HPE BladeSystem

BladeSystem is a line of blade server machines from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Formerly Hewlett-Packard) that was introduced in June 2006.^[1][2][3]

HPE BladeSystem

HPE c7000 enclosure
Also known as	HP BladeSystem
Developer	Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Type	Blade server
Release date	2006 (2006)
CPU	x86
Predecessor	RLX ServerBlade

The BladeSystem forms part of the HP ConvergedSystem platform, which use a common converged infrastructure architecture for server, storage, and networking products.^[4] Designed for enterprise installations of 100 to more than 1,000 Virtual machines, the HP ConvergedSystem 700 is configured with BladeSystem servers.^[5] When managing a software-defined data center, a System administrator can perform automated lifecycle management for BladeSystems using HPE OneView for converged infrastructure management.^[6]

The BladeSystem allows users to build a high density system, up to 128 servers in each rack.^[7]

Components

HPE ProLiant BL660 Gen8 server blade

Enclosures

HPE currently offers 2 types of enclosures in its c-Class BladeSystem lineup succeeding the p-Class BladeSystem

c7000

The BladeSystem c7000 enclosure has had multiple versions, the first version of which was announced in June 2006. In 2007 there was a minor update to the first version that included a larger Onboard Administrator display (3 inches, up from 2 inches). The next update (second version) was in 2009 and brought RoHS compatibility, increased backplane speed (5 Tbit/s, up from 4 Tbit/s), 1 Gbit/s Onboard Administrator connectivity, and increased blade connectivity options like: 2x 10 Gbit/s Ethernet support, 4x QDR or 1x FDR InfiniBand port support, and 6 Gbit/s SAS. The third version of the c7000 enclosure, called the c7000 Platinum Enclosure was released in February 2013. It features location discovery services, thermal discovery services and redesigned backplane. The new backplane increased aggregate bandwidth 40% from 5 to 7 Tbit/s to allow use newest high-speed interconnect modules (such as 16 Gbit/s FC and multiple ports of 56 Gbit/s FDR InfiniBand). Also the new Platinum Plus rating power supplies were announced with higher efficiency than previous Gold Plus rating power supplies.^[5]

All versions of the enclosure occupy 10 rack units and can accommodate up to 16 half-height blade servers. It includes space for 6 power supplies (single-phase, three-phase or a −48V DC), 10 cooling fans, 8 single-wide (such as 1/10 Gbit/s Ethernet or 8/16 Gbit/s FC) or 4 double-wide (such as 40 Gbit/s Ethernet or Infiniband) interconnect modules (that allows for up to 4 redundant interconnect fabrics)

c3000

The HPE c3000 enclosure was announced in August 2007. Updated version of the enclosure called c3000 Platinum was announced in February 2013.

All versions of the enclosure occupy 6 rack units or can be used as a standalone unit (with optional tower conversion kit) It can accommodate up to 8 half-height blade servers. It includes space for 6 power supplies (single-phase, or a -48V DC), 6 cooling fans, 4 single-wide or 2 single-wide and one double-wide interconnect modules

p-Class

Taking up 6 rack units, the p-Class enclosure can house 16 Half height, 8 Full-height or 2 Quad-wide p blades. There are two interconnect modules on the front allowing for different connectivity options such as Fibre channel. Power is managed by a Powerenclosure; 1u 6x PSU single-phase or 6x PSU three-phase / 48v DC 3u enclosures.^[8] The two types of backplanes determine what blades are supported; the standard backplane supports BL20p and BL25p blades whereas the enhanced backplane supports BL20p, BL25p, BL30p, BL35p, BL40p, BL45p, and BL60p (All generations).^[9]

Server blades

HPE has offered general-purpose Proliant server blades (based on Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron CPUs) as well as Integrity (based on the Intel Itanium CPU) and specialized ProLiant blades aimed at workstation virtualization. Blades can use half-height/full-height and single-wide/double-wide/quad-wide form factors. Apart from built-in 1 Gbit/s Ethernet network adapters, optional mezzanine cards can be installed on the blades to further increase connectivity options. These can include more network adapters, HBA/RAID Cards, SAN Fibre Channel Cards, and GPUs up to Nvidia Quadro FX 2800M via the (WS460c). WS ProLiant Blades can have a half-height GPU Blade that can be installed to accommodate full-height double graphics cards

