Intel SR1640TH SR1640THNA Manuel D’Utilisation

Functional Architecture 

Intel® Server System SR1640TH TPS 

  

Revision 

1.0 

Intel order number: E94847-001 

16 

The Intel

®

 3420 Chipset 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 (300 
MB/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 does not have AHCI capabilities. The Intel

®

 3420 Chipset 

supports the Serial ATA Specification, Revision 1.0a. The Intel

®

 3420 Chipset 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).  

There are two SATA ports implemented for each computing node on the server board 
S3420TH. Each of them is dedicated to one 3.5 inch HDD bay, using customized SATA 
cable. 

On the Intel

®

 3420 Chipset, the USB controller functionality is provided by the dual EHCI 

controllers with an interface for up to ten USB 2.0 ports. All ports are high-speed, full-speed, 
and low-speed capable. 

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Two external connectors are located on the back edge of the server board.  

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Two internal headers are provided on the board for each node, each supporting two 
front panel USB 2.0 ports.  

 

During the power-on self test (POST), the BIOS initializes and configures the USB 
subsystem. The BIOS is capable of initializing and using the following types of USB devices. 

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USB Specification-compliant keyboards 

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USB Specification-compliant mouse 

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USB Specification-compliant storage devices that utilize bulk-only transport 
mechanism 

 
USB devices are scanned to determine if they are required for booting. 

The BIOS supports USB 2.0 mode of operation, and as such supports USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 
compliant devices and host controllers.  

During the pre-boot phase, the BIOS automatically supports the hot addition and hot removal 
of USB devices and a short beep is emitted to indicate such an action. For example, if a 
USB device is hot plugged, the BIOS detects the device insertion, initializes the device, and 
makes it available to the user. During POST, when the USB controller is initialized, it emits a 
short beep for each USB device plugged into the system as they were all just “hot added”. 

Only on-board USB controllers are initialized by BIOS. This does not prevent the operating 
system from supporting any available USB controllers including add-in cards. 
 

The BIOS supports PS/2 emulation of USB keyboards and mouse. During POST, the BIOS 
initializes and configures the root hub ports and searches for a keyboard and/or a mouse on 
the USB hub and then enables the devices that are recognized.