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IBM 88553RX Installation Manual
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IBM 88553RX Installation Manual

IBM 88553RX Installation Manual

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Front cover

IBM Eserver xSeries
455 Planning and
Planning and
Installation Guide
uide
Describes the technical details of the
new 64-bit server
Covers supported Windows and
Linux 64-bit operating systems
Helps you prepare for and
perform an installation
David Watts
Aubrey Applewhaite
Yonni Meza
ibm.com/redbooks

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  • Page 1: Front Cover

    Front cover IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Planning and Installation Guide uide Describes the technical details of the new 64-bit server Covers supported Windows and Linux 64-bit operating systems Helps you prepare for and perform an installation David Watts...
  • Page 3 International Technical Support Organization IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide February 2004 SG24-7056-00...
  • Page 4 “Notices” on page vii. First Edition (February 2004) This edition applies to the IBM Eserver xSeries 455, machine type 8855. © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2004. All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    1.4 IBM XA-64 chipset........
  • Page 6 2.5 ServerProven® ..........44 2.6 IBM Datacenter Solution Program....... 45 2.7 Application solutions .
  • Page 7 5.1 IBM Director ........
  • Page 8 How to get IBM Redbooks ........

  • Page 9: Notices

    IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead.

  • Page 10: Trademarks

    SET, SET Secure Electronic Transaction, and the SET Logo are trademarks owned by SET Secure Electronic Transaction LLC. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide viii...

  • Page 11: Preface

    16-way image, providing even greater expandability and investment protection. This IBM Redbook is a comprehensive resource on the technical aspects of the server, and is divided into five key subject areas: Chapter 1, “Technical description”...
  • Page 12 Group in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Server Implementation Team and specializes in xSeries hardware, Microsoft® Windows, clustering and VMware. He has worked in the IT industry for over 16 years and been at IBM for eight years. He currently works in a customer-acing role providing consultancy and practical assistance to help IBM customers implement new technology with particular emphasis on xSeries hardware.

  • Page 13: Become A Published Author

    Julie Czubik, Technical Editor, ITSO, Poughkeepsie Become a published author Join us for a two- to six-week residency program! Help write an IBM Redbook dealing with specific products or solutions, while getting hands-on experience with leading-edge technologies. You'll team with IBM technical professionals, Business Partners and/or customers.

  • Page 14: Comments Welcome

    Send your comments in an Internet note to: redbook@us.ibm.com Mail your comments to: IBM Corporation, International Technical Support Organization Dept. HZ8 Building 662 P.O. Box 12195 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2195 IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 15: Chapter 1. Technical Description

    Technical description Chapter 1. The IBM ^ xSeries 455 is the latest IBM top-of-the-line server and is the second implementation of the 64-bit IBM XA-64 chipset, code named “Summit”, which forms part of the Enterprise X-Architecture strategy. The x455 completes the xSeries product family, leveraging the proven Enterprise X-Architecture to deliver robust and reliable 64-bit systems.

  • Page 16: Features

    1.1.1 Comparing the x455 with the x450 The x455 builds on the proven and popular x450 and brings a number of enhancements. Table 1-1 on page 3 summarizes the differences and enhancements between the two servers. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 17: Features Not Supported

    Table 1-1 Comparing the differences between the x455 and x450 Component x450 x455 Maximum memory (GB) Active memory with hot-swap support Multi chassis support Yes (one, two or four chassis) Shared RXE-100 between 2 machines Redundant cabling to RXE-100 (only from a single independent machine) Enterprise X-Architecture First generation...

  • Page 18: The X455 Base Models

    (16 CPUs) configurations. See “Multinode scalable partitions” on page 22 for details. 1.2.1 Front and rear views Figure 1-1 on page 5 shows the front view of the x455 showing the system components. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 19 Hot-swap fans Power-on light Power button Reset button USB port Hot swap power supplies Hot swap drive bays System-error light (amber) Blank media DVD/CD-RW drive Information light (amber) Light Path Diagnostics SCSI activity light (green) panel (pulls out) Locator light (blue) Figure 1-1 Front panel of the xSeries 455 Figure 1-2 shows the rear view of the x455 showing the system connectors.

  • Page 20: System Assembly

    It houses the memory and memory controller. The PCI-X board assembly This is located to the left of the midplane board. It houses all the PCI-X slots and all other I/O components. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 21: Ibm Xa-64 Chipset

    Figure 1-3 Memory-board and processor-board assembly locations 1.4 IBM XA-64 chipset The IBM XA-64 chipset is the product name describing the chipset developed under the code name “Summit” and implemented on the IA-64 platform. A product of the IBM Microelectronics Division, the XA-64 chipset leverages the proven Enterprise X-Architecture chipset used initially in the x440 and applies the same technologies to the IA-64 architecture.
  • Page 22 Two PCI-X bridges, code named “Winnipeg”, one located on the PCI-X board and the other on the I/O board. These control both the PCI-X and Remote I/O. Figure 1-4 shows the various IBM XA-64 components in an x455 configuration. CPU 1 CPU 2 6.4 GBps...

  • Page 23: The Processor-Board Assembly

    From Bandwidth Calculation SDRAM Memory controller 3.2 GBps 400 MHz x 64-bit data path Cache controller Memory controller 3.2 GBps 400 MHz x 64-bit data path 1.4.1 The processor-board assembly The processor-board assembly is located below the memory board. It is held in place by retaining levers, an EMC shield and a retention bracket.
  • Page 24 2 load and 2 store 2 load and 2 store The Itanium 2 processor has three levels of cache, all of which are on the processor die: Level 1 cache, 32 KB IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 25 L3 cache is now on the processor die, greatly improving performance, up to 2 times greater than that of the original Itanium. The x455 also implements a Level 4 cache as described in “IBM XceL4 Accelerator Cache” on page 12.
  • Page 26 The XceL4 Accelerator Cache has been designed with commercial workloads in mind that tend to have high cache hit rates. This effectively boosts performance and compensates in part for the 3.2 GBps bandwidth between the Cache and Scalability Controller and Memory Controller. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 27: The Memory-Board Assembly

    1.4.2 The memory-board assembly The x455 memory-board assembly is installed in the top of the server and mounts to the side of the midplane using two retaining levers on the top. This location allows for easy access to all memory DIMMs without having to remove any components from the system.
  • Page 28 Active Memory Memory ProteXion Memory ProteXion, also known as “redundant bit steering”, is the technology behind using redundant bits in a data packet to provide backup in the event of a DIMM failure. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 29 Currently, other industry-standard servers use 8 bits of the 72-bit data packets for ECC functions and the remaining 64 bits for data. However, the x455 (and several other xSeries servers) use an advanced ECC algorithm that is based not on bits but on memory symbols. Symbols are groups of multiple bits, and in the case of the x455, each symbol is 4 bits wide.
  • Page 30 DIMM offline, but keep the system running out of the redundant memory bank. The combination of these technologies provides the most reliable memory subsystem available. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 31: Pci-X Board Assembly

    1.4.3 PCI-X board assembly Strictly speaking the PCI-X board assembly does not truly exist in the same way that the processor board and memory board assemblies do. The term is used here to loosely describe the PCI-X board and I/O subsystem that together comprise the other components of the machine.
  • Page 32 (10/100/1000 Mbps, auto-negotiated) and includes integrated on-chip memory for buffering data transmissions to ensure the highest network performance. It has dual onboard RISC processors for advanced packet parsing and backwards compatibility with today's 10/100 networks. It includes IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 33: Remote Supervisor Adapter

    software support for failover, layer-3 load balancing, and comprehensive diagnostics. Category 5 or better Ethernet cabling is required with RJ-45 connectors. If you plan to implement a Gigabit Ethernet connection, ensure that your network infrastructure is capable of the necessary throughput to match the server’s I/O capacity.
  • Page 34 This would be done via the Ethernet or serial port via a Web or telnet session. In-band refers to managing the server through the operating system. This would typically be via IBM Director and/or SNMP. The features of the Remote Supervisor Adapter include:...

