IBM System x3850 X5 Implementation Guide

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2011. All rights reserved. 373
Chapter 8. IBM BladeCenter HX5
In this chapter, we take a closer look at the three scalable configuration options that are
offered with the HX5. We describe the requirements that must be met for each of the scaling
options with reference to hardware and firmware. We provide recommendations for hardware
component placement, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) settings, and setup
through the Advanced Management Module (AMM). We also give a brief overview of the
operating system (OS) installation.
This chapter contains the following topics:
򐂰 8.1, “Before you apply power for the first time after shipping” on page 374
򐂰 8.2, “Planning to scale: Prerequisites” on page 377
򐂰 8.3, “Recommendations” on page 382
򐂰 8.4, “Local storage considerations and array setup” on page 385
򐂰 8.5, “UEFI settings” on page 396
򐂰 8.6, “Creating an HX5 scalable complex” on page 402
򐂰 8.7, “Operating system installation” on page 407
򐂰 8.8, “Failure detection and recovery” on page 442
Figure 8-1 shows the three scalable configurations of the HX5.
Figure 8-1 The scalable configurations of the IBM BladeCenter HX5
8
HX5 2-socket HX5 4-socket HX5 2-socket
with MAX5

IBM System x3850 X5 Specifications

General

Processor Cores	Up to 10 cores per processor
Chipset	Intel 7500
Hard Drive Interface	SAS/SATA
Processor	Intel Xeon E7-4800 series, Intel Xeon E7-8800 series
Memory Slots	64 DIMM slots
Storage	Up to 16 x 2.5" hot-swap SAS/SATA HDDs or SSDs
RAID Support	RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
Network Interface	Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
Operating System Support	Microsoft Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, VMware vSphere
Form Factor	4U Rack