IBM eServer - IBM Virtualization Engine - iSeries

Virtualization is delivered natively in IBM ® iSeries™ as400 servers. IBM Virtualization Engine systems technologies can be used to help simplify your IT infrastructure, without disruption. You're then able to focus on continued business innovation and growth.


Key technologies


Dynamic logical partitioning (DLPAR): Dynamic logical partitioning increases flexibility, enabling selected system resources like processors, memory and I/O components to be added and deleted from dedicated partitions while they are actively in use. The ability to reconfigure dynamic LPARs enables system administrators to dynamically redefine all available system resources to reach optimum capacity for each partition.

Micro-Partitioning™: Micro-partitioning provides additional, more advanced, partitioning support. It gives you the ability to assign fractions of a processor to a logical partition. Before micro-partitioning, a computer system could use only whole numbers of processors. However, the POWER Hypervisor can divide the total processor capability of the iSeries server among the logical partitions on the server. This ability is known as time slicing. This allows you to specify the processing power for a logical partition in the hundredths of processors. This also allows you to assign a logical partition as little as one tenth of a processor in cases where the logical partition does not need a full processor.

IBM Director: IBM Director enables monitoring and event management across a heterogeneous IT environment, including Windows®, Intel®, AIX, I5/OSi5/OS and Linux®, from a single Java-based user interface. From one access point, you can monitor system resources, inventory, events, task management, core corrective actions, distributed commands and hardware control for your servers and storage.

IBM Virtualization Engine console: Many editions of iSeries and i5 servers feature the Virtualization Engine console. The console is based on the IBM Integrated Solutions Console framework to provide a consolidated view for managing your virtualized enterprise resources. The Virtualization Engine console works with IBM Director to present a comprehensive view of individual platforms.

Virtual Ethernet: A virtual Ethernet enables interpartition communication without the need for physical network adapters in each logical partition. The virtual Ethernet allows you to define in-memory point-to-point connections between logical partitions. These connections exhibit similar characteristics as high-bandwidth Ethernet connections and support multiple protocols. You can also configure the operating system on a logical partition to connect a virtual Ethernet adapter with a physical Ethernet adapter. This allows the logical partitions on the virtual Ethernet to access external networks through the physical Ethernet adapter.

Virtual I/O: Virtual Serial and Virtual SCSI devices allow AIX and Linux logical partitions to use I/O resources that belong to an i5/OS logical partition. This allows you to create AIX and Linux logical partitions without assigning full disk drives or I/O devices to the logical partitions. In turn, this allows you to create more AIX or Linux logical partitions than you would ordinarily have been able to create, and it maximizes I/O resource utilization on your system. Also, when you back up the i5/OS logical partition, all of the data for the other logical partitions is also backed up.

Capacity on demand: Capacity on Demand (CoD) features, optionally available on selected iSeries systems, enable clients to respond quickly to their workload demand by permanently or temporarily activating processors or memory when required. There are multiple Capacity on Demand possibilities offered, such as Capacity Upgrade on Demand, On / Off Capacity on Demand, Reserve Capacity on Demand, and Trial Capacity on Demand.

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