HP ProLiant BL280c G6 Server Blade Motherboard Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The HP ProLiant BL280c G6 server blade motherboard features dual Intel Xeon processor (5500 series) support with an Intel 5500 chipset and up to 96GB of ECC 1333MHz DDR3 memory. The motherboard under analysis does not come equipped with CPUs or memory modules.

HP ProLiant BL280c G6 Server Blade Motherboard Main Image

Enterprise users

Released

H1 2009

Pricing and Availability

Pricing - HP server blades such as the BL280c starts at approximately $1500. However, this analysis only encompasses the motherboard portion of the server blade, thus this system level pricing only serves as a high level reference point.

Availability - Assumed to have global availability.

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 200K units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

HP ProLiant BL280c G6 Server Blade Motherboard Cost Analysis

Major Cost Drivers (Representing ~60% of Total Direct Materials Costs)

Compeq - 14-Layer - FR4

Intel - AC5500SLGMT - Northbridge - Intel 5500 Chipset Memory Controller Hub

Intel - JL82576EB - Ethernet Controller - Dual Port, 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T, Supports 1000BASE-SX/LX/BX Optical Fiber

Intel - AF82801JIR - Southbridge - I/O Controller Hub, ICH10R (SLB8S)

AMD - ES1000 - GPU - 2D, 200MHz Core, 32-Bit 33/66MHz PCI 2.2, 16-Bit 256MB DDR-II SDRAM Support, Dual CRT Support

Lattice Semiconductor - LCMXO2280C-5FTN324C - PLD - 2280 LUT's, 271 I/O's, 9Kb RAM, 1.8V/2.5V/3.3V

HP - 353821-504 - Lights-Out Management Processor

Foxconn - CPU Socket - LGA1366

Foxconn - CPU Socket - LGA1366

Amphenol - AG725-00094 - Backplane Connector - GbX, 5-Pair, 10 Channels

FCI - 55737-001 - Mezzanine Board to Board Header - Vertical

FCI - 10054783-001 - Mezzanine Board to Board Header - Vertical, High Profile

Materials and Manufacturing $274.44

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

HP ProLiant BL280c G6 Server Blade Motherboard - Motherboard Top

Manufacturing Notes

OEM/ODM/EMS Relationships / Manufacturing

Per iSuppli's own Global OEM Manufacturing and Design Analysis (GOMDA) report, HP outsources nearly 80% of servers to EMS providers and ODMs (the latter representing nearly 60% of the HP server business overall). Most of HP servers outsourced to ODMs are to Inventec with over 40% of overall share of servers shipped. This unit claims, per it's labeling to be made in the US of foreign components - so this may still encompass the motherboard itself, which we are assuming is made in China for this analysis.

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on markings on the components used, we assume that the motherboard was produced in China. Further, we have also assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc. were sourced in China.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as DIMM modules), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pin count of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The HP ProLiant BL280c G6 blade server motherboard has a component count of 3475 (44 of which are mechanical in nature). Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

Here is a summary of the major subsystems and components in the HP ProLiant BL280c G6 blade sever motherboard:

Chipset

• Northbridge - Intel 5500 Chipset Memory Controller Hub - AC5500SLGMT
• Southbridge - Intel I/O Controller Hub ICH10R - AF82801JIR

I/O & Interface

• Ethernet Controller - Intel - JL82576EB, Dual Port, 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T, Supports 1000BASE-SX/LX/BX Optical Fiber
• GPU - AMD - ES1000, 2D, 200MHz Core, 32-Bit 33/66MHz PCI 2.2, 16-Bit 256MB DDR-II SDRAM Support, Dual CRT Support
• Lights-Out Management Processor - HP - 353821-504
• I/O Controller - SMSC - SCH4307-NS, Super I/O Device, w/ LPC Interface

Glue Logic

• PLD - Lattice Semiconductor - LCMXO2280C-5FTN324C, 2280 LUT's, 271 I/O's, 9Kb RAM, 1.8V/2.5V/3.3V