Lessons. What's a blade infrastructure? HP BladeSystem

Transcription

1 Simplify your IT infrastructure: reduce total cost of ownership Blades enable businesses of all sizes to save valuable floor space while reducing overall server and storage management and costs. This class will help you determine how a blade infrastructure reduces the number of servers and storage systems you need, maximizes rack space, reduces heat buildup and increases manageability. You'll also see how to lower your total cost of ownership (TCO), and how easy it is to deploy blades versus multiple rack server systems. Lessons What's a blade infrastructure? Small and medium-size organizations struggle to manage their IT infrastructure. This lesson discusses the reasons why you should consider blades for your organization and how blades simplify everything from racking a new server to cabling. Explore the different types of HP blades and enclosures What's an enclosure? How do blades work? What's an FC pass-thru module? This lesson introduces you to the various HP BladeSystem components and how they all fit together. You'll also get a look at storage blades and how they benefit the system. Deploying, managing and monitoring HP BladeSystems Need to monitor your enclosures in one application suite, or quickly deploy Microsoft Windows Server to a new blade? HP BladeSystems come packed with software tools to manage and configure blade infrastructure components. This lesson shows you how. Designing a blade infrastructure Now that you've decided to use blades, you need to plan and design your blade infrastructure. This lesson guides you in evaluating blade infrastructure components, and then selecting those that are suitable for your organization. What's a blade infrastructure? Small and medium-size organizations struggle to manage their IT infrastructure. This lesson discusses the reasons why you should consider blades for your organization and how blades simplify everything from racking a new server to cabling. Welcome to the blade infrastructure tutorial Blades enable businesses of all sizes to not only save valuable floor space but reduce overall server management and costs. This class helps you determine how a blade infrastructure reduces the number of servers and storage systems you need, maximizes rack and floor space, reduces heat buildup, and helps you improve manageability and uptime. Along the way, you'll see how to lower your TCO (total cost of ownership) and make the most of your IT budget dollars. By the end of the class, you'll understand how easy it is to deploy bladed environments versus multiple rack-mounted server infrastructures. HP BladeSystem Discover how incorporating HP's BladeSystem can save your business time, money, space, and more. The goal of this class is to help you: Understand how a complete blade infrastructure can save your organization time, money, space, and more. Explore types of HP blade servers, storage blades, and other blade infrastructure components. Dispel the myths about blade infrastructures. Understand the benefits of deploying bladed environments rather than traditional rack-mounted and tower servers.» HP BladeSystem

2 Learn how to decide whether to deploy a blade infrastructure in your organization. Design a blade infrastructure. Use tools to configure and manage a blade infrastructure. Understand the TCO and ROI (return on investment) benefits of moving to a bladed environment today and in the future. This class is geared toward SMBs (small and medium-size businesses) with in-house IT staff or outsourced partners that need to make the best use of a technology budget. What to expect in the class This four-lesson class explores blade infrastructures and how they streamline management, save space, and reduce costs. Here's what to expect in the lessons: Lesson 1: What's a blade infrastructure? SMBs struggle to manage servers and IT infrastructures efficiently while containing costs. This lesson discusses the reasons you should consider a blade infrastructure for your organization. Lesson 2: Explore the different types of HP blades and enclosures. This lesson details HP BladeSystem components -- enclosures, power supplies, interconnects, and server, storage, and network blades -- and describes how they fit together. Lesson 3: Deploying, managing and monitoring HP BladeSystems. Blade management is critical to maintaining uptime and application availability. Moreover, good blade management practices and software can save you time and money. This lesson reviews blade management concepts and tools. Lesson 4: Designing a blade infastructure. When moving to a blade infrastructure, it's important to accurately compare blade component features across a variety of vendors. This lesson guides you in selecting the right components for deploying your blade infrastructure. Beyond the lessons, be sure to complete the assignments and quizzes. When you're done with them, visit the message board. It's the perfect place to discuss class topics and swap questions and comments with other students and your instructor. Take a few moments to meet your instructor and fellow students on the message board, and let them know a little about you. Now it's time to get started with the topics in Lesson 1. What are blade servers and blade systems? Bladed IT infrastructures have been around for a few years, yet confusion and misconceptions about them still exist. This lesson introduces blades and blade infrastructures, and shows why they've sparked a revolution in the computing industry. What's a blade? HP blades All ProLiant server blades share the same enterpriseclass features and design standards of traditional HP ProLiant servers. A blade, in the networking industry, is a server or storage system that's been reduced to an SFF (small form factor) but retains many components of its traditional form. For example, a server blade has a CPU (central processing unit), RAM (random access memory), hard disks, and network interfaces. A blade infrastructure can mean a few things. It can represent a complete solution in one unit -- servers, storage, data protection, networking

3 components, power and cooling, and so on. It can also refer to an entire IT infrastructure built upon a bladed architecture. You'll learn more about blade infrastructures in the next section.» HP BladeSystem c-class server blades Throughout this class, you'll read about "blade infrastructures" and "blade environments." For perspective, think of a blade infrastructure as the hardware, software, and connectivity (whether in one unit or several) within your IT environment. At a higher level, an IT environment that includes blades is a blade (or bladed) environment.» Server buying guide Blades fit into an enclosure, also known as a chassis, which includes cooling, power, and network infrastructure components that are shared among blades. Enclosures come in tower and rack forms to suit your environment. Tower (portrait) enclosures are upright, self-contained units on wheels you can easily roll under a table or any convenient space. Landscape-type enclosures are horizontal units that mount on a rack. Each blade slides into the enclosure and shares the enclosure's common signal midplane and power backplane. Enclosures use interconnects to hold LAN (local area network) and SAN (storage area network) interconnect modules, such as network and FC (Fibre Channel) switches. Blades communicate with these modules over the shared midplane rather than through network or fiber cables. Figure 1-1 shows tower and rack-based enclosures with a close-up of blade components. Figure 1-1: Tower and rack enclosures with blades components. Enlarge image Enclosures are connected to the rest of your network through network switch or FC modules residing in the enclosure. You can connect these modules to your organization's core router with network cables that are trunked together and carry all network traffic from the enclosure's blades. Server and storage blades are smaller, more cost-efficient, and consume less power than traditional rack and tower servers and storage systems. The size, features, and speed of server and storage blades vary from vendor to vendor. You can easily provision and manage blades, reducing TCO. Provisioning a blade means inserting it into the enclosure. After that, you manage the blade using enclosure management software. What's a blade infrastructure? A blade infrastructure is a complete bladed solution in a box. It includes all bladed components: servers and storage; power and cooling components;

4 switches; interconnects; and other modules, in addition to management software. The integration of blade infrastructure hardware components into a single enclosure helps reduce rack or floor space, improves power consumption and redundancy, decreases heat, and simplifies administration and cabling. Also, blade infrastructure component costs have decreased dramatically over the last few years, making them even more appealing. See how to make up a blade infrastructure with modular components. The heart of a blade infrastructure is the server blades. The enclosure, modules, shared power, and cooling are all meant to support the server blades. A blade infrastructure without server blades is like having a computer without processors. Bladed infrastructures are slowly replacing traditional rack-mounted servers and switch infrastructures. These networking components often have many cables that clutter the server room. In addition, each server or switch consumes one or more units of rack space and has one or more power supplies and power cables. Today, vendors such as HP, Dell, and IBM offer blade solutions in their product lines. HP's line is called HP BladeSystems. However, not all blade solutions are alike, and the options and features of each vary from vendor to vendor. Lesson 2 takes a close look at HP's BladeSystem components, and in Lesson 4, you'll learn how to evaluate blade infrastructure components across vendors so you can select the right solution for your organization. In the next section, find out why your organization should consider investing in a blade infrastructure. Why you should consider blading your infrastructure Switching to a blade infrastructure offers these benefits: managing server sprawl, provisioning new servers quickly, reducing IT infrastructure heat output and electricity costs, and managing network and fiber cables more efficiently. The following sections describe a few of the many reasons you might want to consider blades. Time smart A blade infrastructure ultimately saves time. For example, provisioning a new server blade can be as easy as inserting the blade into the enclosure and automatically installing an operating system using vendor-provided software. You no longer have to connect additional power, network, or fiber cables as you would with traditional rack-mount servers. Most or all of these cables have been internalized in the enclosure by way of a common midplane, depending on the blade model. In addition to operating system deployment capabilities, enclosure management software can also offer remote control capabilities over the enclosure and all its components, including blades and modules. Administrators can control every aspect of the enclosure through web management software and remote consoles. Being able to log in remotely and perform management tasks saves time. Change ready Another benefit of a blade infrastructure is its adaptability in meeting your organization's changing needs. Depending on your needs, you can start small with just a single server blade and perhaps a storage blade, and then add Get TCO data For a good look at TCO, use the HP BladeSystem TCO tool. This tool enables you to select an enclosure, type of server blade, LAN interconnect, number of server blades, and the wattage per rack. The tool lets you compare capital costs and operating expenses, and displays assumptions and breakeven points. Benefits of migrating from a traditional rack server environment The simple, reliable and affordable design of a modular bladed infrastructure gives you ease of use and flexibility for future growth. You can mix and match server and storage options to meet your business needs, with all of the power, cooling, networking, and

5 additional blades as your business and technology needs grow. Once deployed, you can swap modular components in a blade infrastructure without powering down the enclosure. Figure 1-2 shows two blades being swapped in the front, and two switch modules being swapped in the back. management features in one box. Migration from a traditional rack server environment is streamlined with wizard-driven tools that let you migrate existing servers and data to an HP BladeSystem without changing the operating system or applications. You can also migrate to virtual servers running a number of industry-standard virtualization platforms from VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix. Consider a move to a bladed infrastructure to save power, simplify changes, realize rapid ROI, and lower your TCO. Save time Figure 1-2: Swapping blades and switch modules. Blade enclosures can also accommodate interconnect modules, such as FC for SANs and Ethernet network switches. As your organization grows, you might need to add networking equipment, such as a switch. With a blade infrastructure, you just add a switch module to your enclosure and map server blades to the switch ports using the management software. No more racking network or FC switches and running cables whenever you add a server. And, as you add more blades, you merely map the blade to the next available port(s) on the switch module. Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP) is a server deployment solution that allows for server configuration time to be greatly reduced, making it possible to scale server deployments to high volumes in rapid fashion. Blade management software can also automate provisioning components in the enclosure, including operating system deployment and patching.» HP ProLiant essentials rapid deployment pack Energy efficient Bladed infrastructures are generally more energy efficient than equivalent rackmounted servers through the use of the shared power and cooling provided by the enclosure. Enclosures incorporate shared power and cooling fans, as shown in Figure 1-3, thereby reducing the heat signature and power requirements.

