HP Onboard Administrator - Manual (Page 8)

Introduction 8
Introduction
Overview
HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrator is the enclosure management processor, subsystem, and firmware
base that supports the HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosure and all the managed devices contained within the
enclosure.
Onboard Administrator provides a single point from which to perform basic management tasks on server
blades or switches within the enclosure. Onboard Administrator performs configuration steps for the
enclosure, enables run-time management and configuration of the enclosure components, and informs you of
problems within the enclosure through email, SNMP, or the Insight Display.
HP recommends that you read the specific HP BladeSystem c3000 or c7000 Enclosure user guide for
enclosure specific information before proceeding with Onboard Administrator setup.
The HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrator provides several features designed to simplify management of
c-Class blades and interconnects. The HP BladeSystem c3000 and c7000 Enclosures can be configured with
redundant Onboard Administrator modules to provide uninterrupted manageability of the entire enclosure
and blades in the event of a failure of a single Onboard Administrator module. The following table indicates
which Onboard Administrator feature is enhanced when the enclosure contains redundant Onboard
Administrator modules. For an enclosure with only a single Onboard Administrator module, the table
indicates the behavior of the enclosure if the single Onboard Administrator module has failed or is removed.
Enclosure Dynamic Power Capping, introduced in Onboard Administrator firmware version 2.31, is only
available in HP BladeSystem enclosures with redundant Onboard Administrator modules installed.
Benefits of using a redundant Onboard Administrator versus a single Onboard Administrator
Onboard Administrator
feature
Single Onboard
Administrator in enclosure Single Onboard
Administrator failed or
removed
Redundant Onboard
Administrator in enclosure
Power allocation and control
for all blades and
interconnects
Yes. No enclosure dynamic
power capping as this
requires redundant Onboard
Administrators.
No. Power supplies will
continue to deliver power to
all blades and interconnects.
No power on requests can be
made for blades or
interconnects.
Yes. Complete control
including sustaining a failure
of either Onboard
Administrator. Enclosure
dynamic power capping
requires redundant Onboard
Administrators.
Cooling for all blades and
interconnects. Yes. Complete control. No. All enclosure fans will
ramp to an un-managed
higher speed to protect
blades and interconnects from
overheating.
Yes. Complete control,
including sustaining a failure
of either Onboard
Administrator.
Enclosure Bay IP Addressing
(EBIPA)
Yes. Complete control. No. EBIPA IP addresses will
be lost after lease timeout.
Yes. Complete control,
including sustaining a failure
of either Onboard
Administrator.
Ethernet communications to
Onboard Administrator,
Yes. Complete control. No Ethernet management
communications including
internal management traffic
Yes. Complete control,
including sustaining a failure
of either Onboard