  • Page 35: Expansion Enclosure

    1.6 RXE-100 Expansion Enclosure The attachment of an RXE-100 Remote Expansion Enclosure is also supported. These are supported in a number of configurations with some configurations offering redundancy. The RXE-100 is connected to the x455 via one or two remote I/O cables and has a throughput of 1 GBps. It is available as standard with six PCI-X slots available but is upgradable to 12 PCI-X slots, giving you up to a total of 12 PCI-X or 18 PCI-X slots, respectively.

  • Page 36: Multinode Scalable Partitions

    Conceptually two-node and four-node partitions are depicted in Figure 1-11 and Figure 1-12 on page 23. These also show the cable requirements. x455 Node A Scalability ports x455 Node B Figure 1-11 Two-node partition IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 37 x455 x455 Node A Node C Scalability ports x455 x455 Node B Node D Figure 1-12 Four-node partition The partition is powered on by turning on the primary node (Node 1). This will power on the other nodes. It is also powered off by turning off the primary node, which will power off the other nodes.

  • Page 38: Connectivity

    RXE cable length allows placement of RXE-100s in a rack adjacent to the rack containing the x455 system. Conceptually, two-node and four-node configurations with RXE-100s are depicted in Figure 1-13 on page 25 and Figure 1-14 on page 25. These also show the cable requirements. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 39: Multinode Configuration

    x455 Scalability Node A ports RXE-100 RXE-100 RXE-100 Expansion ports Data cables x455 Management Node B cables Figure 1-13 Two-node configuration with one RXE-100 Data cables RXE-100 Scalability Expansion Management ports ports cables x455 x455 Node A Node C RXE-100 RXE-100 RXE-100 x455...

  • Page 40: Integrated I/O Function Support

    With a multinode configuration, in the event there is a major problem with one of the nodes, the remaining nodes will boot to EFI as single node partitions. This is done to facilitate diagnostics and reconfiguration. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 41: Redundancy

    1.8 Redundancy The x455 has the following redundancy features to maintain high availability: Four hot-swap multi-speed fans. With four hot-swap redundant fans, the x455 has adequate cooling for each of its major component areas. There are 2 fans located at the front of the server that direct air through the memory-board assembly and processor-board assembly.
  • Page 42 You can light up the LEDs for a maximum of two minutes. After that time, the circuit that powers the lights is exhausted. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 43: Extensible Firmware Interface

    The pop-out panel (Figure 1-15 on page 28) also has a remind button. This places the front panel system-error LED into remind mode, which means it flashes briefly every two seconds. By pressing the button, you acknowledge the failure but indicate that you will not take immediate action. If a new failure occurs, the system-error LED will turn on again and no longer blink.
  • Page 44 The same situation with the EFI would be dramatically simplified. The OS loader calls unified (not vendor-specific) EFI API functions for booting. These functions are not dependent on the boot device used, so when a new boot device type is IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 45: Guid Partition Table Disk

    added to the platform and the firmware is modified to recognize it, the operating system can immediately boot. Although EFI was originally introduced with the Itanium architecture, it is not restricted to 64-bit platforms. The EFI architecture is modular, extensible, and offers backward compatibility for the older systems by default.
  • Page 46 GPT disk appears to look like Figure 1-17. The protective MBR is followed by a theoretically unlimited number of data (or possibly unrecognized) partitions. Data partition(s) Figure 1-17 General GPT disk structure IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 47: Efi System Partition

    Currently, only 64-bit operating systems have the ability to read, write, and boot from GPT disks. 32-bit operating systems do not have built-in support for GPT disks. The specification for GPT disk partitioning can be found in Chapter 16 of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification.

  • Page 48: Efi And The Reduced-Legacy Concept

    EFI replaces this support with the support for new technology such as bootstrap loading from USB devices and the use of USB mouse and keyboard interfaces. For more information about the EFI specification, see the following: http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/index.htm http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/firmware/EFI/default.asp IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 49: Operating System Support

    1.12 Enterprise X-Architecture IBM’s Enterprise X-Architecture technologies yield revolutionary advances in the I/O, memory, and performance of xSeries servers. This design creates a flexible “pay as you grow” approach to buying high-end 32-bit and 64-bit xSeries systems that can be scaled quickly, easily, and inexpensively.

  • Page 50: Numa Architecture

    Much of the Enterprise X-Architecture offering is delivered through IBM-developed core logic. IBM has more proven product technology and expertise in designing core logic than anyone else in the industry. The IBM XA-32 and XA-64 families of chipsets for 32-bit and 64-bit industry-standard servers contain advanced core logic, which is the heart of a computer system.
  • Page 51 Caches also improve performance because they reduce queuing time of accesses that miss the caches and require a physical memory access. For most commercial applications, cache hit rates are usually greater than 70 percent. In this case, the cache greatly reduces memory latency because most processor memory requests are serviced by the faster cache.
  • Page 52 The XceL4 cache in the x455 improves performance because it filters most snooping operations. The IBM XceL4 cache improves scalability with more than four processors because it also caches remote data addresses. So, before any processor request is sent across the scalability link to a remote processor, the memory controller and cache controller determine whether the request should be sent at all.

  • Page 53: Chapter 2. Positioning

    “Operating system support” on page 42 “Server consolidation” on page 43 “ServerProven®” on page 44 “IBM Datacenter Solution Program” on page 45 “Application solutions” on page 46 “Why choose x455” on page 52 © Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved.

  • Page 54: Migrating To A 64-Bit Platform

    Before migrating, you need to consider many factors. Below are some of these considerations: Does your current operating system support 64-bit hardware? IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 55: Scalable System Partitioning

    48 x PCI-X slots with the use of two RXE-100 8 x 146.8 GB internal hard disk = 1175 GB (587 GB in RAID-1 configuration) With the 64-bit architecture, IBM’s X-Architecture, and its scalability options, the x455 has moved into territory that was traditionally the preserve of mini and mainframe systems.

  • Page 56: Expansion Enclosure

    VMware were not supported. 2.2.1 RXE-100 Expansion Enclosure The RXE-100 forms part of IBM’s XpandOnDemand technology and allows customers to expand their PCI-X I/O capability as demands increase. With the option to purchase a “6 pack” or “12 pack” of PCI-X slots and to share one RXE-100 between two servers, this provided a flexible and cost-effective solution.

  • Page 57: Server Consolidation

    Notes: 1. Enterprise Edition supports a maximum of eight processors. 2. Support will be after the general availability (GA) of the x455. See: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/matrix.shtml 3. Support approximately 30 days after GA. 2.4 Server consolidation With its scalability options, the x455 is ideally suited to server consolidation.

  • Page 58: Serverproven

    IBM ServerProven Program participants agree to work closely with IBM engineers during product test cycles and over product life cycles. This means that the IBM ServerProven Program is a commitment to resolve problems before they get to you. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 59: Ibm Datacenter Solution Program

    The IBM Datacenter Solution Program provides a comprehensive set of hardware, service, and support offerings for Microsoft Datacenter 2003 Server. IBM has the ability and expertise to provide our customers with all the components required when implementing this high-availability, highly scalable solution.

  • Page 60: Application Solutions

    Sixteen-way x455 configurations can be used as database servers and application servers providing a high-performance reliable platform. These configurations require an external storage enclosure or SAN, depending on the size of the database that is driven by the number of users. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 61 Database applications with memory-intensive workloads that require working data sets larger than 4 GB to be loaded in memory will benefit from the larger memory support of the 64-bit platform. The following is an example from the field. Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition uses Advanced Windowing Extensions (AWE) memory only for the buffer pool.

  • Page 62: Business Logic

    OEMs using Windows and Linux operating systems, IBM DB2 Universal Database leads the software industry in providing business database application content to the IA-64 server platform. IBM DB2 Universal Database is currently enabling the most robust and varied database software application performance on the IA-64 architecture.
  • Page 63 processing will be more efficient. That combined with up to four Itanium 2 processors and a highly efficient cache system make the x450 an ideal choice. Market leaders offer 64-bit optimized versions of their enterprise applications for use on the x455 now, including SAS Release 9.0 (Windows version) and SAP R/3 4.6C (Windows/Linux), among others.

