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Things have moved on since AIX 5.2
We needed to install AIX 5.2 in order to create a mksysb for AIX 7 Versioned WPAR testing - this allows you to run AIX 5.2 in a WPAR. First we had endless problems locating media but our Computer Room Manager Mike turned up trumps in the end - he keeps everything and regularly saves the day. So we loaded all 7 CDROMs on to our VIOS to add them to the virtual Optical Library. Second, we booted from the CDROM only to with an immediate halt with a warning the AIX 5.2 can't run in a Shared CPU LPAR - doh! we should have realised that one. It was a... [More]
Tags: vwpar 2002 aix5.2 powervm power7 aix7 |
VIOS Shared Storage Pools (was called NextGen) = Simple
Finally, I found the time to try this new exciting feature and it was really simple to create and operate. I captured movie footage of my first attempt and it all worked (once I removed my spelling mistakes in commands). It only took two commands. So the technology has advanced concepts but it really easy to use, COOL! Some of the commands come with long option names like "-custername". A quick misquote from Star-Trek, never goes wrong: "It is UNIX Jim, but not as we know it!" One command to create my cluster,... [More]
Tags: power provioning pool powervm power6 shared nextgen vios thin storage aix power7 |
AIX 5.2 Versioned WPAR - Ideas for a demo, please
We have blogged on this really cool AIX 7 feature in the past - but here is my problem: Once I install the AIX 5.2 mksysb image in to the Workload Partition running on AIX7 it all works fine but ... then what can I show an audience to show off "AIX 5.2 running on top of AIX 7": I need a simple application that only runs on AIX 5.2 . Something simple enough that it does not take hours to install and hopefully that it is something visually interesting to see. I am told we can run Oracle 8 now including the kernel extension but its not... [More]
Tags: aix7 power7 wpar powervm aix versioned |
VIOS Shared Storage Pools - In Redbooks Already
I asked Scott about a Redbook for the new VIOS functions for Shared Storage Pools and he told me that chapters had already been added to the current PowerVM Redbooks. I almost fell of the chair! I have been ignoring the regular Redbook update emails - but I guess I should pay more attention. So I took a look and found the Shared Storage Pools have chapters in two regular PowerVM Redbooks - note you have to download the most recent updates. IBM PowerVM Virtualization - Introduction and Configuration SG24-7940 IBM PowerVM Virtualization -... [More]
Tags: aix powervm power6 power7 vios |
Power Systems Announcements – April 12 2010
There were a number of announcements made today by Power
Systems including new hardware features, a new platform management console, and
new PowerVM virtualization capabilities. Two new Power Systems blade servers were announced, the PS703 and PS704 . The PS703 blade supports up to 16 processor cores in a single
BladeCenter slot and the PS704 supports up to 32 cores in a double-wide
blade. The PS703 and PS704 also support
a new solid state drive option. The Power 750 Express server has new processor options or 4, 6 or 8
cores per socket... [More]
Tags: powervm power aix systems |
The LPAR term is dead - Long live the Virtual Server / Machine
I am not making a claim to fame (OK, I am really) but the UK Power Systems Advanced Technical Support group (that is me and Gareth) dropped the term "LPAR" or Logical Partition as a New Years resolution. We like to occasionally test to see if we can influence other IBMers and the IT Industry. We now in 2011 onwards use the terms: Virtual Server - this is the term used by Systems Director for over three years. While I can live with that name but the abbreviation of VS - it just does not feel or sound right. Virtual Machine - this... [More]
Tags: power server vm powervm lpar virtual power7 powersystems machine |
Whole Power Server + Virtual Server Monitoring - Part 5 via Ganglia
Ganglia is a open source performance and configuration tool that collects data from a tiny daemon on each OS and then creates a Web server based graphical tools to draw performance data and show the configuration. With a few add-ons, you can dynamically decide the historical data you want graphed and with POWER add-ons you get the PowerVM stats for shared processors, Entitlement, physical CPU use etc. Under the covers it is using the amazing rrdtool so you can extract the data for other uses and it automatically space manages the data. By... [More]
Tags: powervm aix cec power7 power6 performance ganglia monitoring linux |
PowerVM Virtual I/O Server - Recommended Levels
While I was installing a re-purposed POWER6 machine over the weekend, got round to installing my Dual Virtual I/O Servers, from DVD and then upgrading from there and I noticed a new service pack 2 for the latest VIOS version. It must have sneaked out without me noticing and there is a Interim fix too. The VIOS 2.2.0.12-FP24 SP2 Readme highlights lots of fixes including some for the Shared Storage Pool feature. A feature that I have been using and talking about (see this blog for more information). This got me thinking! I talk to lots... [More]
Tags: server power7 vios aix recommended levels i/o virtual power powervm |
Systems Director - Can't get your HMC recognised ?
