IBM Power 750 Technical Overview And Introduction

IBM Power 750 Technical Overview And Introduction

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IBM Power 750 and 760
Technical Overview and
Introduction
Features the 8408-E8D and 9109-RMD based
on the latest POWER7+ processor technology
Discusses the dual chip module
architecture
Describes the enhanced I/O
subsystem
ibm.com/redbooks

Front cover

Redpaper
James Cruickshank
Sorin Hanganu
Volker Haug
Stephen Lutz
John T Schmidt
Marco Vallone

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Summary of Contents for IBM Power 750

  • Page 1: Front Cover

    Front cover IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction Features the 8408-E8D and 9109-RMD based on the latest POWER7+ processor technology Discusses the dual chip module architecture Describes the enhanced I/O subsystem James Cruickshank Sorin Hanganu Volker Haug...
  • Page 3 International Technical Support Organization IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction May 2013 REDP-4985-00...
  • Page 4 First Edition (May 2013) This edition applies to the IBM Power 750 (8408-E8D) and Power 760 (9109-RMD) Power Systems servers. © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2013. All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule...
  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    1.5.1 Power 750 Express system features........
  • Page 6 2.10.5 IBM 7031 TotalStorage EXP24 ........
  • Page 7 2.13.1 IBM EnergyScale technology ........
  • Page 8 IBM Redbooks ........
  • Page 9: Notices

    IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead.
  • Page 10: Trademarks

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. LTO, Ultrium, the LTO Logo and the Ultrium logo are trademarks of HP, IBM Corp. and Quantum in the U.S. and other countries.
  • Page 11: Preface

    This IBM® Redpaper™ publication is a comprehensive guide covering the IBM Power 750 (8408-E8D) and Power 760 (9109-RMD) servers that support IBM AIX®, IBM i, and Linux operating systems. The goal of this paper is to introduce the major innovative Power 750 and Power 760 offerings and their prominent functions: The IBM POWER7+™...
  • Page 12: Authors

    United States as a pre-sales Field Technical Sales Specialist for Power Systems in Boston, MA. Marco Vallone is a certified IT Specialist at IBM Italy. He joined IBM in 1989 starting in the Power Systems production plant (Santa Palomba) as a product engineer and afterwords he worked for the ITS AIX support and delivery service center.
  • Page 13: Now You Can Become A Published Author, Too

    Your comments are important to us! We want our papers to be as helpful as possible. Send us your comments about this paper or other IBM Redbooks® publications in one of the following ways: Use the online Contact us review Redbooks form found at: ibm.com/redbooks...
  • Page 14: Stay Connected To Ibm Redbooks

    Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ibmredbooks Look for us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2130806 Explore new Redbooks publications, residencies, and workshops with the IBM Redbooks weekly newsletter: https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/subscribe?OpenForm Stay current on recent Redbooks publications with RSS Feeds: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/rss.html IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 15: Chapter 1. General Description

    The Power 750 and Power 760 servers are 5U 19-inch rack-based systems. The Power 750 offers configurations of up to 32 POWER7+ cores and 1 TB of memory. The Power 760 offers configurations of up to 48 POWER7+ cores and 2 TB of memory.
  • Page 16: Systems Overview

    16 DDR3 DIMMs, 10 MB of L3 cache per core, and 256 KB of L2 cache per core. A Power 750 Express server can be populated with one, two, three, or four DCMs providing 8, 16, 24, or 32 cores. All the cores are active.
  • Page 17: Ibm Power 760 Server

    64 TB of SAS disk storage is supported. The Power 750 Express system unit includes six small form factor (SFF) SAS bays. This offers up to 5.4 TB HDD capacity or up to 3.6 TB SSD capacity. All SAS disks and SSDs are 2.5-inch SFF and hot swappable.
  • Page 18 Two SPCN ports and two hardware management console (HMC) ports (HMC is optional) Redundant and hot-swap AC power supplies Redundant and hot-swap cooling 4-pack and 6-pack SSD features that can be ordered with a new server IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 19: Operating Environment

    1.2 Operating environment Table 1-1 lists the operating environment specifications for the servers. Table 1-1 Operating environment for Power 750 Express and Power 760 Description Operating Non-operating Temperature 5 - 35 degrees C 5 - 45 degrees C (41 - 95 degrees F)
  • Page 20: Ibm Systems Energy Estimator

    1.3 IBM Systems Energy Estimator The IBM Systems Energy Estimator is a web-based tool for estimating power requirements for IBM Power Systems. You can use this tool to estimate typical power requirements (watts) for a specific system configuration under normal operating conditions: http://www-912.ibm.com/see/EnergyEstimator/...
  • Page 21: System Features

    1.5 System features This section describes the features available on the Power 750 and Power 760 systems. 1.5.1 Power 750 Express system features The following features are available on the Power 750 Express: A 5U 19-inch rack-mount system enclosure One to four 8-core DCMs: –...
  • Page 22: Power 760 System Features

    (dynamic LPAR) – PowerVM Live Partition Migration (requires PowerVM Enterprise Edition) 12X I/O drawer with PCIe slots for 16-core or larger Power 750 systems: – Up to four PCIe I/O drawers (FC 5802 or FC 5877) Disk or SSD-only I/O drawers: –...
  • Page 23 One hot-plug, slim-line SATA media bay per system Redundant hot-swap 1,925 Watts AC power supplies Choice of Integrated Multifunction Card options (maximum one per system): – Dual 10 Gb Copper and Dual 1 Gb Ethernet (FC 1768) – Dual 10 Gb Optical and Dual 1 Gb Ethernet (FC 1769) –...
  • Page 24: Minimum Features

    1.5.3 Minimum features Each system has a minimum feature set to be valid. Table 1-3 shows the minimum system configuration for a Power 750. Table 1-3 Minimum features for Power 750 Express system Power 750 minimum Notes features One system enclosure (5U) The base machine includes the bezels for the rack.
  • Page 25 The Ethernet ports and serial port of the Integrated Multifunction Card is not natively supported by IBM i and thus cannot be used for IBM i LAN console support. The FC 5899 4-port Ethernet adapter is usually used with this function or an optional HMC can be used for IBM i console functions.
  • Page 26 The Ethernet ports and serial port of the Integrated Multifunction Card is not natively supported by IBM i and thus cannot be used for IBM i LAN console support. The FC 5899 4-port Ethernet adapter is usually used with this function or an optional HMC can be used for IBM i console functions.
  • Page 27: Power Supply Features

    The Power 750 and the Power 760 require 200-240 V AC for all configurations. 1.5.5 Processor card features The Power 750 and Power 760 systems contain a processor planar board (FC EPT1) that has the following sockets: Four processor sockets...
  • Page 28 Figure 1-3 shows the top view of the Power 750 and Power 760 system with four DCMs installed. Regulator #4 Memory Riser #1 PCIe slot #1 DCM4 Memory Riser #2 PCIe slot #2 Memory Riser #3 PCIe slot #3 DCM3...
  • Page 29 Summary of processor features Table 1-5 summarizes the processor feature codes for the Power 750 Express server. Cells marked N/A indicate bulk ordering codes and Custom Card Identification Number (CCIN) are not applicable. A blank CCIN cell indicates CCIN not available.
  • Page 30: Memory Features