  • Page 64: E-Business And Security Transactions

    In today’s complex environments, encryption can occur at two levels simultaneously. For example, the IPSec standard performs encryption on every packet sent over the network. These packets frequently contain data that is IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 65: In-House Developed Compute-Intensive Applications

    encrypted itself. As a result, enterprises need platforms that can encrypt and decrypt data very quickly. The x455 is suited to this task. To compare the performance in integer and floating-point operations with other processors on the market, see SPECint_base2000 and SPECfp_base2000 benchmarks at: http://www.spec.org 2.7.4 In-house developed compute-intensive applications...

  • Page 66: Why Choose X455

    The x450, the first xSeries server aimed at large, demanding, mission-critical applications. The IBM pSeries®, iSeries™, and zSeries® servers. Unlike most of our competitors, IBM has many years and a vast amount of experience with 64-bit technology. All of these advantages make the x455 an enterprise-level server and a viable alternative to RISC-based architectures, while protecting many years of investments and knowledge gained from IA-32 platform development.
  • Page 67 performance for complex computations that are required for data-mining, scientific, and technical applications. The Itanium 2 processor is the second in a family of Intel 64-bit enterprise-class processors. For more information about the Intel Itanium 2 processor, see: http://www.intel.com/products/server/processors/server/Itanium 2/ Intel Itanium Architecture-based microprocessors have the following features: Advanced parallelism High performance requires parallel execution, which is either very limited or...
  • Page 68 The Itanium 2 processor cache subsystem has three levels, all of which are on-die cache. In addition to this, IBM provide a fourth level of cache to manage the data and logic between the processors. The increased physical memory includes the following benefits for applications: –...

  • Page 69: Chapter 3. Planning

    “Storage considerations” on page 79 “Rack installation” on page 85 “Power considerations” on page 87 “Operating system support” on page 87 “IBM Director support” on page 89 “Solution Assurance Review” on page 90 © Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved.

  • Page 70: System Hardware

    We recommend that you update the system abstraction layer/extensible firmware interface (SAL/EFI) code after the installation. To download the most current level of SAL/EFI code for the server, go to the x455 device driver page: http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-53575.html IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 71: Memory

    33L5040 Go to the ServerProven site for the latest information on supported memory modules: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/machines/x455.html When installing memory DIMMs, they must be installed in matched pairs (size and technology), in the order shown in Table 3-3. Table 3-3 DIMM order...
  • Page 72 Memory mirroring must be enabled in the System Setup in the EFI (it is disabled by default). See “Enabling memory mirroring” on page 118. Enabling memory mirroring halves the amount of memory available to the operating system. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 73 Both ports in a memory-board assembly must have the same total amount of memory. Partial mirroring is not supported. If the same total amount of memory is not detected at boot, memory mirroring is automatically disabled by the system. The DIMMs in partner banks across the two ports must be identical. You must install two pairs of DIMMs at a time.
  • Page 74 If there is a mismatch between the total memory in port 1 and the total memory in port 2, then there will be a delay when accessing the upper memory, for example, if you have two 512 MB DIMMs and two 1 GB DIMMs. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 75: Pci-X Slot Configuration

    3.1.3 PCI-X slot configuration As shown in Figure 1-4 on page 8, there are six PCI-X slots internal to the x455. These six slots are implemented using four PCI buses: Bus A (slot 1 and slot 2): Supporting two 64-bit adapters at up to 66 MHz Bus B (slot 3 and slot 4): Supporting two 64-bit adapters at up to 100 MHz, or one adapter at up to 133 MHz, provided the other slot is vacant Bus C (slot 5): Supporting one 64-bit adapter at up to 133 MHz...
  • Page 76 32 or 64 33, 66, 100 or 133 32 or 64 33, 66, 100 or 133 The physical location of these slots in the server is shown in Figure 3-3 on page 63. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 77 PCI-X slot 4 PCI-X slot 3 (100 (100 PCI-X slot 5 PCI-X slot 2 (133 Back of server PCI-X slot 6 PCI-X slot 1 (133 MHz) Bus: D Figure 3-3 PCI-X slots in the x455 Other configuration information: The x455 server supports connection to a RXE-100. Video adapters are not supported.

  • Page 78: Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Controller

    Gigabit fiber card, 06P3701. Adapter teaming and failover work by using software additional to the adapter driver to provide the failover functionality. This software is operating system IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 79: Cabling And Connectivity

    For the latest network adapter drivers and software for the x455 server, go to the xSeries support page: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support For details about compatibility, see the ServerProven LAN adapter page: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/lan/matrix.html 3.2 Cabling and connectivity There are a number of unique factors to consider when cabling the x455 server.
  • Page 80 There are two RJ-45 ports providing Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, as shown in Figure 3-4. A third RJ-45 Ethernet connector is also on the Remote Supervisor Adapter. This connector is only used to connect to the Remote IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 81: Smp Expansion Connectivity

    Update the service-processor firmware. These are available from the x455 driver matrix: http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-53575.html Multinode event timing Multinode configurations have different clock sources driving processors in each node. Therefore, the processor time stamp counter (TSC) should not be used by operating systems or applications for global system event timing.
  • Page 82 1. Name the servers, as shown in Figure 3-6 on page 69. We used Nodes A–D, from top to bottom. We also named the SMP Expansion ports 1–3, from left to right. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 83 Node A Remote Supervisor Adapter Ethernet ports Ethernet switch Node B Node C Node D Figure 3-6 Connecting four-node configuration 2. Label each end of the SMP Expansion cables according to where they will be connected to each server. 3. Connect the cables according Table 3-7. Table 3-7 Connecting four nodes From Node A, Port 1...

  • Page 84: Remote Expansion Enclosure Connectivity

    RXE-100 to an x455 configuration using only one cable, the RXE-100 can have six or 12 PCI-X slots. RXE Expansion Port Bus: Slot: Figure 3-7 RXE-100 PCI-X expansion board (six slots) IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 85 For each of the three buses (A, B, C), one of the following can be installed: One 64-bit 3.3 V PCI-X 133 MHz adapter (in the odd-numbered slot), running at up to 133 MHz Two 64-bit 3.3 V PCI-X 133 MHz adapters running at up to 100 MHz Two 64-bit 3.3 V PCI or PCI-X, 33 or 66 MHz adapters Note: The PCI slots support 3.3 V adapters only.
  • Page 86 One server connecting to a six-slot RXE-100 When the RXE-100 has only six PCI-X slots installed, connect a single RXE management cable and a single RXE data cable, as shown in Figure 3-8 on page 73. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 87 xSeries 455 RXE Expansion Port (A) RXE Management Port RXE Management A (in) Port RXE-100 connector RXE Management A (out) Port connector RXE Management B (in) Port connector RXE Expansion Port Figure 3-8 Connecting the RXE-100 to the x455 (six slots in the RXE-100) One server connecting to a 12-slot RXE-100 If the RXE-100 has 12 PCI-X slots installed, we recommend that you use two data cables to connect the RXE-100 to the server, as shown in Figure 3-9 on...
  • Page 88 RXE slots are connected to each node. The cabling is shown in Figure 3-10. Management x455 cables RXE-100 Data cables x455 Figure 3-10 8-way configuration with a shared RXE-100 (6 PCI-X slots to each node) IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 89 In addition, an 8-way configuration can also be connected to a single RXE-100 that only has six PCI-X slots installed, not 12. In this configuration, the data and management cable from the secondary node are not connected. Two standalone servers connecting to one shared RXE-100 This configuration is very similar to the two-node configuration shown in Figure 3-10 on page 74, except that the cable between the x455s is not present.

