IBM DS3500, Installation, User & Maintenance Manual, Page: 84 / 180

Overview of installing an IBM BladeCenter configuration to connect to
a DS3500
This section gives an overview and guidelines for installing an IBM BladeCenter
configuration to connect to a DS3500.
Before you install the BladeCenter configuration, consider the following information:
v
Make sure that the BladeCenter chassis, blade server, SAS connectivity module,
and SAS expansion card are supported. Go to http://www.ibm.com/servers/
storage/support/disk/, select the link for the DS3500, and see the interoperability
matrix.
v Make sure that an Advanced Management Module is installed in the BladeCenter
chassis. The latest level of management-module firmware is available at
http://www.ibm.com/bladecenter/.
v
For the latest SAS connectivity module firmware, SAS expansion card firmware,
blade server BIOS code, and device drivers, see http://www.ibm.com/systems/
support/.
Installing the BladeCenter configuration
To install the IBM BladeCenter SAS Expansion Card (CFFv), IBM BladeCenter SAS
Connectivity Module, and blade server, complete the following general steps:
1. Install an IBM BladeCenter SAS Expansion Card (CFFv) in each blade server
that you want to connect to the DS3500. See the documentation that comes
with the SAS expansion card for installation requirements and procedures.
2. Install the blade servers in the BladeCenter chassis. See the documentation that
comes with the blade server for installation requirements and procedures.
3. Install the IBM BladeCenter SAS Connectivity Modules in the I/O bays in
BladeCenter unit. See the documentation that comes with the SAS connectivity
modules for installation requirements and procedures.
4. Go to “Connecting BladeCenter hosts to the DS3500.”
Connecting BladeCenter hosts to the DS3500
The dual-controller DS3500 comes with two SAS host connectors on each
controller, enabling up to 28 blade servers in one BladeCenter unit to be
redundantly connected to the storage subsystem.
To protect against the loss of any one path from the host blade servers to the
DS3500, use redundant host connections.
To connect a SAS expansion card that is installed in a blade server to the DS3500,
complete the following steps:
1. Connect a SAS cable from the SAS host connector on the DS3500 RAID
controller to any SAS port on an IBM BladeCenter SAS Connectivity Module
that is installed in a BladeCenter unit.
2. To create a redundant host connection, connect a SAS cable from a second
SAS connectivity module to a host connector on the other RAID controller in the
DS3500. You can create a maximum of two redundant host connections in a
dual-controller DS3500.
Attention: You can connect only one DS3500 to the BladeCenter SAS
Connectivity Module. No other external devices can be connected to the SAS
connectivity module.
3. (Optional) For additional storage, you can connect EXP3500 expansion
enclosures to the DS3500. For an illustration showing how to configure the
expansion enclosures, see Figure 35 on page 41.
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System Storage DS3500 and EXP3500: Installation, User’s, and Maintenance Guide