Microprocessor Technology - IBM p5 590 System Handbook

p5-590 and the p5-595 are introduced in Chapter 3, "POWER5 virtualization
capabilities" on page 57.
The ability to communicate between partitions using virtual Ethernet is part of
Advanced POWER Virtualization and it is extended with the Virtual I/O Server to
include shared Ethernet adapters. Also part of the Virtual I/O Server is virtual
SCSI for sharing SCSI adapters and the attached disk drives.
The Virtual I/O Server requires APAR IY62262 and is supported by AIX 5L
Version 5.3 with APAR IY60349, as well as by SLES 9 and RHEL AS 3. Also
included in Advanced POWER Virtualization is PLM, a powerful policy based tool
for automatically managing resources among LPARs running AIX 5L Version 5.3
or AIX 5L Version 5.2 with the 5200-04 Recommended Maintenance package.
IBM Sserver p5 590 and 595 servers also offer optional Capacity on Demand
(CoD) capability for processors and memory. CoD functionality is outlined in
Chapter 4, "Capacity on Demand" on page 85.
IBM Sserver p5 590 and 595 servers provide significant extensions to the
mainframe-inspired reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) capabilities
found in IBM Sserver p5 and pSeries systems. They come equipped with
multiple resources to identify and help resolve system problems rapidly. During
ongoing operation, error checking and correction (ECC) checks data for errors
and can correct them in real time. First Failure Data Capture (FFDC) capabilities
log both the source and root cause of problems to help prevent the recurrence of
intermittent failures that diagnostics cannot reproduce. Meanwhile, Dynamic
Processor Deallocation and dynamic deallocation of PCI bus slots help to
reallocate resources when an impending failure is detected so applications can
continue to run unimpeded. RAS function is discussed in Chapter 6, "Reliability,
availability, and serviceability" on page 139.
Power options for these systems are described in 5.2.10, "Frame, power, and
battery backup configuration rules" on page 130.
A description of RAS features, such redundant power and cooling, can be found
in 6.4, "Redundancy in components" on page 146.
The following sections detail some of the technologies behind the p5-590 and
p5-595.

1.3.1 Microprocessor technology

The IBM POWER4™ microprocessor, which was introduced in 2001, was a
result of advanced research technologies developed by IBM to create a
high-performance, high-scalability chip design to power future IBM Sserver
systems. The POWER4 design integrates two processor cores on a single chip, a
IBM Eserver p5 590 and 595 System Handbook
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