IBM United States Software Announcement 209-141, dated April 28, 2009
IBM PowerVM and AIX software enhancements help you better manage workloads
Table of contents 1 At a glance 5 Reference information 1 Overview 5 Product number 2 Key prerequisites 5 Ordering information 2 Planned availability date 6 Terms and conditions 2 Description 7 Prices 5 Product positioning 7 Order now 5 Statement of general direction
At a glance
tm IBM® PowerVM and IBM AIX® 6 provide additional flexibility and manageability.
• tm PowerVM Enterprise Edition is enhanced with Active Memory Sharing, an advanced memory virtualization technology. • AIX 6 Technology Level 3 is enhanced to help you better manage workloads on IBM Power Systems.
For ordering, contact your IBM representative, an IBM Business Partner, or IBM Americas Call Centers at 800-IBM-CALL (Reference: YE001).
Overview
IBM PowerVM and the AIX 6 operating system have been enhanced to provide additional flexibility and manageability.
PowerVM, providing industrial-strength virtualization for Power Systems, is enhanced with PowerVM Active Memory Sharing, an advanced memory virtualization technology that intelligently flows memory from one partition to another for increased utilization and flexibility of tm memory usage. With this memory virtualization enhancement for IBM POWER6 processor- based servers, IBM i, AIX, and Linux® partitions can share a pool of memory and have PowerVM automatically allocate the memory based on the partition's workload demands. Active Memory Sharing is provided with PowerVM Enterprise Edition.
PowerVM Active Memory Sharing supports over-commitment of logical memory with overflow going to a PowerVM Virtual I/O Server (VIOS)-managed paging device. For redundancy, two VIOS partitions can be configured to the shared memory pool to provide access to the paging devices. In addition, AIX and Linux partitions that use Active Memory Sharing can leverage Live Partition Mobility to help improve resiliency and avoid planned downtime.
Additional PowerVM enhancements include:
• PowerVM VIOS management enhancements • NPIV support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and the IBM Power 595 • Virtual tape support for IBM i and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 • VIOS support for solid state drives (SSD), DS5000, XIV storage systems • PowerVM Lx86 enhancements
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 1 209-141 AIX 6 Technology Level 3 includes the following enhancements to help you manage workloads on Power Systems:
• SAN device support in workload partitions (WPAR): Clients can now add SAN disks directly to a WPAR. The SAN device is accessed through a shared SAN adapter in the global AIX instance. This allows for additional administrative efficiency because the WPAR administrator can perform more storage management operations without relying on the global instance administrator. • IBM Systems Director agent: The IBM Systems Director is the strategic platform management solution for Power Systems servers. To provide for easier platform management of Power Systems servers, AIX now includes the IBM Systems Director Agent and will automatically install this agent when AIX is installed. • Active Memory Sharing support: AIX 6 Technology Level 3 includes support for the new PowerVM Enterprise Edition Active Memory Sharing feature to provide clients with even more flexibility for virtualization.
Industrial-strength features and functions of AIX have been proven in a wide variety of computing environments to meet the demanding requirements for vertically scaled applications such as databases.
AIX 6 Technology Level 3 is available for both the AIX Standard Edition and the AIX Enterprise Edition.
Key prerequisites
Active Memory Sharing minimum requirements:
• POWER6 processor-based system • eFW 3.4.2 • Hardware Management Console V7R3.4.0 Service Pack 2 • Integrated Virtualization Manager 2.1.1 • Virtual I/O Server 2.1.1 • IBM i 6.1 • AIX 6.1 with the 6100-03 Technology Level • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
Planned availability date
May 15, 2009
Description
PowerVM Active Memory Sharing is designed for partitions with variable memory requirements, for partitions that serve workloads that peak at different times across the partitions, and for active/inactive environments. For example, Power servers that have partitions supporting different time zones, day and night workloads, test and development partitions, and numerous partitions with infrequent use are candidates for using Active Memory Sharing to improve memory utilization and system throughput. Active Memory Sharing is optionally configurable on a partition basis, enabling Power servers to support a combination of dedicated and shared memory partitions.
