The IBM Deskside HMC (7042-C06) and Rack-mounted HMC (7042-CR4) provide dedicated workstations designed to allow you to configure and manage partitions and Capacity on Demand on POWER5™, POWER5+™, and POWER6™ processor-based servers. The 7042 HMCs are designed to provide a new browser-based HTML user interface for both local and remote access. One HMC can manage multiple servers, and dual HMCs can provide redundant support by managing the same system. To help ensure consistent function for all 7042 HMC models, each HMC is shipped preloaded with the Hardware Management Console Licensed Machine Code Version 7 (#0962).

The Hardware Management Console Licensed Machine Code Version 7 may also be ordered via MES for 7310 HMCs for environments that may include POWER5, POWER5+, and POWER6 processor-based servers. Version 7 is not available for the 7315 HMCs.

The new user interface is designed with ease-of-use enhancements, including task navigation with more consistent task placement and categorization as well as the display of additional information in the main resource views. In addition, the HMC user interface provides powerful table functionality with filtering, sorting, and customization of views on a per-user basis.

An HMC is required to manage System p™ servers implementing temporary Capacity on Demand (CoD), including Trial CoD, On/Off CoD, and Reserve CoD. An HMC is recommended for use with all CoD offerings. The System p5™ 575, 590, and 595, and System i5™ 595 servers must be managed by an HMC.

For System p5 servers except the System p5 570, 575, 590, and 595, customers may either use the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM), part of the optional Advanced POWER™ Virtualization (APV), or an HMC to manage partitioning. The System p 570 and System p5 570 servers require an HMC to manage partitioning.

An HMC is required to manage a System i™ 595 server. An HMC is required for a System i 515, 525, 550, 570, or 595 server to implement more than one i5/OS™ partition, an AIX 5L™ operating system partition, or a Linux™ operating system partition directly controlling its I/O. An HMC is also required for systems using CoD for processor or memory activation. System i models do not support IVM with i5/OS V5R4.

The HMC offers serviceability tools for the systems it controls. The HMC is connected to a dedicated port on the service processor of the system via an Ethernet connection. The Ethernet connections from HMC to System p5 575 and 590, and System i5 595 must be via private LAN with the HMC configured as a DHCP server, whereas other System p or System i5 systems can be either on a private or public LAN. LAN tools, such as call-home and error log notification, are available through a modem or the Internet (SSL supported for call-home via HTTPS) for determining problems and providing service support.

Multiple POWER5, POWER5+, or POWER6 processor-based servers can be managed by one HMC, either physically attached to the server or logically attached over a LAN.