Introduction to partitioning

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM. 5.4
Unit objectives
IBM Power Systems

After completing this unit, you should be able to:

• Describe the following terms:
– Partition, logical partition (LPAR), resource
• Describe the benefits of partitioning
• Describe the following partition concepts:
– Dynamic logical partitioning
– Micro-partitioning
– Virtual I/O
– Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
– Capacity on demand (CoD)
• Describe the functions of the Hardware Management Console
(HMC)
• Describe the functions performed by the POWER Hypervisor
• Describe the overall process for configuring partitions
• List references for IBM POWER5, POWER6, and POWER7
processor-based system partitioning
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
What is a partition?
IBM Power Systems

• Partition:
– The allocation of one system’s resources to create logically separate systems
– An independent operating environment

From one to many

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Physical partition
IBM Power Systems

• Physical partition:
– Resources are allocated in physical building blocks.
– Blocks contain groups of processors, memory, and I/O slots.
Interconnect

SMP building block SMP building block SMP building block

Operating system Operating

system

CPU, CPU, CPU,

memory, and I/O memory, and I/O memory, and I/O

Physical partition Physical partition

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Logical partition
IBM Power Systems

• A partition is the allocation of system resources to create logically

separate systems within the same physical footprint.
• A logical partition exists when the isolation is implemented with
firmware.
– Not based on physical system building block
– Provides configuration flexibility

SYS1 SYS2 SYS3 SYS4

1:00 10:00 11:00 12:00
Japan USA Brazil UK
RG RESS O
O

ORDEMEP

AIX 5L Linux AIX 5L i5/OS

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Partition characteristics
IBM Power Systems

• Each partition has its own:

– Operating system
– Licensed Internal Code (LIC) and Open Firmware
– Console
– Resources
– Other things expected in a stand-alone operating system environment,
such as:
• Problem logs
• Data (libraries, objects, file systems)
• Performance characteristics
• Network identity
• Date and time

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Partition resources
IBM Power Systems

• Resources are allocated to partitions.

– Memory allocated in units as small as the LMB size
– Dedicated whole processors or shared processing units
– Individual I/O slots
• Including virtual devices

• Some resources can be shared.

– Virtual devices
– Host Ethernet adapter

• Some core system components are inherently shared.

AIX Linux AIX

PPPPP PP PPP
MMM MM MM
SSSS SSSS SSSS

S = I/O Slot
M = Memory
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
P = Processor
LPAR resource example
IBM Power Systems

• Flexibility to allocate resources depending on need

• With DLPAR operations, resources can be moved, removed, or
added with a restarting the partition.

LPAR 1 LPAR 2 LPAR 3 LPAR 4

Processors

Memory

I/O slots

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IBM POWER5+ LPAR-capable systems
IBM Power Systems

• IBM POWER5+ processor-based LPAR-capable systems:

– IBM System p5 entry, mid-range, and high-end servers
– Example models:
• IBM System p5 505
• IBM System p5 510
• IBM System p5 520
• IBM System p5 550
• IBM System p5 560
• IBM System p5 570
• IBM System p5 575
• IBM System p5 590
• IBM System p5 595

Visit http://www.ibm.com for latest list of models.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

IBM POWER6 LPAR-capable systems
IBM Power Systems

• IBM POWER6 processor-based LPAR-capable systems:

– Entry, mid-range, and high-end servers
– IBM Power Systems
– Example models:
• IBM Power Blade Express servers
• IBM Power 520
• IBM Power 550
• IBM Power 560
• IBM Power 570
• IBM Power 575
• IBM Power 595

Visit http://www.ibm.com for latest list of models.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

IBM POWER7 LPAR-capable systems
IBM Power Systems

• IBM POWER7 processor-based LPAR-capable systems:

– IBM Power Systems
– Example models:
• IBM BladeCenter PS700/701/702 Express
• IBM Power 750
• IBM Power 770
• IBM Power 780
• IBM Power 755

Visit http://www.ibm.com for latest list of models.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Benefits of using partitions
IBM Power Systems

• Capacity management:
– Flexibility to allocate resources

• Consolidation:
– Consolidate hardware, floor space, software licenses, support contracts, and in-house
support and operations
– Efficient use of resources

• Application isolation on a single frame:

– Separate workloads
– Guaranteed resources
– Data integrity

• Merge production and test environments:

– Test on same hardware

The ability to have virtual Ethernet and virtual I/O devices is a

benefit to using POWER5, POWER6, and POWER7
processor-based partitions.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Software licensing
IBM Power Systems

• Licensing is per operating system and is based on processing

power.
– Partial processor and shared processor pool features affect licensing.

