IBM 8721-HC1 Flex System Enterprise Chassis: This is a 10U blade-server chassis that houses up to fourteen single-bay Flex System compute, storage, or expansion nodes. It is the chassis itself — supplied with one Chassis Management Module (CMM1) and six 2,500-watt power supplies installed. The 8721-HC1 is the structural and power backplane for an IBM Flex System; it is NOT a 1U/2U rack server, and it does NOT include compute nodes, switch modules, or a hypervisor in this listing. Tested by experienced technicians and supplied in working order with minor cosmetic wear.
Engineering Context
The Flex System Enterprise Chassis aggregates power, cooling, and switching for up to 14 half-wide nodes (or 7 full-wide nodes) across a single 10U enclosure. The six 2,500W PSUs deliver up to 15,000W total before redundancy reservation and support N+N or N+1 power policies through the CMM. Four high-speed I/O bay positions in the rear allow up to four switch modules (Ethernet, Fibre Channel, or InfiniBand) to feed the node midplane, providing each node with two hot-pluggable adapter slots.
Deployment & Use Cases
Lab rebuilds and continuity spares for sites running existing Flex System x240/x440/p260 fleets.
Bare chassis replacement when an in-service 8721-HC1 fails out of warranty.
Test/dev environments for legacy IBM/Lenovo blade workloads.
Foundation for a self-sourced Flex System build, with nodes added separately.
Technical Specifications
OEM Brand: IBM
Machine Type: 8721-HC1
Form Factor: 10U rack-mount enterprise chassis
Compute Node Bays: 14 half-wide (or 7 full-wide)
Power Supplies Installed: 6 × 2,500W hot-swap
Cooling: 8 × 80mm fan modules + 2 × 40mm fan modules
Management: One Chassis Management Module (CMM1) included
I/O Bay Slots: 4 (rear, for switch modules)
Power Policy Support: N+N and N+1 redundancy
Network Management: Fully managed via CMM
Condition: Refurbished, tested working order, minor cosmetic wear
Compatibility & Constraints
Compatible with IBM Flex System and Lenovo Flex System half-wide and full-wide nodes (x220, x240, x440, p260, p270, p460), and supported Flex System I/O modules.
NOT compatible with IBM BladeCenter blades (HS22, HS23, etc.) — those use a different midplane and are mechanically and electrically incompatible. NOT a rack-server platform. Compute nodes, I/O switch modules, and rack-mount rails are NOT included unless visibly shown in the product images.
Why T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS specializes in refurbished enterprise blade and rack infrastructure. Each chassis is bench-tested before shipment, with a 1–3 day handling window. Visit https://www.tes-itsolutions.com for the full inventory of IBM, Lenovo, NVIDIA Mellanox, and HPE refurbished platforms.