Managing HP BladeSystem c-Class systems

technology brief, 2nd edition

Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2
HP BladeSystem c-Class Enclosure ......................................................................................................... 2
HP Onboard Administrator ................................................................................................................... 3
Insight Display ................................................................................................................................. 4
Configuring the enclosure.............................................................................................................. 4
Communicating with local technicians............................................................................................. 6
Configuration logic .......................................................................................................................... 7
Role-based user accounts .................................................................................................................. 8
Thermal Logic management............................................................................................................... 8
Power logic management.................................................................................................................. 9
Enclosure bay IP addressing ............................................................................................................ 11
Onboard Administrator graphical user interface ................................................................................ 12
Onboard Administrator command line interface................................................................................. 12
c3000 KVM Module ...................................................................................................................... 13
HP Virtual Connect architecture ........................................................................................................... 14
Virtual Connect Manager................................................................................................................ 16
Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager ................................................................................................. 17
HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem .................................................................................... 19
BladeSystem management interface ................................................................................................. 21
Performance management and bottleneck analysis............................................................................. 21
Consolidated vulnerability and patch management ............................................................................ 21
Rapid Deployment Pack .................................................................................................................. 21
Virtual Machine Management Pack .................................................................................................. 22
HP Insight Control Environment for Linux............................................................................................... 22
HP Insight Dynamics–VSE ................................................................................................................... 23
The logical server........................................................................................................................... 24
Real-time capacity planning............................................................................................................. 25
Unified control ............................................................................................................................... 25
HP Server Migration Pack–Universal Edition ...................................................................................... 26
HP Integrated Lights-Out 2 .................................................................................................................. 26
iLO 2 Standard Blade Edition .......................................................................................................... 27
iLO Select Pack .............................................................................................................................. 27
For more information.......................................................................................................................... 28
Call to action .................................................................................................................................... 28
Abstract
The HP BladeSystem c-Class consolidates power, cooling, connectivity, redundancy, and security into
a modular, self-tuning, flexible infrastructure. Embedded management capabilities provide simple
control interfaces. Management software monitors the infrastructure to streamline operations and
increase productivity. The complete solution manages all components of the infrastructure as one
system, saving administrators’ time and ensuring high quality service levels.
This technology brief describes the HP management technologies and how they work within the HP
BladeSystem c-Class Enclosure to deliver an adaptive infrastructure for next-generation data centers.
Specifically, the brief describes the following technologies:

• HP Onboard Administrator for BladeSystem c-Class simplifies enclosure setup and provides
integrated enclosure management, including power and cooling.
• Virtual Connect simplifies server connectivity to LANs and SANs, enables server workload mobility,
reduces infrastructure costs and helps IT administrators work smarter. Virtual Connect also provides
an infrastructure foundation for Insight Dynamics-–VSE
• HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem leverages HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM)
and ProLiant Essentials software, the same tools used to manage HP ProLiant servers.
• HP Insight Control Environment for Linux provides Linux-optimized management and deployment
capabilities for HP BladeSystem c-Class.
• HP Insight Dynamics–VSE further extends Insight Control for advanced planning and optimizing the
BladeSystem environment.
• HP Integrated Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) provides remote administration with virtual keyboard, video, and
mouse (KVM) access. The iLO Select Pack provides enhanced remote management with shared
remote console, record/playback options, power usage capping, and virtual folders.

Introduction
As demands for IT efficiency and responsiveness increase, simplifying system management becomes
increasingly critical. The complexity, high costs, and inflexibility of a conventional IT infrastructure are
the direct result of the static and hardwired way it is built, the silos it creates, and the increasingly
sluggish management processes behind it. With increasing complexity and manual coordination
between the server, Local Area Network (LAN), and Storage Area Network (SAN), what should be a
simple, 30-minute process for administrators—such as deploying a new server—can turn into a week-
long ordeal. HP continues to aggressively develop powerful new management technologies that give
system administrators access and control of ProLiant servers and ProLiant server clusters located
anywhere. This paper describes HP BladeSystem c-Class management technologies.

HP BladeSystem c-Class Enclosure

HP offers two versatile c-Class enclosure models: the HP BladeSystem c7000 1 and the HP
BladeSystem c3000 2 . The c7000 (Figure 1) provides sixteen device bays and eight interconnect
modules in a 10U rack-mount configuration. The c3000 (Figure 2) provides eight device bays and

1
More information about the BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure is available in the paper “HP BladeSystem c7000
Enclosure” at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00816246/c00816246.pdf.
2
More information about the BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure is available in the paper” HP BladeSystem c3000
Enclosure technologies” at
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01508406/c01508406.pdf.

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four interconnect modules in a 6U rack-mount or tower configuration. Both enclosure models also
include the Onboard Administrator (OA) and the Insight Display diagnostic LCD panel.

Figure 1. Front and rear view of an HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure

The c7000 enclosure offers options for an external Digital Video Disc (DVD) feature and a redundant
Onboard Administrator module. In the c7000 enclosure, the Onboard Administrator modules are
located in a tray immediately above the bottom row of fans on the rear of the enclosure.
The c3000 enclosure optionally supports DVD functionality (either internal or external) to connect
Compact Disk (CD) or DVD media to all servers in the enclosure using the Onboard Administrator. An
optional KVM module is available for the c3000. It allows easy access to any of the server video
consoles or to the Onboard Administrator by connecting to a VGA monitor and USB keyboard and
mouse.