    Channel C DDR3 RDIMM Slot 3 DDR3 RDIMM Slot 4 MC: Memory Controller BC: Memory Buffer Figure 1-4 Outline of POWER7+ processor connectivity to DDR3 DIMMs in Power 750 and Power 760 IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 31 Table 1-7 gives the maximum and minimum memory configurations for Power 750 and Power 760 with different number of DCMs installed. Table 1-7 Maximum and minimum memory configurations of the Power 750 and Power 760 DCMs in DIMM slots Power 750 memory...
  • Page 32: Disk And Media Features

    1.6 Disk and media features The Power 750 and the Power 760 system unit includes six SFF SAS bays. This offers up to 5.4 TB HDD capacity or up to 3.6 TB SSD capacity. All SAS disks and SSD drives are 2.5-inch SFF and hot swappable.
  • Page 33 AIX, Linux 1752 900 GB 10K RPM SAS SFF-2 Disk Drive AIX, Linux 1888 198C 139 GB 15K RPM SFF SAS Disk Drive IBM i 1947 19B0 139 GB 15K RPM SAS SFF-2 Disk Drive IBM i 1787 58B3 177 GB SFF SSD with eMLC...
  • Page 34 For IBM i, its network installation capability can be used to avoid multiple DVDs on a server. The Power 750 and the Power 760 can support one DVD drive in the system unit. Other DVD drives can be attached externally to the system unit.
  • Page 35: I/O Drawers

    EXP12S (FC 5886) drawer holds a 3.5-inch SAS disk or SSD. A suggestion is that any attached I/O drawers be located in the same rack as the Power 750 Express or the Power 760 server for ease of service, but they can be installed in separate racks if the application or other rack content requires it.
  • Page 36: Exp30 Ultra Ssd I/O Drawer

    Figure 1-5 The front view of the FC 5802 I/O drawer 1.7.2 EXP30 Ultra SSD I/O drawer The enhanced EXP30 Ultra SSD I/O Drawer (FC EDR1) provides the IBM Power 750 and Power 760 up to 30 solid-state drives (SSD) in only 1U of rack space. The drawer provides up to 480,000 IOPS and up to 11.6 TB of capacity for AIX or Linux clients.
  • Page 37: Exp12S Sas Drawer

    Depending on the system configuration, the maximum number of I/O drawers that is supported differs. The Power 750 and Power 760 servers deliver great I/O expandability. In addition to the six PCIe Gen2 slots in the system unit, up to four 12X-attached I/O drawers (FC 5802 or FC 5877), add up to forty PCIe Gen1 slots.
  • Page 38: Comparison Between Models

    Power 760 1.8 Comparison between models The Power 750 contains either one, two, three, or four 8-core 3.5 GHz or 8-core 4.0 GHz POWER7+ DCMs within the system unit. The Power 760 contains either one, two, three or four 0/12-core 3.1 GHz or 0/12-core 3.4 GHz POWER7+ DCMs within the system unit.
  • Page 39 Power 750 (8408-E8D) Power 760 (9109-RMD) Component Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Processor card feature codes 1 x FC EPT7 4 x FC EPT7 1 x FC EPT5 4 x FC EPT5 1 x FC EPT8 4 x FC EPT8 1 x FC EPT6...
  • Page 40: Build To Order

    For an MES order, the 8 GB per core rule is also applied to the entire Power 750 server configuration, not just the new MES order. If the GB per core Power 750 configuration is lower than 8 GB per core, then the no-charge activations cannot be ordered and all activations must be the full price.
  • Page 41: Server And Virtualization Management

    Quarter-Inch Cartridge (QIC) tape drives are not supported. Many newer, faster, larger-capacity replacement options are available. IBM i IOPs are not supported, which impacts any older PCI adapters that require an IOP. This can impact older I/O devices such as some tape libraries or optical drive libraries or any HVD SCSI device.
  • Page 42: System Racks

    7014-T00, 7014-T42, 7014-B42, feature 0551, and feature 0553 racks. These are built to the 19-inch EIA standard. When ordering a new Power 750 or Power 760 system, you can order the appropriate 7014 rack model with the system hardware on the same initial order.
  • Page 43: Ibm 7014 Model T00 Rack

    A Power 750 Express or Power 760 door (FC ERG7) is available on the 7014-T42 rack. If a system is to be installed in a rack or cabinet that is not from IBM, it must meet requirements. Responsibility: The client is responsible for ensuring that the installation of the drawer in...
  • Page 44: Ibm 7014 Model T42 Rack

    T42 rack (which differ from the model T00): The T42 rack has 42U (EIA units) of usable space (6U of additional space). The model T42 supports AC power only. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 45 Weights are as follows: – T42 base empty rack: 261 kg (575 lb) – T42 full rack: 930 kg (2045 lb) For the T42 rack, various door options are available as shown in Figure 1-9. Trim kit Acoustic doors 780 logo Optional (no front door) Plain front door...
  • Page 46: Feature Code 0551 Rack

    The water lines in the door attach to the customer-supplied secondary water loop using industry standard quick couplings. For details about planning for the installation of the IBM Rear Door Heat Exchanger, see the following website: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/iphad_p5/iphade xchangeroverview.html...
  • Page 47 Four PDUs can be mounted vertically in the back of the T00 and T42 racks. Figure 1-10 shows placement of the four vertically mounted PDUs. In the rear of the rack, two additional PDUs can be installed horizontally in the T00 rack and three in the T42 rack. The four vertical mounting locations will be filled first in the T00 and T42 racks.
  • Page 48: Useful Rack Additions

    The IBM System Storage® 7214 Tape and DVD Enclosure (Model 1U2) is designed to mount in one EIA unit of a standard IBM Power Systems 19-inch rack and can be configured with one or two tape drives, or either one or two Slim DVD-RAM or DVD-ROM drives in the bay on the right side.
  • Page 49 The IBM System Storage 7216 Multi-Media Enclosure (Model 1U2) is designed to attach to the Power 750 and the Power 760 through a USB port on the server or through a PCIe SAS adapter. The 7216 has two bays to accommodate external tape, removable disk drive, or DVD-RAM drive options.
  • Page 50 A PCIe Dual-X4 SAS adapter (FC 5901) or a PCIe LP Dual-x4-port SAS Adapter 3 Gb (FC 5278) must be installed in the Power 750 and Power 760 server to attach to a 7216 Model 1U2 Multi-Media Storage Enclosure. Attaching a 7216 to a Power 750 and Power 760 through the integrated SAS adapter is not supported.
  • Page 51 Figure 1-11 7216-1U2 Multi-Media Enclosure In general, the 7216-1U2 is supported by the AIX, IBM i, and Linux operating systems. IBM i, from Version 7.1, now fully supports the internal 5.25 inch RDX SATA removable HDD docking station, including boot support (no VIOS support). This support provides a fast, robust, high-performance alternative to tape backup and restore devices.
  • Page 52 Table 1-18 shows the supported options for IBM Power servers in the 7226-1U3: Table 1-18 Supported feature codes for 7226-1U3 Feature code Description Status 5619 DAT160 SAS Tape Drive Available EU16 DAT160 USB Tape Drive Available 1420 DVD-RAM SAS Optical Drive...
  • Page 53 Flat panel display options The IBM 7316 Model TF3 is a rack-mountable flat panel console kit consisting of a 17-inch 337.9 mm x 270.3 mm flat panel color monitor, rack keyboard tray, IBM Travel Keyboard, support for IBM keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) switches, and language support. The IBM 7316-TF3 Flat Panel Console Kit offers the following features: Slim, sleek, lightweight monitor design that occupies only 1U (1.75 inches) in a 19-inch...
  • Page 54: Oem Rack

