HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades

technology brief

Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 3 ProLiant c-Class Server Blade architecture ............................................................................................... 3 Processor technologies ......................................................................................................................... 5

Intel Xeon dual-core and quad-core processors .................................................................................... 5 Xeon dual-core processors ............................................................................................................. 5 Xeon quad-core processor ............................................................................................................. 6

AMD Opteron™ dual-core processor.................................................................................................. 7 New processor socket technology ...................................................................................................... 7

Memory technologies ........................................................................................................................... 8 I/O technologies ................................................................................................................................. 8

PCI Express technology..................................................................................................................... 8 Serial Attached SCSI technology........................................................................................................ 9

HP Smart Array E200i controller .................................................................................................... 9 HP Smart Array P400i controller .................................................................................................... 9 SAS and SATA Small Form Factor hard drives ............................................................................... 10

Optional mezzanine cards .............................................................................................................. 10 Networking technologies .................................................................................................................... 11

TCP Offload Engine........................................................................................................................ 11 iSCSI ............................................................................................................................................ 12 Receive Side Scaling (RSS).............................................................................................................. 12

Thermal Logic technologies ................................................................................................................. 12 Power management ........................................................................................................................... 13

Power meter .................................................................................................................................. 13 HP Power Regulator for ProLiant....................................................................................................... 13 Power Capping ............................................................................................................................. 14

Configuration and management technologies ....................................................................................... 14 Integrated Lights-Out 2.................................................................................................................... 14 Onboard Administrator................................................................................................................... 14

Insight Display ........................................................................................................................... 16

Web GUI .................................................................................................................................. 17 Command-line interface .............................................................................................................. 17

HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades ........................................................................................................ 17 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................ 18 For more information.......................................................................................................................... 19 Call to action .................................................................................................................................... 19

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Abstract This paper describes the architecture and the implementation of major technologies in HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades based on Intel® Xeon™ and AMD Opteron™ processors. These technologies include processors, memory, connections, power, management, and the latest serial input/output (I/O) technologies.

This technology brief is written with the assumption that the reader is familiar with HP ProLiant server technology and has some knowledge of BladeSystem architecture. For more information about the infrastructure components, see the HP website at www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/.

Introduction As HP began planning the next-generation of BladeSystem architecture, it became clear that significant changes affecting I/O, processor, and memory technologies were on the horizon, for example:

• New serialized I/O technologies to meet demands for greater I/O bandwidths • More complex processors using multi-core architectures, providing virtualization, and requiring

higher power loads • Memory formats, such as Fully Buffered DIMMs, providing increased performance and capacity

Therefore, HP designed a completely new BladeSystem architecture to accommodate these new technologies. The new architecture uses full-featured server blades in a high-density form factor. For complete specifications of each server blade, see the HP website at http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/.

ProLiant c-Class Server Blade architecture An HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blade is a complete server on a blade that slides into an HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosure, which in turn fits in an HP 10000 series rack. A BladeSystem c-Class enclosure can operate with as few as a single server blade installed, but the great advantage of blade architecture is the easy addition of more server blades. ProLiant c-Class Server Blades are built in standard form-factors, referred to as half-height (4U) and full-height (8U). Both half-height and full-height server blades fit into any blade slot in a BladeSystem c-Class enclosure.1

ProLiant c-Class Server Blades include enterprise-class technologies:

• Two or four AMD, Intel x86, or Intel Itanium® processors • Hot-plug internal disk drives • Memory modules using advanced memory technologies such as Fully Buffered DIMMs2 • Multiple slots for I/O cards • Embedded network interconnects that use gigabit Ethernet as well as remote direct memory access

(RDMA) and TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) technologies3 for improved networking performance • Thermal Logic technologies • Power management

1 More information about BladeSystem c-Class enclosure configuration options can be found at this URL: http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/. 2 Fully Buffered DIMMs are used only on server blades with Intel processors. 3 Both RDMA and TOE technologies move some of the processing transactions from the main processor on a server blade to a processor embedded on the network interconnect card. This frees the main processor for other work.

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Half-height server blades support up to two processors, eight DIMM slots, two hot-plug drives, and two optional mezzanine cards that provide the I/O fabric connectivity to the eight interconnect bays (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Internal view of the half-height HP BladeSystem BL465c Server Blade

Because of their larger size, full-height server blades support up to four processors, twelve or sixteen DIMM slots, four hot-plug drives, and three optional mezzanine cards. Full-height server blades also provide twice as much I/O bandwidth to the interconnect modules as the half-height blade servers provide (Figure 2).