Figure 2. Front and rear view of an HP BladeSystem c3000 enclosure

HP Onboard Administrator
The Onboard Administrator provides a management network for all management devices inside the
enclosure. These devices include the HP iLO 2 management processor on each server blade,
interconnect module management ports (including Virtual Connect), and the Onboard Administrator.
The Onboard Administrator is the terminating point for all interconnect bays. The I/O infrastructure
carries the management signals from each bay to the Onboard Administrator modules. Management
signals are completely isolated from the high-speed server-to-interconnect signals. An interconnect
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module cannot use the connection to the Onboard Administrator to communicate with another
interconnect module.
Customers using the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure have the option of installing a second OA
board to act as a redundant controller in an active-standby mode. The OA modules communicate with
the iLO 2 management processors on each server blade to form the core of the management
architecture for HP BladeSystem c-Class.

IT technicians and administrators have four ways to access the OA:

• An Insight Display screen on each HP BladeSystem c-Class Enclosure provides ready access for
quick setup and daily maintenance.
• The web graphical user interface (GUI) uses event-driven, push technology. No screen refresh is
necessary to view failures or events. If an event occurs, its status is pushed to the web GUI
immediately. The web GUI provides seamless integration with OpenView, Insight Control
Environment for BladeSystem, and Insight Control Environment for Linux.
• The Command Line Interface (CLI) provides command line and scripting interfaces.
• The optional c3000 KVM module provides Onboard Administrator CLI, Insight Display, and KVM
console connections to all server blades in an enclosure for control of server power, connectivity to
the enclosure DVD, and server-embedded health status.

Insight Display
The Insight Display, shown in Figure 3, is an ever-ready, enclosure-mounted information exchange
device with access to all Onboard Administrator setup, management, and troubleshooting features. It
provides a quick and easy method for initially configuring the enclosure. It also provides information
about the health and operation of the enclosure.

Figure 3. BladeSystem c-Class Insight Display and Main Menu

Configuring the enclosure

When the enclosure is powered up for the first time, the Onboard Administrator launches an
installation wizard to guide an IT technician through the configuration process. Once the enclosure is
configured, the technician can review the configuration on the Insight Display to verify that there are
no installation or configuration errors.

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The Insight Display simplifies initial enclosure setup, facilitates local administration, and provides PIN-
based security. The Main Menu screen, depicted in Figure 3, provides access to the Initial Setup
Installation Wizard, Enclosure Management, Power Management, and HP BladeSystem Diagnostics.
The Enclosure Health icon on the bottom left corner of every screen indicates the health condition of
the enclosure.

The background color of the Insight Display varies with the health condition of the enclosure:
• Green—The enclosure is operating normally. No error or alert conditions exist.
• Blue—In configuration mode. The Insight Display is addressing a specific enclosure. The enclosure
unit identification (UID) light is automatically turned on when the enclosure is powered up for the
first time. The UID light and can be turned off or on from the Main Menu or by pressing the
enclosure UID button in the rear of each enclosure.
• Amber—An error or alert condition exists. If the enclosure UID is on and an error or alert condition
exists, the Insight Display illuminates blue because the enclosure UID takes priority over the alert.
• Dark—The Insight Display has a two-minute inactivity screen saver. If no action is taken and no alert
condition exists, the screen light turns off after two minutes. If an alert occurs after the screen saver
is activated, the screen backlight begins blinking. Pressing any button on the Insight Display will
reactivate the screen.

The Enclosure Settings and the Enclosure Info screens (Figure 4) provide access to management and
configuration capability and concise views of status information, respectively.

Figure 4. Illustration of the BladeSystem c-Class Insight Display Enclosure Settings and Enclosure Info screens

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Communicating with local technicians
The Insight Display menu provides a View User Note item (Figure 5). Administrators can use this
feature to alert personnel about a specific situation or to provide important information. For example,
administrators can use this screen to display helpful information such as contact phone.

Figure 5. Illustration of Insight Display view user note feature

Additionally, the Insight Display provides a Chat Mode (similar to instant messaging) for bidirectional
communication between the Insight Display user and a remote administrator using the OA web GUI
as illustrated in Figure 6. The remote administrator can use the Chat Mode to communicate with an
onsite service person about what needs to be done in this enclosure. Figure 6 shows that an
administrator has instructed the service person to check the Blade 3 Mezz 2 Port 1 connection. The
chat dialog box to the right of the display indicates that the message has been sent to the Insight
Display in the enclosure.

In response to the administrator’s message in Figure 6, the Insight Display on the c-Class enclosure
shows the chat screen illustrated in Figure 7. The technician can leave this screen and use other
Insight Display screens such as Blade and Port Info to determine which interconnect module and port
need to be checked, and then return to this screen from the Main Menu to enter a response. This
feature can dramatically reduce the time needed to successfully service a problem, particularly in data
centers that do not permit cellular phone operation.

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Figure 6. BladeSystem c-Class web GUI initiated Insight Display Chat

Figure 7. BladeSystem c-Class Insight Display Chat

Configuration logic
One of the major advantages of the HP BladeSystem c-Class is its flexibility in allowing customers to
configure the system in any way they desire. To assist the IT administrator in the configuration and
setup process, the Onboard Administrator verifies the following attributes for each blade and
interconnect module as they are added to the enclosure:
• Configuration—The OA automatically queries all the field replaceable unit (FRU) data for each
server, including mezzanine cards. The OA compares this information to the installed interconnect
modules to ensure that the I/O fabric types match. If they do not, the OA issues a warning on the
Insight Display with suggested corrective action. Typically the corrective action will be to move a
server mezzanine card to a different slot.
• Power—The OA ensures that there is sufficient power available to power up a server blade or
interconnect module.

