HP nPar (Hard Partitioning)
Encyclopedia
nPar partitions are electrically isolated from other nPar partitions within the same chassis. Cells (a unit of processors/IO/memory) make up nPar partitions. Being electrically isolated means that if a nPar partition were to fail due to hardware failure, then the other nPar partitions would continue to work. This is contrasted with vPar partitions which exist within nPar partitions in which a failure at the hardware level for a nPar would affect all vPars within that nPar.
The principle of nPartitioning
in HP Cell based systems is to combine several cells to increase the computing power of a system by adding more memory/processors/IO.
This in contrast to vPartitioning where you slice bigger hardware (nPars) into smaller systems to which you dedicate hardware.
This is valid for all mid-range (rp74/rx7600, rp84/rx8600) and all Superdome servers.
This can be done on any cell based system, this includes the mid-range family and the Superdome.
If the cells are added as floating cells (no interleaved memory) they can also be warm added and removed from the partition.
However the customer can configure 4 separate nPartitions (with a rp/rx8000 family and an IO-Extender cabinet) which would each have 4 CPU sockets, 16 DIMM
slots and 7 I/O
slots available.
Though in a Superdome system, the customer can have 1-16 nPartitions (because the Superdome can fit 16 cellboards), in a fully configured HP Superdome
, this would give the customer running 1 nPartition access to 64 CPU sockets, 512 DIMM
slots and 192 I/O
slots, or any combination of cells and I/O cages.
However on a rp84/rx8600 family server you are limited to a maximum of two nPartitions without buying an IO-Extender cabinet, this in because each partition requires access to I/O slots (or CORE-IO) and the server itself only has two logical I/O domains (on one physical I/O board)
The HP Superdome
on the other hand is more flexible, each cell can be connected to an individual I/O
cage via a RIO cable, which means in a 1 cabinet Superdome with two I/O cages you are limited to two nPartitions maximum, or if you have a 2 cabinet Superdome and two IO-Extender cabinets you can have up to 16 nPartitions, or any combination therein.
On the Superdome you have four-cell slices called "Quadrants" which means that within this slice you will have better / faster intercommunication between the cells, and the guidelines on nPartitioning should be followed here, this does not apply to mid-range servers since they have a maximum of four cells.
You are not allowed to mix PA-RISC and itanium cells in one nPar, nor are you allowed to mix CPU steppings
The principle of nPartitioning
in HP Cell based systems is to combine several cells to increase the computing power of a system by adding more memory/processors/IO.
This in contrast to vPartitioning where you slice bigger hardware (nPars) into smaller systems to which you dedicate hardware.
This is valid for all mid-range (rp74/rx7600, rp84/rx8600) and all Superdome servers.
Advantages
When buying a mid-range server from HP with only one cell, the customer might realize over time that his database system requires more computing power, thus by buying an addon cell he can add this cell to his existing nPar (with only one cell) to create a new nPar consisting of two cells, which in a maximum configuration would mean double the number of CPUs and memory.This can be done on any cell based system, this includes the mid-range family and the Superdome.
If the cells are added as floating cells (no interleaved memory) they can also be warm added and removed from the partition.
Configurations
In a mid-range server you can choose to have 1-4 nPartitions (dependant on model), with all cells populated and 1 nPartition configured a rp84\8600 series would have 16CPU sockets, 64 DIMM slots and 15 I/O slots available.However the customer can configure 4 separate nPartitions (with a rp/rx8000 family and an IO-Extender cabinet) which would each have 4 CPU sockets, 16 DIMM
DIMM
A DIMM or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers, workstations and servers...
slots and 7 I/O
I/O
I/O may refer to:* Input/output, a system of communication for information processing systems* Input-output model, an economic model of flow prediction between sectors...
slots available.
Though in a Superdome system, the customer can have 1-16 nPartitions (because the Superdome can fit 16 cellboards), in a fully configured HP Superdome
HP Superdome
The HP Superdome is a high-end server computer developed and produced by Hewlett-Packard. The latest version of product, "" was introduced in 2010. Superdome 2 scales from 2 to 32 sockets and 4 TB of memory. When introduced in 2000, the Superdome used PA-RISC processors...
, this would give the customer running 1 nPartition access to 64 CPU sockets, 512 DIMM
DIMM
A DIMM or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers, workstations and servers...
slots and 192 I/O
I/O
I/O may refer to:* Input/output, a system of communication for information processing systems* Input-output model, an economic model of flow prediction between sectors...
slots, or any combination of cells and I/O cages.
Limitations
In a rp74/rx7600 family there is no physical limit to how to configure the nPartitions, however CPU/Memory usage may be limited by software like iCAP (HP-UX) or giCAP.However on a rp84/rx8600 family server you are limited to a maximum of two nPartitions without buying an IO-Extender cabinet, this in because each partition requires access to I/O slots (or CORE-IO) and the server itself only has two logical I/O domains (on one physical I/O board)
The HP Superdome
HP Superdome
The HP Superdome is a high-end server computer developed and produced by Hewlett-Packard. The latest version of product, "" was introduced in 2010. Superdome 2 scales from 2 to 32 sockets and 4 TB of memory. When introduced in 2000, the Superdome used PA-RISC processors...
on the other hand is more flexible, each cell can be connected to an individual I/O
I/O
I/O may refer to:* Input/output, a system of communication for information processing systems* Input-output model, an economic model of flow prediction between sectors...
cage via a RIO cable, which means in a 1 cabinet Superdome with two I/O cages you are limited to two nPartitions maximum, or if you have a 2 cabinet Superdome and two IO-Extender cabinets you can have up to 16 nPartitions, or any combination therein.
On the Superdome you have four-cell slices called "Quadrants" which means that within this slice you will have better / faster intercommunication between the cells, and the guidelines on nPartitioning should be followed here, this does not apply to mid-range servers since they have a maximum of four cells.
You are not allowed to mix PA-RISC and itanium cells in one nPar, nor are you allowed to mix CPU steppings
Partitioning software
There are several ways to edit the nPartition configuration :- From HP-UXHP-UXHP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
via the par-tools (parmodify, parcreate, etc.) - From the SMS or a workstation installed with ParCLI tools (same tools that are in HP-UXHP-UXHP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
, just for remote execution from Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
). - Using the HP System Management Homepage for HP-UXHP-UXHP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
, which gives you a graphical user interfaceUser interfaceThe user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
for the partitioning. - Restore a minimal factory configuration from the MP via the "Genesis" command.