PowerVM Active Memory Sharing is available with PowerVM Enterprise Edition. It supports AIX 6.1 TL3, i 6.1, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 operating systems with eFW 3.4.2, HMC V7.342, and VIOS 2.1.1. Active Memory Sharing is supported on HMC and Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) managed systems. The Active Memory Sharing partitions must use PowerVM VIOS to virtualize all the I/O adapters, and they must use shared processors. Up to 128 shared memory partitions are supported per server.
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 2 209-141 For more information, visit
http://www.ibm.com/systems/power/software/virtualization/index.html
Active memory sharing support AIX 6 Technology Level 3 supports the Active Memory Sharing feature of PowerVM Enterprise Edition to provide more flexibility to consolidate even more workloads onto Power Systems servers.
PowerVM VIOS management enhancements The HMC has been enhanced to simplify management of PowerVM VIOS virtual storage and virtual network resources. Management of these virtual resources can now be done through graphical Web interfaces instead of the VIOS command-line commands.
The new Web interfaces into VIOS simplify:
• Storage device management with views for Physical Volumes, Logical Volumes, File backed storage, disk backed storage pools, and NPIV Fibre Channel • Management of physical optical devices and virtual optical media libraries • Network management, including configuration of failover for Shared Ethernet devices
For storage management, the HMC provides the ability to create storage pools, create virtual disks and assign those disks to client partitions, assign physical block storage to client partitions, create virtual media libraries from which images can be added for client partition usage, assign physical optical devices to client partitions, and for NPIV-capable VIOS partitions, assign physical ports of an NPIV-capable adapter to client partitions. From the network perspective, the HMC provides the ability to create shared Ethernet adapters on the VIOS partitions, including the capability to create a shared Ethernet failover between two VIOS partitions that are participating on the same set of VLANs. The HMC also provides the ability to create a Shared Ethernet Adapter (SEA) with a physical Ethernet adapter, Logical Host Ethernet Adapter (LHEA), or an Ethernet channel.
The new HMC interfaces are provided with VIOS 2.1.1 and HMC V7R3.4.02, or later.
VIOS SMIT enhancements VIOS has extended its cfgassist tool to include device management capabilities as well as improved VIOS management. cfgassist is a menu-driven, interactive system management tool that provides an alternative to the command-line interface (CLI) for managing and maintaining VIOS system and device configuration.
N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) support provided with PowerVM Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions for POWER6 processor-based servers, which was previously announced for the Power 520, 550, 560, and 570, is extended to the Power 595. NPIV is supported by AIX tm 5.3, AIX 6.1, and now SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for POWER with the 8 Gb PCIe Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (#5735).
Virtual tape enhancements PowerVM support for virtual tape that allows sharing of selected SAS tape devices via VIOS, previously announced for AIX 5.3 and AIX 6.1 partitions, now supports IBM i 6.1 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 partitions. Virtual tape can simplify backup and restore processing for client partitions. Virtual tape is supported with PowerVM Express, Standard, and Enterprise Edition on POWER6 processor-based servers and blades.
VIOS support for Virtual SCSI devices backed by solid state drives VIOS introduces support for Virtual SCSI devices backed by SSDs. This enables Virtual SCSI Client LPARs to leverage the performance advantages of SSD instead of rotating disk drives where desired. Specific examples include utilizing SSD-backed Virtual SCSI devices
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 3 209-141 for improved client LPAR boot performance, paging device performance, as well as general filesystem and log device performance. PowerVM VIOS supports Virtual SCSI devices backed by DS5000 and XIV storage systems.
PowerVM Lx86 updates PowerVM Lx86 simplifies the migration of Linux x86 applications to Power Systems. The PowerVM Lx86 feature creates a virtual x86 Linux application environment on Power processor- based systems, so many 32-bit x86 Linux applications can run without requiring clients or ISVs to recompile the code. This brings new benefits to organizations that want the reliability and flexibility of consolidating on Power Systems servers yet use applications that have not yet been ported to the platform. With the Lx86 feature, PowerVM virtualization can be used for consolidating AIX, i, Linux, and Lx86 workloads onto Power Systems servers. Lx86 is included at no additional charge with the purchase of PowerVM Editions.