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Figure 2. Internal view of the full-height HP BladeSystem BL480c Server Blade

Processor technologies HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades use multi-core technologies from Intel and AMD. A multi-core processor has two or four separate execution cores on one or more physical dies so that it can perform more work within a given clock cycle. To take advantage of multi-core processing, software must be multi-threaded so that the work can be spread across multiple execution cores.

Intel Xeon dual-core and quad-core processors Dual-core Intel Xeon 5000 and 5100 Sequence processors and quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 Sequence processors are based on the Intel Core™ microarchitecture. The Core microarchitecture enables these processors to use less power and produce less heat than previous generations of Intel processors.

Using Hyper-Threading technology, dual-core processors can simultaneously execute four software threads, thereby increasing processor utilization. To avoid saturation of the front side bus (FSB), the Intel 5000 chipset widens the interface by providing two independent buses. The Intel Core microarchitecture features additional technologies that improve performance per watt and energy efficiency. These technologies include hardware virtualization, Enhanced Intel Speed-Step® Technology, Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extension 3 (SSSE3), and Intel Execute Disable Bit technology.4

Xeon dual-core processors The 64-bit Intel Xeon 5000 Sequence processors have two complete processor cores, including caches, buses, and execution states. These processors run at a maximum frequency of 3.73 GHz and

4 For additional information about Intel processors, see the HP technology brief titled “The Intel processor roadmap for industry-standard servers” at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00164255/c00164255.pdf.

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have 2 MB of L2 cache per core. The processors support maximum FSB speeds of 1066 MHz (Figure 3).

The Xeon 5100 Sequence dual-core processor runs at a maximum frequency of 3.0 GHz with 4 MB of shared L2 cache and a maximum FSB speed of 1333 MHz (Figure 3).

The Xeon 5000 and 5100 Sequence processors use the Intel 5000 series chipsets. These chipsets contain two main components: the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) and the I/O controller hub. The Northbridge MCH supports DDR2 Fully Buffered DIMMs.

Figure 3. Dual-core Intel Xeon 5000 and 5100 Sequence processors

Xeon quad-core processor The quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 Sequence processor (Figure 4) is the first quad-core processor for dual-socket platforms. The Xeon 5300 Sequence processor runs at a maximum frequency of 2.66 GHz and has a total of four cores. Each pair of cores shares a 4-MB L2 cache.

Figure 4. Quad-core Intel Xeon 5300 sequence processor

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AMD Opteron™ dual-core processor The dual-core AMD Opteron Rev. F 2000 and 8000 series processors use HyperTransport™ technology, which is a parallel, point-to-point interconnect that replaces parallel FSB technology. The Opteron Rev. F processor (Figure 5) runs at speeds up to 3.0 GHz and has 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The processor features an integrated memory controller that supports PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) DIMMs. Because of the integrated memory controller in the AMD architecture, each CPU has its own local memory. This direct connection allows faster memory access. The AMD Direct Connect™ architecture uses the HyperTransport bus to provide direct communication between CPUs, CPU and I/O, and CPU and memory. In multi-CPU architecture, any CPU can access memory in any other CPU using the HyperTransport buses. For power efficiency, the AMD processor family includes low-power processors (45W and 68W).5

Figure 5. AMD Opteron Rev. F processor

New processor socket technology The latest Intel 5000, 5100, and 5300 Sequence processors and AMD Opteron Rev. F processor packages use a processor socket technology called Land Grid Array (LGA) to enable higher CPU bus speeds. The processor package designs no longer have pins. Instead, they have pads of gold-plated copper that touch processor socket pins on the motherboard.

The processors must be carefully installed to prevent damage to the delicate processor socket pins that could require replacing the motherboard. HP engineers developed a special installation tool to simplify processor installation and reduce the possibility of damage to the socket pins.

5 For additional information about AMD processors, see the HP technology brief titled “The AMD processor roadmap for industry-standard servers” at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00428708/c00428708.pdf.