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• Cooling—The OA makes sure there is sufficient cooling capacity for the server blade or
interconnect module.
• Location—If the enclosure is not fully populated, the OA makes sure that server blades, storage
blades, Active Cool fans, and power supplies are in the correct locations to receive the proper
cooling and to support the chosen power configuration. For example, if the administrator is
installing only two server blades, they must be in bays 1, 2, 9, or 10. Similarly, fans must go into
bays 4, 5, 9, and 10.
• Device—The OA indicates device failure or degraded health. Typically the corrective action will be
to replace a failed device.

The configuration logic powers up the interconnect modules first. The server blade is not powered up
until the Onboard Administrator has verified that the configuration is correct. If there is a configuration
issue, the Insight Display indicates what the issue is and possible remedies.

Role-based user accounts

The Onboard Administrator generates user accounts that can be configured to permit access to
information and control of specific device bays. User accounts can be configured to isolate multiple
administrative roles, each with different privilege levels:
• Administrator role can create or edit all user accounts in an enclosure.
• Operator role has full information access and control of permitted bays.
• User role has information access but no control capability.

The Onboard Administrator requires that users log in to the web GUI or CLI with an account and
password. The account can be a local account with the password stored on the Onboard
Administrator. Or the account can be a Lightweight-Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) account, where
the OA contacts the defined LDAP server to check user credentials.

Two-factor authentication provides tight security for the user management session to the OA. Rather
than requiring separate logins to multiple resources (to each enclosure or iLO 2 management
processor), the Onboard Administrator allows single-point access. Thus, the administrator can use a
single sign-on process to log in to the Onboard Administrator. Then the administrator can use the web
GUI to graphically view and manage the HP BladeSystem c-Class components within up to four linked
enclosures. For example, an IT administrator could automatically propagate management
commands—such as changing the enclosure power mode—throughout the linked enclosures.

Thermal Logic management

The Onboard Administrator retrieves thermal information from all of the server blades, power
supplies, Active Cool fans, and interconnect modules in the enclosure. In a c7000 Enclosure filled
with 16 half-height server blades, more than 150 temperature sensors provide data for maintaining
an optimal balance among cooling, acoustic levels, and power consumption. If the thermal load of an
enclosure increases, the Onboard Administrator’s Thermal Logic features instruct the Active Cool fan
controllers to increase fan speeds to accommodate the additional demand.
Zone cooling is a Thermal Logic feature that minimizes power for the fan subsystem by varying the
fan speed in up to four zones to match the specific cooling needs of the server blades instead of
simply running all fans at the same speed.
Fan speed can be adjusted to reduce noise and power consumption and to compensate for airflow
differences within the enclosure. The performance of each subsystem is monitored, and any failures or
warnings are reported to the system log and Insight Control (when Simple Network Management
Protocol is enabled). The Onboard Administrator manages subsystem failure by taking appropriate

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action to maintain the enclosure's ability to operate, including adjusting fan speed, reducing power
consumption, or performing shutdowns on some or all subsystems. The Fan Zones tab on the OA
Thermal Subsystem page (Figure 8) gives a real-time, single-screen, zone-by-zone view of the thermal
operating conditions.

Figure 8. Onboard Administrator Thermal Subsystem page via a web GUI

Power logic management

The Onboard Administrator manages component power allocation and can limit the overall power
consumption of the enclosure. This feature is often referred to as power capping. Power measurement
sensors are used to accurately monitor how much power is being consumed and how much power is
available. Onboard Administrator manages power using real-time measured power data instead of
maximum power envelopes. Therefore, customers can deploy more servers and interconnect modules
than if the configuration was based only on nameplate power specifications for each component.

Note
If redundancy mode is either AC Redundant or Power Supply
Redundant and power redundancy is lost, any additional power
requests from the Onboard Administrator will not be accepted,
even if there is enough non-redundant power available. For
example, newly inserted server blades will not be allowed to
power on. Either the failure must be corrected or the redundancy
mode must be changed.

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On the Rack Overview page (Figure 9), the Onboard Administrator summarizes the power and
thermal information for all the c-Class enclosures linked in a rack. The information displayed includes
the present power for each enclosure, the ambient temperature of the enclosure, and a rack cooling
requirement in BTU/hr. This display dramatically reduces the complexity of monitoring the power and
cooling requirements for a rack full of server blades.

Figure 9. Rack Power and Thermal page via Onboard Administrator web GUI

Dynamic Power Savings mode is the default power supply setting. The Onboard Administrator
manages this mode based on the principle that power supplies operate less efficiently when lightly
loaded and more efficiently when heavily loaded. A typical power supply running at 20 percent load
could have efficiency as low as 60 percent; but running at 50 percent load, the power supply
efficiency could be 90 percent, thus providing significant savings in power consumption. Using real
time tracking of the total enclosure power consumption, the Onboard Administrator will shut down or
start up power supplies as required to maintain the power supplies and current load requirements
ratio in the maximum efficiency range. The number of power supplies active at any given time is
determined by calculating the number of power supplies necessary to maintain the power load
requirements and to keep the active power supplies in the high efficiency range. When Dynamic
Power Savings mode is enabled, some of the power supplies may be automatically placed on

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standby to increase overall enclosure power subsystem efficiency. When Dynamic Power Savings
mode is disabled, all power supplies share the load equally.

