The IBM BladeCenter was
IBM's
blade server architecture, until it was replaced by Flex System in 2012. The x86 division was later sold to
Lenovo
Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, business solutions, and related se ...
in 2014.
History
Introduced in 2002, based on engineering work started in 1999, the IBM
eServer BladeCenter was relatively late to the
blade server market. It differed from prior offerings in that it offered a range of x86
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...
server processors and input/output (I/O) options.
The naming was changed to IBM BladeCenter in 2005. In February 2006, IBM introduced the BladeCenter H with switch capabilities for
10 Gigabit Ethernet and
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X.
A web site called Blade.org was available for the blade computing community through about 2009.
In 2012, the replacement
Flex System
Flex or FLEX may refer to:
Computing
* Flex (language), developed by Alan Kay
* FLEX (operating system), a single-tasking operating system for the Motorola 6800
* FlexOS, an operating system developed by Digital Research
* FLEX (protocol), a comm ...
was introduced.
Enclosures
IBM BladeCenter (E)
The original IBM BladeCenter was later marketed as BladeCenter E. Power supplies have been upgraded through the life of the chassis from the original 1200 to 1400, 1800, 2000 and 2320 watt.
The BladeCenter (E) was co-developed by IBM and
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...
and included:
* 14 blade slots in 7U
* Shared Media tray with
Optical drive,
floppy drive and
USB 1.1 port
* 1 (upgradable to 2)
Management modules
* Two slots for Gigabit
Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in ...
switches (can also have optical or copper pass-through)
* Two slots for optional switch or pass-through modules, can have additional Ethernet,
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed data transfer protocol providing in-order, lossless delivery of raw block data. Fibre Channel is primarily used to connect computer data storage to servers in storage area networks (SAN) in commercial data c ...
,
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
or
Myrinet 2000 functions
*Power: Two (upgradable to four) power supplies,
C19/C20 connectors
* Two redundant high-speed blowers
IBM BladeCenter T
BladeCenter T is the
telecommunications company
A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...
version of the original BladeCenter, available with either AC or DC (48 V) power. Has 8 blade slots in 8U, but uses the same switches and blades as the regular BladeCenter E. To keep
NEBS Level 3 / ETSI compliant special Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) compliant blades are available.
IBM BladeCenter H
Upgraded BladeCenter design with high-speed fabric options, announced in 2006. Backwards compatible with older BladeCenter switches and blades. Features:
* 14 blade slots in 9U
* Shared Media tray with Optical drive and
USB 2.0 port
* 1 (upgradable to 2)
Advanced Management modules
* Two slots for Gigabit Ethernet switches (can also have optical or copper pass-through)
* Two slots for optional switch or pass-through modules, can have additional Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand or Myrinet 2000 functions
* Four slots for optional high-speed switches or pass-through modules, can have 10 Gbit Ethernet or InfiniBand 4X.
* Optional Hard-wired serial port capability
*Power: Two (upgradable to four) power supplies, with
Souriau UTG input connectors
* Two redundant high-speed blowers
IBM BladeCenter HT
BladeCenter HT is the telecommunications company version of the BladeCenter H, available with either AC or DC (48 V) power. Has 12 blade slots in 12U, but uses the same switches and blades as the regular BladeCenter H. But to keep
NEBS Level 3 / ETSI compliant special NEBS compliant blades are available.
IBM BladeCenter S
Targets mid-sized customers by offering storage inside the BladeCenter chassis, so no separate external storage needs to be purchased. It can also use 120V power in the North American market, so it can be used outside the datacenter. When running at 120V , the total chassis capacity is reduced. Features:
* 6 blade slots in 7U
* Shared Media tray with optical drive and 2×
USB 2.0 ports
* 1
Advanced Management module as standard (no option for secondary module)
* Storage: Up to 12 hot-swap 3.5" (or 24 2.5")
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
or
SATA
SATA (Serial AT Attachment) is a computer bus interface that connects host adapter, host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the earlier Parallel ATA (PATA) ...
drives with
RAID 0, 1, and 1E capability (RAID 5 and SAN capabilities optional with two SAS RAID controllers)
** Two optional Disk Storage Modules for HDDs, six 3.5" SAS/SATA drives each
* 4 hot-swap I/O switch module bays
* Power: Two 950/1450-watt, hot-swap modules and ability to have two optional 950/1450-watt modules, offering redundancy and power for robust configurations;
C19/C20 connectors
* Four hot-swap redundant blowers (plus one fan in each power supply)
Blade nodes list
Intel based
Modules based on
x86 processors from
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...
