HP rp7440 nPartition Administrator's Guide, Second Edition - Page 15

1 Getting Started with nPartitions This chapter introduces cell-based HP server features, server models, supported operating systems, and administration tools, and outlines the basic information needed for managing nPartitions. Introduction to nPartitions Cell-based HP servers enable you to configure a single server complex as one large system or as multiple smaller systems by configuring nPartitions. Each nPartition defines a subset of server hardware resources to be used as an independent system environment. An nPartition includes one or more cells assigned to it (with processors and memory) and all I/O chassis connected to those cells. All processors, memory, and I/O in an nPartition are used exclusively by software running in the nPartition. Thus, each nPartition has its own system boot interface, and each nPartition boots and reboots independently. Each nPartition provides both hardware and software isolation, so that hardware or software faults in one nPartition do not affect other nPartitions within the same server complex. You can reconfigure nPartition definitions for a server without physically modifying the server hardware configuration by using the HP software-based nPartition management tools. For procedures for creating and reconfiguring nPartitions, see Chapter 6 (page 165). Operating Systems Supported on nPartitions Table 1-1 lists the operating systems that can run on nPartitions. For an overview of the server models that support nPartitions, see "HP Server Support for nPartitions" (page 16). For details on operating system boot and reset procedures, see Chapter 5 (page 87). Table 1-1 nPartition Operating System Support Operating System HP-UX 11i v1 (B.11.11) Supported Cell-Based Servers HP-UX 11i v1 (B.11.11) is supported on HP 9000 servers, including the cell-based HP 9000 servers. The HP-UX 11i v1 (B.11.11) December 2003 release and later supports rp7420, rp8420, and HP 9000 Superdome (SD16A, SD32A, SD64A models), based on the HP sx1000 chipset. The HP-UX 11i v1 (B.11.11) December 2006 release and later supports rp7440, rp8440, and HP 9000 Superdome (SD16B, SD32B, SD64B models), based on the HP sx2000 chipset. HP-UX 11i v1 does not support cell local memory. Also see "nPartition Hardware Requirements for Operating Systems" (page 61). HP-UX 11i v2 (B.11.23) HP-UX 11i v2 (B.11.23) is supported on HP Integrity servers, including the cell-based HP Integrity servers. The HP-UX 11i v2 (B.11.23) September 2004 release and later also supports cell-based HP 9000 servers based on the HP sx1000 chipset. HP-UX 11i v2 supports cell local memory. Also see "nPartition Hardware Requirements for Operating Systems" (page 61). Introduction to nPartitions 15