Enclosure bay IP addressing

The Onboard Administrator significantly enhances the management network infrastructure by offering
a single point from which to assign IP addresses to the server blade iLO 2 management ports and the
interconnect module management ports. By default, the Onboard Administrator, iLO 2, and supported
interconnect module management processors such as Virtual Connect Manager are configured to
acquire an IP address using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) on the external
management network. For installations using static IP addressing, the Onboard Administrator offers
Enclosure Bay IP Addressing (EBIPA) as an alternative to manual configuration.
If EBIPA is enabled and the management ports are set to receive an IP address using DHCP, the IP
address settings can be managed by the Onboard Administrator using EBIPA. Using the autofill
feature, the administrator can input a range of IP addresses into the OA form (Figure 10). For
example, if the address of bay 1 is input as 12.240.62.11, autofill creates consecutively numbered IP
addresses for bays 2 through 16, starting with 12.240.62.12. IP addresses can be assigned to
unpopulated bays. Once a server or interconnect module is inserted into an EBIPA-enabled bay, it will
receive the pre-set IP address for that bay as well as the Shared Device Settings.
EBIPA settings are also present in the First Time Setup Wizard. There they provide the same
functionality; however, the wizard allows the address range to span multiple enclosures.

Figure 10. Onboard Administrator web GUI – Device Bay EBIPA settings

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Onboard Administrator graphical user interface
The GUI provides remote administration capabilities from a desktop web-browser. The GUI allows
administrators to simplify tasks such as managing users and network settings, Virtual Power control,
boot order control, and enclosure DVD attachment to one or more blades. The GUI can also simplify
administrative tasks when identical operations are performed on multiple server blades.
The GUI contains graphical views for server-to-interconnect port mapping, zone cooling
measurements, and power use history. The GUI displays a graphical view of one or multiple
enclosures which shows the status for each device (Figure 11). At a glance, the administrator can tell
if any devices in the enclosure need attention. By logging in to a single enclosure, an administrator
gains access to all enclosures and blades on the link.

Figure 11. Onboard Administrator GUI – Device Bay Summary

Onboard Administrator command line interface

The Onboard Administrator’s CLI (Figure 12) allows administrators to use serial, telnet, or SSH
connections to control the operation of the enclosure and its devices, including the use of scripts for
automation. CLI commands include commands to connect to the ILO 2 on each server blade and to
supported interconnect module management processors such as Virtual Connect. The Onboard

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Administrator CLI supports role-based user accounts, provides for auto login to iLO 2 devices, and
provides a utility for configuring or updating iLO 2 using existing XML scripts.

Figure 12. Onboard Administrator Command Line Interface

c3000 KVM Module

This option module for the c3000 enclosure provides an easy method to connect a standard VGA
monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the enclosure and connect to any of the server video consoles. The
KVM module enables administrators to:
• Control server power
• Connect to the enclosure DVD for software installation or firmware upgrades
• Connect to the Onboard Administrator CLI for full control of the enclosure
• Diagnose problems easily using an on-screen version of the Insight Display

The user interface (Figure 13) is very similar to the Insight Display, but it employs the keyboard cursor
keys to select a particular server console, power the server on and off, or connect to the enclosure
DVD.

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Figure 13. c3000 KVM Option Main Menu

HP Virtual Connect architecture

Virtual Connect is an interconnect option for HP BladeSystem c-Class that simplifies server connectivity
by reducing physical cabling and virtualizing network assignments. It puts an abstraction layer
between the servers and their external networks so that LANs and SANs see a pool of servers instead
of individual servers.
The Virtual Connect architecture is built into every BladeSystem c-Class enclosure and extended with
high performance Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre Channel modules that plug into the enclosure
interconnect bays (Figure 14). Each Virtual Connect module provides dense port aggregation that
turns multiple physical network connections to each server into a few simple, high-speed uplinks that
greatly reduce infrastructure complexity and costs. To the external networks, Virtual Connect modules
appear as regular pass-thru devices, but they provide the benefits of integrated switching.

Virtual Connect uses pools of unique media access control (MAC) addresses, World Wide Names
(WWNs), and server profiles to establish reliable server-to-network connections. The server connection
profiles contain MAC, WWN, and boot-from-SAN definitions that are assigned to BladeSystem
enclosure bays and not to individual servers. The physical server in each bay uses the MAC and
WWN assignments in the bay profile instead of its default network interface (NIC) or host bus
adapter (HBA) addresses. Even if a server is replaced, the MAC and WWN assignments for the
enclosure bay remain constant, and the change is invisible to the network.

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Figure 14. Illustration depicting the Virtual Connect modules in an HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure

Virtual Connect cleanly separates server and network management to optimize infrastructure
deployment and operations (Figure 15). It allows network administrators to pre-assign network
connections, even to empty server bays. During Virtual Connect installation, the LAN and SAN
administrators are responsible for defining the networks, subnets, and storage LUNs that the servers
will use, but they no longer have to be involved in every server-centric change. Once implemented,
Virtual Connect allows system administrators to be more self-sufficient: they can an add, replace, and
modify servers in minutes without affecting LAN and SAN availability or burdening the network
administration staff.

To configure and manage single BladeSystem enclosures, HP Virtual Connect Manager is embedded
into Virtual Connect Ethernet module firmware and is accessible through the Onboard Administrator
interface. For multiple BladeSystem environments, HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager provides a
central management application, providing more effective administration and increased productivity.

For more detailed information on Virtual Connect, visit the HP web site at
www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/virtualconnect.

