You can use the System Planning Tool (SPT) to create a system plan that includes configuration specifications for a Virtual I/O Server and client logical partitions. You can also use the Hardware Management Console (HMC) to create a system plan based on an existing system configuration.
SPT is a PC-based browser application that can assist you in planning and designing a new system. SPT validates your plan against system requirements and prevents you from creating a plan that exceeds those requirements. It also incorporates the IBM® Systems Workload Estimator (WLE) to help you plan for workloads and performance. The output is a system-plan file that you can deploy to a managed system.
With SPT version 3.0 and later, you can include configuration specifications for the following components of a Virtual I/O Server logical partition in your system plan.
| Networking components | Storage components |
|---|---|
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With SPT version 3.0 and later, you can include AIX® and Linux installation information for client logical partitions in the system plan. For more information, see Installing operating environments from a system plan by using the HMC.
SPT currently does not help you plan for high availability on client logical partitions or Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) solutions for the Virtual I/O Server. For planning information about RAID and high availability, see RAID and High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing.
Alternatively, you can use the mksysplan command to create a system plan based on an existing system configuration. The mksysplan command is available from the HMC.
After you have created a system plan, you can deploy the system plan to the managed system. System plans can be deployed to a system managed by the HMC. For instructions, see Deploying a system plan by using the HMC.
When you deploy the Virtual I/O Server logical partition to a new system, or to a system that does not already have a Virtual I/O Server logical partition configured, you must deploy the Virtual I/O Server logical partition in its entirety, including provisioning items, such as Shared Ethernet Adapters, EtherChannel adapters (or Link Aggregation devices), storage pools, and backing devices. If the HMC is at version V7R3.3.0, or later, you can deploy a system plan that includes additional provisioning items to an existing logical partition on the managed server, as long as the items and the system plan itself meet all the appropriate validation requirements. For more detailed information about the restrictions that apply, see System plan validation for the HMC.
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