    The system can be installed in a suitable OEM rack, if the rack conforms to the EIA-310-D standard for 19-inch racks. This standard is published by the Electrical Industries Alliance. For detailed information see the IBM Power Systems Hardware Information Center: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/scope/hw/index.jsp The key points mentioned are as follows: The front rack opening must be 451 mm wide ±...
  • Page 55 The vertical distance between the mounting holes must consist of sets of three holes spaced (from bottom to top) 15.9 mm (0.625 in.), 15.9 mm (0.625 in.), and 12.67 mm (0.5 in.) on center, making each three-hole set of vertical hole spacing 44.45 mm (1.75 in.) apart on center.
  • Page 56 IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 57: Chapter 2. Architecture And Technical Overview

    Architecture and technical Chapter 2. overview The IBM Power 750 offers a 4-socket system enclosure populated with dual chip modules (DCMs). Each DCM has two 4-core POWER7+ processors. The IBM Power 760 offers a 4-socket system enclosure, also populated with DCMs. Each DCM has two 6-core POWER7+ processors.
  • Page 58 Figure 2-1 shows the logical system diagram of the Power 750 and Power 760. 68.2 GB/s Buffer Buffer Memory Memory Controller 48.3 GB/s Controller Buffer GX++ GX++ Buffer 48.3 GB/s 39.4 GB/s Memory Memory Buffer Buffer 39.4 GB/s Controller Controller...
  • Page 59: The Ibm Power7+ Processor

    (RAS). Note: This section provides a general description of the POWER7+ processor chip that applies to Power Systems servers in general. The Power 750 and Power 760 servers use two 4- or 6-core chips packaged in a DCM.
  • Page 60: Power7+ Processor Overview

    Figure 2-2 POWER7+ processor die with key areas indicated 2.1.1 POWER7+ processor overview The POWER7+ processor chip is fabricated with IBM 32 nm Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology using copper interconnects, and implements an on-chip L3 cache using eDRAM. The POWER7+ processor chip is 567 mm and has 2.1 billion components (transistors).
  • Page 61: Power7+ Processor Core

    SMT4 mode enables the POWER7+ processor to maximize the throughput of the processor core by offering an increase in processor-core efficiency. SMT4 mode is the latest step in an evolution of multithreading technologies introduced by IBM. Chapter 2. Architecture and technical overview...
  • Page 62: Memory Access

    Each POWER7+ processor chip has one memory controller that uses two memory channels. Each memory channel operates at 1066 MHz connects to four DIMMs. In the Power 750 server, each channel can address up to 64 GB. Thus, the Power 750 is capable of addressing up to 1 TB of total memory.
  • Page 63: On-Chip L3 Cache Innovation And Intelligent Cache

    Figure 2-4 Overview of POWER7+ memory access structure 2.1.5 On-chip L3 cache innovation and Intelligent Cache A breakthrough in material engineering and microprocessor fabrication enabled IBM to implement the L3 cache in eDRAM and place it on the POWER7+ processor die. L3 cache is critical to a balanced design, as is the ability to provide good signaling between the L3 cache and other elements of the hierarchy, such as the L2 cache or SMP interconnect.
  • Page 64 The performance of eDRAM when implemented on-chip is similar to conventional SRAM but requires far less physical space. IBM on-chip eDRAM uses only a third of the components used in conventional SRAM, which has a minimum of six transistors to implement a 1-bit memory cell.
  • Page 65: Power7+ Processor And Intelligent Energy

    Power 750 server consist of two 4-core chips. DCMs installed in the Power 760 server consist of two 6-core chips. The Power 750 and Power 760 can host one, two, three, or four DCMs. Each DCM can address 16 DDR3 memory DIMM slots.
  • Page 66: Overview

    I/O architecture of their previous model. However, this case is not the same for POWER7+ Power 750 and Power 760. With these new server models, changes to the bus architecture might require additional performance considerations for partitions that need processor and memory resources that span multiple processor sockets.
  • Page 67 POWER7+ chips per socket delivered in a dual chip module package (DCM). The Power 750 (8408-E8D) can be ordered with a 4-core chip and the Power 760 can be ordered with a 6-core chip. The two POWER7+ chips within the DCM communicate using the Y-Z bus architecture that was previously deployed between sockets in the POWER7 technology-based Power 750 (8233-E8B).
  • Page 68: Memory Subsystem

    The DIMM cards are 30 mm high, industry standard DDR3 Registered DIMMs. Memory features (two memory DIMMs per feature) supported in the Power 750 are 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB. The Power 760 additionally supports the 32 GB DIMMs. All DIMMs run at a speeds of 1066 MHz.
  • Page 69 2048 GB Each riser card in the system must be populated with at least one pair of DIMMs. No memory CoD: The Power 750 and Power 760 systems do not support capacity on demand (CoD) for memory. Figure 2-9 shows the physical memory DIMM topology for Power 750 and Power 760 connected to one DCM.
  • Page 70 Slot #8 – P3-Cn-C8 Memory Riser Card Figure 2-10 Memory Riser Card for Power 750 and Power 760 Systems A POWER7+ DCM uses one memory controller from each processor core (MC0 and MC1) with two channels from memory controller 0 (channels A and B) and two channels from memory controller 1 (channels C and D) for a total of four memory channels per DCM.
  • Page 71 The following tables (Table 2-4 through Table 2-7 on page 59) show the plugging orders for various DCM configurations. Table information: 1 = first pair, 2 = second pair, 3 = third pair, 4 = fourth pair, and so on. DIMMs in each colored area must be identical Table 2-4 Memory plug order for a system with one DCM DCM 0 / P3-C12...
  • Page 72 DCM 2 / P3-C16 MC1 / Riser card 1 / P3-C6 MC0 / Riser card 1 / P3-C7 Pair of DIMM slots Pair of DIMM slots C1/C3 C2/C4 C5/C7 C6/C8 C1/C3 C2/C4 C5/C7 C6/C8 IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 73 Table 2-7 Memory plug order for a system with four DCMs DCM 0 / P3-C12 MC1 / Riser card 1 / P3-C1 MC0 / Riser card 2 / P3-C2 Pair of DIMM slots Pair of DIMM slots C1/C3 C2/C4 C5/C7 C6/C8 C1/C3 C2/C4...
  • Page 74: Memory Bandwidth

    2.3.3 Memory bandwidth POWER7+ has exceptional cache, memory, and interconnect bandwidths. Table 2-8 shows the maximum bandwidth estimate for the Power 750 system running at 4.06 GHz. Table 2-8 Power 750 processor and memory bandwidth estimates Memory Power 750 4.060 GHz processor card L1 (data) cache 194.880 GBps...
  • Page 75: Capacity On Demand

    2 memory controller * 2 ports * 8 bytes * 2 DIMMs * 1066 MHz = 68.224 GBps. 2.4 Capacity on Demand The Power 750 offers Capacity Backup (CBU) for IBM i only. No other Capacity on Demand (CoD) offerings are available.
  • Page 76: Software Licensing And Cod

