IBM BladeCenter HX5

The IBM® BladeCenter® HX5 server is a blade server based on the fifth generation of the Enterprise X-Architecture®, delivering innovation with enhanced scalability, reliability, and availability features to enable optimal performance for databases, enterprise applications, and virtualized environments.

The IBM BladeCenter HX5 supports up to two processors, using latest "EX" generation of Intel Xeon processor E7 family. Two HX5 servers can be connected together for a high-performance single image with four processors and up to 1 TB of RAM in a blade form factor.

Suggested uses: Front-end and mid-tier applications requiring high performance (CPU, memory or I/O), enterprise-class availability, and extreme flexibility and power efficiency.

Figure 1 shows the IBM BladeCenter HX5 in the three scalable configurations.


Figure 1. IBM BladeCenter HX5
 

For applications that need to maximize available memory but that do not need four processors, a single HX5 server can be attached to a MAX5 memory expansion blade to form a single image with two processors and up to 1.25 TB of RAM. This level of processing and memory capacity is ideal for large-scale database or virtualization requirements.
 

The IBM BladeCenter HX5 is a scalable 2-to-4-socket blade server optimized for virtualization, consolidation, database, and ERP. It offers outstanding performance, and superior reliability and fault-tolerant memory characteristics.

IBM® has been designing and implementing servers under the X-Architecture® name since 2001. IBM eX5 technology represents the fifth generation of enterprise servers based on the same design principle IBM began with in 1997: to offer systems that are expandable, offer “big iron” reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features, with extremely competitive price/performance on an Intel Xeon processor-based system.

Scalability and performance

The BladeCenter HX5 offers numerous features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs:

• The HX5 supports up to two high-performance Intel Xeon E7 family allowing you to upgrade as business needs require.
• The server can be scaled to four processors by connecting two HX5 servers together to form a single system image; alternatively, extra memory can be added with the addition of the MAX5 memory expansion blade
• Supports the Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 families of high performance processors, up to 10 cores each, offering superior system performance
• Each HX5 scalable to 512 GB of memory internally or 1.25 TB of memory with the addition of the MAX5 memory expansion blade.
• Intel Turbo Boost Technology dynamically turns off unused processor cores and increases the clock speed of the cores in use, by up to three model frequencies. For example, with 7-10 cores active, a 2.4 GHz E7-2870 10-core processor can run the cores at up to 2.53 GHz. With 5-6 cores active, it can run those cores at 2.67 GHz; with only 1-4 cores active, it can run those cores at 2.8 GHz
• Each processor includes an integrated memory controller, to reduce memory bottlenecks and improve performance. Memory access is at up to 1066 MHz frequency, depending on the processor model and memory used.
• The MAX5 adds an additional memory controller to maximize memory parallelism and performance.
• In processors implementing Hyper-Threading technology, each core has two threads capable of running an independent process. Thus, a 10-core processor can run 20 threads concurrently.
• Intel’s Virtualization Technology (VT) integrates hardware-level virtualization hooks that allow operating system vendors to better utilize the hardware for virtualization workloads.
• Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology for processor-to-processor connectivity and Intel Scalable Memory Interconnect (SMI) processor-to-memory connectivity:
  • Intel QPI link topology at up to 6.4 Gbps with four QPI links per CPU
  • Intel SMI link topology at up to 6.4 Gbps with four SMI links per CPU
• The server has 16 DIMM sockets, plus an additional 24 DIMMs with an optional MAX5 memory expansion blade, for a total of 40 DIMM sockets.
• The use of solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of, or along with, traditional spinning drives (HDDs) can significantly improve I/O performance. An SSD can support up to 100 times more I/O operations per second (IOPS) than a typical HDD.
• Two optional 1.8-inch SSD bays for local booting and data storage.
• The HX5 scales to 12 I/O ports on a single-wide blade with integrated Gigabit Ethernet and optional Virtual Fabric expansion cards, offering the choice of Ethernet, Fibre Channel, SAS, iSCSI, and FCoE connectivity.

