Power considerations

When planning for power, you need to determine how many power modules you intend to install (either 2 or 4) and whether they are going to be connected to 110 V ac or 220 V ac power sources. In addition, you need to determine the type of power management policy that you intend to implement.

The power modules for the BladeCenter S system can accept either low voltage range (110 V ac nominal) or high voltage range (220 V ac nominal) line input from your power utility distribution network.

At a minimum, you need to install two power modules, and they must be installed in power module bays 1 and 2. These power modules will provide power to the following components:

Blade server bays 1 through 6
I/O module bays 1 through 4
Advanced management module module bay
Serial Pass-Thru Module module bay
Disk storage module bay 1
Fan module bays 1 through 4

If you are going to install a disk storage module in bay 2, you will also need to install two additional power modules in power module bays 3 and 4. In addition, the configuration of the blade servers that you have installed might require that you installed additional power modules.

In addition to this information, you can use the IBM System x and BladeCenter Power Configurator to assist in planning for power.