IBM HS21 - BladeCenter - 8853 Product Manual - page 8
Workhorse 2-socket dual and quad-core Intel Xeon blade server
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8.
BladeCenter Chassis
IBM’s blade architecture offers five choices of compatible and interoperable chassis in which to
use various blade servers. Each chassis serves different customer needs. The new
BladeCenter S is a small, entry-level chassis designed for office environments. The original
BladeCenter E chassis offers maximum density, great flexibility and a wide variety of expansion
options at an entry-level price. The next-generation
BladeCenter H chassis offers all of
BladeCenter’s capabilities, and adds new high-performance features. If you need a
ruggedized
chassis (for example, government/military or telecom),
BladeCenter T offers special features
optimized for those environments. The next-generation
BladeCenter HT is a high-performance
ruggedized telecommunications platform. There is a high degree of interchangeability and
compatibility of features among the chassis. Any or all of these chassis can be installed in a rack
along with other rack-optimized equipment.
See the separate BladeCenter Chassis Sales Guide for details.
Light Path Diagnostics
Light path diagnostics enables a technician to quickly identify and locate a failed or failing
system component, such as a specific blower module or memory DIMM. This enables quick
replacement of the component, which helps increase server uptime and lower servicing costs.
The front of each blade server—and the chassis itself—has an LED indicator light to show
possible component failures. This lets the servicer identify the failing component without the
need to or remove the blade server from the chassis. The light path diagnostics panel tells the
servicer which component of the affected server requires attention.
In addition, many components have their own identifying LEDs. For example, each of the
memory modules has an LED next to the socket, as do both processors. This allows the servicer
to easily identify exactly which component needs servicing. By following the “light path,” the
component can be replaced quickly, and without guesswork. (Note: In the event of a failed
DIMM, the system will restart and mark the DIMM as bad while offline, thus allowing the system
to continue running, with reduced memory capacity, until serviced.)
Advanced Systems Management Capabilities
Each BladeCenter chassis offers a high level of systems management capabilities that are well-
suited to remote locations as well as to stand-alone environments. Features include the
Advanced Management Module (AMM), Baseboard Management Controller
(BMC),
Automatic
Server Restart, Systems Director Active Energy Manager for x86, Wake on LAN
®
support, PXE
2.0 support, text and graphics console redirect, Real Time Diagnostics, Predictive Failure
Analysis, IBM Director and Remote Deployment Manager.
The
AMM, in combination with the HS21 blade server BMC, provides industry-standard
Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) 2.0-compliant systems management. It
provides a number of important system functions, including:
• Monitoring of system and battery voltage, system temperature, fans, power supplies, processor and
DIMM status
• Fan speed control
• Product ID and Family ID detection
• Highly secure remote power on/off
• System reset control
• NMI/SMI detection and generation
• System diagnostic LED control (power, HDD, activity, alerts, heartbeat)
• IPMI over LAN
• Serial Over LAN
• Proxy server support
• LAN messaging and alerting
• Text console redirection over LAN
• VLAN support
• Enhanced authentication and encryption algorithms (RMCP+, SHA-1, AES)
• Local update of BMC firmware
• Firmware firewall
• Support for IPMI v2.0 compliant management software (e.g., xCAT)
• Other mandatory and optional IPMI BMC functions
The BMC, via the management module, alerts IBM Director to anomalous environmental factors,