ISS Technology Update, Volume 7 Number 3 - Newsletter

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ISS Technolo

y Update

Volume 7, Number 3

Keeping you informed of the latest ISS technology

Future-proof your infrastructure with 10 Gigabit networking...................................................................1

Interconnect infrastructure in the HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure..........................................................4

Enhancing setup and usability in HP Systems Insight Manager 5.2........................................................... 7

Using Virtual Connect and non-Virtual Connect modules in the same HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosure... 9

Storage HBAs are determined by the storage array provider.................................................................11

ProLiant management tip of the month..................................................................................................11

Recently published industry standard server technology communications ..............................................14

Contact us .............................................................................................................................................14

Future-proof your infrastructure with 10 Gigabit networking

Until recently, ten Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) was considered to be overkill for most corporate networking infrastructures…it was

just too powerful for the average datacenter’s requirements. But advances in processing power, coupled with the emergence of

the virtualized datacenter and networked storage, are driving the need for increased I/O bandwidth, making 10GbE more

attractive. In response to this trend, 10GbE networking solutions from HP are leading the way with solutions for existing ProLiant

servers, as presented in this article.

Scale up and scale out

Datacenters and large businesses are evaluating and sometimes installing 10GbE infrastructure. Looking ahead, IT

organizations will need to continually improve effectiveness, enhance scalability, and accommodate increasing performance

needs⎯while at the same time consolidating their datacenter infrastructure. As datacenters move toward next generation

architectures, the importance of 10GbE products, such as high-performance switches and multiple-use or multifunction network

adapters, will keep growing.

Summary of content (14 pages)

PAGE 1
ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Keeping you informed of the latest ISS technology Future-proof your infrastructure with 10 Gigabit networking................................................................... 1 Interconnect infrastructure in the HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure.......................................................... 4 Enhancing setup and usability in HP Systems Insight Manager 5.2...........................................................
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 HP 10GbE products Server adapters The multifunction NC510C and its fiber-based counterpart NC510F, now on the market, are the first HP 10 GbE adapters for ProLiant servers (see Figure 1-1). Figure 1-1.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Gain performance, simplification, and efficiency The NC510C and NC510F are specifically designed for environments that require high-performance Ethernet networking, corporate datacenters wanting to simplify their operations, or resource-constrained customers needing greater server efficiencies. Summary 10GbE will prove to be the core infrastructure technology upon which future datacenters are built.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Interconnect infrastructure in the HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure A key component of the c7000 enclosure is the I/O infrastructure—essentially, a NonStop signal midplane with internal wiring between the server or storage blades and the interconnect modules. The midplane is an entirely passive board. The term passive means there are no active electrical components on the board. On one side of the board are the sixteen connectors for the server/storage blades.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 The NonStop signal midplane has eight 200-pin connectors to support eight individual switches, four double bay switches, or a combination of the two. The eight interconnect bays at the rear of the enclosure accommodate eight single or four redundant interconnect modules. All interconnect modules plug directly into these interconnect bays.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Figure 2-3. HP BladeSystem c7000, front view. The arrows indicate device bay crosslinks. Interconnect bay crosslinks Interconnect bay crosslinks are wired between adjacent interconnect bay pairs as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2-4. These signals can be enabled to provide module-to-module connections, such as Ethernet crosslink ports between matching switches, or to provide stacking links for Virtual Connect modules.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Enhancing setup and usability in HP Systems Insight Manager 5.2 About HP SIM HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM) 5.2, released in February 2008, represents a significant milestone in the continuing evolution of the product. Although HP SIM 5.2 includes some new features and support, the primary focus for this release was to greatly expand the product’s ease-of-use.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Figure 3-1. Manage Communications tool Manage Communications also allows quick access to detailed information regarding communications status by selecting a system and clicking on the “Advise and Repair” button. Improved access to tools HP SIM 5.2 provides several new features that make it easier to find, manage and launch the various HP SIM tools available for a selected system or systems.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Other new support In addition to the significant new features described above, HP SIM 5.2 also incorporates support for the following: • Support for WMI agents. HP SIM now supports the new WMI-based agents for ProLiant servers running Windows, as well as continuing to support SNMP-based agents for those devices (such as iLO) that do not yet have WMI-based providers. ISS Technology Update • Discovery of VM hosts and guests. Beginning with 5.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 • If a VC-Ethernet Module is installed in an interconnect bay, the only module that can be installed in the adjacent interconnect bay is another VC-Ethernet Module. A non-Virtual Connect module placed next to a Virtual Connect module will be marked as incompatible and will not be managed by Virtual Connect.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Additional resources For additional information on the topic discussed in this article, visit: Resource URL HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem User Guide http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00865618/c00865618.pdf HP BladeSystem Technical Resources (Technical papers, manuals, tools and resources for blades) http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/499697-0-0-0-121.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 In order to service the broadest array of customers, HP is committed to providing versions of our infrastructure management software applications that are compatible with both the x86 and x64 versions of the appropriate Windows operating systems. This process has just begun, and only a few applications provide that compatibility to date.
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Product Hosting CMS on x64 OS Manages targets with x64 OS Notes HP Insight Control Management Services No N/A Function only applies to CMS HP Integrated LightsOut 2 (iLO) Advanced Pack N/A N/A No CMS component; Target is iLO management processor HP Integrated LightsOut 2 Select Pack N/A N/A No CMS component; Target is iLO management processor HP Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP) No Some limitations Limitations documented in the “HP Insight Control Mana
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ISS Technology Update Volume 7, Number 3 Resource URL Intel® Extended Memory 64 Technology FAQ http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/2765.htm Worldwide Windows Server Operating Environments 2008–2012 Forecast: The Era of 64-Bit, Hypervisors, and Windows Server 2008 (Begins IDC #211067 March, 2008) www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=211067 Recently published industry standard server technology communications Title URL Data center cooling strategies – Audio Podcast Part 1: http://h10068.