IBM BladeCenter H Blade Server Technology

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM. 4.0.1

IBM BladeCenter H Blade Server Technology

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006 2

HS20 (8843) Video Connector Isolation

ATI 7000M RageXL

Graphics/Video Accelerator chip


• Intel PXH64

• Mode1, 133MHz

• Dual PCI-X

HS20 (8843) PCI-X Bridge


HS20 (8843) System Expansion

• Standard blade daughter card slot

• BSE-2 slot (SCSI + PCI-E x8)


HS20 (8843) Small Form-Factor Expansion Cards


HS20 (8843) Switches and Jumpers (1 of 2)

1 - BIOS backup page jumper.

• Open: BIOS starts from the Primary BIOS page

• Closed: BIOS starts from the backup BIOS page

2 - Wake On LAN bypass

• Open: Enabled

• Closed: Disabled (default)

3 - Reserved

4 - Reserved

5 - Reserved

6 - Clear CMOS

• Open: Disabled

• Closed: Enabled

7 - Reserved

8 - Bypass power-on password

• Open: Disabled (default)

• Closed: Enabled

SW2


SW4

NMI - Check error log. Reboot Blade

Microprocessors – Make sure they are at same speed

System Board – Restart the blade-server.

Temperature – Check the blowers and air inlets

Light path diagnostics LED (CD111) - Check the other light path diagnostic LEDs

Light path diagnostics switch (SW4) - Press SW4 to find faults on the system board.

HS20 (8843) Switches and Jumpers (2 of 2)


HS20 (8843) Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) Code

● The BladeCenter HS20 has an IBM BIOS– LPC interface for POST/BIOS Flash PROM – Menu-driven setup– Settings for configuration and performance– Set, change, delete (IRQ, Date & Time and Passwords)– Advanced settings for specific needs (e.g., Memory, CPU, PCI Bus & BMC)– BIOS defaults

● The Flash PROM is attached to the X-bus. It allows for a dual-boot option.● Flash diskette● BIOS updates for host and devices CD-ROM BIOS/firmware updates and configuration

for host and devices● BIOS backup page jumper – J16 Boot Block Recovery

– No Jumper: Normal system operation– Jumper on pins 1-2 or 1-3: Normal operation– Jumper on pins 2-4 or 3-4: BIOS Backup FLASH boot image selected


HS20 (8843) Diagnostics Tools

• Light Path Diagnostics• Press F2 at POST to invoke standalone diagnostics• Diagnostics by PC Doctor

• Test results are stored in a test log• Management Module event logs contains system status messages

from the blade-server service processor and can be:• Viewed• Saved to diskette• Printed• Attached to e-mail alerts • Standard log is a summary of tests• Press <Tab> while viewing the test log

• Power On Self Test (POST) beep codes • Real Time Diagnostics• Command-line interface (CLI)


IBM Blade LS20 (8850)


LS20 - Blade Server Features

8850

ProcessorDual AMD Opteron

Processors

L2 Cache 1MB/Processor Core

Memory (400 MHz DDRAM)

1GB/16GB PC2-3200 DDR1 VLP

Internal HDD Ultra 320 SCSI

Internal Capacity 36/73GB - 146GB max

Integrated Ethernet Controller

Dual 1Gb


LS20 - Front Panel LEDs

Blade-error LED

Information LED

Location LED

Activity LED

Power-on LED

Power Button

8850 Protective cover

NMI switch

LS20 blade-server model 8850

KVM Console Select Button/LED

CD and FDD media button/LED


LS20 - Overhead View

Microprocessor 2 and heat sink

Small Form Factor SCSI Drive

Small Form Factor SCSI Drive

midplane connector

Optional I/O Expansion card

DIMM socket 1 (J31)

midplane connector


DIMM socket 2 (J30)

DIMM socket 3 (J4)

DIMM socket 4 (J2)

SCSI connector 0 (J11)

SCSI connector 1 (J12)

(J10)I/O expansion option connectors(J13)

Light Path diagnostics switch

Battery


LS20 - System Board Block Diagram


LS20 - AMD Opteron Dual Core Processors● AMD Opteron was designed from the start to add

a second core– Port already existed on crossbar/SRI– One die with 2 CPU cores, each core has its own

1MB L2 cache

● DC Drops into existing AMD Opteron 940-pin sockets that are compatible with 90nm single core processors

● A BIOS update was all that was necessary to get the 4-socket server up and running with dual core AMD Opteron processors

● The 2 CPU cores share the same memory and HyperTransport™ technology resources found in single core AMD Opteron processors

– Integrated memory controller & HyperTransport links route out the same as today’s implementation

CPU0

1MB L2 Cache

CPU1

System Request Interface

Crossbar Switch

MemoryController HT0 HT1 HT2

Existing AMD Opteron Design

1MB L2 Cache


Benefit to AMD Opteron Technology

Sub-Optimal:• Shared BiDi FSB remains chokepoint

• Bandwidth – I/O Restricts Memory

• Prevents concurrency

• Centralized Data Flow

• Poor Multi-Way Scaling

Opteron:• Balanced and Scalable

• Direct Connect Architecture• Distributed Data Flow• Cross-platform multi-core compatibility• HyperTransport™ technology


The LS20’s AMD Opteron processor contains the memory controller on die and supports memory ChipKill technology; in addition to double bit correction.

