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

1.6 The value of the <strong>Advanced</strong> <strong>POWER</strong> <strong>Virtualization</strong>
With <strong>POWER</strong>5 processor-based systems, introduced in 2004, customers have
realized the immense value of the <strong>Advanced</strong> <strong>POWER</strong> <strong>Virtualization</strong>. There are
quite a few fields where this value is recognized as a huge advantage in planning
an architecture of <strong>POWER</strong>5 systems as well as in day to day operations on those
systems. This technology now is widely perceived by customers as extremely
stable, mature, and production ready.
There have been a number of case studies on how to set up and use those
systems, as well as literature (APV Deployment Examples) showing how to
implement <strong>POWER</strong>5 systems in smaller and larger environments.
Those techniques are now well known and implementations of easier and more
complex installations either with the Integrated <strong>Virtualization</strong> Manager or under
control of the Hardware Management Console are now common.
Possibly the more challenging tasks with <strong>POWER</strong>5 systems are moving from
planning and implementation to the careful design of systems management. The
background for this is that the more these systems and their virtualization
features are used and the higher the average number of logical partitions per
system grows, the more the challenge lies in coordinating overall tasks that
impact the parts of the system, such as system code upgrades. Coordination of
systems now requires a more holistic datacenter view, rather than a single server
view.
To say that the most challenging tasks are no longer associated with the actual
management and operation of machines rather than with organizational planning
and coordination means that <strong>Advanced</strong> Power <strong>Virtualization</strong> fulfills its task well. It
enables administrators and companies to build their own flexible and reliable
infrastructure. It allows for the rapid deployment of new systems without the
normally lengthy and time-consuming process of validation, acquisition, and
installation of new physical systems. It is designed to simplify the movement of
operating system instances from one physical system to another given that the
infrastructure is carefully planned and certain requirements are met. It allows for
fast setup of test and development machines in the same physical environment
and even on the same machine as production machines, taking away the bias if
different types of physical machines were used. And it adds trust and confidence
in systems operations since the sheer computing power and the stability of
<strong>POWER</strong>5 processor based systems are proven and recorded by many
installations. Overall, this leads to a substantial improvement in TCO and
simplified IT operations.
16 <strong>Advanced</strong> <strong>POWER</strong> <strong>Virtualization</strong> on IBM System p5