    64 DDR3 DIMMs, 10 MB of L3 cache per core, and 256 KB of L2 cache per core. A Power 750 Express server can be populated with one, two, three, or four DCMs providing 8, 16, 24, or 32 cores. All the cores are active.
  • Page 77: Internal I/O Subsystem

    PCIe slots 1 - 4 are connected to I/O controller A. The I/O controller B connects to PCIe slots 5 - 6, the multifunction card, and to the DVD-RAM drive. Table 2-11 lists the slot configuration of the Power 750 and Power 760. Table 2-11 Slot configuration of the Power 750 and Power 760...
  • Page 78: Blind Swap Cassettes

    PLX Serial chip, and it supports any serial device that has an operating system device driver. The FSP virtual console will be on the HMC. Requirement: The Power 750 can be managed either by IVM or an HMC. The Power 760 requires management by an HMC.
  • Page 79: Pci Adapters

    The RJ45 ports use 4-pair Cat 6A cabling for distances of up to 100 meters. CAT5 cabling is not supported. 2.7 PCI adapters This section covers the types and functions of the PCI adapters supported by IBM Power 750 and Power 760 systems. 2.7.1 PCI Express...
  • Page 80: Pci-X Adapters

    PCI-X DDR 12X I/O Drawer (FC 5796). 2.7.3 IBM i IOP adapters IBM i IOP adapters are not supported with the Power 750 and Power 760, which has the following results: Existing PCI adapters that require an IOP are affected...
  • Page 81 PCIe full-height and full-high cards, which are plugged into the following servers slots: – Power 720 and Power 740 (within the base system, five PCIe half-length slots are supported.) – Power 750 – Power 755 – Power 760 – Power 770 –...
  • Page 82: Lan Adapters

    Note: Power 750 and Power 760 servers support only PCIe full-height and full-high cards. 2.7.5 LAN adapters To connect a Power 750 and Power 760 to a local area network (LAN), use the integrated multifunction card, or a dedicated adapter. For more information about the integrated multifunction card, see 2.6.2, “Integrated multifunction card”...
  • Page 83 Full height Linux 1 Gb Ethernet SFP+ Copper & RJ45 adapter 5767 5767 2-Port 10/100/1000 Base-TX Ethernet PCIe Full height AIX, IBM i, PCI Express adapter Linux 5768 5768 2-Port Gigabit Ethernet-SX PCI PCIe Full height AIX, IBM i, Express adapter...
  • Page 84: Graphics Accelerator Adapters

    2.7.6 Graphics accelerator adapters The IBM Power 750 and Power 760 support up to eight of the FC 5748 cards, as shown in Table 2-14. They can be configured to operate in either 8-bit or 24-bit color modes. These adapters support both analog and digital monitors. The total number of graphics accelerator adapters in any one partition may not exceed four.
  • Page 85: Fibre Channel Adapters

    Twinax 2.7.9 Fibre Channel adapters The IBM Power 750 and Power 760 servers support direct or SAN connection to devices that use Fibre Channel adapters. Table 2-17 summarizes the available Fibre Channel adapters. All of these adapters have LC connectors. If you attach a device or switch with an SC type fiber connector, an LC-SC 50 Micron Fiber Converter Cable (FC 2456) or an LC-SC 62.5...
  • Page 86: Infiniband Host Channel Adapter

    The InfiniBand physical connection consists of multiple byte lanes. Each individual byte lane is a four-wire, 2.5, 5.0, or 10.0 Gbps bidirectional connection. Combinations of link width and byte-lane speed allow for overall link speeds from 2.5 Gbps to 120 Gbps. The architecture IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 87: Asynchronous And Usb Adapters

    GX++ 12X DDR adapter (FC 1808) plugs into the system backplane (GX++ slot). There are two GX++ slots in each Power 750 and Power 760 system unit. By attaching a 12X to 4X converter cable (FC 1828), an IB switch can be attached.
  • Page 88: Internal Storage

    One differential signal transmits in one direction. The other differential signal transmits in the opposite direction. Data can be transmitted in both directions simultaneously. The Power 750 and Power 760 have an extremely flexible and powerful backplane for supporting hard disk drives (HDD) or solid-state drives (SSD). The six small form factor (SFF) bays can be configured in three ways to match your business needs.
  • Page 89 HDDs. An FC 5886 SAS disk drawer can similarly be configured in place of the FC 5887 drawer. IBM i supports configurations that use one set of six bays but does not support logically splitting the backplane into dual or triple split. Thus, the Dual IOA Enablement card (FC 5662)
  • Page 90 IBM i is to access any of the SAS bays in that processor enclosure. AIX and Linux support configurations using two sets of three bays (3/3) or three sets of two bays (2/2/2) without the dual IOA enablement card. With FC 5662, they support dual controllers running one set of six bays.
  • Page 91: Dual Split Backplane Mode

    SAS subsystem FC 5662 External SAS SAS port SAS cables Notes configuration CCIN 2BC2 components cables Dual storage IOA Requires an Internal SAS FC 3686 or 1 meter cable is FC 3686. with internal disk external disk port (FC 1819) FC 3687 3 meter cable is FC 3687.
  • Page 92: Dual Storage I/O Adapter (Ioa) Configurations

    The PCI adapter that drives two of the six disks can be located in the same Power 750 or Power 760 system enclosure or in an external I/O drawer. I/O Planar DASD Backplane Int. SAS Cnt.
  • Page 93: Dvd

    RAID 0, 10, 5, and 6 support up to six drives. SSDs and HDDs can be used, but can never be mixed in the same disk enclosure. To connect to the external storage, you need to connect to the FC 5887 disk drive enclosure.
  • Page 94: External I/O Subsystems

    GX++ adapter card (FC 1808 CCIN 2BC3) 2.9.1 PCI-DDR 12X expansion drawer The PCI-DDR 12X Expansion Drawer (FC 5796) is not supported with the Power 750 and Power 760 server. 2.9.2 12X I/O Drawer PCIe The 12X I/O Drawer PCIe, SFF disk (FC 5802) is a 19-inch I/O and storage drawer. It...
  • Page 95 The physical dimensions of the drawer measure 444.5 mm (17.5 in.) wide by 177.8 mm (7.0 in.) high by 711.2 mm (28.0 in.) deep for use in a 19-inch rack. Figure 2-17 shows the front view of the 12X I/O Drawer PCIe (FC 5802). Disk drives Service card Port cards...
  • Page 96: I/O Drawer Pcie Configuration And Cabling Rules

    9 + 9 bays Figure 2-19 Disk bay partitioning configuration in 12X I/O Drawer PCI (FC 5802) Tools and CSP: The IBM System Planning Tool supports disk bay partitioning. Also, the IBM configuration tool accepts this configuration from IBM System Planning Tool and passes it through IBM manufacturing using the Customer Specified Placement (CSP) option.
  • Page 97 The location codes for the front and rear views of the FC 5802 I/O drawer are provided in Figure 2-20 and Figure 2-21. Figure 2-20 FC 5802 I/O drawer from view location codes Figure 2-21 FC 5802 I/O drawer rear view location codes Chapter 2.
  • Page 98 Figure 2-22 12X IO Drawer configuration 12X I/O Drawer PCIe loop The I/O drawers are connected to the adapters in the Power 750 and Power 760 system unit with data transfer cables such as the 12X DDR cables for the FC 5802 and FC 5877 I/O drawers.
  • Page 99 I/O drawer. SPCN cables connect all AC powered expansion units. Figure 2-24 on page 86 shows an example for a Power 750 or Power 760 connecting to four I/O drawers. Other connections options are available. 1. Start at SPCN 0 (T4) of the system unit to J15 (T1) of the first expansion unit.
  • Page 100: External Disk Subsystems