.
HS12
(2008) Features:
* Processor: Celeron single-core 445 to quad-core Intel Xeon up to 2.83GHz
* Memory: 6
DIMM slots (up to 24GB)
* Hot-swap drives
HS20
(2002–2006) Features:
* Processors: One or two Intel
Xeon DP (single or dual-core)
* Memory: 4
DIMM slots
* Option for one or two 2.5" drives (
ATA100,
SCSI U320 or
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) depending on generation)
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional ethernet, Myrinet 2000 or InfiniBand)
HS21
(2007–2008) This model can use the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards-compatible with the regular BladeCenter. Features:
* Processors: One or two Intel Xeon DP (dual or quad-core)
* Memory: 4
DIMM slots
* Option for one or two
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
2.5" drives
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet, Myrinet 2000 or InfiniBand)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10Gbit/s ethernet or InfiniBand 4X)
HS21 XM
(2007–2008) This model can use the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter. Features:
* Processors: One or two Intel Xeon DP (dual or quad-core)
* Memory: 8 DIMM slots
* Option for one
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
2.5" drive or one or two
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
-based Solid State drives
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10Gbit/s ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X as well as additional Fibre-Channel or ethernet ports)
HS22
(2009–2011) Features:
* Processors: One or two Intel Xeon 5500 or 5600 series (up to 3.6GHz 4-core or 3.46GHz 6-core)
* Memory: up to 192GB
DDR3 (12 VLP
DIMM slots)
* Option for two hot swap
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
2.5" drives or
SSD
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
(
RAID 0 and 1 are possible)
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports (Broadcom 5709S)
* 1
CIOv slot (standard
PCI-Express daughter card) and 1
CFFh slot (high-speed
PCI-Express daughter card) for a total of 8 ports of I/O to each blade, including 4 ports of high-speed I/O
* Requires Advanced Management Module
HS22v
(2010–2011) Features are very similar to HS22 but:
* Memory: up to 288GB DDR3 (18 VLP DIMM slots)
* Up to two 1.8" disks (SSD, not hot swapable)
* Requires Advanced Management Module
HS23
(2012) Features:
* Single-wide
* Processors: One or two Intel Xeon E5-2600
* Memory: 16 DIMM slots, up to 1600MHz
* 2 hot-swappable HDDs (SATA/SAS) or SSDs
* Dual 10G/1G Ethernet onboard expandable to
* Virtual Fabric / vNic's onboard
* Requires Advanced Management Module
HS23E
(2012) Features:
* Single-wide
* Processors: One or two Intel Xeon E5-2400
* Memory: 12 DIMM slots, up to 1600MHz
* 2 hot-swappable HDDs (SATA/SAS) or SSDs
* Dual Gigabit Ethernet onboard ports with TOE
* Requires Advanced Management Module
HS40
(2004) Features:
* Double-wide (needs 2 slots)
* Processors: One to four Intel Xeon MP
* Memory: (8
DIMM slots)
* Option for one or two ATA100 2.5" drives
* Four 1Gbit/s ethernet ports
* Two
expansion slots for up to four additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
HC10
(2008) This blade model is targeted to the workstation market, Features:
* Processor: Single Intel Core 2 Duo
* Memory: 8GB max (4
DIMM slots)
*
NVidia
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
video adapter
* One SATA 60GB HDD
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports
HX5
(2010–2011) This blade model is targeted at the server virtualization market. Features:
* Processors: 2 to 4 Intel E7, 6500 or 7500 series Xeon (410 cores per CPU, up to 2.67GHz)
* Memory: 256GB Max (16
DIMM slots); Expandable to 40 slots with a 24 DIMM MAX 5 memory blade (640GB total).
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports per blade
AMD based
Modules based on
x86 processors from
AMD.
