IBM p5 550 Technical Overview And Introduction

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42 p5-550 Technical Overview and IntroductionOn each menu screen, you are given the option of choosing a menu item and pressing Enter(if applicable), or selecting a navigation key. You can use the different options to review or setthe boot list information, or to set up the network environment parameters if you want thesystem to boot from a NIM server.2.12.8 Boot optionsThe p5-550 handles the boot process in a way that is similar to other pSeries servers.The initial stage of the boot process is to establish that the machine has powered up correctlyand the memory and CPUs are functioning correctly. After the machine or the logical partitionreaches the SMS menus, all of the necessary tests have been performed and the machine isscanning the bus for a boot source.Most system backplanes are designed such that the drive in the first slot spins upimmediately after power-on, and other drives will wait for the operating system to send acommand before spinning up. Disk drive bays 4 and 8 are hardwired to spin-up immediately.The left-most and accordingly bottom-most slot of the 4-pack disk backplanes (SCSI ID 8,boot, autostart) is set to spin up immediately after power-on. The power-on delay sequence isperformed to prevent power supply overloading. This behavior makes the disk in the first slotof the first 4-pack DASD backplane the preferred boot device. See Figure 2-15 to locate all ofthe disk bays.Figure 2-15 Disk bays and SCSI addresses within a p5-550When SMS menus are available, the Select Boot Options menu can be used to view and setvarious options regarding the installation devices and boot devices:1. Select Install or Boot a DeviceEnables you to select a device to boot from or install the operating system from. Thisselection is for the current boot only.Note: The version of system firmware currently installed in your system is displayed at thetop of each screen. Processor and other device upgrades might require a specific versionof firmware to be installed in your system.