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HMC
The Hardware Management Console is a system that controls managed systems, including
IBM Sserver hardware, logical partitions, and Capacity on Demand. To provide flexibility and
availability, there are different ways to implement HMCs, including the local HMC, remote
HMC, redundant HMC, and the Web-based System Manager Remote Client.
Local HMC
This is a local HMC is any physical HMC that is directly connected to the system it manages
through a private service network. An HMC in a private service network is a DHCP
from which the managed system obtains the address for its firmware. Additional local HMCs
in your private service network are DHCP clients.
Remote HMC
A stand-alone HMC or an HMC installed in a rack that is used to remotely access another
HMC. A remote HMC may be present in an open network.
Redundant HMC
A redundant HMC manages a system that is already managed by another HMC. When two
HMCs manage one system, those HMCs are peers and can be used simultaneously to
manage the system. The redundant HMC in your private service network is usually a DHCP
client.
Web-based System Manager remote client
The Web-based System Manager Remote Client is an application that is usually installed on
a PC. You can then use this PC to access other HMCs remotely. Web-based System
Manager Remote Clients can be present in private and open networks. You can perform most
management tasks using the Web-based System Manager Remote Client.
The remote HMC and the Web-based System Manager Remote Client allow you the flexibility
to access your managed systems (including HMCs) from multiple locations using multiple
HMCs.
For more detailed information about usage of the HMC please refer to the IBM Sserver
Hardware Information Center.
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver/v1r2s/en_US/index.htm?info/iphau/us
ingsms.htm
Open Firmware
An IBM Sserver p5 and OpenPower servers have one instance of Open Firmware, both
when in the partitioned environment and when running as a full system partition. Open
Firmware has access to all devices and data in the system. Open Firmware is started when
the system goes through a power-on reset. Open Firmware, which runs in addition to the
Hypervisor in a partitioned environment, runs in two modes: Global and partition. Each mode
of Open Firmware shares the same firmware binary that is stored in the flash memory.
In a partitioned environment, Open Firmware runs on top of the global Open Firmware
instance. The partition Open Firmware is started when a partition is activated. Each partition
has its own instance of Open Firmware and has access to all the devices assigned to that
partition. However, each instance of Open Firmware has no access to devices outside of the
partition in which it runs. Partition firmware resides within the partition memory and is
replaced when Linux takes control. Partition firmware is needed only for the time that is
necessary to load Linux into the partition system memory.
5
DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Control Protocol.
Chapter 2. Architecture and technical overview
5
server
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