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Planning to virtualize a system

Plan your virtualization configuration so that you can optimize your resources to meet your computing needs.

Virtualization task flow with the planning stage highlighted

Planning your virtualization configuration includes the following tasks:

The following table describes the tools available to help you plan your virtualization configuration.

Virtualization planning tool Description
System Planning Tool (SPT) SPT is a PC-based, Web-browser application that helps you design, create, and validate a system plan. A system plan is a specification of the hardware and the logical partitions contained in one or more systems.
To help you get started, SPT provides the following options:
  • SPT provides sample system plans that you can use as a starting point for planning your system.
  • You can create a system plan based on existing performance data. SPT launches IBM® Performance Management for System i5® (PM for System i5)to help you gather and integrate performance data.
  • You can create a system plan based on new or anticipated workloads. SPT launches IBM Systems Workload Estimator (WLE) to help you gather and integrate workload data.
  • With SPT version 3.0, you can copy logical partitions from a system in one system plan to either another system in the same system plan or to a different system in another system plan. For example, you can build up system plans that contain your own sample logical partitions, and then copy one or more of these sample logical partitions into a new system plan that you are creating.
  • SPT provides advanced users with the option of creating a system plan without the help of additional tools.

After you have created a system plan, you can export the system plan for ordering or deployment as follows:

  • You can export the system-plan file as a configuration file with the extension .cfr. Then, you can import the file into the marketing configurator (eConfig) for ordering. When you import the .cfr file into the eConfig tool, the tool populates your order with the information from the .cfr file. The .cfr file does not contain all the information required by the eConfig tool. You must enter the required information before you submit your order.
  • You can save the system plan in a system-plan file, and then import the file into the Hardware Management Console (HMC) or the Integrated Virtualization Manager and deploy the system plan to the managed system. The HMC or Integrated Virtualization Manager creates logical partitions (on the managed system) based on the logical partition configuration specified in the system plan.

You cannot use SPT to plan for your IBM BladeCenter® blade server.
IBM Systems Workload Estimator (WLE) WLE provides system resource recommendations based on the planned number of logical partitions and the planned workloads for each logical partition. It can also use performance data collected by PM for System i5. WLE can estimate the computer resources required for Domino®, WebSphere® Commerce, WebSphere Application Server, Web Serving, and traditional workloads. WLE projects the most current server models meeting the capacity requirements within the processor utilization objectives.
IBM Performance Management for System i5 (PM for System i5) PM for System i5 provides the capability to automatically collect system performance information (processor usage, memory usage, and so on) from a system at regular intervals, and then aggregate this data to show usage trends. You can access information about system performance, capacity, and growth. You can also access supported Web-based reporting and system sizing tools for WebSphere, Domino, and Linux. When used in conjunction with WLE, you can use PM for System i5 to plan for the growth, performance, and availability of your system.
Parent topic: Virtualization tasks
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Last updated: Thu, October 04, 2012