Lenovo BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Software Owner’s Manual
- June 3, 2024
- Lenovo
Table of Contents
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager (Withdrawn)
Product Guide (withdrawn product)
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager (BOFM) is a tool for simplifying the
deployment, failover, and repurposing of blade servers. BOFM performs these
tasks by controlling the assignment of physical Ethernet MAC and Fibre Channel
WWN addresses for the integrated Ethernet interfaces and I/O expansion cards
in each blade.
BOFM provides the ability to create predefined configurations for external
infrastructure connections including network switches, SAN switches, storage
systems, and so on. With BOFM, you can configure MAC-based VLANs and security
policies, WWN-based zones on switches, and storage partitions on storage
systems by using your own pool of MAC addresses and WWNs created in advance.
You can then assign these predefined addresses to a blade’s I/O ports with
BOFM instead of using burned-in hardware addresses that were assigned during
manufacture.
Did you know?
It is highly recommended that you plan BOFM together with boot-from-SAN to
make the most of the entire solution. BOFM functionality, together with boot-
from-SAN techniques, enables you to deploy new blades easily by assigning
predefined MAC addresses and WWNs to them and, thus, connecting them to the
existing infrastructure in minutes. You can also repurpose blades quickly by
assigning addresses from different services or even provide simplified
failover by assigning addresses from a failed blade to the spare blade.
Part number information
There are three different versions of BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager. Table 1
shows the part number to order them.
Table 1. Part number and feature code for ordering
Description | Part number | Feature code |
---|---|---|
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Basic | 2019B1X | 4941 |
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager for BladeCenter S | 2019B2X | 4195 |
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 2.1 Advanced Upgrade (stand-alone utility) | ||
4812S1X | None | |
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 2.1 Advanced Upgrade for IBM Director 5.2 | ||
4812S1D | None | |
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 3.0 Advanced Upgrade (stand-alone utility) | ||
4812S3X | None | |
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 3.0 Advanced Upgrade for IBM Director 6.1 | ||
4812S3D | None |
Notes:
- One BOFM license is required for each BladeCenter chassis (not for each server)
- Any of the BOFM Advanced Upgrade products requires BOFM Basic or BOFM for BladeCenter S as a prerequisite
Each of the part numbers listed in Table 1 includes a letter explaining how to activate BOFM. BOFM Basic and BOFM for BladeCenter S are part of the advanced management module interface as shown in Figure 2, and other than the latest AMM firmware, no additional BOFM software is needed. The BOFM Advanced Upgrade consists of an activation letter with instructions on how to download the software. You can download the installation guides using the links in the Related Publications section. Figure 2 shows the AMM interface of BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Basic.
Features
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager solution consists of the following components:
- BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Basic (BOFM Basic or BOFM for BladeCenter S)
- BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Advanced Upgrade
BOFM Basic is the core part of the BOFM solution and is integrated into the
firmware of the Advanced Management Module of the BladeCenter chassis. BOFM
Basic controls address assignments and provides a Web-based user interface
through AMM. With BOFM Basic, you are able to manually configure address
assignments and reassignments.
BOFM Advanced Upgrade is either a stand-alone or IBM Director-based management
extension to the user interface that provides IBM Director-style GUI (Java-
based for Director 5.2 or Web-based for Director 6.1) and policy-based
automated failover capabilities with Event Action Plans.
Table 2 summarizes the management tasks of BOFM Basic and BOFM Advanced
Upgrade.
Table 2. Comparing BOFM Basic and BOFM Advanced Upgrade management tasks
Management Task | BOFM Basic BOFM for BC-S | BOFM Advanced Upgrade |
---|---|---|
Slot-based I/O address assignment | Yes | Yes |
Manages Ethernet MAC addresses, Fibre Channel and SAS WWN numbers | Yes | Yes |
Supports Fibre Channel and SAS boot targets | Yes | Yes |
Pre-assignment allows LAN/SAN configuration prior to blade installation | Yes |
Yes
Automatic re-assignment on blade swap| Yes| Yes
Web-based GUI through Advanced Management Module| Yes| No
IBM Director-based GUI| No| Yes
Blade Address Manager Configuration Wizard| No| Yes
Standby Blade Pools| No| Yes
Event Action Plans| No| Yes
Provides I/O parameter and VLAN migration to standby blades in case of blade
failure| No| Yes
Number of chassis supported by one BOFM console| 100| 100
Number of manageable ports per blade| 8| 8
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Basic
BOFM Basic is a software upgrade to the Advanced Management Module. It
interacts with the BMC or IMM microcode in the blades and the firmware in the
I/O expansion cards to replace the burned-in addresses with addresses
specified at the blade-bay level by the administrator. BOFM Basic uses the AMM
browser-based user interface. When a blade server is inserted into a specific
bay, it inherits hardware addresses for I/O ports that were assigned to this
bay by the administrator. This enables simplified deployment of blades because
you can preconfigure your infrastructure before the physical installation of
the blade server into the chassis. In case of blade failure, all you need to
do is to replace the failed blade with a new one. The following solution
components must support BOFM for the solution to work properly. These
components all need to have firmware levels that support BOFM.