  • Page 90: Remote Supervisor Adapter Connectivity

    Remote management regardless of the status of the server Remote control of hardware and operating systems Web-based management with standard Web browsers (no other software is required) Text-based user interface terminal access IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 91 For detailed instructions on cabling ASM interconnect networks, refer to the IBM Redbook Implementing Systems Management Solutions using IBM Director, SG24-6188. Note: The x455 does not include the necessary dongle to connect the Remote Supervisor Adapter to an ASM interconnect bus using the RS-485 port on the adapter.

  • Page 92: Serial Connectivity

    Tip: If you are running Linux, you can redirect the console messages to the serial port. For more information about this feature refer to “Using the serial port for the Linux console” on page 171. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 93: Storage Considerations

    This section discusses some of the available xSeries storage solutions and related technologies, as well as tape backup and performance considerations. All the IBM Storage Solutions are supported under Linux, as well as under Windows. For more information see: http://www.storage.ibm.com/linux ServeRAID with external storage enclosures The x455 currently only supports the ServeRAID 4Mx and 6M.
  • Page 94 Important: Check the tips in “Notes® on the use of RAID:” on page 108 before doing a installation. For more information on IBM SCSI RAID storage solutions, go to: http://ibm.com/pc/ww/eserver/xseries/scsi_raid.html For the latest list of SCSI hardware supported by the x455, see ServerProven: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/machines/x455.html...
  • Page 95 FAStT for Microsoft clustered configurations and for updates to certified solutions: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/search.mspx The IBM TotalStorage FAStT200 Storage Server The FAStT200 Storage Server is a 3U rack-mountable Fibre Channel RAID controller and disk drive enclosure. It targets the entry and midrange segment of the FC storage market.
  • Page 96 (18 GB up to 32.6 TB using 146.8 GB drives). To avoid single points of failure, it also features dual hot-swappable RAID controllers, dual redundant FC disk loops, write cache mirroring, redundant hot-swappable power supplies, fans, and dual AC line cords. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 97 (32.6 TB using 146.8 GB drives). The IBM TotalStorage FAStT EXP700 Expansion Unit The IBM TotalStorage FAStT EXP700 storage expansion unit expands the highly scalable, high-performance FAStT family with a 14-bay, 2 GBps, rack-mountable Fiber Channel hard disk drive enclosure. Used with the FAStT900, FAStT700, FAStT600, FAStT500, and FAStT200 storage servers, the EXP700 is designed to provide incremental support for over one terabyte of disk storage per unit.

  • Page 98: Tape Backup

    The logical devices access a logical volume that is implemented using multiple disk drives. This allows ESS to connect to all IBM servers, from zSeries to iSeries, pSeries and xSeries, directly or through a SAN, thus helping the x455 fit into a heterogeneous environment containing a variety of server architectures.

  • Page 99: Rack Installation

    Hardware and software compatibility If you implement a new tape solution, you need to ensure that current backup and management software is still suitable. IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager has 64-bit Windows and Linux versions of their client, and other software vendors have similar products or plans for 64-bit versions.
  • Page 100 (110 lb). Therefore, this system requires two people to install it in a rack. If you use a non-IBM rack, the cabinet must meet the EIA-310-D standards with a depth of at least 28 inches. Also, adequate space (approximately two inches for...

  • Page 101: Power Considerations

    110 V power source. Therefore, IBM recommends that the x455 be connected to a 220 V power source to ensure power supply redundancy for large configurations.

  • Page 102: Clustering

    Cluster Service Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to confirm that hardware, drivers, and firmware have been Microsoft Certified. The HCL can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/search.mspx For information about Windows Server 2003 Enterprise and Datacenter, and changes in the 64-bit version, see: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/default.mspx IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 103: Ibm Director Support

    3.7 IBM Director support IBM Director is a systems management application and can be adopted easily into heterogeneous environments. It is based on industry standards and designed for ease of use. The Java™-based GUI helps administrators manage single or large groups of IBM and non-IBM servers, workstations, desktop computers, and notebook computers.

  • Page 104: Solution Assurance Review

    3.8 Solution Assurance Review Some level of Solution Assurance Review (SAR) should be performed for all IBM solutions. The level of SAR (self, peer, or expert) should match the complexity of the solution. For example, simpler solutions may need only a self review.

  • Page 105: Chapter 4. Installation

    “Configuring scalable partitions” on page 131 “Installing Windows Server 2003” on page 136 “Installing Linux” on page 151 A useful document during installation is the paper IBM Eserver xSeries 455 FAQ Hints and Tips, available from: http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-53820.html © Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved.

  • Page 106: Using The Extensible Firmware Interface

    Enter the EFI shell from EFI Firmware Boot on the FAT/FAT32 Manager menu and use cd, ls, cp, mv, rm cd, dir, copy, move, del partitions commands commands. See “File operations in the EFI shell” on page 97. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 107: Efi Firmware Boot Manager

    Stage the checkpoint has reached Node CPU indicates which node and CPU generated the associated checkpoint entry just above it on the screen Eserver x455 Build..OYKT12A 2003/10/18 08:52:22 (c) Copyright, IBM Corporation, 2003 Partition..1 Processors..[.4¦..¦..¦..] Checkpoint..42-53 Node..1 of 1 Memory(GB)..[.4¦..¦..¦..] Node:Cpu..1:.1 =============================================================================...
  • Page 108 Firmware Boot Manager x455 Version 2.00 [2.10] (c) copyright IBM Corporation 2003 Boot options: Enter number or / to select, 'Enter' to execute CD-ROM 1 EFI Shell [Built-in] 2 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) 3 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry0) 4 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry1) 5 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F809E) 6 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|1)/Mac(0002559F809E) PXE boot...

  • Page 109: The Efi Shell

    network during this process, again a failure message appears. If you need to make the PXE boot the first option, then see “Changing a boot option” on page 126. The options available from the EFI Firmware Boot Manager are listed below and discussed in further detail.
  • Page 110 The first MemMap file system is the content of the 4 MB of NVRAM assigned to the EFI and contains a number of drivers. The second MemMap file system is the content of the NVRAM assigned to the server diagnostics. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 111 The internal disks contain Scsi and HD strings. See Figure 4-3 on page 96: Scsi(Pun0,Lun0)/HD(Part1,Sig3D73CFC0-0000-0000-507B-9E5F8078F531) – Pun is the physical unit number. For non-RAID disks this represents the SCSI ID. For RAID disks this represents the array number as enumerated by the EFI.
  • Page 112 : MemMap(0:FF800200-FFBFFFFF) fs2 : Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|2)/Usb(0, 0)/HD(Part1,Sig00000000) blk0 : MemMap(0:FF000000-FFFFFFFF) blk1 : MemMap(0:FF800200-FFBFFFFF) blk2 : Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) blk3 : Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Slave) blk4 : Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(3|0)/Scsi(Pun0,Lun0) blk5 : Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|2)/Usb(0, 0) blk6 : Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|2)/Usb(0, 0)/HD(Part1,Sig00000000) Figure 4-4 Map command IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 113 4. Look for the specific device in the FSx section. In our example, the entry is highlighted in Figure 4-4 on page 98. The entry will include the string USB. If the USB device is attached to a USB hub (for example, a memory key plugged into the USB port of a USB keyboard), then two USB strings will appear in the entry, as shown in Figure 4-5.
  • Page 114 “Microsoft Reserved Partition” on page 137). Tip: If you need to perform a low-level format of the disk, use the LSI Configuration utility, which is described in “EFI tips and tricks” on page 102. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 115 To delete the content of the disk, perform the following steps: 1. Download the DISKPART.EFI drive partitioning utility and transfer it to the x455 using a device such as a USB memory key or CD-R. This is available from: http://developer.intel.com/technology/efi/diskutil_overview.htm 2.
  • Page 116 The keystrokes are buffered. After an EFI/SAL or diagnostics upgrade, move the update files from the root of the drive from where they were installed. This avoid future problems when upgrading. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 117: Driver Setup

