PowerVM
Encyclopedia
PowerVM, formerly known as Advanced Power Virtualization (APV), is a chargeable feature of IBM POWER5
, POWER6
and POWER7
servers and is required for support of micro-partitions
and other advanced features. Support is provided for IBM i, AIX and Linux
.
PowerVM comes in three editions.
This is primarily intended for "sandbox" environments
This is the most common edition in use on production systems.
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...
, 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...
and POWER7
POWER7
POWER7 is a Power Architecture microprocessor released in 2010 that succeeded the POWER6. POWER7 was developed by IBM at several sites including IBM's Rochester, MN; Austin, TX; Essex Junction, Vermont; T. J. Watson Research Center, NY; Bromont, QC and Böblingen, Germany laboratories...
servers and is required for support of micro-partitions
Micro-Partitioning
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...
and other advanced features. Support is provided for IBM i, AIX and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
.
Description
PowerVM has the following components:- A "VET" code, which activates firmware required to support resource sharing and other features.
- Installation media for the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), which is a service partition providing sharing services for disk and network adapters.
- Installation media for Lx86Lx86PowerVM Lx86 is a binary translation layer for IBM's System p servers. It enables 32-bit x86 Linux binaries to run unmodified on the Power Architecture based hardware...
, x86 binary translationBinary translationIn computing, binary translation is the emulation of one instruction set by another through translation of code. Sequences of instructions are translated from the source to the target instruction set...
software, which allows Linux applications compiled for the Intel x86 platform to run in POWER-emulation mode. A supported Linux distribution is a co-requisite for use of this feature.
PowerVM comes in three editions.
PowerVM Express
- Only supported on "Express" servers (e.g. Power 710/730, 720/740, 750 and Power Blades).
- Limited to three partitions, one of which must be a VIOS partition.
- No support for Multiple Shared Processor Pools.
This is primarily intended for "sandbox" environments
PowerVM Standard
- Supported on all POWER5POWER5The 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...
, POWER6POWER6The 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...
and POWER7POWER7POWER7 is a Power Architecture microprocessor released in 2010 that succeeded the POWER6. POWER7 was developed by IBM at several sites including IBM's Rochester, MN; Austin, TX; Essex Junction, Vermont; T. J. Watson Research Center, NY; Bromont, QC and Böblingen, Germany laboratories...
systems. - Unrestricted use of partitioning - 10x LPARs per core (up to a maximum of 1,000 per system).
- Multiple Shared Processor Pools (on POWER6 and POWER7 systems only).
This is the most common edition in use on production systems.
PowerVM Enterprise
- Supported on POWER6 and POWER7 systems only.
- As PowerVM Standard with the addition of Live Partition Mobility (which allows running virtual machines to migrate to another system) and Active Memory Sharing (which intelligently reallocates physical memory between multiple running virtual machines).
Documentation
- Overview of Advanced POWER Virtualization
- IBM Redbooks | PowerVM Virtualization on IBM System p: Introduction and Configuration
- IBM Redbooks | PowerVM Virtualization on IBM System p: Managing and Monitoring
- Hands-on type article on setting up logical partitions using the Virtual I/O Server
- Virtual I/O Server Commands Reference
See also
- Comparison of platform virtual machines
- IBM AIX
- Linux on PowerLinux on PowerLinux on Power is the combination of any Linux-based operating system running on Power Architecture technology, a microprocessor architecture.-Introduction:...
- The POWER5POWER5The 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 - The POWER6POWER6The 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...
processor - The POWER7POWER7POWER7 is a Power Architecture microprocessor released in 2010 that succeeded the POWER6. POWER7 was developed by IBM at several sites including IBM's Rochester, MN; Austin, TX; Essex Junction, Vermont; T. J. Watson Research Center, NY; Bromont, QC and Böblingen, Germany laboratories...
processor