    The EXP30 Ultra SSD I/O drawer (FC EDR1, CCIN 57C3) is a 1U high I/O drawer, providing 30 hot-swap SSD bays and a pair of integrated large write caches, high-performance SAS controllers without using any PCIe slots on the POWER7+ server. The two high-performance, IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 101 30% performance improvement over the previous version of the EXP30 (FC 5888). A maximum number of two EXP drawers can be attached to the Power 750 and Power 760 server, depending on the operating system. Table 2-28 list the quantity of EXP30 drawers which can be attached to the Power 750 and Power 760 running different operating systems.
  • Page 102 FC ES02 and FC ES04 are identical SSD drives, but have separate feature codes for use with the AIX, IBM i, and Linux operating systems. FC ES02 is used for AIX and Linux; FC ES04 is used for IBM i.
  • Page 103 When connecting one drawer to the server, a suggestion for redundancy is to have both FC 1914 ports connected to the drawer, as shown on Figure 2-26. Power 750 PCIe Gen2 8X cable FC 1914 Power 760 PCIe Gen2 8X cable...
  • Page 104 Two EXP24S disk drawers (FC 5887) can be directly attached to an EXP30 (FC EDR1) drawer, running AIX, IBM i, and Linux. Up to 48 additional SAS disks enhance the disk capacity up to 43.2 TB. This combination (one EXP30 Ultra Drawer and two EXP24S drawers) provides a maximum capacity of 54.8 TB capacity.
  • Page 105: Exp24S Sff Gen2-Bay Drawer

    Figure 2-28 shows two EXP24S drawers connected to one EXP30 drawer. FC EDR1 ERM - C1 ERM - C2 * SSDs only EX SAS Cables Second FC 5887 drawer EX SAS Cables ERM - C1 ERM - C2 First FC 5887 drawer * HDDs only ERM - C1 ERM - C2...
  • Page 106 With IBM AIX and Linux, the EXP24S can be ordered with four sets of six bays (mode 4), two sets of 12 bays (mode 2), or one set of 24 bays (mode 1). With IBM i, the EXP24S can be ordered as one set of 24 bays (mode 1).
  • Page 107: Exp12S Sas Expansion Drawer

    2U space in a 19-inch rack and the SAS controller can be a SAS PCIe adapter or pair of adapters. A maximum number of 27 EXP12S drawers can be attached to a Power 750 and Power 760 server. Notice: The EXP12S SAS expansion drawer is supported, but no longer orderable.
  • Page 108: Ibm System Storage

    IBM Storwize V3700 IBM Storwize® V3700, the most recent addition to the IBM Storwize family of disk systems, delivers efficient, entry-level configurations specifically designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. Designed to provide organizations with the ability to consolidate and share data at an affordable price, Storwize V3700 offers advanced software capabilities usually found in more expensive systems.
  • Page 109: Hardware Management Console

    Requirements: An HMC is required for the Power 760, and optional for the Power 750. When using the HMC with the Power 750 and Power 760 server, the HMC code must be running at V7R7.7.0 (SP1) level, or later. Chapter 2. Architecture and technical overview...
  • Page 110 7042-CR6 or later. If you attach an existing HMC to a new server such as the Power 750 and Power 760 or add functions to an existing server that requires a firmware update, the HMC machine code might need to be updated.
  • Page 111: Hmc Connectivity To The Power7+ Processor-Based Systems

    The HMC gives systems administrators a tool for planning, virtualizing, deploying, and managing IBM Power System servers. With the introduction of HMC V7R760, the HMC can now manage IBM BladeCenter Power Blade servers. This management includes support for dual VIOS, live partition mobility between blades and rack servers, and management of both blades and rack servers from a single management console.
  • Page 112 HMC to server and to enable dynamic LPAR operations. For more details about HMC and the possible network connections, see IBM Power Systems HMC Implementation and Usage Guide, SG24-7491 (previous edition was named Hardware Management Console V7 Handbook, SG24-7491).
  • Page 113: High Availability Hmc Configuration

    Notes: The service processor is used to monitor and manage the system hardware resources and devices. The two service processor HMC ports run at a speed of 100 Mbps. Both HMC ports are visible only to the service processor and can be used to attach the server to an HMC or to access the ASMI options from a client web browser using the HTTP server integrated into the service processor internal operating system.
  • Page 114: Operating System Support

    In addition, the Virtual I/O Server can be installed in special partitions that provide support to other partitions running AIX, IBM i, or Linux operating systems for using features such as virtualized I/O devices, PowerVM Live Partition Mobility, or PowerVM Active Memory Sharing.
  • Page 115: Ibm Aix Operating System

    IBM AIX Version 5.3 At the time of writing AIX Version 5.3 is not supported with the Power 750 and Power 760. Statement of Direction (SoD): IBM intends to provide to those clients with AIX 5.3 Technology Level 12 (and the associated service extension offering) the ability to run that environment Power 750 and Power 760.
  • Page 116: Ibm I Operating System

    POWER7 mode to allow exploitation of new hardware capabilities such as SMT4 and Active Memory Expansion. 2.12.2 IBM i operating system The IBM i operating system is supported on the Power 750 and Power 760 with the following minimum required levels: IBM i 7.1, or later IBM i 6.1 with machine code 6.1.1, or later...
  • Page 117: Virtual I/O Server

    See more information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Server: http://www.redhat.com/rhel/features 2.12.4 Virtual I/O Server The minimum required level of Virtual I/O Server for both the Power 750 and Power 760 is VIOS 2.2.2.2. Statement of Direction (SoD): IBM intends to provide to those clients with VIOS 2.2.1 the ability to run that environment on the Power 750 and Power 760.
  • Page 118 IBM advances a more than a 20-year investment in the XL compilers for POWER series and IBM PowerPC® series architectures. XL C, XL C/C++, and XL Fortran features that are introduced to use the latest POWER7+ processor include the following items:...
  • Page 119: Energy Management

    C/C++ for AIX or COBOL for AIX compilers. 2.13 Energy management The Power 750 and 760 servers are designed with features to help clients become more energy-efficient. The IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager uses EnergyScale technology, enabling advanced energy management features to dramatically and dynamically conserve power and further improve energy efficiency.
  • Page 120 Table 2-30 shows the maximum frequency increases of the various processor options. Table 2-30 Maximum frequency increase values for Power 750 and Power 760 Processor module option Power 750 Power 760 3.5 GHz 8-core DCM...
  • Page 121 Processor core nap mode The IBM POWER7 and POWER7+ processor uses a low-power mode referred to as that stops processor execution when there is no work to do on that processor core. The latency of exiting nap mode is small, typically not generating any impact on applications running.
  • Page 122 (either Power Energy Saver Mode or Dynamic Power Saver Mode), fan speed varies based on power consumption, ambient temperature, and altitude available. System altitude can be set in IBM Director Active Energy Manager. If no altitude is set, the system assumes a default value of 350 meters above sea level.
  • Page 123 More advanced functionality requires Active Energy Manager (AEM) and IBM Systems Director. Table 2-31 lists all features that are supported, showing all cases in which Active Energy Manager (AEM) is not required, and also details the features that can be activated by traditional user interfaces (for example, ASMI and HMC).
  • Page 124: Thermal Power Management Device Card

