IBM i integration
with BladeCenter and System x

Overview

Solutions

Operating systems

Resources

iSCSI overview Server models Ethernet switches Ordering channels

iSCSI Install read me first BladeCenter install animation System x install animation Advanced iSCSI tasks

IBM® supports attachment of SMP IBM BladeCenter® blade and System x™ models to an IBM i solution via an iSCSI network. This implementation uses iSCSI host bus adapters (iSCSI HBAs) and provides systems management and disk consolidation features. Attachment of BladeCenter blade and System x models via iSCSI HBAs requires IBM i 5.4 or later plus a minimum cumulative PTF package and additional PTFs. See the IBM i PTFs page for details.

Table of contents Benefits Hardware summary OS versions Documentation Hot Spare support Power server support Supported limits Ordering information Minimum System i firmware

Animations See the iSCSI Installation Overview animations. BladeCenter System x

Benefits of server consolidation on the IBM i platform using iSCSI HBAs
·	Provides flexible Storage Area Network management for Windows®, VMware® ESX and Linux® servers
·	Delivers heterogeneous application solutions with one offering
·	Supports a less expensive high availability solution with hot spare technology
·	Lowers the cost of user administration by synchronizing IBM i and Windows profiles and passwords
·	Reduces operations and skills costs through System i Navigator management
·	Improves Windows, VMware ESX and Linux server uptime and stability with a consistent implementation

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iSCSI HBA	CCIN1	Adapter type	Ethernet ports
System i feature 5783	573B	PCI-X adapter	1 Copper port (1 Gbps)
System i feature 5784	573C	PCI-X adapter	1 Fiber port4 (1 Gbps)
System x part 30R52013	1986	PCI-X adapter	1 Copper port (1 Gbps)
System x part 30R55013	1987	PCI-X adapter	1 Fiber port4 (1 Gbps)
System x part 39Y61463,6	N/A	PCIe adapter	1 Copper port (1 Gbps)
System x part 42C17703,6	N/A	PCIe adapter	2 Copper ports (1 Gbps)
Blade part 32R19233-5	N/A	Blade expansion card	2 ports2 (1 Gbps)
Table footnotes: 1 Some of the System x iSCSI HBA and IBM i iSCSI HBA cards look identical, but they have different firmware and function, so they are not interchangeable. Use the CCIN numbers shown in the table above to distinguish which cards are used in which system. The CCIN is shown on a label located on the tail stock of the card. 2 Supports copper or fiber ports, depending on the BladeCenter I/O modules that are used in bays 3 and 4. Both I/O module bays 3 and 4 must contain BladeCenter I/O modules and at least 2 IBM i iSCSI HBAs are required in order to use both ports for disk I/O. 3 Initiator iSCSI HBA BIOS and firmware updates may be required for a successful installation. See the Note 1 on the BladeCenter and System x models supported with iSCSI web page. 4 Use LC duplex connectors for the iSCSI HBA fiber ports. 5 Customers ordering part number 32R1923 should receive a card that shows part number 32R1925 on the adapter card sticker label. Only adapters with part number 32R1925 on the adapter sticker label are supported with this solution. Attention: Adapters with part number 26K6489 on the adapter sticker label are not supported and will not work. They should be returned and replaced with adapters that have part number 32R1925 on the adapter sticker label. Note: Adapters with part number 32R1925 on the adapter sticker label are supported, but may have a Vital Product Data (VPD) part number of either 32R1925 or 26K6489. Both are valid VPD part numbers. The VPD can be viewed from the Management Module web interface. To identify a supported 32R1925 labeled adapter with the 26K6489 VPD, verify that the Manufacture Date (Manuf. Date) is 0806 or newer. Adapters with a VPD of 26K6489 with manufacturing dates of 0706 or earlier are not supported. 6 For this IBM i iSCSI solution, System x PCIe iSCSI HBAs are not supported for use with VMware ESX and Linux.

