Consolidation of multiple versions of the same operating system

Different versions of AIX® can exist on different logical partitions (LPARs) on the same system.

Consolidating multiple versions of AIX on a single system allows you to accommodate multiple application requirements without multiple systems. You can also create an LPAR to test applications under new versions of the operating system before you upgrade the production environments. Instead of having a separate server for this function, a minimum set of resources can be temporarily used to create a new LPAR where you test the application. When you no longer need the partition, you can incorporate its resources back into the other LPARs.