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Memory technologies Depending on the model, HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades support registered and Fully Buffered PC2-5300 (DDR2) DIMMs as indicated in Table 1. Single-rank registered DDR2 DIMMs place only one load per DIMM on the memory bus. Therefore, they are best suited for servers with memory capacities of up to 32 GB. Fully Buffered DIMMs implement a serial architecture to increase memory bandwidth and capacity.6

Table 1. Memory technologies supported by HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades

ProLiant server Registered PC2-5300 (DDR2-667)

Fully Buffered PC2-5300 (DDR2-667)

BL460c X

BL465c X

BL480c X

BL685c X

In contrast to the first generation of DDR memory, DDR2 memory devices operate at a lower voltage (1.8V) to reduce power consumption. DDR2 devices also use higher clock frequencies to increase data transfer rates and on-die termination control to improve signal quality. At 200 MHz (double-clocked to an effective frequency of 400 MHz), DDR2 increases memory bandwidth to 3.2 GB/s.7

I/O technologies HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades support PCI Express (PCIe), Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS), Serial ATA (SATA) I/O technologies, and gigabit Ethernet. PCI Express allows adding internal expansion cards that support various system capabilities as well as connection to external storage blades. SAS is a serial communication protocol for direct-attached storage devices such as SAS and SATA small form factor (SFF) disk drives.

PCI Express technology The PCI Express (PCIe) serial interface provides point-to-point connections between the chipset I/O controller hub and I/O devices. Each PCIe serial link consists of one or more dual-simplex lanes. Each lane contains a send pair and a receive pair to transmit data at the signaling rate in both directions simultaneously (Figure 6). PCI Express 1.0 has a signaling rate of 2.5 Gb/s per direction per lane. After accounting for 20 percent serial encoding overhead, the resulting effective maximum bandwidth is 2 Gb/s (250 MB/s) per direction per lane. Therefore, a x4 link—with 4 send and receive pairs—has an effective bandwidth of 2 GB/s and a x8 link has an effective bandwidth of 4 GB/s. This flexibility allows slower devices to transmit on a single lane with a relatively small number of pins

6 For more information, refer to the HP technology brief titled “FB-DIMM technology in HP ProLiant servers” available at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/adv-technology.html#mem. 7 For additional information about DDR2 memory technology, refer to the HP technology brief titled “Memory technology evolution: an overview of system memory technologies” available at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/adv-technology.html.

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while faster devices can transmit on more lanes as required. For example, the latest Smart Array SAS controllers have x4 and x8 PCIe I/O connectors.8

Figure 6. PCI Express bandwidth. After accounting for the overhead of serializing/deserializing encoding, PCI Express has an effective bandwidth of 250 MB/s per direction per lane.

Link size

Max. bandwidth (Send or receive)

Total Bandwidth (Send and receive)

x1 250 MB/s 500 MB/s

x4 1 GB/s 2 GB/s

x8 2 GB/s 4 GB/s

Serial Attached SCSI technology SAS is a point-to-point architecture in which each device connects directly to a SAS port rather than sharing a common bus, as parallel SCSI devices do. Point-to-point links increase data throughput and improve the ability to locate and fix disk failures. More importantly, SAS architecture solves the parallel SCSI problems of clock skew and signal degradation at higher signaling rates.9

HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades support SAS and SATA SFF drives through the use of embedded Smart Array controllers. The ProLiant BL460c, BL465c and BL685c server blades use the Smart Array E200i controller. The BL480c server blade uses the Smart Array P400i controller.

A battery-backed write cache (BBWC) is available as an option for the Smart Array E200i and P400i controllers. The battery prevents information in the buffer from being lost in case of an unexpected system shutdown. In the case of a complete system failure, the controller and disks can be moved to a different server, where the controller will flush out the cache to the disks after power is restored. In the case of a controller failure, the cache module and disks can be moved to a working controller, where the cache will be flushed out to the disks. The battery will last up to two days without receiving any power from the computer.

HP Smart Array E200i controller The integrated Smart Array E200i RAID controller has a 64-MB cache. The E200i supports RAID 0/1 and can be upgraded with the 128-MB BBWC module.

HP Smart Array P400i controller The integrated Smart Array P400i RAID controller with 256-MB memory module supports RAID 0, 1, 1+0, or 5. If upgraded with the 256-MB BBWC module, or with 512-MB memory module with BBWC, the controller can also support RAID 6.

8 For additional information about PCI Express technology, see the technology brief titled “HP local I/O technology for ProLiant and BladeSystem servers” available at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/. 9 For more information about SAS technology, refer to the HP technology brief titled “Serial Attached SCSI technology” available at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/proliant-storage.html

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SAS and SATA Small Form Factor hard drives The SAS architecture enables system designs that deploy high-performance SAS10 and high-capacity SATA11 SFF drives. This capability provides a broad range of storage solutions that give IT managers the flexibility to choose storage devices based on reliability, performance, and cost.

