IBM eX5 Implementation Guide

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2011. All rights reserved. xiii

Preface

High-end workloads drive ever-increasing and ever-changing constraints. In addition to

requiring greater memory capacity, these workloads challenge you to do more with less and

to find new ways to simplify deployment and ownership. And although higher system

availability and comprehensive systems management have always been critical, they have

become even more important in recent years.

Difficult challenges, such as these, create new opportunities for innovation. The IBM® eX5

portfolio delivers this innovation. This family of high-end computing introduces the fifth

generation of IBM X-Architecture® technology. The family includes the IBM System x3850

X5, x3690 X5, and the IBM BladeCenter® HX5. These servers are the culmination of more

than a decade of x86 innovation and firsts that have changed the expectations of the industry.

With this latest generation, eX5 is again leading the way as the shift toward virtualization,

platform management, and energy efficiency accelerates.

This book is divided into two parts. In the first part, we provide detailed technical information

about the servers in the eX5 portfolio. This information is most useful in designing,

configuring, and planning to order a server solution. In the second part of the book, we

provide detailed configuration and setup information to get your servers operational. We focus

particularly on setting up MAX5 configurations of all three eX5 servers as well as 2-node

configurations of the x3850 X5 and HX5.

This book is aimed at clients, IBM Business Partners, and IBM employees that want to

understand the features and capabilities of the IBM eX5 portfolio of servers and want to learn

how to install and configure the servers for use in production.

The team who wrote this book

This book was produced by a team of specialists from around the world working at the

International Technical Support Organization, Raleigh Center.

David Watts is a Consulting IT Specialist at the IBM ITSO Center in Raleigh. He manages

residencies and produces IBM Redbooks® publications for hardware and software topics that

are related to IBM System x® and IBM BladeCenter servers, and associated client platforms.

He has authored over 80 books, papers, and web documents. He holds a Bachelor of

Engineering degree from the University of Queensland (Australia) and has worked for IBM

both in the US and Australia since 1989. David is an IBM Certified IT Specialist and a

member of the IT Specialist Certification Review Board.

Aaron Belisle is a BladeCenter and System x Technical Support Specialist for IBM in Atlanta,

Georgia. He has 12 years of experience working with servers and has worked at IBM for

seven years. His areas of expertise include IBM BladeCenter, System x, and BladeCenter

Fibre Channel fabrics.

Duncan Furniss is a Senior IT Specialist for IBM in Canada. He currently provides technical

sales support for System x, BladeCenter, and IBM System Storage® products. He has

co-authored six previous IBM Redbooks publications, the most recent being Implementing an

IBM System x iDataPlex Solution, SG24-7629. He has helped clients design and implement

x86 server solutions from the beginning of the IBM Enterprise X-Architecture initiative. He is

an IBM Regional Designated Specialist for Linux®, High Performance Compute Clusters, and