specifications. System management hardware or software will report the failure of a fan, which can be changed at a convenient time, without the worry of the system overheating. No need to power down the system to replace the fan, as most models incorporate hot-swap fans. If you wish to take advantage of these features, check to see if they are available for your preferred model, by referring to the technical descriptions within Chapter 4, “IBM Netfinity Family of Servers” on page 19.
5.2.6.5 System Power Supply
Power supplies have historically been a "single point of failure". Models of IBM Netfinity incorporate redundant power supply options, effectively providing a spare power supply. Should a power supply fail, the system will continue to run with the remaining operational power supply or supplies. The failing power supply can be replaced at a convenient time, without the need to power down the system, as most IBM Netfinity power supplies are hot-swap.
All redundant power supplies include Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA). Refer to 5.2.3, “Hard Disks” on page 37 for further details on PFA.
5.2.6.6 PCI and ISA Adapter Cards
Adapter cards are at the very heart of client server and network computing. In today’s highly intensive network-oriented solutions, there is no room for failure of a network adapter. One possible solution to this issue is to install multiple network adapters in a single system attached to different segments or rings. So that should an adapter fail, then only a portion of users will be offline, while the adapter is waiting to be replaced.
A solution available from IBM is to use a combination of:
•Hot-swap network cards
•Active-passive fail-over redundancy of network cards
•Active-active use of network failover adapters (Ethernet only at time of writing)
Note: Hot-swap and failover is only available for PCI adapters. Currently, this is a new technology and only a few adapters currently support this feature. For a current list of adapters refer to:
http://www.pcco.ibm.com/us/techlink/wtpapers/hotplug.html
In both cases, you will be able to hot-swap the network adapters if installed within a hot-swap model of an IBM Netfinity server upon failure, without any need to reboot the system and loss of service to the network users.
It is recommended to avoid using ISA adapters in a high-end server. The I/O capacity of ISA adapters is very limited and will not provide the I/O capacity required for highly intensive network computing.
5.2.7 Backup and Recovery Process
In all good solutions is a well-planned backup and recovery process. The basis of a good backup solution is planning and attention to detail within your customer’s business data processes. It is not enough to assume that simply backing up the data once a day/week/month is good enough for your customer’s business. You must understand the business requirements of the data and the impact that loss of data will have on your customer’s business.
