ClearCube R Series Pentium 4 - Manual (Page 77)

ClearCube Product Manual and Installation Guide Cage and Blade Installation • 67
• Configure the Blade Switching BackPack for Various Modes: Configuration of
your Blade Switching BackPack depends on that modes of operation you will use.
All modes can be used together, or individual modes can be used alone.
• Spare Switching Configuration: Multiple spare PC Blades can be configured
per Cage. At the other extreme, one spare can be made available to support 14
Cages. A spare Blade is configured by connecting a short C/Port cable from its
C/Port connection to the SPARE IN connection on the Cage. For one spare to
support multiple Cages the SPARE OUT connector is daisy-chained to the
SPARE IN connector on the next Cage and so on. A short red cable for Spare
daisy-chaining is included with your Cage.
• Administrator Switching Configuration: For onsite control, the IT administrator
can connect a separate C/Port directly to the BackPack’s administrator C/Port
input. This console is separate from the computer that is used to control the
BackPack. For administering PC Blades in more than one Cage, the Administrator
C/Port Output connection can be daisy-chained to the Administrator C/Port Input
connection on the next Cage and so on (as many as 14 Cages can be linked). A
short yellow cable for Administrator C/Port daisy-chaining is included with your
Cage.
• Supervisor Switching Configuration: This feature is configured in the same
way as the Administrator mode.
• 8 x 8 Switching: This capability lets as many as eight C/Ports switch between
any eight Blades in a single Cage. This capability also lets one or more users
share multiple Blades dynamically. Control over the 8 x 8 matrix of connections is
through the Switch Manager software. Note that 8 x 8 functionality cannot be
daisy-chained to build larger matrices. You can also use the 8x8 mode as a
method to provide more than one spare per Cage.
• Install and run Switch Manager: The Blade Switching BackPack is controlled by
ClearCube’s Switch Manager (part of the ClearCube Management Suite). These
intuitive software tools come with help files that describe their operation and
functionality. Installation of the tools on the controlling computer is via a CD-ROM
drive. From the Windows Start Menu, select Run and then enter the drive letter
associated with the CD-ROM and type setup (e.g. D:/setup ).
Figure 28, Figure 29, and Figure 26 show examples of three Cages connected
together to support Spare, Administrator, Supervisor, and 8x8 modes.
NOTE: Your Cage accessory kit includes snap-on ferrite cores that must be added to
both ends of the red and yellow daisy-chain cables in order to meet FCC and
CE requirements for radiated emissions.
The administrator's console connects to the Primary Cage through an Ethernet
connection to the RMC. The primary Cage is then daisy-chained to all other
secondary Cages in the rack via a simple cable daisy-chaining method, using the
RS-485 bus. Secondary Cages do not need an installed RMC.
Each RMC can support as many as 14 Cages (the Primary Cage plus 13 Secondary
Cages). Software components of the ClearCube Management Suite communicate
with each RMC via a unique static IP address. If your system includes more than 14
Cages or you have more than one group of Cages to manage, you need to configure
each RMC with a different IP address. This allows you to log in to each group of
Cages independently.