IBM 86884RX Installation Guide - Page 21

Chapter 1. Technical description

7

The same situation with the EFI would be dramatically simplified. The OS loader

calls unified (not vendor-specific) EFI API functions for booting. These functions

are not dependent on the boot device used, so when a new boot device type is

added to the platform and the firmware is modified to recognize it, the operating

system can immediately boot.

The EFI architecture is modular, extensible and offers backward compatibility for

the older systems by default. This means there is a way for non-EFI-aware

operating systems to communicate directly with system BIOS as shown in

Figure 1-3 on page 6.

1.3.1

GUID Partition Table disk

The

GUID Partition Table

(GPT) was introduced as part of the EFI initiative.

Every disk is assigned a global unique identifier (GUID) to allow self-identification

of the disks. GPT replaces the older Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning

scheme that has been common to PCs.

There are several reasons for introducing a new partitioning scheme:

±

MBR disks support only four partition table entries. If more partitions are

wanted, a secondary structure — an extended partition — is necessary.

Extended partitions are then subdivided into one or more logical disks. On

any given drive, only one extended partition can be present.

In theory, a GPT disk can have an unlimited number of partitions. The number

of partitions is limited only by the amount of space reserved for making

partition entries.

±

GPT disks use primary and backup partition tables for redundancy and

CRC32 fields for improved partition data structure integrity.

±

GPT disks can grow to a very large size. In theory, a GPT disk can be up to

2

64

logical blocks in length (logical blocks are typically 512 bytes). In practice,

the maximum is less. For example, Windows Server 2003 supports GPT disks

up to approximately 18 Exabytes in size.

For backward compatibility with legacy MBR disk tools, all GPT disks contain a

protective MBR

. The protective MBR, beginning in sector 0, precedes the GUID

Partition Table on the disk and contains only one partition that appears to span

the disk. The legacy tools are not aware of GPT and do not know how to properly

access a GPT disk. The benefit of protective MBR is that these tools will view a

Note:

The EFI concept was originally introduced with Itanium

Architecture-based computers, but is not restricted to 64-bit platforms. There

is a gradual transition from BIOS to the EFI expected on the IA-32 platform as

well.

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 x450 product line	16
1.2 IBM XA-64 chipset	17
1.3 Extensible Firmware Interface	19
1.3.1 GUID Partition Table disk	21
1.3.2 EFI System Partition	22
1.3.3 EFI and legacy-free concept	24
1.4 Intel Itanium 2 processor	24
1.5 System assembly	27
1.5.1 Memory-board assembly	28
1.5.2 Processor-board assembly	29
1.6 IBM XceL4 Server Accelerator Cache	31
1.7 System memory	31
1.8 PCI subsystem	35
1.9 Redundancy	37
1.10 Light path diagnostics	39
1.11 Remote Supervisor Adapter	40
1.12 Operating system support	41
Chapter 2. Positioning	43
2.1 x450 application solutions	44
2.1.1 Database applications	44
2.1.2 Business logic	46
2.1.3 e-business and security transactions	47
2.1.4 In-house developed compute-intensive applications	48
2.1.5 Science and technology industries	49
2.2 Why choose x450?	49
Chapter 3. Planning	53
3.1 System hardware	54
3.1.1 Processors	54
3.1.2 Memory	55
3.1.3 PCI slot configuration	58
3.1.4 Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet controller	61
3.2 Cabling and connectivity	62
3.2.1 Remote Supervisor Adapter connectivity	64
3.2.2 Remote Expansion Enclosure	65
3.2.3 Serial connections	69
3.3 Storage considerations	70
3.3.1 xSeries storage solutions	70
3.3.2 Tape backup	75
3.4 Rack installation	76
3.5 Power considerations	77
3.6 Solution Assurance Review	78
Chapter 4. Installation	81
4.1 Using the Extensible Firmware Interface	82
4.1.1 The EFI shell	84
4.1.2 Flash update	94
4.1.3 Configuration and Setup utility	97
4.1.4 Diagnostic utility	98
4.1.5 Boot maintenance menu	99
4.2 Installing Windows Server 2003	100
4.2.1 Overall process	101
4.2.2 Microsoft Reserved Partition	102
4.2.3 Windows installation	103
4.2.4 Pre-installation phase	103
4.2.5 Starting the installation	104
4.2.6 Text-mode setup	105
4.2.7 GUI setup	107
4.2.8 Post-setup phase	107
4.3 Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Server	112
4.3.1 Background	113
4.3.2 Linux IA-64 kernel overview	114
4.3.3 Choosing a Linux distribution	115
4.3.4 Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Server	117
4.3.5 Linux boot process	121
4.3.6 Information about the installed system	122
4.3.7 Using the serial port for the Linux console	126
4.3.8 RXE-100 Expansion Enclosure	127
4.3.9 Upgrading drivers	128
Chapter 5. Management	131
5.1 The Remote Supervisor Adapter	132
5.1.1 The Remote Supervisor Adapter	133
5.1.2 Connecting via a Web browser	133
5.1.3 Configuring a static IP address	135
5.1.4 Connecting via the ASM interconnect	138
5.1.5 Installing the device driver	139
5.1.6 Configuring the remote control password	139
5.2 Management using the Remote Supervisor Adapter	140
5.2.1 Configuring which alerts to monitor	140
5.2.2 Configuring SNMP	141
5.2.3 Sending alerts directly to IBM Director	142
5.2.4 Creating a test event action plan in IBM Director	144
Related publications	149
IBM Redbooks	149
Referenced Web sites	149
How to get IBM Redbooks	151
IBM Redbooks collections	151
Index	153

IBM 86884RX Installation Guide - Page 21

GUID Partition Table disk, GUID Partition Table, protective MBR

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