1: Introduction
1-2 AlterPath BladeManager Manual
Connectivity and Capacity
The BladeManager hardware platform is based on the IBM eServer xSeries
306. It comes with a Blade Wizard which enables the admin user to create up
to 14 blades and 4 switches for each chassis. The BladeManager supports up
to 6 chassis; altogether, the module support a maximum of 84 blades and 24
switches.
All blades have Serial over LAN (SOL), KVM/IP, virtual media, and power
options created. For security, blade users are controlled by the Control Access
List (ACL) which is configured through the Security Profile settings.
The switches connect as secondary or cascaded devices to the chassis.
Front view of the BladeManager:
See Chapter 2: BladeManager Installation to view the port connections
available from the BladeManager.
Key Features
The key features of AlterPath BladeManager are:
• Single point security gateway
• Centralized authentication
• Consolidated views
• One-click access to consoles and devices
• Centralized data logging system
• Access log audit trail
• Log file compression and rotation capabilities
• Prioritized triggers and alarms
•Blade wizard
• Device, Console, and User Group Management
• Backup, restore, and replicate user data
• Exhaustive reporting
• Convenient web user interface
• Easy command line interface
• Product maintenance