - Copper
    • Cable types (Cat4/Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6/twinax)
    • Connector types (e.g. RJ45, SFP+ DA)
    • Cable restrictions (e.g., minimum bend radius)
    • Cable type tradeoffs (power, latency, cost, distance, ...)
  • Networking - Fiber
    • Cable types
    • Connector types
    • Cable restrictions (e.g., minimum bend radius, temperature, ...)
    • Cable type tradeoffs (power, latency, cost, distance, ...)
  • Network Error Rate Testing
    • Line certification and qualification, reflectometer, and error testing
• Firmware and Boot Standards
  • UEFI
  • Legacy boot software (BIOS)
  • IPMI
  • PXE
  • Partitioning
    • GPT
    • Legacy partitioning schemes (BIOS disklabel)
• Digital data
  • Binary states
  • Numbering systems
  • Coding systems (floating point, characters)
  • Units (byte, kb, mb, gb, pb, eb; kib, mib, gib, pib, eib)
  • Conversions (binary, decimal, octal, hexadecimal)
• Data centre operations
  • Server Assembly
    • Build a 1u server with appropriate memory, airflow, storage, and cable placement
  • Building a rack
    • Installing devices
      • Installing into a rack using rack ears
      • Installing into a rack using rails
      • Using a Server Lift
    • Cabling for power
      • Installing a PDU
      • Cabling a PDU
    • Cabling for data
      • Installing a patch panel
      • Cat6 Cabling
      • Cable dressing
    • Asset registration and tracking
      • MAC and Serial number registration

Lab Equipment

Per group:

1. An open-frame 19" rack with casters (< ~$550 for 42u)
2. Finger channels
3. 1u rackmount server case with ATX or ITX motherboard, memory modules, PSU, SATA disk
4. Fibre NICs or SFP+ adapters
5. Fibre cables
6. SFP+ cables
7. Network switch
8. Two PDUs (ideally, at least one should be intelligent)
9. Cagenuts
10. Basic tools
11. Blanking panels
12. Cables (do/should students make their own?)
13. Barcode scanner (< $50)

Rack configuration:

1. One 1u server assembled by the group
2. One 2u server preassembled
3. Additional rackmount cases with RJ45 jacks
4. Patch panels
5. GigE switch
6. 1 basic PDU
7. 1 intelligent/monitored PDU

Per lab room:

1. Ceiling channels?
2. Power
3. Server lift (~$2-3K)
4. Network cable qualification tester (~$1-2K)