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Figure 15. Virtual Connect reduces complexity and creates an adaptive infrastructure

Virtual Connect Manager

HP Virtual Connect Manager is a web-based console that manages local connectivity for individual
enclosures running Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre Channel modules. It configures network
parameters and defines server connection profiles for available LANs and SANs. VC Manager can
be accessed directly or through HP Systems Insight Manager
VC Manager contains utilities and a Profile Wizard to develop server connection profiles and assign
them to server bays in the same enclosure using a policy-driven approach. The policy can define a
profile for a specific server bay, so that any server installed in that location will use the same network
connections. Using the VC Manager policy as a guide, Virtual Connect ensures that each server
blade is properly connected to its appropriate LAN and SAN, regardless of its replacement status.
The VC Manager Profile Summary page (Figure 16) displays server status as well as port and network
assignments. On this page system administrators can edit profiles, re-assign profiles, and view HBA
and NIC configurations for the individual enclosure.
For implementing Virtual Connect, the LAN and SAN administrators are responsible for defining the
networks, subnets, and storage LUNs that will be available to the server or system administrator.
Once implemented, however, Virtual Connect allows system administrators to be more self-sufficient,
so they can make needed server changes without affecting LAN and SAN availability or burdening
network administrators.
Using the HP Virtual Connect Manager, the system administrator can assign the external network
connections to server bays and enable networks to share connections. The administrator can also
facilitate a rapid server upgrade or replacement by simply reassigning a server connection profile to
another bay in the same enclosure that contains a new or spare server.

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Figure 16. HP Virtual Connect Manager Profile summary screen where IT administrators can create, edit, and
delete Virtual Connect profiles

Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager

The HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM) is an application that simplifies the management
of multiple BladeSystem c-Class enclosures configured with Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre
Channel modules. Organizations can use VCEM to increase productivity, respond faster to business
demands, and further reduce operating costs across the datacenter.
VCEM provides a central console (Figure 17) to deploy, manage, and control up to 100 BladeSystem
enclosures (up to 1,600 blade servers) configured with Virtual Connect. VCEM extends Virtual
Connect with the following advanced capabilities that build on underlying HP Virtual Connect
hardware, Onboard Administrator, Integrated Light-Out, and Systems Insight Manager technologies:
• Single console and dedicated home page that simplify the discovery and management of up to 100
HP BladeSystem enclosures configured with Virtual Connect
• Central database that aggregates the administration for 65,000 MAC addresses and WWNs. This
eliminates the risk of address duplication and reduces manual management overheads.

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• Virtual Connect Domain Groups of enclosures (Figure 18) that use common baselines to assign and
control sever connection profiles for multiple enclosures connected to the same networks. This
increases infrastructure consistency, reduces complexity, and simplifies changes to multiple
enclosures.
• Ability for system administrators to rapidly assign and move Virtual Connect server connection
profiles and their associated workloads between BladeSystem enclosures using manual and scripted
tasks. This functionality can be used for cost-effective server recovery, system maintenance, and
rapid server repurposing.
• Automated failover of server connection profiles to designated spare enclosure bays
• Aggregation and seamless integration of existing and new Virtual Connect domains

Figure 17. HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager home page

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Figure 18. Depiction of central network address management and Virtual Connect Domain Groups for enclosures
connected to the same LANs and SANs

Together, Virtual Connect and VCEM create a change-ready infrastructure that enables system
administrators to respond faster to changing workload and business demands. Administrators can
add, replace, and recover physical blade servers across the datacenter in minutes without affecting
production LAN and SAN availability. They can also complete many other datacenter tasks more
efficiently:
• Installing new BladeSystem servers and enclosures
• Performing fast and cost effective server recovery
• Completing planned system maintenance with minimal downtime
• Rapidly migrating and repurposing blade servers across the datacenter

Virtual Connect and VCEM also provide foundation capabilities for the HP Insight Dynamics–VSE
suite. HP Insight Dynamics–VSE is a class of integrated management that brings the flexibility of
virtualization to physical servers. It is described in more detail in a subsequent section of this
document.
For more detailed information about VCEM, visit the HP web site: www.hp.com/go/vcem.

HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem

Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem is an integrated software suite that simplifies HP
BladeSystem c-Class management. Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem uses a single
integrated installer to rapidly and consistently deploy, configure, and license HP Systems Insight
Manager (HP SIM) and HP ProLiant Essentials management software. Use of this single installer
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reduces manual procedures and time to production. Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem
provides comprehensive system health, remote control, vulnerability scanning, and patch
management, as well as flexible deployment, virtual machine management, and power management.
Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem is delivered on DVD media with HP BladeSystem c-Class
enclosures. It includes the components listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Components of HP Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem

Component Description

HP Systems Insight HP SIM delivers unified infrastructure management and control for HP and non-
Manager (HP SIM) and HP server and storage resources. The integrated blade management interface
its built-in blade provides enhanced functionality and control for HP BladeSystem c-Class,
management interface including automatically generated rack and enclosure visualization of blade
resources and access to Onboard Administrator and iLO 2 consoles.

HP Integrated iLO Select Pack complements standard iLO 2. iLO Select Pack activates
Lights-Out (iLO 2) additional features needed to enable full remote control of ProLiant servers in
Select Pack routine and emergency situations. iLO Select includes remote console
collaboration and replay of Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) and Power On
Self Test (POST) screens, enterprise security, virtual media, virtual folders, and
power management functionality.

HP ProLiant Essentials RDP configures and deploys multiple servers in an unattended fashion using
Rapid Deployment Pack scripts and system images. RDP includes predefined scripts to configure HP
(RDP) server hardware and to deploy operating systems for Microsoft® Windows®
and Linux® platforms. RDP provides blade-specific features such as rip-and-
replace server recovery and pre-provisioning of device bays.