• Third-party application provider licenses will vary.

Other software

Operating systems

IBM hardware

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

POWER Hypervisor functions
IBM Power Systems

• The POWER Hypervisor is firmware that provides:

– Virtual memory management:
• Controls page table and I/O access
• Manages real memory addresses versus offset memory addresses
– Virtual console support
– Security and isolation between partitions:
• Partitions allowed access only to resources allocated to them (enforced by the
POWER Hypervisor)
– Shared processor pool management

LPAR 1 LPAR 2 LPAR 3 LPAR 4

POWER Hypervisor Security and

isolation barriers
System hardware
(memory, processors, devices)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Hardware Management Console
IBM Power Systems

• The HMC provides:

– Virtual console windows
– LPAR configuration and operation management
– Capacity on demand (CoD) management
– Service tools
– Access to LPM function

• PC-based console:
– Running custom Linux and Java applications
– Remotely accessible
– Connects to service processor over private or open network

Desktop Rack-mount

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

The big picture
IBM Power Systems

Managed system

Unassigned
AIX Linux resources
HMC
Partition 1 Partition 2

Hypervisor
Non-Volatile RAM

Service
Processors
processor
Memory Ethernet
LPAR
I/O Slots
allocation
tables

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Advanced partition features
IBM Power Systems

• Dynamic resource allocation

• Advanced processor concepts
• Virtual I/O
• Integrated Virtual Ethernet
• Active Memory Sharing
• Live Partition Mobility
• Capacity on demand

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Dynamic partitioning
IBM Power Systems

• DLPAR is the ability to add, remove, or move resources between

partitions without restarting the partitions.
• Resources include:
– Processors, memory, and I/O slots
– Add and remove virtual devices

• Security and isolation between LPARs are not compromised.

– A partition sees its own resources plus other available virtual resources.
– Resources are reset when moved.

• Applications might or might not be DLPAR-aware.

DLPAR allows you to react to

changing resource needs.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

How DLPAR works
IBM Power Systems

1
HMC command HMC
2

3 3

Partition A Partition B

Hypervisor 4
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Processor concepts
IBM Power Systems

Logical

LPAR LPAR LPAR Virtual

Shared

Dedicated

Inactive (CoD)

Deconfigured

Physical
(installed)
Shared processor pool
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Micro-partitioning: Shared processor pool
IBM Power Systems

• Time sliced sub-processor allocations are dispatched

according to demand and entitled capacity.
– This example shows one 10 ms time slice, seven running partitions,
and four processors.
Physical
processors

Partition 1
P P P P Partition 2
10ms
Partition 3
Partition 4
Partition 5
Partition 6
Partition 7

Shared processor pool

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Multiple shared processor pools
IBM Power Systems

Up to 64
Shared processor pooln
Shared processor pool1 Set of micro-partitions shared
Shared processor pool0 Set of micro-partitions
processor
Set of micro-partitions
LPAR pools
LPAR1 LPAR3 LPAR
LPAR2 LPAR4
LPAR5
LPAR6

Shared

Dedicated

Physical
processors

Physical shared processor pool

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Virtual I/O
IBM Power Systems

• Each partition has virtual I/O slots.

– Configurable for each partition

• Virtual slots can have a virtual adapter instance.

– Ethernet, SCSI, or Fibre Channel

• Virtual I/O slots can be dynamically added or removed just like

physical I/O slots.
– Cannot be dynamically moved to another partition

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Virtual I/O example
IBM Power Systems

Client Virtual I/O Server

partition partition
Physical
network
Virtual Virtual Virtual Layer 2 Physical
Ethernet Ethernet bridge Ethernet
switch
Virtual
Ethernet Logical
Virtual Disk
Hypervisor disk

Client Server Device

adapter adapter mapping
SCSI RDMA protocol
DMA
buffer Device DM
A transfer

SCSI, SSA, FC physical

or logical disks
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Integrated Virtual Ethernet
IBM Power Systems

• Also referred to as host Ethernet adapter:

