IBM X-Architecture: Cabling made simple

The demand for pervasive computing - information anywhere, any time - is growing. Providing the ability for users to access this information from an increasing number of devices requires continuous uptime and demands more from the servers supporting them.

By building robust features into IBMeServer xSeries servers, IBM X-Architecture technology addresses these requirements and aids preparation for the next wave of e-business. The key to doing this successfully is experience - in software and hardware capabilities, in procedures and practices and in supporting high-availability platforms.

IBM has a long heritage in these areas and xSeries servers are leveraging that experience through IBM X-Architecture technology.

The X-Architecture framework extends as far as the back of the server array. "The back of a typical server rack reveals a rat`s nest of cables keeping everything connected. IBM has come up with an elegant solution to this manageability nightmare - IBM C2T (Cable Chaining Technology) interconnect cabling," explains Ross Matthee IBM general manager at Tarsus Technologies, the value-add distribution arm of JSE-listed MB Technologies.

This cabling is used in IBM eServer xSeries 330 1U rack-mounted servers, available from Tarsus Technologies. Traditional cabling requires one keyboard, one video and one mouse cable per server, plugged into a KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) switch box. Each of these cables can vary in length from two to almost four metres. A rack with 24 1U servers requires 126 separate cables for keyboard, video and mouse, totalling almost 270 metres (using the standard shorter cables).

Matthee continues: "These cables have a connector at each end, which are painstakingly plugged and unplugged when configuring or servicing a rack, requiring 252 total connections."

With IBM C2T interconnect cabling, 42 x330 servers require only 41 30-centimetre daisy-chain cables (with one connector on each end) and one two-metre KVM cable (with three connectors on one end and one connector on the other). C2T cabling eliminates the need for KVM switch boxes and a Power Distribution Unit.

"The cabling is also hot-swap capable, so the system does not have to be shut down just to add or replace cables or entire servers. Cables can be plugged and unplugged at either end of the chain (or anywhere in the middle) and the C2T cabling technology takes care of the rest," says Matthee.

IBM C2T cabling makes initial rack setup a snap, greatly simplifies the replacement of failed servers or cables, and eliminates many potential points of failure.