## 10.1 HMC and SE introduction 

The HMC is a closed system (appliance), which means that no other applications can be installed on it. 

The HMC runs a set of management applications. On z15, the HMC can be a stand-alone computer (mini-tower or rack mounted), or (new with z15) can run (as a Hardware Management Appliance) on the SEs hardware (1U rack-mounted servers that are integrated in z15 A frame). 

The SEs are two 1U servers integral to the z15 frame. One SE is the primary SE (active) and the other is the alternative SE (backup). As with the HMCs, the SEs are closed systems, and no other applications can be installed on them. 

The HMC is used to set up, manage, monitor, and operate one or more CPCs. It manages IBM Z hardware, its logical partitions (LPARs), and provides support applications. At least one HMC is required to operate an IBM Z. An HMC can manage multiple Z CPCs, and can be at a local or a remote site. 

When tasks are performed at the HMC, the commands are routed to the active SE of the z15. The SE then issues those commands to their CPC. One HMC can control up to 100 SEs and 1 SE can be controlled by up to 32 HMCs. 

New with z15, a number of “traditional” SE-only functions moved to HMC tasks. On z15, these functions appear as native HMC tasks, but run on the SE. These HMC functions run in parallel with Single Object Operations (SOOs), which simplifies and streamlines system management. For more information about SOOs, see “Single Object Operations” on page 429. 

## 10.1.1 Dynamic Partition Manager support 

With Driver 27 (Version 2.13.1), the IBM Dynamic Partition Manager (DPM) was introduced for CPCs that are running Linux only with Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) attached storage. HMC Driver 32 (Version 2.14.0) with MCLs added support for ECKD FICON disks to the DPM (Release 3.1). 

HMC 2.14.1 includes DPM 3.2, with enhanced storage management capabilities. HMC driver 41 (Version 2.15.0) with MCLs added support for FCP and FICON support to the DPM Release 4.0. DPM is a mode of operation that enables customers with little or no knowledge of IBM Z technology to set up the system efficiently and with ease. 

For more information, see IBM Knowledge Center, click the search engine window, and enter DPM . 

The HMC Remote Support Facility (RSF) provides an important communication to a centralized IBM support network for hardware problem reporting and service. For more information, see 10.4, “Remote Support Fa cility” on page 427. 

