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VIOS has been used successfully for several years to virtualize storage, optical and networking
resources to AIX and Linux client partitions. Now IBM i joins this virtualization environment,
gaining the ability to use open storage. From a VIOS perspective, IBM i is another client partition;
the host-side configuration steps are the same as for AIX and Linux clients. While code changes
were made in VIOS to accommodate IBM i client partitions, there is no special version of VIOS in
use for IBM i. If you have existing skills in attaching open storage to VIOS and virtualizing I/O
resources to client partitions, they will continue to prove useful when creating a configuration for
an IBM i client partition.
The hardware and virtualization components for attaching open storage to IBM i illustrated in the
diagram above also apply to using DS5000, XIV and other subsystems supported for this solution,
as listed in section 7.
Two management interfaces are available for virtualizing I/O resources through VIOS to IBM i:
the Hardware Management Console (HMC) and the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM).
Both provide logical partitioning and virtualization management functions, however, their support
on Power servers and Power blades is different:
•
The HMC is supported with all Power servers, from Power 520 Express to Power 595,
but not supported with Power blades, such as IBM BladeCenter JS12 or JS23
•
IVM is supported with all Power blades, from JS12 to JS43, and only with Power 520 and
Power 550
There is another significant difference between HMC and IVM when managing I/O virtualization
for IBM i: when the Power server is IVM-managed, IBM i partitions must be purely virtual. They
Summary of Contents for I VIRTUALIZATION - READ ME FIRST 7-9-2010
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