SFF 2.5-inch drives offer several advantages over 3.5-inch drives. Their smaller physical size increases the number of gigabytes per U that can be implemented in a server rack. SFF drives have been shown to be more reliable than their larger counterparts, largely due to the use of smaller parts and better vibration control.

Using SFF drives also reduces power consumption and heat generation. SFF SAS drives consume approximately half of the power used by a 3.5-inch drive of comparable capacity. This reduction in power consumption allows SFF drives to run cooler than 3.5-inch drives.

SFF drives also deliver higher performance because their smaller platters reduce seek times: the heads have a shorter distance to travel. At this writing, the peak data transfer rate for the current generation of SAS drives is 3 Gb/s in full duplex mode. RAID performance improves by increasing the number of spindles.

Optional mezzanine cards HP offers a variety of I/O mezzanine card options to provide connectivity to outside networks and storage. HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades use two types of mezzanine cards to connect to the various interconnect fabrics such as Fibre Channel, Ethernet, serial-attached SCSI, or InfiniBand. Type I (x4) and Type II (x8) mezzanine cards differ only in the amount of power allocated to them by the server and in the physical space they occupy on the server blade. Type I mezzanine cards have slightly less power available to them and are slightly smaller. Type I mezzanine cards are compatible with all ProLiant c-Class server blades in all mezzanine slots. Type II mezzanine cards are compatible with all ProLiant c-Class server blades in mezzanine slot 2 or 3 (full-height servers) and slot 2 (half-height servers).

Both types of mezzanine cards use a 450-pin connector, enabling up to eight lanes of differential transmit and receive signals—in other words, up to two x1 connections, up to two x4 connections, or a single x8 connection. Table 2 shows the mezzanine cards available for the c-Class server blades as of the publication date of this paper. For the most up-to-date information about the c-Class mezzanine card options, go to the HP website at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/components/c-class-interconnects.html.

10 Please refer to the technology brief “Serial-Attached SCSI technology” at http://www.hp.com/servers/technology for more information about these features. 11 Please refer to the technology brief “Serial ATA technology” at http://www.hp.com/servers/technology for more information about these features.

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Table 2. HP BladeSystem c-Class mezzanine cards

Mezzanine/Adapter Ports and Speed Bus Card Form Factor

HP NC512m Two @ 10,000 Mbps x8 PCI Express 1.1 Type II

HP NC373m Two @ 1000 Mbps x4 PCI Express 1.0 Type I

HP N326m Two @ 1000 Mbps x4 PCI Express 1.0 Type I

HP N325m Four @ 1000 Mbps x4 PCI Express 1.0 Type I

Emulex LPe1105-HP FC HBA

Two @ 4 Gbps Fibre Channel

x4 PCI Express 1.0 Type I

HP QLogic QMH2462 FC HBA

Two @ 4 Gbps Fibre Channel

x4 PCI Express 1.0 Type I

HP Infiniband One @ 20 Gbps (each direction) Infiniband

x8 PCI Express 1.0a Type II

Because the connections between the blade slots and the interconnect module bays are hard-wired through the signal midplane, the server mezzanine cards must be matched to the appropriate type of interconnect module. For example, a server using a Fibre Channel mezzanine card must be placed in the slot that connects to an interconnect bay holding a Fibre Channel switch. To simplify the installation of the various mezzanine cards and interconnect modules, the Onboard Administrator uses an electronic keying process to detect any mismatch between the mezzanine cards and the interconnect modules.

Networking technologies Multifunction NICs embedded on all c-Class server blades provide several advantages:

• TCP/IP Offload engine (TOE) improves CPU efficiency. • Accelerated iSCSI provides access to Storage Area Network (SAN) storage over TCP/IP. • iSCSI Boot enables booting the server from a SAN, thus eliminating the need for drives in a server. • RDMA provides superior performance by moving data from the memory of one server directly to the

memory of another server with minimal CPU overhead.

TCP Offload Engine The increased bandwidth of gigabit Ethernet networks has resulted in increased demand for CPU cycles to manage the network protocol stack. This means that even a fast CPU will show degraded performance if it is processing application instructions at the same time that data is being transferred to or from the network. Computers most susceptible to this problem are application, web, and file servers that have a high number of concurrent connections.