Availability and serviceability

The BladeCenter HX5 provides many features to simplify serviceability and increase system uptime:

• Support for machine check architecture (MCA) recovery, a feature of the Intel Xeon processor E7 family, which enables the handling of system errors that otherwise require the operating system to be halted. SAP HANA is one of the first application which leverages the MCA recovery to handle system errors in order to prevent the application from being terminated in case of a system error.
• Extensive memory protection with IBM Chipkill, and, with DIMMs containing x4 DRAM modules, Redundant Bit Steering (RBS) (also known as Double Device Data Correction or DDDC) is also supported. The combination of IBM Chipkill and RBS provides very robust memory protection that sustains to two sequential memory DRAM chip failures without affecting overall system performance.
• Redundant CPU-to-I/O hub interconnect links provide ability to self-recover from CPU failure. If primary CPU fails then eX5 systems can use the second CPU to boot the OS as they still have access to the integrated I/O devices because of redundant links between CPUs and I/O hubs.
• Dual independent power and signal connectors to the BladeCenter chassis midplane provide fault tolerance to increase uptime.
• Tool-less cover removal provides easy access to upgrades and serviceable parts, such as CPU, memory, and adapter cards.
• The server offers hot-swap drives supporting integrated RAID 1 redundancy for data protection and greater system uptime.
• The power source independent light path diagnostics panel and individual light path LEDs quickly lead the technician to failed (or failing) components. This simplifies servicing, speeds up problem resolution, and helps improve system availability.
• The Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) detects when system components (processors, memory, and hard disk drives) operate outside of standard thresholds and generates pro-active alerts in advance of possible failure, therefore increasing uptime.
• Solid-state drives (SSDs) offer significantly better reliability than traditional mechanical HDDs for greater uptime.
• Built-in Integrated Management Module (IMM) continuously monitors system parameters, triggers alerts, and performs recovering actions in case of failures to minimize downtime.
• Built-in diagnostics using Dynamic Systems Analysis (DSA) Preboot speeds up troubleshooting tasks to reduce service time.
• Three-year customer replaceable unit and onsite limited warranty, next business day 9x5. Optional service upgrades are available.

Manageability and security

Powerful systems management features simplify local and remote management of the BladeCenter HX5:

• The HX5 includes an Integrated Management Module (IMM) to monitor server availability and perform remote management.
• Integrated industry-standard Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) enables improved setup, configuration, and updates, and simplifies error handling.
• Integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 support enables advanced cryptographic functionality, such as digital signatures and remote attestation.
• IBM Systems Director is included for proactive systems management. It offers comprehensive systems management tools that help to increase up-time, reduce costs, and improve productivity through advanced server management capabilities.
• IBM Fabric Manager simplifies deployment of infrastructure connections by managing network and storage address assignments.
• IBM FastSetup simplifies, automates, and speeds up the deployment process from server power-up to production, making BladeCenter easier to manage, deploy, and maintain.

Energy efficiency

The BladeCenter HX5 offers the following energy-efficiency features to save energy, reduce operational costs, increase energy availability, and contribute to the green environment:

• Component-sharing design of the BladeCenter chassis provides ultimate power and cooling savings.
• The Intel Xeon processor E7 product family offers significantly better performance over the previous generation while fitting into the same thermal design power (TDP) limits.
• Intel Intelligent Power Capability powers individual processor elements on and off as needed, to reduce power draw.
• Low-voltage Intel Xeon processors draw less energy to satisfy demands of power and thermally constrained data centers and telecommunication environments.
• Low-voltage 1.35 V DDR3 memory RDIMMs consume 15% less energy than 1.5 V DDR3 RDIMMs.
• Solid state drives (SSDs) consume as much as 80% less power than traditional spinning 2.5-inch HDDs.
• The HX5 uses hexagonal ventilation holes, a part of IBM Calibrated Vectored Cooling™ technology. Hexagonal holes can be grouped more densely than round holes, providing more efficient airflow through the system.
• IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager™ provides advanced power management features with actual real-time energy monitoring, reporting, and capping features.

Figure 2 shows the inside of the server and indicates key components.


Figure 2. IBM BladeCenter HX5 (two nodes shown)

Figure 3 shows the internals of the MAX5 memory expansion blade. The MAX5 memory expansion blade is a device with the same dimensions as the HX5. When attached it adds an additional 24 DIMM sockets to the blade server.


Figure 3. MAX5 memory expansion blade