Blade Models

Model	Form Factor	Year	Chipset	CPU (No. & Socket)	CPU (Type)	RAM (Max)	RAM (Type)	Drive Bays
BL260c G5	Half-Height	2007	Intel 5100	2 LGA 771	Intel Clovertown 5200, 5300, 5400	6x DIMMs, 48 GB	DDR2, 667	2x Non-Hot plug SATA
BL460c G5	Half-Height	2007	Intel 5100	2 LGA 771	Intel Clovertown 5200, 5300, 5400	8x DIMMs, 64 GB	DDR2, 667	2x SFF SAS/SATA E200i
BL465c G5	Half-Height	2007	ServerWorks HT-1000 and HT-2100	2 Socket F	AMD Opteron 2300	8x DIMMs, 64 GB (667), 32 GB (800)	DDR2, 800	2x SFF SAS/SATA E200i
BL480c G5	Full-Height	2007	Intel 5000P	2 LGA 771	Intel Clovertown 5200, 5300, 5400	12x DIMMs, 64 GB	DDR2, 667	4x SFF SAS/SATA P400i
BL680c G5	Full-Height	2007	Intel 7300	4 Socket 604	Intel Dunnington	16x DIMMs, 128 GB	DDR2, 667	2x SFF SAS/SATA P400i
BL685c G5	Full-Height	2007	nVidia CK8-04, IO-04	4 Socket F	AMD Opteron 8200, 8300	4x DIMMs Per processor, 128 GB	DDR2, 667	2x SFF SAS/SATA P400i
BL860c	Full-Height	2007	HP ZX2	2 MPGA 700	Intel Itanium 2 9000, 9100	12x DIMMs, 48 GB	DDR2, 533	2x SFF SAS/SATA LSI 1068
BL870c	Double Full-Height	2007	HP ZX2	4 MPGA 700	Intel Itanium 2 9000, 9100	24x DIMMs, 192 GB	DDR2, 533	4x SFF SAS/SATA LSI 1068
BL2x220c G6	2 Node Half-Height	2009	Intel 5500	2x 2 LGA 1366	Intel Nehalem 5500	3x DIMMs Per Processor, 96 GB	DDR3, 1333	1x Non-Hot plug SATA
BL280c G6	Half-Height	2009	Intel 5500	2 LGA 1366	Intel Nehalem 5500	6x DIMMs Per Processor, 192 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x Non-Hot plug SATA SSD
BL460c G6	Half-Height	2009	Intel 5500	2 LGA 1366	Intel Nehalem 5500	6x DIMMs Per Processor, 192 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
WS460c	Half-Height	2009	Intel 5500	2 LGA 1366	Intel Nehalem 5500	6x DIMMs Per Processor, 192 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL465 G6	Half-Height	2009	ServerWorks HT-2100, HT-1000	2 Socket F	AMD Opteron 2400	4x DIMMs Per Processor, 64 GB (667), 32 GB (800)	DDR2, 800	2x SFF SAS/SATA E200i
BL490c G6	Half-Height	2009	Intel 5500	2 LGA 1366	Intel Nehalem 5500	9x DIMMs Per Processor, 192 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x Non-Hot plug SATA SSD
BL495c G6	Half-Height	2009	ServerWorks HT-2100, HT-1000	2 Socket F	AMD Opteron 2400	8x DIMMs Per Processor, 128 GB	DDR2, 800	2x Non-Hot plug SATA SSD
BL685c G6	Full-Height	2009	ServerWorks HT-2100, HT-1000	4 Socket G34	AMD Opteron 8200, 8300, 8400	8x DIMMs Per Processor, 256 GB (533), 128 GB (800)	DDR2, 800	2x SFF SAS/SATA P400i
BL2x220c G7	2 Node Half-Height	2010	Intel 5520	2x 2 LGA 1366	Intel Westmere 5600	3x DIMMs Per Processor, 96 GB	DDR3, 1333	1x Non-Hot plug SATA
BL460c G7	Half-Height	2010	Intel 5520	2 LGA 1366	Intel Westmere 5600	6x DIMMs Per Processor, 384 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL 465c G7	Full-Height	2010	AMD SR5690 and SP5100	2 Socket G34	AMD Opteron 6200, 6300	8x DIMMs Per Processor, 512 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL490c G7	Half-Height	2010	Intel 5520	2 LGA 1366	Intel Westmere 5600	9x DIMMs Per Processor, 384 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x Non-Hot plug SATA SSD
BL620c G7	Full-Height	2010	Intel 7500	2 LGA 1567	Westmere EX 2800	16x DIMMs Per Processor, 1 TB	DDR3, 1333	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL680c G7	Double Full-Height	2010	Intel 7500	4 LGA 1567	Westmere EX 4800, 8800	16x DIMMs Per Processor, 2 TB	DDR3, 1333	4x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL685 G7	Full-Height	2010	AMD SR5690 and SP5100	4 Socket G34	AMD Opteron 6100, 6200, 6300	8x DIMMs Per Processor, 1 TB	DDR3, 1066	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL860c i2	Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	2 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9300	24x DIMMs, 384 GB	DDR3, 1600	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL870c i2	Double Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	4 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9300	48x DIMMs, 768 GB	DDR3, 1600	4x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL890c i2	Quad Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	8 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9300	96x DIMMs, 1.5 TB	DDR3, 1600	8x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL860c i4	Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	2 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9500	24x DIMMs, 384 GB	DDR3, 1600	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL870c i4	Double Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	4 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9500	48x DIMMs, 768 GB	DDR3, 1600	4x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL890c i4	Quad Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	8 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9500	96x DIMMs, 1.5 TB	DDR3, 1600	8x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL860c i6	Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	2 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9700	24x DIMMs, 384 GB	DDR3, 1600	2x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL870c i6	Double Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	4 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9700	48x DIMMs, 768 GB	DDR3, 1600	4x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL890c i6	Quad Full-Height	2011	Intel 7500	8 LGA 1248	Intel Itanium 2 9700	96x DIMMs, 1.5 TB	DDR3, 1600	8x SFF SAS/SATA P410i
BL420c Gen8	Half-Height	2011	Intel 7500	2 LGA 1356	Intel Sandy Bridge EN 2400	6x DIMMs Per Processor, 192 GB	DDR3, 1333	2x SFF SAS/SATA P220i/B320i
WS460c Gen8	Half-Height	2011	Intel C600	2 LGA 2011 (R1)	Intel Sandy Bridge EP 2600	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 1333 512 GB, RDIMMs 1866 256 GB	DDR3, 1866	2x SFF SAS/SATA P220i
BL460c Gen8	Half-Height	2011	Intel C600	2 LGA 2011 (R1)	Intel Sandy Bridge EP 2600	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 1333 512 GB, RDIMMs 1600 256 GB	DDR3, 1600	2x SFF SAS/SATA P220i
BL465c Gen8	Half-Height	2011	AMD SR5690 and SP5100	2 Socket G34	AMD Opteron 6300	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 1333 512 GB, RDIMMs 1600 256 GB	DDR3, 1600	2x SFF SAS/SATA P220i
BL660c Gen8	Full-Height	2011	Intel C600	4 Socket 2011-1	Intel Sandy Bridge EP, Ivy Bridge EX	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 1 TB	DDR3, 1866	2x SFF SAS/SATA P220i
BL460c Gen9	Half-Height	2013	Intel C610	2 LGA 2011-v3 (R3)	Intel Haswell-EP 2600	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 2 TB	DDR4, 2400	2x SFF SAS/SATA P244br/B140i
WS460c Gen9	Half-Height	2013	Intel C610	2 LGA 2011-v3 (R3)	Intel Haswell-EP 2600	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 1 TB	DDR4, 2400	2x SFF SAS/SATA P244br/B140i
BL660c Gen9	Full-Height	2013	Intel C610	4 LGA 2011-v3 (R3)	Intel Haswell-EP 4600	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 4 TB	DDR4, 2400	4x SFF SAS/SATA P246br/B140i
BL460c Gen10	Half-Height	2017	Intel C621	2 LGA 3647	Intel Skylake-SP	8x DIMMs Per Processor, LRDIMMs 2 TB	DDR4, 2933	2x SFF NVMe P204i-b/S100i SR