    Boot CDs will have at least two file system entries, one ending with (Entry0) and one ending with (Entry1). The file system with (Entry1) will have the boot loader file(s). It is normally in the following location: \efi\boot\bootia64.efi This file or a batch file that calls this file may also be in the root directory. Some commands, although not listed, are available.
  • Page 118 There were no options available as the time of writing; selecting 02 or 03 returns you immediately to the EFI Firmware Boot Manager. This may change in future updates to the EFI or Broadcom firmware. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 119 Configuring SCSI controller and internal disks This option allows you to configure the SCSI Controller. Typically the only option that would be changed is the RAID configuration. The internal LSI SCSI/RAID controller can treat the internal disks in two different ways: As two standalone disks As two parts of a RAID-1 array Both ways are supported for operating system installation, although installing on...
  • Page 120 Secondary Cluster Server [No] Termination Control [Auto] <Restore Defaults> F1/Shift+1 =Help ArrowKeys/H,J,K,L =Select Item -/+ =Change [Item] Esc=Exit Menu Home(I)/End(O) = Select Item Enter=Execute <Item> Figure 4-11 Option to choose RAID configuration IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 121 Size(MB): 17278 SCSI Device Identifier Array Hot Status Predict Size Disk? Spare Failure (MB) IBM-PSG ST318451LC !#B833 [Yes] [No] Primary 17278 IBM-ESXSST318452LC !#B841 [Yes] [No] Secondary No 17278 [---] [---] --------- -- ------ [---] [---] --------- -- ------ [---] [---] --------- --...
  • Page 122 The use of the mini-configuration utility is as follows. From the Driver Configuration menu (Figure 4-8 on page 104) select Adaptec RAID Driver. The following screen is displayed. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 123 Figure 4-13 IBM ServeRAID Mini-Configuration Main Menu From here you can view the controller status, view the logical drive status, or select more advanced functions. Figure 4-14 shows an example of controller status. Figure 4-14 Controller status Figure 4-15 on page 110 shows an example of logical drive status.
  • Page 124 Driver Setup utility but presents a graphical front end. ServeRAID has the following advantages: Allows the configurations of all LSI and ServeRAID controllers Will allow you to update the firmware version on ServeRAID controllers (but not on the internal LSI controller) IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 125 Allows data to remain intact on the Primary disk A ServeRAID CD is shipped with every ServeRAID controller, or the latest version can be downloaded from: http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-495PES.html Please refer to the documentation for further information on using ServeRAID. Booting from ServeRAID It is possible to boot from a ServeRAID adapter.

  • Page 126: Flash Update

    Always check the readme.txt file (the actual name is usually the same as the update executable) to check if there are any prerequisites. The latest updates and firmware code can be found at: http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-53575.html IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 127 Unlike an IA-32 platform, the normal boot process does not permit booting from a diskette, so a flash update procedure must start differently. Warning: If a problem is encountered during a firmware upgrade, such as a total loss of power, this can corrupt system components, resulting is loss of data.
  • Page 128 2. Press 1 then Enter to update the EFI/SAL. 3. You are asked if you wish to change the serial number, the machine type, and the asset tag. Typically, you would answer No. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 129 4. You will then be asked if you would like to save the current code to a disk. See the screen below. Figure 4-19 Prompting to backup If you select Y, you need to specify a file name for the backup. The file name can be any valid file name.
  • Page 130 Remote Supervisor Adapter firmware update To update the Remote Supervisor Adapter (RSA), use the IBM Remote Supervisor Adapter utility. This allows you to do the following: Update the Remote Supervisor Adapter. Configure the Remote Supervisor Adapter. Update the RXE-100 Expansion Enclosure.
  • Page 131 Figure 4-20 Remote Supervisor Adapter update utility 4. Select Update System Management Firmware from the main menu and press Enter. 5. Read the warning window and press Enter. You will be presented with the Firmware Update Options menu. Figure 4-21 Selecting the type of flash Chapter 4.

  • Page 132: Configuration/Setup Utility

    Enabling memory mirroring Memory mirroring is part of IBM’s Active Memory technology and provides an additional level of fault tolerance to the memory subsystem. For detailed information and guidelines on memory mirroring, see “System memory” on page 14.
  • Page 133 To enable memory mirroring perform the following steps: 1. Allow the system to boot to the EFI Firmware Boot Manager menu. 2. Start the Setup program by selecting the Configuration/Setup Utility from the EFI Firmware Boot Manager menu. Figure 4-22 on page 118 appears. 3.
  • Page 134 A choice of four different logs can be turned on that can be used for general information or to diagnose problems. These are for: Debug information Debug trace Debug warning Debug error IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 135: Diagnostic Utility

    To turn these on follow the steps below. 1. Select Configuration/Setup -> System Event and Error Log. The following screen will be displayed. Figure 4-25 System Event and Error Log 2. Set either all or a subset of the logs to be enabled to suit your desired outcome.

  • Page 136: Boot Option Maintenance

    (similar to the boot sequence option in Setup in IA-32 based xSeries systems). Figure 4-27 on page 123 shows the Boot Maintenance Manager and the options available. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 137 EFI Boot Maintenance Manager ver 1.10 [14.61] Main Menu. Select an Operation Boot from a File Add a Boot Option Delete Boot Option(s) Change Boot Order Manage BootNext setting Set Auto Boot TimeOut Select Active Console Output Devices Select Active Console Input Devices Select Active Standard Error Devices Cold Reset Exit...
  • Page 138 3. Run the command restore <filename>, where <filename> is the name of the backup file. 4. You will be presented with the following prompt: Delete existing non-volatile efi variables? [y/n] Answer Yes to this question. A screen similar to the following will be displayed. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 139 fs5:\> restore x455.bak Delete existing non-volatile efi variables? [y/n]y restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:Lang' DataSize = 3 restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:ConIn' DataSize = 18 restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:ConOut' DataSize = 16 restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:ErrOut' DataSize = 16 restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:Boot0000' DataSize = 48 restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:Boot0001' DataSize = 7E restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:Boot0002' DataSize = B2 restore: Variable NV+RT+BS 'Efi:Boot0003' DataSize = B2...
  • Page 140 See Figure 4-2 on page 94. 2. Select Change Boot Order and press Enter. The following screen is displayed. (You may have slightly different options depending on the operating systems installed.) IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 141 EFI Boot Maintenance Manager ver 1.10 [14.61] Change boot order. Select an Operation Windows Server 2003, Datacenter EFI Shell [Built-in] Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry0) Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry1) Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F809E) Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|1)/Mac(0002559F809E) Save Settings to NVRAM Help Exit Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F809E) Boot0004 Figure 4-30 Change boot order 3. Highlight the first PXE option. These end with Mac followed by a 12-digit hexadecimal number.
  • Page 142 Firmware Boot Manager x455 Version 2.00 [2.10] (c) copyright IBM Corporation 2003 Boot options: Enter number or / to select, 'Enter' to execute 1 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F809E) 2 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|1)/Mac(0002559F809E) 3 Windows Server 2003, Datacenter 4 EFI Shell [Built-in] 5 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) 6 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry0)
  • Page 143 EFI Boot Maintenance Manager ver 1.10 [14.61] Delete Boot Option(s). Select an Option Windows Server 2003, Datacenter EFI Shell [Built-in] Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry0) Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry1) Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F808F) Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|1)/Mac(0002559F808F) Delete All Boot Options Save Settings to NVRAM Help Exit HD(Part1,SigB8D87F80-9D70-01C3-507B-9E5F8078F531)/\EFI\Microsoft\WINN T50\ia6 4ldrBoot0006 WINDOWS Figure 4-32 Delete Boot Option(s) menu 2.
  • Page 144 To change the TimeOut value follow the steps below: 1. Select Set Auto Boot TimeOut from the EFI Boot Maintenance Manager. The following screen will be displayed. 2. Set the timeout value. 3. Save and exit. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 145: Configuring Scalable Partitions

    Configuration/Setup Utility program. Note: The Scalable Systems Manager program, when available, is an extension to IBM Director that provides a graphical user interface for creating and managing scalable partitions. More information is detailed in “Scalable Systems Manager” on page 177.
  • Page 146 4. Select Scalable Partition Settings. 5. Select Create Scalable Partition Settings. See Figure 4-35. Figure 4-35 Create Scalable Partition Settings option 6. Use one of the following procedures, depending on the configuration. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 147 Two-chassis configuration: a. Select 2 x455 chassis as the scalable partition configuration. b. Type a scalable partition ID. c. Type the ASM host name or IP address for the secondary node. d. If a remote I/O enclosure is attached (See Figure 4-36), complete the following steps: i.

