BladeCenter Expansion Blades: Supported Configurations

There are four expansion blades currently available for IBM BladeCenter servers:

• Memory and I/O Expansion Unit, which has four memory DIMM sockets, two Ethernet controllers, and PCI-X and PCI Express I/O expansion sockets
• Storage and I/O (SIO) Expansion Unit, which has three SAS drive bays, RAID controller, and two PCI-X and one PCI Express I/O expansion sockets
• PCI Expansion Unit II (PEU2), which has two full-length PCI-X 100 MHz slots
• PCI Express I/O Expansion Unit (PEU3e), which has two full length PCI Express x8 (x16 mechanical) slots

Attaching one expansion blade

These expansion blades attach to the server blade and double the width of the overall server. In some configurations, two expansion blades can be attached to a single blade server. Table 1 lists the available expansion blades and the servers that support them.

Note: The QS22 and PN41 blade servers do not support any expansion blades or expansion cards as they do not have the necessary onboard connectors.

Table 1. Available expansion blades and the servers that support them

Expansion card

IBM BladeCenter Memory and I/O (MIO) Expansion Unit, 42C1600

N

N

Y

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

IBM BladeCenter Storage and I/O (SIO) Expansion Unit, 39R7563

N

Y

Y

Y

N

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

N

IBM BladeCenter PCI Expansion Unit II (PEU2), 39R7563

N

N

Y

Y

N

N

Y

N

Y

N

N

N

N

N

IBM BladeCenter PCI Express I/O Expansion Unit (PEU3e), 43W4391

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

N

Attaching two expansion blades

As you can see Table 1, the HS21, HS21 XM, LS21/41, and LS22/42 support more than one expansion blade. There are configuration requirements that are related to connecting multiple expansion blades, as described in this section. You can only attach one blade of each type (for example, only one SIO expansion blade).

BladeCenter HS21

For the HS21, you can only attach two expansion blades to the server blade. Attaching three expansion blades is not supported. The following configurations are supported (the sequence is important; the MIO must be directly attached to the HS21, for example):

• HS21 <- MIO <- PEU2
• HS21 <- MIO <- SIO
• HS21 <- SIO <- PEU2

The following configurations are unsupported combinations:

• HS21 <- PEU2 <- MIO (not supported)
• HS21 <- SIO <- MIO (not supported)
• HS21 <- PEU2 <- SIO (not supported)

Although the HS21 supports all three expansion blades, only two expansion blades can be attached to a server at one time. If used, the MIO must be the “closest” expansion blade to the blade server.

BladeCenter HS21 XM

For the HS21 XM, the SIO and PEU2/PEU3e can be attached at the same time, in the following connection sequence:

• HS21 XM <- SIO <- PEU2
• HS21 XM <- SIO <- PEU3e (only the first slot in the PEU3e will work in this configuration)

The following connection sequences are unsupported combinations:

• HS21 XM <- PEU2 <- SIO (not supported)
• HS21 XM <- PEU3e <- SIO (not supported)

BladeCenter LS21

For LS21, the SIO and PEU3e can be attached at the same time, in the following connection sequence:

• LS21 <- SIO <- PEU3e (only the first slot in the PEU3e will work in this configuration)

The following connection sequence is an unsupported combination:

• LS21 <- PEU3e <- SIO (not supported)

BladeCenter LS41

For LS41, the SIO and PEU3e can be attached at the same time, in the following connection sequence:

• LS41 <- MPE <- SIO <- PEU3e (only the first slot in the PEU3e will work in this configuration)

The following connection sequence is an unsupported combination:

• LS41 <- MPE <- PEU3e <- SIO (not supported)

BladeCenter LS22

For LS22, the SIO and PEU2 or SIO and PEU3e, can be attached at the same time, in the following connection sequence:

• LS22 <- SIO <- PEU2
• LS22 <- SIO <- PEU3e (only the first slot in the PEU3e will work in this configuration)

The following connection sequence is an unsupported combination:

• LS22 <- PEU2 <- SIO (not supported)
• LS22 <- PEU3e <- SIO (not supported)
  

BladeCenter LS42

For LS42 with the Multi Processor Expansion (MPE) Unit, the SIO and PEU2 or SIO and PEU3e, can be attached at the same time, in the following connection sequence:

• LS42 <- MPE <- SIO - PEU2
• LS42 <- MPE <- SIO - PEU3e (only the first slot in the PEU3e will work in this configuration)

The following connection sequence is an unsupported combination:

• LS42 <- MPE <- PEU2 <- SIO (not supported)
• LS42 <- MPE <- PEU3e <- SIO (not supported)

Related publications
For more information, see the following documents:

• IBM Redbooks publication IBM BladeCenter Products and Technology, SG24-7523
  http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247523.html
• IBM BladeCenter Interoperability Guide
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-5073016
• IBM BladeCenter Storage and I/O (SIO) Expansion Unit Installation and User's Guide
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-5070759
• IBM BladeCenter Memory and I/O Expansion Blade Installation Guide
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-5070758
• IBM BladeCenter PCI Expansion Unit II (PEU2) Installation Instructions
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61501
• IBM BladeCenter PCI Express I/O Expansion Unit (PEU3e)
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-5076806