HP ProLiant Essentials Insight Power Manager provides centralized control of server power
Insight Power Manager consumption and thermal output at the datacenter level. It extends the capacity
of datacenters by allowing a reduction in the amount of power and cooling
required for ProLiant servers.

HP ProLiant Essentials VMM extends HP Systems Insight Manager capabilities to manage virtual
Virtual Machine machines and provides central management and control of VMware® and
Management Pack Microsoft virtual machines with physical host-to-virtual machine association.
(VMM) VMM integrates with such virtualization management tools as VMware
VirtualCenter. VMM is the only solution available that, out of the box, can
initiate VMware DRS to relocate virtual machines based on hardware predictive
failure alerts.

HP ProLiant Essentials PMP monitors system performance thresholds and detects and analyzes
Performance hardware bottlenecks on HP ProLiant servers, HP Integrity servers, and HP
Management Pack Modular Smart Array (MSA) shared storage systems.
(PMP)

HP ProLiant Essentials VPM provides comprehensive vulnerability assessment and advanced patch
Vulnerability and Patch management to accelerate vulnerability remediation and reduce the risk of
Management Pack threats.
(VPM)

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BladeSystem management interface
The blade interface in HP Systems Insight Manage installs with any HP SIM installation. BladeSystem
management capabilities of HP SIM include automatically drawn views of blade rack topology. The
blade interface in HP SIM also enables users to quickly navigate their entire blade environment using
tree views and the blade rack and enclosure views. System administrators can perform management
tasks to individual units or groups of servers, desktops, workstations, and switches. They can also
easily set up logical groups of BladeSystem enclosures for convenient management and control.

For more detailed information about HP SIM, visit the HP web site at http://www.hp.com/go/HPSIM.

Performance management and bottleneck analysis

ProLiant Essentials Performance Management Pack (PMP) provides the tools needed to receive
proactive notification of impending bottleneck conditions and to debug existing performance issues.
PMP provides a concise overview of configuration anomalies that could affect performance, such as
faster drives on slower controllers, NICs set to half-duplex, and Peripheral Component Interconnect
(PCI) cards concentrated on a single PCI bus. PMP is automatically installed with HP SIM and its
operation is integrated into HP SIM. PMP analyzes performance information to determine if there is an
impending or existing performance bottleneck issue. PMP can interactively display this information,
log the information to a database for later analysis or reporting, and set up proactive notification
using the HP SIM notification mechanism. PMP is offered exclusively through HP Insight Control
Environment management suites, such as Insight Control Environment for BladeSystem.
For more detailed information about PMP, visit the HP web site: http://www.hp.com/go/ICE.

Consolidated vulnerability and patch management

The HP ProLiant Essentials Vulnerability and Patch Management Pack (VPM) provides automated
acquisition, optimized deployment, and continuous enforcement of software patches. It automatically
collects new vulnerability updates and patches directly from vendor sources, such as a vendor's web-
based patch depository. Updates can be acquired outside the firewall and imported into the patch
repository in infrastructures where firewall policies prevent http and ftp downloads. Users can
schedule vulnerability and patch update downloads at a frequency of their choosing. VPM is offered
exclusively through HP Insight Control Environment management suites, such as Insight Control
Environment for BladeSystem.
For more detailed information about VPM, visit the HP web site at http://www.hp.com/go/ICE.

Rapid Deployment Pack

The ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP) gives administrators the ability to easily deploy
one or many servers in an unattended, automated fashion. RDP provides a fast, easy-to-use, drag-and-
drop solution for deploying standard server configurations and software builds from a remote console.
It can also be linked with HP SIM.
The RDP Deployment Server integrates with iLO to access iLO management features such as powering
target servers on/off or cycling target server power. RDP facilitates high-volume installation,
configuration, and deployment of servers through a GUI-based or a web-based console, using
scripting or imaging technology. RDP can deploy physical systems as well as virtualization hosts and
guests.
For more detailed information about RDP, visit the HP web site at http://www.hp.com/go/RDP.

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Virtual Machine Management Pack
The ProLiant Essentials Virtual Machine Management Pack (VMMP) provides integrated management
and control of physical and virtual infrastructures:
• Support for heterogeneous virtualization platforms from VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix
• Identification of virtual machines (VMs) or host servers reaching high CPU, memory, or disk
utilization levels
• Integration with common HP SIM functions and processes (discovery, identification, event
notification and handling, role-based access to specific VMs or hosts, task scheduling, and group-
based actions) for both virtual and physical servers
• Flexible capabilities that allow live moves and moves to dissimilar host resources
• Ability to restore of virtual machines on any available host. Using HP SIM predictive failure alerts,
VMMP minimizes downtime by proactively relocating virtual machines before hardware failures
occur.
• Ability to manage virtualization platforms from the same console used for physical server
administration

For more detailed information about VMMP, visit the HP web site at http://www.hp.com/go/VMM.

HP Insight Control Environment for Linux

HP Insight Control Environment for Linux (ICE-Linux) provides comprehensive discovery, imaging,
deployment, monitoring, and management for Linux-based HP ProLiant server platforms (c-Class
BladeSystems, DL 300-Series servers, and DL 500-Series servers) with a flexible networking model.
Built on the HP SIM framework, this solution integrates open source technology with the experience
leveraged from HP Linux products in HP Insight Control Linux Edition and HP XC Clusters.
HP ICE-Linux software is designed for and built on Linux and leverages HP management expertise with
other operating environments. Open source software (for example, Nagios 3 ) for monitoring is
integrated with SIM and includes HP auto-configuration capability that allows users to be productive
quickly. Figure 19 shows how HP Insight Control Environment for Linux is applied to both the
management server and the managed server.