Related hardware web pages:
	BladeCenter and System x models supported with iSCSI
	Ethernet switches for iSCSI

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Operating system (OS) versions

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Documentation

The following documents contain information about planning and implementing Windows, VMware ESX and Linux on BladeCenter and System x servers that are attached to the IBM i via iSCSI HBAs:

	iSCSI install read me first web page: Provides essential information for planning and installing your iSCSI attached blade or System x model.
	iSCSI-attached System x and blade systems topic in the IBM i 6.1 Information Center contains information for Windows, VMware ESX and Linux servers.
	Windows environment on iSeries topic in the IBM i 5.4 Information Center.
	VMware ESX Server on iSCSI attached integrated servers for IBM i 5.4 (146 KB) white paper.
	Get Adobe® Reader®
	Linux on an integrated xSeries solution (English version) topic in the IBM i 5.4 Information Center.
	Implementing Integrated Windows Server through iSCSI to System i5 i 5.4 Redbook.

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Hot Spare support

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Power server support for iSCSI HBAs
Power Server1	Maximum iSCSI HBAs2
515	5
520	21
525	21
550	42
570 1/2-way	21
570 1/4-way	42
570 2/4-way	42
570 1/8-way	84
570 2/8-way	84
570 4/8-way	84
570 5/8-way	84
570 9/12-way	126
570 2/16-way	168
570 4/16-way	168
570 8/16-way	168
570 13/16-way	168
595 2/16-way	168
595 8/16-way	168
595 4/32-way	168
595 16/32-way	168
595 32/64-way	168
Table footnotes: 1See Minimum System i firmware that is required when using iSCSI HBAs. 2 Each BladeCenter blade or System x model that is integrated with the IBM i platform using iSCSI HBAs will consume resources on the IBM i platform. The actual number of blade or System x models that a Power server can support will depend on the available IBM i resources and the applications on the blade or System x models. See Chapter 17, Integrated BladeCenter® and System x™ Performance in the System i Performance Capabilities Reference (1.6 MB) to determine the IBM i platform impact of integrating BladeCenter blade or System x models.

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Supported limits

The iSCSI solution is very flexible in the way that blade or System x models are connected to the IBM i platform. The total number of iSCSI HBAs that are supported for each Power server were listed in the previous section. The following are additional limits for various pieces of the solution:

·	Each IBM i iSCSI HBA may provide storage access for up to 8 blade or System x models simultaneously1.
·	Each IBM i iSCSI HBA may provide up to 8 virtual Ethernet access points1. This could be 8 blade or System x models using just the point-to-point virtual Ethernet, two blade or System x models with each using three virtual Ethernet networks in addition to the point-to-point virtual Ethernet, or some other combination.
·	For each blade or System x model, storage access may be distributed over up to 4 IBM i iSCSI HBAs.
·	For each blade or System x model, virtual Ethernet access may be distributed over up to 4 IBM i iSCSI HBAs.
·	System x models may have up to 4 iSCSI HBA ports.
·	Blade systems have one dual-port iSCSI HBA.
·	A BladeCenter as a whole may have up to 14 iSCSI HBAs (one dual-port iSCSI HBA per blade that is present).
·	The maximum Ethernet cable length between a switch and an iSCSI HBA (IBM i target or BladeCenter/System x initiator) are: 100m for copper (category 5e or 6) cables 220m for 62.5/125 µm multimode fiber cables 500m for 50/125 µm multimode fiber cables
Footnotes: 1 The actual number will depend on the amount of I/O that each blade or System x model is doing.

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Ordering information
Feature Code	Power Servers	Type-model Numbers	Description
5783	515, 520, 525, 550, 570, 595	573B-002	1 port Copper iSCSI HBA
5784	515, 520, 525, 550, 570, 595	573C-002	1 port Fiber iSCSI HBA
Multiple channels are used when ordering integrated BladeCenter blade or System x models and the associated software. See Ordering channels for iSCSI.

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Minimum System i firmware

The minimum server firmware required for the #5783 PCI-X iSCSI HBA Copper and #5784 PCI-X iSCSI HBA Fiber adapters are: For Model 520 Power5+ (Processor Features 8325, 8327, and 8330) the server firmware level must be 240_219 or later. For all other supported models and other 520 processor features, the server firmware level must be the later of either 235_185 or the specific FW level required for your model/processor (which can be found at http://www-912.ibm.com/e_dir/eServerPrereq.nsf).

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