IBM 8677 manual Installing and removing modules, BladeCenter modules

Installing and removing modules

The procedures for installing or removing a module on the BladeCenter unit are nearly identical for all modules except the blower modules. To install or remove a blower module, see the BladeCenter Hardware Maintenance Manual and Troubleshooting Guide on the BladeCenter Documentation CD. To install or remove all other modules, follow the instructions in this section.

Each module is keyed so that it can be inserted only in an appropriate bay. You can insert an I/O module only in an I/O-module bay, for example. In addition, most modules must be installed in a specific sequence or under specific circumstances.

The BladeCenter modules

Your BladeCenter unit contains the following hot-swap modules: power modules, I/O modules, management modules, and blower modules. See “Rear view” on page 33 for the location of each module. These modules supply common functions to the blade servers that are installed in the blade bays in the front of the BladeCenter unit.

The chassis and the active management module supply I/O (diskette drive, CD-ROM drive, USB port, keyboard, video, and mouse) that is available to all the blade servers, selected by any one blade server at a time. The chassis can contain up to 14 blade servers.

Attention: To help ensure proper cooling, performance, and system reliability, make sure that each of the module bays on the rear of the BladeCenter unit has a module or filler module installed. When replacing a module, do not operate the BladeCenter unit for more than one minute without either a module or a filler module installed in each module bay.

Management module

Your BladeCenter unit comes with one hot-swap management module in the management bay. You can add a management module in management bay 2.

Note: Only one management module will be active; the second management module, if present, provides redundancy.

The management module functions as a service processor and a keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) multiplexor for the multiple blade servers. The management module also configures the BladeCenter unit and modules, configuring information such as switch module IP addresses. The management module provides the following external connections: keyboard, mouse, and video for use by a local console, and one RJ-45 connector for a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet remote management connection.

The service processor in the management module communicates with the service processor in each blade server for functions such as:

vBlade server power-on requests

vBlade server error and event reporting

vBlade server requests for keyboard, mouse, and video

vBlade server requests for diskette drive, CD-ROM drive, and USB port

The management module also communicates with the I/O modules, power modules, blower modules, and blade servers to detect presence or absence and any error conditions, sending alerts when required.

Chapter 2. Installing options 15