6 Figure 1-3: Shared power and cooling fans. Being energy efficient also involves reducing power consumption. Reducing power consumption can result in reduced heat output, which decreases the number of cooling fans that are needed. Cost savvy Blade infrastructures reduce operational costs and capital expenses -- while increasing agility -- in the following ways: People costs: By reducing or eliminating lengthy processes, simplifying procedures, and reducing complexity, businesses lower their management and support costs. IT infrastructure costs: Reduced power requirements, fewer cables, and smaller equipment footprints result in lowered IT infrastructure costs. Third-party expenses: Less cabling reduces Ethernet and/or FC costs. In addition, HP management tools cost less than purchasing third-party tools. HP servers and storage: Integration of components, shared resources, and infrastructure control software reduces capital expenses. If your organization's IT infrastructure costs are increasing, moving to blades can relieve these high costs and provide tangible savings, as shown in Figure 1-4. Figure 1-4: Tangible savings.

7 Consolidate components Because blade infrastructures consolidate server, storage, and networking components into enclosures and make it possible to share common components, you'll realize lower component costs and increased utilization. Blade infrastructures also require less rack space than rack-mounted servers do, thus saving space and making it possible to fit more servers into a smaller space -- called "higher density." Some blade infrastructure enclosures can increase the number of servers up to 60 percent. These enclosures use less power per server because of shared power and cooling, which equates to less heat output and lower cooling costs. When evaluating bladed IT infrastructure vendors, be aware that most vendors offer higher density but only a few offer power savings through their blades. Good examples of shared power savings can be found within the HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure. Reduce management and support costs A blade infrastructure provides businesses with a competitive edge, enabling them to quickly respond to industry and customer demands. Blade infrastructures reduce TCO, or total cost of ownership, and management effort by: Reducing startup and support costs: Compared to traditional tower or rackmounted servers, a blade infrastructure enables SMBs to acquire a system for less money up front. In addition, ease of use and administration results in lower support costs. Providing an easier-to-manage environment: Integrated management tools can vastly improve efficiency because administrators spend less time racking, cabling, and provisioning. Adding servers simply means inserting a new server blade and provisioning an operating system, which you can automate with management software. Lowering administrative costs: You wire once and can change anytime without impacting the performance or uptime of your SAN or LAN. Reducing downtime: If a blade needs repairs, you can power it down and replace it with a new blade without affecting other blades or the enclosure. Advanced monitoring tools alert administrators to impending failures so that they can take preemptive action. If the server blade is running a virtualization software product, running virtual machines can be migrated to another server blade before removing the failed blade for maintenance, thus eliminating any downtime. The next section dispels the myths of a blade infrastructure. Dispelling myths about a blade infrastructure Many myths exist about blade infrastructures, which detract from their advantages. This section dispels those myths, revealing the true nature and benefits of blade infrastructures. Myth #1: Blade infrastructures cost more Blade infrastructures, in fact, reduce TCO over the long run. Savings are realized through lower long-term capital costs, less physical space, reduced power and cooling costs, and reduced administrative costs. A recent IDC report (PDF 1.5MB) shows that blades reduce facility costs by an estimated 25 percent. Remember, part of the savings offered through blade infrastructures is The simplicity of blades HP provides a solution guide that explains what blade servers are and the unique benefits they can deliver to small and medium-size companies.

8 reduced cooling and power costs. However, not all vendors offer this. When evaluating bladed products, you have to consider all costs and savings over the lifetime of the hardware and not just the initial capital cost of the hardware. Myth #2: Bladed infrastructures are less redundant» HP BladeSystem for medium-size business - How-to guide Blades are just as or even more redundant than equivalent rack-mounted servers. You can configure blades with hardware RAID (redundant array of independent disks), multiple CPUs, and NIC teaming. You can also cluster blades by using clustering software. Blades also benefit from the high-availability features built into the enclosure. Enclosures are equipped with complete redundancy for every component, such as power (N + N or N + 1), cooling, and the management interface. Power supplies, fans, and modules are hot-pluggable, so if a failure occurs, replacing the failed component doesn't cause downtime. Figure 1-5 shows a diagram of N + N and N + 1 configurations. Figure 1-5: N + N and N + 1 configurations. You can configure power supplies for redundancy in either an N + N or N + 1 fashion, which means the enclosure can survive a power input failure and a power supply failure. The incremental cost to add this redundancy is considerably less than rackmounted servers. Regardless, if you have one blade or 16 blades in the enclosure, they all benefit from the redundancy of the enclosure without large incremental costs. This is another example of how blades provide lower TCO. Myth #3: Blades perform more slowly Blades are just as fast as their rack-mounted equivalents. In fact, many blades support the same CPUs, memory, and disk capacities that equivalent rackmounted servers support. To increase performance, you can easily configure blades with multiple Intel or AMD CPUs, including dual-core or quad-core CPUs, high-speed RAM, and fast SAS (serial attached SCSI) or SATA (serial ATA) hard disks.

9 Myth #4: Blades are for large organizations only Blades benefit SMBs, too. SMBs face the same management headaches as large organizations, just not on the same scale. SMBs often have limited IT resources and personnel, so reducing capital and administrative costs is even more important. SMBs can now take advantage of entire blade infrastructures in one box, providing file sharing, storage, and data protection, all managed from one intuitive web-based interface. Myth #5: Blades use more power and cost more to cool Blades often cost less to power and cool. Why? Server blades can be configured with the same power-saving components, such as AMD Opteron CPUs, as regular rack-mounted servers. Bladed infrastructures use fewer power supplies. For example, 16 x 1U servers with redundant power require 24 power supplies and 24 power cables. An HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure with 16 server blades requires only six power supplies and six power cables. In server systems, a U is a standard unit of measure, equal to 1.75 inches, for vertical usable space or height of racks and cabinets. A 20U rack, for example, has 20 rack spaces in 35 inches of vertical space. Bladed infrastructures use fewer fans. For example, 16 x 1U servers with redundant fans require approximately 144 fans. A BladeSystem c-class Enclosure with 16 server blades requires only 10 fans. Fewer fans equates to less power consumed. Bladed infrastructures provide redundant power and cooling for network and FC switches. Normally, external standalone network and FC switches each have their own power and fans. However, with blade infrastructures, this is handled by the enclosure. Blade infrastructure management software provides advanced power management and cooling. The end result is less power consumed through efficient fan utilization. Instead of buying an enclosure full of fans and power supplies, SMBs can start with a minimal number of those components, adding more as you need them. This results in lower heat and power consumption because you're not running power supplies and fans needlessly. Myth #6: Blades are complicated to set up and manage A major benefit of a blade infrastructure is its simplicity. The power, cooling, network, cabling, and administration are all integrated into the enclosure. You simply rack the enclosure (if you select a rack-mounted model versus a tower model), plug it into a wall outlet, configure the management software, provision the blades, and you're done. Blade infrastructure management software walks you through set up and configuration of your blade infrastructure components. Racking an enclosure and applying power are simple. More important, you have to do these procedures only once. After that, all you have to do is add more blades. In a blade infrastructure, you can combine multiple business applications in one box running a variety of operating systems. Bladed environments enable you to customize your solution to meet your business and technological needs, whether you need a compact but powerful all-in-one solution or a solution that's highly geared toward growth. HP offers a variety of BladeSystem Solution Blocks that help you quickly create, combine, or upgrade application solutions for a blade infrastructure.

10 You'll learn more about HP Solution Blocks in Lesson 4. Top-of-the-line blade management software enables you to configure, manage, and monitor all file sharing, storage, and data protection processes from one interface. In addition, a blade infrastructure provides all storage expansion and data protection benefits without adding cables, management requirements, or integration challenges. With the entire infrastructure in one box and ease of configuration a key feature, you don't have to be a server or storage expert to deliver big results for a relatively small capital outlay. After you move past the myths associated with blades, you'll realize the many ways they can benefit your organization. Some uses and advantages of blades are covered in the next section. Exploring blade system uses You can use blades to run the same applications that traditional rack-mounted servers run. The same criteria you use to choose a rack-mounted server can be applied to choosing a blade: CPU load, disk I/O (input/output), network I/O, and redundancy. Where blades can fit into your organization depends on your applications and computing needs, but the following sections give you some examples. Storage and data protection Storage blades provide shared storage for your application servers, enhanced file serving for end users, and data protection software to protect your data, all within the blade infrastructure itself. Tape blades provide integrated data backup and recovery to servers within the enclosure. There's no need to add external devices, or increase the burden on Ethernet or FC infrastructure switching. Comply with regulations HP BladeSystems help protect your business with integrated storage, tape backup, data replication, and management tools. Many of these benefits are key to ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Regulations include Sarbanes-Oxley for financial governance, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) for healthcare, HSPD-12 for homeland security, BASEL II for banking, and Gramm- Leach-Bliley for financial services, among others. In a blade infrastructure, adding a storage or tape blade is as simple as inserting it into the enclosure and making it available as DAS (direct attached storage), NAS (network attached storage), or even iscsi (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) SAN to the blade infrastructure. You'll learn more about storage blades in Lesson 2. These local resources provide the infrastructure needed to support clustered and virtualized environments. Virtualization VMware in conjunction with blade systems is a powerful combination, allowing you to add computer power in a matter of hours with no downtime. Server clusters Many organizations rely heavily on servers to run their operations and support critical business applications: intranets and internets, , databases, and so on. Therefore, a server outage can be devastating. Clustering (connecting multiple servers to act as a single server) is a common way to prevent outages. This method improves load balancing and fault tolerance.» HP Vmware Clustering web servers, such as Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services) servers, with blades is similar to clustering with rack-mounted servers. You can cluster blades in the same enclosure or in different enclosures. You still need shared storage, for example, a disk array accessible from both server blades by using iscsi or an FC SAN, network connectivity, and clustering software, such as that included with Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise and