So you have Discovered, given Access and run Inventory on your HMC and it is not finding the Servers and Virtual Servers that the HMC is connected too! What do you do next? Well here are a series of suggestions for you to try (this is not an official diagnostics path but might help you out): How much memory has your HMC got? I get people trying to use old HMCs and the original ones had just 1 GB of memory. This is basically not enough these days - in my humble opinion - unless you have just one machine! But how do you find out what you have?... [More]
Tags: power7 aix powervm hmc director power6 systems |
nmon - I can't see all the CPUs on-screen. Please Help!
Here is another question from that larger Power 7 machine customer. They have large Virtual Machines (Logical Partitions) and can't see all the CPUs on the screen. This is made worst by Power 7 machines - not a problem with the processors or machines but there are: So many CPUs on larger machines like Power 770/780 and the mighty Power 795 Then the new Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT) now means four threads per physical CPU (core). This means lots of physical CPUs and each has four logical CPUs. So what happens on the screen - you see a... [More]
Tags: nmon physical longer cpu power aix powervm term |
AIX Virtual Processor Folding is Misunderstood
This mysterious AIX CPU Folding area is often misunderstood, so below is what I know from osmosis from talking to various guru level developers over the last 10 years. Shared Processor virtual machines (LPARs for the old fashioned) have a setting called Virtual Processors (or VP for short). This is the number of physical CPUs that the virtual machines can spread out across - in fact, I prefer to call it the "spreading factor" as it is much more obvious what it means. This can be the upper threshold for the number of CPUs that can be... [More]
Tags: power7 powervm power6 hypervisor aix folding aix6 aix7 virtual processor |
Local, Near & Far Memory part 1 - Large Power7 boxes more local memory
On Power6 the largest machine was the Power 595 with 64 Physical CPUs (cores) across eight CPU books in the machine - each CPU book having 4 Power6 chips and so 8 CPUs (Power6 is a dual CPU chip design). However, with Power7 that has stepped up to 256 CPUs across the same eight CPU books with four chips but with 8 CPUs each so that is 32 CPUs per book. I might be stating the obvious but memory access to memory directly attached to the Power chip on which your process is running is slightly faster than memory access via a Power chip near by... [More]
Tags: near far 770 powervm aix power7 local 795 780 power6 |
Local, Near & Far Memory part 2 - Virtual Machine CPU & Memory Lay Out
So you know about Power7 Local, Near and Far memory for your actual machine but what is your Virtual Machine (LPAR) actually using? There are three key commands to show you (lssrad, mpstat and topas) and we will look at some example output. First, we need to define an SRAD or a Scheduler Resource Affinity Domain . If you have used Resource Sets with AIX WLM or WPAR then you have a good idea what these are like. An SRAD is a group of resources but in our case CPU/cores and the associated memory that is directly attached to it. As an... [More]
Tags: lssrad topas affinity mpstat srad powervm aix6 power7 resource aix7 domain scheduler |
Local, Near & Far Memory - Help needed with data from a Power 730,740 & 750
I need you to help me settle an argument or rather lack of information. I am getting conflicting messages about whether these smaller Power7 machines use Local and Near or Local and Far memory. I documented what I thought was correct in the Part 1 of this series of blog's. Actually, there is not much difference as these machines have two tiers of memory like "on the chip" or "some where else" so the names are hardly vital but I would like my facts straight. Unfortunately, I don't have examples of these machines with more... [More]
Tags: 730 affinity lssrad 740 srad 710 750 lpar aix power powervm 720 power7 vm |
PowerVM Virtual Ethernet Speed is often confused with VIOS, SEA IVE/HEA speed
Update in 2016: Please note this blog is from 2011 during the initial POWER7 days and technology has moved on with faster CPUs and memory in addition there has been software improvements. I am amazed how many good computer people read this and assume this blog is true to all time! Virtual Ethernet is faster now but there is also a warning here. Here is an analogy. Most vehicles can do 10 MPH (including me on a bike), most cars can do 100 MPH (including my family car) but very few vehicles can do 1000 MPH. That last times ten multiplier is... [More]
Tags: vios machine misunderstood power7 power6 aix virtual speed ethernet powervm |
