If you need more disks than are available with the internal disk bays, you can attach more external disk subsystems, such as an EXP24SX SAS Storage Enclosure (#ESLS).
The EXP24SX drawer is a storage expansion enclosure with 24 2.5-inch SFF SAS bays. It supports up to 24 hot-plug HDDs or SSDs in only 2 EIA of space in a 19-inch rack. The EXP24SX SFF bays use SFF Gen2 (SFF-2) carriers or trays. With AIX/Linux/VIOS, the EXP24SX can be ordered with four sets of 6 bays (mode 4), two sets of 12 bays (mode 2) or one set of 24 bays (mode 1). With IBM i one set of 24 bays (mode 1) is supported. It is possible to change the mode setting in the field by using software commands along with a specifically documented procedure.
The attachment between the EXP24SX drawer and the PCIe Gen 3 SAS adapter is through SAS YO12 or X12 cables. The PCIe Gen 3 SAS adapters support 6 Gb throughput. The EXP24SX drawer can support up to 12 Gb throughput if future SAS adapters support that capability.
The EXP24SX drawer includes redundant AC power supplies and two power cords.
Chapter 1. Introduction to Power E1080 29
Figure 1-10 shows the EXP24SX drawer.
Figure 1-10 EXP24SX drawer
For more information about SAS cabling and cabling configurations at IBM Documentation.
Table 1-19 lists the SFF-2 SSD and HDD feature codes that the Power E1080 supports in the expansion drawer at the time of this writing.
Table 1-19 Supported SFF-2 and HDD feature codes in the expansion drawer
30 IBM Power E1080: Technical Overview and Introduction
Chapter 1. Introduction to Power E1080 31
32 IBM Power E1080: Technical Overview and Introduction
Two possible PDU ratings are supported: 60/63 amps and 30/32 amps. The PDU rating is determined by the power cord that is used to connect the PDU to the electrical supply. The number of system nodes and I/O expansion drawers that are supported by each power cord are listed in Table 1-22.
Table 1-22 Maximum supported enclosures by power cord
1.7.5 Rack-mounting rules
Consider the following primary rules when you mount the system into a rack: Ê For rack stability, start filling the rack from the bottom.
Ê IBM recommends the use of an IBM approved lift tool for installation of systems into any IBM or non-IBM rack.
Ê IBM does not support installation of the server nodes higher than the 29U position.
Ê Any remaining space in the rack can be used to install other systems or peripheral devices. Ensure that the maximum permissible weight of the rack is not exceeded and the installation rules for these devices are followed.
Ê Before placing the system into the service position, follow the rack manufacturer’s safety instructions regarding rack stability.
38 IBM Power E1080: Technical Overview and Introduction
1.7.6 Useful rack additions
This section highlights several rack addition solutions for IBM Power rack-based systems.
IBM System Storage 7226 Model 1U3 Multi-Media Enclosure
The IBM System Storage 7226 Model 1U3 Multi-Media Enclosure can accommodate up to two tape drives, two RDX removable disk drive docking stations, or up to four DVD-RAM drives.
The IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure supports LTO Ultrium and DAT160 Tape technology, DVD-RAM, and RDX removable storage requirements on the following IBM systems:
Ê IBM POWER6 processor-based systems Ê IBM POWER7 processor-based systems Ê IBM POWER8® processor-based systems Ê IBM POWER9 processor-based systems Ê IBM Power10 processor-based systems
The IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure offers an expansive list of drive feature options, as listed in Table 1-23.
Table 1-23Supported drive features for the 7226-1U3
The following options are available:
Ê LTO Ultrium 6 Half-High 2.5 TB SAS and FC Tape Drive: With a data transfer rate up to 320 MBps (assuming a 2.5:1 compression), the LTO Ultrium 6 drive is read/write compatible with LTO Ultrium 6 and 5 media, and read-only compatibility with LTO Ultrium 4. By using data compression, an LTO-6 cartridge can store up to 6.25 TB of data.
Ê The LTO Ultrium 7 drive offers a data rate of up to 300 MBps with compression. It also provides read/write compatibility with Ultrium 7 and Ultrium 6 media formats, and
read-only compatibility with Ultrium 5 media formats. By using data compression, an LTO-7 cartridge can store up to 15TB of data.
