With IBM’s BladeCenter, why am I getting the error “Unable to read VPD for Blade Server”

The options can be a bit overwhelming to newcomers.

To start with a new H-series will come bundled with the following items:

• Chassis populated with media tray and blowers.
• PSUs (pack of two).
• Advanced Management Module (AMM).

Besides your actual blades you will need the following as a minimum:

• Connectivity - Ethernet

  Unless you have some very specific requirements from pre-existing switches then avoid Copper Passthru Modules (CPM). They aren't that much cheaper, can be fumblesome and you won't benefit from the blade simplicity. Go for an Ethernet Switch Module (ESM). This will provide internal Ethernet switching between all blades and a handful of external ports to take connectivity out of the chassis.

  Each blade's onboard NIC is hard-wired to an I/O module in the chassis, so if you wish to use both NICs then you'll need to purchase two ESMs. The choice is between Cisco or Nortel (aka Blade Networks). If you don't have any ties to Cisco then I'd thoroughly recommend the Nortels. If your requirements are simple then the L2/3 model will do fine.

• Power

  There are five choices of power cables. The most suitable here in the UK is the 3x 16A IEC (25R5785). For each power connector on the back of the chassis, the cable splits out, in the form of two IECs for blades (allow 14A each) and one IEC for blowers (allow 5.5A).

  You'll need to purchase two of these cables for redundancy and a C19 PDU. Ideally you should be running two PDUs from two separate power sources and then connect the Bladecenter in a fashion whereby the load of the IECs is both distributed and redundant.

  Be sure to spec your power requirements carefully. Our PDUs have ammeters built-in so that we can observe the load and they all terminate to 32A Ceeform feeds. IBM provide a free utility called Power Configurator which can help you calculate your power requirements.

All of the above assumes that you have 6 blades with no additional I/O requirements. You may then wish to consider the following:

• Redundant AMM

  There is space for two Management Modules in each chassis. When two are installed, they will run in a primary and secondary arrangement, so that the secondary takes over in the event of the primary's failure. It's always worth having two.

• PSUs

  All BladeCenters are divided into two power domains. With the two bundled PSUs you will be able to run blades in slots 1-7 and I/O modules in bays 1-4 and 7-10. If you wish to expand and run blades or I/O modules in the remaining spaces then you will need to purchase an additional pack of two PSUs. Thankfully there is only one 2900W rating to choose from for the H-series.

• Connectivity

  If you want to expand on the connectivity of your blades, such as additional NICs, FibreChannel or InfiniBand, then you can purchase expansion cards for the blades and I/O modules for the chassis.

Finally the IBM Redbook entitled "IBM BladeCenter Products and Technology" is absolutely essential reading. It contains details all the available options, compatibility matrices and detailed descriptions about I/O use.

Using another server, I figured out the keyboard commands, which I was able to perform on the server that was stuck in Safe Mode with a monitor output the IBM Bladecenter Java-based KVM doesn't support.

Here are the steps to take via keyboard only to configure a Windows 2003 Server stuck in safe mode to boot in Normal mode:

• Type local password (assuming Administrator is entered as username)
• Return
• Return to say OK about safe mode
• Tab to highlight Start menu
• Return
• R to select Run
• Type msconfig
• Alt N to select Boot Normally
• Alt A to select Apply
• Return to select Close
• Return to select Reboot

My troubled machine rebooted with monitor support and I could begin troubleshooting my initial issue once again.