Implementing IBM System Networking 10Gb Ethernet Switches

Chapter 1. Introduction to IBM System Networking 10Gb Ethernet products 43

1.6.4 IBM BladeCenter HT

IBM BladeCenter HT (Figure 1-22) is a carrier grade, rugged 12U chassis designed for

challenging central office and networking environments.

Figure 1-22 IBM BladeCenter HT chassis front view

It provides:

򐂰 NEBS Level 3/ETSI-tested: Designed for the Network Equipment Provider (NEP) and

Service Provider (SP) environments. Also ideal for government, military, aerospace,

industrial automation and robotics, medical imaging, and finance. Certified testing by

Underwriters Laboratories of the IBM BladeCenter HT chassis is in progress; when

complete, it will be covered under a UL-certified NEBS Level 3/ETSI test report.

򐂰 Designed for Carrier-Grade Linux: Several distributions are supported, include SUSE and

Red Hat.

򐂰 Reduced single points of failure: Many major components (either standard or optionally)

are hot-swappable or redundant. Servers and modules can be configured for automatic

failover to backups.

򐂰 Compatibility with earlier versions: Every blade, switch, and pass-through module

released by IBM, since the original IBM BladeCenter E chassis in 2002, is supported in the

IBM BladeCenter HT chassis.

򐂰 High-speed redundant midplane connections: Based on 4X InfiniBand, the midplane

supports up to 40 Gb bandwidth and provides four 10 Gb data channels to each blade. By

giving each blade two physical connections to the midplane that connects all blades and

modules together internally, a failure of one connector alone cannot bring down

the server.

򐂰 Twelve 30 mm blade slots: These hot-swap slots can support any combination of blade

servers, or six double-wide (60 mm) blade servers, or a mixture of 30 mm and 60 mm

blades. It also supports multiple optional 30 mm Expansion Units in combination with the

blade servers, using the same blade slots. Up to three chassis can be installed in an

industry-standard 42U rack, for a total of up to 36 30 mm blade servers per rack.

44 Implementing IBM System Networking 10Gb Ethernet Switches

򐂰 Two module bays for Advanced Management Modules: The management modules

provide advanced systems management and KVM capabilities for not only the chassis

itself, but for all of the blades and other modules installed in the chassis.

򐂰 Four bays for Fan Modules: All four hot-swap/redundant fan modules come standard with

the chassis. These modules replace the need for each blade to contain its own fans. The

high availability modules are more energy efficient than dozens or hundreds of smaller

fans would be, and there are fewer points of potential failure.

򐂰 Four bays for Power Modules: IBM BladeCenter HT ships with two high-efficiency

hot-swap/redundant DC or AC (model-specific) power modules (upgradeable to four),

capable of handling the power needs of up to six blade servers.

򐂰 Two hot-swappable Media Trays: Each contain two external USB 2.0 ports, a light path

diagnostic panel, and support a 1 Gb/4 Gb compact flash (CF) option: The media tray is

shared by all the blades in the server. This setup reduces unnecessary parts (and reduces

the number of parts that can fail). If there is a failure of the Media Tray, the tray can be

swapped for another tray. While the tray is offline, the servers in the chassis can remotely

access the Media Tray in another chassis. The light path diagnostic panel contains LEDs

that indicate chassis status. One media tray comes standard (without compact flash); an

optional second one provides redundancy. The CF option can act as a boot device,

eliminating the need for HDDs in the blades.

򐂰 Redundant midplane connections: Each chassis contains a midplane that connects all

blades and modules together internally. The midplane provides two physical connections

to each blade; therefore, a failure of one connector alone cannot bring down the server.

Figure 1-23 IBM BladeCenter HT chassis module locations

Note: Two additional power modules are required when more than six blades or

high-speed switches are installed.

I/O Bay 1

I/O Bay 4

12 Blade Servers

High Speed I/O Bays 7/8

High Speed I/O Bays 9/10

Power Module 2 Power Module 4

I/O Bay 3

I/O Bay 2

Redundant MM

Media Tray 2

Advanced MM

Media Tray 1

Power Module 1 Power Module 3