IBM PowerKVM: Configuration and Use


Book Description

This IBM® Redpaper Redbooks® publication presents the IBM PowerKVM virtualization for scale-out Linux systems, including the new LC IBM Power SystemsTM. PowerKVM is open source server virtualization that is based on the IBM POWER8® processor technology. It includes the Linux open source technology of KVM virtualization, and it complements the performance, scalability, and security qualities of Linux. This book describes the concepts of PowerKVM and how you can deploy your virtual machines with the software stack included in the product. It helps you install and configure PowerKVM on your Power Systems server and provides guidance for managing the supported virtualization features by using the web interface and command-line interface (CLI). This information is for professionals who want to acquire a better understanding of PowerKVM virtualization technology to optimize Linux workload consolidation and use the POWER8 processor features. The intended audience also includes people in these roles: Clients Sales and marketing professionals Technical support professionals IBM Business Partners Independent software vendors Open source community IBM OpenPower partners It does not replace the latest marketing materials and configuration tools. It is intended as an additional source of information that, along with existing sources, can be used to increase your knowledge of IBM virtualization solutions. Before you start reading, you must be familiar with the general concepts of kernel-based virtual machine (KVM), Linux, and IBM Power architecture.




IBM PowerVM Virtualization Introduction and Configuration


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides an introduction to PowerVMTM virtualization technologies on Power System servers. PowerVM is a combination of hardware, firmware, and software that provides CPU, network, and disk virtualization. These are the main virtualization technologies: POWER7, POWER6, and POWER5 hardware POWER Hypervisor Virtual I/O Server Though the PowerVM brand includes partitioning, management software, and other offerings, this publication focuses on the virtualization technologies that are part of the PowerVM Standard and Enterprise Editions. This publication is also designed to be an introduction guide for system administrators, providing instructions for these tasks: Configuration and creation of partitions and resources on the HMC Installation and configuration of the Virtual I/O Server Creation and installation of virtualized partitions Examples using AIX, IBM i, and Linux This edition has been updated with the latest updates available and an improved content organization.




IBM PowerVC Version 2.0 Introduction and Configuration


Book Description

IBM® Power Virtualization Center (IBM® PowerVCTM) is an advanced enterprise virtualization management offering for IBM Power Systems. This IBM Redbooks® publication introduces IBM PowerVC and helps you understand its functions, planning, installation, and setup. It also shows how IBM PowerVC can integrate with systems management tools such as Ansible or Terraform and that it also integrates well into a OpenShift container environment. IBM PowerVC Version 2.0.0 supports both large and small deployments, either by managing IBM PowerVM® that is controlled by the Hardware Management Console (HMC), or by IBM PowerVM NovaLink. With this capability, IBM PowerVC can manage IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux workloads that run on IBM POWER® hardware. IBM PowerVC is available as a Standard Edition, or as a Private Cloud Edition. IBM PowerVC includes the following features and benefits: Virtual image capture, import, export, deployment, and management Policy-based virtual machine (VM) placement to improve server usage Snapshots and cloning of VMs or volumes for backup or testing purposes Support of advanced storage capabilities such as IBM SVC vdisk mirroring of IBM Global Mirror Management of real-time optimization and VM resilience to increase productivity VM Mobility with placement policies to reduce the burden on IT staff in a simple-to-install and easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) Automated Simplified Remote Restart for improved availability of VMs ifor when a host is down Role-based security policies to ensure a secure environment for common tasks The ability to enable an administrator to enable Dynamic Resource Optimization on a schedule IBM PowerVC Private Cloud Edition includes all of the IBM PowerVC Standard Edition features and enhancements: A self-service portal that allows the provisioning of new VMs without direct system administrator intervention. There is an option for policy approvals for the requests that are received from the self-service portal. Pre-built deploy templates that are set up by the cloud administrator that simplify the deployment of VMs by the cloud user. Cloud management policies that simplify management of cloud deployments. Metering data that can be used for chargeback. This publication is for experienced users of IBM PowerVM and other virtualization solutions who want to understand and implement the next generation of enterprise virtualization management for Power Systems. Unless stated otherwise, the content of this publication refers to IBM PowerVC Version 2.0.0.