Ê The LTO Ultrium 8 drive offers a data rate of up to 300 MBps with compression. It also provides read/write compatibility with Ultrium 8 and Ultrium 7 media formats. It is not read or write compatible with other Ultrium media formats. By using data compression, an LTO-8 cartridge can store up to 30 TB of data.
Chapter 1. Introduction to Power E1080 39
Ê DVD-RAM: The 9.4 GB SAS Slim Optical Drive with an SAS and USB interface option is compatible with most standard DVD disks.
Ê RDX removable disk drives: The RDX USB docking station is compatible with most RDX removable disk drive cartridges when it is used in the same OS. The 7226 offers the following RDX removable drive capacity options:
– 500 GB (#1107)
– 1.0 TB (#EU01)
– 2.0 TB (#EU2T)
Removable RDX drives are in a rugged cartridge that inserts in to an RDX removable (USB) disk docking station (#1103 or #EU03). RDX drives are compatible with docking stations, which are installed internally in POWER8, POWER9, and Power10 processor-based servers, where applicable. Figure 1-12 shows the IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure.
Figure 1-12 IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure
The IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure offers a customer-replaceable unit (CRU) maintenance service to help make the installation or replacement of new drives efficient. Other 7226 components also are designed for CRU maintenance.
The IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure is compatible with most POWER8, POWER9, and Power10 processor-based systems that offer current level AIX, IBM i, and Linux operating systems.
Unsupported: IBM i does not support 7226 USB devices.
For a complete list of host software versions and release levels that support the IBM System Storage 7226 Multi-Media Enclosure, see System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC).
Note: Any of the existing 7216-1U2, 7216-1U3, and 7214-1U2 multimedia drawers are also supported.
Flat panel display options
The IBM 7316 Model TF5 is a rack-mountable flat panel console kit that can also be configured with the tray pulled forward and the monitor folded up, which provides full viewing and keying capability for the HMC operator.
The Model TF5 is a follow-on product to the Model TF4 and offers the following features:
Ê A slim, sleek, and lightweight monitor design that occupies only 1U (1.75 in.) in a 19-inch standard rack
Ê A 18.5-inch (409.8 mm x 230.4 mm) flat panel TFT monitor with truly accurate images and virtually no distortion40 IBM Power E1080: Technical Overview and Introduction
Ê The ability to mount the IBM Travel Keyboard in the 7316-TF5 rack keyboard tray
Ê Support for the IBM 1×8 Rack Console Switch (#4283) IBM Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM) switches
The #4283 is a 1×8 Console Switch that fits in the 1U space behind the TF5 It is a
CAT5-based switch. It contains eight analog rack interface (ARI) ports for connecting PS/2 or USB console switch cables. It supports chaining of servers that use an IBM Conversion Options switch cable (#4269). This feature provides four cables that connect a KVM switch to a system, or can be used in a daisy-chain scenario to connect up to 128 systems to a single KVM switch. It also supports server-side USB attachments
Each Azure consumption (usage)-based service has one or more usage meters that define the price rate and unit of cost. Depending on the service, there will be different units of costs.
Billing is performed monthly for each subscription based on resource consumption that’s collected from individual meters for that subscription. This means that every month, you may receive a different invoice based on a different set of costs incurred; maybe you consumed more on one resources meter, less on another, and created new resources that created costs against another meter.
The following are primary factors that can affect costs:
Purchasing model: The costs for resources may differ, depending on your purchase model. You can either purchase your Azure directly from Microsoft or through a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP): https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/purchase-options.
Resource type: The costs are specific to your resources; each resource has a billing meter and cost unit. For example, data storage and data transfer will have a unit of billing of GB/month, a VM or Azure SQL database will have a unit of billing of 1 hour, and a premium SSD managed disk will have a unit of billing of 1/month. Storage accounts can charge for any read and write operations unless you’re using Premium, in which case these charges are not applicable. It is important to understand the billing units for each resource you create.
Location: The costs will vary between Azure regions.
Usage period: Some resources, such as VMs, can be shut down (de-allocated) to prevent running costs; two identical VMs running for different running hours will have different costs. You would continue to pay for storage costs, but you wouldn’t pay for data transfer costs while the VM is not passing network traffic. It is also worth noting that services such as Azure AD Domain Services, Azure Bastion, and the Azure VPN gateway service, once created, will still be billed even if they are not used; the only way to prevent costs for these services is to delete them.