LS20
(2005-2006) Features:
* Processors: One or two
AMD Opteron (single or dual-core)
* Memory: DDR (4 VLP
DIMM slots)
* Option for one or two SCSI U320 2.5" drives
* Two 1Gbit/s ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
LS21
(2006) This model can use the high-speed I/O of the BladeCenter H, but is also backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter. Features:
* Processors: One or two
AMD Opteron (dual-core), support 65nm Quad core after BIOS update (tested)
* Memory: up to 32GB of RAM (8
DIMM slots)
* Option for one
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
or SATA 2.5" drive
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre-Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10Gbit/s Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
LS22
(2008) Upgraded model of LS21. Features:
* Processors: One or two 45nm
AMD Opteron (quad or 6-core)
* Memory: up to 64GB of RAM (8
DIMM slots)
* Option for two
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
or SATA 2.5" drive
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre-Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10 Gbit Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
LS41
(2006–2007) This model can use the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter. Features:
* Double-wide (needs 2 slots)
* Processors: One to four
AMD Opteron (dual-core)
* Memory: up to 64GB of RAM (16
DIMM slots)
* Option for one or two
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
2.5" drives
* Four Gigabit Ethernet ports
* Two expansion slots for up to four additional ports (Fibre-Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10Gbit/s Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
* Data Storage Capacity ?
LS42
(2008–2009) Upgraded model of LS41. Features:
* Double-wide (needs 2 slots)
* Processors: One to 4
AMD Opteron (quad or 6-core)
* Memory: up to 128GB of RAM (16
DIMM slots)
* Option for one or two
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
2.5" drives
* Four Gigabit Ethernet ports
* Two expansion slots for up to four additional ports (Fibre-Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10Gbit/s Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
Power based
Modules based on
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple– IBM ...
- or
Power ISA-based processors from
IBM.
JS20
(2006) Features:
* Can run
AIX or
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
* Processors: Two
PowerPC 970 at 1.6 or 2.2 GHz
* Memory: 4
DIMM slots for PC2700 ECC (max 8 GB)
* Option for one or two ATA100 2.5" drives
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
JS21
(2006) This model can have the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter. Features:
* Can run
AIX or
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
** Can do
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, st ...
, with
Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) capabilities
* Processors: Two
PowerPC 970FX
The PowerPC 970, PowerPC 970FX, and PowerPC 970MP are 64-bit PowerPC processors from IBM introduced in 2002. When used in PowerPC-based Macintosh computers, Apple referred to them as the PowerPC G5.
The 970 family was created through a collab ...
single-core at 2.7 GHz or two
PowerPC 970MP dual-core at 2.5 GHz
* Memory: 4
DIMM slots for PC2-3200 or PC2-4200 ECC (max 16 GB)
* Option for one or two
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
2.5" drives
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet, Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10 Gbit Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
JS22
(2009) Features:
* Can run
IBM i,
AIX or
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
** Supports
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, st ...
, with
Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) and IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
* Processors: Two
POWER6 dual-core at 4.0 GHz
* Memory: 4
DIMM slots ECC Chipkill
DDR2 SDRAM (max 32 GB)
* One 2.5"
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
drive up to 146 GB
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports card
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10 Gbit Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
JS23
(2009) Features:
* Can run
IBM i,
AIX or
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
** Supports
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, st ...
, with
Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) and IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
* Processors: Two
POWER6 dual-core at 4.2 GHz
** 64 MB
L3 cache (32 per processor)
* Memory: 4
DIMM slots ECC Chipkill
DDR2 SDRAM (max 64 GB)
* One 2.5"
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
up to 300 GB or one
SSD
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
drive
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports card
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10 Gbit Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
* One CIOv PCIe expansion slot
JS43 Express
Features:
* Double-wide
*Can run
IBM i,
AIX or
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
** Supports
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, st ...
, with
Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) and IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
* Processors: 4
POWER6 dual-core at 4.2 GHz
** 128 MB
L3 cache (32 per processor)
* Memory: 8
DIMM slots ECC Chipkill
DDR2 SDRAM (max 128 GB)
* Up to two 2.5"
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
(up to 300 GB) or up to two
SSD
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
drives
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports card
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10 Gbit Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
* Two PCIe CIOv expansion slots
JS12 Express
Features:
* Can run
IBM i,
AIX or
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
** Supports
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, st ...
