Review the requirements for the system, Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), logical
partitions, and paging space devices so that you can successfully
configure shared memory.
System requirements
- The server must be a POWER6® processor-based
server.
- The server firmware must be at release 3.4.2, or later.
- The Hardware Management Console (HMC) must be at version
7 release 3.4.2, or later.
- The Integrated Virtualization Manager must
be at version 2.1.1, or later.
- The PowerVM® Active Memory Sharing technology
must be activated. The PowerVM Active Memory Sharing technology
is available with the PowerVM Enterprise Edition for which
you must obtain and enter a PowerVM Editions activation
code.
Paging VIOS partition requirements
- VIOS partitions that provide access to the paging space devices
for the shared memory partitions that are assigned to the shared memory
pool (hereafter referred to as paging VIOS partitions)
cannot use shared memory. Paging VIOS partitions must use dedicated
memory.
- Paging VIOS partitions must be at version 2.1.1, or later.
- On IVM-managed systems, all logical partitions that use shared
memory (hereafter referred to as shared memory partitions)
must use virtual resources provided by the management partition.
- On HMC-managed
systems, consider configuring separate VIOS partitions as server partitions
and paging VIOS partitions. For example, configure one VIOS partition
to provide virtual resources to the shared memory partitions. Then,
configure another VIOS partition as a paging VIOS partition.
- On HMC-managed
systems, you can configure multiple VIOS partitions to provide access
to paging space devices. However, you can only assign up to two of
those VIOS partitions to the shared memory pool at any given time.
Requirements for shared memory partitions
- Shared memory partitions must use shared processors.
- You can assign only virtual adapters to shared memory
partitions. This means that you can dynamically add only virtual adapters
to shared memory partitions. More specifically, you can assign only
virtual SCSI client adapters, virtual Ethernet adapters, virtual fibre
channel client adapters, and virtual serial adapters to AIX® and Linux shared memory partitions.
You can assign only virtual SCSI client adapters, virtual Ethernet
adapters, and virtual serial server adapters to IBM® i shared memory partitions.
You cannot assign Host Ethernet Adapters
(HEA) or host connection adapters (HCA) to shared memory partitions.
- Shared memory partitions cannot use the barrier synchronization
register.
- Shared memory partitions cannot use huge pages.
- AIX must be
at version 6.1 Technology Level 3, or later, to run in a shared memory
partition.
- IBM i must
be at version 6 release 1 with PTF SI32798 to run in a shared memory
partition.
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server must
be at version 11, or later, to run in a shared memory partition.
- You cannot configure IBM i logical partitions
that provide virtual resources to other logical partitions as shared
memory partitions. Logical partitions that provide virtual resources
to other logical partitions in a shared memory environment must be
VIOS partitions.
Requirements for paging space devices
- The paging space devices for AIX or Linux shared memory partitions
must be at least the size of the maximum logical memory of the shared
memory partition.
- The paging space devices for IBM i shared memory partitions
must be at least the size of the maximum logical memory of the shared
memory partition plus 8 KB for every megabyte. For example, if the
maximum logical memory of the shared memory partition is 16 GB, its
paging space device must be at least 16.125 GB.
- Paging space devices can only be assigned to one shared memory
pool at a time. You cannot assign the same paging space device to
a shared memory pool on one system and to another shared memory pool
on another system at the same time.
- Paging space devices that are accessed by a single paging VIOS
partition must meet the following requirements:
- They can be physical or logical volumes.
- They can be located in physical storage on the server or on a
storage area network (SAN).
- Paging space devices that are accessed redundantly
by two paging VIOS partitions must meet the following requirements:
- They must be physical volumes.
- They must be located on a SAN.
- They must be configured with global IDs.
- They must be accessible to both paging VIOS partitions.
- The reserve attribute must be set to no reserve. (The VIOS automatically
sets the reserve attribute to no reserve when you add the paging space
device to the shared memory pool.)
- Physical volumes that are configured as paging space devices cannot
belong to a volume group, such as the rootvg volume
group.
- Logical volumes that are configured as paging space devices must
be located in a volume group that is dedicated for paging space devices.
- Paging space devices must be available. You cannot use the physical
volume or logical volume as a paging space device if it is already
configured as a paging space device or virtual disk for another logical
partition.
- Paging space devices cannot be used to boot a logical partition.
- After you assign a paging space device to the shared memory pool,
you must manage the device by using one of the following tools:
- The Create/Modify Shared Memory Pool wizard on the HMC.
- The View/Modify Shared Memory Pool page on the Integrated Virtualization Manager.
Do not change or remove the device using other management tools.