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Advanced POWER Virtualization on IBM System p5 - Previous ...

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The service processor provides the following services:<br />

► Envir<strong>on</strong>mental m<strong>on</strong>itoring<br />

► Mutual surveillance with the <str<strong>on</strong>g>POWER</str<strong>on</strong>g> Hypervisor<br />

► Self protecti<strong>on</strong> for the system to restart it from unrecoverable firmware error,<br />

firmware hang, hardware failure, or envir<strong>on</strong>mentally induced failure.<br />

► Fault m<strong>on</strong>itoring and operating system notificati<strong>on</strong> at system boot<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>POWER</str<strong>on</strong>g> Hypervisor RAS<br />

Elements of the <str<strong>on</strong>g>POWER</str<strong>on</strong>g> Hypervisor are used to manage the detecti<strong>on</strong> and<br />

recovery of certain errors. The <str<strong>on</strong>g>POWER</str<strong>on</strong>g> Hypervisor communicates with both the<br />

service processor and the Hardware Management C<strong>on</strong>sole.<br />

Predicting failures<br />

<strong>IBM</strong> has implemented a server design called First Failure Data Capture (FFDC)<br />

that builds-in thousands of hardware error check stati<strong>on</strong>s that capture and help to<br />

identify error c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s within the server and enable <strong>System</strong> <strong>p5</strong> systems to<br />

self-diagnose and self-heal. Each of these checkers is viewed as a diagnostic<br />

probe into the server, and when coupled with extensive diagnostic firmware<br />

routines, allows assessment of hardware error c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s at runtime.<br />

Because of the first failure data capture technology employed in the <strong>System</strong> <strong>p5</strong><br />

systems, the need to recreate diagnostics for CEC failures has been greatly<br />

reduced. The service processor working in c<strong>on</strong>juncti<strong>on</strong> with the FFDC<br />

technology provides the automatic detecti<strong>on</strong> and isolati<strong>on</strong> of errors without<br />

having to recreate the failure. This means that errors will be correctly detected<br />

and isolated at the time of the failure occurrence.<br />

Improving service<br />

The HMC software includes a wealth of improvements for service and support,<br />

including automated install and upgrade, and c<strong>on</strong>current maintenance and<br />

upgrade for hardware and firmware. The HMC also provides a Service Focal<br />

Point for service receiving, logging, tracking system errors and, if enabled,<br />

forwarding problem reports to <strong>IBM</strong> Service and Support organizati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />

For the <strong>System</strong> <strong>p5</strong> systems, comp<strong>on</strong>ents such as power supplies, fans, disks,<br />

HMCs, PCI adapters, and devices can be repaired while powered <strong>on</strong>. The HMC<br />

supports many new c<strong>on</strong>current maintenance functi<strong>on</strong>s in <strong>System</strong> <strong>p5</strong> systems.<br />

Firmware <strong>on</strong> the <strong>System</strong> <strong>p5</strong> systems is planned to be released in a cumulative<br />

sequential fix format for c<strong>on</strong>current applicati<strong>on</strong> and activati<strong>on</strong>. The objective is<br />

that the majority of firmware updates will be able to be installed and activated<br />

without having to power cycle or reboot the system.<br />

6 <str<strong>on</strong>g>Advanced</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>POWER</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Virtualizati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>IBM</strong> <strong>System</strong> <strong>p5</strong>

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