- Blade servers (BIOS and BMC/IMM)
- Expansion cards
- Advanced management modules in each chassis
BOFM is compatible with most I/O modules because it is not dependent on them.
It also uses address reassignment at the blade level rather than at the I/O
module level.
With BOFM Basic, you can provide quick deployment and redeployment of blades,
and manual slot-based failover or manual blade replacement. To provide
automated failover capabilities, the BOFM Advanced Upgrade is required.
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager for BladeCenter S
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager for BladeCenter S is based on BOFM Basic and
allows you to reassign the Ethernet MAC addresses and Fibre Channel WWN
addresses used by the I/O ports. This version offers a low-cost offering
designed specifically for small and medium businesses (SMB), as well as
distributed and retail clients.
With this offering, you can preconfigure the BC-S chassis at a central
location and deploy it uniformly across your remote locations. As with BOFM
Basic, BOFM for BladeCenter S can be enhanced with BOFM Advanced Upgrade.
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Advanced Upgrade
BOFM Advanced Upgrade adds capabilities for managing address assignments
through the IBM Systems Director user interface and policy-based automated
failover. With this upgrade, you can define failover pools of spare blades
across chassis and failover rules with Event Action Plans. BOFM Basic uses the
advanced management module’s Web interface for configuration tasks. However,
BOFM Advanced Upgrade uses a separate IBM Director-based GUI (for both IBM
Director and stand-alone editions). BOFM Advanced Upgrade is available in two
editions:
-
Stand-alone utility
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 2.1 Advanced Upgrade, part number 4812S1X
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 3.0 Advanced Upgrade, part number 4812S3X -
IBM Systems Director extension
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 2.1 Advanced Upgrade, part number 4812S1D
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 3.0 Advanced Upgrade, part number 4812S3D
BOFM 2.1 Advanced Upgrade is based on the IBM Director 5.2 core and user
interface and is a Java application. You use BOFM 2.1 Advanced Upgrade if you
are currently running IBM Director 5.2, including both the stand-alone and
Director extension. BOFM 3.0 Advanced Upgrade is based on the IBM Systems
Director 6.1 core and user interface and is a Web interface. You use BOFM 3.0
Advanced Upgrade if you have an IBM Systems Director 6.1 infrastructure in
place. You need to install the Stand-alone utility on a separate management
workstation. You install the IBM Systems Director extension on an existing IBM
Systems Director management server. We list the supported
operating systems later.
The BOFM 3.0 Advanced Upgrade adds the following features compared to BOFM 2.1
Advanced Upgrade:
-
Web-based user interface (based on IBM Systems Director 6.1)
-
New Wizards:
Blade Address Manager Configuration Template Wizard
Standby Blade Pool Configuration Template Wizard
CSV configuration file import/export -
Support for evaluation and permanent license keys
-
Support for SAS cards and I/O modules
-
Support for CIOv cards
-
Support for HS22 and JS23/43
Figure 3 shows the stand-alone version of BOFM Advanced Upgrade 3.0
For more information, go to the BOFM product Web page:
http://www.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/openfabric/openfabricmanager.html
Supported hardware
The following tables list chassis, servers, and options that support the
various BOFM part numbers.
