Chapter THREE. Partitioned Servers: Virtual Partitions

     

Chapter Syllabus

3.1 An Introduction to Virtual Partitions

3.2 Obtaining the Virtual Partitions Software

3.3 Setting Up an Ignite-UX Server to Support Virtual Partitions

3.4 Planning Your Virtual Partitions

3.5 Creating the vPar Database

3.6 Booting a Newly Created vPar from an Ignite-UX Server

3.7 Managing Hardware within a Virtual Partition

3.8 Rebooting vpmon

3.9 Interfacing with the Virtual Partition Monitor: vpmon

3.10 Changing Partition Attributes

3.11 Resetting a Virtual Partition

3.12 Removing a Virtual Partition

3.13 Turning Off Virtual Partitioning Functionality

In Chapter 2, we introduced the idea of partitioning and discussed Node Partitions (nPars). If you are joining this discussion without the prior knowledge of nPars, I will reiterate that partitioning is not a new concept in the computing industry. Many vendors have provided some form of partitioning as a software and/or a hardware solution for some years . The basic idea of partitioning is to create a configuration of hardware and software components that support the running of an independent instance of an operating system. HP currently supports two types of partitioning:

  • An nPar , or Node Partition

  • A vPar, or Virtual Partition

This chapter deals with Virtual Partitions .

A Virtual Partition is a collection of hardware components that support the running of an independent instance of an Operating System. A major difference between a vPar and an nPar is that a vPar is considered to be software partitioning with no reliance or dependence on a specific hardware architecture. On the other hand, an nPar is considered a hardware as well as a software solution, as an nPar relies on a cell -based hardware architecture.

The flexibility in configuration makes partitioning a very popular configuration tool. Some key benefits of Virtual Partitions include:

  • Increasing server utilization

  • Isolating Operating System and Application Faults

  • Providing flexibility through multiple but independent Operating System instances

  • Providing flexibility through dynamic CPU allocation

The hardware components that constitute a Virtual Partition can come from an existing server, e.g., an rp7400/N4000 server, or from a Node Partition configured from a partitionable server complex. During our discussion in this chapter, I utilize an existing node partition, which I created in Chapter 2 within a Superdome complex. The initial hardware could just as easily be an existing rp7400/N4000 server, for example.

At the moment, HP supports Virtual Partitions running only HP-UX. In the future, there is the possibility of running various versions of HP-UX, Windows, and Linux simultaneously within different Virtual Partitions.

We start by taking an existing Node Partition, installing the Virtual Partition software, and then creating a number of vPars from the nPar. Be sure to check the HP documentation (for more details, see http://docs.hp.com/hpux/hplex/index.html#C.%20vPars%20%28 software-based%20partitioning%29) as to which servers and Operating Systems support Virtual Partitions. We also discuss day-to-day management tasks involved with Virtual Partitions including dynamically adding and removing CPUs from a Virtual Partition to cope with changing processing demands. I would suggest having access to your own system configuration while reading through this chapter as well as access to the excellent HP documentation: for example, Installing and Managing HP-UX Virtual Partitions (vPars) available from http://docs.hp.com/hpux/pdf/T1335-90018.html.



HP-UX CSE(c) Official Study Guide and Desk Reference
HP-UX CSE(c) Official Study Guide and Desk Reference
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 434

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