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

Function /
capability
IBM System z9
virtualization technology
IBM System p5
virtualization
technology
Sharing
memory
resources
LPAR memory is fixed and
private; for LPARs running
z/OS, the memory size
can be dynamically
changed with some
considerations.
Portions of VM memory can
be shared read-only or
read-write with other VMs;
changing the memory size
of a VM requires IPLing this
VM.
LPAR memory is fixed
and private; memory size
can be dynamically
changed for LPARs
running AIX 5L.
Virtual
interpartition
communication
TCP/IP with
HiperSockets.
TCP/IP with virtual
HiperSockets, TCP/IP, and
other protocols through
virtual Ethernet with IEEE
802.1Q VLAN support.
TCP/IP and other
protocols through virtual
Ethernet with IEEE
802.1Q VLAN support.
Sharing
connections to
external
networks
Enhanced Multiple Image
Facility (EMIF)
multiplexes Open
Systems Adapter (OSA)
to multiple LPARs.
Virtual Ethernet switch
bridges virtual Ethernet to
an external Ethernet though
an OSA,
z/VM also takes advantage
of multiplexed access to
OSA through EMIF.
Shared Ethernet Adapter
(SEA), hosted by the
Virtual I/O Server (VIOS),
acts as layer-2-bridge
between physical and
virtual Ethernet adapters.
Sharing I/O
resources.
EMIF multiplexes
channels and devices to
multiple LPARs.
z/VM provides virtual
devices, such as minidisks,
which are partitions of
physical disks, and it
provides shared access to
physical devices.
VIOS provides virtualized
disks, which can be
partitions of physical
disks and are accessed
through virtual SCSI
adapters.
Supported OS.
z/OS, Linux, z/VM, and others zSeries® operating
systems.
AIX 5L, Linux, and
i5/OS on some models.
The mechanisms for sharing of processor resources on IBM System z9 and
System p5 are similar. The number of virtual processors in a System p5 LPAR or
in a z/VM virtual machine can exceed the number of installed physical
processors. There are some differences with capping that are beyond the scope
of this discussion.
On a System z9 server, integrated inter- and intra-partition workload
management can be performed with the Intelligent Resource Director (IRD) for
z/OS LPARs, while on a System p5, inter-partition management is done with the
Partition Load Manager (PLM), and intra-partition management with the AIX 5L
Workload Manager (WLM). Since PLM and WLM are not integrated, PLM on
System p5, like VMRM on System z9, monitors WLM’s application priorities and
14 <strong>Advanced</strong> <strong>POWER</strong> <strong>Virtualization</strong> on IBM System p5