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If you have looked inside a dual processor Xeon server, particularly a
generic assembled one, then it’s quite possible that you’ve come away
intrigued with what you’ve seen. It looks almost like a reinforced steel
structure built on the motherboard. Actually, it’s nothing but the two
processors and the reinforcing for them. In this piece, we’ll take you through
the steps of assembling the two processors on to the motherboard.
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| 1. Unlike with PCs,
the processor doesn’t go in first. The retention mechanism for the first
processor is installed first. As the name indicates, this helps retain the
rather heavy processor. The retention mechanism is bolted in place using
the nuts provided. The processor is installed inside this, in the space
marked by the transparent square |
2. Once the
first processor is plugged in, the next step is to cap it, using one of
the two retention caps provided. The cap locks in place using a
self-locking mechanism |
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| 3. Two brace bars bind
this assembly to the second processor assembly. Note that when you use
only one processor, you have to use the FSB termination module (a small
circuit card that fits into the Socket 2 slot for the second Xeon
processor) that comes with the motherboard, and install the retention
mechanism anyway |
4. Now you
install the retention mechanism for the second processor, the processor
itself and the cap, and lock this assembly to the first one, using the
brace bars. Once this is done, you add further rigidity by installing the
two retention frames across the two processor assemblies. For clarity, we’ve
shown only one as installed. You have to install both |
Krishna Kumar
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