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IBM 8687 Installation Guide - Page 74

Scalability and workload growth, Service level, Business continuity

UPC - 087944724261

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run at 50-60% utilization. Excess or underutilized capacity on one server cannot be shared with workloads of other servers in a distributed environment. - Optimization of skilled resources - Under the distributed alternative, systems management responsibilities are often only part-time, extra-duty assignments such that a critical skill level is rarely achieved. Furthermore, since other departments may employ disparate architectures and applications, there is little opportunity to benefit from the experiences of others. Scalability and workload growth Server consolidation can help you handle scalability and workload growth issues in the following ways: - True scalability - Server consolidation provides the ability to deal with peak usage without crashing or seriously degrading performance. It also provides an upgrade path without degradation in response, excessively complex forms of database partitioning, or other problems. - Granular upgrades - Server consolidation provides the ability to quickly grow the number of users, the number of applications, or the size of an application when needed, without major disruptions to the current production environment. Service level Most companies spend their IT budget for services. They need services for hardware, software, and infrastructure maintenance. Server consolidation can help you to reduce the increasing service costs in the following ways: - Delivery of a specified service level is costly if servers are uncontrolled. - Management of servers as corporate assets is easier when they are centralized. - Application deployment is quicker and easier when not spread over a large number of servers. - Staff time freed from server maintenance tasks can be used for activities more directly related to business needs. Business continuity Almost all enterprises need to run their business without interruption. Business interruption can be very costly and it influences the productivity of your business. Server consolidation can help you to run your business without interruption in the following ways: - Consolidating IT resources can help you ensure that critical business information and processes are accessible and shared across the enterprise. 60 IBM ^ xSeries 440 Planning and Installation Guide

Section	Page
Front cover	1
Contents	5
Notices	9
Trademarks	10
Preface	11
The team that wrote this redbook	11
Become a published author	14
Comments welcome	14
Chapter 1. Technical description	15
1.1 The x440 product line	16
1.2 System partitioning	20
1.3 IBM XA-32 chipset	21
1.4 Processors	26
1.4.1 Intel Xeon Processor MP	27
1.4.2 Intel Xeon Processor DP	30
1.5 SMP Expansion Module	31
1.6 IBM XceL4 Server Accelerator Cache	33
1.7 System memory	33
1.8 PCI subsystem	37
1.9 Redundancy	38
1.10 Light Path Diagnostics	39
1.11 Remote Supervisor Adapter	41
1.12 Operating system support	42
1.13 IBM Director	44
Chapter 2. Positioning	49
2.1 xSeries 440 application solutions	50
2.1.1 Server consolidation	50
2.1.2 Enterprise applications	52
2.1.3 Infrastructure applications	54
2.1.4 Clustering	55
2.2 Why choose the x440	57
2.2.1 IBM XA-32 chipset	57
2.2.2 Intel Xeon MP and DP processors	58
2.2.3 XceL4 Server Accelerator Cache	60
2.2.4 High-performance memory subsystem	60
2.2.5 Active PCI-X	61
2.2.6 XpandOnDemand scalability	61
2.2.7 System Partition Manager	62
2.3 The benefits of system partitioning	63
2.4 Server consolidation	65
2.4.1 Types of server consolidation	65
2.4.2 Why consolidate servers	71
2.4.3 Benefits from server consolidation	71
Chapter 3. Planning	77
3.1 System hardware	78
3.1.1 Processors	78
3.1.2 Memory	79
3.1.3 PCI slot configuration	82
3.1.4 Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet controller	86
3.2 Cabling and connectivity	88
3.2.1 SMP Expansion Module connectivity	88
3.2.2 Remote Supervisor Adapter connectivity	91
3.2.3 Remote Expansion Enclosure	92
3.2.4 Serial connections	97
3.3 Storage considerations	97
3.3.1 xSeries storage solutions	98
3.3.2 Disk subsystem performance	102
3.3.3 Tape backup	103
3.4 Server partitioning and consolidation	104
3.5 Operating system considerations	104
3.5.1 Windows 2000 Datacenter Server	106
3.5.2 Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise Edition	109
3.5.3 Microsoft Windows 2000 Server	110
3.5.4 Microsoft Windows .NET Server	111
3.5.5 Novell NetWare	111
3.5.6 Red Hat/SuSE Linux	111
3.5.7 VMware ESX Server	112
3.6 Application considerations	114
3.6.1 Scalability and performance considerations	114
3.6.2 SMP and server types	115
3.7 Rack installation	116
3.8 Power considerations	117
3.9 Solution Assurance Review	118
Chapter 4. Installation	121
4.1 System BIOS settings	122
4.1.1 Updating BIOS and firmware	122
4.1.2 Enabling memory mirroring	122
4.1.3 Enabling Hyper-Threading	123
4.2 Device drivers	125
4.3 Operating system installation	125
4.3.1 Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server	126
4.3.2 Red Hat Linux installation	133
4.3.3 NetWare installation	135
4.3.4 VMware ESX Server	142
4.4 Additional Information	142
Chapter 5. Management	143
5.1 Active PCI Manager	144
5.1.1 Using Active PCI Manager	146
5.1.2 Adding adapters to the system	150
5.1.3 Analyzing an existing configuration	158
5.2 System Partition Manager	164
5.3 Process Control	169
5.3.1 Process alias rules	170
5.3.2 Process execution rules	174
5.3.3 Group process execution rules	175
Abbreviations and acronyms	187
Related publications	189
IBM Redbooks	189
Referenced Web sites	189
How to get IBM Redbooks	192
IBM Redbooks collections	192
Index	193

Match case Limit results 1 per page

IBM

xSeries 440 Planning and Installation Guide

run at 50-60% utilization. Excess or underutilized capacity on one server

cannot be shared with workloads of other servers in a distributed

environment.

–

Optimization of skilled resources - Under the distributed alternative,

systems management responsibilities are often only part-time, extra-duty

assignments such that a critical skill level is rarely achieved. Furthermore,

since other departments may employ disparate architectures and

applications, there is little opportunity to benefit from the experiences of

others.

Scalability and workload growth

Server consolidation can help you handle scalability and workload growth

issues in the following ways:

–

True scalability - Server consolidation provides the ability to deal with peak

usage without crashing or seriously degrading performance. It also

provides an upgrade path without degradation in response, excessively

complex forms of database partitioning, or other problems.

–

Granular upgrades - Server consolidation provides the ability to quickly

grow the number of users, the number of applications, or the size of an

application when needed, without major disruptions to the current

production environment.

Service level

Most companies spend their IT budget for services. They need services for

hardware, software, and infrastructure maintenance. Server consolidation can

help you to reduce the increasing service costs in the following ways:

–

Delivery of a specified service level is costly if servers are uncontrolled.

–

Management of servers as corporate assets is easier when they are

centralized.

–

Application deployment is quicker and easier when not spread over a large

number of servers.

–

Staff time freed from server maintenance tasks can be used for activities

more directly related to business needs.

Business continuity

Almost all enterprises need to run their business without interruption.

Business interruption can be very costly and it influences the productivity of

your business. Server consolidation can help you to run your business without

interruption in the following ways:

–

Consolidating IT resources can help you ensure that critical business

information and processes are accessible and shared across the

enterprise.