IBM BladeCenter H Blade Server
Technology
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM.
4.0.1
HS20 (8843) Video Connector Isolation
ATI 7000M
RageXL
Graphics/Video
Accelerator chip
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
2
HS20 (8843) PCI-X Bridge
• Intel PXH64
• Mode1, 133MHz
• Dual PCI-X
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
3
HS20 (8843) System Expansion
• Standard blade
daughter card slot
• BSE-2 slot (SCSI
+ PCI-E x8)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
4
HS20 (8843) Small Form-Factor Expansion Cards
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
5
HS20 (8843) Switches and Jumpers (1 of 2)
SW2
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
6
HS20 (8843) Switches and Jumpers (2 of 2)
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
SW4
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.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
7
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
8
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)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
9
IBM Blade LS20 (8850)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM.
4.0.1
LS20 - Blade Server Features
8850
Processor
L2 Cache
Memory (400 MHz
DDRAM)
Internal HDD
Internal Capacity
Integrated Ethernet
Controller
Dual AMD Opteron
Processors
1MB/Processor Core
1GB/16GB PC2-3200
DDR1 VLP
Ultra 320 SCSI
36/73GB - 146GB max
Dual 1Gb
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
11
LS20 - Front Panel LEDs
KVM Console
Select Button/LED
Location LED
Activity LED
Blade-error
LED
Information LED
CD and FDD media
button/LED
8850 Protective
cover
Power Button
Power-on
LED
NMI switch
LS20 blade-server
model 8850
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
12
LS20 - Overhead View
Small Form Factor Small Form Factor
SCSI Drive
SCSI Drive
DIMM socket 4 (J2)
DIMM socket 3 (J4)
Microprocessor 2
and heat sink
SCSI connector 0
(J11)
SCSI connector 1
(J12)
midplane
connector
(J10)
I/O expansion
option
connectors
(J13)
Microprocessor 1
and heat sink
DIMM socket 2 (J30)
midplane
connector
DIMM socket 1 (J31)
Battery
Light Path
diagnostics switch
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
Optional I/O
Expansion card
13
LS20 - System Board Block Diagram
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
14
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
CPU0
CPU1
1MB
L2 Cache
1MB
L2 Cache
System Request Interface
Crossbar Switch
– Integrated memory controller & HyperTransport
links route out the same as today’s
implementation
Memory
Controller
HT0 HT1 HT2
Existing AMD Opteron Design
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
15
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
16
LS20 - Memory
 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.
DIMM socket 4 (J2)
DIMM socket 3 (J4)
Microprocessor 2
and heat sink
Microprocessor 1
and heat sink
Installation Pair
DIMM Connectors
Microprocessor 1
DIMM 1 (J31) & DIMM 2 (J30)
Microprocessor 2
DIMM 3 (J4) & DIMM 4 (J2)
DIMM socket 2 (J30)
DIMM socket 1 (J31)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
17
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
SCSI ID 1
(J12)
SCSI ID 0
(J11)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
18
LS20 - Jumper Locations
BIOS backup page (J16)
WOL bypass (J15)
LS20 System board
jumper blocks
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
19
LS20 - Light Path LEDs
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 - Check the other
light path diagnostic LEDs
Light path diagnostics switch - Press and hold
SW1 to find faults on the system board.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
20
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
21
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)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
22
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 email 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)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
23
Support References
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM.
4.0.1
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.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
25
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
26
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
27
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
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
28