Table 3. BOFM solution support matrix – chassis support
| | BORM Basic(2019B1X)| | | | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
BladeCenter E| 8677| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter H| 8852| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter S| 8886| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter T| 8720, 8730| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter HT| 8740, 8750| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter QS22| 793| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter JS23/JS43| 7778| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
BladeCenter HS22| 7870| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
BladeCenter LS22| 7901| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter LS42| 7902| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter LS21| 7971| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter LS41| 7972| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter HS21 XM| 7995| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter JS12| 7998-60X| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter JS22| 7998| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter HS12| 8014, 8028| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
BladeCenter HS21| 8853| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet| None| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic 2-port 10Gb CNA (CFFh)| 42C1830| Y| N| N| N| Y| Y
SFF Gigabit Ethernet Expansion Card| 39R8624| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
NetXen 10 Gb Ethernet (CFFh)| 39Y9271| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
Ethernet Expansion Card (CFFv)| 39Y9310| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
Ethernet Expansion Card (CIOv)| 44W4475| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
2/4 Port Ethernet Expansion Card (CFFh)| 44W4479| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic Ethernet & 4Gb FC (CFFh)| 39Y9306| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic Ethernet & 8Gb FC (CFFh)| 44X1940| Y| N| N| N| Y| Y
Broadcom 10Gb 4-port Ethernet (CFFh)| 44W4465| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
Broadcom 10Gb 2-port Ethernet (CFFh)| 44W4466| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
Broadcom 10Gb Gen 2 4-port Ethernet (CFFh)| 46M6164| N| N| N| N| N| N
Broadcom 10Gb Gen 2 2-port Ethernet (CFFh)| 46M6168| N| N| N| N| N| N
Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter (CFFh)| 49Y4235| Y| N| N| N| Y| Y
Fibre Channel Expansion Cards| | | | | | |
QLogic 4Gb StFF FC Expansion Card| 26R0884| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic 4Gb SFF FC Expansion Card| 26R0890| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
Emulex 4Gb SFF FC Expansion Card| 39Y9186| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic Ethernet and 4Gb FC (CFFh)| 39Y9306| Y| N| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic 4Gb Fibre Channel (CFFv)| 41Y8527| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
Emulex 4Gb Fibre Channel (CFFv)| 43W6859| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y| Y
QLogic Ethernet & 8Gb FC (CFFh)| 44X1940| Y| N| N| N| Y| Y
QLogic 8Gb Fibre Channel (CIOv)| 44X1945| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
QLogic 4Gb Fibre Channel (CIOv)| 46M6065| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
Emulex 8Gb Fibre Channel (CIOv)| 46M6140| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
SAS Expansion Cards| | | | | | |
SAS Expansion Card (CFFv)| 39Y9190| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
SAS Connectivity Card (CFFv)| 43W3974| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
SAS Connectivity Card (CIOv)| 43W4068| Y| Y| N| N| Y| Y
ServeRAID MR10ie (CIOv)| 46C7167| N| N| N| N| N| N
Notes:
-
Any I/O module that is compatible with the chassis and expansion card can be used with BOFM.
-
The following blade servers are not supported by BOFM:
HS20 (8678, 8832, 7981, 8843)
HS40 (8839)
LS20 (8850)
HC10 (7996)
JS20 (8842)
JS21 (7988)
QS20 (0200)
QS21 (0792)
PN41 (3020) -
InfiniBand adapters and I/O modules are not supported by BOFM.
Supported operating systems
BOFM Basic and BOFM for BladeCenter S are operating system independent.
BOFM 2.1 Advanced Upgrade is supported with the following operating systems:
- Microsoft Windows 2003 (SP1, SP2, R2)
- Microsoft Windows 2000 (Up to SP4)
- RHEL 3 (up to SP9)
- RHEL 4 (up to SP6)
- RHEL 5 with Xen 3.0 (up to SP1)
- SLES 9 (up to SP4)
- SLES 10 with Xen 3.0 (up to SP1)
BOFM 3.0 Advanced Upgrade is supported with the following operating systems:
- Microsoft Windows 2008 (SP1, SP2)
- Microsoft Windows 2003 (SP1, SP2, R2)
- RHEL 4 (up to SP8)
- RHEL 5 (up to SP4)
- SLES 9 (up to SP4)
- SLES 10 (up to SP2)
Related publications
For more information, see the following resources:
-
BOFM home page
http://www.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/openfabric/openfabricmanager.html -
BladeCenter Advanced Management Module User’s Guide (including BOFM Basic)
http://ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5073887 -
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 3.0 Installation and User’s Guide (online)
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r1x/topic/bofm_300/btp0_bofm_main.html -
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 3.0 Installation and User’s Guide (PDF)
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r1x/topic/bofm_300/btp0_bofm_users_doc.pdf -
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 2.1 Installation and User’s Guide (online)
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v5r2/topic/bofm_1.00/btp0_bofm_main.html -
BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager 2.1 Installation and User’s Guide (PDF)
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v5r2/topic/bofm_1.00/btp0_bofm_users_doc.pdf -
BladeCenter Interoperability Guide
http://ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5073016 -
Lenovo Press publication BladeCenter Products and Technology, SG24-7523
http://lenovopress.com/sg247523
Related product families
Product families related to this document are the following:
- BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager
- Network Management
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Fabric Manager for BladeCenter
ServeRAID
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BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager (Withdrawn) (withdrawn product)
References
- IBM Support
- IBM Support
- IBM BladeCenter Products and Technology (withdrawn product) > Lenovo Press
- IBM Documentation
- IBM Documentation
- IT Infrastructure | IBM
- BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager > Lenovo Press
- Network Management > Lenovo Press
- BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager (Withdrawn) Product Guide (withdrawn product) > Lenovo Press
- Copyright and Trademark Information | Lenovo US | Lenovo US
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