11 Datacenter editions. However, using blades simplifies setup and configuration. Instead of wiring numerous CAT 5 cables to each server to carry the network load and heartbeat information, just plug two or more blades into the same enclosure and your cabling is complete. Network information is carried across the shared midplane in the enclosure. For additional redundancy, plug two blades into two different enclosures and set up clustering between them. In this case, heartbeat information is carried between the enclosures over your network. Heartbeats, in the clustering sense, are status information and "I'm alive" messages passed among cluster members to determine which cluster members are up and available. When no heartbeat information is received from a particular node for a period of time, that node is presumed dead. Connecting blades to shared storage is also easy. If your enclosure has an FC switch module, for example, just map a fiber port to two or more blades in the enclosure, connect an external FC disk array to the fiber module, and the cabling is done. For highly available clusters, locate the clustered server blades in different enclosures. Make sure the enclosures -- and therefore the blades -- have network and, if required, FC connectivity with each other. A cluster should be able to survive multiple failures, including power supply, network link, blade, and enclosure failures. Organizations are also migrating from large Unix multiprocessing systems to highly efficient Linux server blade clusters. Using a multiblade solution, virtual storage, and cluster file systems can improve storage use and increase performance and availability at lower costs. Virtualization Many SMBs face the challenges of managing server growth and the resulting power and cooling requirements, in addition to increased costs. In addition, dedicated servers can go underutilized, which wastes resources, and their static design makes it difficult to reassign resources quickly. As the number of servers increases, the challenges multiply. However, you can tackle those issues head on by virtualizing servers, storage, and networking. Bladed infrastructures are designed to support virtualization from the start. Virtualization products, such as VMware Server and VMware ESX Server, are all the rage today. Using virtualization software in conjunction with a bladed infrastructure is a powerful combination, enabling you to boost savings, efficiency, and business continuity. Say you're running a dozen virtual machines on one server blade by using VMware ESX Server. As users run more applications on these virtual machines, you find the server blade performance suffering. You decide you need another, faster server blade. Figure 1-6 shows the migration of virtual machines from old to new.

12 Figure 1-6: Migration of virtual machines. After receiving the new server blade, you just insert it into a free slot in the enclosure. No cabling is required. You then assign it virtual network interfaces (using HP Virtual Connect) and deploy VMware ESX Server automatically to the blade. After VMware ESX Server is running, you use software, such as VMware vmotion, to migrate virtual machines from one blade to the new blade while they're running. The process of adding computing power used to take days. Now, by using blades and virtualization software, you can accomplish it in a matter of hours with no downtime. HP has partnered closely with VMware to ensure its blades are fully supported and have the necessary speed, power, and reliability to run products such as VMware Server and VMware ESX Server. Moving on In this lesson, you were introduced to blades and learned why they're such an important revolution in the server industry. In Lesson 2, you'll learn details about the components of an HP BladeSystem. Before moving on, be sure to complete the assignment and take the quiz for this lesson. If you have any questions or want to discuss bladed environments with other students, stop by the message board. See you there. Assignment #1 If you're considering a blade infrastructure for your organization, or moving to an entire blade infrastructure, taking a detailed inventory of your current server, storage, and networking environment is important. When taking the inventory, keep the following questions in mind: How many rack-mounted servers do you have? How heavily are they used? How many CPUs do they take up? How much power do they consume? How much does that power cost monthly or annually? How does your organization handle cable management? How do you deploy new servers? How's the operating system installed? How long until the server is in production? How do you manage all your servers? Do you have a central management system? Does it monitor applications, hardware, or both? How does it handle alerts and notifications? Do you have a small site or remote location with the need for an all-in-one solution, or do you anticipate high growth and the need for a large number of consolidated servers?

13 What are your storage and data protection requirements? Are you using any virtualization software in your organization? Document your inventory and discuss your findings with others in your organization or on the message board. Quiz #1 Question 1: How does using a blade infrastructure reduce the number of network cables you need? (Check all that apply.) A) All network cables to and from the enclosure run inside the enclosure and aren't visible outside the enclosure. B) Components communicate by sharing the enclosure's midplane. C) Network cables from the enclosure are consolidated through modules. D) Blades work on wireless technology. Question 2: True or False: Most blades have hot-pluggable power supplies. A) True B) False Question 3: Why are blade infrastructures energy efficient? (Check all that apply). A) Because they have less capacity than standard servers and storage systems. B) Because they require less cooling and fewer fans. C) Because they can adjust power and cooling dynamically. D) Because they use fewer power supplies. Question 4: Which of the following services are shared among blades in the blade enclosure? (Check all that apply.) A) Power B) Cooling C) Backup D) Network Question 5: True or False: You can set up server clusters with blade infrastructures as well as rack-mounted systems; however, setup and configuration are more complicated. A) True B) False Explore the different types of HP blades and enclosures What's an enclosure? How do blades work? What's an FC pass-thru module? This lesson introduces you to the various HP BladeSystem components and how they all fit together. You'll also get a look at storage blades and how they benefit the system. Exploring enclosures In Lesson 1, you were introduced to blade infrastructures and the basics of blade environments, learning how they can benefit your SMB. In this lesson, you'll learn more about the specific components of an HP BladeSystem, with a focus on blades for the HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure. HP offers several BladeSystem c-class Enclosures: two HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosures (tower and rack models) and the BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure. An HP c3000 Enclosure (aka "Shorty") shares the same modular components with the HP c7000 Enclosure, making it fast, reliable, and easy to Need more guidance? Everything you need to help you choose the right servers and storage products is available in one place: the Servers & Storage expertise center at HP.

14 customize. It uses the same server and storage blades with features equal to HP's ProLiant, Integrity, and StorageWorks rack or tower versions. It also uses the same tools and connectivity to manage blades alongside other HP servers and storage. Whereas an HP c3000 Enclosure is geared toward smaller sites or remote environments needing, for example, three to eight servers, the HP c7000 Enclosure is ideal for larger computing environments. Having a choice of enclosures lets you "right-size" for your environment. You decide the number of server blades and storage options you need initially, with the ability to expand in the future. By getting what you need up front, you reduce underutilization of equipment, saving on capital expenditures. In addition, you save on operating expenses such as power and cooling costs.» Servers & Storage expertise center Let's take a detailed look at all of the components that make up a BladeSystem. Enclosure components An enclosure (or chassis) is the key advantage of a BladeSystem versus traditional servers. Enclosures house server, storage, and networking blades, power supplies, and interconnect modules (such as network switch or FC modules), and come in various sizes. Enclosure features also vary from vendor to vendor. The following sections give you an overview of their technical details. Size Depending on the vendor, enclosure sizes range from 6U to 10U, or more. How many blades an enclosure can handle depends on the size (U) of the enclosure and the size of the blades, as shown in Figure 2-1. Some blades take up only half an enclosure slot, such as the HP ProLiant BL460c or BL465c; other blades can take up to two enclosure slots. The HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure can handle up to 16 blades, a space saving of up to 40 percent over the same number of traditional rack-mounted servers. If you're an SMB and your hosting provider is charging you by the U, reducing the number of U will save you money. Figure 2-1: 6U and 10U enclosures configured with various blade sizes. Power options Enclosure power options also vary from vendor to vendor. HP BladeSystem c-

15 Class Enclosures have power supplies internal to the enclosure. Why? An enclosure with a shared enclosure-based power subsystem reduces the power consumption of blades compared to traditional rack-mounted servers, by as much as 30 percent. This is one of the major benefits of blades in comparison to rack-mounted servers. Most power supply units are hot-pluggable, so you can replace them while the enclosure is running. The majority of vendors support AC (110 or 220 volts), which is readily available and relatively inexpensive. The HP BladeSystem c-class c3000 Enclosure supports AC (110V or 220V) single-phase power and provides a DC power option. In countries with low-voltage (100VAC to 110VAC) power outlets, you can directly connect the enclosure's power supplies to low-voltage wall outlets. The HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure supports single-phase and three-phase AC power, as shown in Figure 2-2, providing you maximum flexibility in choosing power. Figure 2-2: Single or three-phase power. Several options are available for delivering power to an enclosure. Depending on the vendor, enclosures can accept AC, single-phase, or three-phase power and can have power distribution built into the enclosure or external to the enclosure. Three-phase power is more efficient than single-phase power, commonly found in houses. However, single-phase is less expensive, and most IT infrastructures only supply single-phase power to racks. Consequently, most vendors only support single-phase power. Most enclosures hold two to six power supplies. Vendors often allow you to start with two power supplies for redundancy and, as you add more blades (and, consequently, more power is required), you can install additional power supplies. Adding power supplies only when you need them reduces the enclosure's initial cost. HP developed the HP BladeSystem Power Sizer tool to assist you in planning your power requirements. This tool enables you to estimate the power consumption and heat generated by a BladeSystem. Management modules

16 Most enclosures come with management software that allows you to configure and manage the enclosure. However, not all management software is the same. Things to consider are: Does the management software enable you to connect remotely to the enclosure? Is the management software web-based, or do you have to install software on a management computer? Does the management software enable you to configure, manage, and monitor all aspects of the enclosure and its components? Does the management software provide OOB (out of band) or remote access to the server blades? Well-designed and well-documented management software makes administering the enclosure much easier. HP offers the most powerful and flexible enclosure management product -- HP Onboard Administrator. This feature combines a hardware component -- an LCD (liquid crystal display) -- and software, providing all the features and options to easily configure, manage, and monitor an HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure using a web interface. Onboard Administrator also incorporates HP's ilo2 (Integrated Lights-Out 2) technology for OOB access to the server blades. (You'll learn about Onboard Administrator in further detail in Lesson 3.) Cooling fans Cooling fans are critical to the enclosure's operation and the longevity of its components. Overheating of enclosure components, including blades, can result in component failures, intermittent component problems, and performance issues. All enclosures have at least one cooling fan, and most modern enclosures have four to eight fan modules, which you can hot-swap in the event of failure. Similar to power supplies, you can add more fans to the enclosure as more blades and modules are added. Adding cooling fans when you actually need them reduces the enclosure's initial cost. Enclosure-based cooling reduces the cost of fans and reduces power consumed by fans, when compared to rackmounted servers. As a last line of defense, many modern enclosures have thermal shutdown capabilities, which prevent the enclosure from overheating in case of multiple fan failures. HP uniquely offers sophisticated management and monitoring software with HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosures that regulates zoned cooling and adjusts fan speeds and power dynamically to deliver cooling and power to where it's needed in the enclosure. Shared backplane All enclosures have a common backplane for carrying power and network/fiber

