HP Matrix Operating Environment 7.3 and 7.3 Update 1 Logical Server Management User Guide

1 Managing logical servers
This document provides information about the logical servers features in the HP Matrix OE
visualization software. System administrators can use this document as an introduction to
visualization and as a guide to using logical servers. For information about using HP Matrix OE
visualization, see the HP Matrix Operating Environment Getting Started Guide.
A logical server is a set of configuration information that you create, activate, and move across
physical and virtual machines. It contains the logical server definition and description, including
the server compute resources (for example, number of CPU cores and amount of memory), and
the server connections to storage fabric and networks.
When activated, a logical server is applied to the creation of a virtual machine using
hypervisor-based software or to a bare-metal server blade using HP Virtual Connect technology.
Logical servers can be defined in Matrix OE visualization using the Create Logical Server wizard,
or created and activated via the import of an existing server blade or virtual machine.
Matrix OE visualization also provides a convenient way for you to move logical servers by allowing
you to drag and drop an active logical server from one system to another. When you select a
target on which to move a logical server, you are shown a Headroom rating that displays between
one and five stars, with the higher number of stars denoting more excess resources are available
on the target server.
NOTE: You can use the logical servers feature in Matrix OE visualization only on a Windows
CMS, although you can create and perform operations on logical servers that run on a Windows,
Linux, or HP-UX system on HP ProLiant, Integrity, and certain non-HP servers.
This chapter covers the following information about working with logical servers from Matrix OE
visualization:
• Using logical servers (see “Using logical servers in Matrix OE visualization” (page 6))
• Understanding logical servers (see “Logical servers in visualization perspectives” (page 8))
• Performing logical server operations (see “Logical server operations” (page 9))
• Authorizations, requirements and configuration (see “Authorizations, requirements, and
configuration” (page 23))
For information about defining logical server storage, see “Defining storage for logical servers”
(page 43).
Using logical servers in Matrix OE visualization
The logical servers feature in Matrix OE is advanced infrastructure management software that
allows you to analyze and optimize physical and virtual resources in the same way.
The logical servers feature in Matrix OE visualization allows you to perform tasks such as the
following:
• Define logical representations of environments needed to run workloads and create servers
using virtual machines or Virtual Connect and HP BladeSystem.
• Populate an enclosure
• Load balance servers by moving a running logical server from one location to another
• Evacuate servers, for routine maintenance or in case of disaster
6 Managing logical servers