    Server Power Down Partition Power Management The Power 750 and Power 760 systems implement all the EnergyScale capabilities listed in 2.13.1, “IBM EnergyScale technology” on page 105. 2.13.2 Thermal power management device card The thermal power management device (TPMD) card is a separate micro controller installed on some POWER6 processor-based systems, and on all POWER7 and POWER7+ processor-based systems.
  • Page 125: Chapter 3. Virtualization

    As you look for ways to maximize the return on your IT infrastructure investments, consolidating workloads becomes an attractive proposition. IBM Power Systems combined with PowerVM technology offer key capabilities that can help you consolidate and simplify your IT environment: Improve server utilization and sharing I/O resources to reduce total cost of ownership and make better use of IT assets.
  • Page 126: Power Hypervisor

    256 MB. Physical memory is assigned to partitions in increments of LMB. The POWER Hypervisor provides the following types of virtual I/O adapters: Virtual SCSI Virtual Ethernet Virtual Fibre Channel Virtual (TTY) console IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 127 The storage virtualization is accomplished using two paired adapters: A virtual SCSI server adapter A virtual SCSI client adapter A Virtual I/O Server partition or an IBM i partition can define virtual SCSI server adapters. client Other partitions are partitions.
  • Page 128 Depending on the system configuration, the operating system console can be provided by the Hardware Management Console virtual TTY, Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) virtual TTY, or from a terminal emulator that is connected to a system port. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 129: Power Processor Modes

    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).
  • Page 130 The selection of the mode is made on a per-partition basis, from the managed console, by editing the partition profile (Figure 3-2). Figure 3-2 Configuring partition profile compatibility mode from the managed console IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 131: Active Memory Expansion

    Table 3-2 lists the differences between these modes. Table 3-2 Differences between POWER6, POWER6+, and POWER7 compatibility mode POWER6 and POWER6+ POWER7 Customer value mode mode 2-thread SMT 4-thread SMT Throughput performance, processor core utilization Vector Multimedia Extension/ Vector scalar extension (VSX) High-performance computing AltiVec (VMX) Affinity OFF by default...
  • Page 132 To take advantage of the hardware compression offload, AIX 6.1 Technology Level 8 is required. The Active Memory Expansion feature is not supported with the IBM i and Linux operating systems.
  • Page 133 The knee varies depending on how compressible the memory contents are. This example demonstrates the need for a case-by-case study of whether memory expansion can provide a positive return on investment. To help you do this study, a planning tool is included with AIX 6.1 Technology Level 4 SP2, allowing you to sample actual workloads and estimate how expandable the partition's memory is and how much CPU resource is needed.
  • Page 134 The key is specific to an individual server and is permanent. It cannot be moved to a separate server. This feature is ordered per server, independent of the number of partitions using memory expansion. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 135 If the target system does not have Active Memory Expansion activated, the mobility operation fails during the premobility check phase, and an appropriate error message displays to the user. For details about Active Memory Expansion, download the document Active Memory Expansion: Overview and Usage Guide: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/en/pow03037usen/POW03037USEN.PDF Chapter 3. Virtualization...
  • Page 136: Powervm

    It includes unique features like Active Memory Sharing and Live Partition Mobility. Table 3-3 lists the editions of PowerVM that are available on Power 750 and Power 760. Table 3-3 Availability of PowerVM per POWER7+ processor technology-based server model...
  • Page 137 LPAR. Micro-Partitioning The IBM Micro-Partitioning technology allows you to allocate fractions of processors to a logical partition. This technology was introduced with POWER5 processor-based systems. A shared processor partition...
  • Page 138 POWER Hypervisor. The shared processor partitions are created and managed by the HMC. The IBM Power 750 supports up to 32 cores, and has the following maximums: Up to 32 dedicated partitions Up to 640 micropartitions (maximum 20 micropartitions per physical active core)
  • Page 139 . The operating system (AIX, IBM i, or Linux) sees one physical processor as two or four logical processors if the simultaneous multithreading feature is on. It can be turned off and on dynamically while the operating system is executing (for AIX, use the smtctl command;...
  • Page 140: Multiple Shared Processor Pools

    EC 0.8 EC 0.5 vp10 POWER Hypervisor KEY: Entitled Capacity Physical processor Virtual processor Physical Shared-Processor Pool SPPn Shared-Processor Pool Figure 3-8 Overview of the architecture of multiple shared processor pools IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 141 Micropartitions are created and then identified as members of either the default shared processor pool or a user-defined shared processor pool . The virtual processors that exist within the set of micropartitions are monitored by the POWER Hypervisor, and processor capacity is managed according to user-defined attributes.
  • Page 142 Shared-Processor Pool processor capacity from Shared-Processor Pools and redistributes it across all uncapped micro-partitions regardless of the Shared-Processor Pool structure Figure 3-9 The levels of unused capacity redistribution IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 143 Capacity allocation above the entitled pool capacity (Level The POWER Hypervisor initially manages the entitled pool capacity at the shared processor pool level. This is where unused processor capacity within a shared processor pool is harvested and then redistributed to uncapped micropartitions within the same shared processor pool.
  • Page 144: Virtual I/O Server

    The Virtual I/O Server eliminates the requirement that every partition owns a dedicated network adapter, disk adapter, and disk drive. The Virtual I/O Server supports OpenSSH for secure remote logins. It also provides a firewall for limiting access by ports, IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 145: Shared Ethernet Adapter

    network services, and IP addresses. Figure 3-10 shows an overview of a Virtual I/O Server configuration. Virtual I/O Client 1 Virtual I/O Server Hypervisor Virtual Ethernet Shared Ethernet External Network Adapter Adapter Virtual SCSI Adapter Physical Ethernet Virtual Ethernet Adapter Adapter Physical Disk...
  • Page 146 Unicast, broadcast, and multicast are supported, so protocols that rely on broadcast or multicast, such as Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Boot Protocol (BOOTP), and Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP), can work on an SEA. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 147 IP address: A Shared Ethernet Adapter does not need to have an IP address configured to be able to perform the Ethernet bridging functionality. Configuring IP on the Virtual I/O Server is convenient because the Virtual I/O Server can then be reached by TCP/IP, for example, to perform dynamic LPAR operations or to enable remote login.
  • Page 148 For additional information and requirements for NPIV, see the following resources: PowerVM Migration from Physical to Virtual Storage, SG24-7825 IBM PowerVM Virtualization Managing and Monitoring, SG24-7590 IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 149 For more information about the System Planning Tool, see 3.5, “System Planning Tool” on page 146. IBM Systems Director agent and several preinstalled IBM Tivoli® agents, such as the following examples: – Tivoli Identity Manager, to allow easy integration into an existing Tivoli Systems Management infrastructure –...
  • Page 150: Powervm Live Partition Mobility

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5 Update 1 or later The Virtual I/O Server partition itself cannot be migrated. Requirement for IBM i: Live Partition Mobility on IBM i is not supported on POWER6 or POWER6+-based servers. System requirements for source and destination The source partition must be one that has only virtual devices.
  • Page 151 Now the current processor compatibility mode of the logical partition is the POWER7 mode, and the logical partition run on the POWER7+ processor-based server. Tip: The following web page offers presentations of the supported migrations: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/p7hc3/iphc3p cmcombosact.htm The Virtual I/O Server on the source system provides the access to the client resources and must be identified as a mover service partition (MSP).
  • Page 152: Active Memory Sharing