17 signals to and from the blades. When a blade or module is inserted into the enclosure, it connects to the common backplane. To increase bandwidth and avoid interference, the HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure has separate backplanes: a signal backplane and a power backplane. The signal backplane carries the network and fiber signals from blades to the network and fiber interconnect or pass-through modules. The power backplane carries power from the enclosure's power supplies to blades. Figure 2-3 shows a full view of an enclosure, emphasizing signal and power backplanes. Figure 2-3: Components in an enclosure. The internal backplane eliminates cabling between the blades and modules within the enclosure, and reduces cabling costs, in comparison to rackmounted servers. Vendors such as HP have designed these shared backplanes to be highly reliable by eliminating any active components. The backplane for HP c-class Enclosures was designed to have an MTBF (mean time between failures) of about 273 years for the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure or 600 years for the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure, making it highly reliable. Next, take a close-up view of HP enclosures. Look inside HP enclosures The HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure is an ideal way for many SMBs to begin the move to a bladed environment, provide a complete structure in a box to a remote site, or to increase the flexibility and capacity of a traditional server and storage infrastructure. The HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure: Is a 6U enclosure Holds up to eight dual or quad processor blades and four interconnect modules, and it supports up to three redundant I/O (input/output) fabrics (Ethernet, FC, InfiniBand, and PCI-e fabrics) Supports server, storage, and tape blades Has N + N and N + 1 power redundancy Supports HP Onboard Administrator and HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem for management software tasks Has optional components available, including hot-pluggable Active Cool fans, an Onboard Administrator Insight management display, and additional power supplies An example of an empty enclosure with an Onboard Administrator display is shown in Figure 2-4.

18 Figure 2-4: An HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure. The HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure holds four full-height server blades (such as the HP ProLiant BL480c blade) or eight half-height blades (such as the HP ProLiant BL460c). The c3000 Enclosure supports up to six power supplies in an N + N or N + 1 configuration. If and when your business is ready to move up to the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure, shown in Figure 2-5, you'll get all the same features as with the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure but with these differences: Is a 10U enclosure Holds up to 16 dual or quad processor blades and eight interconnect modules, and supports up to four redundant I/O (input/output) fabrics (Ethernet, FC, InfiniBand, and PCI-e fabrics) Figure 2-5: An HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure. You can seamlessly upgrade to an HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure, so your initial investment in a c3000 Enclosure is always a good business decision. Next, take a look at the blades themselves. Examining types of blades Blades come in several types: Server blades

19 Storage blades Tape blades HP has been a pioneer in developing server blades and was one of the first vendors to offer storage blades. Server blades Server blades were designed to replace traditional rack-mounted servers. Their smaller form factor is partly a result of removing the power supplies and cooling fans normally found in servers. These components are now contained in the enclosure. Smaller hard drives, such as SAS or SATA, and other components also help reduce blade size. Currently, a broad selection of HP ProLiant server blade models is available for an HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure: BL260c G5, BL460c, BL465c, BL465c G5, BL480c, BL680c G5, BL685c, BL685c G5, BL860c, and BL870c. Having a wide choice of products lets you match the appropriate model to your needs and budget, which is critical to the overall success of a bladed infrastructure implementation. These server blade models offer the following features: These are general specifications across the range of server blade models. Not every server blade offers all of these features.

20 Single-, dual- or quad-core Intel Xeon, Intel Core2 Duo, Intel Celeron, Intel Itanium 2 Montecito, or AMD Opteron processors The HP ProLiant BL260c Server Blade, for example, supports up to two Intel Standard or Low Voltage Quad-Core or Dual-Core Xeon 5000 Sequence processors or one entry-level Intel Xeon, Intel Core2 Duo, or Intel Celeron uni-processor. Low-voltage processors are highly efficient and provide greater densities, making them ideal for IT infrastructures with power constraints or limitations. 24, 32, 48, or 64 GB (gigabyte) DDR2 (Double Data Rate 2) SDRAM memory Two SFF, hot-pluggable SAS or SATA drive bays Smart Array E200i drive controller Dual-port FC adapter option 64 or 128 processors per 42U rack Many of HP's ProLiant DL series servers are offered as BL model blades. To find the BL equivalent of a ProLiant DL series server, just add "100" to the model number. For example, a ProLiant BL460 server blade is the equivalent of a ProLiant DL360 rack-mounted server. Similar to rack-mounted models, HP BladeSystem c-class blades have expansion slots, known as mezzanine slots, for adding NICs (network interface cards) or FC HBA (host bus adapter) cards. Depending on the server blade model, c-class blades can support up to three mezzanine slots. In addition, all HP BladeSystem c-class blades come with HP's ilo2 adapter for remote management capabilities. This adapter also integrates with the enclosure's HP Onboard Administrator and HP SIM so you can remotely connect to each server blade and power cycle them. You can purchase c-class Enclosures with HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem, which includes tools for HP BladeSystem health monitoring, bare-metal software deployment, performance analysis, and operating system vulnerability and patching. You'll learn about management tools in detail in Lesson 3, and server blade selection and evaluation criteria in Lesson 4. Storage blades Storage blades are similar to DAS arrays, such as SCSI arrays. In the past, these arrays had their own hard disk enclosure with numerous hard drives inside. An FC or SCSI cable connected the hard disk enclosure to a server. The server saw the disk enclosure as a directly attached local disk, hence the term "direct attached storage."

21 Storage blades offer storage to adjacent server blades in the same enclosure and appear to the server blade as directly attached local storage. Communication between the server and storage blades occurs over the shared backplane. The HP StorageWorks SB40c, a half-height c-class storage blade, offers the following features: A Smart Array P400 controller capable of RAID 0, 1+0, 5, and 6 ADG (Advanced Data Guarding) RAID 1+0, sometimes noted as 0+1, refers to RAID 1. For more information on RAID, see Figure 2-6. Up to six hot-pluggable SFF SAS or SATA hard drives The browser-based ACU (Array Configuration Utility) for management 36 GB to 146 GB drive size, for a maximum of 876 GB in one storage blade For more information on HP storage blades, visit the overview page. Figure 2-6: A comparison of RAID performance. HP also offers the HP AiO (All-in-One) SB600c Storage Blade solution, as shown in Figure 2-7. This unit combines AiO software, an HP ProLiant BL460c server blade, and an HP StorageWorks SB40c storage blade for 1 TB (terabyte) of storage. The AiO software enables you to manage file and print serving, shared application storage, and integrated data protection (such as snapshots and replication), all from one interface.

22 The SB600c toolset enables you to easily migrate and manage data. For example, you can set up and migrate iscsi storage for a Microsoft Exchange Storage Group in fewer than 10 mouse clicks through one simple interface. In addition, it fits within the HP BladeSystem c3000 or c7000 Enclosure, operating alongside other blades and using the resources provided by the enclosure. Figure 2-7: An HP AiO SB600c Storage Blade in an HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure. Tape blades A tape blade has a half-height form factor that's designed to slide within a slot in a BladeSystem c-class Enclosure, offering integrated data protection and backup for infrastructures that are not in a SAN. Tape blades provide DAS to adjacent servers and network backup for data on servers within the BladeSystem c-class Enclosure, protecting half-height and full-height server blades. The HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448c Tape Blade can compress 400 GB of data on a single cartridge, and it includes HP StorageWorks Data Protector Express Single Server Edition data protection software. The HP Ultrium 448c Tape Blade features one-touch disaster recovery for seven to 15 server blades. For more information on HP tape blades, visit the overview page. Now that you have a better idea of what enclosures and blades do, continue reading to learn what interconnect modules are used for in BladeSystems. Exploring interconnect modules Interconnect modules provide Ethernet (network), FC, and InfiniBand connections to blades and make it possible to consolidate cabling while reducing network switch costs. These modules enable you to add networking capabilities to an enclosure. Instead of having an external switch, an internal switch module communicates with the blades over the shared backplane, thus dramatically reducing cabling requirements and switch port costs. Depending on the vendor, enclosures might have slots in the front, rear, or both for adding interconnect modules. Generally, enclosures support adding two to eight interconnect modules.

23 Interconnect modules also provide cable consolidation from the enclosure to the rest of your network by way of trunking. For example, a VLAN (virtual local area network) trunk can aggregate subnet/vlan traffic from an Ethernet interconnect module to your network core. Similarly, ISL (inter-switch link) connections can trunk FC traffic from the server blades to external storage arrays. Using trunks, only one network or fiber cable is needed to connect the enclosure to the rest of your network or SAN. Network switch modules Network switch modules enable you to add full switching capabilities to a c- Class enclosure. Rather than having an external switch, an internal switch module communicates directly with the server blades over the shared backplane, dramatically reducing cabling requirements. FC switch modules FC SAN switch modules enable you to add full FC switching capabilities to a c- Class enclosure. Rather than having an external FC switch, an internal FC switch module communicates directly with the server blades over the shared backplane. This also reduces cabling requirements. Figure 2-8 shows FC and Virtual Connect modules. Figure 2-8: FC and Virtual Connect modules. InfiniBand modules InfiniBand interconnect modules enable you to connect server blades to an InfiniBand switch fabric for use in high-performance computing environments. InfiniBand modules provide high-speed, point-to-point connections between server blades and peripherals, such as external disk arrays. Figure 2-9 shows InfiniBand and Virtual Connect modules.

