IBM BladeCenter

The IBM BladeCenter was IBM's blade server architecture, until was replaced by Flex System, and the x86 division was later sold to Lenovo in 2014.[1]

BladeCenter E front side: 8 blade servers (HS20) followed by 6 empty slots
BladeCenter E back side, showing on the left two FC switches and two Ethernet switches. On the right side a management module with console cables.
Magerit supercomputer (CeSViMa) has 86 Blade Centers (6 Blade Center E on each computing rack)

History

Introduced in 2002, based on engineering work started in 1999, the IBM BladeCenter was relatively late to the blade server market. It differed from prior offerings in that it offered a range of x86 Intel server processors and input/output (I/O) options. In February 2006, IBM introduced the BladeCenter H with switch capabilities for 10 Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand 4X.

A web site called Blade.org was available for the blade computing community through about 2009.[2]

In 2012 the replacement Flex System was introduced.

Versions

IBM BladeCenter (E)

The original IBM BladeCenter was later marketed as BladeCenter E[3] with 14 blade slots in 7U. 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 and included:

IBM BladeCenter T

BladeCenter T is the telecommunications company version[4] of the original IBM 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. Fits 14 blades in 9U. Backwards compatible with older BladeCenter switches and blades.

IBM BladeCenter HT

BladeCenter HT is the telecommunications company version[6] of the IBM 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 110 V power in the North American market, so it can be used outside the datacenter. When running at 120V, the total chassis capacity is reduced.

Intel based

Modules based on x86 processors from Intel.

HS12

(2008) Features

HS20

(2002-6) Features

Inside of IBM HS20 blade. Two 2.5 inch disk drive bays are unoccupied.

HS21

(2007-8) This blade model can use the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter.

Features

HS21 XM

(2007-8) This blade model can use the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter.

Features

HS22

(2009–11) Features

HS22v

(2010–11) Features are very similar to HS22 but:

HS23

(2012) Features

HS23E

(2012) Features:

HS40

(2004) Features

HC10

(2008) This blade model is targeted to the workstation market

Features

HX5

(2010–11) This blade model is targeted at the server virtualization market.

Features

AMD based

Modules based on x86 processors from AMD.

LS20

(2005-6) Features

LS21

(2006)

Inside of IBM LS21 blade. Small circuit board visible on the bottom right is an optional Fibre Channel daughter card.

This blade model can use the high-speed I/O of the BladeCenter H, but is also backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter.

Features:

LS22

(2008) Upgraded model of LS21.

Features:

LS41

(2006-7) This blade model can use the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter

Features

LS42

(2008-9) Upgraded model of LS41.

Features

Power based

Modules based on Power Architecture processors from IBM.

JS20

(2006) Features

JS21

(2006) This blade model can have the High-speed IO option of the BladeCenter H, but is backwards compatible with the regular BladeCenter

Features

JS22

(2009) Features

JS23

(2009) Features

JS43 Express

Features

JS12 Express

Features

PS700

Features

PS701

Features are very similar to PS700, but

PS702

Think two PS701 tied together back-to-back, forming a double-wide blade

PS703

Features are very similar to PS701, but

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

QS21

Features

QS22

Features

UltraSPARC based: 2BC

Themis computer announced a blade around 2008. It ran the Sun Solaris operating system from Sun Microsystems. Each module had one UltraSPARC T2 with 64 threads at 1.2  GHz and up to 32 GB of DDR2 SDRAM processor memory.[8]

Advanced network: PN41

Developed in conjunction with CloudShield, features [9]

Roadrunner TriBlade

A schematic description of the TriBlade 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 four PCIe x8 links to a LS21 module with 16 GB RAM, two links for each QS22. It also provides outside connectivity via an Infiniband 4x DDR adapter. This makes a total width of four slots for a single TriBlade. Three TriBlades fit into one BladeCenter H chassis.[10]

Switch modules

The BladeCenter can have a total of four switch modules, but two of the switch module bays can take only an Ethernet switche 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 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. 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.

Storage Area Network

A variety of SAN switch modules have been produced by QLogic, Cisco, McData (acquired by Brocade) and Brocade 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. 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.

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:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kunert, Paul (23 January 2014). "It was inevitable: Lenovo stumps up $2.3bn for IBM System x server biz". channelregister.co.uk. The Register. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Blade Server Information from Blade.org". Archived from the original on August 16, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  3. ↑ "IBM BladeCenter E chassis specifications". IBM. 2007-02-05.
  4. ↑ "IBM BladeCenter T chassis specifications". IBM. 2006-01-17.
  5. ↑ "IBM BladeCenter H chassis specifications". IBM. 2008-10-07.
  6. ↑ "IBM BladeCenter HT chassis specifications". IBM. 2008-01-26.
  7. ↑ "IBM BladeCenter S chassis specifications". IBM. 2008-10-07.
  8. ↑ "T2BC Blade Servers". Themis Computer. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  9. ↑ "IBM PN41 network blade". IBM. 2008-08-27.
  10. ↑ Ken Koch (March 13, 2008). "Roadrunner Platform Overview" (PDF). Los Alamos National Laboratory. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ Montoya, Susan (March 30, 2013). "End of the Line for Roadrunner Supercomputer". The Associated Press. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
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