The TCP/IP Offload Engine helps speed up network intensive applications by offloading TCP/IP-related tasks from the processors onto the network adapter. TOE network adapters have on-board logic to process common and repetitive tasks of TCP/IP network traffic. This effectively eliminates the need for the CPU to segment and reassemble network data packets. Eliminating this work significantly increases application performance of servers attached to gigabit Ethernet networks. TOE is supported on Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 with the Scalable Networking Pack installed.

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iSCSI iSCSI is a standard for implementing the SCSI protocol for interacting with storage devices over a TCP/IP network. iSCSI can be implemented over any TCP/IP network, but the most common implementation is over gigabit Ethernet. iSCSI serves the same purpose as Fibre Channel in building SANs, but iSCSi avoids the cost, complexity, and compatibility issues associated with Fibre Channel SANs.

iSCSi devices (initiators) access storage resources (targets) using the iSCSI protocol. While the target is usually a hard drive enclosure or another computer, it can also be any other storage device that supports the iSCSI protocol, such as a tape drive.

Initiators include software initiators and host bus adapters (HBA). Software initiators require CPU resources to manage the protocol stack. A more efficient approach is to offload management of the protocol to an iSCSI HBA, such as the NC373i Integrated Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter. An iSCSI HBA appears to the operating system as a SCSI HBA.

Receive Side Scaling (RSS) The Network Driver Interface Specifications (NDIS) define a common Application Programming Interface for network interface cards operating under Microsoft operating systems. Early versions of NDIS did not differentiate between computers with single or multiple CPUs. Therefore one CPU was forced to handle the entire network processing load. NDIS v6.0 includes support for multiple processors. With NDIS v6.0, RSS can dynamically balance the processing of network packets received across multiple processors. The Scalable Networking Pack for Windows Server 2003 is required for RSS support.

Thermal Logic technologies Heat dissipation is a key issue for c-Class server blades because of increased density. Thermal Logic is the term that HP uses to define the mechanical design features, built-in intelligence, and control capabilities throughout the BladeSystem c-Class that enable IT administrators to make the most of power and thermal environments. It provides an instant view of power usage and temperature at the server, enclosure, or rack level. Thermal Logic technology includes the ability to automatically adjust power load, workload, and thermal controls to maximize performance, power, and cooling capacity for each unique environment.

HP Parallel Redundant Scalable Enclosure Cooling (PARSEC) architecture is a hybrid model for cooling that combines the best of local and centralized cooling in a single system to ensure optimum airflow and cooling for all servers. Density, once a barrier to cooling, is turned into an advantage with HP Thermal Logic technologies such as HP PARSEC architecture and HP Active Cool fans. With these innovations, server blades get more cooling airflow where it is needed most and use less power than traditional rack servers.

The PARSEC architecture also uses precise ducting throughout the server blade to manage airflow and temperature based on the unique thermal requirements of all the critical components. The airflow is tightly ducted to make every gram of airflow count—ensuring no air bypasses the blade, so it obtains the most thermal work from the least amount of air. This concept allows much more flexibility in heatsink design choice. The heatsink design closely matches the requirements of the server blade and processor architecture. For example, in the HP ProLiant BL460c Server Blade with Intel Xeon processors, HP was able to use smaller, more highly efficient processor heatsinks than in rack-mount servers (Figure 7). These heatsinks have vapor chamber bases, thinner fins, and tighter fin pitch than previous heatsink designs. This allows the largest heat transfer surface in the smallest package. The smaller heatsink allows more space for DIMM sockets and hot plug hard drives on the server blades.

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Figure 7. Processor heatsink using fully ducted design (left) vs. traditional heatsink in a 1U rack-mount server (right)

Ducting produces high pressure which reduces the amount of required airflow, thus reducing the fan power draw. The lower airflow requirement has the added benefit of optimizing the available data center cooling capacity, which is one of the largest constraints in IT facilities today and in the future. More information about HP Thermal Logic technologies is available at this URL: www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/

Power management Power management tools from HP help to accurately monitor server power usage, improve server power efficiency, and provision power usage of HP BladeSystem c-Class server blades. These tools include:

• Power meter for monitoring server power usage • Power Regulator for higher server efficiency • Power Capping for provisioning power to groups of ProLiant servers

Power meter HP ProLiant c-Class server blades enable the analysis of actual server power usage by integrating a power meter. The power meter is accessible to the Onboard Administrator through iLO or through external power management software such as HP Insight Power Manager (IPM). IPM also enables consolidating the power data for multiple servers to a central location. This information can be used to charge business units or third parties for the actual cost of energy associated with workload processing. The Onboard Administrator provides instant and time averaged views of the power consumption of the individual servers or of all servers within the c-Class BladeSystem enclosure.

