HP BladeSystem Deployment Guide for Solutions with 6Gb SAS BL Switches and External SAS Storage Enclosures

Direct Connect SAS Storage for HP BladeSystem: www.hp.com/go/directconnect
HP BladeSystem technical resources (user documents, white papers, and support documents):
http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/documentation
HP BladeSystem components: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/components/
c-class-components.html
HP Smart Array P711m SAS Controller: http://www.hp.com/go/p711m
HP Smart Array P712m SAS Controller: http://www.hp.com/go/p712m
HP Smart Array P721m SAS Controller: http://www.hp.com/go/p721m
HP Smart Array P731m SAS Controller: http://www.hp.com/go/p731m
HP 6Gb SAS BL Switch: http://www.hp.com/go/6gbsasbl
HP P2000 G3 MSA Systems: http://www.hp.com/go/p2000
HP MDS600: http://www.hp.com/go/mds600
HP MSA 2040 SAS array: http://www.hp.com/go/msa2040
HP D6000: http://www.hp.com/go/d6000
HP D2600/D2700: http://www.hp.com/go/d2000
Tape Storage & Media website: http://www.hp.com/go/tape (under Business Class Libraries or
Tape Autoloaders)
Getting started
To help you successfully deploy this solution in your environment, be sure to do the following:
• Locate a workstation with a CD/DVD-ROM drive and access to the Internet, for reading
component-specific user documents from the CD/DVD or HP website associated with the
component.
• Prepare the site for the power and cooling needs of the solution and its components. (See the
user documents for your c-Class BladeSystem Enclosure.)
• Obtain copies of user documents for all devices in your solution. At minimum, HP strongly
recommends obtaining the documents that are specifically referenced in this guide. See
“Documents referred to in this guide” (page 7).
• Review the QuickSpecs for the Smart Array SAS controllers, 6Gb SAS BL Switch, and external
SAS storage enclosures to make sure that your planned configuration, including the number
of servers, is supported.
• Identify all of the components you plan to deploy in the solution, whether newly arrived and
in boxes or already installed and in use.
• Use the worksheets in this guide to record important information about your solution and its
components. Device and system information recorded in these worksheets may be needed
when initially installing and configuring the solution, and will be helpful for troubleshooting
purposes. Because the number of devices may differ for each deployment, print or copy pages
as needed. See “Device worksheets” (page 101).
• Plan to update firmware on all devices in the solution. Devices in the solution must run tested
and compatible versions of firmware. For more information about managing the firmware
interdependencies between HP BladeSystem c-Class components, see “Updating firmware on
solution devices” (page 62).
10 Introduction