    Active Memory Sharing is available only with the Enterprise version of PowerVM. The physical memory of an IBM Power System can be assigned to multiple partitions in either dedicated or shared mode. The system administrator has the capability to assign some physical memory to a partition and some physical memory to a pool that is shared by other partitions.
  • Page 153: Active Memory Deduplication

    3.4.7 Active Memory Deduplication In a virtualized environment, the systems might have a considerable amount of duplicated information stored on RAM after each partition has its own operating system, and some of them might even share the same kind of applications. On heavily loaded systems, this behavior might lead to a shortage of the available memory resources, forcing paging by the Active Memory Sharing partition operating systems, the Active Memory Deduplication pool, or both, which might decrease overall system performance.
  • Page 154 When a duplicate is found, the hypervisor remaps the partition memory to the existing memory page and returns the duplicate page to the Active Memory Sharing pool. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 155 Figure 3-15 shows two pages being written in the Active Memory Sharing memory pool and having their signatures matched on the deduplication table. Signature of Page A being written Signature of Page B matching on the Deduplication Table Sign A on the Deduplication Table Signature Signature Page A...
  • Page 156: Dynamic Platform Optimizer

    RHEL 6.2 or later 3.4.8 Dynamic Platform Optimizer Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO) is an IBM PowerVM feature that helps the user to configure the logical partition memory and CPU affinity on the POWER7+ processor-based servers, thus, improve performance under some workload scenarios.
  • Page 157: Dynamic System Optimizer

    To explicitly protect partitions from DPO, use the -x or --xid options of the optmem command. For more information about DPO, see IBM PowerVM Virtualization Managing and Monitoring, SG24-7590. Note: Single-socket systems do not require DPO, and there is no performance penalty when accessing memory in the same card.
  • Page 158: Linux Support

    Requires AIX 6.1 TL7 or later. g. Requires AIX 7.1 TL1 or later. h. Requires IBM i 7.1.4 or later. i. Requires IBM i 7.1 TR4 PTF group or later. You can access this link for more details: http://bit.ly/11im9sa j. Only supports two threads.
  • Page 159 Tickless idle Improved energy utilization and virtualization of partially to fully idle partitions. a. Execution restricted to POWER6 instructions See the following sources of information: Advance Toolchain: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/hpccentral/How+to+use+Advance+T oolchain+for+Linux+on+POWER Release notes: – ftp://linuxpatch.ncsa.uiuc.edu/toolchain/at/at05/suse/SLES_11/release_notes.a t05-2.1-0.html – ftp://linuxpatch.ncsa.uiuc.edu/toolchain/at/at05/redhat/RHEL5/release_notes.a t05-2.1-0.html...
  • Page 160: System Planning Tool

    3.5 System Planning Tool The IBM System Planning Tool (SPT) helps you design systems to be partitioned with logical partitions. You can also plan for and design non-partitioned systems by using the SPT. The system plan resulting output of your design is called a , which is stored in a .sysplan file.
  • Page 161: New Powervm Version 2.2.2 Features

    – Linked clones allow for sharing of partition images, which greatly accelerates partition deployment and reduces the storage usage. – System pool management for IBM workload provides increased flexibility and resource utilization. For further details about the appropriate System Director VMControl release, go to the following location: http://www.ibm.com/systems/software/director/vmcontrol...
  • Page 162 IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 163: Chapter 4. Continuous Availability And Manageability

    Serviceability: Indicates how well faults and their effects are communicated to system managers and how efficiently and non disruptively the faults are repaired Each successive generation of IBM servers is designed to be more reliable than the previous server family. POWER7+ processor-based servers have new features to support new levels of virtualization, help ease administrative burden, and increase system utilization.
  • Page 164: Reliability

    L3 cache into the processor chip for a higher integration of parts. Parts selection also plays a critical role in overall system reliability. IBM uses three grades of components with grade 3 being defined as industry standard (“off-the-shelf” components). As...
  • Page 165: Placement Of Components

    POWER7+ cores, which include redundant bits in L1 instruction and data caches, L2 caches, and L2 and L3 directories Power 750 and Power 760 main memory DIMMs, which use an innovative ECC algorithm from IBM research that improves bit error correction and memory failures...
  • Page 166: Partition Availability Priority

    This chapter describes IBM POWER7+ processor-based systems technologies that are focused on keeping a system running. For a specific set of functions focused on detecting errors before they become serious enough to stop computing work, see 4.3.1, “Detecting” on page 159.
  • Page 167 POWER7+ processor first automatically retries the instruction. If the source of the error was truly transient, the instruction succeeds and the system can continue as before. Before POWER6: On IBM systems prior to POWER6, such an error typically caused a checkstop. Alternate processor retry Hard failures are more difficult, being permanent errors that will be replicated each time that the instruction is repeated.
  • Page 168: Memory Protection

    The remaining eight bytes are used to hold check bits and additional information about the ECC word. This innovative ECC algorithm from IBM research works on DIMM pairs on a rank basis. rank is a group of nine DRAM chips.) With this ECC code, the system can dynamically...
  • Page 169 Advanced memory buffer chips are exclusive to IBM and help to increase performance, acting as read/write buffers. The Power 750 and the Power 760 use one memory controller. Advanced memory buffer chips are on the memory cards and support four DIMMs each.
  • Page 170: Cache Protection

    4.2.5 Special Uncorrectable Error handling While it is rare, an uncorrectable data error can occur in memory or a cache. IBM POWER processor-based systems attempt to limit the impact of an uncorrectable error to the least possible disruption, using a well-defined strategy that first considers the data source.
  • Page 171: Pci Enhanced Error Handling

    PHB chips can enable the system to recover transparently, without partition loss. 4.2.6 PCI Enhanced Error Handling IBM estimates that PCI adapters can account for a significant portion of the hardware-based errors on a large server. Whereas servers that rely on boot-time diagnostics can identify failing components to be replaced by hot-swap and reconfiguration, runtime errors pose a more significant problem.
  • Page 172: Serviceability

    Figure 4-2 PCI Enhanced Error Handling 4.3 Serviceability IBM Power Systems design considers both IBM and the client’s needs. The IBM Serviceability Team has enhanced the base service capabilities and continues to implement a strategy that incorporates best-of-its-kind service characteristics from diverse IBM Systems offerings.
  • Page 173: Detecting

    First-failure data capture (FFDC) Converged service approach across multiple IBM server platforms By delivering on these goals, IBM Power Systems servers enable faster and more accurate repair, and reduce the possibility of human error. Client control of the service environment extends to firmware maintenance on all of the POWER processor-based systems.
  • Page 174 When an error is encountered in the core, the POWER7+ processor will first automatically retry the instruction. If the source of the error was truly transient, the instruction will succeed and the system will continue as before. On IBM systems prior to POWER6, this error might have caused a checkstop.
  • Page 175 Figure 4-3 shows this option using the ASMI. Figure 4-3 ASMI Auto Power Restart settings panel Partition availability priority Also available is the ability to assign availability priorities to partitions. If an alternate processor recovery event requires spare processor resources to protect a workload, when no other means of obtaining the spare resources is available, the system will determine which partition has the lowest priority and attempt to claim the needed resource.
  • Page 176 Error checkers IBM POWER processor-based systems contain specialized hardware detection circuitry that is used to detect erroneous hardware operations. Error checking hardware ranges from parity error detection coupled with processor instruction retry and bus retry, to ECC correction on caches and system buses.
  • Page 177 Figure 4-4 shows a schematic of fault isolation register implementation. Error checkers Text Text Text Fault isolation register (FIR) Text Unique fingerprint of each Text captured error Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Service Text Processor L2 / L3 Text Text Log error...
  • Page 178: Diagnosing