HP Power Regulator for ProLiant At the CPU level, HP Power Regulator for ProLiant12 is a ROM-based power management feature of HP ProLiant servers. Power Regulator technology takes advantage of the power states available on

12 For additional information about Power Regulator for ProLiant, see http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/ilo/power-regulator.html.

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Intel x86 processors to scale back the power to a processor when full power is not needed.13 Because the c-Class architecture shares power among all blades in an enclosure, HP will be able to take advantage of Power Regulator technology to balance power loads among the server blades. Power Regulator ensures that servers are running at their optimum power efficiency. Power is conserved during periods of light workload while maintaining optimum performance across all workloads.

Power Capping Using updated HP Integrated Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) firmware (version 1.30) and updated System ROM/BIOS (dated May 1, 2007), HP ProLiant c-Class server blades have the ability to limit the amount of power consumed. Customers can set a limit in watts or Btu/hr. The purpose of this limit is to constrain the amount of power consumed, which reduces the heat output into the data center. The iLO 2 firmware monitors server power consumption, checks it against the power cap goal, and, if necessary, adjusts server performance to maintain an average power consumption that is less than or equal to the power cap goal.

Using the IPM v1.10 plug-in to Systems Insight Manager v5.1, customers can set power caps on groups of supported servers. The IPM software statically allocates the group power cap among the servers in the group. The group cap is allocated equitably among all servers in the group based on a calculation using each server’s idle and maximum measured power consumption.

The latest iLO 2 firmware can be found at http://www/hp.com/go/ilo. Updated System ROM/BIOS can be found on the Software and Drivers download page for each server model at http://www.hp.com/go/proliant. The latest Insight Power Manager software can be found at http://www.hp.com/go/ipm.

Configuration and management technologies The HP BladeSystem c-Class provides an intelligent infrastructure through the iLO 2 management processor and Onboard Administrator. The Insight Display is a rack-mounted information exchange device with access to all of the Onboard Administrator setup, management, and troubleshooting information. The technology brief titled “Managing the HP BladeSystem c-Class” gives detailed information about these technologies and is available on the HP technology website at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/proliant-servers.html.

Integrated Lights-Out 2 Integrated Lights-Out 2 Standard Blade Edition is integrated on the motherboard of all HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades. iLO 2 is a combination of hardware and firmware that provides remote management capabilities over Ethernet. iLO 2 provides full graphics support using a dedicated iLO 2 port.

The iLO 2 management processor obtains its power from the auxiliary power plane of the server, so it is always available when the server is inserted into the enclosure. iLO 2 is active, regardless of whether the server is on or off or whether the OS is operating.

Onboard Administrator The Onboard Administrator is a management controller module that resides within the HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosure. The Onboard Administrator works with the iLO 2 management processors on each server blade to form the core of the management architecture for HP BladeSystem c-Class. HP customers have the option of installing a second Onboard Administrator board in the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure to act as a completely redundant controller in an active-standby mode.

13 Power states of AMD x86 processors can be changed manually, but the change is not integrated with Power Regulator and requires a system reboot.

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If the standby Onboard Administrator board determines that the active Onboard Administrator is not functioning properly, the standby Onboard Administrator shuts down the active Onboard Administrator and assumes the active role itself. This redundancy can be particularly useful in remote site situations.

Onboard Administrator collects system parameters related to thermal and power status, system configuration, and managed network configuration. It manages these variables cohesively and intelligently so that IT personnel can configure the HP BladeSystem c-Class and manage it in a fraction of the time that other solutions require.

Onboard Administrator retrieves thermal information from the components in the enclosure. If the thermal load of the enclosure increases, the Onboard Administrator’s thermal logic feature instructs the fan controllers to increase fan speeds to accommodate the additional demand. The speed of the individual fans can be adjusted to reduce noise and power consumption, and to compensate for airflow differences within the enclosure. The performance of each subsystem is proactively monitored, and any failures or warnings can be reported to the system log and to broader infrastructure management tools such as HP Systems Insight Manager (when SNMP is enabled). The Onboard Administrator manages subsystem failure by taking appropriate action, including adjusting fan speed or reducing power consumption, to maintain the enclosure's ability to operate.

