Micro-Partitioning
Encyclopedia
Micro-Partitioning is a form of logical partitioning which was introduced by IBM
on systems using the POWER5
processor, and is also referred to as a shared processor partition, and only differs from a dedicated processor partition in the way CPU utilization is configured and managed by the POWER Hypervisor (PHYP) firmware. All IBM POWER5
and POWER6
systems are partitioned and will run "on top" of the PHYP.
The POWER Hypervisor controls time slicing, management of all hardware interrupts, dynamic movement of resources across multiple operating systems, and dispatching of logical partition workloads.
When a shared processor partition is activated by the PHYP, the LPAR
is guaranteed a certain processing capacity, if needed, and a number of virtual processors, based on configuration and current availability. The processing capacity is drawn from a pool of shared processor resources.
The minimum processing capacity per processor is 1/10 of a physical processor core, with a further granularity of 1/100, and the PHYP uses a 10 ms time slicing dispatch window for scheduling all shared processor partitions' virtual processor queues to the PHYP physical processor core queues. A shared processor partition can be either capped or uncapped. A capped partition can never exceed the currently configured processing capacity, whereas an uncapped partition can exceed the currently configured processing capacity up to 100% of the number of the currently configured virtual processors.
If the shared processor partition is DLPAR
capable, the number of virtual processors and processing capacity can be altered dynamically for the partition.
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
on systems using the POWER5
POWER5
The POWER5 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by IBM. It is an improved version of the highly successful POWER4. The principal improvements are support for simultaneous multithreading and an on-die memory controller...
processor, and is also referred to as a shared processor partition, and only differs from a dedicated processor partition in the way CPU utilization is configured and managed by the POWER Hypervisor (PHYP) firmware. All IBM POWER5
POWER5
The POWER5 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by IBM. It is an improved version of the highly successful POWER4. The principal improvements are support for simultaneous multithreading and an on-die memory controller...
and POWER6
POWER6
The POWER6 is a microprocessor developed by IBM that implemented the Power ISA v.2.03. When it became available in systems in 2007, it succeeded the POWER5+ as IBM's flagship Power microprocessor...
systems are partitioned and will run "on top" of the PHYP.
The POWER Hypervisor controls time slicing, management of all hardware interrupts, dynamic movement of resources across multiple operating systems, and dispatching of logical partition workloads.
When a shared processor partition is activated by the PHYP, the LPAR
LPAR
A logical partition, commonly called an LPAR, is a subset of computer's hardware resources, virtualized as a separate computer. In effect, a physical machine can be partitioned into multiple logical partitions, each hosting a separate operating system....
is guaranteed a certain processing capacity, if needed, and a number of virtual processors, based on configuration and current availability. The processing capacity is drawn from a pool of shared processor resources.
The minimum processing capacity per processor is 1/10 of a physical processor core, with a further granularity of 1/100, and the PHYP uses a 10 ms time slicing dispatch window for scheduling all shared processor partitions' virtual processor queues to the PHYP physical processor core queues. A shared processor partition can be either capped or uncapped. A capped partition can never exceed the currently configured processing capacity, whereas an uncapped partition can exceed the currently configured processing capacity up to 100% of the number of the currently configured virtual processors.
If the shared processor partition is DLPAR
Dynamic Logical Partitioning
Dynamic Logical Partitioning , is the capability of a logical partition to be reconfigured dynamically, without having to shut down the operating system that runs in the LPAR...
capable, the number of virtual processors and processing capacity can be altered dynamically for the partition.
See also
- VM (operating system)VM (operating system)VM refers to a family of IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframes System/370, System/390, zSeries, System z and compatible systems, including the Hercules emulator for personal computers. The first version, released in 1972, was VM/370, or officially Virtual Machine Facility/370...
- PowerVMPowerVMPowerVM, formerly known as Advanced Power Virtualization , is a chargeable feature of IBM POWER5, POWER6 and POWER7 servers and is required for support of micro-partitions and other advanced features...
- LPARLPARA logical partition, commonly called an LPAR, is a subset of computer's hardware resources, virtualized as a separate computer. In effect, a physical machine can be partitioned into multiple logical partitions, each hosting a separate operating system....
- IBM System p Virtualization — The most complete virtualization offering for UNIX and Linux
- System i and System p: Introduction to Virtualization
- System i and System p: Advanced POWER Virtualization Operations Guide
- System i and System p: Logical Partitioning Guide
- Advanced POWER Virtualization on IBM System p5: Introduction and Configuration
- IBM System p Advanced POWER Virtualization Best Practices
- Partitioning Implementations for IBM eServer p5 Servers, SG24-7039
- POWER5 Hypervisor
- Virtualization Concepts
- Virtualization in System p
- POWER5 Hypervisor