Memory

Use this window to view information about the memory arrays installed in your system.

User Privileges

Selection

User Privileges
U=User; P=Power User; A=Administrator; NA=Not Applicable
  View Manage
Memory U, P, A A

NOTE: For more details on user privilege levels, see "Privilege Levels in the Server Administrator GUI."

Random-access memory (RAM) is the system's primary storage area for program instructions and data. Each location in the RAM is identified by a number called a memory address. This requires your system to have addressable memory available to it when performing tasks. Any information stored in RAM is lost when you turn off your system.

The Memory window displays information about the following:

Memory Redundancy

Attributes of Memory Arrays

Total of Memory Arrays

Details of Memory Array <n>

Memory Device

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Reboot System Button

When you make changes to the Memory Redundancy Configuration and save those changes, a Reboot System button appears. If you click this button, you receive more messages confirming that you want to reboot your system. Rebooting your system gives effect to the Redundancy Configuration setting changes you have just made.

Memory Redundancy

NOTE: Server Administrator supports this feature only if the managed server supports redundant memory. 

NOTE: If your system supports memory redundancy and is set in any of the Redundancy modes, a memory redundancy failure does not trigger an alert action.  

Redundant memory enables a server to switch to different memory modules if unacceptable errors are detected in the modules it is currently using. Server Administrator supports three redundant memory modes: spare, mirroring, and RAID5. You can enable or disable redundant memory and specify which mode to use when enabled. Systems may support more than one redundant memory mode.

Spare mode disables a set of system memory in which a single-bit ECC error is detected, enables the spare set, and copies all the data from the original set to the spare set. Spare more requires enough memory for the system to reserve a spare set; the amount of memory required for a spare set varies by system. The operating system does not recognize the spare set.

Mirroring mode switches to using a redundant copy of memory when a multibit error is detected. After accessing mirrored memory, the system does not switch back to using the original system memory until the next reboot. The operating system does not recognize half of the installed system memory in this mode. 

RAID5 mode gives you an extra level of memory checking and error recovery, at the expense of some memory capacity. The RAID mode supported is RAID level 5 striping with rotational parity.

Redundancy Status Indicates the health of the current redundant memory mode. Values are Full and Lost.

Full indicates that a device may fail but the system remains functional. This status is reported if the spare, mirroring, or RAID5 is enabled but not in active use and all DIMMs have an OK status.

Lost indicates that the system is not redundant, and that an additional device failure will result in a system failure. This status is reported if spare, mirroring, or RAID5 is enabled and is in active use.

Fail Over State Indicates if spare, mirroring, or RAID5 is currently in use. Values are Active and Inactive.

Active indicates that the spare, mirroring, or RAID5 is in use.

Inactive indicates that the spare, mirroring, or RAID5 is not in use.

If Fail Over State is Active, Redundancy Status is Lost.

Redundancy Configuration Allows selection of the desired redundant memory mode, or disables redundant memory.
Disabled Indicates that the system is not to use other available memory modules if memory errors are detected.
Spare Disables the memory module that has a single-bit memory error and copies the failing module’s data to a spare set.

Mirroring

Switches the system to a mirrored copy of the memory if the failing module has a multibit error. In mirrored mode, the operating system does not switch back to the original module until the system reboots.
RAID5 A method of system memory configuration. This is logically similar to the RAID5 mode used in hard drive storage systems. This memory mode gives you an extra level of memory checking and error recovery, at the expense of some memory capacity. The RAID mode supported is RAID level 5 striping with rotational parity.

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Attributes of Memory Array(s)

This menu displays fields and values for a particular memory array that is installed on your system. Memory attributes include fields describing the maximum capacity versus the actual installed RAM of the system at a given point in time. Attributes and fields are listed for each memory array installed in the system.

Location Indicates the place where the memory array resides, for example, on the system board, or in an expansion card such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), or Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), NUBUS, or various types of PC-98 expansion cards.
Use Indicates the function to which this memory array is dedicated; for example, system memory, video memory, flash memory, nonvolatile RAM, or cache.
Installed Capacity Displays the amount of RAM that is presently installed in the system.
Maximum Capacity Displays the maximum RAM capacity of the system when all available sockets are occupied.
Slots Available Displays the total number of slots available in this memory array.
Slots Used Displays the number of slots that are populated with memory modules in this array.
ECC Type Identifies the ECC type that this memory can perform. For example, parity, single-bit, multibit, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC).

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Total of Memory Array(s)

This menu includes fields for installed memory, the amount of installed memory that is available to the operating system, and the maximum memory capacity if all memory slots are occupied.

Total Installed Capacity Displays the total memory installed in the entire system.
Total Installed Capacity Available to the OS Displays the total memory installed and available to the operating system.
Total Maximum Capacity Displays the total memory that can be installed in the entire system when all memory slots are occupied.

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Details of Memory Array <n>

This menu provides details about a specific memory array.

Status Normal, Prefailure, or Failure performance of the memory module.
Connector Name The alphanumeric text that uniquely identifies each memory slot, whether occupied or unoccupied.
Type Synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) chips operate fast enough to synchronize with the CPU clock, eliminating wait states. The SDRAM chip set has two cell blocks, allowing more efficient data access. In dynamic random access memory (DRAM) each bit of storage is built from a single transistor and capacitor, allowing more memory bits to fit in the same chip set area. However, DRAM has to be refreshed because the charge on the capacitor, which represents the stored bit value, decays with time. During a refresh, the memory module must read every bit and write it back at full strength.
Size Capacity of the memory slot, expressed in MB.

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Other Window Controls

Print Prints a copy of the open window to your default printer.
Export Saves a text file containing the contents of this window (the values of each data field separated by a customizable delimiter) to a destination you specify.
Email E-mails the contents of this window to your designated recipient. See the Server Administrator User's Guide for instructions about configuring your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server.
Refresh Updates the screen with latest information.

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