24 Figure 2-9: InfiniBand and Virtual Connect modules. Virtual Connect modules Virtual Connect modules are unique to HP and make good business sense by offering the following features and benefits: A simple view of your HP BladeSystem environment to the Ethernet and FC networks Cable reduction without adding managed switches Separation of server enclosure management from LAN and SAN management Ability to quickly add, move, and replace servers without affecting operation of the LAN or SAN Elimination of site-location dependence for administrators to perform server and storage management tasks With Virtual Connect, you can pre-assign Ethernet MAC (Media Access Control) addresses and FC WWNs (World Wide Names) to blades, which enables you to swap or add new blades without changing network port or FC zones. Therefore, if you ever experience a server blade hardware failure, just remove the hard drives from the failed server blade, insert them into the replacement blade, insert the replacement blade into the enclosure, and power the blade back on. The new blade will appear identical to the failed blade. HP 1/10Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet Module for HP c-class BladeSystem The HP 1/10Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet Module enables you to assign virtual MAC addresses to server blades as part of a profile. If that server blade fails, the replacement blade assumes the profile and the virtual MAC addresses. No network switch changes are necessary to recognize the replacement server blade. In addition, the HP 1/10Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet Module acts as a fully functioning switch along with 1G and 10G uplinks, port aggregation, failover, VLAN tagging, and stacking capabilities. Figure 2-10 shows an example of a 1Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet module.

25 Figure 2-10: A 1Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet module. Enlarge image HP 4Gb Virtual Connect FC Module for HP c-class BladeSystem The HP 4Gb Virtual Connect FC Module enables you to assign virtual WWNs to server blades as part of a profile. If that server blade fails, the replacement blade assumes the profile and the virtual WWNs. No SAN zoning changes are required. Also, by pre-allocating batches of WWNs, you won't have to bother your SAN administrators when adding new server blades to the enclosure -- just assign new server blades one of the virtual WWNs using Virtual Connect. Figure 2-11 shows an example of a 4Gb Virtual Connect FC module. Figure 2-11: A 4Gb Virtual Connect FC module. Enlarge image Pass-thru modules If you have an existing network or FC infrastructure, you may want to have an unmanaged direct connection between each server blade and an external network or FC switch. Ethernet and FC pass-thru modules provide the unmanaged direct connections. Pass-thru modules don't provide any cable consolidation between the enclosure and the external switch or SAN and are not as popular as network and FC interconnect modules. Consider using passthru modules only if you already have a significant, underutilized investment in network or FC switches. Figure 2-12 shows an example of pass-thru modules.

26 Figure 2-12: Pass-thru modules. Moving on In this lesson, you learned about the components that make up a BladeSystem. Lesson 3 dives into the tools and software for managing a BladeSystem. Before moving on, be sure to complete the assignment and take the quiz for this lesson. If you have any questions or want to discuss BladeSystems with other students, stop by the message board. Assignment #2 Many server vendors now offer blade infrastructures. Before deploying a blade infrastructure on your network, you should assess several different vendors. With this information, you can conduct a cost-benefit analysis and see how each vendor approaches blade infrastructure design and management. While you're investigating blade infrastructure vendors, keep the following points in mind: How long has the vendor been offering blade infrastructures? Is it already known for manufacturing quality rack-mounted servers? Watch out for vendors just entering the blade market: Their product line will likely be sparse and their features limited. What kind of support is available? Beware of vendors who don't offer onsite support or don't have a local stock of replacement parts. Remember, if an enclosure fails, it could shut down up to 16 servers, not just one. Is the enclosure's management interface easy to use? Does it offer a wide array of features? You should make sure you'll be able to perform most of your configuration and administration tasks with this interface. Share your research results with your classmates on the message board. Keep this information available -- you'll likely want to refer back to it when working through Lesson 4. Quiz #2 Question 1: Which of the following should you do to reduce a blade enclosure's initial cost? (Check all that apply.) A) Purchase the minimum number of power supplies needed to power the enclosure and blades. B) Don't purchase a support plan. C) Purchase the minimum number of fans needed to cool the enclosure and blades. D) Purchase non-hot-pluggable components. Question 2: Which of the following blade infrastructure components is hot-pluggable? (Check all that apply.)

27 A) Server blades B) Power supplies C) Cooling fans D) Interconnect modules E) Backplanes Question 3: Most blade enclosures have which types of backplanes? (Check all that apply.) A) Management backplane B) Signal backplane C) Communication backplane D) Power backplane Question 4: True or False: Ethernet interconnect switch modules can provide cable consolidation by way of VLAN trunking. A) True B) False Question 5: Storage blades are the equivalent of what in rack-mounted servers? A) Local storage B) DAS C) Remote storage D) External storage Deploying, managing and monitoring HP BladeSystems Need to monitor your enclosures in one application suite, or quickly deploy Microsoft Windows Server to a new blade? HP BladeSystems come packed with software tools to manage and configure blade infrastructure components. This lesson shows you how. Key concepts for deploying HP BladeSystems Welcome back. In Lesson 2, you explored HP BladeSystem components -- enclosures, power options, server blades, storage, and interconnect modules. This lesson covers server deployment and management concepts and explores some specific tools and utilities. Server management involves three primary tasks: ProLiant Essentials HP ProLiant Essentials software is essential server management software for an adaptive infrastructure. Deploying servers and software Managing servers Monitoring servers These tasks encompass the life cycle of server management, regardless of the size of your organization. Deploy servers and software» HP Insight control management software portfolio Deploying a standard, non-bladed server typically involves these steps: Racking and cabling the server Connecting the server to storage and the network Installing and configuring an operating system Installing and configuring applications Racking and cabling a server is usually the first step after getting a new server.

28 Because of the weight of traditional servers, often two people are needed to rack large 3U and 4U servers. After the server is racked, power, network, and possibly fiber cables must be run to the server. With an HP BladeSystem, racking involves inserting the blade into the enclosure. Because all cabling has already been run to the enclosure, no further cabling is needed. Then you configure the blade using management tools, such as HP Onboard Administrator. For a look at setting up an HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure, see the Quick Setup instructions. In addition, servers sometimes require more storage than what's physically installed in them. With rack-mounted servers, storage is usually added by enabling the server to access LUNs (logical unit numbers -- identifiers for SCSI buses) on an FC or iscsi SAN. To do this, normally you add an FC HBA (host bus adapter) card to the server, and then run a fiber cable from the server to the FC switch. With blades, this step isn't necessary because you previously installed network and/or FC interconnect modules in the enclosure. To configure additional storage, just log in to the enclosure's management software and perform some configuration tasks, such as adding a WWN to an existing SAN zone. If your organization doesn't have an FC or iscsi SAN, you can add a storage blade like the HP StorageWorks SB40c or HP All-in-One SB600c to the enclosure. Another option is the HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448c Tape Blade. With any of these options, no wiring is necessary. The next step after racking and cabling is installing an operating system. Depending on your organization, this process can be a manual installation with a CD or DVD or an automated installment with built-in or third-party software. With an HP BladeSystem, automated installation is part of HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem. HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem includes HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack, a powerful operating system deployment solution that integrates completely with HP BladeSystems. You can also deploy operating systems to your blades using the virtual media support included with HP's ilo2. With both HP SIM and ilo2, you can deploy an operating system to your blades remotely without ever having to visit the blade. Once the operating system is installed on a server, it's time to patch the operating system and install applications. Traditionally, this is done manually or using third-party tools. However, using HP SIM and HP ProLiant Essentials Vulnerability and Patch Management Pack, you can automatically deploy patches to your blade operating systems. Depending on your organization's level of automation, deploying a traditional rack-mounted server can take days and a lot of effort. However, with BladeSystems and the right software tools, server deployment is simplified and can be reduced to a few hours. Explore HP ProLiant Essentials tools HP's ProLiant Essentials includes Server Migration Pack Universal which

29 enables P2P (Physical to ProLiant), P2V (Physical to Virtual), V2V (Virtual to Virtual), and V2P (Virtual to ProLiant) migrations. Server Migration Pack Universal can dramatically reduce the time it takes to clone a server. For example, you can migrate from any x86 server regardless of vendor to an HP ProLiant server or server blade, or migrate to and from VMware and Microsoft virtualized environments. For more information on HP's Server Migration pack, visit the overview and features page. Next, learn how to manage and monitor your servers. Managing and monitoring servers Managing servers consists of the day-to-day activities that ensure the server remains operational and current, including the following: Gathering performance metrics and troubleshooting performance bottlenecks Deploying operating system patches and upgrades Deploying application patches and upgrades Troubleshooting application and operating system problems If you're familiar with managing servers, you know this is a short list of tasks. As more servers are added, automation becomes critical. Later in this lesson, you'll learn about the management tools included with today's blade products that can automate many of these tasks, saving you time, money, and effort. Monitor servers Monitoring servers requires these two tools: Monitoring applications Monitoring protocols Monitoring applications Monitoring applications keep track of the health and status of servers and other equipment, such as the following: Server hardware Operating systems and applications Network devices, such as switches and routers Blade enclosures and components Sensors (to measure temperature, for example) Other devices, such as SAN hardware All major server vendors have their own monitoring applications; however, not all are created equal. HP SIM is a centralized, integrated management console for managing and monitoring HP ProLiant servers and HP BladeSystems. Open source alternatives, such as Nagios, are also available. Monitoring applications, such as HP SIM, collect data from servers and BladeSystems using monitoring protocols. Monitoring protocols Monitoring protocols provide status information about a device to a monitoring application. Protocols can be proprietary or open source, such as SNMP (Simple Network Monitoring Protocol), which is supported by most devices and applications. It's used for retrieving status information, such as performance

30 statistics, from a device and sending trap alerts when certain events occur, such as failed hard disks. Some vendor monitoring applications only support proprietary, closed protocols. If you attempt to use the monitoring application to monitor devices sold by other vendors, you'll often find incompatibilities. Look for products like HP SIM that use open industry-standard protocols (that is, SNMP) to monitor devices. This gives you maximum flexibility and support. Now that you're familiar with the key concepts of managing servers, you can apply these concepts to managing BladeSystems. Managing your BladeSystem As mentioned previously, a BladeSystem consists of an enclosure with one or more blades, power supplies, fans, and interconnect modules. However, a BladeSystem can also encompass multiple enclosures in multiple racks. So how do you manage and monitor all of these components? Let's use HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem as an example to illustrate this important concept. HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem, based on HP SIM, is a software management suite for managing all aspects of an HP BladeSystem infrastructure: deployment, monitoring, control, protection, optimization, and integration. Using HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem management suite, you can gain total control of your server infrastructure, realize tangible savings in the form of reduced operational costs and capital expenses, and achieve maximum flexibility throughout your infrastructure. Although HP SIM is perfect for managing mixed server platform and operating system environments, HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem is specifically designed for managing an HP BladeSystem infrastructure (such as server, storage, network, and power and cooling) and includes provisioning, monitoring, and control capabilities. Despite being designed for BladeSystems, HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem is fully integrated with HP SIM.