– Included in all POWER6 and POWER7 system configurations (except high-end)
• Provides network connectivity for LPARs without a Virtual I/O Server:
– Integrated high-speed Ethernet ports with hardware-assisted virtualization
capabilities
– Offers virtualization support for Ethernet connections
• Three types are available:
– Two port 1 Gbpsa (default)
– Four port 1 Gbpsa
– Two port 10 Gbpsb

• Connected to the GX+ bus:

– An LHEA must be created on the logical partition.

a = RJ45 b = fiber

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

IVE example
IBM Power Systems

AIX Linux
LPAR LPAR

ent ent eth

Layer 2 switch Layer 2 switch

Physical Physical
port port

Physical Physical
network network
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Active Memory Sharing
IBM Power Systems

• Active Memory Sharing (AMS) allows multiple LPARs to share a

common pool of physical memory.
– AMS intelligently assigns memory from one partition to another based on
memory page demands.
• Optimizes memory utilization and provides flexible memory usage

LPAR1 LPAR2 LPAR3

Power
Hypervisor

AMS shared Virtual

I/O
memory pool
Server
Paging devices

Physical memory
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Live Partition Mobility
IBM Power Systems

• Migration or movement of an LPAR from one physical server

to another
• Useful for:
– Reducing the impact of planned outages and increasing application
availability
– Workload balancing and consolidation
– Relocation of workload to enable workload
– Provision of new technology with no disruption to service (migration
to newer systems)
• Requirements: Server 1 Server 2

– POWER6 or

VIOS

VIOS
P1 P2 P3 P1 P5
POWER7 systems
– LPAR must
only have virtual adapters
HMC
Network

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Capacity on demand
IBM Power Systems

• Capacity upgrade on demand (CUoD)

– Permanent activation of processors or memory

• Trial CoD
– No charge 30-day activation of processors or memory resources

• On/Off CoD
– Ability to activate processor or memory resources temporarily

• Utility CoD
– Additional processor capacity on a temporary basis within the
shared processor pool
Add reserve
• Capacity BackUp: resources
– Processors and memory temporarily
added to backup server
– Prepaid for up to 90 days
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
PowerVM editions
IBM Power Systems

• PowerVM editions hardware features include the following components:

PowerVM Express Standard Enterprise

editions
Maximum LPARs 3 / Server 10 / Core 10 / Core

VMControl, VMControl, VMControl,

Management
IVM IVM, HMC IVM, HMC
Virtual I/O Server   
PowerVM Lx86   
Shared dedicated
capacity
  
Multiple shared
processor pools
 

Active Memory Sharing 

Live Partition Mobility



• PowerVM Standard Edition is standard on the IBM System p5 590 and p5 595
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Partitioning concepts summary
IBM Power Systems

Part#1 Part#2 Part#3 Part#4 Part#5 Part#6 Part#7-11

Use
Virtual this layout
AIX V6 for all your
Linux drawing
i5/OS AIX V5needs
AIX V6 LAN
I/O Server AIXV6/Linux
PPPPPP PPPP
PPPPPP PPP P PPPPPP
MMMMM MMMM MMM MMM M MM M M M M M
A A
AAAAAA AAAAA AAA AAAA AA AAA
Virtual LAN
Virtual I/O

O OS
O OS
O OS
O OS
O
AIX 6 AIX 6 Linux i5/OS AIX 6 AIX 6 S S S S S
Kernel Kernel Kernel Kernel Kernel Kernel
Virtual Ethernet
POWER Hypervisor

HMC

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Integrated Virtualization Manager
IBM Power Systems

• Provides support for LPARs without a physical HMC:

– Manages a single server
• IVM software runs in the Virtual I/O Server partition.
– Provides a subset of HMC functionality
• Hypervisor has been modified to enable VIOS to manage the partitioned
system without an HMC.
– Implicit rule of configuration and setup
• It requires that the server not be partitioned.
• First operating system installed
VIOS AIX Linux Linux
must be the VIOS. V6.1 RHEL5 SLES10
IVM
– Virtual I/O server partition owns
all physical I/O
• Client partitions can access
virtual optical, virtual disk,
Virtual LAN
virtual Ethernet, IVE, and console.
POWER Hypervisor
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
LPAR configuration process
IBM Power Systems

