HP-UX 11i September 2002 Release Notes

nPartition (Hard Partition) Systems
Introduction
Chapter 4
42
Introduction
Hewlett-Packard’s new nPartition (hard partition) servers provide highly configurable,
high-performance HP-UX system environments.
updated for
June 2002
For HP Superdome, rp8400, and rp7410: HP nPartitions servers now support faster
PA-8700 processors, including both 750 MHz and 875 MHz CPUs.
updated for
March 2002
In addition to the servers listed below, HP now supports hard partitions on the HP
rp7410 server (model 9000/800/rp7410).
new at 11i
original release
Currently, HP supports hard partitions on the following servers:
• HP Superdome 16-way (model 9000/800/SD16000)
• HP Superdome 32-way (model 9000/800/SD32000)
• HP Superdome 64-way (model 9000/800/SD64000)
• HP rp8400 server (model 9000/800/S16K-A)
The ability to create hard partitions allows you to configure a single nPartition server as
either one large system or as multiple smaller systems. Because hard partitions are
managed through software, you can reconfigure a server without physically modifying
the server’s hardware configuration.
As a result, an nPartition server can run multiple instances of the 11i operating system
on a single server. This capability is accomplished by defining multiple partitions within
an nPartition server.
Each partition definition establishes a subset of a server’s hardware resources that are
to be used as a system environment for booting a single instance of HP-UX.
All processors, memory, and I/O in a partition are available exclusively to the software
running in the partition. Thus, each partition runs a single instance of the Boot Console
Handler (BCH) interface and HP-UX.
You can reconfigure partitions to include more, fewer, and/or different hardware
resources, but this will require shutting down the operating system running in the
partition and resetting the partition as part of reconfiguring it.
Two books provide details on performing nPartition administration tasks. The HP
System Partitions Guide, part number B2355-90752, has current details on managing all
nPartition sever models. Managing Superdome Complexes: A Guide for HP-UX System
Administrators, part number B2355-90702, covers using the December 2000 HP-UX 11i
release on HP Superdome servers. Both books are available at HP’s documentation web
site, http://docs.hp.com, and on the HP-UX 11i Instant Information CD.