Availability and Serviceability, IBM Systems Agenda

Workhorse 2-socket single- or dual-core Intel Xeon blade server

server availability, perform Predictive Failure Analysis, etc., and trigger IBM Director alerts.

•Each BladeCenter chassis includes a Management Module or Advanced Management Module to provide additional systems management capabilities, including Web-basedout-of- band control; virtual floppy and CD-ROM support; Windows “blue screen” error capture; LDAP and SSL support; and remote redirection of video, text, keyboard and mouse.

•Integrated industry-standard IPMI 1.5 support works with the BMC to alert IBM Director to anomalous environmental factors, such as voltage and thermal conditions. It also supports highly secure remote power control.

•IBM Director 5.1x is included for proactive systems management and works with both the blade’s internal BMC and the chassis’ management module. It comes with a portfolio of tools, including Management Processor Assistant, RAID Manager, Update Assistant, Software Distribution and a Real Time Diagnostics tool. In addition, IBM Director offers extended systems management tools for additional server management and increased availability. When a problem is encountered, IBM Director can issue administrator alerts via e-mail, pager, and other methods.

Availability and Serviceability

•BladeCenter chassis are designed for operation with greatly reduced potential for single points of failure. Most aspects of operation, from blade servers to communication modules, to management modules, to power and blower modules, are hot-swappable. The midplane connections are redundant and the other features can be made so, when used in pairs.

•HS20 blade servers support the use of optional Chipkill-enabled memory DIMMs. Chipkill memory can be up to 16X better than standard ECC memory at correcting some types of memory errors. This can help reduce downtime caused by memory errors.

•IPMI 1.5 supports highly secure remote system power on/off using data encryption. This allows an administrator to restart a server without having to visit it in person, saving travel time and getting the server back up and running quickly and securely.

•Temperature-controlled blower modules in the chassis adjust to compensate for changing thermal characteristics. At the lower speeds they draw less power and suffer less wear. Equally important in a crowded data center, temperature-controlled blowers produce less ambient noise in the data center than if they were constantly running at full speed.

•IBM Real Time Diagnostics allows the administrator to run diagnostics on a blade or the chassis without taking the hardware offline. This can provide greater server uptime.

•Text console redirection support allows the administrator to remotely view HS20 text messages over serial or LAN connections.

•A standard three-year (parts and labor) limited onsite warranty2 gives your customers peace of mind and greater potential investment protection.

IBM Systems Agenda

The philosophy behind the design of the HS20 and the various BladeCenter Chassis involves four major aspects, Openness, Collaborative Innovation, Virtualization, and Technology Innovation that Matters:

•Unlike competitive blade solutions, many parts of the BladeCenter specifications have been made open. Hundreds of vendors have downloaded the specifications, and dozens so far have released products designed specifically for BladeCenter, including Brocade, Topspin, Cisco, Nortel, Emulex, and others. This provides customers with a wider selection of options to better fit their needs than a purely proprietary offering could.

•IBM has collaborated with industry leaders to offer innovative solution packages for specific industry segments, including banking, retail, telco and others. In addition, IBM formed Blade.org, a planned collaborative organization, to focus on accelerating the expansion of solutions for BladeCenter. Founding members in the blade.org community include Brocade, Citrix Systems, Intel Corporation, Network Appliances, Nortel, Novell and VMware.

•IBM offers virtualization capabilities in a number of ways: desktop virtualization via Hosted Clients, InfiniBand virtualization and native blade virtualization (using selected blades).

•Technology for technology’s sake is pointless. Instead IBM BladeCenter focuses on technological innovation that provides real customer benefits. Examples of this include a high degree of blade and module compatibility across all chassis, the use of fewer and

2For terms and conditions or copies of the IBM Statement of Limited Warranty, call 800-772-2227 in the U.S. In Canada call 800- 426-2255. Telephone support may be subject to additional charges. For warranties including onsite labor, a technician is sent after IBM attempts to resolve the problem remotely. International warranty service is available in any country in which this product is sold.

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