IBM PowerVC Version 1.3.2 Introduction and Configuration


Book Description

IBM® Power Virtualization Center (IBM® PowerVCTM) is an advanced, enterprise virtualization management offering for IBM Power SystemsTM. This IBM Redbooks® publication introduces IBM PowerVC and helps you understand its functions, planning, installation, and setup. IBM PowerVC Version 1.3.2 supports both large and small deployments, either by managing IBM PowerVM® that is controlled by the Hardware Management Console (HMC) by IBM PowerVM NovaLink, or by managing PowerKVM directly. With this capability, IBM PowerVC can manage IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux workloads that run on IBM POWER® hardware. IBM PowerVC is available as a Standard Edition, or as a Cloud PowerVC Manager edition. IBM PowerVC includes the following features and benefits: Virtual image capture, deployment, and management Policy-based virtual machine (VM) placement to improve use Management of real-time optimization and VM resilience to increase productivity VM Mobility with placement policies to reduce the burden on IT staff in a simple-to-install and easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) Role-based security policies to ensure a secure environment for common tasks The ability to enable an administrator to enable Dynamic Resource Optimization on a schedule IBM Cloud PowerVC Manager includes all of the IBM PowerVC Standard Edition features and adds: A Self-service portal that allows the provisioning of new VMs without direct system administrator intervention. There is an option for policy approvals for the requests that are received from the self-service portal. Pre-built deploy templates that are set up by the cloud administrator that simplify the deployment of VMs by the cloud user. Cloud management policies that simplify management of cloud deployments. Metering data that can be used for chargeback. This publication is for experienced users of IBM PowerVM and other virtualization solutions who want to understand and implement the next generation of enterprise virtualization management for Power Systems. Unless stated otherwise, the content of this publication refers to IBM PowerVC Version 1.3.2.




IBM Power Systems SR-IOV: Technical Overview and Introduction


Book Description

This IBM® RedpaperTM publication describes the adapter-based virtualization capabilities that are being deployed in high-end IBM POWER7+TM processor-based servers. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) is a virtualization technology on IBM Power Systems servers. SR-IOV allows multiple logical partitions (LPARs) to share a PCIe adapter with little or no run time involvement of a hypervisor or other virtualization intermediary. SR-IOV does not replace the existing virtualization capabilities that are offered as part of the IBM PowerVM® offerings. Rather, SR-IOV compliments them with additional capabilities. This paper describes many aspects of the SR-IOV technology, including: A comparison of SR-IOV with standard virtualization technology Overall benefits of SR-IOV Architectural overview of SR-IOV Planning requirements SR-IOV deployment models that use standard I/O virtualization Configuring the adapter for dedicated or shared modes Tips for maintaining and troubleshooting your system Scenarios for configuring your system This paper is directed to clients, IBM Business Partners, and system administrators who are involved with planning, deploying, configuring, and maintaining key virtualization technologies.




IBM Power Systems Performance Guide: Implementing and Optimizing


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication addresses performance tuning topics to help leverage the virtualization strengths of the POWER® platform to solve clients' system resource utilization challenges, and maximize system throughput and capacity. We examine the performance monitoring tools, utilities, documentation, and other resources available to help technical teams provide optimized business solutions and support for applications running on IBM POWER systems' virtualized environments. The book offers application performance examples deployed on IBM Power SystemsTM utilizing performance monitoring tools to leverage the comprehensive set of POWER virtualization features: Logical Partitions (LPARs), micro-partitioning, active memory sharing, workload partitions, and more. We provide a well-defined and documented performance tuning model in a POWER system virtualized environment to help you plan a foundation for scaling, capacity, and optimization . This book targets technical professionals (technical consultants, technical support staff, IT Architects, and IT Specialists) responsible for providing solutions and support on IBM POWER systems, including performance tuning.