Networking

Several connectivity options are available for the HPE BladeSystem:

• HPE Virtual Connect modules
• HPE Aruba networking switches
• Cisco Ethernet and Fibre Channel switches and fabric extenders
• Broadcom Fibre Channel switches and pass-through modules
• Mellanox Infiniband

Storage

Storage options include:

• Internal server HDDs (usually 2 to 4 with hot-swap capabilities)
• Internal USB, SD or microSD slot
• Connecting to external SAN via FC, SAS or iSCSI; enabled by the use of a mezzanine I/O card
• Storage blade (with large number of internal HDD's)
• Tape blade (half-height blade unit hosting LTO tape drive and designed to connect to adjacent blade server)

References

1. "Compute Products and Services". Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
2. "BladeSystem Matrix takes aim at Cisco". Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
3. "HP BladeSystem Matrix: Delivering the Converged Infrastructure| White…". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012.
4. Rouse, Margaret. (2013–12). “Definition: Converged Infrastructure,” TechTarget.com.
5. Morgan, Timothy Prickett (29 April 2013). "HP mashes up ProLiant, Integrity, BladeSystem, and Moonshot server businesses". The Register.
6. Tiano, Luigi (28 September 2013). "HP OneView managing the Converged Infrastructure data center". 1cloudroad. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014.
7. "HP Puts 1000 Cores in a Single Rack". Tom's Hardware. June 11, 2008. Retrieved 14 Apr 2013.
8. "Document Display | HPE Support Center". support.hpe.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
9. "Document Display | HPE Support Center". support.hpe.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.