In pictures: Taking apart Hewlett-Packard's Proliant DL380 G5 server

The spare power supply slot allows the HP DL380 G5 to survive a power supply failure without having to be restarted.

The IO ports can be used if external devices need to be plugged in. The DL380 G5 still provides PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports for those who require them, as well as serial and USB ports.
The UID light is similar to the one on the front. The back light allows users to easily identify a server when going between the back and the front of the rack.

The iLO2 port is used to remotely access the server. It provides SSH (secure shell) and HTTPS access to diagnostics, and allows remote access to a virtual serial port for those want console access.

The back access ports are similar to the ones on the front of the server. This allows you to plug in a monitor/mouse on the back if this is more convenient for the system administrator.
All HP DL380 G5 servers come with a hex key on the back that can be used for certain rack configurations. The DL380 can be placed in a standard rack with no tools.

There are five PCI slots, although one is normally occupied by the SmartArray controller used to drive the disks. The three slots on the left are full length.

There are two Gigabit Ethernet ports on the back. HP provides an upgrade option to use these for iSCSI as well.
Process Power Module heatsink close up.
The HP DL380 G5 has eight removable fans.
The SmartArray controller is used to drive the hard disks. It takes up one of the PCI slots, leaving four free. Standard configurations include 256MB or 512MB of read/write cache. There is a battery upgrade available for those who want a Battery Backed Write Cache (BBWC) so that cached data isn't lost in the event of a power failure.
The DL380 G5 can have either one or two CPUs installed. Spare CPU kits from HP come with a second Processor Power Module (PPM).
Disks are easily removed by pressing the red button to unlock the drive, then pulling on the handle that pops up. Each drive has two status lights below the button that let the user see what the drive is doing. The online LED is the left, while the right LED will flash green, amber or blue to indicate activity, faults or identification, respectively.
Disks can be set up in RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID6 and RAID10 configurations depending on the RAID card and the number of disks in the server.
There are eight RAM slots, allowing up to 32GB of RAM to be installed (filling all eight sockets are populated with 4GB DIMMs). The HP DL380 G5 uses PC2-5300 DDR2 fully buffered DIMMs.
Insides of the DL380 G5 with the baffles removed.
The SmartArray controller connection cables.
The power supplies are hot-pluggable, so if one fails it can be replaced without restarting the server. The status light will indicate a failed state by glowing amber instead of green.
The HP DL380 G5 cover also has instructions on how to replace or configure CPUs, fans, RAM and the RAID controller.
The Systems Insight Display shows the current status of the DL380. Any component faults will result in an amber light.

The front LEDs are from left to right: UID, internal status, power, NIC1, NIC2. The UID light can be turned on remotely through iLO2 (Integrated Lights-Out), or by physically pressing the LED. This can be used to identify a server that needs attention. The internal status LED and the power LED shine green, amber, or red to indicate a normal, degraded or critical status, respectively. The NIC1 and NIC2 LED are activity lights for the matching network cards.

The front access ports can be used to plug a monitor and a USB device such as keyboard or a mouse, instead of a system administrator having to go around to the back.
There's very little spare space inside the HP DL380 G5. The RAM can be found below the BBWC battery holder.
All drive bays are located on the front of the server. The HP DL380 G5 takes up to eight small form factor (SFF) disks. It can use both SAS and SATA buses.
The HP DL380 G5 is one of the workhorses of today's server room. According to HP it's one of the world's best selling servers, and it is available in a variety of configurations. We took apart one of the HP DL380 G5s responsible for keeping PCWorld.com.au and GoodGearGuide.com.au on the Web.
The front of the HP DL380 G5 is designed to let system administrators perform most system maintenance without having to go around to the back of the server.
The HP DL380 G5 cover has instructions on how to read all status LEDs, and where components are.
Internal USB connector.

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