With this announcement, PowerVM Lx86 V1.3.1 is adding support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (SLES 11) for POWER and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 (RHEL 5.3) for POWER. PowerVM Lx86 can run SLES 11 and RHEL 5.3 Linux x86 applications on Power alongside AIX, i, and Linux applications.
AIX 6 Technology Level 3 includes the following enhancements: • SAN device support in workload partitions: Clients have increased capability to manage the storage needs of workloads running inside of WPARs with this new support for SAN devices inside of WPARs. This capability allows SAN devices to be defined by a global administrator as a configuration option for WPARs. Once defined, the WPAR administrator can create and manage JFS2 filesystems on those SAN devices independently of the global administrator. These devices can be managed using existing Logical Volume Manager, filesystem commands, and SMIT menus.
Note: Live Application Mobility (the relocation of a WPAR between AIX instances without restarting the workloads running in the WPAR) is only supported with NFS filesystems.
• IBM Systems Director agent: To enhance the management of AIX environments, the IBM Systems Director agent is now included as part of the AIX 6 operating system's installation media and is installed by and enabled by default. The IBM Systems Director agent is also included with AIX 5.3 installation media at Technology Level 10.
Ready for IBM Power Systems Software tool The Ready for IBM Power Systems Software offering provides a set of guides and validations that the Power Systems ISV community can use to better understand and interact with the Power Systems Software stack. By interacting with or adopting the stack, an ISV solution can quickly become aligned to support many of the major initiatives that IBM is bringing forward in response to customer demand. For more information, visit the Ready for IBM technical validations and specialties section of the IBM Global Solutions Directory at
http://www.ibm.com/partnerworld/gsd
IBM Systems Director Technology Preview Today IBM is announcing a technology preview of a plug-in feature for IBM Systems Director that would enable clients to improve service delivery using IBM Power servers. The new plug-in is planned to provide automation capabilities that would not only make provisioning new services faster and easier but would also help to reduce the errors and troubleshooting time that often result from manual installations. IBM will provide pricing and availability information at a future date.
This plug-in is an IBM Systems Director virtual image management solution planned to be available to configure new AIX systems, capture existing systems for backup, and clone existing server images for deployment to other servers. These virtual server images would be maintained in a library and may encapsulate the operating system, middleware, and applications for deployment on one or more servers. These new automation capabilities would include provisioning the server resources, including storage, to support the virtual image deployment.
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 4 209-141 This statement represents IBM's current intent and objectives and is subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.
Product positioning
Industrial-strength features and functions of the AIX operating system have been proven in a wide variety of computing environments, from small one- or two-processor systems for small workloads to large 64-processor systems to meet the demanding requirements for vertically scaled applications such as databases.
Statement of general direction
AIX Statement of Direction - Withdrawal of CD media AIX 6 Technology Level 3 and AIX 5.3 Technology Level 10 are the last levels of AIX that will offer the option to receive the Installation media, Information Center documentation, Expansion Pack, and Update disks in the form of multiple compact disks. Future shipments of all AIX 6 and AIX 5.3 installation and update media will only be available in DVD format.
IBM is making this change to simplify the AIX installation and update process by reducing the need for clients to change media and to reduce the costs associated with maintaining two types of physical media.
Reference information
Refer to Software Announcement 208-340, dated October 07, 2008 for additional information on PowerVM enhancements, including VIOS V2.1.
Refer to Software Announcement 208-341, dated October 07, 2008 for additional information on IBM Power Systems Software Enhancements.
Refer to Software Announcement 209-141, dated April 28, 2009 for additional information on enhancements for IBM i.
