IBM
®
Director
Use this information to understand how IBM
®
Director works with the blade
server.
With IBM
®
Director, a network administrator can perform the following tasks:
v View the hardware configuration of remote systems, in detail
v Monitor the usage and performance of critical components, such as
microprocessors, disks, and memory
v Centrally manage individual or large groups of IBM and non-IBM
x86-processor-based servers, desktop computers, workstations, and notebook
computers on a variety of platforms
IBM
®
Director provides a comprehensive entry-level workgroup hardware
manager. It includes the following key features:
v Advanced self-management capabilities for maximum system availability.
v Multiple operating-system platform support, including Microsoft Small Business
Server, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, AIX
®
, i5/OS
®
,
Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, and VMware. For a complete list of operating
systems that support IBM Director, see the IBM Director Compatibility
Document. This document is in Portable Document Format (PDF) at
http://www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/resources/. It is updated
every 6 to 8 weeks.
v Support for IBM and non-IBM servers, desktop computers, workstations, and
notebook computers.
v Support for systems-management industry standards.
v Integration into leading workgroup and enterprise systems-management
environments.
v Ease of use, training, and setup.
IBM
®
Director also provides an extensible platform that supports advanced server
tools that are designed to reduce the total cost of managing and supporting
networked systems. By deploying IBM
®
Director, you can achieve reductions in
ownership costs through the following benefits:
v Reduced downtime
v Increased productivity of IT personnel and users
v Reduced service and support costs
For more information about IBM
®
Director, see the documentation on the IBM
®
Director CD that comes with the server, the IBM
®
Director Information Center at
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver/v1r2/topic/diricinfo_all/
diricinfoparent.html and the IBM xSeries
®
Systems Management Web page at
http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/xseries/systems_management/, which
presents an overview of IBM Systems Management and IBM
®
Director.
12 BladeCenter HS22 Type 7870 and 1936: Installation and User's Guide