31 From new blade provisioning to automated server deployment and patching, HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem provides end-to-end management for HP BladeSystems. At its core, HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem consists of: Intelligent Infrastructure: Provides monitoring and control functions for HP BladeSystems, such as ilo2 (included with each server blade) and Onboard Administrator Insight Control software: Provides provisioning, monitoring, and control capabilities to enclosures through HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack and HP ProLiant Essentials Vulnerability and Patch Management Pack HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem can automatically identify, inventory, and monitor HP BladeSystems. HP Insight Control Linux Edition for BladeSystem is specifically geared to HP BladeSystem environments where Linux is used for the blade operating system. It runs on Linux and supports Windows and Linux servers. If your organization has already standardized on Linux, using HP Insight Control Linux Edition for BladeSystem makes perfect sense. ilo2 Included with each HP server blade and accessible through HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem, ilo2 is HP's virtual KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) application for remote access to blades. Regardless of the operating system used, you can connect to and control input and display components. Using ilo2, you can perform the following tasks: Connect to the blade's operating system console, regardless of the state of the operating system (for example, the operating system may be hung and needs a reboot) Power a blade off and on Mount a virtual CD-ROM drive on a blade using your local CD-ROM drive or an image (ISO) file Mount a virtual floppy disk on a blade using your local floppy drive or an image file You can access ilo2 through HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem, directly via a web browser, or through a command line. If you're not using HP Rapid Deployment Pack, you can still deploy an operating system remotely using the virtual media support (CD or floppy) included with ilo2. Using virtual media, you can perform remote operating system installations and upgrades that would otherwise require you to be physically present at the server. Onboard Administrator HP Onboard Administrator is included as a software component and LCD interface with each HP BladeSystem. Using Onboard Administrator, you can configure the enclosure, server and storage blades, and networking using the LCD on the front of HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure, as shown in Figure 3-1, or the Onboard Administrator web interface. The web interface is powerful and easy to use and simplifies configuring and managing enclosures. The Onboard Administrator LCD and web interface provide you the flexibility to completely manage and control an HP BladeSystem locally and remotely. Onboard Administrator is also

32 integrated with HP SIM and HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem. Figure 3-1: Using the Onboard Administrator display. Similar to an interconnect module, Onboard Administrator is a hot-pluggable module located in HP BladeSystem c3000 and c7000 Enclosures. For redundancy, you can add a second Onboard Administrator module to the c7000 Enclosure, as shown in Figure 3-2, to serve as a passive standby in case the primary Onboard Administrator module fails. Figure 3-2: Two Onboard Administrator modules in one enclosure. In addition, Onboard Administrator supports these features: Consolidated access to blade ilo2 web interfaces Interactive graphical images depicting enclosure components, status, and statistics Capability to upgrade enclosure hardware Command-line interface Access to advanced features, such as HP Virtual Connect You can also access and manage Onboard Administrator through HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem, giving you a central point for connecting to and managing multiple enclosures. Rapid Deployment Pack HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack is included with HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem and automates deploying and provisioning server software in high-volume environments. The real power of Rapid Deployment Pack is its support of job scheduling for tasks such as installing operating systems and patches.

33 Rapid Deployment Pack is hosted on a Windows server and supports Windows Server 2003 R2 and x64, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 SP2 (Service Pack 2), and Novell OES (Open Enterprise Server) SP1. Management packs HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem includes other management packs that add capabilities and features for use with BladeSystems: Virtual Machine Management Pack: This pack integrates with HP SIM for centralized management of virtual machines. Server Migration Pack Universal: This pack helps you migrate physical and virtual servers to blades quickly and easily. For a complete list of HP management packs, visit the overview page. As this lesson demonstrated, there are many facets to the lifecycle management of a server. The HP BladeSystem is an example of how a management solution addresses these requirements. By using the appropriate tools, you can dramatically simplify administration, reduce administration and deployment costs, and serve your customers more efficiently. Moving on This lesson described the tools and software for managing an HP BladeSystem. Lesson 4 walks you through the process of selecting the right blade solution for your business. Remember to complete the assignment and take the quiz before you move on, and stop by the message board to post questions and comments. See you there. Assignment #3 Does your organization use any monitoring applications to track the status of your servers and network? If so, answer the following questions: How many different monitoring applications do you have? What sort of devices does your organization monitor? Are you monitoring applications and services or just hardware? Are you being alerted to problems and potential issues? What are some gaps or deficiencies in your monitoring applications? Does your current monitoring application use proprietary or industry-standard monitoring protocols? Over time, organizations often find themselves with a patchwork of monitoring applications: some for network, others for servers, and still others for applications. Write down some benefits you think merging various monitoring applications into a simplified, unified management console would offer your organization. Quiz #3 Question 1: True or False: The primary tasks in server management are deploying servers and software, monitoring servers, and installing operating systems. A) True B) False Question 2: HP ilo2 includes which of the following features? (Check all that apply.) A) Access blades remotely with virtual KVM capabilities

34 B) Power blades on and off C) Mount a virtual drive on a blade D) Upgrade enclosure hardware Question 3: Which of the following is an open source monitoring protocol? A) SIM B) UDP C) SNMP D) KVM Question 4: True or False: If your organization doesn't have an FC or iscsi SAN, you can add a storage blade to the enclosure and configure it as DAS. A) True B) False Question 5: Server and storage deployment in blade infrastructures is simplified for which of the following reasons? (Check all that apply.) A) One-step racking of blades is possible. B) Blade infrastructures have plug-and-play capabilities. C) Cabling is already built into the enclosure by way of the shared backplane. D) Automated installation is included with blade management tools. Designing a blade infrastructure Now that you've decided to use blades, you need to plan and design your blade infrastructure. This lesson guides you in evaluating blade infrastructure components, and then selecting those that are suitable for your organization. Evaluating and comparing blade systems Lesson 3 helped you understand BladeSystem management concepts and explored some specific tools and utilities. This lesson addresses how to select a blade solution that fits your organization's needs. To evaluate and compare vendor blade solutions and components, consider the technical aspects: from the management software and blade options, to power consumption and interconnects. In addition, will a blade infrastructure solve any problems that you've identified within your current environment? You should also consider qualitative, nontechnical aspects, such as ROI savings, support, ease of use, and prior vendor relationships, to name a few. Storage expertise HP provides how-to guides and solutions for incorporating storage into your server infrastructure. Figure 4-1 shows a sample TCO analysis comparing a rack-mounted server solution to an HP BladeSystem solution. The overall cost savings is significant.» HP ProLiant storage servers

35 Figure 4-1: A sample TCO analysis when comparing a rack-mounted server solution to a BladeSystem solution. Although TCO and ROI are important, weighing all the aspects of a blade infrastructure will ensure that you're making the right decisions for the right reasons. This lesson will provide you with a methodology for evaluating blade vendors and will help you ask the right questions. Methodology You should use a methodology when evaluating blade solutions and vendors. The following methodology is commonly used to evaluate technical products -- you can easily adapt it to evaluate blades: Determine which criteria are most critical to your buying decision. Assign a weighted percentage to each criterion based on its importance. Assign a score for each criterion (for example, on a scale of 1 to 10) and for each blade infrastructure component you're evaluating. Multiply each criterion's assigned percentage by its respective score, and then add the resulting values to calculate a total score for each blade infrastructure component. The most difficult aspect of this methodology is determining the criteria to use and ranking those that are most important. The following are some examples to help you get started: Need to fit the maximum number of server blades into the least amount of rack or tower space Ease of making changes for maintenance, upgrade, and growth Ease of managing all aspects of the infrastructure lifecycle Energy efficiency Blade solution must support single-phase AC power Blade solution interconnect modules must support industry FC and networking standards Blade solution must support redundant, hot-swappable power and cooling Server blades must support running Linux, Windows, and VMware Server blades must support newest processor types, such as AMD dual- and quad-core CPUs Vendor must offer onsite support for blade solution Once you've listed all your evaluation criteria and ranked them, you can begin the process of evaluating blade infrastructure components and scoring them. The following sections discuss in more detail the technical criteria you should consider when evaluating blade infrastructure components.