The Onboard Administrator uses sophisticated power measurement sensors to accurately monitor exactly how much power is being consumed and how much power is available. Because Onboard Administrator uses real-time measured power data instead of maximum power envelopes, customers can deploy as many servers and interconnect modules as possible for the available power.

Onboard Administrator includes logic to manage multiple enclosures in a rack. The Onboard Administrator version 2.0x and later allows single-point access for up to seven enclosures. Thus, an IT administrator can use a single sign-on to log into a single Onboard Administrator and use the web GUI to graphically view and manage all the c-Class components within the linked enclosures. For example, an IT administrator could automatically propagate management commands—such as putting an upper limit on power levels for all server blades—throughout the linked enclosures.

A major advantage of the HP BladeSystem c-Class is its configuration flexibility. The configuration logic resides in the management controller module in the rear of the enclosure. The Onboard Administrator module communicates with the iLO 2 management processor on each server blade to form the core of the management architecture for HP BladeSystem c-Class. The configuration logic powers up the interconnect modules first. Server blades are not powered up until the Onboard Administrator has verified that the configuration is correct. If there is a configuration issue, the Insight Display identifies the issue and possible remedies. To assist IT administrators in the configuration and setup process, the Onboard Administrator verifies four attributes for each server blade and interconnect module as they are added to the enclosure:

• Electronic keying—The Onboard Administrator automatically queries all mezzanine cards and interconnect modules as they are deployed to check that the I/O fabric types match. If they do not, the Onboard Administrator issues a warning with suggested corrective action.

• Power—The Onboard Administrator ensures that sufficient power is available to power up a server blade or interconnect module.

• Cooling—The Onboard Administrator makes sure there is sufficient cooling capacity for the blade or interconnect module by retrieving thermal information from all of the server blades, power supplies, Active Cool fans, and interconnect modules in the enclosure.

• Location—The Onboard Administrator checks the locations of server blades, Active Cool fans, and power supplies to determine if they are placed to receive proper cooling and to support the chosen power configuration. For example, if the administrator is installing only two server blades in the c7000 enclosure, they must be in server bays 1, 2, 9, or 10. Similarly, fans must go into fan bays 4, 5, 9, and 10.

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If a configuration problem exists, the Onboard Administrator gives diagnostic help so that the IT technician can easily determine the problem by looking at the Insight Display.

The Onboard Administrator significantly enhances network infrastructure management by offering two methods to initially configure the IP addresses of the server blade iLO 2 ports and the interconnect module management ports via the management network: DHCP or Enclosure Bay Static IP Addressing. This configuration capability is managed through a single point, the Onboard Administrator, as opposed to managing each iLO or interconnect module individually.

There are three ways for IT technicians and administrators to access the Onboard Administrator:

• The Insight Display • The web GUI • A command-line interface (CLI)

More information about the Onboard Administrator is available in the technology brief entitled “Managing the HP BladeSystem c-Class” at this URL: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/proliant-servers.html.

Insight Display The Insight Display (Figure 8) is an ever-ready, rack-mounted information exchange device with access to all of the Onboard Administrator setup, management, and troubleshooting information. It simplifies initial enclosure configuration. It also provides information about the health and operation of the enclosure. The mechanical design of the Insight Display is very effective. The device is big enough to display ample information, and it slides back and forth for access to the power supplies.

Figure 8. Insight Display

When the enclosure is powered up for the first time, the Insight Display launches an installation wizard to guide the user through the configuration process. To identify the enclosure being configured, the enclosure unit identification (UID) LED and the background of the Insight Display are illuminated blue when the enclosure is initially powered on. The Installation Wizard automatically turns on the enclosure UID at the beginning of the installation and turns it off when the installation is complete. After configuring the enclosure, the Insight Display verifies that there are no installation or configuration errors. More information about the Insight Display is available in the technology brief entitled “Managing the HP BladeSystem c-Class” at this URL: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/proliant-servers.html.

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Web GUI The web GUI uses event-driven, push technology. No screen refresh is necessary to view failures or events. If an event occurs, it is pushed to the web GUI and updated immediately. The GUI provides seamless integration with HP OpenView, Insight Control Data Center Edition, and Insight Control Linux® Edition.

Command-line interface Administrators who commonly use scripting commands can access the Onboard Administrator this way.

HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades As of August 2007, the ProLiant models of the HP BladeSystem c-Class Server Blades include the BL460c, BL465c, BL480c and BL685c. Table 3 compares the different models.

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Table 3. Comparison of ProLiant c-Class Server Blades

Model BL460c BL465c BL480c BL685c

Processors (maximum)

2 Intel Xeon 5000 or 5100 dual-core or 2 Intel Xeon 5300 quad-core

2 dual-core AMD Opteron Rev. F 2000 series

2 Intel Xeon 5000 or 5100 dual-core or 2 Intel Xeon 5300 quad-core

4 dual-core AMD Opteron Rev. F 8000 series

Front side bus

Up to 1333 MHz — Up to 1333 MHz —

L2 cache Xeon 5000 – 2 x 2MB

Xeon 5100 – 1 x 4MB

Xeon 5300 – 2 x 4MB

AMD Opteron 2000 series – 2 x 1MB

Xeon 5000 – 2 x 2MB

Xeon 5100 – 1 x 4MB

Xeon 5300 – 2 x 4MB

AMD Opteron 8000 series – 2 x 1MB

Chipset Intel 5000P ServerWorks HT-2100 Northbridge

Intel 5000P nVidia CK8-04, IO-04

Memory PC2-5300 FB DDR2

8 DIMM sockets

32 GB

PC2-5300 (DDR2-667)

8 DIMM sockets

32 GB

PC2-5300 FB DDR2

12 DIMM sockets

48 GB

PC2-5300 (DDR2-667)

16 DIMM sockets

64 GB

Internal storage

2 SAS or SATA SFF

Smart Array E200i

2 SAS or SATA SFF

Smart Array E200i

4 SAS or SATA SFF

Smart Array P400i

2 SAS or SATA SFF

Smart Array E200i

Mezzanine slots

2 PCIe 2 PCIe 3 PCIe 3 PCIe

Embedded Network Controllers

2 NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Adapter with TOE

1 10/100 NIC for iLO 2

2 NC370i Multifunction Gigabit Adapter

1 10/100 NIC for iLO 2

1 NC326i Dual Port Gigabit Adapter

2 NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Adapter with TOE

1 10/100 NIC for iLO 2

1 NC326i Dual Port Gigabit Adapter

2 NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Adapter with TOE

1 10/100 NIC for iLO 2

Density 16 server blades per 10U enclosure

16 server blades per 10U enclosure

8 server blades per 10U enclosure

8 server blades per 10U enclosure

Conclusion HP has designed a completely new BladeSystem architecture using full-featured server blades in a highly dense form factor to accommodate new technologies such as serialized I/O technologies, multi-core architectures, virtualization, higher power loads, and memory formats requiring more power. HP took the opportunity in this new architecture to make the compute, network, and storage resources extremely modular, enabling a truly adaptive infrastructure that can accommodate continually changing business needs. HP also designed the HP ProLiant c-Class Server Blades to

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address the growing concern of balancing compute performance with the power and cooling capacity of the data center.

For more information For additional information, refer to the resources listed below.

Resource description Web address

“The AMD processor roadmap for industry-standard servers” technology brief

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00428708/c00428708.pdf

“The Intel processor roadmap for industry-standard servers” technology brief

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00164255/c00164255.pdf

“Server virtualization technologies for x86-based HP BladeSystem and HP ProLiant servers” technology brief

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01067846/c01067846.pdf

General HP BladeSystem information http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/

HP BladeSystem c-Class documentation

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/316735-0-0-0-121.html

HP BladeSystem c-Class Enclosure Setup and Installation Guide

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00698286/c00698286.pdf

HP BladeSystem c-Class interconnects www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/interconnects

Technology briefs about HP BladeSystem

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/proliant-servers.html

HP BladeSystem Power Sizer http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/powercalculator

“Serial ATA technology” technology brief

http://www.hp.com/servers/technology

“Serial-Attached SCSI technology” technology brief

http://www.hp.com/servers/technology

“Fully Buffered DIMM technology in HP ProLiant servers” technology brief

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/technology/whitepapers/adv-technology.html#mem

Call to action Send comments about this paper to TechCom@HP.com.

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© 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Intel and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries and are used under license.

AMD and Opteron are trademarks and AMD-8000 is a mark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

HyperTransport is a licensed trademark of the HyperTransport Technology Consortium.

TC070807TB, August 2007