  • Page 148: Booting A Scalable Partition

    Figure 4-37 and Figure 4-38. Eserver x455 Build..OYKT12A 2003/10/18 08:52:22 (c) Copyright, IBM Corporation, 2003 Partition..1 Processors..8[.4¦.4¦..¦..] Checkpoint..42-53 Node..1 of 2 Memory(GB)..8[.4¦.4¦..¦..] Node:Cpu..1:.1 ============================================================================= Figure 4-37 Node 1 boot up screen IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 149: Multiple Monitors

    Eserver Build..OYKT12A 2003/10/18 08:52:22 (c) Copyright, IBM Corporation, 2003 Partition..1 Processors..[..¦.4¦..¦..] Checkpoint..29-44 Node..2 of 2 Memory(GB)..[..¦.4¦..¦..] Node:Cpu..1:.1 ============================================================================= Figure 4-38 Node 2 boot up screen Figure 4-37 on page 134 and Figure 4-38 on page 135 display the following...

  • Page 150: Deleting A Scalable Partition

    IA-32 platform, so we will highlight the important information and installation procedures that are specific to the 64 bit platform and x455. 4.3.1 Important information There are a number of things you should consider before starting the installation. These are detailed below. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 151 Microsoft Reserved Partition Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR partition) reserves space on each disk drive for subsequent use by the operating system software. For example, dynamic disk configuration is stored in the MSR partition. During the installation, the MSR partition is automatically created. When initially created, the size of the MSR partition depends on the size of the disk drive: On drives less than 16 GB in size, the MSR partition is 32 MB.

  • Page 152: Preparing To Install

    SCSI controller and internal disks” on page 105. 5. Optionally, delete all existing partitions (including the system partition and Microsoft Reserved partition) using the diskpart command, as described in “Checking a disk” on page 100. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 153: Installation

    However, at the time of writing none were published for the x455. Once they are available, they will be accessible at: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support Select the x455 (8855) and select OS Installation document type. The installation here assumes that you will be installing Windows Server 2003 on a brand new pair of disks, disks that have no data on them, or disks that have data that can be destroyed.
  • Page 154 Firmware Boot Manager x455 Version 2.00 [2.10] (c) copyright IBM Corporation 2003 Boot options: Enter number or / to select, 'Enter' to execute 1 EFI Shell [Built-in] 2 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) 3 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry0) 4 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry1) 5 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F809E) 6 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|1)/Mac(0002559F809E) System options: Enter letter / or to select, 'Enter' to execute...
  • Page 155 Text-mode setup The installation process will now begin. The screens in this section will not necessarily follow consecutively. Only those important to 64-bit and the x455 are listed. For all other screens please read carefully and choose options appropriate to your installation. If you are using the serial port as an auxiliary console, when you see the Setup is starting Windows message on the video display, the auxiliary console (a terminal session via the serial port) will stop functioning.
  • Page 156 “Checking a disk” on page 100. After both partitions are automatically created, the Disk partitioning screen is displayed, as in Figure 4-43 on page 143. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 157 Figure 4-43 Disk partitioning screen These partitions are as follows: Partition1 [FAT]: EFI System Partition Partition2 [Reserved]: Microsoft Reserved Partition (both disks) Do not attempt to install the operating system into the first two partitions. Instead, use the unpartitioned space on the disk to create the data partition. The internal disk is recommended if you have both internal and external disks.

  • Page 158: Post-Setup Phase

    Specific device drivers are available for the x455 that are not included with the base operating system. Drivers that you should obtain separately for the operating system include: Broadcom Ethernet controller Remote Supervisor Adapter service processor IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 159 Active PCI-X controller The CDs that ship with the server may contain these drivers, but there are likely to be later versions available from the IBM Web site. The latest versions can be downloaded from the x455 device driver page: http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-53575.html...
  • Page 160 The only difference is that some of the hardware will be multiplied by a factor of 2 or 4, depending on the partition size. Below are some screen shots of what you can expect to see in a 2-node partition. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 161 Figure 4-47 Multinode configurations “see” the devices from both nodes Accessing EFI System Partition from Windows To access the EFI System Partition from within the operating system, use the following utility: mountvol DriveLetter: /s Where DriveLetter is any spare drive letter in the system. Chapter 4.
  • Page 162 In “GUID Partition Table disk” on page 31, we describe how GPT disks are identified by the global unique identifier (GUID). The entries in the EFI Firmware Boot Manager menu use the GUID to identify which device to boot from. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 163 There may be several scenarios when the EFI Firmware Boot Manager menu will need to be restored: Disks rearrangement - If the disks are moved from one server to another, the NVRAM contents and the disk contents are out of sync, meaning that there will be no record in the new server’s EFI Firmware Boot Manager menu to point at the recently added disks.
  • Page 164 System Partition (which is a partition on the disk). 2. Insert the disks into the second server. 3. Import the file. 4. Verify that the import was successful by booting from the newly created boot entry. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 165: Installing Linux

    Itanium 2 port of the kernel. This effort was also possible thanks to many companies and institutions that contributed on this development effort, such as Intel, IBM, HP, Caldera (now SCO Group), the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Red Hat, SGI, SUSE LINUX, Turbolinux, and VA Linux Systems (now VA Software).

  • Page 166: Linux Ia-64 Kernel Overview

    Models, as shown in Table 4-4. Table 4-4 Comparison table of C types between LP32 and LP64 Data type in C LP32 LP64 char short long long long pointer enum float double IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 167: Choosing A Linux Distribution

    Linux distributions built around the kernel. In this section we discuss the major Linux distributors that work with IBM, and their different products available for the Itanium 2 platform: Red Hat and UnitedLinux.
  • Page 168 Red Hat Bluecurve Compiler GCC 2.9.6 GCC 3.2 Logical Volume Manager For the latest information on Red Hat’s plans and IBM’s support plans, go to: http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/as/ http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/redchat.html The UnitedLinux initiative In 2002, four of the companies that were developing different Linux distributions—Conectiva, The SCO Group, SUSE LINUX and...
  • Page 169 The SCO Group, previously called Caldera, has announced a version of their SCO Linux product for the Itanium family. This product is called Caldera SCO Linux 64. To find out about SCO’s products on Linux for 64-bit platforms or IBM support for SCO products, go to: http://www.sco.com/products/ http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/thecscocgroup.html...

  • Page 170: Installing Suse Linux Enterprise Server 8.0

    SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8 for IA-64 We also installed SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8 with a 2.4.19 kernel optimized for Itanium 2. For information on IBM Support of SUSE LINUX products, go to: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/suse.html 4.4.3 Installing SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8.0 In this section we describe the installation procedure of the SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server (SLES) 8 and the issues you may find.
  • Page 171 Before starting the installation, we recommend that you get and apply the latest updates and firmware. You can download them from the x455 driver matrix: http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-53575.html SLES 8 supports LVM volumes during the installation, so you can install it on LVM partitions.
  • Page 172 Firmware Boot Manager x455 Version 2.00 [2.10] (c) copyright IBM Corporation 2003 Boot options: Enter number or / to select, 'Enter' to execute 1 EFI Shell [Built-in] 2 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master) 3 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry0) 4 Acpi(PNP0A03,0)/Pci(5|1)/Ata(Primary,Master)/CDROM(Entry1) 5 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|0)/Mac(0002551F809E) 6 Acpi(PNP0A03,1)/Pci(4|1)/Mac(0002559F809E) Select this option to boot...
  • Page 173 Installation To configure your system and select your packages, here are the steps you will encounter while installing SLES 8: 1. License Agreement. 2. Language Selection. English is the default. 3. Installation Mode Selection. Select New installation. 4. Installation Settings, where you can select what you want to install and where. 5.