36 Evaluating enclosures and power options You need to carefully consider many factors when selecting an enclosure and a power source. The wrong choices can negatively affect your blade environment growth and ROI. The right enclosure When evaluating enclosures, you should consider the following: Does your business require a compact solution with integrated server, storage, and networking components along with data backup capabilities? Only HP offers a system like the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure, which is designed for smaller sites requiring high capacity, maximum capability, and flexible ease of use. Do you need a rack or tower version? The HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure comes in two convenient forms: a rack version, and a tower version on wheels that fits under a table. You don't need a rack system to implement a bladed infrastructure, and HP offers choices to suit your current and future needs. You can run a variety of server blade models and operating systems with either a rack or tower enclosure. An HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure offers compatibility with your existing infrastructure and maximum flexibility, leaving you room to grow at an affordable upfront cost. If you use a rack-based infrastructure, do you have enough rack space? Most enclosures range from 6U to 10U. Do you have this much space available in your racks? If so, make sure this space is at the bottom of the rack to avoid making the rack top-heavy. Always rack enclosures starting at the bottom. Never rack an enclosure at the top of a rack first. The extra weight at the top can make the rack topheavy and unstable. Also, make sure the flooring on which the rack rests is strong enough to hold the weight of the rack, enclosures, blades, and so on. How many blade bays does the enclosure have? Different enclosures have different numbers of blade bays, which impacts the number of blades the enclosure can support. The HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure supports eight bays, holding four full-height server or storage blades or eight half-height blades, offering a flexible solution for the midmarket customer. Carefully review all server blade specifications across vendors to ensure you're comparing equivalent blades. How many interconnect bays does the enclosure have? More interconnect bays means you have more flexibility when adding interconnect or pass-thru modules. However, if you're supporting a small site, you shouldn't pay for an enclosure with more interconnect bays than you'll need over the life of the unit. If you plan to start with only one or two blades, you shouldn't need an enclosure with all the power supply and fan bays filled and running. To maximize ROI and reduce the initial cost of an enclosure, HP's c3000 and c7000 Enclosures enable you to start with a minimal power supply and fan configuration. As you add blades, you can purchase more power supplies and fans. Which enclosure components are hot-pluggable? Just the blades and their

37 drives, or interconnect modules, fans, and power supplies, too? What about management modules? With a well-designed enclosure, you should never have to power down to swap these components. Can the enclosure be configured and managed locally, remotely, or both? Look for enclosures that support both. Does the vendor publish MTBF (mean time between failures) statistics for the enclosure? Does the vendor have a proven history of manufacturing reliable blade infrastructure components, or has the vendor only recently begun offering blade components? Remember, an enclosure failure can bring down many servers and services, so avoid vendors whose reliability and support track record is suspect. Evaluating power supplies Selecting the right power supply is integral to operating a blade infrastructure. Vendors usually offer several power configurations for enclosures. For example, the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure supports AC single-phase power, with optional DC power. The AC power supplies use either low-voltage or high-voltage power input. Most modern enclosures have power supplies and power distribution circuitry built into the enclosure. However, some enclosures still have an external power supply option. The downside of external power supplies is that they consume rack space. Another important consideration is redundant power. Does your facility have redundant power, such as from two different power grids? If so, a best practice is to plug half of the enclosure power supplies into one grid and the other half into the other grid. Determine which power and connection types your IT infrastructure can provide to the rack before selecting a power option. Other power considerations include: Does the vendor support hot-swappable power supplies? Does the vendor enable you to add additional power supplies as more blades are added to the enclosure? HP BladeSystem enclosures support hot-swappable power supplies, providing you the flexibility to swap out a power supply when necessary. An HP BladeSystem enclosure also enables you to add power supplies as the enclosure grows, resulting in decreased initial capital costs and increased ROI. Also, consider the heat and power impacts of moving your infrastructure to blades. Can your server room, IT infrastructure, or entire data center support the power and cooling requirements? Focus on vendors who are developing new and innovative technology, such as HP's Thermal Logic, that'll help you mitigate power and cooling issues. HP Thermal Logic HP Thermal Logic technology is included in every HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure. HP Thermal Logic pools and shares power and cooling resources across the enclosure and delivers them on demand to where it's needed within the enclosure. Thermal Logic technology uses Active Cool fans, which dynamically adjust their speed based on temperature sensor readings from various locations in the enclosure. To prove your potential cost savings using HP Thermal Logic, read the HP BladeSystem Power and Cooling Comparison report.

38 Use HP BladeSystem Power Sizer The HP BladeSystem Power Sizer, shown in Figure 4-2, is an online tool for helping you decide which power supply options are best for your environment. You can use this tool to build and organize power solutions for BladeSystem c- Class Enclosures and download it for offline use. Figure 4-2: The HP BladeSystem Power Sizer tool is available online and as a downloadable utility. Enlarge image An important part of blade infrastructure evaluation includes the operating system -- a core component of the entire infrastructure. The next section explores considerations for selecting an operating system platform. Evaluating operating systems An infrastructure that supports your business requirements is comprised not only of hardware but software too, so the server operating system platform you select is key to the overall hardware solution you acquire and implement. Determining the best operating system platform for your environment is highly important -- it's a core component of the infrastructure that must be able to support all of the applications and services running today and in the future. Operating system considerations Have you ever tried to install an operating system on a server only to find the operating system doesn't recognize or support the network card or SCSI controller in the server? To avoid this and related problems, consider the following: Is the server blade compatible with the operating system you plan to install on it? Does the vendor use name-brand, supported components, such as wellknown and supported NICs? Does the vendor offer hardware drivers written for the most current and popular operating systems? Does the vendor offer hardware support for the most current and popular operating systems? Does the operating system you plan to use enable you to add or remove servers or services without downtime for your users? Does the operating system support industry-standard messaging and security systems, productivity applications, and legacy applications? Does the operating system work seamlessly with virtualization products?

39 HP BladeSystems fully support a number of operating systems, so you'll never have to worry about hardware and operating system incompatibility issues. Standardizing on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 If you currently run a non-windows server operating system, or are deciding which operating system to run on a new installation, why would you select Windows Server 2008? Standardizing on Windows Server 2008 is a smart business decision for several reasons: The SMB, or midmarket, infrastructure requires certain components -- management, messaging, and security, at a minimum -- all of which are provided by or can be easily integrated with Windows Server Windows Server 2008 natively supports a number of server roles, such as file and print services, web services, and so on. You can easily add or remove server roles using a wizard-driven interface. Windows Server 2008 comes in various editions, scaled to meet the business needs and budgets of small, medium, and large companies. You can run Microsoft Exchange Server for messaging and company-wide communications, seamlessly. In addition, Windows Server 2008 provides Microsoft IIS for web servers, and is the platform of choice for Microsoft Office products. Windows Server 2008 provides backward compatibility for many legacy applications. You can run a variety of virtualization products with Windows Server 2008, such as Windows Virtual Server, VMware Server, and more. As your infrastructure grows and requires complex directory services, Active Directory services is ready for any task. Now that you understand server operating system considerations, find out how to select a blade solution to suit your organization's needs. Evaluating server blades Using the methodology and criteria you developed earlier in this lesson, let's investigate how to evaluate blade solutions. Server models How many server models are available from your vendor? It's important to have a wide range of models to select from to ensure you get the functionality you need, can remain within your budget and have room for future growth. Webinars HP's series of free educational webinars provide a deeper understanding of server and storage technologies and solutions from industry experts. Currently, HP offers several ProLiant blade models for the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure: BL260c G5, BL460c, BL465c, BL465c G5, BL480c, BL680c G5, BL685c, BL685c G5, BL860c, and BL870c. The BL260c was designed from the ground up with the midmarket customer in mind, offering the lowest power consumption and cost on the market today.» HP Server and Storage webinars Applications Next, determine which applications will be running on the server blades. Some applications consume a lot of CPU, memory, disk, and network resources. For example, web servers are often CPU- and memory-intensive. When analyzing

40 applications, consider that server blades offer a range of options, such as affordability, the ability to handle company workflow, and reduced power consumption expense. The HP server buying guide can help you find the right servers that meet your application and user count requirements. If you already use these resource-intensive applications in your organization, run some performance benchmarks on existing servers. Measure the current CPU, disk, memory, and network utilization, and then decide whether applications are performing adequately. Also, factor in future growth and use. Is the application new and likely to be expanded across your organization in the future? Or is it a legacy application that probably won't increase in use? Remember, most applications run as well on server blades as traditional rack-mounted servers. HP BladeSystem Solution Blocks HP BladeSystem Solution Blocks are c3000-based application environment examples for mail/messaging, business continuity, CRM (customer relationship management), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), remote access, and other services. You can work with a local reseller who will customize and optimize a blade infrastructure for your application requirements. CPU Modern blades support the same CPUs as traditional rack-mounted servers. The most advanced CPUs on the market today include Intel Xeon and Itanium, and AMD Opteron processors. Having the flexibility to pick which CPU you want in a blade is important. For example, you may have power and heat concerns in your IT infrastructure and choosing AMD CPUs -- touted to run cooler and consume less power -- may be very important to you. HP BladeSystem server blades support both Intel and AMD dual- and quadcore processors. On the other hand, some vendors offer server blades that support only Intel. Therefore, if you require maximum CPU power, consider a blade solution that supports both Intel and AMD dual-core and quad-core CPUs. This will give you flexibility in selecting the right CPU for your applications.

41 Some server blades support CPUs only in pairs. Therefore, you might have to start with a server blade with a minimum of two CPUs and upgrade in two-cpu increments. When assessing server blade CPUs, also consider the following questions: Does the server blade support single-core, dual-core, or quad-core CPUs? Does the server blade support Intel and AMD CPUs? Do the operating system and applications support that CPU? For example, VMware ESX Server runs on only certain models of CPUs. HP BladeSystem blades are fully supported by VMware ESX Server and are listed in the VMware ESX Server compatibility guide on the VMware website. What are the fastest supported CPUs? How many CPU sockets does the server blade have? For example, the HP BL685c server blade supports up to four dual-core CPUs, for a total of eight cores per blade. One question that comes up frequently is whether to select a system with fewer dual- or quad-core CPUs or to choose one with the equivalent number of single-core CPUs. Usually, the answer depends on three factors: Upgradeability: Can you add more CPUs later? Application and operating system support: Do the operating system and applications support that CPU? Personal preference: Do you stay with what you're used to or try something new? If you're considering a blade with four CPU sockets, such as the HP BL685c, and think it might require more CPU power in the future, starting with two dualcore CPUs gives you the benefit of four CPUs and the opportunity to add two dual-core CPUs later when applications or business needs require the extra power. If you had started with four single-core CPUs, your only upgrade path would be adding another server blade or replacing the existing CPUs. Another option is the HP Integrity BL860c server blade, a two-socket full-height blade that accommodates three models of Intel Itanium2 dual-core processors and is designed with extensive high availability to support mission-critical applications. Memory Applications and operating systems seem to gobble memory at an everincreasing rate. With desktop PCs shipping with 1 to 2 GB of RAM, it's not hard to understand why servers must support 32 to 64 GB or more of RAM. Assess how much memory you need now and in the future to support the server and its applications. If you're unsure how much memory is needed, start with a few large DIMMs (dual inline memory modules) rather than several smaller DIMMs. Most blades support eight to 16 DIMM slots, so filling all the slots with small DIMMs limits upgradeability. Many server blades support adding memory only in pairs. Some allow you to start with one DIMM in slot 1, and then all subsequent memory must be added in matching pairs. Read your server blade's technical specifications carefully before ordering memory. When evaluating server blades in terms of memory, consider the following: What's the maximum amount of memory supported in the vendor's server blade? For example, the HP BL685c supports up to 64 GB of RAM, whereas other vendors' blades may support only up to 32 GB of RAM. How many DIMM slots are available in each blade? Does the blade support the latest, fastest RAM? Again, not all blades are created equally and it's important to pay attention to their differences, such as memory support.

