IBM eServer zSeries 990 Technical Guide

Appendix A. Hardware Management Console (HMC) 245

Choosing the best option involves understanding your remote control needs and use

patterns. Figure A-10 shows an example configuration for each option.

IBM uses remote control program product facilities to assist in problem determination, and to

provide operational assistance as required. IBM also uses the SDLC or TCP/IP asynchronous

connection facilities to transmit service data to and from the IBM Service Support System, to

gather error data, and to receive fixes. A remote operation configuration is shown in

Figure A-10.

Figure A-10 Remote operation configuration

Support Element

The zSeries 990 is supplied with a pair of integrated ThinkPad Support Elements (SE). One is

always active, while the other is strictly an alternate. Power for the support elements is

supplied by the processor frame, and there are no additional power requirements.

Each SE comes with two communication adapters included. There are two configuration

options: a Dual Ethernet SE or a Token ring/Ethernet SE. Neither is the default; you must

select one or the other. Regardless of which pair of adapters you choose, both SEs will be

configured the same.

If you order the Token ring/Ethernet default combination, a Multistation Access Unit (MAU) is

required to operate the token ring LAN. The MAU is installed in the A frame and requires no

power.

Primary

Operations

Monitor

Browser

Hardware

Management

Console

Remote Control

Program Product

or Browser

Bridge

Bridge

to IBM

to IBM

to IBM

Data

Center 1

Data

Center 2

Data

Center 3

Hardware Management Console

Bridge

Corporate

Network

Backup

Operations

Switched

Network