IBM PureFlex System and IBM Flex System Products and Technology

230 IBM PureFlex System and IBM Flex System Products and Technology

RAID array through the smit sasdam command, which is the SAS RAID Disk Array Manager

for AIX.

The AIX Disk Array Manager is packaged with the Diagnostics utilities on the Diagnostics CD.

Use smit sasdam to configure the disk drives for use with the SAS controller. The diagnostics

CD can be downloaded in ISO file format at:

http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/diags/download/

For more information, see “Using the Disk Array Manager” in the Systems Hardware

Information Center at:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/scope/hw/index.jsp?topic=/p7ebj/s

asusingthesasdiskarraymanager.htm

5.5.12 I/O expansion

The networking subsystem of the IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis is designed to provide

increased bandwidth and flexibility. The new design also allows for more ports on the

available expansion adapters, which allows for greater flexibility and efficiency with your

system design.

I/O adapter slots

There are four I/O adapter slots on the IBM Flex System p460 Compute Node. Unlike IBM

BladeCenter, the I/O adapter slots on IBM Flex System nodes are identical in shape (form

factor). Also, the I/O adapters for the p460 have their own connector that plugs into the IBM

Flex System Enterprise Chassis midplane.

Tip: Depending on your RAID configuration, you might have to create the array before you

install the operating system in the compute node. Before creating a RAID array, reformat

the drives so that the sector size of the drives changes from 512 bytes to 528 bytes.

If you later decide to remove the drives, delete the RAID array before you remove the

drives. If you decide to delete the RAID array and reuse the drives, you might need to

reformat the drives. Change the sector size of the drives from 528 bytes to 512 bytes.

Restriction: There is no onboard network capability in the Power Systems compute nodes

other than the FSP NIC interface.

All p260, p24L, and p460 configurations must include a 10 Gb (#1762) or 1 Gb (#1763)

Ethernet adapter in slot 1 of the compute node.

231

A typical I/O adapter card is shown in Figure 5-58.

Figure 5-58 The underside of the IBM Flex System EN2024 4-port 1 Gb Ethernet Adapter

Note the large connector, which plugs into one of the I/O adapter slots on the system board.

Also, notice that it has its own connection to the midplane of the Enterprise Chassis. Several

of the expansion cards connect directly to the midplane such as the CFFh and HSSF form

factors. Others such as the CIOv, CFFv, SFF, and StFF form factors do not.

PCI hubs

The I/O is controlled by four P7-IOC I/O controller hub chips. This configuration provides

additional flexibility when assigning resources within the VIOS to specific Virtual

Machine/LPARs.

Available adapters

Table 5-61 shows the available I/O adapter cards for the p460. All p260, p24L, and p460

configurations must include a 10 Gb (#1762) or 1 Gb (#1763) Ethernet adapter in slot 1 of the

compute node.

Table 5-61 Supported I/O adapters for the p460

Feature

code

Part

Number

Description

1762

a

a. At least one 10 Gb (#1762) or 1 Gb (#1763) Ethernet adapter must be configured in each

server.

81Y3124 IBM Flex System EN4054 4-port 10 Gb Ethernet Adapter

1763

a

49Y7900 IBM Flex System EN2024 4-port 1 Gb Ethernet Adapter

1764 69Y1938 IBM Flex System FC3172 2-port 8 Gb FC Adapter

1761 90Y0134 IBM Flex System IB6132 2-port QDR InfiniBand Adapter

PCIe

connector

Guide block to

ensure correct

installation

Midplane

connector

Adapters share a

common size

(100 mm x 80 mm)