304 IBM z13s Technical Guide
7.15 IBM z BladeCenter Extension (zBX) Model 004 software
support
zBX Model 004 houses two types of blades:
Power platform specific
IBM Blades for Linux and Windows operating systems
For information about zBX upgrades, see 8.3.4, “MES upgrades for the zBX” on page 327.
7.15.1 IBM Blades
IBM offers a selected subset of IBM POWER7 blades that can be installed and operated on
the zBX Model 004.
The blades are virtualized by PowerVM Enterprise Edition. Their LPARs run either
AIX Version 5 Release 3 technology level (TL) 12 (IBM POWER6® mode), AIX Version 6
Release 1 TL5 (POWER7 mode), or AIX Version 7 Release 1 and subsequent releases.
Applications that are supported on AIX can be deployed to blades.
Also offered are selected IBM System x HX5 blades. Virtualization is provided by an
integrated kernel-based hypervisor (xHyp), supporting Linux on System x and Microsoft
Windows operating systems.
Table 7-64 lists the operating systems that are supported by HX5 blades.
Table 7-64 Operating system support for zBX Model 003 HX5 blades
7.15.2 IBM WebSphere DataPower Integration Appliance XI50 for zEnterprise
The IBM WebSphere DataPower Integration Appliance XI50 for zEnterprise (DataPower
XI50z) is a special-purpose, double-wide blade.
The DataPower XI50z is a multifunctional appliance that provides these features:
Offers multiple levels of XML optimization
Streamlines and secures valuable service-oriented architecture (SOA) applications
Provides drop-in integration for heterogeneous environments by enabling core enterprise
service bus (ESB) functions, including routing, bridging, transformation, and event
handling
Simplifies, governs, and enhances the network security for XML and web services
Operating system Support requirements
Linux on System x Red Hat RHEL 5.5 and later, 6.0 and later, and 7.0 and later
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SP4) and later, SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 11 (SP1)
a
and later, and SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 12.0 and later
a. Latest patch level required
Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
b
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (SP2)
b
(Datacenter Edition preferred)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
b
(Datacenter Edition preferred)
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
b
R2
b. 64-bit only