Power Processor Modes - IBM Power 720 Overview

3.2 POWER processor modes

Although, strictly speaking, not a virtualization feature, the POWER modes are described
here because they affect various virtualization features.
On Power System servers, partitions can be configured to run in several modes, including the
following modes:
POWER6 compatibility mode
This execution mode is compatible with Version 2.05 of the Power Instruction Set
Architecture (ISA). For more information, see the documentation:
http://power.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/PowerISA_V2.05.pdf
POWER6+ compatibility mode
This mode is similar to POWER6, with eight additional Storage Protection Keys.
POWER7 mode
This mode is the native mode for POWER7+ and POWER7 processors, implementing the
v2.06 of the Power Instruction Set Architecture. For more information, see the
documentation:
http://power.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/PowerISA_V2.06B_V2_PUBLIC.pdf
Chapter 3. Virtualization
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