IBM PowerVM Best Practices


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides best practices for planning, installing, maintaining, and monitoring the IBM PowerVM® Enterprise Edition virtualization features on IBM POWER7® processor technology-based servers. PowerVM is a combination of hardware, PowerVM Hypervisor, and software, which includes other virtualization features, such as the Virtual I/O Server. This publication is intended for experienced IT specialists and IT architects who want to learn about PowerVM best practices, and focuses on the following topics: Planning and general best practices Installation, migration, and configuration Administration and maintenance Storage and networking Performance monitoring Security PowerVM advanced features This publication is written by a group of seven PowerVM experts from different countries around the world. These experts came together to bring their broad IT skills, depth of knowledge, and experiences from thousands of installations and configurations in different IBM client sites.




IBM Power Systems HMC Implementation and Usage Guide


Book Description

The IBM® Hardware Management Console (HMC) provides to systems administrators a tool for planning, deploying, and managing IBM Power SystemsTM servers. This IBM Redbooks® publication is an extension of IBM Power Systems HMC Implementation and Usage Guide, SG24-7491 and also merges updated information from IBM Power Systems Hardware Management Console: Version 8 Release 8.1.0 Enhancements, SG24-8232. It explains the new features of IBM Power Systems Hardware Management Console Version V8.8.1.0 through V8.8.4.0. The major functions that the HMC provides are Power Systems server hardware management and virtualization (partition) management. Further information about virtualization management is in the following publications: IBM PowerVM Virtualization Managing and Monitoring, SG24-7590 IBM PowerVM Virtualization Introduction and Configuration, SG24-7940 IBM PowerVM Enhancements What is New in 2013, SG24-8198 IBM Power Systems SR-IOV: Technical Overview and Introduction, REDP-5065 The following features of HMC V8.8.1.0 through HMC V8.8.4.0 are described in this book: HMC V8.8.1.0 enhancements HMC V8.8.4.0 enhancements System and Partition Templates HMC and IBM PowerVM® Simplification Enhancement Manage Partition Enhancement Performance and Capacity Monitoring HMC V8.8.4.0 upgrade changes




IBM PowerVM Virtualization Managing and Monitoring


Book Description

IBM® PowerVM® virtualization technology is a combination of hardware and software that supports and manages the virtual environments on POWER5-, POWER5+, IBM POWER6®, and IBM POWER7®-based systems. PowerVM is available on IBM Power SystemsTM, and IBM BladeCenter® servers as optional Editions, and is supported by the IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux operating systems. You can use this set of comprehensive systems technologies and services to aggregate and manage resources by using a consolidated, logical view. Deploying PowerVM virtualization and IBM Power Systems offers you the following benefits: Lower energy costs through server consolidation Reduced cost of your existing infrastructure Better management of the growth, complexity, and risk of your infrastructure This IBM Redbooks® publication is an extension of IBM PowerVM Virtualization Introduction and Configuration, SG24-7940. It provides an organized view of best practices for managing and monitoring your PowerVM environment concerning virtualized resources managed by the Virtual I/O Server.




Performance Optimization and Tuning Techniques for IBM Power Systems Processors Including IBM POWER8


Book Description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication focuses on gathering the correct technical information, and laying out simple guidance for optimizing code performance on IBM POWER8® processor-based systems that run the IBM AIX®, IBM i, or Linux operating systems. There is straightforward performance optimization that can be performed with a minimum of effort and without extensive previous experience or in-depth knowledge. The POWER8 processor contains many new and important performance features, such as support for eight hardware threads in each core and support for transactional memory. The POWER8 processor is a strict superset of the IBM POWER7+TM processor, and so all of the performance features of the POWER7+ processor, such as multiple page sizes, also appear in the POWER8 processor. Much of the technical information and guidance for optimizing performance on POWER8 processors that is presented in this guide also applies to POWER7+ and earlier processors, except where the guide explicitly indicates that a feature is new in the POWER8 processor. This guide strives to focus on optimizations that tend to be positive across a broad set of IBM POWER® processor chips and systems. Specific guidance is given for the POWER8 processor; however, the general guidance is applicable to the IBM POWER7+, IBM POWER7®, IBM POWER6®, IBM POWER5, and even to earlier processors. This guide is directed at personnel who are responsible for performing migration and implementation activities on POWER8 processor-based systems. This includes system administrators, system architects, network administrators, information architects, and database administrators (DBAs).