8 Chapter 8. IBM BladeCenter HX5 In this chapter, we take a closer look at the three scalable configuration options that are offered with the HX5. We describe the requirements that must be met for each of the scaling options with reference to hardware and firmware. We provide recommendations for hardware component placement, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) settings, and setup through the Advanced Management Module (AMM). We also give a brief overview of the operating system (OS) installation. This chapter contains the following topics: 8.1, "Before you apply power for the first time after shipping" on page 374 8.2, "Planning to scale: Prerequisites" on page 377 8.3, "Recommendations" on page 382 8.4, "Local storage considerations and array setup" on page 385 8.5, "UEFI settings" on page 396 8.6, "Creating an HX5 scalable complex" on page 402 8.7, "Operating system installation" on page 407 8.8, "Failure detection and recovery" on page 442 Figure 8-1 shows the three scalable configurations of the HX5. HX5 2-socket HX5 4-socket HX5 2-socket with MAX5 Figure 8-1 The scalable configurations of the IBM BladeCenter HX5 © Copyright IBM Corp. 2011. All rights reserved. 373