  • Page 174: Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux As

    Select the x455 (8855) and select OS Installation document type. IBM employees can access draft installation instructions from: http://nosinfo.raleigh.ibm.com Before starting the installation Before starting the installation, we recommend that you get and apply the latest updates and firmware.
  • Page 175 Manually starting the CD-ROM: If you did not have the CD-ROM inserted before the EFI Boot Manager menu loaded, do the following: 1. Insert Red Hat Disk 1 into the drive. 2. Select EFI Shell and press Enter. 3. Enter the command map -r to remap all file systems. 4.

  • Page 176: Linux Boot Process

    Once elilo is loaded, select which Linux kernel image you want to load, and the boot procedure is the same as other Linux startup processes: 1. The Linux kernel image loads on memory. 2. The Setup function is called, enabling basic devices, buses and video. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 177: Information About The Installed System

    3. The startup function is called, enabling stacks, decompressing the kernel, and identifying the processor type. 4. The start_kernel function is called, starting all memory procedures, and kernel cache, and executes /sbin/init. 5. The boot procedure continues. IA-32 applications SLES 8 provided the IA-32 runtime environment installed by default. This environment contains glibc, ncurses, C++, and X11 libraries to guarantee compatibility with IA-32 applications.

  • Page 178: Memory Information

    226752 kB SwapCached: 0 kB Active: 276608 kB ActiveAnon: 113360 kB ActiveCache: 163248 kB Inact_dirty: 79104 kB Inact_laundry: 0 kB Inact_clean: 0 kB Inact_target: 71136 kB HighTotal: 6291456 kB HighFree: 5894384 kB IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 179 LowTotal: 1979472 kB LowFree: 1718384 kB SwapTotal: 2040208 kB SwapFree: 2040208 kB HugePages_Total: HugePages_Free: Hugepagesize: 262144 kB Modules used by the default kernel Linux provides a default kernel that loads almost all the drivers we will need for our x455, and also some drivers we will never use. As we can see in Example 4-4, it also loads some modules that are not used, identified with unused.
  • Page 180 One for EFI, one for the operating system boot images, and another for the data. As you can see in the example, fdisk does not see any of these partitions, but only a big partition of type EFI GPT. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 181 Instead of using fdisk, use parted. The parted utility is included on the Linux (SUSE LINUX and Red Hat) base system. As shown in Example 4-6, the parted output does not show the same information in the partition table, but recognizes the real partitions on the system. The parted utility can identify every partition on the partition table.
  • Page 182 SUSE LINUX SLES 8 in disk sda – ESP (FAT32) named boot assigned as sda4 – Swap partition assigned as sda5 – Root or data partition (ReiserFS) assigned as sda6 See Figure 4-50 on page 169. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 183 Figure 4-50 Expert Partitioner, SLES 8 Red Hat EL AS 3.0 in disk sdb – ESP (FAT16) named boot assigned as sdb3 – Swap partition assigned as sdb4 – Root or data partition (ext3) assigned as sdb5 See Figure 4-51 on page 170. Chapter 4.
  • Page 184 Tip: In our case the third partition (sdc) is a USB 256 MB memory key. The FAT16 and FAT32 partitions are the EFI System Partitions (one per operating system) where the kernel images and other files needed to boot Linux IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 185: Using The Serial Port For The Linux Console

    are stored. The EFI System Partition is also available as the /boot partition mounted directory once you log into Linux. For more information about the parted utility, use man parted or go to: http://www.gnu.org/software/parted 4.4.7 Using the serial port for the Linux console You can redirect all kernel console messages to the serial port.

  • Page 186: Expansion Enclosure

    Hardware and PCI information. As you can see in Figure 4-52 on page 173, all the PCI slots are recognized, including the 12 external PCI slots. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 187: Upgrading Drivers

    Figure 4-52 PCI information on YaST 4.4.9 Upgrading drivers Any update to the Linux installation should be done via the official support service provided from IBM and SUSE LINUX. To visit the xSeries support page, go to: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support Chapter 4. Installation...
  • Page 188 At the time of this writing, there was no official kernel update to support the new 64-bit chipset. The x455 will work in 64-bit native mode without any kernel patches. If IBM, SUSE LINUX, or Red Hat release any specific patch for the XA-64 chipset, you will find more information about how to upgrade your current kernel on the xSeries support page: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support...

  • Page 189: Chapter 5. Management

    “Management using the Remote Supervisor Adapter” on page 187 “Windows System Resource Manager” on page 196 Important: The available date for the IBM Director agent 64-bit (Windows and Linux) and SSM plug-in is first quarter 2004. Consequently, this chapter concentrates on out-of-band alerting and management through the Remote Supervisor Adapter.

  • Page 190: Ibm Director

    IBM Director Agent IBM Director Console The x455 needs only the IBM Director agent 64-bit to be managed and the features available for this agent are listed in “IBM Director support” on page 89. Note: This publication assumes that you are familiar with IBM Director. For...

  • Page 191: Scalable Systems Manager

    These static partitions are referred to as scalable partitions throughout the Scalable Systems Manager interface and documentation. The console component of Scalable Systems Manager is an extension to IBM Director that provides the following console tasks: Scalable Systems Configuration With this task you can view and manage scalable objects in a graphical user interface.
  • Page 192 Remote firmware update and access to critical server settings The functions and information made available by the Remote Supervisor Adapter can typically be accessed either in-band via IBM Director (via IBM Director Agent installed on the server), or via one of the out-of-band interfaces.

  • Page 193: Connecting Via A Web Browser

    There are three physical connections to the adapter for out-of-band management (that is, management without going through the operating system on the server), as shown in Figure 5-1 on page 178: Ethernet port, supporting TCP/IP connections Serial (COM) port, supporting null modem or PPP connections RS-485 ASM interconnect port, for connection to other service processors The adapter supports three user interfaces for out-of-band management: Web browser...
  • Page 194 10.We also recommend that you configure a static IP address for your Remote Supervisor Adapter. This will ensure that the adapter is still accessible from the network even when the DNS and DHCP servers are unavailable. This is described in the next section. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 195 Download this utility as part of the latest x455 Remote Supervisor Adapter firmware update from: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support Once you have downloaded it, you will need to copy it to a USB memory key (see “EFI tips and tricks” on page 102) or a CD-R, or copy it directly to the EFI system partition.
  • Page 196 15.When prompted, enter a valid user ID and password. By default, only one user ID is configured: – User ID: USERID (all caps) – Password: PASSW0RD (all caps and zero, not the letter O) IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 197 Important: We strongly recommend that you disable this default user ID and create new more secure user IDs before you put your server into production. Access to the Remote Supervisor Adapter should be carefully restricted. 16.Once you are connected, the main menu should appear. See Figure 5-3. Figure 5-3 Remote Supervisor Adapter Web interface Chapter 5.

  • Page 198: Connecting Via The Asm Interconnect

    Standard Cat5 Ethernet cable (not crossover) Follow the instructions that ship with the cable kit, or review the publication Implementing Systems Management Solutions using IBM Director, SG24-6188. Once you have connected the x455 Remote Supervisor Adapter to other service processors including another Remote Supervisor Adapter, do the following: 1.

  • Page 199: Installing The Device Driver

    Figure 5-4 Connecting remotely to the Remote Supervisor Adapter in the x455 4. Next to the x455 (IP address 192.168.1.1 in our example), click Login. If you click the IP address in that row, it connects to the adapter via its Ethernet port. 5.

  • Page 200: Configuring The Remote Control Password

    5. In the Enter New Remote Control Password field, enter the Remote Control password that you wish to use each time you log into the remote control features of the Remote Supervisor Adapter Web Interface. See Figure 5-5 on page 187. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 201: Management Using The Remote Supervisor Adapter

    Remote Supervisor Adapter” on page 177, you can then use the adapters to manage x455 by forwarding events to IBM Director. IBM Director can then be configured to act upon those events in a variety of ways (for example, by sending e-mail or a pager alert).

