Working With A Scalable Blade Complex - Lenovo BladeCenter HX5 7873 Problem Determination And Service Manual

Working with a scalable blade complex

You can assemble two BladeCenter HX5 blade servers together to create a scalable blade complex.
A scalable blade complex supports the following implementation modes:
• Single partition. The complex functions as a single server that contains up to four multi-core processors
and up to 32 DIMMs. When the complex is implemented as a single hardware partition, the leftmost blade
server (as installed in a BladeCenter chassis) is called the primary blade server. The blade server on the
right is called the secondary blade server.
Secondary
blade
Primary
server
blade
server
• Multiple partitions (independent partitions). The blade servers are combined into a scalable blade
complex, but each of the blade servers is set up as a single partition.
• Stand-alone mode. The blade servers operate independently.
Important: If you install the primary blade server of a scalable blade complex in blade server bay 7 of a
BladeCenter H Type 8852 chassis, the secondary blade server is installed in blade server bay 8. The primary
blade server receives power from power domain 1 of the chassis and the secondary blade server receives
power from power domain 2 of the chassis. The following situations can occur if there is a power loss to
either power domain, depending on how the scalable blade complex is implemented:
• If the scalable blade complex is implemented in single partition mode, a loss of power to power domain 1
or power domain 2 results in both blade servers in the scalable blade complex going down.
• If the scalable blade complex is implemented in stand-alone mode, a loss of power to power domain 1
results in the entire scalable blade complex going down. A loss of power to power domain 2 results in the
blade server installed in blade server bay 8 going down, but the blade server installed in blade server bay
7 continues to function.
With FlexNode processing, you can toggle between single partition mode and stand-alone mode without
having to modify the physical setup of the blade servers. To toggle between modes, use the advanced
management module web interface.
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BladeCenter HX5 Blade ServerProblem Determination and Service Guide