For more detailed information about ICE-Linux, visit the HP web site at http://www.hp.com/go/ice-
linux.

3
Nagios® is an open source host, service, and network monitoring program. For more information, visit their
web site at http://www.nagios.org.
22
Figure 19. Block diagram of HP Insight Control Environment for Linux

HP Insight Dynamics–VSE
HP Insight Dynamics–VSE is the first integrated solution that enables administrators to continuously
analyze and optimize physical and virtual resources in exactly the same way. This class of
management software enables an adaptive infrastructure, with all the freedom and flexibility of
virtualization delivered across a physical HP BladeSystem infrastructure.
Insight Dynamics–VSE combines key components of the HP infrastructure management portfolio—HP
SIM, HP Insight Control, and HP Virtual Server Environment—into one integrated offering for HP
BladeSystem, ProLiant, and Integrity servers. The result is an integrated toolkit that helps administrators
accelerate complex technology projects and simplify daily operations.
Insight Dynamics–VSE includes three key capabilities that drive value across the data center: the
logical server, real-time capacity planning, and unified control of physical and virtual infrastructure.
These capabilities are of particular value to HP BladeSystem customers because the modular, flexible,
and highly efficient design of HP BladeSystem makes it an ideal platform for virtualization.
Insight Dynamics–VSE builds on HP Insight Control and Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager. It also
includes the HP Server Migration Pack–Universal Edition to enable administrators to physically and
virtually migrate HP BladeSystem c-Class servers from a single console. HP Insight Dynamics–VSE is
built on top of HP SIM and uses the same CMS and SIM interface. This integration enables

23
administrators to manage both physical and virtual resources from a user interface that is consistent
with HP SIM.

The logical server

A logical server is a server profile that can be easily created and freely moved across physical and
virtual resources. By detaching the logical identity from the physical resource, administrators can—on
demand—create or move logical servers on any suitable virtual or physical machine (Figure 20). This
means the logical server brings the freedom and flexibility of virtualization to physical servers.

Figure 20. Diagram depicting movement of a logical server from one physical server to another

The logical server profile describes the system image resources, whether they are virtual, physical,
shared, or unshared. For example, a logical server profile would include entitlements and unique
identifiers such as power allocation, processor and memory requirements, network connections, and
storage—everything required for the OS and application stack to operate.
Using tools accessible through the HP Insight Dynamics–VSE Virtualization Manager, administrators
can apply a logical server to the creation of a virtual machine using software-layer abstraction
(hypervisor technology) or to a physical server blade using physical-layer abstraction (that is, HP
Virtual Connect technology). From the same interface, administrators can also create templates with
specific configurations for frequently used applications. These templates can be stored and
reactivated in minutes when needed.
Logical servers enable administrators to move server workload profiles quickly between physical and
virtual server resources as the business requirements change. With this level of control, administrators
can more easily increase the efficiency of server resource utilization and maintain availability in the
event of a server failure. Administrators can also control power and cooling costs more effectively by
taking logical server resources offline when an application does not require the system resources and
by bringing the same resources back online when the demands of the application change.

HP logical servers offer the strongest value when implemented in the BladeSystem c-Class environment
because it was designed to facilitate resource sharing. HP Virtual Connect technology, unique to the
HP BladeSystem, is the enabling technology used to deploy logical servers directly on physical
machines in a resource pool.

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Real-time capacity planning
HP Insight Dynamics–VSE includes the industry’s most advanced real-time capacity planning tools. It
allows administrators to continuously analyze server capacity and power use. The software’s
Capacity Advisor collects and analyzes more than a thousand data points per server per day from
virtual and physical resources. Then, using new Smart Solver technology developed by HP Labs, the
Capacity Advisor identifies the best fit for existing workloads, which can reduce the number of
physical servers needed.

Unified control
HP Insight Dynamics–VSE allows administrators to control physical and virtual resources in exactly the
same way. It extends the capabilities of the HP SIM infrastructure management so that administrators
can view all available resources on a single screen (Figure 21). Insight Dynamics–VSE is designed to
manage leading virtualization technologies from VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft. (VMware is
supported today. Microsoft and Citrix support is planned.) Because Insight Dynamics–VSE is one
integrated design, it helps simplify and standardize organizational processes without changing them.
For more detailed information about HP Insight Dynamics–VSE, visit the HP web site at
http://www.hp.com/go/insightdynamics.

Figure 21. HP Insight Dynamics–VSE display of logical servers showing configuration, host, status, and resource
utilization information

Main screen

Choice of resource perspective

Alert indicator

Status icon
Resource consumption detail

Logical server detail

Resource use analysis

HP SIM system detail
Power management

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HP Server Migration Pack–Universal Edition
HP Server Migration Pack–Universal Edition enables administrators to physically and virtually migrate
HP BladeSystem c-Class servers from a single console. Its point-click-and-migrate functionality
automates the process of migrating to a new server. Essentially, it migrates all the drivers that the
administrator would normally move manually and then moves all the existing data, applications, and
operating system as well. HP Insight Dynamics–VSE also leverages SMP. The following are key
capabilities of HP Server Migration Pack:
• Migration to the latest HP BladeSystem c-Class servers or virtual machines from VMware and
Microsoft via a single interface
• An option to run HP Server Migration Pack–Universal Edition in a standalone mode or integrated
with HP Systems Insight Manager. The latter allows access to additional features such as discovery
and agent distribution.
• Queued migrations automatically processing in the order in which they were scheduled
• Concurrent migrations to virtual machines when migrating to different destination host servers

Additional information about the HP Server Migration Pack–Universal Edition is available on the HP
web site at http://www.hp.com/go/migrate.