  • Page 202: Configuring Which Alerts To Monitor

    5.3.1 Configuring which alerts to monitor Before configuring the method of sending the alert to IBM Director, you should first define which events the Remote Supervisor Adapter is to send. To enable alerting on the Remote Supervisor Adapter, do the following: 1.
  • Page 203 These options are applicable only when the IBM Director Agent is installed on the x455. When the agent is installed and those options are selected, the events are sent to IBM Director agent and appear as sourced from the x455. Chapter 5. Management...

  • Page 204: Configuring Snmp

    Before alerts can be sent, you need to configure the adapter for SNMP so that IBM Director Server can discover and manage it. Note: We assume that you have already set up a system running IBM Director Server. If you need help configuring IBM Director, please see the...

  • Page 205: Sending Alerts Directly To Ibm Director

    Adapter you configured. You can choose to make this name more descriptive for your environment by right-clicking and choosing Rename. 7. Proceed to “Creating a test event action plan in IBM Director” on page 193 for instructions on how to verify the functionality of the Remote Supervisor Adapter.
  • Page 206 By default, this list is empty. Click an empty link (labeled ~not used~) to configure a remote recipient. 4. To configure IBM Director as a remote recipient, you will need to enter the following values. All fields not listed can be left in their default (blank) state:...

  • Page 207: Creating A Test Event Action Plan In Ibm Director

    IBM Director. Click and drag All Events to the event action plan you just created. This will add the filter to the action plan. The All Events filter will cause any event generated by the system to be reported to IBM Director, and is good for testing.
  • Page 208 Forwarding, continue with step 13. If you chose to configure your adapter using SNMP, jump to step 14. 13.In the IBM Director Console, click and drag your test event to your IBM Director Server system in the middle pane. See Figure 5-10 on page 195 for how your configuration should look.
  • Page 209 Figure 5-10 Completed configuration 14.In the IBM Director Console, click and drag your completed test configuration to the Remote Supervisor Adapter for the x455 located in the middle pane. 15.In either case, a pop-up window will appear notifying you that the event action plan has been added (Figure 5-11 on page 196).

  • Page 210: Windows System Resource Manager

    Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition WSRM is supplied on a separate CD as part of the operating system package and can be installed by inserting the CD and following the instructions. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 211: Wsrm Description

    Note: The WSRM utility also can be downloaded, in ISO (CD image) format, from: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/downloads/wsrm.mspx 5.4.1 WSRM description Is very common that customers run multiple production applications on one server. These applications often compete for system resources, such as processor and memory. When competition is highest among applications (during peak periods, for example), the applications that need, for business reasons, to have the most resources available to them often do not get this allocation, and performance suffers.

  • Page 212: Wsrm Features

    If it finds a match to the process, the process will then be managed according to the managing resource allocation policy with which it is associated, and rules specified in the resource allocation policy are applied. IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 213: Wsrm In The X455

    Resource allocation policies Resource allocation policies enables WSRM to specify the resource usage for a process. Before you use this feature you have to create a process matching criteria. The process matching criteria is then added to a resource allocation policy that then defines one or more resource allocations.
  • Page 214 Figure 5-14 Connect to the x455 IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 215: Abbreviations And Acronyms

    DIMM dual inline memory module International Electrotechnical Digital Linear Tape Commission Domain Name System instruction-level parallelism disk operating system interprocess communications DRDA Distributed Relational Database Itanium Processor Family Architecture industry standard architecture © Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved.
  • Page 216 RDIMM registered dual inline memory module WSRM Windows System Resource Manager Remote Deployment Manager zero insertion force RETAIN remote technical assistance information network Red Hat IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 217: Related Publications

    IBM Redbooks For information on ordering these publications, see “How to get IBM Redbooks” on page 208. Note that some of the documents referenced here may be available in softcopy only.

  • Page 218: Online Resources

    IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Hardware Maintenance Manual http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-53800.html IBM Eserver xSeries 455 FAQ Hints and Tips http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-53820.html Online resources These Web sites and URLs are also relevant as further information sources: IBM product information IBM Eserver xSeries 455 http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/eserver/xseries/x455.html Enterprise X-Architecture http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/eserver/xseries/xarchitecture/enterprise...
  • Page 219 IBM solution assurance http://w3.ibm.com/support/assure http://www.ibm.com/support/assure/esar RETAIN tip H18505, use of ServeRAID on IA-64 systems http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-53247.html Linux operating system installation instructions (IBM employees only) http://nosinfo.raleigh.ibm.com RETAIN tip H177072, differences between ServeRAID and LSI RAID-1 http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-46174.html ServeRAID driver downloads http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-495PES.html Intel Extensible Firmware Interface information http://www.intel.com/technology/efi...
  • Page 220 ServerProven support of SUSE LINUX products http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/suse.html Linux on IBM desktop PCs and notebooks http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-48NT8D.html IBM Storage Systems for Linux http://www.storage.ibm.com/linux The Linux Kernel Archives http://www.kernel.org System V UNIX ABI (Application Binary Interface) http://www.linuxbase.org/spec/refspecs/elf/gabi4+/contents.html IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 221 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/as UnitedLinux FAQ http://www.unitedlinux.com/en/info/faqs.html Conectiva Linux http://www.conectiva.com SCO Linux http://www.sco.com/products http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/thecscocgroup.html Turbolinux products http://www.turbolinux.com/products GNU Parted — modifying disk partitions and file systems http://www.gnu.org/software/parted ATI video driver support from The XFree86 Project http://www.xfree86.org/current/Status6.html#6 ATI video driver information http://mirror.ati.com/support/faq/linux.html...

  • Page 222: How To Get Ibm Redbooks

    You can search for, view, or download Redbooks, Redpapers, Hints and Tips, draft publications and Additional materials, as well as order hardcopy Redbooks or CD-ROMs, at this Web site: ibm.com/redbooks Help from IBM IBM Support and downloads ibm.com/support IBM Global Services ibm.com/services IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 223: Index

    44 database applications 46 device driver 185 Datacenter Solution Program 45 interconnect 184 DB2 Universal Database 48 AWE in 32-bit environments 47 DDR memory 12–13 diagnostics 121 updates 113 DIMMs © Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved.
  • Page 224 FS entries 96 shell 95 system partition 97, 147 tasks 92 Gigabit Ethernet 18, 64 TimeOut value 130 GPT disks 31, 137 Windows boot record 148 GUID Partition Table 31 EFI System Partition 33 IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 225 59 partitions 166 Red Hat Linux 160 RXE-100 172 IA-32 Execution Layer software driver 40 serial port use 171 IBM Datacenter Solution Program 45 SUSE LINUX 156 IBM Director 89, 176 Turbolinux 155 event action plans 193 UnitedLinux 154...
  • Page 226 71 supplies 27 connectivity options 21, 24, 72 power supplies 27 Linux 172 primary node 23, 26 slots 71 processor-board assembly LEDs 10 processors SAL updates 113 installation order 9, 56 scalability IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...
  • Page 227 cables 67 USB 2.0 ports 19 ports 23 multinode configuration 26 scalable partitions, configuring 131 USB Conversion Option 19 Scalable Systems Manager 89, 177 scan order, PCI 63 scrubbing, memory 15 video SCSI controller 19 configuring the controller 105 multinode configuration 26 multinode configuration 26 video adapters, not supported 63 ports 18...
  • Page 228 IBM Eserver xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide...

  • Page 232: Installation Guide

    Installation Guide The IBM ^ xSeries 455 is the second-generation Enterprise Describes the INTERNATIONAL X-Architecture server using the 64-bit IBM XA-64 chipset and the technical details of TECHNICAL Intel Itanium 2 processor. Unlike the x450, its predecessor, the x455 the new 64-bit server...

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