, with
Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) and IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
* Processor: One
POWER6 dual-core at 3.8 GHz
* Memory: 8
DIMM slots ECC Chipkill
DDR2 SDRAM (max 64 GB)
* Zero to two 2.5"
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
drive up to 146 GB
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports, with optionan dual Gbit card
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre-Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (4 Gbit/s Fibre Channel,
iSCSI
Internet Small Computer Systems Interface or iSCSI ( ) is an Internet Protocol-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. iSCSI provides block-level access to storage devices by carrying SCSI commands over a TCP/I ...
, or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
PS700
Branded as part of
IBM Power Systems. Features:
* Can run
IBM i,
AIX or
Linux on Power
** Can do
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, st ...
, with
Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) capabilities.
* Processor: One
POWER7 quad-core at 3 GHz
* Memory: max 64 GB
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports, with optionan dual Gbit card
PS701
Features are very similar to
PS700, but
* Processor: 8-core
* Memory: max 128 GB
PS702
Think two
PS701 tied together back-to-back, forming a double-wide blade
PS703
Features are very similar to
PS701, but
* Processors: Two 8-core at 2.4 GHz
PS704
Think two
PS703 tied together back-to-back, forming a double-wide blade.
Cell based
Modules based on
Cell processors from
IBM.
QS20
Features:
* Double-wide (needs 2 slots)
* Can run
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
* Processors: Two
Cell processors at 3.2 GHz
* Memory: 1 GB XDRAM (512 MB per processor)
* 40 GB IDE100 2.5" drive
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* Optional
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X connectivity
QS21
Features:
* Single-wide
* Can run
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
* Processors: Two
Cell processors at 3.2 GHz
* Memory: 2 GB (1 GB per processor)
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* One expansion slot for up to two additional ports (Fibre-Channel storage, additional Ethernet,
Myrinet 2000 or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
)
* One High-speed expansion slot for up to two additional ports (10 Gbit Ethernet or
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X)
QS22
Features:
* Single-wide
* Can run
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
* Processors: Two
PowerXCell 8i at 3.2 GHz
* Memory: Up to 32 GB of
DDR2 SDRAM
* Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
* Expansion slots for
SAS
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
daughter card,
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4X DDR daughter card and 8 GB uFDM Flash Drive
UltraSPARC based: 2BC
Themis computer announced a blade around 2008.
It ran the Sun
Solaris operating system
Solaris is a proprietary Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems. After the Sun acquisition by Oracle in 2010, it was renamed Oracle Solaris.
Solaris superseded the company's earlier SunOS in 1993, and became known for it ...
from
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...
.
Each module had one
UltraSPARC T2 with 64 threads at 1.2 GHz and up to 32 GB of
DDR2 SDRAM processor memory.
Advanced network: PN41
Developed in conjunction with CloudShield, features:
* Single-wide
* Processor: Intel IXP2805 network processor
* Full payload screening with
deep packet inspection (DPI)
* Full Layer 7 processing and control
* User programmability using
Eclipse-based IDE and RAVE open development language
* Quad 1 Gbit + quad 10 Gbit Ethernet controllers
* Up to 20 Gbit/s DPI throughput per blade
* Selective traffic capture, rewrite and redirect
* Has LAN and WAN Interfaces
Modules
Switch modules
The BladeCenter can have a total of four switch modules, but two of the switch module bays can take only an Ethernet switch or Ethernet pass-though. To use the other switch module bays, a daughtercard needs to be installed on each blade that needs it, to provide the required
SAN, Ethernet,
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
or
Myrinet function. Mixing of different type daughtercards in the same BladeCenter chassis is not allowed.
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet switch modules were produced by IBM,
Nortel, and
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
.
BLADE Network Technologies produced some switches, and later was purchased by IBM.
In all cases speed internal to the BladeCenter, between the blades, is non-blocking. External Gigabit Ethernet ports vary from four to six and can be either copper or
optical fiber
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparency and translucency, transparent fiber made by Drawing (manufacturing), drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a Hair ...
.
Storage Area Network
A variety of SAN switch modules have been produced by
QLogic,
Cisco,
McData
Brocade is an American technology company specializing in storage networking products, now a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc. The company is known for its Fibre Channel storage networking products and technology. Prior to the acquisition, the compan ...
