The IBM eServer BladeCenter JS20 - IBM Redbooks

2.1.4 I/O modules
You use the keyboard, video, and mouse connectors to attach a local KVM
console that can be switched to any blade server that supports KVM consoles.
You use the 10/100BaseT Ethernet connector to attach the Management Module
to an external Ethernet network. You use this interface to access the remote
graphical console, SoL consoles, and the service processor functionality of the
Management Module.
You can access the various functions of the Management Module via the
Ethernet interface using several different methods:
► Using a graphical interface through a Web browser (HTTP or HTTPS)
► Using a command line interface through a Telnet or SSH client
► Using system management software such as IBM Director or IBM Cluster
Systems Management
We demonstrate these methods in Chapter 5, “Hardware setup” on page 69, and
in Chapter 8, “System management scenarios” on page 139.
I/O modules enable connectivity between blade servers within the same chassis,
and between blade servers and the outside world. You can install up to four I/O
modules in a BladeCenter chassis, one in each I/O module bay.
The available I/O modules can be used to provide connectivity to three different
types of network:
► Local area networks
► Storage area networks (SANs)
► High-bandwidth low-latency networks used in clustering (Myrinet)
Most I/O modules support connectivity to only one type of network. The
exception is the pass-through module, which can be used with all three types of
networks.
Each I/O module is connected to every blade server via the BladeCenter chassis
midplanes. Each single width blade server can have up to four interfaces, one to
each I/O module bay. Double-width blade servers can have up to eight interfaces,
two to each I/O module bay.
Each blade server must have a compatible interface to communicate with an I/O
module. Every blade server that is currently available has standard Gigabit
Ethernet interfaces that are connected to I/O module bays 1 and 2. Therefore,
you can use only a LAN Switch or Pass-Thru I/O Module in these I/O module
bays.
16 The IBM Eserver BladeCenter JS20