HP Integrated Lights-Out 2
Located throughout each c-Class enclosure are many embedded management interfaces. These
interfaces reside in the base enclosure itself, the fan and power supply subsystems, the server blades,
the storage blades, the interconnect modules, and the NIC and mezzanine cards. The Onboard
Administrator uses these embedded management interfaces to identify and manage all the
components. To identify a component that has been inserted into a BladeSystem c-Class enclosure, the
Onboard Administrator reads a Field-Replaceable Unit (FRU) Electrically Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory (EEPROM) that contains factory information (product name, part number, and
serial number) for that component. All the FRU EEPROMs in c-Class enclosures are always powered,
even if the component is off, so that the Onboard Administrator can identify the component before
granting power requests. The FRU EEPROMs for simple devices such as the fans, power supplies, and
the Insight Display are read directly by the Onboard Administrator.
The Onboard Administrator accesses the server blade information through its iLO 2 management
processor. Each server blade contains several FRU EEPROMs: one on the server board that contains
server and embedded NIC information, and one on each of the installed mezzanine option boards.
The NIC and mezzanine option EEPROM information informs the Onboard Administrator of the type
of interconnects each server requires. Then, before granting power to a server blade, the Onboard
Administrator compares this information with information from the EEPROMs on installed interconnect
modules to check for electronic keying errors.
For the components in front-loaded device bays, the Onboard Administrator communicates with each
iLO 2 to control server blades and with a microcontroller to control options such as storage blades. A
microcontroller is also used to regulate power to interconnect modules. Server blade control includes
auto login to the iLO 2 web interface and remote server consoles, virtual power control, boot order
control, and extensive server hardware information including BIOS and iLO 2 firmware versions,
server name, and NIC and mezzanine option card port IDs and port mapping.
HP ProLiant Power Regulator provides iLO 2-controlled speed stepping for x86 processors. The Power
Regulator feature improves server energy efficiency by giving CPUs full power for applications when
they need it and reduced power when they do not. This power management feature enables ProLiant
servers with policy-based power management to control CPU power state. Power Regulator can be

26
configured for continuous, static low power mode or for dynamic power savings mode in which
power is automatically adjusted to match CPU demand.
Additional information on the HP Power Regulator is provided in the paper titled “Power Regulator for
ProLiant,” available at http://www.hp.com/servers/power-regulator.
Additional information on HP Integrated Lights-Out 2, including iLO Select Pack, is available at
http://www.hp.com/go/iLO.

iLO 2 Standard Blade Edition

HP Integrated Lights-Out 2 Standard Blade Edition enables essential remote management capabilities
as standard features on ProLiant c-Class server blades. The iLO 2 Standard Blade Edition provides the
headless infrastructure needed to perform a wide variety of system administration tasks remotely. The
iLO 2 Standard Blade Edition provides all of the standard remote control capabilities typically offered
on ProLiant servers plus additional functionality:

• High-performance, virtual KVM remote console and browser-based virtual media, essential to
administering HP BladeSystem c-Class servers
• Anytime access to system management information such as hardware health, event logs and
configuration for troubleshooting and maintaining BladeSystem enclosures
• Integrated remote console providing a single, Java-free screen from which to control virtual power,
virtual media, and the system remote console before and after the OS is running
• Embedded system health that provides access to basic hardware status regardless of whether the
operating system is running

iLO Select Pack

For more advanced Lights-Out management capabilities, the iLO 2 Standard Blade Edition can be
upgraded with the optional licensed product, ProLiant Essentials iLO Select Pack. iLO 2 Select Pack
enables more advanced security, virtual media, and power management capabilities:

• Full virtual media support for firmware and software installation on a remote server from a client PC
or network web server using a browser, or from a virtual media server using a command line or
script
• Continuous Power Regulator reporting of system power and thermal characteristics
• Directory services integration consistent with iLO and Remote Insight Lights-Out Edition II (RILOE II)
that enables efficient and effective user management access through Microsoft Active Directory or
Novell eDirectory
• Simplified, single sign-on access to any iLO 2 management processor from Onboard Administrator
using directory services authentication
• Two-factor authentication for strong Smart Card-based, controlled access to iLO 2 capabilities
• Virtual folder to provide quick and easy updates to the OS
• Console capture and replay of console events that happened prior to a system fault or during the
last system boot

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 For more information
For additional information, refer to the resources listed below.

Resource description Web address

HP BladeSystem technology briefs: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/

technology/whitepapers/proliant-servers.html#bl
“HP BladeSystem c-Class Virtual Connect”
“HP BladeSystem c-Class Enclosure”
“HP BladeSystem c-Class architecture”

HP Virtual Connect and Virtual Connect http://hp.com/bladesystem/virtualconnect

Enterprise Manager http://hp.com/go/VCEM

HP Insight Control Environment for http://www.hp.com/go/ICE

BladeSystem

HP Insight Control Environment for Linux http://www.hp.com/go/ice-linux

HP Insight Dynamics–VSE http://www.hp.com/go/insightdynamics

HP Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) 2 http://www.hp.com/go/iLO

Onboard Administrator http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/

components/onboard/index.html

Call to action
Send comments about this paper to TechCom@HP.com.

© 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained

herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and
services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such
products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an
additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or
omissions contained herein.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Linux is a U.S. registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Java is a US trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
TC080810TB, August 2008