Channel 6 Television - EDIT2
EDIT2
DELL Precision 530
workstation specification
Introduction
Linear videotape editing
Non-linear editing
EDIT2 system overview
Benchmarking issues
Media storage issues
Windows 2000 issues
///Fast silver.
EDIT2 - a case story
Future development
DELL links
Channel 6 Television
Workstation specifications
EDIT2's workstation is a custom built unit, in which a Dell Precision 530 workstation has been installed in a Dell Power Edge 6400 server cabinet. This hybrid unit, which combines the thinking behind both workstatioons and servers, could well be the prototype for a new generation of high-end media workstations.
Apart from minor modifications to the 6400 chassis which allow the rear panel of a 530 to be mounted, this is a straightforward customisation. 

The retention of the 530 rear panel is very important, as without this, the carefully designed airflow of the 530 is not preserved. The 530 rear panel and motherboard must retain exactly the same relationship to each other in the 6400 chassis. 

This is a suberb modification for a broadcast television environment in which 19" rack mounting is standard. The mainframe is mounted on sliding rails, allowing easy access for maintenance.

Dell Precision 530 in Power Edge 6400 chassis with 2 Power Vaults
System configuration
  • Precision 530 motherboard in Dell Power Edge 6400 cabinet
  • 3 x redundant power supplies, enhanced internal cooling
  • Intel 860 chipset 400MHz FSB
  • 2 x Intel 1.7GHz P4 Xeon processors
  • 256KB L2 cache
  • 1GB PC800 Rambus RAM (2x512MB)
  • Matrox Millenium G450 dual head graphics adaptor 4xAGP
  • 2 x Dell Ultra Scan P991 19" Trinitron monitors
  • Integrated UATA-100 disc controller
  • 4 x USB, 2 x seriel, 1 x parallel 1 x IEE1394(Firewire) ports
  • Integrated single channel U160 SCSI controller
  • Integrated 10/100 Mbit 3-Com network adaptor
  • Integrated SB compatible audio card (disabled)
  • Creative SB 1024 Live! Audio card
  • ///FAST MUltimedia silver. NLE codec card
  • 1.44MB 3.50" floppy drive
  • 1.20MB 5.25" floppy drive
  • 40GB UATA-100 IDE System drive
  • 40GB UATA-100 IDE Data drive
  • 20GB SCSI U160 Data drive
  • 20/48x CDRW drive
  • DVD/CD ROM drive
  • PERC3/DC RAID controller with 128MB RAM and battery backup
  • 2 x Dell Power Vault 201s -
    • each with 8 x 73GB 1.6" SCSI 10,000 rpm media drives
  • Dell quiet touch keyboard
  • ///FAST multimedia silver.control remote panel
  • Logitech cordless wheel mouse
Precision 530 IRQ settings -
The 530 has eight IRQ channels, which are designated as follows -
 
INTA INTB INTC INTD
Slot 1 b c d a
Slot 2 c d a b
Slot 3  d a b c
Slot 4 e f g h
Slot 5 f g e h

Slot 2, 4, 5 and SCSI channel do not share IRQ's

On-board devices -
 
3C905c NIC H
AC-97 Audio  B (Disabled)
SMBUS B
AGP
A B
SCSI G
USB1 D
USB2 H (Disabled)
IEEE 1394 A

A judicious planning of the installation of PCI devices and enablement of on-boad resources makes it possible to ensure that critical devices do not share IRQ channels with other critical devices.

EDIT2 slot configuration -
Slot# Slot type Device
0 AGP Matrox G450 AGP
1 32-bit Creative SB1024
2 32-bit ///FAST silver. NLE codec
3 32-bit not used
4 64-bit PERC3/DC RAID controller
5 64-bit not used
EDIT2 Windows 2000 IRQ allocations -
 
© 2001 Channel 6 Television Denmark