(acquired by Brocade) and
Brocade
Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word " broccoli", comes from Italian ''broccato'' meaning "em ...
ranging in speeds of 1, 2, 4 and 8 Gbit Fibre Channel. Speed from the
SAN switch to the blade is determined by the lowest-common-denominator between the blade HBA daughtercard and the
SAN switch. External port counts vary from two to six, depending on the switch module.
InfiniBand
A InfiniBand switch module has been produced by
Cisco. Speed from the blade InfiniBand daughtercard to the switch is limited to IB 1X (2.5 Gbit). Externally the switch has one IB 4X and one IB 12X port. The IB 12X port can be split to three IB 4X ports, giving a total of four IB 4X ports and a total theoretical external bandwidth of 40 Gbit.
Pass-through
Two kinds of pass-through module are available: copper pass-through and fibre pass-through. The copper pass-through can be used only with Ethernet, while the Fibre pass-through can be used for Ethernet,
SAN or
Myrinet.
Bridge
Bridge modules are only compatible with BladeCenter H and BladeCenter HT. They function like Ethernet or
SAN switches and bridge the traffic to
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
. The advantage is that from the Operating System on the blade everything seems normal (regular Ethernet or
SAN connectivity), but inside the BladeCenter everything gets routed over the
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
.
High-speed switch modules
High-speed switch modules are compatible only with the BladeCenter H and BladeCenter HT. A blade that needs the function must have a high-speed daughtercard installed. Different high-speed daughtercards cannot be mixed in the same BladeCenter chassis.
10 Gigabit Ethernet
A 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch module was available from BLADE Network Technologies. This allowed 10 Gbit/s connection to each blade, and to outside the BladeCenter.
InfiniBand 4X
There are several InfiniBand options:
* A high-speed InfiniBand 4X SDR switch module from
Cisco. This allows IB 4X connectivity to each blade. Externally the switch has two IB 4X ports and two IB 12X ports. The 12X ports can be split to three 4X ports, providing a total of eight IB 4X ports or a theoretical bandwidth of 80 Gbit. Internally between the blades, the switch is non-blocking.
* A High-speed
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
pass-through module to directly connect the blades to an external
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
switch. This pass-though module is compatible with both SDR and DDR
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
speeds.
* A high-speed InfiniBand 4X QDR switch module from Voltaire (later acquired by
Mellanox Technologies). This allows full IB 4X QDR connectivity to each blade. Externally the switch has 16 QSFP ports, all 4X QDR capable.
Roadrunner TriBlade (custom module)
The
IBM Roadrunner supercomputer used a custom module called the TriBlade from 2008 through 2013. An expansion blade connects two QS22 modules with 8 GB RAM each via 4
PCIe x8 links to a LS21 module with 16 GB RAM, two links for each QS22. It also provides outside connectivity via an
Infiniband
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also us ...
4x DDR adapter. This makes a total width of four slots for a single TriBlade. Three TriBlades fit into one
BladeCenter H chassis.
See also
*
BladeCenter Extension (zBX)
* Based on BladeCenter
supercomputers:
** The
IBM Roadrunner was implemented with BladeCenter components from 2008 through 2013
** All supercomputers of
Spanish Supercomputing Network; This includes
Magerit and
Marenostrum (the two most powerful supercomputers of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
) and 6 small supercomputers.
**
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the a ...
Supercomputing Center employs the BladeCenter
*
Weta Digital uses BladeCenter to render ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...
'' and other films
*
Aquasar — watercooled BladeCenter prototype
References
External links
IBM BladeCenter homepageLenovo Press- replaced IBM Redbooks for Bladecenter
BladeCenter HS23 (E5-2600) Product GuideLenovo BladeCenter E Product Guide - Lenovo PressInstalling VMware vSphere 5.5 on IBM BladeCenter H22*
ttps://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/servers/server-products.html Intel Server Productsbr>
x4live.com - Latest News and Links on Modular System x, Modular BladeCenter and Systems ManagementIBM's Online Server Configuratorcoreipm.com - Board Management Controller (BMC) firmware & other information for building BladeCenter compatible blades
{{IBM midrange computers
BladeCenter
BladeCenter
Cell BE architecture
Blade servers
Computer-related introductions in 2002