HP BladeSystem p-Class rack-centralized (3U) power solutions

Every power zone must include a power source and at least one server blade enclosure. In the pre-

2.20 firmware environment, if a server blade enclosure were in zone 2 and the power enclosure

supporting it were in zone 1, the server blades and switches in that sever blade enclosure would

never power on automatically because the devices in the server blade enclosure must request power

from a power source in their own zone to power on. If the power source is not in the same zone as

the server blade enclosure, the request for power goes unanswered because there is no power

available in that zone.

To ensure that all power enclosures and server blade enclosures are configured in the proper zone,

all enclosures in a rack should be upgraded to firmware 2.20 or later at the same time to eliminate

the possibility of enclosures being assigned to the wrong power zone. For example, if one enclosure

in an infrastructure is upgraded to firmware 2.20 and the other enclosures are not upgraded at the

same time, the following would result:

• The enclosure that is upgraded to 2.20 would be put into power zone 3

• The enclosures that are not upgraded would be placed in power zone 1 or power zone 2

(depending on the zone setting of the physical switch )

HP does not support mixed firmware versions within the same infrastructure. All enclosures should

have the same firmware version. Once all the enclosures in the rack are upgraded to firmware 2.20,

there should be no problem with enclosures being configured in the wrong power zone. In fact, the

switch setting on the rear of the enclosure will no longer serve a functional purpose. After an upgrade

to firmware 2.20, power zone 1 and power zone 2 switches are no longer used since the power

zones are set automatically by the firmware based on rack topology, not switch settings.

NOTE: More information on upgrading firmware is available in

Chapter 5 of the “HP ProLiant BL System Best Practices Guide” at

this URL:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/UCR/SupportM

anual/TPM_351359-001_rev1_us/TPM_351359-

001_rev1_us.pdf

Summary

The HP BladeSystem p-Class 3U power subsystem provides shared, fully redundant power for multiple

enclosures deployed in racks in a data center environment. Single-phase or three-phase power

options are available. Power distribution options include the BL p-Class scalable bus bar, the BL p-

Class mini bus bar, the BL p-class power bus box and the dual power input kit for mini bus bar.

The HP BladeSystem allows customers to mix and upgrade components as needed: an enhanced

server blade enclosure can be used in the same rack with a standard server blade enclosure, the

standard server blade enclosure can be upgraded to an enhanced enclosure, single and three-phase

power enclosures can be mixed, and mini bus bars can be upgraded to allow dual power enclosure

configurations.