Network traffic: Ingress data transfer (data entering or incoming) for an Azure Region or between resources within the same region is always free, but egress data transfer (data leaving or outgoing) from a region is billed at a per-GB unit; this is irrespective of the fact that this is internet traffic or that the region is using a VPN or ExpressRoute circuit.
Note that some resource types are free and have no billing meter or cost implications. The following are some examples of resources that can be created or enabled with no costs. Likewise, removing any of these will not reduce your costs or the invoice you receive:
User accounts or groups
Resource groups
Virtual networks
Virtual network peering
Network interfaces
Network security groups
Availability sets
It is important to understand what resources have cost implications and what resources don’t. In this section, we looked at factors that affect costs. In the next section, we’ll look at how to reduce costs.
To support your learning with some practical skills, we will explore some of the resources and information covered in this chapter.
The following exercise will be carried out:
Exercise – exploring Microsoft Trust Center Portal.
Getting started
To get started with this hands-on exercise, you will need the following:
Access to an internet browser
Exercise – exploring Microsoft Trust Center Portal
This section will help you explore the Microsoft Trust Center Portal.
Task – accessing Microsoft Trust Center Portal
From a browser, navigate to https://www.microsoft.com/trust-center.
Task – exploring the Trust Center Portal
The Trust Center Portal can be explored using the top navigation bar. The core navigation components to explore can be found in the Privacy, Compliance, and Tools & Documentation drop-down menus. In addition to this, from the Products and services navigation component, you can view guidance on security, privacy, compliance, the data’s location, GDPR, and more:
Figure 10.10 – Azure Trust Center Portal
From the Privacy menu, click Resources; among other resources, such as GDR, you will be able to access some of the core privacy resources outlined in the chapter, such as the privacy statement, terms, and data protection addendum. These can be seen in the following screenshot:
Figure 10.11 – Privacy resources
From the Compliance menu, you can click through the items to explore each one, such as an overview of compliance, the compliance offerings, regional and country compliance, and so on.
From Products and services, you can click through to learn about the specific details of each Microsoft product and service.
From the Tools & Documentation menu, you can click through the items to explore each one, such as audit reports and data protection resources. These can be seen in the following screenshot:
Figure 10.12 – Trust document resources
In this exercise, we explored the Microsoft Trust Center Portal.
Azure Cost Management is provided through a Cost Management + Billing dashboard functionality in the Azure portal; it provides core functionality such as cost visibility, optimizations, and accountability.
The following capabilities are provided within the Cost Management + Billing function within the Azure portal:
Billing: View and download invoices; view payment methods and make payments.
Cost Management: Perform cost analysis, set cost alerts, and create budgets.
The following screenshot shows the cost analysis screen in the Azure portal:
Figure 11.1 – Azure Cost Management
In this section, we looked at Azure Cost Management. In the next section, we will look at the Azure pricing calculator.
Azure Pricing calculator
The Azure Pricing calculator is a publicly accessible browser-based tool where you can estimate the cost of services that can be created in Azure.
All Azure resources that can be purchased are displayed in categories that can be browsed through. The calculator has a search function; each resource you can add as an item to the estimate has a hyperlink to the product details for each resource, as well as its pricing page. This is useful if you need to understand the pricing structure for each resource and any factors that may impact costs.
To use the calculator to provide cost estimations for your chosen solution, you must add the required services for your solution to the estimate. Then, you will see a total estimate and breakdown; you can set the currency and then export, save, or share the estimate. Note that the estimates are not intended to be used as actual quotes; the resource’s availability, the pricing structure, and its costs may vary from the time of estimation to resource creation.
An SLA sets out a customer’s expected level of service from their service provider; it can include responsibilities, vocabulary and terminology, claims and credit processes, service quality, and availability metrics.
Microsoft defines an SLA as Microsoft’s commitments to uptime and connectivity, meaning the amount of time the services are online, available, and operational.
Microsoft provides each service with an individual SLA that will detail what is covered by the agreement and any exceptions; a percentage of the monthly fees are credited for any service that does not meet the guarantees. Previews and free services are not provided with an SLA. Information about each service’s SLA can be found at the following URLs:
Service availability is expressed as the uptime percentage over time; Microsoft SLAs are expressed monthly.
