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ECC module modification by Intel?

ggeos
Beginner
1,645 Views

hello,

there is video on HKEPC Hardware youtube channel that shows ECC memory and supporting platform in action. one can see modified memory module with a switch that once pushed induces error that is then corrected on Intel Xeon E3 platform. I contacted HKECP and they told me that this memory modification was done by Intel and after the video had been recorded it was returned to Intel.

this video is cool and very demonstrative. dear Intel, could you share the theoretical details with the community about how you modified that memory module to allow such nice and powerful presentation of capabilities of your product? or direct me to your appropriate engineer team that could help?

to anyone: do you have any idea how such modification should be performed to allow similar tests?

here is the video in question from HKEPC channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UwRQYw_678 Non-ECC vs ECC 錯誤檢查和糾錯技術 - YouTube

thank you,

geos

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idata
Employee
536 Views

Hello geos_ ,

That is a very interesting video. I am not really sure how the modification was made but allow me some time to see if I can find that out. Thanks.

 

Best regards,

Franklin S.

Intel Technical Support.

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idata
Employee
536 Views

Hello geos_ ,

I am still trying to find out further details about the video but in the mean time I wanted to share with you the original link for that video within our website for your own records https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/xeon/the-value-of-ecc-memory-for-servers.html

 

Best regards,

Franklin S.

Intel Technical Support.

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ggeos
Beginner
536 Views

thanks Franklin! I thought that they were the authors of that video but it looks like Intel was and they just cut here and there to make youtube post. this is cool presentation. I would like to have such memory to demonstrate the capabilities of ECC. I'm wondering if just connecting one DQ line with some resistor to GND with a switch would do the job...

thank you,

geos

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idata
Employee
536 Views

Hello geos_ ,

 

 

You're very welcome. I just wanted to let you know that I am still working to find out what exactly was done in that experiment. Thanks for your patience and I will follow up with you soon.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Franklin S.

 

Intel Technical Support.

 

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ggeos
Beginner
536 Views

hi Franklin,

looking for more information I found this article on MemTest86 software:

https://www.passmark.com/forum/memtest86/4579-memtest86-ecc-ram-error-reporting-status?4470-MemTest86-ECC-RAM-error-reporting-status= MemTest86 ECC RAM error reporting status - PassMark Support Forums

they say they were given modified modules, this time by other memory supplier.

citation

Custom ECC test hardware

We were lucky enough to be contacted by "Team Group Inc", a company that distributes ECC RAM. They offered to supply us with some customised ECC RAM that had a button affixed to the PCB that could generate 1 bit ECC errors on demand. This is what is looked like,

end of citation

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idata
Employee
536 Views

Hello geos_,

 

 

That seems to be very similar to the Intel experiment that we were initially talking about, I would not be surprised if Intel took a similar approach. Unfortunately I have not received a solid answer on how we did it but as soon as I get it I will let you know.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Franklin S.

 

Intel Scalable System Framework Support.

 

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idata
Employee
536 Views

Hello geos_,

 

 

Sorry for the long time without an answer. I just got a final reply in regards to your question. This video is simply a visual aid to illustrate the benefits of using ECC memory in servers however, the experiment in the video would be complicated to reproduce, and without careful controls could damage your processor or the system. We appreciate your interest.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Franklin S.

 

Intel Technical Support.

 

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