Optimized for virtualization and database applications with maximum
memory and compute capacity in a blade
Please see the Legal Information section for important notices and information. 1.
Product Guide
August 2010
IBM BladeCenter HX5
Product Overview
CONTENTS
Product Overview 1
Selling Features 2
Key Features 6
Key Options 13
HX5 Images 15
HX5 Specifications 16
The Bottom Line 18
Server Comparison 20
For More Information 21
Legal Information 21
Scalable 2-to-4-socket blade server optimized for
virtualization/consolidation, database, and ERP
Suggested uses: Front-end and mid-tier applications requ iring high performance (CPU, memory
or I/O), enterprise-class availability, and extreme flexibility a nd power efficiency.
IBM® has been designing and implementing chipsets und er the X-Architecture® name since
2001. eX5 technology represents the fifth generation of produc ts based on the same design
principle IBM began with in 1997: to offer Intel® Xeon® process or-based systems that are
expandable, offer “big iron” reliability, availability, and s erviceability (RAS) features, with
extremely competitive price/performance.
The eX5 technology is primarily designed around three m ajor workloads: database servers,
server consolidation using virtualization services, and Ent erprise Resource Planning (application
and database) servers.
If you’re using industry-standard servers to run business critic al applications, the systems that
run these applications need the type of technology designed i nto IBM’s eX5 technology systems.
The eX5 chipset represents a $100M+ investment in desi gning a flagship offering that can
harness the power of 4-socket-and-up 64-bit x86 (x64) Xeon processors. The eX5 family
includes a scalable performance blade server with the abili ty to scale from a single-wide blade
(30mm) to a double-wide blade (60mm). Maybe you’d lik e to start out with a 2-socket blade and
possibly add sockets later, if your needs change. Or perhaps you need more than a 2-socket
blade, but don’t want to get locked into a monolithic 4-s ocket blade—again, in case your
requirements change. With IBM, you can start at 2 sockets and grow to 4 if needed. And if you
require a variety of 2- and 4-socket servers in your data c enter, you only have to qualify one
server for all these workloads. This can save much time and effort and speed deployment. You
can also save money on software licensing by virtualizing a 4-processor server into many VMs,
rather than using multiple 2-processor servers. Huge amoun ts of memory also enable more or
larger VMs, and larger databases (especially databases st ored entirely in memory).
Reducing an entire server into a little over .5U of rack spac e (i.e., up to 14 servers in 9U) does
not mean trading away features and capabilities for smaller si ze. The IBM BladeCenter® HX5
blade server offers features comparable to many 1U rack- optimized full-featured servers, and
then some: The HX5 supports up to two of the latest high-p erformance 8-core, 6-core, or 4-core
Intel Xeon 7500 and 6500 Series processors. The Xeon pr ocessors are designed with up to
24MB of shared cache and leading-edge memory perf ormance (up to 1066MHz using MAX5,
depending on processor model) to help provide the comp uting power you require to match your
business needs and growth. In addition, the HX5 supp orts up to 128B of registered double data
rate III (DDR3) ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) mem ory in 16 DIMM slots, with multiple
levels of IBM Active Memory™ protection, for the highest l evels of performance and availability.
Active Memory protection includes IBM Memory ProteXion™, I BM Chipkill™ memory, memory
scrubbing, memory rank sparing, and memory mirroring.
Because business requirements change and a 2-socket s erver that meets those needs today
may not meet them in the future, the HX5 was designed to b e upgradeable to meet the diverse
needs of multiple workloads. For compute-intensive wor kloads, it can be configured as a 2-
wide blade server with up to 4 processors / 32 cores, 32 DIMMs (256GB), 4 PCIe cards, 16 I/O
ports, and 4 solid-state drives (SSDs). Conversely, f or memory-intensive workloads, the
HX5 can be configured as a 2-wide server consisting of 1 bla de server and 1 MAX5 memory
expansion blades, with up to 40 DIMMs (320GB), or as a 4- wide server comprising 2 blade
servers and 2 MAX5 memory expansion blades, with up to 4 pro cessors / 32 cores, 80 DIMMs
(640GB), 4 PCIe cards, 16 I/O ports, and 4 SSDs. IBM Flex Node partitioning allows a
physical 4-blade configuration to be remotely reconfigured by software into two logical 2-socket
servers, as needs change or for daily peak and off-peak workloads.
The HX5 supports VMware ESXi preloaded on a standard USB f lash drive. It operates in a
diskless configuration, offers a smaller memory footprint, extremely high performance, and
stronger security, making getting a system up and running in a virtualized environment faster and
easier than ever before.