Windows Integrity nPartition Guide

Introduction
Getting to know nPartitions
Chapter 1
11
Cell structure of nPartitions
HP Integrity mid-range and high-end servers (rx7620/rx7640, rx8620/rx8640, and
Superdome) are composed of basic building blocks known as cells or cell boards. A cell
consists of up to four processor modules, contains memory modules (up to 32 DIMMs for
Superdome cells, up to 16 DIMMs for rx7260 and rx8620 cells), and may connect to an
I/O chassis that has I/O cards. A server cabinet may have several I/O chassis. Some
cell-based servers support I/O expansion cabinets to provide additional I/O chassis.
The hardware of a cell-based server—including all cells, I/O expansion cabinets, cables,
cabinet hardware, fans, and power and utilities components—is known as a server
complex.
• A Superdome server complex can consist of one or two server cabinets, and can also
include one or two I/O expansion cabinets (which provide additional I/O chassis).
• An rx8620 or rx8640 server complex consists of a single server cabinet. It may include
one I/O expansion cabinet (which provides two additional I/O chassis).
• An rx7620 or rx7640 server complex consists of a single server cabinet only.
An nPartition is a partition of the server complex that you can reconfigure without
physically modifying the server hardware. An nPartition contains one or more cells
communicating coherently over a high-bandwidth, low-latency, crossbar fabric. Special
firmware in each cell defines the boundaries of an nPartition to ensure isolation from
other nPartitions.
Each nPartition has exclusive use of the memory, processor, and I/O resources belonging
to the cells that are assigned to that nPartition. An nPartition must have at least one
core I/O card to support console services, booting, and management operations. Each
nPartition has its own system boot interface, boots independently, and executes its own
operating system image.
Properties of nPartitions
An nPartition has the following properties:
Partition Numbers
Each nPartition is identified by a unique partition number. When you
create an nPartition, it is assigned the lowest available number. That
is, the first nPartition always is partition number 0 and the second
nPartition is partition number 1.
When you remove an nPartition, its partition number is released and
can be reused while creating a new nPartition. Consider a server with
partitions numbered 0, 1, 2, and 3. When you remove partition 2, for
example, and then create a new nPartition, the new nPartition is
identified as partition 2.
Assigned and Unassigned Cells
If a cell in a server complex is not assigned to an nPartition, the cell is
considered unassigned. If an I/O chassis is attached to an assigned cell,
then the chassis is likewise assigned to that nPartition. Cells that are
unassigned are considered to be available resources; they are free to be
assigned to any existing nPartition or used to create a new nPartition.