Only 2.6 V, 184-pin, DDR1, PC3200, Very Low Profile (VLP), registered SDRAM with ECC DIMMs are supported.

Physical memory configuration:• Both DIMMs in a pair must be the same size, speed, type, technology, and physical design.• The second pair does not have to be DIMMs of the same size, speed, type, technology, and physical

design as the first pair.• The 8850 can support a minimum of 1 GB and a maximum of 8 GB of system memory.

LS20 - Memory


DIMM socket 1 (J31)


DIMM socket 2 (J30)

DIMM socket 3 (J4)

DIMM socket 4 (J2)

Installation Pair DIMM Connectors

Microprocessor 1 DIMM 1 (J31) & DIMM 2 (J30)

Microprocessor 2 DIMM 3 (J4) & DIMM 4 (J2)


LS20 - SCSI DASD Subsystem● The 8850 blade server has two connectors on the system board for installing optional

Ultra320 SCSI hard disk drives. ● Each Ultra320 SCSI connector is on the same bus.

– Support for two internal small form factor (SFF) SCSI drives– Drive attaches to riser and tray (included with option kit)– With two SCSI hard disk drives RAID level-1 is supported– LSI 1020 SCSI controller– No cable required – Capacities

• 36GB• 73GB Hard drive release leversSCSI ID 1

(J12)

SCSI ID 0(J11)

SCSI Connectors


LS20 - Jumper Locations

LS20 System board jumper blocks

BIOS backup page (J16) WOL bypass (J15)


LS20 - Light Path LEDsNMI - Check error log. Reboot Blade

Microprocessors – Make sure they are at same speedSystem Board – Restart the blade-server.

Temperature – Check the blowers and air inletsLight path diagnostics LED - Check the other light path diagnostic LEDs

Light path diagnostics switch - Press and hold SW1 to find faults on the system board.


LS20 - Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) Code

● The BladeCenter LS20 has an IBM BIOS– LPC interface for POST/BIOS Flash PROM – Menu-driven setup– Settings for configuration and performance– Set, change, delete (IRQ, Date & Time and Passwords)– Advanced settings for specific needs (e.g., Memory, CPU, PCI Bus & BMC)– BIOS defaults

● The Flash PROM is attached to the X-bus. It allows for a dual-boot option.● Flash diskette● BIOS updates for host and devices CD-ROM BIOS/firmware updates and configuration

for host and devices● BIOS backup page jumper – J16 Boot Block Recovery

– No Jumper: Normal system operation– Jumper on pins 1-2 or 1-3: Normal operation– Jumper on pins 2-4 or 3-4: BIOS Backup FLASH boot image selected


LS20 - Diagnostics Tools

• Light Path Diagnostics• Press F2 at POST to invoke standalone diagnostics• Diagnostics by PC Doctor

• Test results are stored in a test log• Management Module event logs contains system status messages

from the blade-server service processor and can be:• Viewed• Saved to diskette• Printed• Attached to e-mail alerts • Standard log is a summary of tests• Press <Tab> while viewing the test log

• Power On Self Test (POST) beep codes • Real Time Diagnostics• Command-line interface (CLI)


LS20 - Model Service Processor● LS20 Service Processor (SP) communicates with the management module to enable remote blade

server management.● The SP contains up to 512 of the most recent service processor errors in IPMI format. These

messages are a combination of plain text and error code numbers. ● You can view additional information and error codes in plain text by viewing the management-module

event log.

Supported features include:● Continuous local environmental health monitoring and control with configurable notification and

alerts● Logging errors: Event logs are time stamped, saved in nonvolatile memory, and can be attached to

e-mail alerts.● Remote power on/power down● Remote graphics console redirection● I2C interface to AMD-8111 chip● Local Blade LED control● RS-485 interface to the Management Modules (Remote Systems Management)● Remote terminal services (Serial over LAN)● OSA IPMI (firmware stack)● Power Domain Policy (Power Oversubscription control)● ASR (Automatic Server Restart)


Support References


Blade Servers Supported O/S

For the latest BladeCenter Network Operating System support information navigate to the http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/ematrix.shtml website.


IBM Blade Server Warranty

● Limited warranty– 3 year parts and labor– International Warranty Service– On site, 8 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday coverage excluding holidays

• Next business day response time• 24x7 toll-free support for warranty issues during the warranty period


Documentation

●Hardware Maintenance Manual– Available electronically (Adobe Acrobat .PDF format) from the IBM

support Web site or on the service update CD-ROM– Primary support document for diagnostics and troubleshooting

●System documentation (User’s Guide, Installation Guide, etc.)– Useful for confirming shipping group contents (missing parts, etc.) and

initial customer setup


Topic Summary

Having completed this topic, you should be able to:

● Identify different Blade Server units● Understand the various Lightpaths and LEDs components● Recognize the various hardware components ● Identify the supported operating systems● Understand the warranty information

Documents

IBM BladeCenter H Blade Server Technology