1 Create
Createplan
planfor
forusage
usagemodel
modeland
andapplications.
applications

2 Plan
Planresources
resourcesfor
forpartitions.
partitions

3 SetCreate
up HMCandand managed
configure system.
partitions

4 Create
Createand
andconfigure
configurepartitions.
partitions

5 Activate
Activatepartitions
partitionsand
andinstall
installoperating
operationsystems.
systems

6 Configure
Configureand
andtest
testservice
serviceapplications.
applications
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
LPAR references
IBM Power Systems

• Documentation:
– http://www.ibm.com/support/publications/us/library/
– Software and hardware information centers available
– http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/eserver/

• LPAR and PowerVM information:

– http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/virtualization/index.html

• IBM Redbooks:
– http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/

• Technical support Web sites:

– http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/support/unixservers/
– http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/vios/home.html
– http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/power5cm/power7.html

• Linux Web site:

– http://www.ibm.com/systems/p/linux/

Web links might change over time.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
AN11 course content
IBM Power Systems

• System p hardware overview

• HMC
• System Planning Tool
• HMC maintenance
• System power management
• Configuring LPARs
• Dynamic resource allocation

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

AN30 course content
IBM Power Systems

• Advanced processor concepts

• Virtual I/O
• Virtual network configurations
• VSCSI configurations
• IVE
• Service management

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Checkpoint (1 of 2)
IBM Power Systems

1. True or False: A partition is an independent operating environment.

2. What is it that makes logical partitioning different from physical

partitioning?
a. Resource assignments are flexible.
b. Resources can be moved between partitions without a restart.
c. Partitioning is not dependent on physical system building blocks.

3. Which of the following are true for dynamic partition operations?

a. All AIX 6 partitions on POWER6 and POWER7 processor-based systems
are capable of dynamic resource allocations.
b. Virtual I/O devices can be dynamically added or removed but not moved
between partitions.
c. Partitions do not need to be restarted to add, remove, or move resources.

4. List the types of resources that are configured in partitions.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Checkpoint solutions (1 of 2)
IBM Power Systems

1. True or False: A partition is an independent operating environment.

2. What is it that makes logical partitioning different from physical

partitioning?
a. Resource assignments are flexible.
b. Resources can be moved between partitions without a restart.
c. Partitioning is not dependent on physical system building blocks.

3. Which of the following are true for dynamic partition operations?

a. All AIX 6 partitions on POWER6 and POWER7 processor-based
systems are capable of dynamic resource allocations.
b. Virtual I/O devices can be dynamically added or removed but not
moved between partitions.
c. Partitions do not need to be restarted to add, remove, or move
resources.

4. List the types of resources that are configured in partitions.

Processors, memory, I/O slots (including the HEA)
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
Checkpoint (2 of 2)
IBM Power Systems

5. What system option provides the ability to order additional resources

that can be activated when you need them?

6. Which of the following are benefits of using partitions?

a. Better management of resources across operating environments
b. Isolate applications that were all running on one system
c. Better high availability solution
d. Manage operational costs by consolidating resources

7. What is the system component that performs the resource allocation to

partitions?

8. What is the system component needed to configure partitions, configure

CoD, and provide access to virtual consoles?

9. What is the term used for the concept of allocating sub-processors to

partitions?

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Checkpoint solutions (2 of 2)
IBM Power Systems

5. What system option provides the ability to order additional resources that can
be activated when you need them? Capacity on demand (CoD)

6. Which of the following are benefits of using partitions?

a. Better management of resources across operating environments
b. Isolate applications that were all running on one system
c. Better high availability solution
d. Manage operational costs by consolidating resources

7. What is the system component that performs the resource allocation to

partitions? POWER Hypervisor

8. What is the system component needed to configure partitions, configure CoD,

and provide access to virtual consoles? HMC or IVM

9. What is the term used for the concept of allocating sub-processors to

partitions? Micro-partitioning

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Exercise
IBM Power Systems

Unit
exerc
ise

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010

Unit summary
IBM Power Systems

Having completed this unit, you should be able to:

• Describe the following terms:
– Partition, logical partition (LPAR), resource
• Describe the benefits of partitioning
• Describe the following partition concepts:
– Dynamic logical partitioning
– Micro-partitioning
– Virtual I/O
– Live Partition Mobility (LPM)
– Capacity on demand (CoD)
• Describe the functions of the Hardware Management Console
(HMC)
• Describe the functions performed by the POWER Hypervisor
• Describe the overall process for configuring partitions
• List references for IBM POWER5, POWER6, and POWER7
processor-based system partitioning
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010