42 Disk Blade vendors have had to make hard drives smaller to fit them into an enclosure's limited space. SFF hard drives were initially designed for blades; however, vendors like HP also incorporate them into rack-mounted servers. The small size of SFF drives makes them more energy-efficient, and you can install more drives in a server, allowing for more local storage space. SFF hard drives come in SAS or SATA models. SAS drives are designed for high performance, are backward compatible with SCSI drives, and provide interoperability with SATA drives. These benefits make SAS drives a flexible solution that results in ROI savings. Drive sizes commonly range from 36 GB to 146 GB with drive speeds from 5,200 rpms (revolutions per minute) to 10,800 rpms. The number of hard drives and the RAID level in the blade determine how much disk space is actually usable. Most blades, except storage blades, support up to two SFF hard drives. With only two hard drives, your RAID choices for blade storage controllers are usually limited to RAID 0 or 1. RAID 0 provides no fault tolerance but ensures the maximum amount of disk space. RAID 1 provides redundancy through mirroring; however, the usable disk space is equal to only one of the hard drives. The other drive is used to mirror the first drive's data. Because adding a third or fourth drive to a blade isn't an option on most blade solutions, purchasing the largest hard drives available is wise when you're configuring a new blade. The size of hard drives available to blades also varies from vendor to vendor. If a blade runs out of disk space, you can do the following: Back up the blade operating system and applications, upgrade the hard drives, and then restore the operating system and applications. Add an FC mezzanine card to the blade and make SAN storage available to the blade. Add a storage blade to the enclosure and configure it to appear as DAS, NAS, or iscsi SAN to the server blade. Finally, ensure the blade vendor also supports hardware RAID and hotswappable hard drives. These features reduce downtime associated with hard drive failures and increase blade reliability. Expansion Traditional rack-mounted servers have several PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) or PCI-X expansion slots for adding network and FC cards. Similarly, server blades support expansion slots, such as NIC or FC HBAs, also called mezzanine slots. Be sure to compare the types and number of expansion slots available on various servers. Ethernet ports Server blades generally have two to four built-in network ports. However, if you need more, you can add network mezzanine cards.

43 To connect network ports on blades to external devices, make sure the enclosure has a network switch or pass-thru module installed. When evaluating the network adapters supported by the blade solution, ensure that your operating system supports the adapter or that the blade vendor has a driver for the adapter. You don't want to get stuck installing an operating system only to find out a network driver is not available for that blade model and operating system. FC ports Connecting blades to your FC SAN is a popular way of adding storage. You can also make other SAN-connected devices, such as VTLs (virtual tape libraries), available to blades. To connect FC ports on the blades to your SAN, make sure the enclosure has an FC switch or pass-thru module installed. When evaluating the FC HBAs supported by the blade solution, make sure your operating system supports the HBA or the vendor has a driver for it. Also, verify that the HBA is compatible with your organization's existing SAN switches and storage equipment. Take the time to ensure vendor interoperability when using SAN equipment from different vendors. Next, learn how to select storage and tape blades for a blade solution. Evaluating storage and tape blades Now that you know how to evaluate server blades, let's look at storage and tape solutions. When evaluating your storage and data protection needs, look for the following: How much storage capacity is available per storage blade? HP offers solutions that provide 876 GB to 1 TB of storage space per blade. If integrated, does the storage blade offer storage to adjacent server blades in the same enclosure? Can you easily access the storage blade through a user interface? How many hard drives does it support? Are they hot-pluggable SFF SAS or SATA hard drives? Do you need an all-in-one solution that combines server and storage blades and management software? Only HP offers this type of solution in its HP StorageWorks AiO SB600c Storage Blade product. Do you want data protection integrated into the blade infrastructure? How much storage capacity is available per tape blade, native and compressed? The HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448c Tape Blade can compress 400 GB of data on a single cartridge. Do you require one-touch disaster recovery for your data protection solution? The HP Ultrium 448c Tape Blade features one-touch disaster recovery for seven to 15 server blades. Now that you know how to evaluate storage and tape blades, learn how to select interconnect modules for a blade solution. Evaluating interconnect modules When using network or FC mezzanine cards in blades, you need the right interconnect module to connect the blade to outside networks or storage. The modules were covered in Lesson 2; the following sections help you determine

44 which interconnect module suits your needs. When evaluating interconnect modules, consider the following: Which types of interconnects does the vendor support? For example, HP BladeSystems support network, FC, Virtual Connect, pass-thru, and InfiniBand modules. How many interconnect bays are available within the enclosure? Is the vendor merely repurposing existing FC and network switches as "modules," or is the vendor developing new modules with additional features and benefits? For example, HP's Virtual Connect module enables you to add blades on-the-fly without having to make network or SAN changes. Does the module enable you to consolidate and reduce cabling? Does the module support different types of cabling, such as network, FC, or both? How many internal and external ports does the module support? Which port speeds are supported? Can the modules be made redundant? For example, by adding a second network switch module to an HP BladeSystem, the switch module becomes redundant. Internal Ethernet (network) switch modules Selecting a network switch module is usually based on the following factors: Price Current switching infrastructure Standards support Network ports and port speeds If you've already invested in a Cisco switching infrastructure and your IT staff is familiar with Cisco IOS (Internetwork Operating System), it makes sense to use a Cisco switch module. The quantity and type of ports a switch module supports are also important. Investigate how many internal (downlink) ports and external (uplink) ports a switch supports. Downlink ports are connected to blade network cards using the enclosure's shared backplane. Uplink ports connect the switch module to external network switches. Also consider the maximum speed of switch ports and whether the switch module supports copper or fiber connections. Again, while evaluating blade vendors, more options are better. Vendors that support more switch options are preferred. Investigate vendors who are improving and adding helpful features to their network switch module. HP network switch modules support all the latest network standards and integrate seamlessly into HP BladeSystems for centralized and simplified management. The following network interconnect modules are available for the HP BladeSystem c-class Enclosure: HP 1/10Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet Module for c-class BladeSystem Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch 3020 for HP c-class BladeSystem HP GbE2c Ethernet Blade Switch for c-class BladeSystem FC switch modules When evaluating an FC switch module, consider the following: Price Current infrastructure (for example, do you currently have an investment in FC switches?) Standards support (for example, will the switch work with other vendor FC

45 switches?) Network ports and port speeds You can reuse some of the same criteria you use to evaluate network switch modules to evaluate FC switch modules. For example, both have downlink and uplink ports. Expansion is also a factor in selecting FC switch modules. Typically, you can purchase a switch module with only some ports enabled, and then buy more licenses to activate the remaining ports when needed. This feature reduces your initial investment and allows the switch to grow with your network. Many organizations use FC switches in their SAN environments. An important consideration is compatibility. When connecting FC switches from different vendors, or when connecting third-party disk or VTL arrays, using a mainstream FC switch manufacturer -- especially using only one vendor -- is a good idea. That's why HP supports the following FC switch models: HP 4Gb Virtual Connect Fibre Channel Module for c-class BladeSystem Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP c-class BladeSystem Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP c-class BladeSystem If you choose a switch manufactured by a vendor other than the vendor for your other SAN components, make sure you verify interoperability. Like network switch modules, all HP FC switch modules integrate seamlessly into HP BladeSystems for centralized and simplified management. InfiniBand modules If you currently have high-performance computing requirements, consider a blade infrastructure that supports InfiniBand, such as the HP InfiniBand Module for HP BladeSystem c-class. The next section discusses management software evaluation. Evaluating management software The most powerful blade infrastructures can wind up underutilized, misconfigured, and neglected if the right management software isn't available to manage them. Why is management software so important? Consider the tasks your organization performs on its servers regularly: Deploy and provision new servers and install applications, and provision additional storage Monitor performance and respond to alerts Control systems locally and remotely Protect systems from viruses and other threats, and perform patch management Optimize servers and storage systems for higher performance and to reduce bottlenecks Integrate your hardware infrastructure management software with other management platforms And the list goes on. Using the right management software makes these tasks easier and faster to perform, which makes good business sense. The following is a short list of benefits you'll get with superior management software: HP SIM From a single management console, administrators can manage their complete HP server and storage environment with featurerich, extensible, and secure management tool set.» HP Systems Insight Manager Provides a simple, integrated interface in one toolset rather than you having to mix and match functionality with several packages Reduces or eliminates errors or mistakes, which can lead to outages and downtime

46 Enables you to manage storage and other types of servers and devices, other than just the blades Integrates with your existing management infrastructure Reduces time spent performing administrative tasks Decreases training costs Helps ensure you achieve expected ROI savings HP developed a complete management solution for HP BladeSystems. As discussed in Lesson 3, HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem is an industry-leading integrated management suite that enables you to manage and control all aspects of HP BladeSystems in addition to managing many other devices. This web-based management suite includes: HP SIM ilo2 HP Onboard Administrator HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack; Server Migration Pack Universal for P2P, P2V, V2V, and V2P; and many other management packs When combined with HP management packs such as P2V, P2P, and Virtual Machine Management, you can also deploy and manage virtual machines using the same Insight Control interface. When evaluating blade management software, consider using HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem as the benchmark to evaluate all other vendors. Now that you've reviewed the numerous features and options available in bladed infrastructures, let's take a look at a simple way to get started: a blades starter kit. Considering a bladed core infrastructure "starter kit" A good entry point to consider for midsize businesses or those with remote or small sites is an HP BladeSystem core infrastructure starter kit, shown in Figure 4-3. Let HP help HP offers full support for its solutions with reseller partners available to lend expertise, service, and support locally. In addition, you have access to an online support community as well as training and certification programs. Figure 4-3: A starter kit offers a one-stop core infrastructure. Enlarge image This core infrastructure is a three-server deployment providing essential functionality for midsize businesses and support for up to 300 users: Core services: The first server blade supports Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, and file and print services. This server blade can also serve as a management module.