Input/Output port connectors:
The input/output (I/O) port connectors are for attaching external devices,
such as printers, keyboards, and displays, to the server.
The I/O port connectors on the server include:
Serial port: The server comes with two serial ports. (Refer to 'Input/output connectors and expansion slots'
for the locations of the connectors.)
These ports are used to communicate with printers, plotters, external modems, scanners, and auxiliary terminals.
You can also use these ports to transfer data between computers.
Serial ports transfer data one bit at a time, using direct memory access (DMA).
DMA is a method of transferring data between I/O devices and system memory without intervention by the system processor.
Serial ports can transfer data asynchronously , which means that they can transmit any number of characters at
any time, with no restriction on the duration of the pauses between characters.
The serial ports can transmit and receive data and commands at rates of from 300 bits per second up to
345600 bits per second.
To use a serial port at 345600 bits per second, you need a shielded serial cable.
For information about this cable, contact your IBM marketing representative or your IBM authorized reseller.
Each serial port has a 9-pin, male D-shell connector on the back of the server.
The pin-number assignments of this connector conform to the industry standard.
When you turn on the server, the POST routine assigns the serial ports to specific communication port addresses.
Some application programs use only certain ports, and some modems are designed for use only at certain
communication port addresses.
You might need to use the Configuration/Setup utility program to change communication port address assignments to resolve conflicts.
Parallel port: The parallel port usually is used to communicate with printers, and transfers data one byte at
a time using DMA.
The parallel port has a 25-pin, female D-shell connector on the back of the server.
(Refer to 'Input/output connectors and expansion slots' for the location of the connector.)
When you turn on the server, the POST routine assigns the parallel port a specific port address.
You can change the parallel-port assignment by using the Configuration/Setup utility program.
Video port: The I/O function card in the server has one SVGA video port.
This port is used to attach a video monitor.
The video port has a 15-pin analog connector on the back of the server.
(Refer to 'Input/output connectors and expansion slots' for the location of the connector.)
The integrated video controller has 4 MB of video memory.
The integrated video controller supports the following screen resolutions:
Keyboard and auxiliary-device ports: The I/O function card has one keyboard port and one
auxiliary-device port that supports a mouse or other pointing device.
(Refer to 'Input/output connectors and expansion slots' for the locations of the connectors.)
The following table shows the pin-number assignments for the connectors used by the keyboard and auxiliary-device ports.
Wide Ultra-2 SCSI (LVD) ports: The server has two Wide Ultra-2 SCSI (LVD) bus-master controllers on the I/O
function card; one supports internal devices and the other is connected to an external connector for support of external devices.
Each controller supports up to 15 SCSI devices.
You can use the 68-pin SCSI connectors for these controllers to expand the capabilities of the server by
attaching different types of SCSI devices, such as drives or printers.
Universal Serial Bus ports: The I/O board in the server contains two Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports.
Each USB port has an external connector on the rear on the server for attaching devices that previously used serial,
parallel, keyboard, mouse, and game ports.
USB is an emerging serial interface standard for telephony and multimedia devices.
USB technology uses Plug and Play (PnP) to determine what device is attached to the connector.
Each USB device is accessed by a unique USB address .
A device called a hub is used to convert the USB port into multiple attachment points.
A hub has multiple ports where devices can be attached.
USB provides 12 megabits-per-second (Mbps) data transfer rate
with a maximum of 63 devices and a maximum signal distance of 5 meters (16 ft.) per data segment.
Note: If more than one USB device is to be attached, the device must be connected to a hub.
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