    Provide fault detection and problem isolation procedures. Support remote connection ability to be used by the IBM Remote Support Center or IBM Designated Service. Provide interactive intelligence within the diagnostics with detailed online failure information while connected to the IBM back-end system.
  • Page 179: Reporting

    In the unlikely event that a system hardware or environmentally induced failure is diagnosed, IBM Power Systems servers report the error through several mechanisms. The analysis result is stored in system NVRAM. Error log analysis (ELA) can be used to display the failure cause and the physical location of the failing hardware.
  • Page 180 The data is formatted and prepared for transmission back to IBM either to assist the service support organization with preparing a service action plan for the service representative or for additional analysis.
  • Page 181: Notifying

    After a Power Systems server detects, diagnoses, and reports an error to an appropriate aggregation point, it then takes steps to notify the client, and if necessary the IBM support organization. Depending on the assessed severity of the error and support agreement, this client notification might range from a simple notification to having field service personnel automatically dispatched to the client site with the correct replacement part.
  • Page 182: Locating And Servicing

    After the repair, the LEDs shut off automatically when the problem is fixed. Guiding Light Midrange and high-end systems, including model 760 and later, are usually repaired by IBM Support personnel. In the Light Path LED implementation, the system can clearly identify components for...
  • Page 183 In other cases, a client might be in the process of moving or redesigning a data center or planning a major upgrade. At those times, flexibility is crucial. The IBM POWER7 and POWER7+ processor-based systems are designed for redundant or concurrently maintainable power, fans, physical storage, and I/O towers.
  • Page 184 Concurrent Firmware Maintenance (CFM) option when concurrent service packs are available. CFM is the IBM term used to describe the IBM Power Systems firmware updates that can be partially or wholly concurrent or nondisruptive. With the introduction of CFM, IBM is significantly increasing a client’s opportunity to stay on a given release level for longer...
  • Page 185: Manageability

    Reattaching a loose or disconnected component Correcting a configuration error Removing or replacing an incompatible FRU Updating firmware, device drivers, operating systems, middleware components, and IBM applications after replacing a part Repair and verify procedures can be used by both service representative providers who are familiar with the task and those who are not.
  • Page 186 Various repair procedures require connection to the ASMI. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 187 The ASMI is accessible through the management console. It is also accessible by using a web browser on a system that is connected directly to the service processor (in this case, either a standard Ethernet cable or a crossed cable) or through an Ethernet network. ASMI can also be accessed from an ASCII terminal, but this is only available while the system is in the platform powered-off mode.
  • Page 188 Figure 4-5 shows that the operator panel on a Power 750 and Power 760 is pulled out. Release Lever (slide left to release operator panel and pull out from chassis) Figure 4-5 Operator panel is pulled out from the chassis...
  • Page 189 (DST) as part of the IBM i licensed machine code (Licensed Internal Code) and System Service Tools (SST) as part of the IBM i operating system. DST can be run in dedicated mode (no operating system loaded). DST tools and diagnostics are a superset of those available under SST.
  • Page 190: Ibm Power Systems Firmware Maintenance

    The firmware and microcode can be downloaded and installed either from an HMC, from a running partition, or from USB port number 1 on the rear of a Power 750 and Power 760, if that system is not managed by an HMC.
  • Page 191 If there is an HMC to manage the server, the HMC interface can be use to view the levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware that are installed and that are available to download and install. Each IBM Power Systems server has the following levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware: Installed level This level of server firmware or power subsystem firmware is installed and will be installed into memory after the managed system is powered off and then on.
  • Page 192: Concurrent Firmware Update Improvements With Power7

    IBM provides the Concurrent Firmware Maintenance (CFM) function on selected Power Systems. This function supports applying nondisruptive system firmware service packs to the system concurrently (without requiring a reboot operation to activate changes). For systems that are not managed by an HMC, the installation of system firmware is always disruptive.
  • Page 193: Electronic Services And Electronic Service Agent

    Installation and use of IBM Electronic Service Agent for problem reporting enables IBM to provide better support and service for your IBM server. To learn how Electronic Services can work for you, visit the following site; an IBM ID is required: http://www.ibm.com/support/electronic...
  • Page 194: Power7+ Ras Features

    System inventory information is stored in a secure database, which is protected behind IBM firewalls. It is viewable only by the customer and IBM. The customer's business applications or business data is never transmitted to IBM.
  • Page 195: Power-On Reset Engine

    Table 4-2 gives an overview of features for continuous availability that are supported by the various operating systems running on power systems. In the table, the word “Most” means most functions. Table 4-2 Operating system support for RAS features IBM i RHEL RHEL SLES11...
  • Page 196 Storage Protection Keys Dynamic Trace Operating System FFDC Error log analysis Freeze mode of I/O Hub Service processor support for: Built-in self-tests (BIST) for logic and arrays Wire tests Component initialization IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 197 IBM i RHEL RHEL SLES11 RAS feature Serviceability Boot-time progress indicators Most Most Most Electronic Service Agent Call Home from management console Firmware error codes Operating system error codes Most Most Most Inventory collection Environmental and power warnings Hot-plug fans, power supplies...
  • Page 198 Redundant power for I/O drawers a. Not available on Power 710 and Power 730. b. Need mid-tier and large-tier POWER7 systems or later, including Power 770, 780, and 795. IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 199: Related Publications

    The publications listed in this section are considered particularly suitable for a more detailed discussion of the topics covered in this paper. IBM Redbooks The following IBM Redbooks publications provide additional information about the topic in this document. Note that some publications referenced in this list might be available in softcopy only.
  • Page 200: Other Publications

    Other publications These publications are also relevant as further information sources: IBM Power Facts and Features - IBM Power Systems, IBM PureFlex and Power Blades http://www.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/reports/factsfeatures.html Specific storage devices supported for Virtual I/O Server http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/vios/documentation/datasheet.html IBM Power 710 server data sheet http://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/en/pod03048usen/POD03048USEN.PDF...
  • Page 201: Online Resources

    Online resources These websites are also relevant as further information sources: IBM Power Systems Hardware Information Center http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp IBM System Planning Tool website http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/tools/systemplanningtool/ IBM Fix Central website http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/ Power Systems Capacity on Demand website http://www.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/cod/ Support for IBM Systems website http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/Overview?brandind=Hardware~Systems~Power...
  • Page 202 IBM Power 750 and 760 Technical Overview and Introduction...
  • Page 204 Features the This IBM Redpaper publication is a comprehensive guide covering the INTERNATIONAL IBM Power 750 and Power 760 servers supporting IBM AIX, IBM i, and 8408-E8D and TECHNICAL Linux operating systems. The goal of this paper is to introduce the...

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