IBM 520Q User Manual

IBM System p5 520 and 520Q Technical Overview and Introduction

The Hardware Management Console (HMC) is a dedicated workstation that provides a 
graphical user interface for configuring, operating, and performing basic system tasks for the 
IBM System p5 servers that function in either non-partitioned, LPAR, or clustered 
environments. In addition, the HMC is used to configure and manage partitions. One HMC is 
capable of controlling multiple POWER5 and POWER5+ processor-based systems. 

At the time of writing, one HMC supports up to 48 POWER5 and POWER5+ processor-based 
systems and up to 254 LPARs using the HMC machine code Version 5.2. For updates of the 
machine code and HMC functions and hardware prerequisites, refer to the following Web site:

POWER5+ and POWER5 processor-based system HMCs require Ethernet connectivity 
between the HMC and the server’s service processor. Moreover, if dynamic LPAR operations 
are required, all AIX 5L and Linux partitions must be enabled to communicate over a network 
to the HMC. Ensure that sufficient Ethernet adapters are available to enable public and 
private networks, if you need both:

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The HMC 7310 Model C05 is a deskside model with one integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps 
Ethernet port and two additional PCI slots.

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The 7310 Model CR3 is a 1U, 19-inch rack-mountable drawer that has two native 
10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ports and two additional PCI slots.

For any partition in a server, it is possible to use the shared Ethernet adapter in the Virtual I/O 
Server for a unique connection from the HMC to the partitions. Therefore, your partition does 
not require your own physical adapter to communicate to an HMC.

It is a good practice to connect the HMC to the first HMC port on the server, which is labeled 
as HMC Port 1, although other network configurations are possible. You can attach a second 
HMC to HMC Port 2 of the server for redundancy (or vice versa). Figure 2-17 on page 61 
shows a simple network configuration to enable the connection from the HMC to the server 
and to enable Dynamic LPAR operations. For more details about HMC and the possible 
network connections, refer to Hardware Management Console (HMC) Case Configuration 
Study for LPAR Management, REDP-3999, at:

Micro-partitions
(1/10th of processor)

N

Y

Y

Y

Y

Virtual Storage

N

Y

Y

Y

Y

Virtual Ethernet

N

Y

Y

Y

Y

Partition Load Manager

Y

Y

N

N

N