Business Partner information
If you are a Direct Reseller - System Reseller acquiring products from IBM, you may link directly to Business Partner information for this announcement. A PartnerWorld® ID and password are required (use IBM ID).
https://www.ibm.com/partnerworld/mem/sla.jsp?num=209-141
Product number
Program Program name number
RHEL5 x86 5692-LOP
Ordering information
Ordering information update The following SPO feature is announcing in support of PowerVM Lx86: 5692-LOP SPO Program feature number Program/Function name number
5692-LOP RHEL5 x86 1497
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 5 209-141 IBM will continue support for the following program releases licensed under the IBM International Program License Agreement: Program Withdrawal from number Program release name support date
5765-UAV ITUAM VE v7.1 Open IBM announces updates to the SPO features for the following High Performance Computing (HPC) licensed products, effective May 15, 2009. 5692-A5L 5692-A6P 5692-LOP SPO SPO SPO Program feature feature feature number Program/Function name number number number
5765-G17 IBM Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library (ESSL) for Linux, V4.4.1 - - - - 2200
5765-G18 IBM Parallel ESSL for Linux, V3.3.2 - - - - 2257
5765-F67 IBM Cluster Systems Management (CSM) for AIX, V1.7.1 2226 2226 - -
5765-E69 IBM Tivoli® Workload Scheduler LoadLeveler® for AIX, V3.5.1 2225 2225 - -
Withdrawal of features Effective May 15, 2009, the following System Program Order (SPO) features will be withdrawn. The replacement features are listed above. 5692-A5L 5692-A6P 5692-LOP SPO SPO SPO Program feature feature feature number Program/Function name number number number
5765-G17 IBM Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library (ESSL) for Linux, V4.4.0 - - - - 1491
5765-G18 IBM Parallel ESSL for Linux, V3.3.1 - - - - 1492
5765-F67 IBM Cluster Systems Management (CSM) for AIX, V1.7.0 2202 2202 - -
5765-E69 IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler LoadLeveler for AIX, V3.5.0 2221 2221 - -
Terms and conditions
AIX Expansion Pack license and support information
In an effort to make it easier to search license and IBM support information for AIX Expansion Pack components, IBM has created the following Web page that includes links to the information for each Expansion Pack component. This page will be updated whenever the Expansion Pack content is updated.
http://www.ibm.com/systems/p/os/aix/expansionpack/index.html
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 6 209-141 Prices
For additional information and current prices, contact your local IBM representative.
The following SPO feature is announcing in support of PowerVM Lx86. 5692-LOP SPO Program feature number Program/Function name number OTC
5692-LOP RHEL5 x86 1497 N/C IBM announces updates to the SPO features for the following High Performance Computing (HPC) Licensed Products effective May 15, 2009. 5692-A5L 5692-A6P 5692-LOP SPO SPO SPO Program feature feature feature number Program/Function name number number number OTC
5765-G17 IBM Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library (ESSL) for Linux, V4.4.1 - - - - 2200 N/C
5765-G18 IBM Parallel ESSL for Linux, V3.3.2 - - - - 2257 N/C
5765-F67 IBM Cluster Systems Management (CSM) for AIX, V1.7.1 2226 2226 - - N/C
5765-E69 IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler LoadLeveler for AIX, V3.5.1 2225 2225 - - N/C
Order now
To order, contact the Americas Call Centers or your local IBM representative, or your IBM Business Partner.
To identify your local IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, call 800-IBM-4YOU (426-4968). Phone: 800-IBM-CALL (426-2255) Fax: 800-2IBM-FAX (242-6329) Internet: [email protected] Mail: IBM Teleweb Customer Support ibm.com® Sales Execution Center, Americas North 3500 Steeles Ave. East, Tower 3/4 Markham, Ontario Canada L3R 2Z1 Reference: YE001
The Americas Call Centers, our national direct marketing organization, can add your name to the mailing list for catalogs of IBM products.
Note: Shipments will begin after the planned availability date.
Trademarks PowerVM, Active Memory, POWER6 and POWER are trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
IBM, AIX, PartnerWorld, Tivoli, LoadLeveler and ibm.com are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 7 209-141 Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.
Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
Terms of use IBM products and services which are announced and available in your country can be ordered under the applicable standard agreements, terms, conditions, and prices in effect at the time. IBM reserves the right to modify or withdraw this announcement at any time without notice. This announcement is provided for your information only. Additional terms of use are located at
http://www.ibm.com/legal/us/en/
For the most current information regarding IBM products, consult your IBM representative or reseller, or visit the IBM worldwide contacts page
http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/us/
IBM United States Software Announcement IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 8 209-141