IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module Supports SAS Expansion

The IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module integrates SAS switching and RAID controller function in a legacy switch form factor, and includes the following features:

Redundant configuration (dual RAID Controller, dual-switch and dual-BBU)
RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and 5
Supports two disk storage modules (DSM) with up to 12 x 3.5 in SAS drives and NL SAS drives
SAS boot and shared storage in IBM BladeCenter S chassis
Six local processor blade support in IBM BladeCenter S chassis
Two internal 4X SAS 3.0 Gbps to 2 DSM systems; 6 internal 1X SAS 3.0 Gbps host connectivity to 6 blade slots
Customer hot-swappable components
Managed by IBM Storage Configuration Manager (SCM), IBM’s storage management application component for server and storage management integration.
The IBM BladeCenter Start Now Advisor chassis setup tool that ships with BladeCenter-S will be upgraded with RSSM and be available as a download at the same time.

The new IBM 750GB 7200 NL SAS HS 3.5" HDD offering for IBM BladeCenter S includes high capacity options that help provide a larger selection of choices to satisfy a wide range of applications. This new drive is positioned at the top of the BladeCenter S SAS HDD line.

Key features and benefits include:

Up to 7,200 rpm speed to help optimize performance
More capacity, up to 750 GB capacity, to support large application installations on local HDD
Up to 7,200-rpm HDDs — Delivers SAS device reliability and large capacity performance in the IBM HDD family
3.5-inch, slim-line form factor — Helps optimize storage capacity
S.M.A.R.T. Technology — Through use of built-in software utilities, can alert you of certain impending drive failures, so replacements can be made available before a failure occurs

IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module competitive advantages:

BladeCenter is a leader the industry, delivering integrated storage solutions to the blade server environment. Integrated storage solution helps ease deployment, simplify the datacenter, reduce cabling, and lower costs.
Each BladeCenter server provides redundant connections to the storage system. Customers can configure their blade servers with dual-port host bus adapters. No other tier one blade server vendor delivers this dual-port capability, which now includes the addition of the SAS expansion card.
Through integration, BladeCenter eliminates the cables from the server to the I/O module. This not only reduces the opportunity for misconfiguration, it helps to lower the expense for cables and to reduce potential points of failure, while helping increase storage availability.
IBM Storage Configuration Manager provides an upwardly compatible path for server and storage integrated management with IBM Director. This helps reduce overall TCO through unified systems management applications.

Key prerequisites

BladeCenter S chassis
SCM release 1.20.0 is required to support RSSM

Planned availability date: October 24, 2008