Availability is typically referred to as 9s (nines); for example, this can be expressed as four nines of availability, meaning the service will be available and fully operational for 99.99% of the defined period. In contrast to availability and uptime, it is also important to consider downtime, which means the amount of time the service will not be available for.
While we see lots of references to availability and uptime when looking at an SLA that will be provided for a service, the customer and consumer of the services will want to know what that means in the real world and what impact any breach may mean to them. Therefore, it is often the case that the real metric that matters is downtime, which means for a given SLA, how long is that service permitted to be down (that is, not available from the service provider)? You should scrutinize any SLA to determine whether that level of downtime is acceptable.
The following table illustrates examples of SLA commitments and downtime permitted per month as part of an SLA:
For reference, 99.9% is the minimum SLA that Microsoft provides; 99.999 % is the maximum. It should be noted that 100% can’t be provided by Microsoft.
You should also be aware of the concept of a composite SLA; this means that when you combine services (such as virtual machines and the underlying services such as storage, networking components, and so on), the overall SLA is lower than the individual highest SLA on one of the services. This is because each service that you add increases the probability of failure and increases complexity. An example exercise will be provided later in this chapter to illustrate this important concept.
The following actions will positively impact and increase your SLA:
Using services that provide an SLA (or improve the service SLA), such as Azure AD Basic and Premium editions and Premium SSD managed disks
Adding redundant resources, such as resources to additional/multiple regions
Adding availability solutions, such as using Availability Sets and Availability Zones
The following actions will negatively impact and decrease your SLA:
Adding multiple services due to the nature of composite SLAs
Choosing non-SLA-backed services or free services
The following actions will have no impact on your SLA:
Adding multiple tenancies
Adding multiple subscriptions
Adding multiple admin accounts
The Azure status page (https://status.azure.com) provides a global overview of the service health across all regions; this should be the first place you visit, should you suspect there is a wider issue affecting the availability of services globally. From the status page, you can click through to Azure Service Health in the Azure portal, which provides a personalized view of the availability of the services that are being used within your Azure subscriptions.
Service credits are paid through a claims process by a service provider when they do meet the guarantees of the agreed service level. As we mentioned previously, previews and free services are not provided with a financially backed SLA and are not entitled to service credits for any service downtime. You should evaluate all your services to ensure that, where required, you always have an SLA-backed service; as they say, there is often an operational impact that’s felt from free services.
If you suspect that your services have been affected and that Microsoft has not been able to meet their SLA, then it is your responsibility to take action and pursue credit; you must submit a claim to receive service credit. For most services, you must submit the claim the month after the month the service was impacted. If your services are provided through the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) channel, they will pursue this claim on your behalf and provide the service refunds accordingly.
In this section, we looked at Azure SLAs. In the next section, we will look at the Azure service life cycle.
Figure 1-9 on page 28 shows the rear view of the PCIe Gen 3 I/O Expansion Drawer with the location codes for the PCIe adapter slots in the PCIe Gen 3 6-slot Fanout Module.
Chapter 1. Introduction to Power E1080 27
Figure 1-9 Rear view of a PCIe Gen 3 I/O Expansion Drawer with PCIe slots location codes
Table 1-17 lists the PCIe slots in the PCIe Gen 3 I/O Expansion Drawer.
Table 1-17 PCIe slot locations and descriptions for the PCIe Gen 3 I/O Expansion Drawer
Consider the following points regarding the information in Table 1-17:
Ê All slots support full-length, regular-height adapters or short (low-profile) adapters with a regular-height tailstock in single-wide, Gen 3 BSCs.
Ê Slots C1 and C4 in each PCIe Gen 3 6-slot Fanout Module are x16 PCIe Gen 3 buses; slots C2, C3, C5, and C6 are x8 PCIe buses.
Ê All slots support enhanced error handling (EEH).
Ê All PCIe slots are hot-swappable and support concurrent maintenance.
28 IBM Power E1080: Technical Overview and Introduction
Table 1-18 lists the maximum number of I/O drawers that are supported and the total number of PCIe slots that are available when the expansion drawer consists of a single drawer type.
Table 1-18 Maximum number of supported I/O drawers and the total number of PCIe slots
