IBM eServer xSeries and BladeCenter Server Management

The systems management hardware that is part of IBM eServer xSeries and BladeCenter servers serves as an important part of the overall management strategy for customers. This hardware, either integrated into the server or BladeCenter chassis, installed at the factory as an adapter, or available as an option, provides vital information back to the administrator and gives the administrator the ability to remotely control the server, even when the operating system is not running.

This IBM Redbooks publication describes the full range of management hardware currently available for the xSeries and BladeCenter systems. We cover the integrated Baseboard Management Controller , the Remote Supervisor Adapter II family of adapters, and the BladeCenter management module. The user interfaces used to access this hardware are discussed in detail, as is information on how to configure security features such as SSL and authentication features such as LDAP.

This book is aimed at customers, IBM Business Partners, and IBM employees who need to understand the capabilities of our systems management hardware, and how to configure and use them to assist with the management of their servers.

Update July 2006: Corrected the change to the /etc/inittab file as discussed in 6.4.5, "Configuring Red Hat Linux to support SOL" on page 211 and 6.4.6, "Configuring SUSE LINUX to support SOL" on page 214.

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Baseboard Management Controller
Chapter 3. Remote Supervisor Adapter II
Chapter 4. BladeCenter management module
Chapter 5. Security and authentication
Chapter 6. System management utilities
Chapter 7. Scenarios and best practices

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:

• 1-Socket Rack Servers
• 1-Socket Tower Servers
• 2-Socket Rack Servers
• 2-Socket Tower Servers
• 4-Socket Rack Servers
• IBM Systems Director
• System Utilities