I received notice today about a project implementing ESX on IBM Blades and using System i for shared storage. After first doing a double take to make sure I read the email right, I did some quick research and found the following from the VMTN Communities:

VMware Communities: ESX on the IBM System i

“So how does VMware fit in with the System i? Well in a nut shell - The System i (which a lot of big companies have) can act as an iSCSI SAN, and you can boot IBM BladeServers and IBM System x Servers from this SAN, and have your shared storage too! Why is that so great? Because the IBM System i is one of the most reliable pieces of hardware on the planet! Because your company probably already has one! Because you can have a great backup and recovery platform!”

In case you are wondering what IBM System i is exactly,

maybe the name AS/400 rings a bell? Here’s a little piece of Wikipedia’s information about System i:

“The IBM System i is IBM’s previous generation of systems designed for IBM i users, and was subsequently replaced by the IBM Power Systems in April 2008.

In 2006, the platform was rebranded to System i as part of IBM’s Systems branding initiative. Previously it was known as eServer iSeries in 2000 and before that it was introduced as AS/400 in 1988.”

Here is some more information about IBM Blades and ESX integration from the IBM i integration with BladeCenter and System x web page:

• “VMware ESX 3.5 supported on selected iSCSI attached servers with i 6.1
  See the BladeCenter and System x models supported with iSCSI page for specific server models that have been tested with ESX 3.5.
  (12 September 2008)”
• “New Redbook: VMware VI3 on BladeCenter and System x Integrated with System i.
  Documents reasons for implementing VMware Infrastructure 3 via IBM i integration with BladeCenter and System x and guides you through planning, installing, backup/recovery, administration and management of a VMware infrastructure.
  (16 May 2008)”

Check out all of the links in this post for more detailed information on using ESX with IBM System i. Looks like I have a new Redbook to read in the near future too.

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Tags: bladecenter, blades, esx, esx3.5, ibm, iSCSI, SAN, storage, vmtn, vmware

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 3:18 pm and is filed under esx, esx3.5, iSCSI, ibm, vmware. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.