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4.3 Understanding scalability
The science behind the eX4 technology allows multiple x3950 M2 systems to
form a single scalable multinode system. Building such a complex is simply a
matter of connecting the nodes using scalability cables as described in 4.6,
"Cabling of multinode configurations" on page 209, we use the term
This is the requirement to prepare all hardware resources in all of these nodes
and assign then to one single system.
After multiple nodes are cabled together to form a multinode complex, the next
step is to define the single system image, a procedure called
result, all hardware resources of each node in a configured partition are bound to
the one system and are shown to the installed operating system as a single
system.
For example, consider a complex of four nodes. Your current production
environment might dictate that you configure the complex as a single two-node
partition plus two nodes as separately booting systems. As your business needs
change, you might have to reconfigure the complex to be a single three-node
complex with an extra single-node system, and then later, form one partition out
of all four nodes. A recabling in these circumstances is not required.
The new partitioning technology is managed by the Baseboard Management
Controller (BMC) firmware in the x3950 M2 systems and a ScaleXpander key is
required to enable the scalability features. This is different from the previous X3
generation of x3950 systems, which manages the partitioning by the Remote
Supervisor Adapter (RSA) II firmware.
Any RSA Adapter II in any x3950 M2 in this complex can be used to control the
partitions. The RSA II is necessary for configuration and management purposes,
and offers a very clear Web interface layout. Learn more about working with the
RSA2 Web interface by reading sections 4.7, "Configuring partitions" on
page 220 and 4.8, "Working with partitions" on page 228.
Because of the new scalability features that are included in the BMC firmware, a
disconnection of any RSA2 LAN interface does not affect the stability of your
production running multinode system. The BMC handles all instructions and
discovers the complex information through the scalability cables.
4.3.1 Complex Descriptor
Each BMC generates a
is detected by the local BMC in all systems in this complex. See Figure 4-2 on
page 200. All Complex Descriptor information is read by the RSA II firmware
unique
Complex Descriptor after the ScaleXpander chip
Chapter 4. Multinode hardware configurations
scalability
.
partitioning
. As a
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